Hidden Wings - Part I

Professor McGonagall

A tall woman dressed in a green cloak stood before the orphanage.
Her eyes were quick to notice the fence that was falling apart, as well as the holes in the roof. The front yard could not be called a yard, it looked more or less like a little jungle, which sprouted along the fence and crawled up the pickets.

Her face displaying her displeasure, she walked up to the door and gave it a short knock.

It opened after a moment to reveal a short, plump woman with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Can I help you?", she demanded with a tone that suggested she would rather not.

"Yes, I am Professor McGonagall", the visitor stated shortly. "And I am looking for Miss Jessamine Lince."

The short woman pinched her eyebrows together.

"Professor?", she asked suspiciously. "Are you from a school or what?"

"Precisely", Professor McGonagall replied. "Our school has decided that Miss Lince has the perfect abilities to attend our school.
Now if I may speak to her, Mrs..?"

"Bludge", the short woman barked and opened the door completely.
Professor McGonagall followed her into a narrow hallway with several doors and a staircase leading to the second floor.

"Lince!", Mrs. Bludge called up the flight of stairs and crossed her arms impatiently.

Footsteps were heard above them before a small girl came running down the steps, her brown hair flying behind her. She skidded to a stop in front of the two women and stared at the taller one.

Mrs. Bludge gestured to the girl and said gruffly: "There you go", before leaving the hallway through another door.
She slammed it behind her.

For a moment there was silence during which the girl eyed Professor McGonagall curiously.

"Miss Lince", Professor McGonagall broke the silence, "I am Deputy Headmistress and Professor at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You have gotten our letter, I presume?"

Miss Lince nodded silently.

Professor McGonagall took a breath. The next part was where most muggle born children tended to flip out.

"You are a witch, Miss Lince. Meaning, you have magical powers and can therefore go to Hogwarts to learn several aspects of magic."

Miss Lince stared at her, yet there was no surprise in her eyes. This confused Professor McGonagall a bit.

"How do you know?", Miss Lince asked suddenly.

"Know what?", Professor McGonagall asked back irritatedly.

"That I can do magic."

Professor McGonagall eyed her curiously. This was certainly not the reaction she had expected.

"After a child manifests his or her magical powers, they are watched by the ministry through the Trace, which tells us when somebody is old enough to go to a school such as Hogwarts."

Miss Lince nodded and inspected Professor McGonagall's green robes more closely.

"I shall retrieve you tomorrow to take you to a place called Diagon Alley, where you can get your school supplies", Professor McGonagall stated and looked down at the girl through her glasses.

Miss Lince nodded once more, keeping silent.

After another moment of silence, Professor McGonagall spoke: "I shall quickly inform the head of the orphanage of the details. Could you take me to him?"
Of course she wouldn't tell him about the magical part involving their school.

Miss Lince turned around and walked to a door.

"This way", she mumbled over her shoulder and opened it. They walked through another corridor, passing other children who stared at Professor McGonagall, until the girl stopped in front of a door at the end.

"Mr. Ralf is in there", she said and stepped aside to let Professor McGonagall through.

"Good day, Miss Lince", the Professor said.

"Bye", the little girl answered quietly.

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Jessamine had been up since dawn, she could not sleep because one thought kept turning in her head: Today she would get her school supplies.
She was excited and nervous at the same time. Esma had left after Jessamine had kept on wandering around in the small room, irritating the blackbird.

Jessamine had put on her best clothes, which were a pair of dark pants and a light yellow sweater. Her brown hair she tied into a ponytail and finally, she wore the only necklace she owned: a silver heart on a thin silver chain.

She packed her brown bag as well, which she slung over her left shoulder and then sat down on her bed.
Jessamine could hear the other children eating breakfast, but her stomach was a tight knot.
She fidgeted with the strap of her bag.

Was Professor McGonagall coming in the morning? Or the afternoon?

And how? By car?
Not very likely.

That question answered itself when Mrs. Bludge called Jessamine down at nine in the morning. Jessamine had to surpress the urge to skip down the steps when she saw Professor McGonagall, in black robes this time.

"Don't cause trouble", Mrs. Bludge mumbled and disappeared again.

Jessamine could hear whispering from the kitchen. Somebody tried to sneak a peak through the kitchen door, but the cook called everybody back to the table.

"Are you ready?", Professor McGonagall asked.

Jessamine nodded enthusiastically.
The corners of the older woman's mouth tipped slightly upward in amusement before she turned and left the orphanage through the front door, Jessamine following quickly.

They walked past the fence onto the street.
A loud, distressed chirping caused Jessamine to look up. Esma was fluttering above her head, obviously worried that she would not come back.

Esma landed on Jessamine's shoulder, despite Professor McGonagall standing right next to her. The blackbird gripped the strap of Jessamine's bag, intending to go wherever the little girl was going.

Jessamine looked up and her face turned pink.
"Can Esma come?", she asked nervously.

Professor McGonagall pinched her lips together.

This just added to the questions she had about this strange girl. But Miss Lince was about to enter a new world, on her own, so Professor McGonagall decided it would be best to let the bird accompany them.

"Very well", she answered and eyed the bird carefully.
"But your bird will probably not like our way of transportation."

Professor McGonagall led them into an empty alley, before taking out her wand.
Jessamine stared at it, amazed, while Esma just kept on sitting quietly on her shoulder.

Professor McGonagall extended her right arm.

"Hold on tightly", she instructed and Jessamine cautiously reached out her left hand to clasp the black robe.
A moment later she got terribly dizzy and the world disappeared.