~Part One ~ But, wait, sir! An owl gave it to me! ~ Re-reading her favourite page of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (page 334), Ella pondered, what if there really were wizards? Could she be one? Eleven years old, the right age. Just think, Elizabeth Riddle, a wizard! But even if she was, there would be whispers. Tom Riddle, Ella Riddle. Ella almost laughed. Harry Potter was fiction. And who was she, thinking up fantasies about her being a wizard. School loomed over her, a black cloud over her otherwise perfect day. If I really was a wizard... Ella thought. A sharp tap brought her back to reality. An owl was flying next to her window. Ironic. Ella almost wished the owl really was staring at her. She opened her window, shooing it away. It wouldn't budge. What a stupid owl, she thought. Instead the owl stuck out it leg. This can't be happening thought Ella. But it was. A piece of paper was stuck to it's leg. Hands shaking, Ella took it. It read as follows; Dear Ms Riddle, We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry. Ella didn't need to read any more. She had memorised the letter ages ago. Ella lost her breath, and when she got it back she screamed. Her mum sprinted up the stairs, and looked at her, concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?" "Oh, mum, nothing! Nada! Nope! I just got into Hogwarts, that's all!" "What's a Hogwart?" "The best school for witchcraft and wizardry there is, of course!" "You're... a witch?" "Yeah!!!" "Someone will have to come and explain it to me and dad..." "Of course, send them an owl." "Owl?" "Oh, mum, just write a note." And so her mum did. Ella then attached it to the owl's leg (the one who had delivered her letter) and away it flew, back to Ella's new school. The next days were rushed and confused. The herbology teacher, Mr Longbottom (Neville Longbotom, Ella almost fainted) came to explain to her parents. Then it was Diagon Alley. Ella wandered down the street, having been let in my the bartender, buying the assortment of books and cauldrons and potion ingredients she would need. She paused to stare at brooms. The Firebolt 300 had just come out. Hogwarts boys sporting House scarves bragged about getting one. She grinned at them before counting her gold. Mum had given her 100 pence muggle money to exchange for gold at Gringott's that day. Ella had asked to go alone, she wasn't sure why. It just felt right. She pulled out her checklist. All of her book had been crossed off. Her cauldron, quills, and robes were too. All that was left was her wand, and maybe an owl if she had enough left over. She passed a kid, laughing and carrying a small vial with 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' inscribed on it. Ella almost cussed. How could she have forgotten? The twins! Well, twin. Fred had died... unless her theory was right. See, Ella was a firm believer in the idea that Fred was merely stupefied and everyone was too stupid to realize it until after the fact. And by then, it would have looked bad to change it. So, they pretended he died. As she neared the door, she paused. What if her hope was going to be crushed? "Well, you never know until you try..." she whispered to herself and pulled open the door. One twin was above doing sales to a couple of pretty Asian girls. Ella looked around, terrified. She caught a flash of red hair passing by the pygmy puffs. She walked over casually, and there stood another one! Her theory was at least part right. She laughed aloud and picked up a puff. The second twin, the one she had seen disappearing, came up behind her. "Interested?" Ella, nodded, still grinning foolishly. "10% discount if you're headed to Hogwarts." Ella's smile widened. "Really? That's where I'm going." "Then here you go." he handed her a coupon and turned to leave. She paused. "Wait, you're Fred, right?" He turned and grinned back. "Yeah. See, I didn't actually die. I was only stupefied-" "And everyone was too stupid to realize it until after the fact and by then it would have looked bad to change it. I was right!" Fred laughed. "Yeah, pretty much." Then he left. Ella danced around for a bit. She bought her pygmy puff, then, on second thought, some dungbombs and skiving snackboxes. Better safe than sorry. She pulled out her money. She still had 20 galleons, 12 sickles, and a handful of knuts. Next stop, Ollivander's. She thought, and proceeded down the street towards the small store. The door clanged as she entered, looking around at the assortment of dusty wand boxes and small stools. Luckily, it was lunch time and most people were eating, so there was no one else in there. "I'll be right out..." said a small voice from behind a door Ella hadn't noticed. She smiled and brushed the dust off of a stool to sit on. A moment later, Ollivander came out. He was remarkably unchanged, the same frizzly grey hair, small smile, and timid voice. "First year at Hogwarts?" he asked. Ella smiled and nodded, standing up once again. Ollivander began hauling wands off shelves and laying them on his desk. "Let's see here... Dragon heartstring, ash wood, 11 and a quarter inches, fairly flexible." Ella grasped the wand and waved it around. There was a loud bang, and her pants were on fire. "Oh!" she cried, and hurriedly put it out. "Oh, well, that one isn't quite right... try this one, unicorn tail hair, holly, 9 and half inches, quite flexible..." Ella took the wand gingerly this time, gently waving it to and fro. A full stack of wands fell over and flew across the floor. Ella gasped. "Oh, Mr Ollivander, Sir, I'm sorry..." He smiled. "Happens all the time, dear." "Do you need any help cleaning them up?" "Oh, no, goves me something to do in my spare time." Ella laughed a little, and Ollivander held out another. "Now this one, it's a phoenix tail feather, 11 and a half inches. A great wand for Defense." Ella held the wand, and everything seemed to slow down. The room was filled with light coming from the wand, and she gasped. Everything felt... right. "I can feel it, this one's brilliant!" "Brilliant, indeed. That'll be 7 galleons and 5 sickles." "I'd pay all the money in the world for this wand..." Ella said, placing the wand gently back into its case and pulling out her money pouch. She pulled out the right change and handed it to Ollivander. She glanced backwards guiltily at the scattered wands. "You're sure you don't want me to help?" "No, sweetheart. That's fine." "Okay, thank you soooo much!" She grabbed her stuff and left with a final grin at Ollivander. This time, she paused to buy an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. It was one of those amazing wizard flavors, hot chocolate ice cream. Ella leaned back and closed her eyes ever so slightly to enjoy it more, when BANG. Someone ran, screaming down the street. A witch. In a black cloak, covering her face. "The Dark Lord! The Dark Lord will rise again in the form of another, the next, the last Riddle!" The blood drained from Ella's face. Her head began to pound. Her hands began to shake. The ice cream she had been enjoying not thirty seconds ago fell to the floor. The sound of it clattering on the cobblestone outside the parlor broke the terrified silence that had pressed upon the crowd since the screams. Everything seemed to erupt at once, grown witches and wizards poured out of shops, down the streets, after the cloaked witch. Children cried for their mummies and school supplies crashed to the ground. Pure chaos. Ella assembled her things quickly and sprinted towards the Leaky Cauldron. It was difficult to navigate without getting crushed by the constant stream of bodies pressing in on every side. But, somehow, she made it back to her room. For a good hour, the words replayed in her head. SHE was to rise again as the Dark Lord. SHE was the last Riddle. ~Chapter Two ~ No way this year, anyone's gonna die and it's gonna be totally awesome! ~ Boarding the Hogwarts train was difficult. For the first time since her letter, Ella doubted her acceptance at Hogwarts. She fell into a fitful sleep, full of nightmares and terrifying visions. She stood by the lake. Everything was black, but the otherwise silent night was pierced with screams and shouts. The lake would reflect the magnificent castle in the day, but at night you coudn't see a thing. That is, until the first flame peeked out through the Gryffindor common room window. The North Tower was aflame, fire catching faster and faster and faster with every minute. And she didn't know how long she was standing there in her dream, simply watching. A sharp crack came from nearby, and a figure began walking towards her. There was no reaction from Ella, except to speak in a high, cold voice that definitely wasn't her own. "And now, Lianna, now?" "The castle will not last long. No teacher seems to be able to put out your little fire. How did you do it, my Lord?" "Ah, perhaps someday I'll share my secret. But for now... Just watch and enjoy." "Yes, my liege." "No need to be so humble. I am, technically, only eleven." "Technically?" "Horcruxes were never my only means of surviv-" “We’re almost there, you know. You should change." Ella woke up with the haunting image of Hogwarts on fire still burning behind her eyelids every time she blinked. Groggily, she turned towards the speaker. Flaming red hair. A Weasley! "I'm so sorry I had to wake you. First year?" Ella nodded. The red-haired girl continued, smiling. "I'm a second. I'm Rose Weasley." Ella almost said "I know" but thought better of it. Instead, she said "I'm Ella Ri-" She stopped. Why reveal her horrible last name without having to? Rose looked a bit confused, but smiled again. “You’ll love Hogwarts. Everyone does. I have to go." Rose left the compartment. Ella pulled out her robe and was overpowered by excitement, her dream lost in the moment. Gotta get myself to Hogwarts! The hustle and bustle of the station was almost covering the deep, booming voice calling out “Firs’ years this way!” Hagrid, Ella thought excitedly. So close! There were about 40 other first years. Ella hoped that she would be a Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Well, to be honest, any house would be better than Slytherin in Ella’s opinion. Where the other Riddle went... No, Ella thought. I won’t do that to myself now. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. “Any other firs’ years?” Hagrid called. Whoops, Ella had been daydreaming again. Most of the first years were already stationed in their boats. As Ella hurried over, Hagrid chuckled and finished off his counting with “number 40”. As Hagrid went over the safety stuff, Ella barely listened. If I fall in the water, the squid will just push me out, just like Colin Creevy’s brother. Instead she imagined Hogwarts, her dream home. How would it look? How it does in the movies? Or even better? Ella hadn’t even realised the boat was moving until she received a poke from a pretty, dark-haired girl. She smiled mischievously. “Hi, I’m Alex, future Gryffindor.” Ella replied with the basic response. “Hi, I’m Ella. But how do you know you’re a Gryffindor?” Alex laughed, showing off her perfect smile. “I took the quiz, of course!” “Quiz?” Ella replied. “The Sorting won’t take place? What quiz? Was I supposed to take it?” Alex laughed again. “Of course it will take place and the quiz as on a Harry Potter fan website!” “You read Harry Potter, too?!” Ella was really excited now. Going to Hogwarts with another HP fan? Can you say amazing?? Before Alex could answer, the boat was showered with light. “Yeh can see Hogwarts from here!” A great gasp, followed by much scrambling to get a good view followed Hagrid’s words. Those in the front got to see it first but it was still breathtaking for Alex and Ella, who were in the back. Hogwarts was truly a castle with torrents and balconies and huge windows and fields and hills and wow! Hogwarts reached the sky! The sunset made Hogwarts magnificenter. For a while everyone rode in silence. Alex broke the silence by saying “Do we really get to go there?” And that sort of broke the awed silence. Excited whispers broke out everywhere. Ella only caught snatches, things like “Look up, Hogwarts is huge”, “You see that tower?” and “I think that’s Hufflepuff dormitories!” It was the most amazing thing Ella had ever seen. “Oh my God.” Whispered Alex. “Isn’t it amazing?” Ella whispered back. “A bit different than I imagined it but...” Ella faltered. Alex didn’t mean the castle, but the giant squid behind them. It wasn’t normal for the squid to show itself, was it? Ella laughed nervously. “Nothing to be afraid of. The scary things are the merpeople...” But just as she finished, she swore she could see spears rising out of the water. Now that was weird. Other people were catching on now, too. The excited murmurs of a minute ago were now concerned, scared whispers. Hagrid turned around. The reaction to Hogwarts usually a bit happier. Not these scared-out-of-their-wits whispers. Then Hagrid, too, saw the squid. But Hagrid wasn’t afraid. Perhaps he should have been. The squid swam up the procession of boats, reached blindly until it found what is was looking for. Closer and closer it came to... “HAGRID!!” Ella screamed, as though he hadn’t already noticed that a giant squid was reaching for him. Pointing his pink umbrella, he yelled “spudnio” so forcefully the boats jumped a few feet before speeding up. Ella felt sick. She watched as the squid reached over to grab Hagrid.... “Ella?” Slowly, things slid back into focus. Ella had had the weirdest dream involving squids and boats and Hogwarts... Then the face of a pretty, dark-haired girl came back into focus. It wasn’t a dream! Ella really was at Hogwarts! But then the bad part came back, too. Ella tried to sit up but something pushed her back down. ”Rest, you need it, we all do.” Alex was right beside her wearing the hospital pyjamas. Ella registered the white walls and then Madam Pomfrey came over and poured a liquid into her mouth and things slid out of focus once more. Everything had to be explained to the first years the next day. Headmistress McGonagall did the explaining. The thing was, she herself had bewitched the boats so that they could not sink or move without being commanded to, so chances were that Hagrid was still alive but confused and lost. The Sorting was going to take place that night and everything else was to go on as usual. Except that the first years got a week off class to get oriented. The thing was, they were all temperamental; bursting into tears every few minutes. The first years saw a whole lot of aurors running around school. Alex overheard McGonagall having an argument with someone named Thomas, Dean Thomas. Ella ran into one muttering to herself about interrogating the merpeople. It was madness. In the center of it all was an uptight, pale-haired boy who was saying that his dad had told him Hagrid was a nasty oaf. Ella and Alex agreed that this must be a Malfoy. They had a laugh over it. A dreamy girl could only be a Lovegood. A boy with an Irish accent was going around boasting his dad was good friends with Harry Potter must have been Seamus Finnigan’s son. There were so many others that ressembled their famous parents. Half the characters in the books had relatives here. It was almost like Ella’s birthday had come early. And so did the sorting. Turns out, Alex’s last name started with “A” too. She was the first to be sorted. So when “Abbott, Alexandra” was called, she was the first Gryffindor. Then the list went on and Ella lost interest until “Riddle, Elizabeth” was called. There were, as Ella would have guessed, whispers. Mostly the Potters and Weasleys. But too bad. Ella placed the hat atop her head. Instantly her head was filled with conversation. “Now let’s see... You have some muggle born, not Slytherin, even though a relative of yours was... You know who... Nice brains... hmmm... loyalty is there... but overall... I think... Gryffindor!!” Yes, yes yes! Ella laughed then joined her fellow Gryffindor and sat beside Alex. Once the sorting was done, the Finnigan boy, the Lovegood girl, and strangely the Malfoy boy became Gryffindor also. Ella immediately thought of Sirius Black. Maybe the Malfoy wasn’t as snooty as he appeared. The feast was delicious. Afterwards, McGonagall did the basic speech. “Hello, students old and new. This year, our school has admitted so many students that will be learning the wondrous art of magic!” The students applauded. When they had quieted down, McGonagall continued. ”Of course, we will introduce your teachers. Professor Longbottom, your herbology professor and the Gryffindor head of house! Professor Larkin, he will teach you defence against the dark arts! Professor Wagner, Ravenclaw head of house and charms! Professor Patil, divination! Professor Belby, potions! Professor Abbott, head of Hufflepuff house and transfiguration! Professor Bagshot, History of Magic! Professor Avery, head of Slytherin house and astronomy! And our lucky first years have a good Brooms teacher, indeed! May I present, Professor Krum!” Thunderous applause filled the dining hall as Professor Krum, THE Viktor Krum, stood up and gave a half wave to the assembled students. -BIG PART MISSING RIGHT HERE- [Alex and Ella become friends with Malfoy and are now headed towards their dorm] "Oh my god, Ella! I can't wait for Quidditch!" Ella laughed. "But you know first years don't play!" "Yeah, well, I'm going to get myself onto a broom if it's the last thing I do!" "Not without me, you're not!' The portrait swung open and the first years flooded into the common room. It was refurbished! Portraits of successful Gryffindors covered one wall. The fireplace was in the middle of the room, open. The smoke disappeared before hitting the ceiling. The same comfy armchairs surrounded it, the red and gold of Gryffindor. It was warm, and bright, and Ella could imagine herself lounging here on countless afternoons, studying or cleaning a broom. Or in the winter, huddled by the fireplace with a book or a journal. She shook herself from the reverie and took in every other detail of the room. The walls were now gold, and Gryffindor banners hung everywhere. Other students smiled at them and waved. A couple said hello. Rose grinned at a dark haired, tall boy. "Okay, now girls dormitory to the right, boys to the left. Just a warning, boys cannot enter the girl's dormitory. And problems, come see me." Rose waved to them, and proceeded over to who appeared to be her boyfriend. Ella turned to Alex, grinning. "Shall we see our room?" "Ke-CHAW!" They laughed and ran towards their dorm, several others coming behind them. It was a pretty big, with five beds covered with Gryffindor hangings. A girl quickly claimed each one and started putting stuff away. Ella quickly abandoned the task and instead sat on her bed and looked at everything, taking it in. Next to her, Alex. Shoving things hurriedly into drawers and under the bed. Across, a girl was putting things neatly into drawers. She was pretty, with curly light brown hair and brown eyes. Ella thought she had heard someone call her Carlie. Next to her sat the Lovegood girl, Starr. She was arranging her assortment of trademark Lovegood jewelry on top of her dresser. Beside her, Adryanna. Black hair and singing rock music. Carlie was glaring daggers at her. Ella debated telling her to tone it down but she looked a little scary, so Ella passed up the opportunity in favour of turning to Alex, who had finished putting stuff away. "Where next?" Ella asked, grinning. "I have no idea, wherever we go we'll probably get lost." "Sounds good, let's go." They started for the door and almost passed through, when Carlie's voice drifted towards them. "Ummm... May I come?" Ella smiled and nodded. "Sure, you're Carlie, right?" "Yeah, and you're..." "Ella. And Alex will introduce herself this time." Alex smirked at Ella. "Like I need to anymore. I"m Alex." Ella stuck out her tongue at Alex. "We should probably go annoy Malfoy first. I think he might come too." There was no need to go find him, he was in the common room. He smirked at the sight of them. "Thought you could go off without me?" Ella smirked back. "Oh no, course not. We were actually just coming to find you." "Yeah, right. Who's that, with you?" Carlie smiled shyly. "I'm Carlie." she said timidly. "Hey Carlie, I'm Scorpius." Alex grinned. "Enough of the niceties. You coming, Malfoy?" He nodded, and the four proceeded to the portrait, when Rose came up behind them. "And where do you think you're going?" Ella turned and shrugged. "Exploring, why?" "Well... I think you know why." Ella's look turned cold. "You judging me?" "I think I might be. You got a problem with it?" Carlie, Malfoy, and Alex looked at each other blankly. Ella smirked a little. "Yeah, I kind of do." Just at that moment, Adryanna pushed past them. "Sorry to interrupt your little fight or whatever, but I'm out of here. Gone to visit my cousin in Hufflepuff." Rose let her pass. Adryanna was gone in a second. Ella watched her go and waited until she was out of sight. she didn't want to include anyone she didn't have to. "So, even though I'm a Gryffindor, you're STILL going to assume I'm evil?" Another voice joined the fight. James Potter. "Yeah, I think I will, thank you very much." Ella sighed exasperatedly. "You can bring in every believer, ever, but that won't make me evil. So shove off, or I'm getting McGonagall." James imitated her voice, smirking. "I'm getting McGonagall, ooh, so scary!" Ella turned to walk away and came face to face with another first year Gryffindor. A boy. He was pretty mad. "She SAID, shove off!" James looked a little surprised at this new development. "Oh, and who do you think you are?" "Michael Anderson. I heard from my older brother that you're James Potter. Pity you don't take after your dad." "Oh, and who is this idiot brother of yours?" "My brother isn't a prat like you. HE wouldn't pick on first years just trying to go exploring." "Yeah, but what if one of them was heir to..." James's voice dropped to a whisper. "Voldemort?" Everyone turned to look at Ella. She looked from one questioning face to another. Trying to be cool about it, Ella shrugged. Malfoy turned red. "So my dad worked for your dad?" Ella shook her head exasperatedly. "No, my dad is Alexander Riddle, he's a muggle lawyer and wouldn't hurt a fly if he was paid a million dollars. So baked potato off!" She turned on her heel, and ran back to her room, crying a little. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, trying to block out the world. Alex came in a moment later, with Carlie close behind her. She sat beside Ella and put her arm over her. "Ella?" "Go away." "I'm not judging you, Ella. I'm not a prat like Rose or James. They were totally out of line doing that! I mean, James's dad put up with a lot of prejudices at school, you would think that he would teach his own son not to judge someone because of their name! He's the BIGGEST PRAT EVER." "You think?" "I don't think, Ella, I KNOW. After you left, Michael punched him. Told him he was a prat, making a first year cry on her first day. I like Mike. He's nice. James was so peeved! He started shouting and stuff. He has Harry's temper. And then he tried to punch Mike, but Malfoy stopped him. I guess Malfoy has had his fair share of jeers too. So Malfoy essentially repeated everything Mike had said, then I stepped in, I mean, I felt like beating the scumbag to a pulp too, but then... Professor Longbottom walked in and got mad. Sent us all back to our rooms. Went on about how prefects were involved. They tried to say it was because of your name, but they realized it sounded SO lame, they just stopped and went without a fight. It was pretty amazing." By midway through Alex's story, Ella had sat up and dried her tears. At the end, she was even smiling a little. Ella shook her head. "Honest to god?" "Unless god is dead." "You like Starship, too?!" Starr Lovegood looked over. "I think Starship is quite educational. I believe the existence of a planet totally inhabited by bugs is a possibility we need to consider. Especially bug-to-human transfusions. Like Bug's." Ella grinned. "How about A Very Potter Musical?" Alex grinned back. "I like A Very Potter Sequel better." "I wish Darren would get his arse off Glee and make the Threequel." "Threequel isn't a word." said Starr, tilting her head. "You think that Nargles and Crumple Horned Snorckacks and billywings induce an open mind, but you don't believe that that threequel is a word?" Carlie grinned. She had a dictionary open on her lap. "Neither does Merriam-Webster." "Not helping, Carlie!" Ella replied, fake annoyed. Everyone erupted into laughter. Adryanna returned, looking at them all like they were crazy. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked, looking from one to another, wide eyed. They erupted into laughter again. ~Chapter Three ~ She only reads books, and she cannot draw even if she's reading a how-to-draw book! ~ The next day, classes started. First years wandered uncertainly, constantly asking for others help. Carlie, Ella, Starr, Alex, and Malfoy traveled in a pack. They got lost only two or three times, which Ella considered a great victory. They arrived at their first class, transfiguration, and sat back, wondering what the teacher would be like. The rest of the class was seated, save one or two lost ones who were probably given directions by Peeves and assumed they were right or something. A poke from behind shook Ella from her thoughts and she turned around, slightly annoyed. "Wha-" she stopped when she saw who he was. Michael Anderson. "Oh, hi." "Expecting someone else?" "Nah, well, maybe Malfoy trying to annoy me." "Malfoy, that blonde haired kid, right?" "Yeah, him. Scorpius." Malfoy looked up from the textbook, which he had been flipping through absentmindedly. "Talking about me?" he called over the heads of students. "Yeah, problem?" "Nah, you can talk about how attractive I am any day!" The professor chose that particular moment to walk in. Tall and lean, she wore an amused style and professor's robes. "As attractive as you might think you are, let's begin." she announced, making Malfoy blush and most of the class laugh. "I'm professor Abbott. Today, we will be starting Trasfiguration."