Chapter Text
The Jones Group Home for Foster Children was quite a lovely looking place, children were tending to the garden or playing out front while being watched by a kind-looking, middle-aged woman during this surprisingly warm and sunny day and laughter was coming from inside.
Albus Dumbledore found it rather nice, the pensive part of him that had only grown in his age thought it like the brighter reflection of that orphanage that he had visited all those years ago.
While he may have been Headmaster of Hogwarts now he still felt a duty towards the next child to come from a parentless home, to not fail them like he must have with Tom or more recently, Harry. He clutched the acceptance letter in one hand while the other reached into his pocket and picked out a sherbert lemon coated in a curious mixture that was wonderful in curing the headaches associated with apparition and popped it into his mouth.
After waiting for the muggle cars to come to a stop he crossed the street to the home, giving the drivers a wave as he passed. While in his past he may have had some rather rude ideas when it came to them Albus had come to appreciate muggles and their inventions, if only Gellert had followed suit.
He pushed the weight of his past love to the back of his mind, it wouldn’t do to let himself be consumed by the past when a young witch needed an introduction to the world of magic, best to leave feelings of contrition to his time alone.
The woman who was watching the children looked up and met Albus’s eyes, with a moment of shock he recognized her, Diana Jones had been a Hufflepuff who had been chosen as Head Girl just a few years after Albus had become Headmaster of Hogwarts, he hadn’t kept track of her but it was a surprise to see her in the muggle world.
The shock seemed to be shared by Diana for just a moment before she saw the letter in his hand and gathered herself, she called back into the house and a younger man walked out. She then dusted off her clothes and began to walk towards Albus.
“Hello there Professor Dumbledore, what a surprise, could I help you with anything today?” Diana said with a smile, they both knew why Albus was there but it couldn’t hurt to put on airs for the muggles.
Albus returned the smile with one of his own, if he had a mirror he would have likely seen a twinkle in his eyes. “Ah, Madam Jones, what a pleasure to see you again, I just have a letter for one of your wards. Would you like if we took this inside your lovely home?”
“Fine by me Professor, come, come.” Diana waved him inside, the young man that had come outside spared him a glance but accepted his presence, he did resemble Diana somewhat, perhaps he was a squib. She brought him to the kitchen and offered him a seat. “Would you like some tea Professor Dumbledore?”
“Of course, thank you Madam Jones.” Once he accepted, Diana set up a pot that came to a boil rather quickly, she then poured two cups and joined Albus. “I must say, this makes my next step quite a bit easier.”
Diana smiled but there was a certain emotion that tainted the action, not the nervousness that some muggles had but a sadness. “Well Professor, don’t hold back on my account, come on then.”
“Ah yes, of course, I’ve an acceptance letter, would you like to take a look?” After she nodded he placed the letter on the table and scooped some sugar into his tea, his sweet tooth simply demanded it of him.
On the letter was the customary address for a prospective Hogwarts student:
Ms. O. Phamrsolone
The Corner Room on the Second Floor
13 Chaucer Road
Canterbury
Kent
“Oh dear…” Diana’s expression melted into something more somber, there wasn’t a bit of fear, just pity for the girl who was addressed.
Albus frowned, with Tom it had been terror that the boy would learn to hurt more people in more painful ways but with Miss Phamrsolone there was something else. “Is everything all right Madam Jones?”
“Oh, nothing you need to worry about, Ophelia is a good girl, diligent and an academic but she… She’s rather troubled, ever since she came here she’s had nightmares, she’s reclusive and didn’t trust me for years, still snaps at me on Sundays sometimes. There’s something different about her magic, I’ve a theory that her parents were magical and they… I think they did something to her, an experiment or something.” By the time she was done speaking Diana’s eyes were moist with the beginnings of tears, Albus could say in full certainty that her Hufflepuff loyalty applied to the children she took care of.
That was rather worrying, usually magical parents treated their children well, physically at the very least, certainly some of the older families had expectations that put a strain on their children but experimentation was almost unheard of. “Has she spoken at all about her family, I imagine they aren’t around to care for her but–”
“No, not a peep, nothing about magic either, when I tried to bring it up it was like she froze.” Diana said as she recovered from her near crying spell, Albus was beginning to assume the worst about young Ophelia, perhaps she had been raised by a family that heavily discouraged magic, if that were the case he would need to intervene soon.
Not that he would discount Daina’s skill in raising children, if Miss Phamrsolone was going down the path Albus’s sister did she was still far from losing herself judging by the lack of fear her caretaker had about her. “Well, let’s not delay any further, hopefully she’ll be more forthcoming once she understands her abilities more.”
“Of course, let me bring you up to her, she should be reading in her room.” Diana stood up and gathered the tea set she had placed out, once she had placed them on the kitchen counter and Albus had stood she motioned for him to follow.
As they climbed the stairs a young boy scampered past, almost running straight into Albus, he let out a soft chuckle at the boy’s exuberance and Diana took a moment to lightly scold him to watch his step.
Once they reached Miss Phamrsolone’s room Diana took a breath and then knocked, a soft voice came from inside, surprisingly heavy with a German accent that brought back certain memories of a young Durmstrang boy that Albus banished from his thoughts. “Come in.”
Diana opened the door slowly and Albus got his first sight of Ophelia Phamrsolone, she was reading a muggle history textbook, the girl was somewhat regular looking, a normal blue eye read her book, regular enough brown hair reached her shoulders and she wasn’t extraordinarily large or small. The only oddity was that she wore an eyepatch over her right eye.
“Ophelia dear, I have someone here who would like to speak to you.” At Diana’s words the girl looked up and noticed Albus, he smiled at her.
Miss Phamrsolone set her jaw and slammed her book shut, in her eye he didn’t find fear but defiance. “Hello sir, can I help you?”
This wasn’t Tom, he wasn’t going to let yet another child ruin themselves.
“It’s nice to meet you Ophelia, my name is Professor Dumbledore. I’m the Headmaster of a school—” Before he could speak further the girl interrupted him, not that he minded much, he’d been teaching children for long enough to be unphased but her words certainly did that much.
She said it sharply, as if she’d already made up her mind, Albus felt the faint thrumming of magic. “Are you here to kill me?”
Both him and Diana were taken back, a child so young shouldn’t be thinking things like that, she shouldn’t be so used to the idea that fear didn’t cross her features with the question.
“Ophelia! Why would you think something like that?” Diana was the one to speak first, Albus was forever thankful, he wasn’t exactly sure how to handle this.
Miss Phamrsolone shrugged. “We’re both magical, I don’t think I’ve done anything worth recruiting me so it can’t be that. I can only imagine I broke some kind of rule and you're here to silence me.”
“No.” Some of the anger he hadn’t felt since he was young bleed into his voice. “I am not here to kill you Ophelia, I am here to offer you a place at my school.”
She glanced at Diana and when the woman nodded she lowered her head. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”
“No, don’t apologize, I’m sure you have your reasons.” As Diana went over to comfort the girl Albus brought up the question that he’d been tossing around his head. “Now, Ophelia, I understand you don’t particularly enjoy talking about them but since you know I am a wizard and you are a witch were your parents magical?”
The girl’s one visible eyebrow kneaded itself in confusion, for a moment she didn’t answer but then she shook her head in the affirmative. “They were- They weren’t very good people, they forced me to be a better ma-witch.”
“Oh darling, you could have told me, I could get you help.” Albus smiled slightly at Diana, she was most definitely a good woman, if only he could have left Harry at her doorstep.
Miss Phamrsolone recoiled for a second, Albus was beginning to think that the word ‘help’ held some negative connotations for her. “It’s fine, it’s in the past anyways.”
“Ophelia, moving beyond the past is a long journey, don’t turn away from it before you’ve had the chance to take it.” Honestly, if Albus hadn’t learnt from the wars he would hate the man he turned out to be, the girl was young but hopefully she took his message to heart.
She seemingly wished to move on from the topic, her hands bunched in her skirt and she not-so-conspicuously looked out the window. “You said something about a school?”
Albus smiled, Miss Phamrsolone still had time to learn the lessons of life, despite her unfortunate upbringing she seemed to be a sharp girl. “Of course, Hogwarts is a school that can not only teach you magic but teach you to control it. We have some of the brightest minds teaching at Hogwarts, I’m sure if you wish we can find a way to help you with your troubles.”
Diana looked down and ran a hand down Miss Phamrsolone’s hair. “And if the Professors at Hogwarts can’t help we can take you to St. Mungos Hospital, they’ll know how to help, I promise.”
“What about my eye?” The girl mumbled, for the first time looking somewhat frightened. Albus could guess it had something to do with what was behind her eyepatch, certainly if she wanted to he could inquire with Poppy about regrowing it.
He nodded, eyes in all likelihood twinkling again. “Of course, the magical world has multiple methods of growing organs, if you’d like we could discuss it once the term has started.”
“That’s not it.” She paused for a second, had something been done to her eye perhaps? “When I uncover it I can see paths, it’s a lot and it can hurt but when I do I can make things take one.”
Fascinating…
Was she some kind of seer?
“If you don’t mind, could you give an example?“ Albus said, it had been some time since a true seer had passed through the halls of Hogwarts, Sybill may have created prophecies but she had no input in it.
Miss Phamrsolone shifted uncomfortably and Albus had to remind himself that this was a child. “Um… If something has a chance of happening my eye can make it, I guess dice would work.”
Albus stroked his beard, it was a useful ability no doubt, it would be so easy to send the girl on a trajectory that would encourage her to support the fight against Voldemort.
But children shouldn’t have to be pawns, he’d leave her to Diana and her kindness, if she ended up falling to the charm of Dark Lords she’d need to be taken care of but he didn’t imagine that to be a problem. She grew up in the muggle world, he hoped with all his heart she knew they weren’t lesser.
“Amazing, you have quite the talent Miss Phamrsolone!” He placed her letter on a nightstand and straightened out his suit. “I’m sure we’ll see you in September, until then I trust that Madam Jones can introduce you to the magical world.”
“Of course Professor Dumbledore, I’ll make sure she’s got all the things she needs.” Diana thought for a second before glancing at her ward for a moment. “All right then, what do we say, Ophelia?”
Miss Phamrsolone gave a wry smile and turned to Albus. “Thank you Professor Dumbledore.”
“Of course! Now, I must be off.”
And with that Albus apparated away from The Jones Group Home for Foster Children, leaving behind a witch who he had given encouragement to.
He could only hope that all would be well.