Note to self: do not knock in the door of a random castle.

Note to self: stop ignoring your own advice

Note to self: oh shit oh shit I knocked on the door.

The door in question was wrong. It was designed to look old, but it was new. It made me wonder how old the grey mossy castle was.

I suddenly felt terrified so I apparated away, without thinking of where I was going.

Note to self: stop doing that.

I appeared in the grounds surrounding Grimmauld place and was like ‘Holy shit, death eaters.’ But they didn’t see me so I hid in a bush and listened to them...My brain may or may not have altered the conversation to make it more interesting.

“Snape is the new headmaster of Hogwarts.” One of them said. “What a dick, I want to be a headmaster.”

“You’d be a head MISTRESS, you git. But I honestly don’t know how he can trust Snape.”

 “Asshole, don’t call me a git. Snape is just a wanker. I’m also pissed that the Carrows got to go in as teachers and like, torture the kids. It’s totally unfair. I want to torture kids.”

“Don’t call me an Asshole you titwank. And hey, the Carrows have been kind of faithful I guess, even though their names are stupid. I thought Amycus was the chick because it has ‘Amy’ in it, but apparently not. It was an awkward meeting for me. That Dark Lord bloke that we support thought it was funny. Especially when Amycus punched me in the face.”

“You’re such a fuckweasel. And yeah, their names are stupid! I’m only supporting the darkest of all dark lords because he offers wicked health insurance.”

 My mind started to get weird so I apparated away (again.) and ended up back in front of the castle.

And I realised that someone had opened the door.

"Oh sweetheart, come inside, you're safe here, okay?" said a girl a few years older than myself, she put her hand on my shoulder and guided me inside.

The room she’d led me into was rather bright and felt a lot warmer than one would expect from a castle. Then again, the door was new, so this room could also be new. There was an electric fireplace on the opposite wall and a few tiny girls (When I say tiny, I mean it. They were like miniature humans) were huddled around it. The ground was carpeted in a coffee colour and the walls were painted a dark caramel. There were various photos on the walls of different girls, with – I presumed – their names carved on the bottom of their frames. There were three doors leading off into different directions, these doors weren’t unlike the front door with their wrongness.

"What is this place?!" l said cautiously, looking around.

"It's a place for us to be safe, and free. It’s my invention and many’s salvation." The girl smiled dramatically, showing off a set of dazzling white teeth. Her strawberry-blonde hair danced around her face, and I noticed that her front fringe was slightly crooked.

"You've said that a lot haven't you?"

"Well darling, you have to admit it sounds pretty darn awesome." the girl grinned at me. She paused in her walk and her smile and a slightly bemused expression crossed her face. “What are you running from?” she asked me. I frowned and turned away. How did she know?

“It’s complicated.”

“Tell me in three words.”

I knew, for whatever reason, that I had to tell her.
“Myself. Fate. Endings.”

She half-smiled, “Do you believe in fate, huh?”

“I never used to,” I admitted. “But so many things have happened, it can’t all be coincidence.”

“Fair enough,” the girl smiled at me. “I’ll show you to your room.”

“I have a room?”

“Yeah, my friend Madeline fixed it up for you. We’ve been expecting you for a few days.”

I stopped in my tracks and stared.

“How did you know I was coming here?” I said, and I felt very panicky. I was either going to pass out or hit someone, or both, but not in that order.

“This might come as a shock to you, but we knew by magic.” She looked at me, as though waiting for her message to sink in.

“Magic?” I repeated, as though I hadn’t grown up with it for sixteen years. “You’re crazy.”

“No, I’m not. I have magic, most of us here do.”

“That doesn’t explain how you knew about me.” I said, eyes flickering around, looking desperately for an exit.

“This is a place for lost girls. People never did well by us. I’ve personally been abused and tortured. I found people whose lives were equally as terrible and we built this place to help others like us.” The girl explained to me. “We found a spell that will help to guide lost people to our doors where we can help them.”

A ringing silence followed her words. I felt as though I could trust her, although I wasn’t sure why.

“I used to know a place like this.” I said softly. “I wish I was back there again. I wish I was little and safe behind Albus Dumbledore.”

“Albus Dumbledore?” the girl said quietly.

“Yeah, he had a school called Hogwarts, and we were kept safe.”

“Hogwarts?”

I nodded again, letting blissful memories run over me.

“We had this pillow fight in our common room once, this boy George and his twin Fred started it, and we were all insane.”

“Fred and George.”

“Our head of house came in and she couldn’t even be angry because we were so happy.” I smiled sadly and felt my eyes brim with tears. “She was so good to me. We’d both been left behind by the people we loved...” I stopped talking, and wiped my eyes. “Sorry, nostalgia.”

“No, it’s okay. Keep going. It’s nice to hear happy things for a change.”

There was a silence, which I broke.

“Tell me, if your life was so bad, why aren’t you evil and psycho?”

“There was a woman. She saved my life. She taught me that if you wait out the rain, you’ll get a rainbow. She was beautiful and she was kind. She cared for me like a mother and I even called her mum,  but, I left and broke her heart, and it’s been haunting me ever since.”

Something stirred in my memory.

“She thought she wasn’t a witch.” I said quietly.

“Sorry?”

“She thought she wasn’t a witch and she thought she was a disappointment.”

“What? How do you -?”

“Your name’s Ruby, isn’t it?” I whispered.

She nodded.

“I found you.” I said, covering my mouth with a hand.

“What are you talking about?”

“That woman was Minerva McGonagall.”

“How do you know?” Ruby said taking a step back as though I might hurt her.

“She told me. About how she found you. And how you ran away because you thought she’d only want a witch.”

“Well, I was right. She wouldn’t have wanted me.”

“You’re wrong Ruby. She loved you. She never stopped looking for you. She blamed herself.”

“I wanted to find her again. I searched, but I failed. I got so lost.” Ruby had tears leaking from her eyes.

I walked over to her and hugged her.

“You’ll see her again, I know you will.” I told her softly.

 “When did you last see her?”

“End of last year. She’s still at Hogwarts.”

“I’ve heard it’s over run by death eaters – You-know-who is taking over again.” (That’s what I overheard Umbridge saying anyway.)

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What are death eaters? And I-don’t-know-who?”

“Gather up everyone in this place, I’ll tell them all.” I said dramatically.

***

There were about fifty girls, each of them varying ages from seven to twenty. I told them everything relevant to Hogwarts, the ministry of magic, and I told them my entire story, just because I like to talk about myself.

They applauded me at the end, which was both weird and awesome.

One of the tiniest girls raised her hand shyly and I was awkward.

“WHAT QUESTION DO YOU HAVE CHILD!” I said, because – I don’t know why – but she looked like she would burst into tears.

Ruby face-palmed.

I’m making friends.

“It’s alright Jane, Willow’s a bit mental.” Ruby told the girl. “What did you want to say sweetheart?”

“What can we do to help?” Jane the tiny asked.

“How old are you Jane?”

“Seven.”

“You’re the bravest seven year-old I’ve met.” You’re the only seven year-old I’ve met. “hands up who’s a witch.” I said loudly, and everyone raised their hands. “Ruby, you said only a few of you were.”

“Well, none of us have properly training.” She shrugged.

“Alright then!” I said excitedly. “I’m going to train all you b-“ Don’t call them that. “-rilliant people.”