Lucky

Informal Introductions

         Soon everyone had melted away - gone indoors, gone home, gone around the front of the house to polish off the picnic tea. All of a sudden, Teddy and Morgana were the only two left in the garden. They stood awkwardly for a couple of moments until Teddy broke the silence. "So...looking forward to Hogwarts, then?" Morgana nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I can't wait to go. What about you, what are you looking forward to most? I'm sure you know loads of stuff already, since you were brought up by wizards and everything." She gabbled. "Well, I'm actually not going yet. I'm going next year. But I'm really looking for forward to it," he informed her. "And I don't really know that much. Just quidditch, to be honest."

         They spent a while together outside, talking about their lives, their anticipations of Hogwarts, their interests. "Are your parents here this evening?" Morgana asked Teddy. She could tell the answer from the look in his eyes, which had now turned azure blue. "My parents are dead," Teddy told her. She nodded and looked down at her shoes. "I'm sorry. Mine too."      "Don't apologise," Teddy told her with a grin. "So we have lots in common already. Magic, shapeshifting, our parents. And we get to go to Hogwarts together. It'll be great, by the time I go you'll already have been there a year, so you'll know all the cool secrets and everything. I wonder what house you'll be in?" He wondered aloud. Morgana gave him a quizzical look, and he immediately dove into an explanation.

          "Well, there's four houses, named after each of the founders. First, there's Gryffindor, the house of the brave and chivalrous. Then there Ravenclaw, which is known for wit and intelligence. Hufflepuffs are kind and loyal, and then there's Slytherin," Teddy pulled a face. "Slytherins are usually sly and untrustworthy. They're supposed to be ambitious and determined, but those are also common qualities of evil or dark wizards." He lowered his voice. "You-Know-Who was a Slytherin, and so were most of his Death Eaters." Morgana wondered who You-Know-Who was for a moment, but then recognised the term "Death Eater". She nodded, understanding him fully now. "Oh, you mean Voldemort?" Teddy looked at her, a little taken aback. "You said the name," he remarked.

        Morgana's eyebrows raised into a delicate arch. "Yeah?" She replied, as though it was obvious. Teddy sighed. "It's just - people are afraid to use it, but Harry always says if you're afraid to say the name, it'll just make you more afraid of the thing itself. So - aren't you even a little afraid?" He inquired. Morgana shook her head, still not exactly clear why she should be afraid. "No," she replied. "I'm not." Teddy grinned at her and his hair turned a bright shade of purple. "Cool."

            When it began to get colder outside, the pair stood up and went indoors. Everyone had left by now, so the two sat in the living room with Harry, Ginny and their children, James, Albus and Lily. James was an energetic young boy with his father's messy black hair and friendly grin. Albus was a quiet toddler who smiled shyly at Morgana, his green eyes nervous and innocent. Lily was an adorable little baby with Ginny's vivid red hair and green eyes like Harry. She was only a few months old, but loved to be included in their conversation.

            The more Morgana enjoyed herself, the quicker the large clock on the wall ticked. At about twenty past eight Harry stood up. "Come on Morgana, Professor McGonagall will be here in about ten minutes, and she's generally very punctual." So she gathered up her books and the beautiful tawny owl she had bought in Diagon Alley. "Any idea what you're going to call her?" Harry asked. Morgana thought for a moment. "Fawn, I think," Morgana told him. "Yeah, Fawn." The owl seemed to look approving, its brown eyes glittering.

          Sure enough, Professor McGonagall arrived at half past exactly. After saying goodbye to the Potters and to Teddy, they disapparated.

         McGonagall left Morgana back to the orphanage and went off to have a conversation with Miss Smyth in her office. Before she left, however, she turned around to address Morgana. "Well then Morgana, I'll hopefully be seeing you next Wednesday. By the way, the Potters would like you to stay with them on Tuesday so that they can leave you to the station the next morning. I'll just go and confirm it with Miss Smyth - if, of course, you're in agreement?" Morgana nodded her head vigorously, imagining another day at the Potters'. "I'll see you at the start of term then!" McGonagall called, waving goodbye to her new student.

A/N

As Hogwarts draws closer and closer, Morgana still has so much to learn about the Wizarding World. Only a few more chapters until Hogwarts! Thanks for reading!