Chapter Text
“Ms. Wenlock! Potter is being strange again!” cried one of Rosemary Wenlock’s students from the back of the classroom. The primary teacher looked up and found that her students were all watching young Harriet Potter with laughter and teasing eyes. Rosemary made her way to the back of the classroom to find the small girl sleeping on her desk. The one to point out this behavior was the girl’s cousin, Dudley Dursley.
“She just knocked her head against the desk and went to sleep!” The portly boy said with a malicious gleam in his small eyes. Rosemary could never understand the boy's obsession with getting his cousin in trouble, but did her best to distract him from Harriet.
“Dudley, I’m sure Harriet was just feeling a little tired from lunch break. Why don’t we go ahead and focus on our end of the day maths problems on the board, Class, and I’ll speak to her right now.” Rosemary looked at Dudley but made it clear she was speaking to everyone. There was no need for the whole class to focus on this conversation.
Rosemary gently shakes the young girl awake from the shoulder, taking notice of how worryingly skinny the child feels. It takes her a couple tries but Harriet finally wakes up. Once she realizes where she is, she seems to begin to panic.
“Harriet, it’s alright. Just breathe. Can you come speak with me for a moment outside?” Rosemary quickly led the girl outside and away from the other students. She had a feeling Harriet really didn’t want her panic attack to be broadcasted to the entire class, that it would just embarrass the girl . Once in the hall, she sits Harriet down and allows her time to calm, breathing with her slowly. It takes a couple minutes but she catches her breath and Rosemary hands her a couple tissues to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.
“Now, Harriet, I think you’re a good kid and you’re not in trouble. But this is the fourth time you’ve nodded off in class. I just want to know if everything is ok at home? Are you getting enough sleep?” Rosemary asked. These questions seemed to have an affect on Harriet’s demeanor, causing her to pale slightly.
“N-no! Nothings wrong. I just don’t sleep a lot. I never really do. B-but that’s my fault, ma’am!” Harriet looks terrified and a little forlorn. Rosemary can’t help but feel bad for her. She has a look in her eyes that she never thought she’d see on an eight year old.
“There’s no one blaming you Harriet,” she winced at this. Suspicious. “I just wanna make sure you are feeling alright. You're a very bright student and I want to help you be your best. Maybe I should bring in the principal-“
“No!” Harriet nearly screamed before wincing and starting again. “No, that's alright. He’ll just tell my aunt and uncle and I don’t wanna bother them with my…freakishness” Harriet looked down at this, wringing her hands together.
Rosemary’s heart broke at this. So many questions came up, the same questions she always had ever since the day the child with the green eyes and messy hair walked into her classroom.
What is happening in this child’s home?
Who is telling her things like this?
Is she being abused?
Why hasn’t anyone seen it?
Why hasn’t anyone done something?
Having met the Dursleys herself, she could say without a doubt that they are the worst kind of people to be around. It took just one Parent-Teacher conference to know that the quality of care between the two children in their household was vastly different. Trying to talk to them about the gentle and intelligent Harriet only led to scorn and laughter. It was a ridiculous notion to them that Harriet could ever be as good as their dearest Dudley, whom she personally found to be lacking, educationally and socially. To tell the truth, she thought Dudley was a nasty little beast, but she would never say that aloud.
Rosemary calmly took Harriet’s hand and looked her in the eyes as best she could. “Ok, we won’t get them involved. How’s about you go to the carpet at the back of the classroom and have a little nap, ok? School’s almost over anyway and I know you’ll do well on the homework. Remember our system right?”
Rosemary had begun a system with Harriet when she found that she would come in with lackluster or even incomplete homework. She knew Harriet did well on the tests and quizzes but when it came time to turn in assignments, she wouldn’t have anything done. Rosemary had sat Harriet down to have a talk with her, and though it had taken a while, she learned that she was somehow afraid of doing work for fear of doing better than her educationally challenged cousin. After that, Rosemary created a system where any answers she got correct she would mark wrong and the ones wrong she would mark correct. Since then, Harriet has been able to turn in all her work and she was shocked at how well she did, in spite of her obvious setbacks from her family.
“Yes ma’am” Harriet looks up a tiny bit and gives a small smile. It continually strikes Rosemary just how kind and humble this little girl is. What Rosemary wouldn’t give to have her own child like this to care for.
“Good, let’s head back inside” Rosemary led Harriet back into the classroom and took control of class once more.
Rosemary, at home after a very long day, sat down in her favorite chair with a cup of tea. She was trying to catch up on some reading but found her thoughts drifting towards its usual subject, Harriet Potter. Rosemary wanted so badly to do something for the girl. She deserved so much better than what she had. The child was underfed, poorly clothed, and had such a poor self image of herself that she was shocked no one else could see what was happening. The last time she brought her concerns to someone who could do something, she was summarily ignored on the grounds that everyone thought the girl was a troublemaker and a delinquent. Her job (and subsequently herself) was then threatened. But Rosemary could not stand for such a bright shining light to continue to be snuffed out. Rosemary took a sip of her now lukewarm tea.
“What can I do? I can’t allow this to continue happening?”
Then an intrusive thought crossed her mind. It was clear that no one but her cared for this child, not the school, not her family, no one. What if she just…took Harriet and provided her with a better home? She knows technically that’s wrong and extremely illegal but it’s not like she’s taking her from a loving home. Her home had plenty of room for a child and she would just have to fill it with things a child would like. It wouldn’t even be that hard to bring the girl to her home, the Dursleys wouldn’t notice she was gone and if they did they wouldn’t report it, because then they would have to open an investigation, which would lead to people finding out about their unsavory treatment of their niece.
“No!” Rosemary shut down her thoughts before she could get her hopes up. It was ridiculous to think that she could do such a thing. Yes, she cared for Harriet, but kidnapping the girl ? That was nuts and bordered on obsession. No she would just support her how she could, legally, and protect her as her teacher. Rosemary decided she needed to get out of the house, go for a walk and get some fresh air. She needed to buy a few things from the market anyway.
Rosemary made her way to the closest shopping center from her home. As she was looking through the list she had on hand, she noticed from the corner of her eye a small child walking by themself in the opposite direction as she was going, carrying grocery bags. She looked closer, it was Harriet!
“Well Hello, Miss Potter, what are you up to this afternoon?” Rosemary noticed that Harriet was keeping her head down covering her face with her hair. Harriet stopped and looked up a small amount.
“Oh, hi Ms. Wenlock, I was just doing some shopping for my family.” She looked back down afterwards.
“That’s nice, Harriet. Is your aunt with you?” Rosemary had a bad feeling about this. An eight year old on her own was not a good thing so far from home. At her words, Harriet seemed to freeze.
“Oh, uh, n-no, but I go to the store on my own all the time, it’s really ok.” Harriet winced, as if she said the wrong thing. Rosemary REALLY didn’t like where this was headed. She took a closer look at the girl’s face.
“Harriet, can you look up at me for a moment, please?” Rosemary asked. Harriet was reluctant to look up, but seeing as she had to pass Rosemary to leave, she resigned herself to her fate. She looked up.
“Oh my god, what happened?!” Harriet had purple bruises and a cut on her lip that hadn’t been there when she left school earlier in the afternoon. Her left eye was black under her glasses and there was still a small dot of blood under her nose.
Harriet winced again and tried to put on a placating smile. “Oh, nothing I was just…playing with my cousin and things got a little out of hand. Everything’s ok.”
Rosemary was beside herself with anger. “You shouldn’t be shopping, you should be in the hospital!” The bruises could not have been made by a small child, even a boy of Dudley’s rotund size. No, she could definitely see an adult shaped hand mark around Harriet’s neck. Rosemary felt sick.
“Harriet, please let me take you to the hospital, I won’t tell them your name or anything, but I don’t think you are ok.” Rosemary was already trying to herd her towards the right direction of the nearest urgent care.
“No! It’s ok, please I have to get home or I’ll be in so much trouble!” Harriet broke away from Rosemary and started running from her, as much as she could with her bags in hand. Rosemary just watched as the small, abused little girl ran as if being chased, and came to the decision that would change her life forever. Rosemary headed towards the mall to buy necessary items for a small child.
It was time to take action.
The logistics of having a child in one’s home get complicated when one has no idea what they’re doing.
As Rosemary approached the children’s store, she stopped before she entered. What would little Harriet even want to have? What do you get for a child who’s so used to having nothing?
Money wasn’t exactly a limiting thing for her, so should she just buy a lot of different options or would that overwhelm the poor girl?
“What would you like, hmm?”
Rosemary went through an inventory of what should be necessary. Clothes. Those would be one of the first things she would get. Also first-aid items, thinking back to the bruises on Harriet’s face and neck. Toys and stuffed animals? Should she wait for Harriet to be with her? She’ll leave those for last. Rosemary also needed to get more blankets, sheets, hygiene products, and still the food from the list she left her home with.
“Goodness, this is going to be harder than I thought.” Rosemary rubbed her head in pain from her sudden oncoming headache. Looking back at the door, she took a deep breath and walked into the store.
When Rosemary finally got home, she took inventory of the things she bought. Her bags numbered in the 20’s and looked like there was way too much for just one child. She bought plenty of shirts, trousers, skirts, underclothes, socks, pairs of pajamas and even a thick winter coat and hat.
She also ended up buying a couple of toys that she just couldn’t help but imagine giving to Harriet. She bought a pack of crayons, drawing paper and coloring books, a toy truck, a set of toy dolls and a fuzzy brown teddy bear with an emerald green bow tie, the green matching Harriet’s eye color. It might be a little childish for an eight year old, but she might appreciate it. She stored those bags near the guest room down the hall, and turned towards the rest of the bags.
She ended up buying enough first aid supplies to supply a chemist, but she wasn’t sure what Harriet would need. She would have to find a way to take her to a hospital or healer at some point in the near future.
Rosemary also bought a children’s toothbrush and paste, a brush and comb set, children’s shampoo and conditioner, some bath soaps and bubbles, for fun, and at the last moment decided to buy bath toys that she passed on her way towards the checkout counters.
Now was the point where her split second decision would come back to bite her. How was she actually going to get Harriet home with her? Rosemary had a feeling that just grabbing her wouldn’t create great results. She wouldn’t trick her into her home either, the idea of it already makes her feel gross. No, she thinks she will need to ask her. To convince her without being pushy that she can provide Harriet with a better home. Is this strange? Yes, but she has no idea what else to do and if she had any other choice, she wouldn’t be doing this at all.
Rosemary puts away the groceries and begins preparing dinner.
At school the next day, Rosemary keeps an eye out for young Harriet and hopes that little harm came to her over the evening. As the morning announcements are being read, Rosemary sees her shift in her seat more often than usual and the mark around her neck was definitely being covered up by an extra shirt underneath her baggier one. It made her sick what those wastes of space were doing to this precious child.
When morning announcements finish, Rosemary takes a deep breath then stands up to teach.
Later in the day, when most children have run off for lunch time, Rosemary holds Harriet back to speak with her. She can tell that she’s weighing the possibility of talking about yesterday afternoon with her teacher and getting in trouble with the Dursleys versus ignoring her and getting a detention for not listening to her. She makes the decision to stay.
“Yes, Ms. Wenlock?” Harriet says before looking down at her shoes. The things were nearly falling apart at the seams, it was a miracle they hadn’t disintegrated yet.
“Harriet, I’ve thought some more about your situation at home and I have a solution.” Rosemary smiled at Harriet nervously. This had the potential to go horribly wrong and destroy all the trust that the young girl has in her. Please just let this work.
“Oh, there’s nothing going on at home! Other than the homework and sleep thing, but that’s my fault. Please don’t worry.” Harriet was very fidgety as she spoke. She clearly wanted to say something different, but was afraid of the consequences that would come upon her.
“I see. Well I still hope you would at least hear me out for a few moments.” Rosemary gave Harriet a small smile to help the girl feel calm.
“I-ok Ms. Wenlock.” Harriet looked down while messing with the bottom hem of her shirt.
Rosemary nodded and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.“What if there was someone who wanted to take care of you away from your current home?” There. nice and easy. Rosemary opens her eyes and hopes that the girl isn’t too surprised. To her surprise, Harriet has an angry look on her face.
“Wha-I, no you can’t sell me to a children’s home, I won’t let you! I won’t, I won’t!” Harriet screamed as she tried to run away. Rosemary was surprised, what the hell would make her act this way.
“Hey, hold on- Harriet, WAIT!” She followed Harriet as she sprinted through the halls. She could tell that the girl wasn’t sure where she was going, as she took random hallways. The only saving grace was that the rest of the faculty hadn’t happened upon the little spitfire yet. Harriet continued to run, no matter how many times Rosemary called out to her. Harriet made it to the main door that led outside and Rosemary felt her heart stop as she made her way towards the street, where traffic seemed to be busy that morning. She was going to get hit!
“Harriet stop! Wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you! You’re going to get hurt!” Rosemary ran as fast as she could in her sensible heels, and just barely caught up to the girl as she stepped out into the street. She jumped in front of Harriet and wrapped her arms around her little body as a car, not paying attention, continued to drive. Rosemary hoped so badly that whatever happened, Harriet would be ok. That’s all that mattered to her. As the car came up to them, Rosemary closed her eyes and felt a warmth surrounding her entire body and a rush of air passed around her. Expecting to feel the impact of a car, She was surprised when for a few seconds nothing was felt. Rosemary finally cracked open one eye. She was shocked. Rosemary sat on the roof of the school building with Harriet.
They both turned to look at each other before Rosemary finally blurted out “Harriet I want to adopt you!”
Harriet froze, looking at her teacher with tears in her eyes. Rosemary was still unsure if the girl was mad at her, but after what she just did, she knew she had to save this girl from the Dursleys.
“That’s what I was trying to say earlier. I would like to adopt you. But this is your decision, so if you don’t want me-“ Rosemary was cut when Harriet bowled her over in a bear hug, sobbing and hiccupping.
“Y-you want to adopt me?! Even after seeing my freakishness and after screaming and running away from you?” Rosemary melted and wrapped her arms around Harriet, trying to be reassuring.
“Harriet, I don’t think you're freaky, I should have been clearer about what I was asking. That’s my fault. And what happened isn’t a bad thing. Sweetie, you have magic. That’s a gift!” Rosemary couldn’t believe that she found a young witch in a boring place like Surrey.
“No! I’m not allowed to say that word!” Harriet placed her hands over top of her ears and started rocking back and forth. Like instinct, Rosemary hugged the girl again, and tried to soothe her.
“Oh sweetie, it’s ok. Whatever those people said to you will not apply anymore. You’re different from them. You’re a witch. What you just did was called accidental magic. And for you to apparate both of us without any harm means you are a powerful one. I should know. I did something similar when I was a little girl.” Rosemary smiled at the memory before frowning as she remembered the years that came after. Shaking her head, Rosemary left the past to the past.
“But…magic isn’t real?” Harriet didn’t look as terrified as before, but she still had a bit of skepticism in her eyes. Rosemary smiled and looked around. There was still a little time left before lunch was over, so no one was watching. Rosemary held out her hand and summoned a pebble from the ground to float into her palm. She then pointed a finger from her other hand to the pebble.
“ Avifors ” the pebble transfigured into a small flock of birds that flew around the both of them before taking off. Harriet was shocked and awed by what she just saw. Rosemary took both her hands and looked into her eyes.
“You’re a witch, Harriet.”