The Forgotten Dumbledore

Chapter 1: Story Retold

 It was a frosty night, and I shivered at the icy breeze just as I spotted her in the shadows under a dimly lit street light, the girl, the only person who was there for me when I was little. “Ellinor!” I cried, but she wasn’t there anymore. Everything started ages ago, so allow me to tell the story again.

  I am the granddaughter of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, also known as the headmaster of Hogwarts and Anastasia Hatcher. When I was a baby girl, I was warned to keep my identity secret because of unwanted attention from dark wizards. But just think, tomorrow, I can  go to Hogwarts with my grandfather as headmaster, and I will be able to  use my real identity at last to make friends or just be a normal student. This excitement managed to keep me halfway through the night, then, just as I finally fell asleep, I was awakened by my irritating alarm clock. I boarded the Hogwarts express as I was going through the compartments  and choosing. Which one should I sit in? I saw a shy girl with blonde wavy hair sitting by herself and reading a thick, heavy book. I took a deep breath and stepped inside the compartment. I sat down anxiously and gave her a nervous smile. 

  She smirked back with an aura of haughtiness before looking down, seemingly biting her lip and making a hard decision, before finally wiping the icy facade and smug look off her face and replaced it with a genuine, generous smile and introduced herself, “ I’m Ellinor, nice to meet you.” She added weakly at my slightly pressuring gaze, “Ellinor Malfoy.” At the time, I wondered why she would be so reluctant to reveal her surname. She couldn’t be weary of her own family! Oh, how wrong I was.

  I smiled and replied as if in recital, “Nice to meet you, my name is Eliana Dumbledore, if you were guessing, yes, I am the granddaughter of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.”

  I saw her face from a shy smile to sudden shock and to something like expressionless admiration  and said with sarcasm I hadn’t recognized, “ Imagine being Headmaster Dumbledor’s granddaughter.” Then, her “convincing non-sarcasm” turned into longing. “Imagine how many people would care about you,” she muttered, and I didn’t quite hear her properly.

  “What was that?” I half-demanded playfully.

  “Nothing,” she replied immediately, the lie smooth on her tongue. I raised my eyebrows, but didn’t push her further. We all have secrets, anyway. She’ll probably reveal it to me in good time. What stunned me was how velvet the lie was on her tongue. It was as if she had practiced for this very moment. But she couldn’t have, could she? She didn’t know I was going to sit here!

  After two hours or more, we finally arrived at Hogwarts. I pulled on my dull black robes and trekked out of my compartment, Ellinor strolling pridefully behind me, occasionally curtsying at some random strangers in expensive coats or high-class accessories, who nodded respectfully back at her. 

Then we climbed on a little boat as a giant sat down beside me and said “ Hello ladies, my name is Hagrid, gamekeeper of Hogwarts & the teacher of Care for Magical Creatures,” Hagrid said with a bow.

Ellinor nodded and opened her book to read when I shook my head at her and introduced myself, “Hi, nice to meet you Hagrid. My name is Eliana Dumbledore & and this is Ellinor Malfoy.”

 Hagrid nodded and said, “ Pleasure to meet you little Miss Dumbledore and Miss Malfoy.”

I blushed and looked at Ellinor for some reaction but her head was still in the book. After an awkward few minutes, we finally arrived at Hogwarts. 

  We shuffled into the gloomy corridors and went into a warm and cozy dining hall. At the end of it, I saw my grandfather standing beside the table welcoming everybody. Also, there are four tables, one for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin & Hufflepuff.

“Which house do you wanna be in?” I whispered to Ellinor.

“Perhaps Slytherin because everyone in my family is in or maybe Ravenclaw,” she replied, “What about you?”

I said with excitement, “Ravenclaw or Gryffindor are both awesome!”

“ Ahem,” said Professor Dumbledore, “ Please be ready for the sorting hat ceremony, can the first years please line up in front of me.”

  We quickly form a line in front of Professor Dumbledore as he places the hat on the ones in front us, Professor McGonagall reading the names with a tight-lipped smile.

“Gryffindor!” The hat shouted as it hit the head of a redhead and the Gryffindors clapped loudly and cheered.

“Slytherin!” The hat shouted and the Slytherin prefects slapped the boy in the back and welcomed him in.

“Hufflepuff!” The hat shouted again and the Hufflepuffs cheered.

Finally it was my turn. I sat nervously on the wooden stool as Professor Dumbledore placed the hat on my head and said “Hard decision, which do you prefer? Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?” 

I replied simply, “Ravenclaw.”

“ Ravenclaw!” The hat shouted to the crowd, I saw Ravenclaws cheered and their head girl prefect led me to the table. Next up is Ellinor, Professor Dumbledore placed the hat on Ellinor’s head. After a few minutes the hat shouted, “ Ravenclaw!” As the same girl prefect led her to sit beside me. “ Yay, we are in the same house!” I squealed. And for the first time, I saw her smile happily, she looked immensely pretty I thought and we started to eat the scrumptious food on the table. 

“Wow!” I gasped, astonished by the food laid on the Ravenclaw table.

When I turned around to see Ellinor, she was already eating some kind of sushi. As I looked around at other tables, a girl caught my eye. She has brown wavy hair, dark brown eyes and her head buried into a book when she was not reading. I got a feeling that she was going to be a special girl, a smart girl, and maybe a girl I can befriend with.

Ellinor caught me looking at her and said, “ That’s Hermione Granger, muggle father and muggle mother. Father told me that pure-blooded people have to stay away from muggles.” She said the word “father” distastefully. “Of course, I’m more of a rebel in the family,” she said cheekily, but quietly.

I thanked her and we continued to eat, well quietly as my mind was spinning about that Hermione Granger.