Hidden Magic

Hidden Magic

Chapter 1

Jamaila-Ashley sat up and closed the book she had been reading, Pride and Prejudice. After setting her book down on her bedside table, she stood up and started to pace around in her bedroom again.

Her anxiety was from the thought of being thrown out by her own family. It was not as though she had anywhere else to go. Her older sisters had all left with homes and families of their own. She doubted that she was welcome at their homes anyway.

In fact Jamaila-Ashley, or Jamaila as she'd like to be known, wasn't even welcome at her own home. Jamaila had grown up in a purblooded household. Her entire family, her grandparents, parents, and siblings were all witches or wizards. However Jamaila wasn't- she was a squib and all her family had disowned her.

So it came as no surprise when she was summoned, by the house elf Amber, to go downstairs.

"Miss McGowan is wanted downstairs," the elf said, as she stood next to Jamaila's bedroom door.

Her parents had forced her lifestyle to be as muggle as possible, and even went as far as to force the house elves not to use magic around her.

"Thanks, Amber," Jamaila said softly, smiling at the elf briefly before she headed to the top of the stairs. It took Jamaila five minutes to get from the top of the house to the bottom. Her parents had made her live in the attic; they were that ashamed of her.

Knocking lightly on the living room door, Jamaila walked in and went and stood in front of her parents with her head bowed down as she waited for her father to speak first. There was a few awkward minutes silence then her father said, "disgraceful. You will leave this house tonight, is that clear?"

Jamaila was shocked, an angry and looked up and replied, "where do you suppose I go?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"You're my father. How can you not care?" asked Jamaila in a hurt tone.

"I have no squib daughter. You will leave tonight, I do not want your filth up our house any longer," replied her father savagely.

Jamaila became very angry. How could they throw her out? Fair enough her family had never liked her but she would have still had a roof over head.

"I am not filth. What do you think of this mother?" asked Jamaila angrily

"I have no fourth daughter. My three daughters left before the war and they were worthy of our name," replied her mother, regarding her with hate.

"I don't believe this, I'm being stripped of my last name. Maybe it is not me that is filth but the family name?" challenged Jamaila.

"JAMAILA-ASHLEY, GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE AND IF YOU EVER COME BACK YOU WILL REGRET IT!" shouted her father in a threatening tone.

Jamaila ran from the room fuming, her family, her supposedly loving parents were kicking her out. This left only one thing to do she had to find someone who could help her, the one name that came to her mind was none other that Albus Dumbledore, Hogwart's headmaster.

***

It took Jamaila ten minutes to stuff her clothes roughly into her rucksack. She had been forbidden to take any of her robes so she had to take all her muggle clothes. The house elf, Amber, had managed to sneak her a couple of bag of crisps.

Jamaila thanked the elf, grabbed her rucksack and ran downstairs. When she had reached the front door, she stopped and looked back and thought how can they through their own flesh and blood out! Then her father walked into the hall- way standing there, arms folded across his chest.

"Well? Get out!" commanded the man that had once been her father, nodding at the door.

After a moment of silence, Jamaila gazed at her father, her eyes filled with tears. How could they do this to her? Giving her father a hate filled glance, she told him in the coldest and most loathing tone which she could muster.

"You will regret throwing me out. I shall be back, but you won't recognise me and I will have become better that this family. It is not me that disgraced the family name; it was you when you were all chummy with Voldemort. You know what? I'm glad he died it opened my eyes to see what kind of family you were, a disgraceful family."

Jamaila then turned back to the door yanked it open, walked out and slammed it shut behind her. Then she took off down the street, in hope to find a bus that would take her to London.

***

Jamaila stepped off the bus, a block away from the Leaky Cauldron. As she knew no other way to get to Hogwarts, she needed to get directions to get to Hogwart's on foot, she didn't know of the Knight Bus that would have been able to take her straight to Hogwarts

As Jamaila was walking past a pet shop, she spotted a clothing shop. Taking the last fifteen pounds that she had out of her purse, she walked in.

"How may I help you miss?" asked the store clerk in a bored tone.

"I've got fifteen pounds, I'm travelling northwards, I need something durable," Jamaila said coldly.

"Of course. Follow me, please," replied the store clerk.

The store clerk 'Josie' took Jamaila down several aisles before coming to a stop. In this aisle were combat trousers, jumpers, hikers boots, hiker poles, rucksacks and everything needed to pitch a tent.

Jamaila took a pair of combat trousers down examined them, bloody muggle clothing, and draped the pants over her arm.

Fifteen minutes later, Jamaila had two pairs of trousers, three jumpers, and a pair of hikers pole, which all came to fifteen pounds and one pence, she handed over her fifteen pounds.

"Do you have the penny miss?" asked the cashier politely

"No, I don't carry pennies," she informed them tartly.

"Very well. Have a nice day," said the cashier, handing Jamaila her carrier bag.

Jamaila took the bag and made the long walk out of the store. Once outside Jamaila dumped both the carrier bag and her rucksack on the pavement, she opened her rucksack then transferred the new clothes to her rucksack.

When she had finally got everything into her rucksack, she started walking to the Leaky Cauldron. Just because she was a squib, it didn't mean she couldn't find the pub. It just meant she had to think of what she was looking for really hard.

***

Jamaila was standing just outside the door to the Leaky Cauldron preparing to go in when someone opened the door and walked right into her, sending her crashing to the floor.

"Watch it you stupid muggle," the man hissed, scowling.

"No!" Jamaila said, scowling back. "Also- don't call me Muggle."

"Well, you certainly ain't no witch are you?" questioned the man roughly.

"No, I ain't a witch, I'm a squib. You heard of the McGowan family?" asked Jamaila frostily.

"Yeah I heard of them," the man said, looking suspicious.

"Well, surely you'll know a Jamaila-Ashley McGowan?"

"Yeah, I heard of her," the man said, looking very disdainful, "she's a disgrace to her family, that one."

"It's my family that is the disgrace, not me," Jamaila said in a self-righteous tone.

The man looked taken aback. Shaking his head, he walked away muttering, "filth finally left the family will be happy."

Jamaila dusted of her clothes once more and walked in. Nobody in the pub had seen such a muggle enter before. It fell silent as Jamaila walked in, she looked at everyone who was staring at her she laughed and said.

"I do not look like or sound like Harry Potter, so will you kindly stop staring?" after a moment of silence, the pub patrons returned to talking amongst themselves again. Jamaila, who was still smiling, walked up to the bar.

"Excuse me, do you know how to get to Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Yes miss I do. You take the Knight Bus," the bartender said, smiling.

"I haven't the money for the Bus- I'm walking. How would I get there?" Jamaila demanded impatiently.

"No ones ever walked all way from London to Hogwarts before," said the bartender, chuckling. "Too far. You've got to be insane! Barking mad!"

"Well then I'll be the first," said Jamaila in an irritable voice. "Now how do you get to Hogwarts?"

"I think you go up to Scarabrough and then cut across country," answered the bartender. "No one will be at the school, though, it's summer holidays."

"I don't care. Where about in Scarborough do I start to head cross country?"

"There's a forest, one mile out of the town. But be warned, miss, people are saying there's a werewolf that lives there on full moons," he warned.

"Then I'll leave before the next full moon," replied Jamaila, she was slowly getting annoyed.

"Miss, even if you left tomorrow afternoon you'd still end up in that forest on the full moon."

"No offence sir, but it really doesn't bother me. You're beginning to annoy the hell out of me," answered Jamaila angrily.

"Fair enough. I have warned you. Now is there anything else I can help you with?" asked the bartender.

"Yeah if you speak to a Albus Dumbledore, tell him that there is another McGowan, her name is Jamaila-Ashley," Jamaila informed him, getting off her stool and walking out the door.

***

What Jamaila didn't know was that the bartender was having lunch with Albus Dumbledore.

"Albus, do you know a girl called Jamaila-Ashley McGowan?" the bartender asked.

"No, but I do recognise the last name. They prized themselves a bit too much on being pureblood," Dumbledore said gravely. "Why?"

"Well I had a young girl in here earlier. She asked how to get to Hogwarts on foot and to tell Albus Dumbledore that there is another McGowan. Her name is Jamaila-Ashley," explained the bartender.

"But the McGowans didn't have any more children after their third daughter. As for getting to Hogwarts from London, well I sincerely doubt she'll make it. No one has made it from London on foot before," replied Dumbledore thoughtfully.

"Ah, but didn't Mr. Black make it?" asked the bartender keenly.

"Yes, however, Mr Black did not come all the way from London," Dumbledore said, before sighing. "So, did she say anything else?"

"She knew Mr. Potter, but then, again who doesn't? This girl did not dress in robes- she was wearing muggle clothing and she becomes very angry quickly."

"How old did she look?"

"About seventeen, maybe eighteen."

"Was there anyone else with her?" asked Dumbledore.

"No, she only had a rucksack," replied the bartender.

"I see. Well, Tom, it has been good seeing you again, but now I have to get back to the school. Good day." After nodding curtly, he disappeared out the door.

Albus Dumbledore took some floo powder and flooed back to Hogwarts. Tom went back to getting his pub ready for the afternoon hour.

***

Jamaila had managed to get a cheap coach ticket up to Scarborough. She had been sitting at the back of the bus for nearly three hours when it came to a stop and the driver announced they had arrived. Urgh! Muggle transport is horrible! thought Jamaila as she stepped off the coach.

She headed for the toilets with a group of girls that kept glancing at her disgustedly. Jamaila was walking into the toilet rubbing her temples, she could just feel another head ache coming on, when she heard one of the girls say

"She's probably a tramp!"

Jamaila turned around to see the group of girls staring at her; she stepped closer to the blonde haired girl and asked.

"Why did you call me a tramp?"

"I...I... we didn't say anything," muttered the girl.

"I distinctively heard you say 'she's probably a tramp' so don't lie," retorted Jamaila, her head pounding now.

"Well you must of read our minds cause we were just thinking that. Come on lets go," mumbled the blonde haired girl, walking out with the other girls following her.

Sighing, she turned back to the sink. In a burst of frustration Jamaila smashed the mirror with her fist. Now with her knuckles bleeding, she walked outside to go and find somewhere to eat.