Stepping out of a fireplace to enter a house was definitely not something Ophelia ever imagined she would do. Then again, she never imagined magic to be real until a few weeks ago either.

"Welcome to my home dear, well your home now too. Mind not to get too much ash over the floors, brush it off here."

The lady pointed down at a coir mat that was laid directly in front of the fireplace they were stepping out of, it had the words:

"Welcome,
Leòmhann Cridhe"

Once Ophelia had brushed off any ash that was on her, which surprisingly was very little, she took a moment to take in the room they had first entered. The room had a slight musty odour to it, not one that was foul, rather one that was homely.

There was a small sofa against one of the walls that looked almost unused. Yet a wooden rocking chair sat in the corner looking out of a window and furnished with an old, dilapidated cushion. This looked like the one seat that was always occupied. On the walls hung portraits of people who Ophelia presumed were family, each one of them moved as if the person was actually alive inside the frame and they all looked about the room with a proprietorial air.

Bookcases lined the room too, filled with antique looking books that were well loved. Ophelia found herself gravitating towards them first.

"You like to read dear?" Minerva had stood back and observed the girl silently until this point.

"It's my escape, I love it." Ophelia replied, still staring at the rows of books.

"Well these are mainly non-fiction, all to do with magical studies, but I do have a few others around. If you enjoy reading it will be very beneficial to mentoring you in what you've missed."

Ophelia placed a finger over one book and slowly pulled it out. It was a thick black hardback but what mesmerised Ophelia most were the golden creatures that were etched into the cover and gracefully moved about until they revealed a name.

"Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" Minerva could easily recognise such an extravagantly designed cover.

"Would you mind if I read this one first?" Ophelia questioned, continuing to be mesmerised by the moving cover.

"No not at all, actually it is one of the ones I hoped to start with, students usually cover Newt Scamander in their first year during some subjects like History of Magic." Minerva explained, nothing how Ophelia's eyes seem to lighten when looking at the creatures. "Would you call yourself an animal lover Miss Montgomery?"

"One hundred percent." Ophelia responded. "Oh also, not to sound rude but please call me Ophelia. Miss makes me sound way too important. Besides that, I want to try and separate myself from that last name."

"Ophelia it is then. Well I think whilst you live with me Professor isn't a very homely name either, so you can call me Minerva."

Ophelia smiled in return before giving the lady a hug and whispering,

"Thank you, but I think you suit the name Minnie more."

Ophelia was sure she saw the lady mask a chuckle before she left the room. Taking a seat with her new book on the unused sofa, she decided that she would make this sofa her comfort spot. Glancing back at the door the lady had left through Ophelia thought to herself, 'is this what a home is like?'

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"Hey Minnie, why on earth do I need to know how to create a hair-raising potion?" Ophelia sighed back into her chair, this was her third attempt at brewing the potion.

"Firstly its brew not create, do not let Horace here you say otherwise." The lady looked up from her muggle novel Ophelia had leant her. "Secondly, its on the Year 2 syllabus, other than that, in my opinion, it is just a unused potion dear."

Potions was one of the topics Ophelia had been catching up most on in the past few weeks since she arrived at the cottage, it was one of the ones that didn't require a wand or spell. It was one of the harder subjects she felt though, timing had to be perfect and even the direction you stirred the potion had to be correct. But it was always rewarding when it succeeded, and often quite comical when it wrong. Thankfully she had Minnie alongside her to clear up any mistakes such as a swollen hand from spilling a botched potion.

Then there was astronomy, Ophelia had never been one to look much into it before; other than the muggle version of 'star signs' which now seemed rather boring in comparison to the discoveries she had learnt since studying wizard astronomy.

However Ophelia's definite favourite was Care of Magical Creatures, Minnie explained to her how this was an elective course so not everybody did it. Once Ophelia knew animals were involved and had read the Newt Scamander book, Ophelia knew this was going to be a fast favourite!

Minerva was amazed at how quickly Ophelia was picking up the three years she had missed, Ophelia was clearly very intelligent but it was her determination that outshone intellect. Each day Ophelia was slowly coming out of her shell, there were bad days and the girl was suffering from night terrors every night, but now Ophelia was starting to feel comfortable enough to share her feelings with Minerva.

A routine soon happened after a night terror occurred, Ophelia would apologise profusely for waking the lady up, Minerva would reiterate she wasn't bothered in the slightest. Instead she was armed with a nice warm mug of chamomile tea and her famous biscuits, something that soon soothed Ophelia.

When the morning would rise Ophelia would then head out for a walk along the Scottish countryside before heading back in with a clear head ready for the day. Ophelia would study whilst Minnie stood by in case she needed any help, but she quickly learnt that Ophelia often didn't ask for it either. Minerva could see a younger version of herself in the girl and that would just make her heart swell. It was safe to say the two bonded very quickly; whether over Ophelia's studying or Minerva learning more about the muggle world.

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It was now almost half way through the summer holidays and Ophelia had managed to read and make notes on almost all the books she needed. Today started like any normal day and currently Ophelia was sat at the kitchen table lost in her thoughts when a sudden 'CRACK' echoed through the room. Ophelia toppled backwards off the bench in shock whilst flinging the cup of juice she had over her head too.

"Shit!" Ophelia exclaimed from the floor.

"Good Morning Ophelia."

Ophelia looked up to see Professor Dumbledore staring down at her with a large grin on his face.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry Prof-"

"Ophelia what have I told you about using such profanities, especially this early in the morning." Minerva bustled into the room, her hair in a long loose braid down the side of her. "Oh Albus, I'm guessing you're the reason Ophelia caused a scene." She took this opportunity to notice how Ophelia still laid on the floor, a smashed glass behind her and orange juice sprayed up her walls. With a quick flick of her wand, everything was back in the order it was before the headmaster arrived, including Ophelia.

"I don't think I am ever going to get used to this." Ophelia sighed and pushed her head down onto the table dramatically causing Dumbledore to smile over to Minerva. Although this was only a silly bit of fun Ophelia was having, it meant that she was settling in well.

"Sorry Miss Montgomery, I seem to forget you're not used to this world." Dumbledore spoke nonchalantly.

"That's ok Professor, but please call me Ophelia."

"As you wish, Professor McGonagall has explained to me how incredibly you are doing in catching up on what you missed however you're yet to use magic itself."

"Yes, something about not being legally of age to practise outside of school." Ophelia sighed, starting to feel worried that she may never be ready to study at Hogwarts

"Well consider this a 'welcome' gift from me."
Dumbledore flicked his wand and a piece of parchment appeared in front of Ophelia, it was a certificate. "This here is a certificate that grants you permission to use magic when outside of school, I pulled a few strings with the ministry seeing as they somehow misplaced you and you never made it to Hogwarts."

"Wow, thank you Professor." Ophelia continued to reread the certificate in front of her, this was it. This meant it was really real, she was a witch.

"You are more than welcome." Dumbledore bowed his head whilst he spoke.

"Professor, may I ask you a question?"

"Yes, I can't promise I'll know the answers though."

"Why did the Ministry, um I think that's what you called them, lose me?"

"That I am not sure on at all, its been playing on my mind since the day I met you. But I am making it my mission to answer that question, I am not one who likes to remain in the unknown."

"Ah ok, may I ask you one more?" Professor Dumbledore nodded in response. "Is my magic how I managed to hide my, well, uh" Ophelia hesitated, trying to find the right word to use, "- predicament for so long?"

"Now that I can answer. Yes it was. See with magic, especially charms, it is strongly based on your emotions. Most witches and wizards perform accidental magic as a child normally when at their highest emotions, can be a silly as losing a game of chess so they set the board a light. You however seemed to have been casting a more complex charm on yourself without realising, a cloaking spell. You managed to cloak the wounds because you wanted them to stay invisible."

"So, why can't I hide my scars now?"

"I would presume its because you're emotional state right now is mainly one of feeling safe. Am I correct?"

Ophelia looked up to Minnie and smiled, this lady had really been the best thing to happen in her life.

"Yes, all thanks to Minnie. She is one amazing lady."

"I am glad to hear that." Albus looked over to his friend and gave a subtle nod, a nod to reassure the woman that the girl was right and that he was happy for them both. The lady didn't need to respond, the water in her eyes was enough to tell anyone how much it meant to her.

"Before I go, I must also give you this." He handed over an envelope before standing from his chair and preparing to leave.

"I will see you both in September, Minerva I think you will be having what the muggles call 'a girls day out' once Ophelia has read that letter."

Before the two had even managed to say any form of goodbye, there was a crack and the wizard was gone. All that was left of his visit was the envelope in Ophelia's hand. It was Ophelia's acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.

"Well dear, I think we have a long day of shopping ahead of us."

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