A familiar stranger. Interlude

1986-1991.

Not far from Hogsmeade, tragedy strikes a small family estate. Robert Dunbar, a pure-blood wizard, drunkenly attacks his wife and tries to kill their five-year-old daughter. He was thwarted by the villagers, who flocked to the screams and flashes of magic. Together they tied him up and tried to take him to the Aurorate.

It didn't work. Within a minute, Robert collapsed, foaming at the mouth, his body convulsing, and he died. The little girl was temporarily taken in by the local nurse, Serafina Miglio.

Arriving Aurors determined that a sinister artefact had been installed in the house, causing the couple to argue, and a powder of dried basilisk venom was found on Dunbar's clothes. While the investigation was going on, a tall woman who called herself Lady Stone arrived at Mrs Miglio's house to take the girl into her care.

This was suspicious, but after some questioning it was discovered that Robert had been attacked by her brother Christian. All over an inheritance. He was safely "fed" to the dementor, and with no other relatives left, little Faye was given to Lady Marianne Stone.

****

Marianne was the eldest daughter of Maximilian, head of the ancient Stone family, known for their cruelty and shady ways. Marianne's mother died in childbirth before the girl was ten, leaving two daughters and no son. Max Stone languished - he loved his wife very much. After five years, unable to bear the death of his beloved and officially handing over his authority as head of the clan to his eldest daughter, he went on a journey and never returned. Ten years later, on the family tapestry, the golden thread surrounding Maximilian's collodograph flashed and faded, turning into a black ribbon. The last of the Stone family had died.

****

Marianne and her sister Stephanie lived a secluded life, but had enough inheritance to live in luxury. Both had been widowed young and had no children of their own, so they decided to take in an orphan from a thoroughbred family. As soon as the news spread that the Dunbars had died and little Faye was alive, Marianne settled down and took the girl to her family castle near Wiltshire. Custody was quickly arranged. The purse worked wonders!

Steph and Marie performed the ritual of introducing Faye to the Stones clan on the following full moon. And so Louise Faye Stone appeared on the tapestry. The girl was very powerful magically. Almost immediately there were outbursts that the two guardians could hardly contain. The home schooling, however, was first class.

Marianne had invited teachers, the wand had been bought long before Hogwarts. Ollivander had long argued that she was too young and more than five years out of school, but Marie insisted on her own. Louise's beech wand with dragon scales, ten and a half inches long, suited her.

Every day the teachers taught the girl etiquette, riding, dancing, charms, spells and artefacts. Transfiguration, the dark arts, Latin, Greek and German were taught by Stefania herself.

Thanks to such a programme, Louise grew up quickly and became adept at controlling magical emissions. By the time she was eleven, she was an excellent dancer, knew how to cast spells, knew all about Hogwarts, knew her way around purebloods and had read all the books on the history of the magical world. The Stones were known as creators of dark artefacts, and Louise had all the knowledge she needed. Speaking of which, although the Stones were dark wizards, they did not support Voldemort's ideas.

****

1991-1995.

Louise could not have imagined that such a place existed on earth. The hall was lit by thousands of candles floating in the air above four long tables decorated in the colours of the faculties. The students sat at them. On the tables were glittering plates and goblets. At the other end of the hall, at exactly the same table, sat the professors.

The lady who called herself Professor McGonagall led the freshmen to a three-legged stool. On it was an old hat with a greasy brim. All the first years lined up to face the seniors.

There were hundreds of faces in front of Louise, the silvery silhouettes of castle ghosts flickering from time to time. Lady Stone, her guardian, had said that the ceiling of the castle was enchanted by the founders, and the pages of Hogwarts History confirmed it.

The shaggy-haired girl on the right whispered something to herself. The redheaded boy shouted that he was going to kill Fred because he said he had to fight a troll.

Louise giggled. But then the hat opened some kind of mouth and howled. Its song lasted a good fifteen minutes, then it 'bowed' and fell silent.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward. She was holding a long scroll of parchment.

- When I call your name, you must sit on the stool and place the Sorting Hat on your head,' she said. - Let's begin! Abbot, Hannah!

The little blonde with the frightened eyes came out and climbed up the steps to sit on the stool. Her hat covered her up to the tip of her nose. And almost immediately, she cried out:

- Hufflepuff!

Anyway, here we go. The shaggy-haired girl turned out to be Hermione Granger and went to Gryffindor. The red-haired boy - Ronald Weasley - also went to the red-gold table. Draco Malfoy - the boy whose hair was completely white - went to Slytherin. Harry Potter - Gryffindor.

Finally, Professor McGonagall said:

- Louise Stone!

Louise walked over to the stool and sat down. The hat was clearly too big for her and completely covered her eyes.

"Hmmm... Who do we have here? The heiress of the Stone family in magic and spirit... I wonder, I wonder... Where should you be placed? You will succeed in both Slytherin and Ravenclaw... You have an amazing thirst for knowledge and exceptional cunning..."

"Gryffindor, please!"

"Are you sure? You can become great, achieve glory..."

"I'm sure! Gryffindor."

"Well, if you insist..."

- Gryffindor!

Louise took off her hat and walked over to the table where the rest of the first years were sitting. The Gryffindors were still chanting, "Harry Potter is with us! Harry Potter is with us!

****

As time went on, Louise studied hard and kept a low profile. She never attended a victory party for a match or a birthday party for a pupil. In Harry Potter, Louise immediately saw an unfortunate child, not a hero of the nation who had achieved a feat. Slowly, she fell in love with him, but kept her secrets to herself.

Lavender and Parvati hit it off immediately, whispering at every opportunity. Hermione took care of Ron and Harry. Louise, on the other hand, was a loner. She always chose the quietest seats and took the last desks in every class. But in pursuit of her own goals, Louise was always where she needed to be.

In her first year, it was Louise who led the boys to Weeping Myrtle's sanctuary, and it was Harry and Ron who accidentally saved Granger from the troll.

In her second year, Louise advised Hermione on a book on Dark Potions when they needed to brew a Backwash. The result is something everyone has known for a long time.

In her third year, she complained to Professor Snape about the students being out after lights out. And he was caught in the middle of the action in the Squealing Hut.

Fourth year was the Trimagic Tournament. He and Neville were browsing the library when Harry wasn't sure what to do with the golden egg. Lady Stone helped by sending the right folio. It is true that no one invited Louise to the ball, which was rather insulting, but the girl was not discouraged.

In this way, Louise Stone imperceptibly but tangibly helped Potter in his adventures. Unfortunately, her wit and ingenuity did not save the day when Harry ended up in Azkaban. Her mind went blank at the time. Louise was not listened to. Her soul was torn apart by the fact that no one understood or saw what was really going on.

Finally, the day came when Harry was taken from Azkaban to the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Louise would often come in while he was asleep and just sit by the bed, stroking the young man's pale arm. Madam Pomfrey knew about it, but didn't stop it or tell anyone.

And then this happened. Harry Potter recovered, made a fiery speech in the Great Hall and disappeared. No amount of spells or money could find him.

****

1995-2005.

Two years had passed and Louise Stone had graduated from Hogwarts with honours and passed her Apparition exams. But there was no peace of mind, and the girl immersed herself in reading the Stone Library, hoping to find a way to create a searchable artefact. It was all in vain, for a piece of the lost man was needed everywhere, and Louise had nothing of Harry. And how would she explain trying to find something that belonged to Potter?

Another five years passed. Louise studied at Magical University and became a master artefact-maker. Back at Hogwarts, Miss Stone was appointed to teach Ritual and Combat Artifacting.

The classes went smoothly and without any antics from the students. As well as dealing with her inner beast and coming to terms with the loss of Harry, Louise began to study Animagic. Aunt Marianne helped her by checking for exhaustion each time and sending a different potion so no one could see.

One day, while meditating, Louise tried to imagine her animagic being, her hands became transparent and covered with scales that jingled slightly when her fingers touched. The girl became enthusiastic and continued her studies with redoubled effort. To do this, she had to go out into the Forbidden Forest. All her excursions went unnoticed. The headmaster and the other mages had no time for Miss Stone, especially as she never forgot to cast spells of illusion and invisibility.

Eventually the transformation happened and a crystal dragon, no more than five or seven feet long, with an arrow tail and rather large wings covered in shimmering scales, appeared in the clearing. Louise tried to take off. It worked easily and gracefully. Joy washed over her for the first time since Harry's disappearance. Back in her rooms, Louise immediately texted Lady Stone to say it had worked.

****

After a while, the girl noticed that there were problems with magic in the castle. She herself had an ancestral artefact that protected her from magical reversals, but what was happening was still very strange.

One evening, Louise decided to eavesdrop on what was going on in the Headmaster's office. She had never been drawn to meetings, it was as if Dumbledore had brushed his former pupil aside and was absorbed in his own problems.

Louise leaned cautiously against the door. Just as Severus Snape showed his memories to everyone gathered. When the doors swung open, the girl barely had time to jump back into the alcove behind the gargoyle. But she heard what she needed to hear. And began to prepare herself to look for Harry.

****

Louise often came to the Astronomy Tower when no one was there. She liked the way the wind blew her long black hair, and it seemed as if the stars themselves were helping her, whispering softly the right words. This time, she climbed to the top and stood by the battlements that framed the grounds. Thoughts of Potter gripped her again. And she promised herself she would find him. Now she could afford to.

****

Once the wizards had left, Louise apparated after them. Carefully stepping into the hole that Harry had almost forgotten to patch in the heat of his anger, the girl transformed into a dragon and flew away. The red dragon seemed to notice her, but didn't show it. Apparently he didn't think she was dangerous, being about six times his size.

Stone flew a few miles south and saw many dragons on the shore. To avoid confronting her brothers, she climbed to the top of the cliff, where she hid for a few days until she finally got hungry. When she went down to the water the next night, a Chinese fireball found her, but did not attack, and took her to Potter.