Chapter Text
Magic has its way. It runs deep into the veins of those who, by birth, were blessed by its usage. Magic made them strong, granting abilities that could only be dreamed of by mankind. Some controlled it, wielding its power for good and bad, brandishing it with pride, and keeping it a secret to be concealed from the rest of the world. Others were granted gifts within the magic itself by seeing what was still coming to be, transforming its shape to one of a beast, and changing its features as a way of mischief and vanity. However, few were granted an ability as rare as the blooming of the Queen of the Night. Some could see magic in its essence, its ancient manifestation, and the traces it left upon the world.
Amidst those, there was once a girl, with hair as red as fire and skin as starry as the night sky. She had the forest in her eyes and kindness in her soul. Filled with love and determination, but abandoned from an early age to dwell in the wide world by herself. Things happened around her. Things that shouldn’t be, but most definitely were. Events that not even those who assumed the position of her temporary guardians at the orphanage could comprehend. The children wondered about what could come from the girl, and the adults feared the hidden potential her unknown abilities possessed.
One day, when she had already reached 15 years of age, she received a long-awaited answer to a question she had never been able to verbalize. It came in the form of an old man, with gray hair and blue clothes that resembled the peaceful waves of the sea. He explained everything about magic and her. He said things that thrilled her spirit and terrified the very core of her being. She, who had only known loneliness, would get a chance to belong somewhere far from prying eyes. Somewhere, she would be able to learn and control the powerful force buried within herself.
For months, she had studied, well aware that her peers would be far more advanced in their magical knowledge. She had to reach them and, if possible, surpass their capabilities to get a chance in their world. That was all she needed: a chance. Her mentor taught her all he could, taking hold of any breaks to tell her about the wondrous world she would get to know. Soon enough, he became a good friend, the figure of a guardian she had never had before. The words that left his mouth were nothing but kind, and she valued nothing more than kindness.
The morning she left, it felt like leaving her entire past behind and the days and nights that she had spent inside that building, waiting for time to pass and for someone to see her, not only the poor orphan seeking a home. The girl could barely express how thankful she was, how relieved she was to finally move on.
Another man came that day, a friend of her mentor. He had news. Something was happening in the wizarding world, a rebellion of some kind. Blood would be spilled, if it wasn't already, and the chasm that separated wizards and goblins would grow even further. He also brought a mystery, hidden in a locket inside his bag. A case with a spiraling symbol that she had never seen before, but felt drawn to, just like a moth approaching a deadly flame. There was a glow, one that only she was able to see. Upon her touch, it opened, and inside they found a key, the initial piece of a puzzle left by her mentor's deceased wife, Miriam. With a thunderous roar and blazing light, the flying carriage where they were traveling was attacked, with a dragon splitting it in half. One was dead, leaving the other two to escape.
Dropping from the air, the girl imagined that death had gotten a grasp of her at last, however, her mentor grabbed her as quickly as he could. When his fingers brushed the key, they disappeared within thin air, leaving the dragon to return to his master empty-handed.
She woke up in a cave, on an island placed somewhere in the Scottish highlands. She did not know precisely where. She could have asked for the professor to take her away, for him to return on another day and investigate on his own, but she did not. He was, after all, her friend, and after everything he had granted her, it was only fair that she stuck by his side. He gave her a name for the light she saw. Ancient Magic as old as the world itself.
They walked through a long path, trying to reach the tower they could see abandoned on the horizon. After a long stairway, they finally arrived. It was the home of a seer, they had imagined, a long time ago. Barely the walls were left after such time in disarray. Then, there it was again, the light, shining over a wall. It only took her one touch, and they were not on the island anymore, but in Gringotts Wizarding Bank, friendly chatting to a goblin and asking him to take them to the vault to which the key belonged. And so he did. She never got to ask his name. Such a foolish thing to forget, she thought. Unfortunately, she would not have another chance.
Within the vault, they were met with a series of trials to face. Her newly acquired knowledge came in handy, especially when she got separated from her mentor. Before they could meet again, statues came to attack and the girl solely survived due to her strong wit and hard work. When they finally rejoined, they found the pensieve. Such interesting things pensieves are, allowing one to dive deep into memories that they might not possess and live them as if their own. Inside the memory, she saw two men, talking about a secret to be hidden from the world and a safe place, built with the purpose that only one with her ability would be able to access it. The girl did not know what to get from that. She couldn’t comprehend what they meant, but she knew that something great was coming towards her, perhaps greater than she could hold.
They did not have enough time to talk, for as they returned from the vision, another group managed to break into the vault. Among them, she saw the leader, the same she had seen in the newspaper. The one who tried to start a most dreaded war. He killed the goblin who had shown her the vault and would have killed her too if it wasn’t for the chamber’s guardian itself, a massive statue of a knight that began to attack anything that got in its way. They barely had any time to escape while it was busy with the goblins. The girl, once more, imagined that death had gotten her, but it was then that the glow appeared once more that night, revealing the way out. Once again, in a blink, their surroundings changed. They were not inside the vault anymore. Looking around, she saw trees, taller than any other she had ever seen in London. Grass covered the ground and underneath her hand, there was the wall of a small cottage in ruins. They were safe.
The Professor calmed her, as he usually did. They were safe, back to exactly where they were meant to go: Hogwarts. With a deep breath, she followed him, but now towards her adventure. When she saw the castle walls and the glimmering lights shining above in the sky, she knew deep within her that it was only the beginning of her story, one that she would have to write by herself.