The Unity: The First Death

Once upon a time, there lived a headstrong little girl. No one knew then, but one day, she would decide the fate of many children after her. Her hair shone in auburn locks, and pale skin gleamed like snow. She was never sad but she was never happy, due to the circumstances she lived in. These were dangerous times, ones where witches and wizards had much worse fates than being burned, which they could escape from. Instead, people hired assassins to try and get rid of all wizard kind.

This little girl's parents held her in their arms and vowed to keep her safe from harm. They debated on a name to suit their beautiful baby, a name which would follow her around for the rest of her days and longer. At last they came to an agreement. This child was to be known as Rowena Ravenclaw: Mother of Daughters, a title which no one knew would suit her until a century later. Her mother and father were of the magical kind, on the side of good, devoted to keeping the name of witches and wizards pure. They knew Rowena was special, and they knew that she must come to no harm. After a scare in the wizarding world (a witch with no remorse for non-magical folk had destroyed a whole church full of people), her parents took charge.

"Rowena," they started. "It pains us to do this, but we cannot let you go outside. It would be risking your life to even brave the market! They are having a full scale witch-hunt, and they will stop at nothing to destroy every witch and wizard in this whole town."

"But, mother, father, surely they would not expect me to be a witch? They have no reason to even think that!" Rowena's parents looked at each other, and then at her.

"Rowena, they might, or they might not. We just can't risk it. You see... exactly five centuries ago today, an old, wise witch prophesised that long after she died there would be three girls. These girls would be the Mother, the Darkness and the Redeemer." Rowena's father went over to the corner of the room and unlocked the chest that stood there. From it there came a cloud of dust. Her father reached and took out a battered piece of paper. He unfolded it and started to read:

"Bright eyed, light skinned, these three maidens shall be,

All of their futures I predict and I See.

For life is like a game of Chess

Just as the Queen could once have been a Pawn

The Mother knows not whether she is Darkness

She shall watch over many children in her years

But the Darkness inside will always fill her with fears

The Redeemer shall not know The Mother, unless she is told

Just as a shell, empty and cold.

The Darkness will bring sorrow in her wake,

When she arrives, she will make the world shake,

And she will leave dishonour wherever she walks.

In the end the Redeemer shall make it well,

But how she did it she will never tell

And honour shall reign, once again, for those who need it most."

Then Rowena's mother said, "We believe you may well be the Mother, or the Darkness..."

Kaylan Ravenclaw woke up with cold beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. Why was she having these dreams about someone called Rowena? She knew there had been someone in her vast family called Rowena, but it was only a coincidence, wasn't it? Already the dream was fading away. In fact, the more time she spent trying to remember, the less of it remained in her head. She had been having these dreams for ages now, and in no particular order. At least in this one, no one had died. In her last dream, which had been more of a nightmare, all she could remember was the feeling of a life being snuffed out. She could feel that part so vividly; it was as if it were real. While Kaylan was trying to figure out how she fit into all of these strange dreams, her mother called her downstairs. So she stumbled down the stairs, taking them two at a time and slumped down into her chair at the kitchen.

"Have a nice sleep darling?" Kaylan's mum asked. In response Kaylan looked up and glared at her mum.

"Well, if you don't count the fact that I went to bed in an extremely bad mood because you grounded me, fell off my bed in the middle of the night, had my stupid little sister Lorraine jump on top of me because she was scared of the dark, having that idiot dog that should be put down lick my face and almost suffocating because of it, if you don't count those reasons, then yeah, great night." Kaylan sneered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Just because you had a bad night doesn't mean you can take it out on your mother."

"Sorry mum." Just as they were talking, a tawny owl flew in through the window, glided to Kaylan hand, and dropped a letter into her outstretched hand. Once it had swooped out the window again, Kaylan opened the envelope.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Yes mum, I got in!"

"Well done Kay." Kaylan kept on reading.

"Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc, Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)-" At this time Lorraine interrupted and said, "Is that old geezer still running the place? He was there when mum was at school!" He'd better not be there by the time I get in. Everyone thinks he's mad!" Kaylan told her to shut up and go away. Then she carried on reading

"We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on the 7^th of September. We await your owl by no later than 31^st July.

Yours sincerely

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress."

Kaylan made up a little song to suit her mood.

"I'm going to Hogwarts, uh huh, uh huh! I knew I wasn't a Squib. I knew that those snotty cows Janice and Julie were wrong! Uh huh." Realising what she had said in front of the people she had said it to, Kaylan turned red and decided the floor was looking rather fascinating that day. The tiles were simply divine! Her mum said calmly,

"Lorraine, Kaylan, go get dressed. We need to go to Diagon Alley. Also, you actually need to send in the form before you get in. By the way, good for you that you proved you weren't a Squib, though I would still advise you not to call my nieces snotty cows."

"Um, okay," Kaylan mumbled, still intent on looking at the marble tiles. Kaylan whistled and a barn owl flew in. It was Kitty-Kat, the owl Lorraine had named when she was three. She wrote in her most elegant handwriting, that she would gladly accept the invitation, and she would love to come. Kaylan told Kitty-Kat to send that to Hogwarts and there would be some treats waiting for him when he came back.

*/*

On the way to Diagon Alley in the family's new Ford, Lorraine was in a thunderous mood.

"Kaylan's so perfect; she gets to go to Hogwarts. We have to spend loads of money on Kaylan's new stuff, nothing to do with me or Dexter, (the dog) she gets a new pet; she gets a wand and do I get anything at all? No." Lorraine muttered darkly.

"Can't you stop being the centre of attention for once? You get more than your fair share of the stuff. Can't you wait till you're old enough to go to Hogwarts? You're only nine anyway. Stop being so selfish," said Kaylan. That definitely shut up Lorraine because she didn't speak for the rest of the journey.

When they finally reached their destination everyone was knackered. "Why don't we go get an ice-cream first?" said Lorraine.

"Because we have too much shopping to do, dumbo. We'll do that when we've finished," said Kaylan. So Mrs. Ravenclaw shooed them into The Leaky Cauldron.

When they got inside an old man wearing the most ridiculous yet cool robes ever met them. Lorraine was in shock for like a fraction of a second then tried to conceal her laughter behind her hand. The man asked them what they would say to a Butterbeer on the house, but Mrs. Ravenclaw declined his offer politely.

As they were coming out of The Leaky Cauldron Kaylan could feel the man's stare on her neck and she thought that she could hear him saying,

"You'll pay for what you did to my family Liana. You might have seen through my plan this time but you won't be able to protect your daughter at Hogwarts." It made Kaylan shudder just to think what he was going to do, but she soon forgot all about it when her mum ushered her outside. When she looked behind her the man was gone, so she thought she had imagined it all, like she usually did.

When they got outside a solid brick wall met them with no way of getting through.

"Watch carefully girls, this is how you get into Diagon Alley," said Mrs. Ravenclaw. She tapped the third brick up, second from the left three times and the whole wall dissolved into nothing.

"Here we are girls. Welcome to Diagon Alley."

*/*

"Do we have to go shopping with Kaylan and Lorraine?" asked Janice and Julie Spencer.

"Yes you do," their mum replied. "We are going to meet up in the book store later. But first we need to get your other stuff." So they came out of the hotel they were staying in at Diagon Alley and set off. Not long after they came out, they ran into Mrs. Ravenclaw and the girls. The girls just stared at each other with malicious glares. Of course, the adults didn't see (They never do), and launched into a full-blown conversation.

"Jessica, darling! How are you?"

"Fine, fine Liana! And how about you?"

"Great. I see Janice and Julie are starting at Hogwarts as well. Won't it be great for them to all make friends?"

"It would be simply marvellous! They already like each other so much!"

Of course this conversation went on for ages. Meanwhile Lorraine initiated a far less relaxed one. You could hear the venom in her voice.

"Hello." She forced a twisted smile.

"Good morning," said Janice.

"Nice to meet you again," Kaylan said.

"Likewise." Julie said.

Kaylan was still staring at Julie. It looked to a person outside of the family like they were having a friendly competition. But the smiles they were wearing were completely false. They were actually having a stare down to see who was more worthy. Suddenly Julie yelled out, "Ha! You lose! I win! I am victorious! You are not! I win, you lose! I win, you lose! I win, you lose!"

"No need to rub it in my face," said Kaylan.

"Yes there is."

"Isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"Is."

"Is."

"Ha you said 'is'! You lose again! I win! I am victorious! You are not! I win, you lose! I win, you lose! I win, you lose!" This of course went on for ages as well, seeing as neither girl wanted to back down. After a bit their mums stopped talking and said,

"Come on girls. Nice to see you're getting along."

*/*

They finally got to Ollivander's and an old man came out of the shadows of the large boxes when Julie rang the bell.

"Ah, hello ladies. Come to get wands?" he asked.

"What else would we be doing in a wand shop?" asked Julie.

"Don't be rude Julie," said Mrs. Spencer.

"Please hold out your wand arm." And so began the process of wand measuring. After a while he told her to try out a wand.

"Mahogany, Unicorn hair, 10 ½ inches. 10 Galleons," Julie waved the wand and a shower of green sparks shot out of the end. Then it was Janice's turn.

"Yew, 9 inches, Dragon scale. 10 Galleons," Janice waved the wand. Nothing happened.

"Ebony, 8 ¾ inches, Phoenix feather. 7 Galleons." When Janice waved it a spark of electricity shot up her arm and coiled around her body. When the electricity died away, Mr. Ollivander broke the silence by saying, "Sorry if I'm interrupting or anything, but that'll be 17 Galleons." Mrs. Spencer glared at him and gave him the money.

Then Kaylan went up, "What about me?"

"Oh yes, I forgot about you," said Mr. Ollivander. He got out a box from the shelf and held it out.

"Try this one. Oak, 13 ½ inches, Banshee Hair. 12 Galleons" Kaylan waved it but nothing happened. Then when she was about to put it down, something slithered out of the tip. It was a small snake... It landed on the floor with a soft thump and tried to crawl up the side of her. Everyone except Kaylan and Mr. Ollivander shrieked.

"Get it off her! I hate snakes!" Were the most spoken words. Kaylan was talking to her snake the way a mother would talk to her baby.

"Aren't you the cutest little thing ever? Yes you are. Yes you are. I'll call you... Cory." As soon as that snake came out of the tip, Kaylan had felt like there was a part of her that was being dragged out. Obviously, this snake was part of her inner self, or something to that effect. Kaylan coiled the snake round her neck, knowing she would come to no harm; paid Ollivander, frowning at how much the wand had cost, and exited the shop with a wary family watching her.

*/*

They got to Madame Malkins after a while. Julie went up first. She kept complaining about her arms were aching from all the stretching. Of course, she soon shut up because her mum zapped her with the Body bind curse. Julie could only stay upright because Liana was holding her. Madame Malkin finally finished her, and then moved on to Janice. Janice didn't do anything that would make her mother angry, because unlike some people she could mention, Julie for instance; she didn't want to have to rely on a relative to stop her from falling over. Kaylan fidgeted but that was all. She noticed the look her mum was giving her and it clearly said, "If you dare show me up in public..."

*/*

"I can't see why you like that thing Kay," said Lorraine because Kaylan had started to talk to Cory in that rather annoying manner again.

"Her name is Cory and she is the cutest thing ever, actually Lori."

"Fine then, she, is slimy."

"Isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't times infinity." Lorraine growled at this childish response.

"Ha." Her sister smirked.

"Honestly Kaylan, you have such bad taste," said Julie.

"Yeah, Kaylan, fancy liking a horrible, slimy, disgusting creature like that," said Janice.

Kaylan answered by annoying them even further. "You're not horrible, slimy, or disgusting are you Cory? No you aren't, No you aren't."

"Nope, not me."

"Exactly. Wait a second." Kaylan screamed.

"What is it dear? Don't scream in the car." Jumping as she heard the bloodcurdling yell that came from her daughter. It was a Banshee scream.

"Cory... just talked to me."

"Yeah, and pigs fly. I knew talking to that snake was scrambling her brain," said Janice with Lorraine silently agreeing, although she would never admit it. Julie just looked thoughtful.

"Kaylan...?" she said.

"What Julie?" Kaylan answered.

"Nothing." Julie said quickly. She knew that she wasn't going to get any straight answers out of Kaylan when she was like this.

"No point in asking me something if you're not going to tell me what it is."

"Mm."

"Hello? Fine then, don't answer."

*/*

"Obey me now!"

"No."

"Foul Mudbloods, all of you. Stephan, kill them."

"But..."

"Or would you like me to destroy you instead?"

"No, no!"

"Do it now!"

"Before you die, let me tell you, you're not special. Many people have died just like you for not telling me the location of the Redeemer, my heir. You may think you're martyrs but you're just failures. I will find her. Now, as I like to say, prepare to meet thy maker. Stephan!"

"Avada Kedrava!" Screams and laughter mingle. Then a flash of green light and silence.

Not again. Kaylan hated that dream. The screams were still ringing in her ears refusing to go away. She was thinking, "Why me? Why do I have to listen to the screams and see the flash of green and the stiff bodies with wide-open eyes? What did I do?" Kaylan turned to Cory. She had got used to being able to talk to her.

"Cory why do I keep having these dreams?"

"I don't know. But don't you worry about it. It's just a dream Kay."

"I suppose so Cory. Cory?"

"Mm?"

"D you think they would let me keep you at Hogwarts?"

"Probably not."

"What would I do without you?"

"You could always sneak me in."

"How?"

"The usual, invisibility and such the like."

"That's advanced magic, though Cory!"

"Well you better start learning then."

"You're lucky I bought that bloody book, or I don't know how I'd have managed it. I'll do it tomorrow morning." She yawned and turned over in her bed, her eyelids already drooping.

"Come on, chop, chop. Times' a wasting. Got to hurry up. Time is money. Money is time. Can't do anything if you're lying down."

"Okay, Fine. I'm getting up now okay? I'm not lying down anymore. Honestly, you can be so utterly... juvenile." Then she added after a while "Bit like me actually. Well, might as well start looking then," and with that she pulled out her Advanced Studies book out of her large trunk and turned to the Charms page.

"Chapter One, Prologue: A Lifetime of Charming, nope, don't want that.

Chapter Two, nope,

Chapter Three, nope...

Ah ha! Chapter Sixteen: Invisibility Charms for Advanced Students." She flicked through to see how long the chapter was.

"Five hundred pages! What on earth do you need that many pages for?"

"Pictures maybe?" Cory suggested.

"Pictures. Pictures of what? Invisible people?"

"Yup."

"How to hold your wand. This is going to be a long night."

"Yup."

"Bite me if I fall asleep. Not hard though. A little prick will do. I don't want to wake up with a severed finger."

"Yup."

"Whatever."

"Yup."