The Unknown Legacy

1978: Prelude to an Unknown Legacy

As she finished her work for the night, the woman hummed a cheerful tune to herself. She was twenty-five-years-old and very pregnant; in fact she was almost two weeks overdue. It didn't worry her much though. Her mother had always said, 'Babes come out when they are good and ready.'

She managed an upscale clothing boutique in London, though she was not a native. She'd made the mistake of following a man to Britain the year before. They'd lived together for about a year. Then she became pregnant and he ran off three weeks later. Well that was just great. She was stranded across the ocean with child, and no husband or even fiancé to show for it. But she'd managed to get an English citizenship the year before the entire fiasco, so finding the job was not difficult, and it paid more then she expected. She had her own little one room flat, which was cramped, but cozy just the same.

When her condition started showing, she'd bought a plain silver band and wore it on her left ring finger. She let it tarnish a bit so it looked more like white gold then silver and wore it alone. It kept snooty customers from giving her the 'She's-pregnant-and-unmarried' dirty look.

It was in this clothing boutique that she was scurrying around, closing for the night. She was eager to get home and perhaps watch a movie. She counted the register twice, before putting the money into the time lock safe. It was an ingenious contraption. The door on the front only unlocked at certain times on certain days that coincided with the days that the drivers picked up the money and did the stores banking for the week. Even then, they still needed a combination to get the door to swing open. It worked much like a mailbox, in the respect where you could put things in, but you couldn't fish them out or open it. Once it was in, it was in for a while. A while back, one of her rings had fallen in while she was making the deposit and she had to wait a week for one of the drivers to open the safe and return it to her.

She was about to shut off the lights in the back when the front bell chimed, signaling someone had just walked into the store. She peeked out to the front expecting a surprise visit from Gladys, the storeowner. Yet, Gladys' kind face wasn't what she saw. She froze to the spot. It was an intruder. He was oddly dressed in black flowing robes with a hood that hid his face partially. A mask covered the part that wasn't hidden. She wasn't quite sure how she knew the person was a man though.

What am I going to do? I didn't even hear him break the glass, and I KNOW I locked the door, I remember double-checking it! Ok stay calm; offer him the jewelry in the cases. Do anything to keep him from hurting you and the baby!

"W-what are you doing here, the store is closed, you're breaking and entering!" she said, her mouth was very dry all the sudden, and it made her voice crackle. She heard the man chuckle.

"Am I?" he said in a drawling voice. The woman glanced out the front window and her heart sank even further. There were two people outside dressed exactly like the man in the store. What were they, cult members?

"I can't open the safe, it's a time locked," she said. Her voice had an edge of defiance that she hadn't expected. It made her feel braver. "I can give you the jewelry in the cases,"

"I'm not here for your Muggle junk," she said. She looked at his hands, expecting to see a gun, or at the very least, a nasty looking knife. Instead, he was only holding a long, perfectly straight polished wooden stick, about eight or nine inches long. "This will be a special treat for us, we weren't expecting an American Muggle to be on our prowl tonight! We've been meaning to make our presence felt across the ocean too."

She looked dumbstruck.

"What did you call me? Is that supposed to be an insult?" she asked. He merely laughed.

"As a matter of fact, it is. YOU are an insult. Your very existence is one grand cosmic insult to us all," he said. The two outside nodded as if they could hear him.

"Look," she said, starting to panic a little. "I already said you could take the jewelry, it's worth quite a bit of money-"

"And I already told you, I'm not here for that," he said. The two people outside walked to the door and opened it at a leisurely pace. They didn't seem to be in any sort of hurry.

The woman bit her lip. They weren't after money, were they after her? And why? What had she done? And she knew it wasn't a joke either. The friends she had here would never pull such a cruel joke on her. So what kind of intruder breaks into a store and doesn't want cash or jewelry worth pawning? The answer swam in the front of her mind, and she made vain and desperate attempts to ignore it. They were here to hurt her, and there was no other explanation. She drew in a quick, shallow breath, and felt the air dry out what little saliva still moistened her tongue. She had an idea. Men didn't hurt women who were pregnant. The very thought of it was obscene, and so, digging deep for courage to back her split second planning, she stepped out from behind the register, making her swollen belly very visible. She felt more then saw his eyes flick downward and back up.

"Well, well, well! Even better! A two for one deal!" He laughed and fingered the stick in his hand. The woman couldn't take her eyes off of the stick. She could very easily snatch it and break it in half, but why was that important to know? Why did she feel that he was threatening her with a powerful weapon?

"Please don't hurt me. I'm about to have a baby." she begged in a raspy whisper. She was edging slowly along the glass jewelry case next to the register stand. Her sweaty hands slipped across the smooth surface. She felt the man's eyes burning right through her tummy. Even if she could manage to take the man's weapon away, she would be easily overpowered against three men.

"Oh, but that's exactly what we're here to do," said the man as he raised his stick. He shouted a word that she didn't recognize, but she had little time to ponder its meaning, because she was on the floor in sudden, screaming pain. She ceased to be herself, and merely became the vessel for this pain. It was all encompassing, and she was choking because she couldn't move her diaphragm to draw in enough air to keep screaming.

Or to keep breathing for that matter.

She couldn't hear the men laughing, she couldn't feel the rough carpet rubbing her cheek raw, she couldn't feel her neatly manicured finger nails piercing little half moon cuts into her palms. She couldn't remember she was anxiously awaiting the birth of her first baby. Being shot with a gun would probably hurt less. But she couldn't think, hear, see or speak. This pain became her entire world. It was her entire existence, past, present and future.

And then it stopped.

She gulped in air and coughed, it cleared her mind. She was on the floor, and she was crying. She looked up and three men were standing there above her. These were the intruders.

"Well that was music to my ears," said the man as he laughed with the other two. She didn't know how people could be so cruel. She tried to stand up again, and felt something that made her heart stop momentarily. Her water had broken; she was going into labor.

Oh, not now, NOT NOW. her mind screamed. The man noticed her movement.

"Your head cleared again? Ready for another round?" he asked. Before she could answer, the agony ripped her body again. She wailed as she convulsed on the floor.

When it finally stopped, she could taste the acrid tang of vomit in her mouth. She looked up at her attackers.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU?" she wailed at an ear piercing volume. She was not ashamed of the horror and cowardice that was interlaced into her words. The three men laughed. It was twisted laughter though. Laughter was meant to express happiness, but this was laughter she had never heard before. There was something unnaturally cold and giddy about it.

"You exist," the man sneered as the laughter died down. She could hear sirens far away. Were they coming here?

Please let them come here. SOMEONE MUST HAVE HEARD ME! SOMEONE SAVE MY BABY!

Her thoughts raced as she cried. She had absolutely no fight left in her. Even if she died, it was still possible for someone to save her baby if they removed from her body quick enough. She'd seen it on a TV show before.

The man was now speaking something else and pointing his stick, his wand at her belly. This was a numb throbbing pain he was causing her, but it was nothing like before. She could hear the sirens getting closer.

"It's not working," said the man. There was a hint of shock in his voice. For the first time, one of the other hooded figures spoke.

"Just kill her, Lucius. The wretch will die when she dies."

"You can't kill my baby!" she wailed blindly. How was this happening? How could he command so much pain from her without even touching her? It tumbled about her mind, before an impossible explanation came to her. It couldn't be that though; they couldn't be evil magicians. But here was the evidence right in front of her, proving her impossible theory. The stick in his hand, it really was a wand. She couldn't explain how else he was able to do the things he was doing to her.

Magic is real. she thought as she watched in defeated horror as the man raised his wand to her for the last time. This time she caught the words he sneered at her.

"Avada Kedavra."

An instant flash of green light was the last thing she ever saw before she squeezed her eyes shut. Right before she ceased to think, one last thought went through her mind:

If this is evil magic, then there's good magic too. It's yin and yang. One can't exist without the other, I just hope the good is strong enough to win the fight.