"Bye, see you next year!" Viola yelled hastily across the platform to Ms. Harolds. She hurried towards the barrier. It's not that she didn't like her, she was a really nice woman; Viola just didn't like the orphanage, or the city, or the entire world for that matter. She was a witch. A witch living in the Muggle world.
She hadn't always been in St. Vincent's Orphanage. Actually, she grew up in the wizarding world until she was eleven. Her eleventh year had been the most monumental of her life. It was the year she got her Hogwarts letter. It was the year she got sorted into Gryffindor. It was also the year her mother died.
Well, she didn't exactly die. She was murdered, probably by a Death Eater, but they may never know. All Viola knew was that she was called into Professor McGonagall's office right before the Halloween feast to tell her the news.
So that's how she ended up there, in St. Vincent's. She doesn't have a father either, in case you were wondering. Viola never knew her father.
"He was gone before you were born," her mother used to tell her. "But he still loves you and me."
Evidently not, he didn't even come to her funeral.
So here she was three years later, entering her fourth year at Hogwarts, itching to get away from the muggles she was forced to stay with over those almost unbearable summer months. She could feel her chest unclenching as the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ came into view. She was finally going back to her true home.
She checked to see that no one was looking, then ran at the barrier. Her world was at her fingertips.
She was then plunged into the darkness between the platforms. Suddenly she felt something grab her. She jerked backwards and felt her luggage cart slipped from her fingers. A sensation went over her, like she was going through a tight tube. Her body felt condensed and she couldn't breathe. Seconds later she was standing on solid ground, but this time she was flanked by two Death Eaters.
Instincts kicked in, first kicking the tall man in the gut then, wrenching her arm free from the girl. Without looking back she started running in the opposite direction, not a clue where she was going.
"Impedimenta!" Viola was knocked off her feet, left plunging towards the ground. She scrambled to get her wand out of her boot. A thing about Viola is that she always wears really tall boots. The thing she liked most about her boots is that they made the perfect hiding place for her wand. Ever since her mom died she kept her wand with her wherever she went, even in the Muggle world. The feeling of her wand against her leg always gave her a sense of security.
She freed her wand then got to her feet. The two death Eaters had her surrounded again. This time they were standing on opposite sides several feet away, circling around her like a bird surveying its prey. She frantically aimed her wand at the woman.
"Someone's a bit feisty, I see," sneered the woman. She had crazy black curly hair framing her pale face. "What number is she again?"
"Nine," said the man behind Viola. She whipped around pointing her wand now at him.
"Lasted longer than most, hasn't she?" The woman sneered again.
"I dunno, Number Three gave us quite some trouble. And Number Six definitely didn't want to go down without a fight."
"Well Six isn't around to tell the tale, is she now?" said the woman, laughing. Viola hated being talked about as if she wasn't there. She got it too much at the orphanage. Time to act.
"Now why don't you just come with us before you end up like –"
"Petrificus Totalus!" Before she could even finish the spell the woman blocked it.
"Look at that, the wittle gurwel thinks she has a chance!" She laughed as she said it. Baby talk, even worse than pretending she's not even there. The woman then started to brandish her wand.
"Protego!" Instincts again. A shield erupted from her wand, barely deflecting the curse. Viola knew she had no chance. But like Alex at the orphanage always said, if you're going down take the whole damn place down with you. She took aim at a nearby tree and screamed "Reducto!"
As the two Death Eaters flinched, she bent down and stowed her wand safely in her boot. Might as well save her only lifeline.
As she stood back up she saw the woman was staring at her, daring her to make another move. Viola confidently looked the woman straight in the eye. Bite me, she thought. The message must have gotten across because she smiled deviously back at her.
"Alright, let's finish this. Crucio!" As the last syllable came out of her mouth, Viola shrieked in pain. She felt like all her bones and muscles were on fire. For a few seconds that felt like eternity she lay on the ground shriveling pain. At last the pain stopped.
Before she even had a second to think, she was lifted off the ground. Each of them had one of her arms, holding a little bit tighter than last time. She tried to jerk her way out of their clutches.
"Don't even try, princess," the low voice from her left grumbled.
"Come on Nine, be a good little girl," said the right, smirking. Having no choice, she let herself be lead away.