This is a small introductory chapter to The Stone Philosopher. More chapters are being edited right now and will be published soon. Enjoy!
Bella's shivering slowly subsided as she stood in front of the now-roaring fire in her kitchen. Her kitchen. It was painful to think of it like that, her Godfather, Sirius, had left the four story townhouse, to Bella in his will. One home to the Order of the Phoenix, Bella was now its sole occupant.
She couldn't tell how long she had sat at the long table in the stone kitchen, slowly freezing, before human instinct kicked in and told her to light the mammoth fire at the end of the room. It had been a long day, but one she could not yet bring herself to end with sleep. The "Battle of Hogwarts", as it had been named in the press, had been over for just forty-eight hours. Scars were still fresh across Bella's face and body, and her eyes were still tired from unstoppable tears that had flowed as she helped to recover the mountain of dead friends from the ruinous battle grounds. Despite what the papers were reporting, to Bella it did not feel like a victory, too many lives lost, too much pain inflicted. The horror was only now truly starting to sink in, as the shock wore off Bella's exhausted mind.
Bella retook her place at the table, as she moved aches and pains made themselves known throughout her body which was craving sleep that her mind was refusing it. She stared blankly at the assortment of letters, papers and notices strewn in front of her. Some were newspapers recounting the battle, some had lists of the many dead, some showed a woman's face, covered in dirt and blood, eyes dark and flicking wildly from left to right. She barely recognised her own face staring back at her, the headline reading "BELLA POTTER NEWLY ELECTED MINISTER FOR MAGIC".
This was perhaps the most surprising outcome from the recent events. Whilst Bella could only interpret the absolute horror, the destruction, the recklessness of her actions, somehow the ministry and the wizarding world had interpreted this as signs of effective leadership. The news had broken early this morning that Bella would be the new Minister for Magic. Bella smirked in dry humour as she contemplated the absurdity of this decision. But, humour flashed again across Bella's worn face, given the recent track record who would be a better poster girl for the Ministry for Magic other than Voldemort's single focus of murderous rage. At the thought of Voldemort's name the memory of the battle played fresh in Bella's mind. She relived the moment as Voldemort dissolved into thin air and fled along with his Nagini into the cold night air. Anger, hatred and frustration burned under Bella's skin, as she had to accept that this was far from over. Voldemort would come again. They would replay the pattern of Bella's childhood, where he would lie low, gain strength then reattempt to take Bella's life, to overthrow the ministry, and rule with his cruel hand, the wizarding world.
A strong defiance rose in Bella now, she knew she would not allow for anymore harm to come to her friends. She would lead the Ministry, she would find and kill Voldemort, but she would not allow the remaining people she loved to get caught up in the crossfire this time. He would keep coming back for her, this was certain, from the moment Bella had been born they had been like magnets, drawn together. But every time they came together new destruction radiated out from them, through Bella's family and friends. The lethargy that had almost been overwhelming her body since she had sat down left her suddenly, She knew that she must leave to keep them safe.
She flew around the house, pulling together her few belongings, a spare set of clothes, her trunk which had travelled with her since first year and piled them onto the stone hearth. She turned her attention to a shabby, dilapidated rucksack and rifled through the assorted contents until she found what she was looking for. The lease to a small house in Forks, Washington, soon to be her new home. She glanced around the kitchen one last time, sadness overwhelmed her as memories, moments of happiness played in the forefront of her mind. The faces of the Weasleys, Hermione, Sirius seemed almost touchable they were vivid to Bella. Finally, unable to bear those memories any longer, Bella grabbed a handful of flue powder from the jar atop the mantelpiece and threw herself into the flames.