Prologue
It was a cold and rainy night. Christmas Eve 1962.
The minister of Magic was on his way home from a banquet with the heads of each of the seven departments within the Ministry of Magic and their families.
Normally on these occasions the minister and his wife would apparate near the Ministry of Magic, but since this was the first time they had taken their two-year-old daughter with them, they had decided not to apparate.
Because his wife was also worried that floo power would be damaging for the toddler and because the minister had passed his muggle car driving test just that summer (with maybe indeed a bit of help from his wand) they had decided on driving home.
The minister liked driving by car. It gave him this certain feeling of freedom and silence. He barely did it and only even started it because the muggle Prime Minister had given him free driving classes. It had been a present for his election three years ago. It had taken a bit of convincing, but in the end, his wife had allowed him to start. And that is what had brought him to this precise moment.
Both his wife and his daughter were asleep. It had been a long night, but both were happy they had come.
The minister contemplated whether or not to turn on the radio softly to keep him company, but one look at his sleeping wife, stopped him. He couldn't wake her up. Not when she was sleeping so calmly.
Except…
It came fast. The minister didn't have time to react or even think about what was happening or what he should be doing.
The car came from a dead-end street and had stirred into the wrong lane. It's driver highly intoxicated.
When the minister saw the car, it was already too late.
The only one to hear the crash was two-year-old Lara Arleta Owen. The impact of the two cars colliding had woken her up. It was a miracle that she survived.
She started to cry. But neither her papa, nor her momma was there to comfort her. Not anymore…