A/N...If you read chapter one before I edited it reread it, please, so you understand what is going on
in the rest of the story. I changed my mind about the plot a few times and decided on this for now.
It's probable that I might change little things here and there but, overall, I'm going to keep to this plot
if I can. If you're looking for a Hogwarts tie-in don't worry it's coming but you have to hang
tight for a while until I get that far!
A reminder: If you take the time to read this could you at least write a few words for a review
please!?! Flames and open criticism are welcome!
Ok...here goes....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
Merlin was a mythical creature invented by the superstitious minds of primeval Britons. King
Arthur, Sir Galahad, Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's Round Table. . .it all did not exist. The fanciful
romances, the brave struggles between good and evil were the formations of clever bards and
troubadours, of course. That was what children are taught, that is what they believe. Sadly, it is all
wrong.
Merlin was my great-great-great to the hundredfold grandfather on my mother's side. My
father was a Muggle, however, the distant descendant of Sir Lancelot. Therefore, my mother's
parents highly dignified members of the greatest wizarding dynasty in history allowed the marriage
to occur. That was what they led the magical community to believe, at least. In reality, it was the
long-forgotten prophesy that the offspring of Merlin's heir and Lancelot's successor would be the Heir
that would rid the world of the most feared evil. My parents were urged to have a child rapidly.
Jacob was the first child and assumed to be the Heir everybody had been waiting for. Yet, on
his seventh birthday he could barely light a candle with his mother's wand, never mind demonstrate
the most dramatic magical feat ever performed. Luckily, this disappointment was quickly overlooked
because there was another son directly after Jacob five year old Kevin. Kevin was expected to do
something extraordinary in two years on his seventh birthday. Everybody was greatly dismayed when
he showed no promise, despite having burned the cat's tail with a bit of flame. No, the two eldest of
Merlin's and Lancelot's heirs would not do at all.
Then the twins were born. My twin brother, Liam, was spoiled and overprotected as my
mother's parents ordered this child to be the Heir or they would demand a divorce between my
parents. For four years, Liam was the center of attention as all hoped for him to do something on our
seventh birthday that would prove he was the Heir.
Jacob was to go to The Salem Witches' Institute the September Liam and I turned seven.
Thus, he was absent from our table. Grandmother and Grandfather Beacon, Mother's parents, filled
the empty spots though.
Grandmother ignored Dad's attempts to make conversation before dinnertime and Grandfather
sat in his chair by the fireplace with a deep scowl and an air of austerity. Liam and I sat on the floor,
uncomfortable in our party clothes and wishing we were outside playing in the warm late summer day
instead.
Finally, Grandmother interrupted Dad's stutters and said coldly to my mother, "If Liam is not
the Heir, Paula, disaster will unfold."
"Thank you, Mother," Mom called from the kitchen where she was overlooking the house-
elves' work in the kitchen, preparing the feast. She stuck her head into the living room where we all
sat quietly and said with a crooked smile, "You don't need to worry after today."
"I hope not," Grandmother replied, lapsing into cold silence once again.
I turned around and smiled at my mother. She was a short, dumpy sort of woman with rapidly
graying hair and a kind face. The robes she wore now were her second-best in honor of the occasion,
a brilliant blue the color of her eyes with a golden trim.
I watched the clock earnestly. Dinner would be ready at seven o' clock. Ten long minutes left.
. .I nudge Liam with my elbow and he prods me with his finger in my side. . .six minutes left. . .Kevin
takes out his wand and waves it at our sleeping cat on the windowsill. . .the cat hurtles off the sill and
flies out the open window into the tree outside. . .four minutes left. . .Dad yells at Kevin, his face
flushed bright red in embarrassment for having to scold Kevin in front of Mom's parents. . .three
minutes. . .there is a scuffle out in the hallway and I hear a house elf squeak in dismay. . .Mom comes
into the living room and says dinner is ready. . .
Dinner is two minutes early.
As we entered the dining room, I noticed another guest at the table. My seven-year-old mind
didn't register to ask who she was or to remember what she looked like years later. Still, she was
there and, as I remember, she was sitting in my seat. Another chair was brought and I sat beside
Kevin at the end of the table, neglected as dinner was brought out. Roast chicken, scalloped potatoes,
corn still on the cob was served to us by the loyal house elves dressed in dingy pillow cases.
I started to eat but a thin trickle of something cold slid down my spine. Whatever it was eased
into my limbs and into my fingers, making my hands and feet shake uncontrollably. I crossed my
ankles and sat on my hands, trying to make them stop.
Dinner was taken away and Liam's huge chocolate birthday cake was taken out and set on the
table in front of him at the head of the table. The tingle spread up my neck to my chin, to my jaw, to
my tongue. I opened my mouth and said clearly, "Let me blow out your candles for you, Liam."
"No, Gypsy," he said, the little flames reflected in his blue eyes. "I want to blow them out
myself."
I didn't see how everybody's eyes were on me as I stood up from my chair and let the strange
feeling come over me completely. The birthday cake was coming closer from across the huge table,
sliding towards me on its silver platter. The house elves scurried from the room with soft squeaks of
fear and the cat curled up around my legs, tripping me. I gripped the table edge with my fingers and
let the cake come closer still. The flames no longer reflected in Liam's eyes, but my identical ones.
All I could think was, What is the best way to blow these out? The answer was a wind, I thought. So,
in my mind, I asked for a wind to blow them out. A huge gust whizzed around the room, snuffing all
the candles in a row and shutting the room into darkness, and circled the cake until all seven candles
were out.
There was a collective gasp around the table and the stranger's voice rang out in the darkness.
Sounding amused, she said, "Congratulations, Paula, on finally having Merlin's Heir, which proves
my hypothesis that a female Heir is what we should have been looking for all along."
Grandmother ordered the house elves to relight the candles, including the birthday candles
so Liam could blow them out himself, and told me to go to my room. I wanted a piece of my own
birthday cake and quickly grew angry at my grandmother who was always telling me what to do. In
my fury, I unintentionally summoned all the flame back into the candles and the room lit up like a
fireball. The house elves scattered again into their hiding places.
An icy, high-pitched voice reverberated around the room and cackled merrily. My new light
blinded everybody sitting in the dining room so we could not see who was laughing so hard. Whoever
it was, though, touched my cheek with a frosty finger and whispered something in my ear; something
that sounded sinister and threatening but in a different language that I couldn't understand. The guest
sitting in my chair shouted something else over the voice of the strange man and a harsh wind rushed
over my head, whipping my hair around my face and shutting the room in darkness once again.
in the rest of the story. I changed my mind about the plot a few times and decided on this for now.
It's probable that I might change little things here and there but, overall, I'm going to keep to this plot
if I can. If you're looking for a Hogwarts tie-in don't worry it's coming but you have to hang
tight for a while until I get that far!
A reminder: If you take the time to read this could you at least write a few words for a review
please!?! Flames and open criticism are welcome!
Ok...here goes....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
Merlin was a mythical creature invented by the superstitious minds of primeval Britons. King
Arthur, Sir Galahad, Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's Round Table. . .it all did not exist. The fanciful
romances, the brave struggles between good and evil were the formations of clever bards and
troubadours, of course. That was what children are taught, that is what they believe. Sadly, it is all
wrong.
Merlin was my great-great-great to the hundredfold grandfather on my mother's side. My
father was a Muggle, however, the distant descendant of Sir Lancelot. Therefore, my mother's
parents highly dignified members of the greatest wizarding dynasty in history allowed the marriage
to occur. That was what they led the magical community to believe, at least. In reality, it was the
long-forgotten prophesy that the offspring of Merlin's heir and Lancelot's successor would be the Heir
that would rid the world of the most feared evil. My parents were urged to have a child rapidly.
Jacob was the first child and assumed to be the Heir everybody had been waiting for. Yet, on
his seventh birthday he could barely light a candle with his mother's wand, never mind demonstrate
the most dramatic magical feat ever performed. Luckily, this disappointment was quickly overlooked
because there was another son directly after Jacob five year old Kevin. Kevin was expected to do
something extraordinary in two years on his seventh birthday. Everybody was greatly dismayed when
he showed no promise, despite having burned the cat's tail with a bit of flame. No, the two eldest of
Merlin's and Lancelot's heirs would not do at all.
Then the twins were born. My twin brother, Liam, was spoiled and overprotected as my
mother's parents ordered this child to be the Heir or they would demand a divorce between my
parents. For four years, Liam was the center of attention as all hoped for him to do something on our
seventh birthday that would prove he was the Heir.
Jacob was to go to The Salem Witches' Institute the September Liam and I turned seven.
Thus, he was absent from our table. Grandmother and Grandfather Beacon, Mother's parents, filled
the empty spots though.
Grandmother ignored Dad's attempts to make conversation before dinnertime and Grandfather
sat in his chair by the fireplace with a deep scowl and an air of austerity. Liam and I sat on the floor,
uncomfortable in our party clothes and wishing we were outside playing in the warm late summer day
instead.
Finally, Grandmother interrupted Dad's stutters and said coldly to my mother, "If Liam is not
the Heir, Paula, disaster will unfold."
"Thank you, Mother," Mom called from the kitchen where she was overlooking the house-
elves' work in the kitchen, preparing the feast. She stuck her head into the living room where we all
sat quietly and said with a crooked smile, "You don't need to worry after today."
"I hope not," Grandmother replied, lapsing into cold silence once again.
I turned around and smiled at my mother. She was a short, dumpy sort of woman with rapidly
graying hair and a kind face. The robes she wore now were her second-best in honor of the occasion,
a brilliant blue the color of her eyes with a golden trim.
I watched the clock earnestly. Dinner would be ready at seven o' clock. Ten long minutes left.
. .I nudge Liam with my elbow and he prods me with his finger in my side. . .six minutes left. . .Kevin
takes out his wand and waves it at our sleeping cat on the windowsill. . .the cat hurtles off the sill and
flies out the open window into the tree outside. . .four minutes left. . .Dad yells at Kevin, his face
flushed bright red in embarrassment for having to scold Kevin in front of Mom's parents. . .three
minutes. . .there is a scuffle out in the hallway and I hear a house elf squeak in dismay. . .Mom comes
into the living room and says dinner is ready. . .
Dinner is two minutes early.
As we entered the dining room, I noticed another guest at the table. My seven-year-old mind
didn't register to ask who she was or to remember what she looked like years later. Still, she was
there and, as I remember, she was sitting in my seat. Another chair was brought and I sat beside
Kevin at the end of the table, neglected as dinner was brought out. Roast chicken, scalloped potatoes,
corn still on the cob was served to us by the loyal house elves dressed in dingy pillow cases.
I started to eat but a thin trickle of something cold slid down my spine. Whatever it was eased
into my limbs and into my fingers, making my hands and feet shake uncontrollably. I crossed my
ankles and sat on my hands, trying to make them stop.
Dinner was taken away and Liam's huge chocolate birthday cake was taken out and set on the
table in front of him at the head of the table. The tingle spread up my neck to my chin, to my jaw, to
my tongue. I opened my mouth and said clearly, "Let me blow out your candles for you, Liam."
"No, Gypsy," he said, the little flames reflected in his blue eyes. "I want to blow them out
myself."
I didn't see how everybody's eyes were on me as I stood up from my chair and let the strange
feeling come over me completely. The birthday cake was coming closer from across the huge table,
sliding towards me on its silver platter. The house elves scurried from the room with soft squeaks of
fear and the cat curled up around my legs, tripping me. I gripped the table edge with my fingers and
let the cake come closer still. The flames no longer reflected in Liam's eyes, but my identical ones.
All I could think was, What is the best way to blow these out? The answer was a wind, I thought. So,
in my mind, I asked for a wind to blow them out. A huge gust whizzed around the room, snuffing all
the candles in a row and shutting the room into darkness, and circled the cake until all seven candles
were out.
There was a collective gasp around the table and the stranger's voice rang out in the darkness.
Sounding amused, she said, "Congratulations, Paula, on finally having Merlin's Heir, which proves
my hypothesis that a female Heir is what we should have been looking for all along."
Grandmother ordered the house elves to relight the candles, including the birthday candles
so Liam could blow them out himself, and told me to go to my room. I wanted a piece of my own
birthday cake and quickly grew angry at my grandmother who was always telling me what to do. In
my fury, I unintentionally summoned all the flame back into the candles and the room lit up like a
fireball. The house elves scattered again into their hiding places.
An icy, high-pitched voice reverberated around the room and cackled merrily. My new light
blinded everybody sitting in the dining room so we could not see who was laughing so hard. Whoever
it was, though, touched my cheek with a frosty finger and whispered something in my ear; something
that sounded sinister and threatening but in a different language that I couldn't understand. The guest
sitting in my chair shouted something else over the voice of the strange man and a harsh wind rushed
over my head, whipping my hair around my face and shutting the room in darkness once again.