Beauty and the Beast: A Marauder Retelling
Once upon a time,
In a far away land,
There was a young teenage prince by the name of James Potter. His parents, the King and Queen, had died on their way home from one of their diplomatic travels. He was none but a boy of ten years of age, and he was raised by the staff of the castle. With each passing year, despite the staff's efforts to help and care for him, his grief turned into selfishness and unkindness. He was no longer the sweet and caring boy the staff remembered.
On one stormy winter's night, there was a loud knock on the large doors of the castle. As the staff was preparing his meal, the impatient Prince answered the door irritably.
He opened the doors to find an old beggar man, dressed in rags and a worn cloak while shivering violently.
James asked "Who dare disturbs me at this hour?"
The old beggar man said "I beg your pardon, your highness. I did not wish to disturb you, but you see, it is very cold this night, and I seek a place to stay until the storm passes. Could you see it in your heart for me to stay for the night so I may rest my old bones?"
His eyes twinkled despite the darkness, which James found peculiar, but brushed it off as he said coldly "No, you may not seek shelter here, old man. This is not a place for peasants to stay."
The old beggar man asked as he reached into the pocket of his cloak "Not even if I bestow upon you a small gift of gratitude if you were to provide shelter for me?"
The man brought out of the pocket of his cloak a beautiful, pure white Lily flower. It seemed to glow a slight golden tone as the man's long, shaky fingers held the stem gently, showing the prince it's beauty.
James, who saw it only as a mere flower, sneered as he asked "That's it? Only a flower? Not gold or jewels? What do you do you take me for, old man? A fool?"
The old man said "Certainly not your majesty, but it is all I have to offer, and though it may seem simple for your taste, the appearance does not matter. It's about what is within that matters."
James scoffed, and said "I do not care. For the last time, no, you may not seek shelter here! Now, go! Leave me be!"
As the prince slammed the door in the old man's face and began to walk away, the doors slammed open. The old beggar man was there no longer: A tall, elegant warlock stood there instead. He wore gold half-moon spectacles and long, deep purple robes of a silk-like material. He also had long, purely white hair and a matching beard. He seemed to glow pure white as he stared down at the prince.
The look he gave James was not menacing nor kindly; it was rather a look a disapproving father would give his child when they did wrong.
The man said "I had rather hoped there would at least be a little kindness in your heart, young prince. Now I see that you have no love in your heart, and therefore I shall try to rectify that."
James was stunned at the appearance of the warlock, and before he could say anything, he found himself going through a painful transformation.
The warlock cast a spell upon the prince, as well as the staff and the entire castle.
The warlock had turned the prince into a beast: an appearance to match his heart.
The staff had been turned into objects that correlated with their duties, and the castle's appearance was transformed from elegant to intimidating.
The warlock told the prince: "Until you can learn to love another, and earn their love in return, the spell will remain. Because of your appearance, I can't imagine you will be able to leave the castle and be safe, so I will give you this mirror that will show you anything you wish to see. Also, this flower will be a reminder of your time limit: by your twentieth year, if you have not learned to love nor gained someone's love in return, the spell will become permanent, and the last petal of this lily will fall. I now bid you farewell."
With that, the warlock left with a swish of his cloak.
The prince ran into his room, and with a loud and frustrated roar, started to tear up his furniture. He stopped when he noticed the lily flower, floating in a glass jar upon a small table, the golden mirror lying next to the jar. He then looked outside, wondering if the spell would one day break, or whether he would remain a beast forever.
As seven years past, he began to lose hope, and began to remind himself daily of the cruel reality of:
"Who could ever love a beast?"
I hope you like it so far! The next part is yet to come! Thank you for reading!
-PinkRoseKoolKat