Prologue
No one in the wizarding world thought Alba Silverwood would have a story to tell. Alba, who would never shine above her elder sister Ora, named for the light she brought to the world. Alba, who lacked the grace of her younger sister Liliana, named for the indescribable beauty only she possessed. Alba, named for the dawn of a new, better world her parents hoped she would help to bring about, but who never seemed to meet these high expectations. Alba, the ordinary one, whom everyone seemed to forget.
That is, until she went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
When Professor Minerva McGonagall called "Silverwood, Alba" to the Sorting Hat, everyone in the Great Hall knew what the results would be. The Silverwoods were a pure-blood family, meaning every member was a wizard and had attended Hogwarts. Not one of them had been sorted into anything but Gryffindor house. Their feud with the Malfoys, a rich pure-blood family full of Slytherins, had remained unresolved for centuries. It seemed almost impossible for a Malfoy to be a Gryffindor, let alone a Silverwood be a Slytherin.
So, the Gryffindor table sat anticipating the next addition to their house. First years such as "Evans, Lily" couldn't help but smile at the possibility of befriending a fellow Gryffindor. She couldn't imagine "Potter, James," the one Gryffindor she had met, as even an acquaintance—but that's a story for another time.
But Alba's Sorting experience was nothing like the world had envisioned. "Please don't put me in Gryffindor," she repeated over and over in her head, hoping the Sorting Hat would hear. "I want to stand out for once," she thought. "I want to be noticed."
With this guidance, the Hat delved deep into her mind, curious to find something that would set her apart from her Gryffindor family. It saw how she was cunning enough to always get what she wanted, how she was clever enough to solve any mystery she encountered, and how she was ambitious enough to put her cunning and cleverness to use. And so, after mere seconds of contemplation, the hat bellowed "SLYTHERIN!"
Little did Alba know at the time, her placement in Slytherin would change the course of her life entirely. Her parents, Jasmin and Felix Silverwood, took some time to adjust to her Sorting, but they soon became proud to have a cunning and ambitious daughter. They even thought—hoped, even—it might end their feud with the Malfoys. But that changed soon enough.
You might say Alba fell in with the wrong crowd. She became one of the very limited friends of Severus Snape, and joined the gang of Slytherins that Severus may have said he was a part of, but, truth be told, no one invited him. This gang would spend its time bullying Muggle-borns—the wizard children of non-magical beings which the wizarding world referred to as "Muggles"—especially Gryffindors. And the Muggle-born "Evans, Lily," was Alba's main target.
But I digress.
That Slytherin gang would soon join the army of the infamous Dark Lord Voldemort, who terrorized Muggle-borns across the wizarding world and murdered thousands of Muggles and wizards alike. Alba became one of his most trusted followers.
The day Alba became loyal to Lord Voldemort was the day she was disowned forever. Instead of using her cleverness and determination to fight the dark arts like her parents hoped she would, she became a dark wizard herself, and fought her way to the top of the Death Eater ranks. And she became so devoted to Lord Voldemort that, for some godforsaken reason, she fell in love with him. I would've disowned her, too.
But Alba is not even the start of our story. This particular tale begins with the daughter of Alba Silverwood and Lord Voldemort himself, Sadie Silverwood.
And, just like Alba, Sadie would turn out far differently than anyone ever imagined.