Chapter one: Past revealed

It was odd…sitting in my living room, thirteen years old and staring at the very, VERY old man across from me. His silver beard and hair touched his waist, he was wearing robes of a deep purple that seemed to sparkle as brightly as the stars out in the sky. I looked from the man to my mother and father. Confusion was eating away at me. I just wanted to know what was happening. Why had this strange man come knocking on our door? Why was he asking to speak to my parents about me? What did he want?

Normally it was a monthly occurrence for strangers to wind up on our doorstep. We live out in the country, and when I say country, I mean country. Out in the boonies, our house it so far off the road that's it's almost extremely difficult to find it if you're trying to. If you're not, however, it seems almost too easy to find. There's a road right beside our driveway, supposed to take you to the next town. But many people don't pay attention; they either turn too soon, or don't turn soon enough, over shooting and driving up our driveway instead. That's why it was so strange that this man had come to the door and asked specifically…for me. I'd never seen him before in my life. And trust me, I would have.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on? Why is he here, why does he want to talk to me?" I was so confused, I just wanted answers. But my parents didn't seem to want to tell me. Or couldn't. It was kind of hard to tell. So, instead I looked at him. I opened my mouth to speak, but he turned his eyes on me and I lost all use of my vocal chords. The power he seemed to have on me, on my parents, even the dogs didn't want to make and sudden movements.

"I'm so sorry Bethany. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster at a private school in England. I've come here to speak to your parents about you potentially attending the school. Of course, you're a few years late. We normally only accept students who turn 11. But you are a very special case." He put on a genuine smile, but it still didn't seem to knock any of the household over their quiet stance.

"England? What's a school in England looking at me for?" being only 13 years old I still had the tendency to ask very random and blunt questions. I whipped my head quickly to look at my mother. "Momma? Why is England looking at me?" She still said nothing. A dog whined beside me and shifted their paws slightly.

"We've been watching you closely, watching your progress and life. Deciding on when would be the right time to come and speak to you." The man, Albus, seemed not to find it at all strange that he had apparently been watching her for years.

"What have you been doing watching me? HOW have you been watching me? England's far from Canada…isn't it?" Another confused look crossed my face. Once again I turned to my parents, my father who nodded at me, telling me England was, indeed, very far from us.

"My school is not a normal school Bethany. It's called Hogwarts, and it's a school for witchcraft and Wizardry. A very prestigious school for young witches and wizards to be able to control their powers." I stared at him, witches? Wizards? What is he talking about? And why is he looking at me? I'm not a witch. I haven't done anything spectacular. And certainly nothing even close to magic. I looked, once again, to my parents and was instantly shocked. My mother was giving Albus the most heated and furious look I have ever seen.

"What do you think you're doing Albus? Why are you here? I TOLD you! I told you when we had her that she wasn't going. She can't go! She's not a witch. We made sure of that." My mother had stood up and was seething. Her blonde hair seemed to pop with electric hatred, and her dark brown eyes seemed even darker and more menacing. "We came here for a reason, and you know that. I am not having my family go over to that place. There is so much evil and darkness across that ocean and I refuse to raise my family there. We spoke about this 14 years ago. We talked about this when we left. You told me you wouldn't bother me, bother us. You said you'd let us be."

"Marcy, do you really think I want to break my promise? I never wanted to have to come over here and tell you this. But he's noticed her! He couldn't HELP but notice her. That little girl's power is so strong even the wizard with the smallest amount of power can feel her. She's not normal. You always knew she wouldn't be." Albus had leaned against his chair and crossed his leg over his knee. He looked so serene, so calm.

"Oh please! She's 13 Albus, how can he possibly know about her? She hasn't even so much as moved a stick a few centimetres."

"And you know why, don't you Marcy? What was that enchantment you put over this town? Why hasn't Bethany been able to go to school like a normal child? Why have you insisted on teaching her yourself? I told you it wouldn't be able to conceal her powerful aura. It would just make it impossible for her to control it herself. Why don't you tell your daughter the truth? Why don't you tell her why she isn't allowed to leave this town? Why don't you tell her who the rest of her family is?" The whole time my father had been quiet. Which was very odd, normally he loved to make his opinion known. He hated me and my mother making decisions without him. It was odd to see him so silent, until now.

"Marcy, tell her." My mother's head snapped to look at my father. Her lips mouthed soundlessly. He turned his eyes to look into hers and he nodded. "Tell her love. She needs to know. It's obvious we won't be able to keep her safe any longer. We've tried darling. It's not working. We need to ask for help." My mother still refused to speak; she slowly sank into her chair, still staring at my father. "You knew this day would happen. We can only be glad we managed to keep her with us this long. But we need to give her to Albus. He's the safest one for her. You know that." He leaned forward and grabbed onto her hand. She looked like she wanted to wrench her hand away but she didn't. Instead, she turned it over and grasped his tightly. Tears were forming in her eyes and she nodded sadly. Albus stood up and clapped his hand joyfully.

"Excellent! Now that that unruly business is over with, I think there is some information we need to pass on to the young girl over here." He turned his shinning face over to me. I just stared at him. I didn't speak, didn't blink, and barely breathed. What did all this mean?

My mother stood up quickly with her hands raised. "if you want her to know so badly you two can fill her in. I'm not going to tell her something that's going to kill her." She started walking away, but not before we heard her mutter "its bad enough my blood has done enough damage as it is." Then she was gone up the stairs. My father sighed and shook his head.

"She always was the drama queen wasn't she, albus?" I quickly glared at him. I always was quick to defend my mother. 'wait, why am I defending her? She get an entire life from me! My life! She didn't tell me I was a witch, she didn't tell me I belonged in England. She never told I was special' those horrible thoughts ran through my mind, but I didn't feel bad. It was all true. I had lost every single ounce of respect I ever had for my mother in those last five minutes. So, I just shook my head and looked up expectantly.

"Alright dark one" her father had always had an interest in calling me that. I am just assuming it's because of my very dark hair and eyes. "Your mother and I are indeed from the wizarding world. We both come from very long and old blood lines of powerful witches and wizards. My family is known as the Lanes. We've continuously made wands for the world alongside famous wizards such as Ollivander and Gregorovitch. Your mother's bloodlines are the Gaunts. Unfortunately they were some of the darkest witches and wizards. They used to go by Slytherines, but somewhere along the line it was cut down to Gaunts.

"Now, there are some things about your mother's side you need to know about. First off, they're known to talk to snakes. Talk and control them. Your mother and I have absolutely no idea if you carried on the gene. Changes are very high, but I'd like for you to NOT find out. It's important you blend in and not give people reasons to look at you differently. The last and most important thing perhaps. None of your mother's side knows about you. They don't even know about her. Her mother took left her husband when she had first gotten pregnant with her; she left England and came her to Canada. They have been hiding out in the farm and forest land ever since. There's a reason for that Bethany.

My father looked so strict and serious it was scary, he normally liked to put a light, joking tone on things. I gulped and nodded slowly. "Your mother's cousin is a very dangerous man. His name is Tom Riddle…or….as he likes to be called. Lord Voldemort. He is the strongest most dangerous man you will ever come across. And he hates his family, all of them. THAT is why we have been hiding you, that is why you cannot let people notice you. That is why you need to be a normal teenager, with normal powers, and no ability to talk to snakes whatsoever. "He looked at me, pleading me with his eyes. "Promise me Bethany. PROMISE you won't cause trouble for yourself please."

I looked from my father and Albus; both looked very grave and sincere. A thought instantly clicked into my head and I gasped. "But….but you said he knew I was here, that I was alive." I focused all my attention on Albus, who nodded even more gravely at me. "Then, if he knows I'm alive he can follow the power. He can either go to this school or hurt the other kids or….or he can come here! He can back here to you and mom!" I leapt out of my seat and stared wildly at the pair. There was NO way I was going to leave my parents here where they could be killed within days from her leaving. I was surprised we hadn't been attacked yet.

"You have nothing to worry about Bethany. " I laughed right at Albus, I just couldn't help it. "No, I mean it. You and your parents don't have anything to worry about right now. You see, 12 years ago he was brought down by a one year old boy. That boys name is Harry Potter, and he'll be at the school with you. Yes, Voldemort is still alive, but only barely. More of a….walking soul without a home. And until he can figure out how to get his soul back into his body we are relatively safe."

"Then why are you taking me? If he's not a threat why don't you just leave me here with my parents? My mother can teach me magic. My dad can help too." The hopefulness in my voice was unmistakable. Albus and my father shared a look and sighed together.

"You have to go baby. He has people who follow him. Called Death Eaters, and there are some who still believe he will come back and will do anything to make him happy once he has. That means taking out his enemies before he has to do it himself. We are one of those enemies." There was obviously no way around this. I had to go. I had to leave my parents with an evil dark wizard going after them to learn some stupid rules on how to control my magic. Magic I haven't even witnessed yet. How was I supposed to know this was all true?

I gave my father another credulous look then sighed. "Fine. I don't have much choice do I?" Heaving myself to my feet I started for the stairs. "I'll just get my stuff then. Let me know when you want to leave." And with that I patted my thigh, a large black boarhound bounded up to my side, and walked up the stairs to my room. As I passed my mother's bedroom I heard her talking to someone. Who was she talking to now? Another witch or wizard who was going to complicate my life? Once I opened her door however I saw that she was completely alone, no telephone. Just a picture of her grandmother on her lap…talking to her.

"Wha…gran….mom?" unable to get any intelligent sentence out of my mouth I just turned and fled to my room, officially freaked out.