Night of the Broken Glass
C1: Cracks
[A/N: Kendra Potter, daughter of the late Potters of whom she knows nothing of, runs away from two negligent guardians, only to meet two people that introduce her to her past and future.]
[Disclaimer: I'm borrowing from J.K. Rowling, but I'm borrowing. She owns most of it, but I own what I make up. If I use anything she does in the future, sorry. Don't sue me.]
The rain was as cold as ice as the lone figure out that day ran. She was drenched, barely able to move the sopping wet clothing she was wearing, but she was too hurt to really realize anything at that moment.
Finally, after secretly leaving and many miles behind her, she sank down on the curb, rucksack soaking through and skateboard next to her.
Ten-year-old—eleven tomorrow on the twelfth of August—Kendra Potter panted for breath, tears streaming from her green eyes and her brown-black hair hanging in her eyes.
"Now what, genius?" she questioned herself suddenly, "I think as far as this and I don't pause once to think about after running away. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…"
She started to rap her forehead with her hands, the full-moon-shaped scars on the backs hidden beneath fingerless gloves. They were the last remnants of a past long forgotten and to her, best forgotten. She had been found sitting outside the smoldering wreckage of a house somewhere in the countryside and brought to two people that had wanted to adopt.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" Kendra sighed and finally stopped rapping her forehead with her knuckles on her 'stupidity' on not thinking past running away, "So what exactly am I supposed to do, now that I've run away from those two that call themselves my guardians?"
She sighed and rested her chin on her hands, elbows on her knees. The rain was near deafening with the wind and the sky was gun metal gray. Kendra sat there for a long while, simply staring at the street before her and trying futilely to think of where to go.
And then, rather abruptly, she fell over sideways, fast asleep.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.
The ticking of the clock was the only sound in the room. It was the only thing Kendra's sleep-dulled mind could pick up on. All she could distinctly remember was that it been very cold and wet, and now it was warm and dry.
Just as abruptly as she had fallen asleep before, something blew very cold air very hard into her ear. Kendra turned and looked around and found a very strange-looking little man hovering just above her and wearing a ridiculous orange bowtie. Kendra's green eyes widened at the immediate shock of a person floating in the air, and then at the fact that he had a very wicked-looking grin on his face. He began to open his mouth when a door somewhere opened.
"Yes, thank you Peeves." a voice said, "I was starting to wonder when Kendra here was going to wake up. But you can leave now."
"Wolfy!" sneered the little man, sticking out his tongue and zooming backwards and through the wall as he went, "Smelly Wolfy!"
Kendra stared at the spot where the floating man had vanished through the wall until a small weight flopped onto the bed near her feet. She sat up and looked about—and then yelped in shock.
A woman with surprisingly shaggy gray hair was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, smiling with her eyes closed.
"Hello, Miss Kendra Potter." the woman said, "You've been asleep for quite a few hours. Oh, Happy Birthday."
"…who are you?" Kendra finally managed to speak.
"I'm an orphan with no family ties." the woman continued to smile, "My name's Cecelia, but everyone just calls me Seal. And I also happen to be the Transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts."
"And I think I'm still sleeping somewhere out in the rain." Kendra replied very slowly, trying to think. The door somewhere nearby creaked open again and the two looked towards the person that had just come in.
"Ah, hello." a white-haired man stood there, closing the door behind him, "I see I didn't overdo my Sleeping Charm."
"Hey, Dante!" Seal smiled and laughed a little, "Where've you been all day and night?"
"Diagon Alley." replied the white-haired man, "I found the books and supplies, but she needs to come with me."
"Aw, so soon?" Seal sighed, "She only just woke up."
"And it's a good amount of work to get through Diagon Alley with so many items to purchase at this time of the year." the man answered in the same soft voice as before, "Now, come along, Kendra.
"And no, Seal, you can't come with us." he murmured as Seal started to ask something, "I know it sounds cruel of me, but you get bored very easily and you'd go wandering off somewhere. I'll have enough trouble explaining everything without having to go looking for you."
"Oh, all right." Seal murmured, "Since you put it that way. I have to finish up the lesson plan for the seventh years anyway. Have fun!"
"What's going on?" Kendra questioned as the white-haired man guided her through the hallways of the place they were in, "Where are we? Who are you?"
"I'm taking you to Diagon Alley in London, we are at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am Dante Ascarte, professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts here." the man answered each question in the same order as they were asked, "Now if you follow me, we need to use Floo Powder to travel."
Kendra suddenly felt as if a large weight had struck her in the side of the head. The terms 'witchcraft,' 'wizardry,' and 'Floo Powder' jumped out at her and added to the weight that made her sway on her feet.
"Witchcraft?" she blinked, "Did you just say witchcraft?"
"Yes, I did." Dante murmured, "You are a witch."
"Yeah, and vampires exist." Kendra muttered sarcastically, "Thanks but I'd—"
"Yes, I do exist. Why do you mention me? And why do you question your being a witch when you know of odd things that occurred a while ago when you were little? You made things vanish, and then reappear, and you have those interesting moon-scars on your hands. You were orphaned many years ago, ten years ago today.
"These times are still dark for wizards and witches. Your parents died after defeating the Dark Lord Voldemort, but there still exists another Dark Lord. He is Anton, and he is the one who killed your parents and gave you those scars. He is still alive, and he is still trying to find you. He was the only one that knew you were still alive."
"Still alive?" Kendra breathed, "What do you mean?"
"When your parents were killed, everyone believed you to be dead with your parents. Anton has been waiting; believing you to never come here as all believed you dead. He and his followers, the Death Eaters, wreak havoc as they come and go and do what they please. There are hundreds of Aurors in the Ministry of Magic's service, but so many have been killed that the occupation is losing all interest.
"Now there are more Hunters for hire running about in the streets to combat Anton and his followers. I am a vampire…hunter. I have retired to this position to teach others of ways to combat the Dark Ways."
Kendra stood there silent for a long time. The torch-lit hallway was completely devoid of any sound, save the crackling of the fire on the torches.
"So I'm a witch that's supposedly been dead for ten years and the man that killed my parents is the only one other than you is the only one that knows I'm alive. We're caught up in a war that's completely secret to people that aren't wizards. You, an ex-vampire-hunter, took me off the street. And now I'm at a school that's going to teach me magic."
"I said I was a vampire and a hunter, not a vampire-hunter, but that's the gist of it." Dante replied, looking towards the girl. Kendra held her chin with one hand, obviously thinking over the whole situation.
"Well, if I'm a witch, I'm a witch." she finally sighed, "And as long as you don't bite me for your evening meal, I'm not scared. So where are we going?"
The hustle and bustle of the cobbled street was an antithesis to the quiet hallways they had just been in. Kendra rubbed a bruise on her elbow where something had hit it whilst she traveled via Floo Powder and stared around at the various people that were talking loudly.
She was suddenly yanked sideways by the back of her ash-gray shirt and found it was Dante who'd pulled her through the crowd. He kept her moving and kept glancing to each side.
"I don't want you to say who you are unless you truly must." he murmured softly, "Speak not your name unless it is to one that is trustworthy. Do you understand? Until you are sorted into your House, no one can know your name."
He kept his hand at the base of her neck and top of her back, continuing to look about. He seemed secretly apprehensive of something, as they went through each of the stores—after a hasty stop at a wizard's bank called Gringotts—and bought the supplies on a list Dante had brought with him.
Robes, potion ingredients, subject texts, and a silent rest after the mass purchasing were what came that day. Kendra decided not to question why Dante continued to look about as if they were being followed. Finally, the last thing needed came up—a wand was all they needed and then they could return.
Ollivanders was the name of the wand shop. The inside was silent, the sound of the outside drowned out somehow. There were only two people in the shop at that moment—a little old man and a boy of the same age as Kendra.
"So, Mr. Chishio, how does that wand feel?" the old man asked in a quiet voice, a soft smile on his lips.
"It feels perfectly fine, sir." the boy replied, looking at the wand in his hand, "Thank you."
"Not at all." the man waved his hand dismissively, "Ah, Master Ascarte, how nice to see you again."
"Mr. Ollivander." Dante replied, "I have a student here that will be starting this year. A wand, please."
"May I please introduce you and this young lady to a Mr. Virgil Chishio?" Ollivander murmured, "He too will be starting at Hogwarts this year."
The young boy walked up to Kendra and looked at her through blood-red eyes. His hair was a strange greenish tint, yet noticeably brown, tied back at his neck and trailing down just beyond his shoulders. He held out a hand with the same solemn face that Kendra was wearing, and Kendra took it with her gloved hand.
"Master Ascarte, may I speak with you privately?" Ollivander gestured towards the back of the shop and Dante followed, leaving the two children alone.
There was an uneasy silence as the two looked at each other for one moment.
"What is your name?" the boy, Virgil, asked in a soft voice, "You know mine, and I would appreciate knowing yours."
"I'm not entirely free to say." Kendra replied, unsure of what to say at all, "Sorry."
"How's this?" Virgil said in an offering tone, "I'll tell you my real name, and you tell me your name. I'm Virgil Riddle. What's your name?"
Pausing for a long moment, Kendra finally answered, "Kendra Potter. My name is Kendra Potter."
"Well, it was very nice to meet you, Kendra." Virgil smiled a warm smile that reached his blood-red eyes, "I'll see you on the First of September, when the year starts." With that, he lay down a few Galleons on the counter and left, his wand still in his hand.
Not a minute later, Dante and Mr. Ollivander returned to the front of the store, both looking oddly serious.
"Now, Miss Potter, I wonder what type of wand you might need." Ollivander murmured, "I certainly remember your father's wand. Holly and phoenix feather. Eleven inches. Now let me see…"
He went to wander through the massive rows and columns of boxes. Kendra stared off into nothing and Dante went to stand by the window in the front of the store. A soft sound seemed to go off inside her head, making her look up and around. The sudden thought to move towards a row of wands and draw just one of them free of their place.
Her hand hovered over the wands, moving without her thinking about it, and then grasping one wand, one box in particular. Kendra pulled the box free of its place and opened it, finding a wand sitting there. She let her fingers rest on the smooth ash wood for a moment before taking it lightly in her fingers. A sort of warmth came as the wand rested in her palm.
"Now why don't—oh." Ollivander came back with an armful of boxes, but stopped as he caught sight of Kendra with the wand in her hand.
Kendra didn't listen to Ollivander, but gripped the wand tightly in one hand, feeling something odd causing her to feel angry. Sparks, gold and red sparks shot from the end of the wand, causing Ollivander to clap loudly.
"Wonderful!" he cried, "Simply wonderful! But how odd that two people choose their wands at first glance in the same day. How very odd indeed."
"Who else did that?" Dante questioned.
"The young man who just left." Ollivander answered, "Virgil Chishio."
The wand paid for and everything else bought, Kendra and Dante began back towards the fire that could take them back to Hogwarts.
"Hey, Dante, wait a minute!" a voice called suddenly, making both of them stop. They turned about and spotted Seal dodging between people, rushing towards them.
"Seal, I thought you were—" Kendra started to say.
"Staying back at the school?" Seal finished, her amber eyes glimmering, "Nah, it was boring. Besides, I needed to get something. Um, Dante…"
"What's happened?" Dante asked seriously. Seal glanced furtively at Kendra, but Kendra noticed.
"What does it have to do with me?" Kendra questioned. Seal looked at Dante for a long moment and Dante suddenly grabbed Kendra's wrist.
"We need to leave now." he hissed, "Come on."
"What happened?" Kendra asked as they came through the fire.
"Kendra, I went to your home to get the things you would need for the year." Seal admitted, "But…"
"But what?" Kendra continued to ask. She stared at Seal for a long moment until the gray-haired woman resigned to answering.
"The Death Eaters are searching now." Seal murmured, " They were trying to find you, and they questioned your guardians. Unfortunately, you were gone. So…"
Kendra felt that weight smash into the side of her head and then those next few words did it.
"They're dead."
She fainted.
—to be continued—
