Chapter 1
The night after the change always left Ridley feeling weak and miserable and this morning was no different. She awoke on the cold stone floor of the dungeon she had been forced to transform in every month for the past four years. She could feel the faint trickles of blood coming from where the heavy collar with its many inward facing spikes had dug into her neck. Any minute now she would hear the pounding footsteps of Boulstridge coming down the stairs to unlock her and bring her upstairs to prepare breakfast and do her morning chores. But when the sound of multiple people coming down the stairs Ridley had a gut feeling that it did not bode well for her.
Sure enough Boulstridge and the other man, who Ridley did not recognize, approached her and thrusted some ratty clothes and a pair of tattered shoes at her. She quickly got dressed in hopes to avoid the crack of Boulstridge's walking stick across her shins that often came when she moved too slowly.
"Come on, hurry up. We don't have all day!" barked Boulstridge, his fist tightening around the walking stick.
"Pack your things and be quick about it" growled the other man.
Confused to why she needed to pack the few personal items she was allowed to keep when she was brought to Boulstridge's house she nevertheless did as she was told. Putting her books, broken quills and ink, some various odds and ins and the last picture she had of her life before it had been ruined that night of the full moon almost five years ago into a canvas bag and shouldered it.
"Get the hood on her Capper" he ordered, and the other man fitted a thick wool hood over Ridley's head. The strong odor of mildew coming from the hood filled her nose and made her nauseous. The two men grabbed her forcefully by the arms and lead her clumsily up the stairs; made difficult by the fact that the shoes she was wearing were a size too big and caused her trip on the slick stone steps.
"We'll have to take the car, so just throw her in the backseat and we'll head out. It shouldn't take too long to get to that pompous git Malfoy's manor." Said the voice that had to belong to Capper. She heard the click of a car door and before she knew it she was landed hard on the plush leather seat. With her heart pounding and her mind racing with thoughts about where she was going and what was going to happen to her when she arrived; she attempted to sit up but the soft seat of the car was such a delightful change from the hard dungeon floor her exhaustion from the previous night's transformation overtook her and she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
The car came to an abrupt stop that shook Ridley out of her troubled sleep; and she opened her eyes only to see the darkness from the inside of the hood.
"Come on, we're already late" said Capper as he and Boulstridge got out and opened the door to the back seat. The cool morning air made Ridley shiver as she was roughly hoisted from the car and lead down what seemed to be a rather large gravel driveway and up a few stone steps. She heard a loud echoing knock on what had to be a door and then the faint sound of footsteps coming from the other side. There was a turn of a knob and the sound of hinges creaking that told her that the door had been opened.
"You're late" said a nameless dignified sounding voice
"Our sincerest apologies Mr. Malfoy" answered Boulstridge in a tone that sounded very insincere to Ridley.
"Well come in, and wipe your feet" ordered the voice that belonged to Mr. Malfoy.
