Turiel Peter always wanted to go to a real school. Any school. Most 16 year olds want the exact opposite, but the again the majority of today's youth weren't home schooled or slightly odd. Slightly odd meaning strange things were always happening around her. You see, our dear heroine is a witch. Being a witch with an all muggle family was hard. Although her family loved her they didn't trust sending her into the wizarding world. Her parents were born into religious families and were both devout Catholics. Martha and Jon Peter wouldn't outright say it but they believed their daughters powers were an abomination against God. They were never cruel to Turiel and even went as far as to hire a tutor to teach her magic during the summers. Alas at the end of every summer, when the professor would leave, she would reach out to her parents and beg them to send her to school with other kids her age, muggle or magical. Every year she received the same answers. From her mother she would get a flat out no and from her father she would get a lecture on obeying her parents. Father would never tell her no like mother did, he would just stare at Turiel with a sad look on his face and launch his memorized speech. "This year will be different Magnus. I'm almost of age now so surely they should see that letting me make friends will benefit me. And how will they react when I move out?" Magnus is her only steady companion and she's her pet toad. Magical things were a divine rarity in her life and Magnus was special. Professor Lupin had given her the toad, a breed only sold in the magical world. It was only after she had named it Magnus that she was told it was a girl toad. Turiel sighed, looking out her bedroom window. Thankful as she was for the company of her pet, she was still very lonely. The neighborhood kids were outside playing with their soccer balls none the wiser to the sad face peering out a third floor window. If it were up to her she would gladly give her abilities up just for the chance to make a real friend. Feeling depressed Turiel left her window seat to go make some lunch. Making her way down the stairs she heard shouting coming from the first floor library. In her house all of the arguments were behind closed doors. Her parents were very tight lipped and secretive. Fighting the urge to run down the rest of the stairs she stopped to hear what was wrong. The voices raised in anger. "... and you can't lock her away from the rest of the world Martha. She needs to get out of here and live, really live! What do you think will happen when you tell her the truth? She'll never be happy here again. Its your duties as her parents to let her go find herself. You can't deny her the right to her freedom any longer. Turiel's going to be 17 in just a few days. Its time, and Jon agrees, so what's the problem?" Professor Lupin was the one shouting. He had left for the end of summer a couple weeks ago... Turiel was confused, what were her parents not telling her? And why was the professor here arguing her case for her? In any case she was glad she wasn't the one to have to say these things. Confronting her parents was never an easy task for her. Trying to sneak down the final flight of stairs, Turiel hit a sweet spot and a loud creak sounded out. "Ah shite!" She knew she was busted now. Sheepishly she rounded the corner and walked into the library. No point in denying her eavesdropping she grinned at Lupin. "Miss me already professor?" she asked. "Always dear," he gave her a sad smile, "well I think I'll take my leave now. I'll be back in a couple of days to pick you up." With that he went to the fireplace and got in. "I'll expect all of you to be ready," he said only looking to her mum, "Hogs head inn!" And with a puff of green flame the good professor vanished. silence reigned for a few minutes while Turiel waited for an explanation. Her mother stormed out of the room not looking at her. 'I hope I didn't make her mad...' she thought. Glancing at her dad, she shut the door behind her mum. He motioned for her to sit at his big oak desk. That was never really a good sign. He only had he sit at the desk when she was in trouble. She took the offered seat and looked to her dad. "Da what's going on? Did I do something to upset mum?" She questioned. Growing up had not been easy for Turiel. It was all a matter of walking on egg shells around her mum. As long as she was good and not showing her magical side everything was fine in the peter residence. She remembered the first time her magic showed its face. It was her 6th birthday, and yes, she remembered it vividly... ~Flashback~ The sun was glaring down on the little thatch cottage that housed the peter family. Today was a special day for the youngest. A birthday. Said birthday girl was excited for the day ahead of her. Bouncing up and down in her seat Turiel looked at her mother in the mirror. " Hold still child," her mother laughed out. As a treat her mum was weaving her hair into a long elegant side braid. On every special occasion this was her tradition. This was always her favorite part of her birthday. The women of the family never cut their hair and Turiel's hair was now down to her waist. Her mum used to tell her she got her beautiful white blonde hair color because she was a changeling child of the fairies. This story always made her think of being a princess of a far away land where magical fairies actually did exist. This yeah her parents were taking her to go see a musical called Thumbelina about a fairy born without her wings. This was to be the best birthday ever! Living in the Irish countryside it wasn't often something so fun would occur. *To be continued *