Disclaimer: The characters (for once) actually belong to me! Mhuahahahaaa!
Naaa. you're welcome to borrow them, if you're that desperate, but tell me
first! Anyway, as I was saying, The characters do belong to me, but the
world of Hogwarts belongs entirely to JK Rowling (though WB may try to tell
everyone otherwise!)
Katharine May was eleven years old. She lived with her mother, Jane, in a fairly small cottage, though more than large enough for the two of them. She had no brothers or sisters, and new nothing about her father. Her mother had never told her where he was, or whether or not he was dead. This was, of course, a time when divorce hardly existed, even amongst the richest and most powerful nobles in the country.
Katharine occasionally went into the village, and once or twice a year she would go to buy cloth from the drapery in the nearest town. Until last year, he mother had done this, but now she was eleven, she trusted her. Nobody knew exactly where Jane's money had come from (least of all Katharine), but they weren't badly off, and often had a new dress each, every year or two.
These rare visits to the village, where the only opportunities Katharine had, to talk to other people of her own age, though their parents didn't encourage them to approach her. You see, because she and her mother generally kept away from other people, and nobody knew much about them, there were all kinds of rumours and speculation. For instance, some of the villagers swore that Jane May was a witch.
Jane was never referred to as Mrs May, or Widow May. In fact, there was some doubt that she had ever been married at all. This was another reason for the villagers to keep their children away from her daughter, Katharine.
Whatever they believed about her mother, they couldn't find anything remotely strange or abnormal about Katharine. She had ordinary, light brown, slightly wavy, long hair, and brown eyes. There were no visible signs to the superstitious muggle, that she was a witch. She wasn't even left-handed. The only thing that they regarded as being unnatural about her, was the fact that she could read. Girls in those days, except from wealthy families, could rarely read or write, unless there was a 'Dame school' in their village, in which case they may have known the alphabet, but little else. In their opinion, Katharine's education was nothing less than abnormal.
Katharine tended to ignore these people. She was fully aware that her mother was a witch, and even more conscious of what would happen if the muggles knew. In this time, even rumour and suspicion were dangerous enough. In 1569, a list of forbidden magical practices had been produced, including summoning spirits, telling where lost objects were, and even curing men or animals. They were all punishable by death, and the laws were still in force at the time when Katharine was alive.
She was sure that escaping this penalty would be much easier, if they had lived a few centuries earlier, or lived in Scotland. Flame freezing charms were simple, Katharine could do them quite well, and she was only a child. Her mother had told her about Wendelin the Weird, in the Middle Ages, who actually enjoyed being 'burned'. Of course, this punishment was more painful that the current ones, on the many occasions when an innocent muggle was caught instead. Punishments had changed since then. It was only in Scotland that witches were still burned. The penalty was still death, but by hanging, and Katharine had a feeling that flame-freezing charms would be of no use whatsoever. She was a very anxious sort of girl, and being hanged for witchcraft was one of her worst fears.
Katharine May was eleven years old. She lived with her mother, Jane, in a fairly small cottage, though more than large enough for the two of them. She had no brothers or sisters, and new nothing about her father. Her mother had never told her where he was, or whether or not he was dead. This was, of course, a time when divorce hardly existed, even amongst the richest and most powerful nobles in the country.
Katharine occasionally went into the village, and once or twice a year she would go to buy cloth from the drapery in the nearest town. Until last year, he mother had done this, but now she was eleven, she trusted her. Nobody knew exactly where Jane's money had come from (least of all Katharine), but they weren't badly off, and often had a new dress each, every year or two.
These rare visits to the village, where the only opportunities Katharine had, to talk to other people of her own age, though their parents didn't encourage them to approach her. You see, because she and her mother generally kept away from other people, and nobody knew much about them, there were all kinds of rumours and speculation. For instance, some of the villagers swore that Jane May was a witch.
Jane was never referred to as Mrs May, or Widow May. In fact, there was some doubt that she had ever been married at all. This was another reason for the villagers to keep their children away from her daughter, Katharine.
Whatever they believed about her mother, they couldn't find anything remotely strange or abnormal about Katharine. She had ordinary, light brown, slightly wavy, long hair, and brown eyes. There were no visible signs to the superstitious muggle, that she was a witch. She wasn't even left-handed. The only thing that they regarded as being unnatural about her, was the fact that she could read. Girls in those days, except from wealthy families, could rarely read or write, unless there was a 'Dame school' in their village, in which case they may have known the alphabet, but little else. In their opinion, Katharine's education was nothing less than abnormal.
Katharine tended to ignore these people. She was fully aware that her mother was a witch, and even more conscious of what would happen if the muggles knew. In this time, even rumour and suspicion were dangerous enough. In 1569, a list of forbidden magical practices had been produced, including summoning spirits, telling where lost objects were, and even curing men or animals. They were all punishable by death, and the laws were still in force at the time when Katharine was alive.
She was sure that escaping this penalty would be much easier, if they had lived a few centuries earlier, or lived in Scotland. Flame freezing charms were simple, Katharine could do them quite well, and she was only a child. Her mother had told her about Wendelin the Weird, in the Middle Ages, who actually enjoyed being 'burned'. Of course, this punishment was more painful that the current ones, on the many occasions when an innocent muggle was caught instead. Punishments had changed since then. It was only in Scotland that witches were still burned. The penalty was still death, but by hanging, and Katharine had a feeling that flame-freezing charms would be of no use whatsoever. She was a very anxious sort of girl, and being hanged for witchcraft was one of her worst fears.