Only A Fairytale
(A Forgotten Hero)
- Wujjawoo -
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"Shut up, Anna," enunciated Laura sharply, listening to her little sister's incessant chatter. She shook her head in frustration and rolled her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, her sister's dark-haired head bobbed up and down as she danced around the room in a pink fairy outfit, the matching wand swinging wildly through the air. She narrowed her eyes and winced as it connected with something, sending it to the ground with a sharp clink and a thump.
"Enough, Anna," Laura gasped in exasperation, sitting up on her bed. Anna turned to her older sister, whom she considered much too serious, and pouted, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You're no fun!" she squeaked in disappointment, her tiara drooping across her forehead in a lopsided fashion. To anyone else, little Anna might have seemed cute, but Laura knew better. The little horror was…well, a horror.
"That's because I'm trying to sleep," replied Laura crossly. "And you should too. Mum will be up here any minute, and you'll be in big trouble then!"
"I won't," whined Anna. "Mummy loves me! She likes it when I dress up!"
Laura rolled her eyes. Must they go through this every night? Every single night…
"Well, if mum doesn't get you, Anna, the bogeyman certainly will."
Anna's dark eyes widened until they were the size of saucers. Her bottom lip trembled, but she stuck her chin out defiantly.
"You're lying," she asserted, though her voice wavered. "There's no such thing!"
Laura shrugged, stood up, and flicked off the light.
"Watch out!" she hissed, and ran back to her bed. There was a moment of silence and then…
"Mummy!" wailed Anna, her voice full of tears. Laura sat smugly on her bed. Anna let out a piercing scream, and Laura covered her ears.
"I told you," she said loudly. "Just get into bed and he'll go away."
"B-but – I can't see anything! It's all dark!"
"That's the point, Anna. It goes dark so you can sleep!"
Anna let out a sob and Laura sighed as she heard footsteps on the stairs. A moment later the door opened to admit their mother, who flipped the light switch. Laura groaned and covered her eyes. She heard her mother tutting as Anna's feet pattered across the floor and the little girl threw herself into her mother's arms. Laura opened her eyes to see tears slipping down her pale cheeks, and her mother looked up at her reproachfully.
"Laura, what did you do to your sister?"
"Nothing, mum! I just told her the bogeyman would get her if she didn't behave and go to sleep. I'm leaving for school tomorrow and I don't want to be tired."
"Laura," scolded her mother. "Your sister is seven years old! Have some common sense! You knew I was coming up soon!"
Laura rolled her eyes and sighed as Anna stuck her tongue out from beneath their mother's arm and grinned wickedly.
"Fine," she said tiredly, and rolled over, listening to her mother soothing Anna.
"There's no such thing as the bogeyman, darling. There's no need to be scared."
Laura rolled over in annoyance.
"Mum's right, Anna. There's no such thing as the bogeyman. But there's such a thing as the Dark Lord, and he'll get you if you're not careful!"
Anna turned around and skipped up to the side of Laura's bed, grinning madly.
"I'm not afraid," she declared loudly, above her mother's noise of displeasure. "The Chosen Once will save me! And he'll come and save me from you!"
"There's no such thing," Laura mimicked, "as the Chosen One!"
"Laura!" scolded their mother, but the girls weren't listening.
"Is too!" replied Anna smartly.
"Is not!"
"Is too," said Anna, raising her voice.
"Is not!"
"IS TOO!"
"GIRLS!" yelled their mother. "BE QUIET!"
The two girls silenced instantly, looking up at their mother. She stood looking down at them, tapping her foot in exasperation. Anna's eyes began tearing up slightly.
"Mummy, it isn't true, it is? The Chosen One is real, isn't he?"
Laura watched as her mother gave Anna a patient smile.
"Of course he is, honey." She shot a warning glare in Laura's direction.
"Will you tell me the story, mummy?" Anna begged. "Tell me about the Chosen one and the Dark Lord!"
Their mother sighed and gave a small smile.
"Alright, Anna. Hop into bed and I'll tell it to you."
"Yay!" squealed Anna, leaping straight onto her bed and sliding under the covers. Their mother sat on the edge of the bed and tucked the covers under Anna's chin. She smiled warmly and Laura leaned back in her bed as well. Honestly, it was one of the most stupid stories she had ever heard.
"Now," began their mother softly, "once upon a time, there was an evil, evil man, known as the Dark Lord."
"And he was a wizard, wasn't he mummy?" asked Anna excitedly.
"Be quiet and let mum tell the story," ordered Laura.
"Yes, darling, he was," said mother, ignoring Laura's scornful interruption. "The Dark Lord was a very bad man. He used magic to force people to do as he wished, and he even killed people just because they didn't agree with him. It was an awful time, and people were so scared of him that they were too afraid to even say his name."
"What was his name, mummy?" piped up Anna. Laura rolled her eyes again; Anna asked that question every time.
"Well, sweetie, no one knows his name. He was just the Dark Lord. He wasn't a real person, but an evil presence of some sort."
"Like a ghoul!"
"Something like that," said mother. "But he could use magic. Now, legend has it that one year, just as the Dark Lord was reaching the height of his power, a prophecy was made."
"Professor Trelawney makes prophecies!" said Anna excitedly.
"You don't even know Professor Trelawney, Anna! You don't even go to Hogwarts!" huffed Laura. "Honestly, Trelawney's an old fraud! The only reason she's got the job is because her something-great grandma was a Seer!"
"Be quiet, Laura!" said Anna tearfully. "You're ruining the story!"
"Come now, girls, calm down," soothed mother. "Let me finish the story." She waited for silence and continued. "The Dark Lord had many followers, and one of them overheard the prophecy. According to the legend, the prophecy was about the person who had the power to defeat the Dark Lord. When he heard of the prophecy, the follower took it back to his master, who sought out the person in the prophecy. Then one night, on the 31st of October, the Dark Lord went to the house of the family of the Chosen One."
"He killed them, didn't he?" asked Anna timidly.
"Yes, honey. The Dark Lord killed the mother and father of the Chosen One, who was little more than a year old at the time. And do you know what happened then?"
"He tried to kill the Chosen One!" said Anna, her voice hushed.
"Mhmm. But he couldn't. That night, the Dark Lord disappeared, and the Chosen Once survived, with nothing more than a lightning bolt scar on his forehead as a reminder."
"That's so sad!" lamented Anna. Laura wondered how she could get so involved in a story that she had heard so many times before.
"But that's not the end of the story," said mother. "On that night, the Chosen One went to live with his aunt and uncle and their son. As he grew up, the Chosen one was like a servant to his relatives."
"They made him do everything for them! And they never got him presents on his birthday!"
"That's right," smiled mother. "And then one day, when the Chosen One turned eleven, he got a letter."
"Hogwarts!" yelled Anna.
"Mhmm. His relatives ignored it, and they ran away to try and hide him, but they failed. One night, when it was windy and rainy, a giant came to get the Chosen One, and told him all about magic and about who he really was."
"And then he went to Hogwarts and saved the Philosopher's Stone!" squealed Anna excitedly.
"Don't interrupt, Anna!" scolded Laura crossly. "You made mum miss a whole bit out."
"That's alright," soothed mother. "He did go to Hogwarts, and rumour has it that he was sorted into Gryffindor."
"Like Laura!"
"Yes, darling, just like Laura. That year he stopped the Dark Lord from becoming human again, and they learned that he hadn't really died that night. The Chosen One stopped him for the second time. In his second year he saved the school when the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and battled against a basilisk. He fought against the Dark Lord again, and saved a young girl from certain death. Some say that the girl was the sister of his best friend, and was the girl he was destined to love.
'The next year he found out that he had a godfather who had been in jail for many years, but had been wrongfully imprisoned. While they were trying to save him they found out that the Dark Lord had had a servant at Hogwarts, an animagus. The Chosen One's godfather was saved because he went back in time, and he went to live at the headquarters of a secret organisation.
'In his fourth year at Hogwarts, the Chosen One was forced to compete in a dangerous tournament. A teacher at the school submitted his name, even though he was too you. He battled a dragon, swam to the bottom of the Great Lake, and had to find his way through a maze. When he got to the centre of the maze though, he touched the cup and found out that it was a Portkey. It took him to a graveyard, far away from Hogwarts, and there, the Dark Lord was reborn."
"He used that Chosen One's blood!"
"He used a Dark ritual, and he was reborn in a body. He believed that he was stronger than the Chosen One, and so he proposed a duel. But for the fourth time, the Chosen One bested him, and he returned to Hogwarts. When the Chosen One returned for his fifth year, he felt his connection to the Dark Lord growing. Some said it was because they had shared blood, but the Chosen One thought otherwise. That year the Dark Lord tricked him into going to the Department of Ministries, and his godfather went to save him. The Chosen One watched as his godfather was murdered."
"He fell through the Veil," supplied Anna.
"And nobody comes back from the Veil," confirmed mother. "That same night, the Dark Lord possessed the Chosen One, but he couldn't bear to remain in his body. Later that night, the Chosen One was told of the Prophecy that said he was the only one who could defeat the Dark Lord. He was told that he must kill the Dark Lord or be killed himself."
"He was very brave, wasn't he, mummy," said Anna in her childish voice.
"Very," replied mother. "In his sixth year, the Chosen One lost the man who had become his mentor, a man who supposedly the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Before he died though, he told the Chosen One how that Dark Lord had managed to stay alive."
"Because he split his soul," said Anna in a hushed voice.
"He made six Horcruxes," said mother. "Each holding a piece of his soul. Before he died, the Chosen One's mentor destroyed one, but the Chosen One had to destroy the rest himself. He did this in his seventh year, when he destroyed all but one. He couldn't find the sixth one, and until he did, the Dark Lord could not be killed."
"You forgot the part about the Red Lady!" complained Anna, and mother laughed.
"Of course, silly me," she said, smiling softly. "Some people believe that the Red Lady was the girl he rescued from the Chamber of Secrets, and was so named because of the vividness of her long red hair. As they grew, they fell in love, but the Chosen One refused to be with her because he was afraid that it would put her in danger. But his efforts to protect her were in vain, because in his seventh year, the Dark Lord killed the Red Lady that the Chosen One had loved so much.
'From that moment on, the Chosen One swore that he wouldn't rest until the Dark Lord was dead. Some say that the Chosen One had never been as sad as he was that day. He withdrew from everyone and focussed all his efforts upon defeating the man who had taken the life of his greatest love. One day, the Chosen One realised that the last part of the Dark Lord's soul resided within himself. And so the two of them were stuck. Neither could rest until the prophecy was fulfilled, so the Chosen One devised a plan.
'To create a Horcrux, you must first kill a person, and so when the Chosen One killed the Dark Lord, he split his soul and created his own Horcrux. He knew that the Dark Lord would be back, because not all of his soul was gone, and so he prepared."
"And that's where the story ends," said Anna sadly.
"In a way," smiled mother. "The Dark Lord did indeed return, and the Chosen One rose up against him to protect the world again. Each time one succeeded in killing the other, they would create a new Horcrux, to ensure their continued survival. And so they have continued to fight each other throughout time, the Dark Lord seeking to end the life of the Chosen One once and for all and return to strength; and the Chosen One, attempting to rid the world of the Dark Lord, so that we will all be safe."
Laura rolled her eyes and tutted.
"That story is so pathetic. There's no way it can be true."
"It is so true!" yelled Anna.
"Well if it is, then the Dark Lord is going to come and get you because your such a bad little girl!" retorted Laura.
"The Chosen One will save me!" said Anna for the second time that evening.
"There is no Chosen One, Anna. There is no tall, dark and handsome man selflessly giving up his soul for the rest of us. It can't be true because my friend Mandy has heard the story and she's a Muggleborn. If the Muggles have the story then it can't be true."
"All story's have some basis in fact, Laura," said mother sternly.
"Uh uh," said Laura firmly. "Not this one. Why would someone give up their life so many times for people they don't even know?"
"Because the Chosen One had something that the Dark Lord didn't," said Anna seriously. "He had love. He did it because he didn't want anyone to suffer anymore."
"He sacrificed his very soul so that none of us will have to see war again," said mother softly.
"If he was so great, how come no one even remembers his name?" scoffed Laura. "If he was so great, then why has he been forgotten?"
"He lives on in this story, Laura," said mother.
"That's right," pouted Anna.
"If you say so," replied Laura airily, waving her hand dismissively. "But me, I disagree. There never was a Dark Lord, and there never was a Chosen One. There was no Red Lady and the Chosen One never loved her. He's not even some forgotten hero. He's just something that somebody made up. Just a fairytale."
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A/N: I had this idea and I just had to get it out. I could have written it better I think, but I'm a bit impatient to finish Curse of V'Ardian and I couldn't until I got my mind off of this little idea. Hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you think – Wujjawoo.
