Prologue
There were millions and millions of babies born in the year 2000. Five of those babies were special. Rapunzel Corona was one of those five.
Maleficent Carabosse knew this. On the evening of Rapunzel's birth, Maleficent sat in the sunroom of her stately mansion, with a woman named Gothel Malum across the table. Both the women sipped their tea, looking out the tall windows at the setting sun.
"So you're sure the child has the power?" Maleficent asked, for about the hundredth time that evening.
"I told you," Gothel responded, with a touch of impatience, "When I fired the curse at her mother, a light glowed from her pregnant belly. There's no way it was anything but the power."
Maleficent set her teacup down and touched the tips of her fingers together, staring Gothel down. "You know how I hate to take innocent children, Gothel. I want you to be absolutely positive about this."
"I am. It's just…"
"What?" Maleficent's eyes narrowed at this sign of insecurity.
"Well, I've never seen a power quite like this, my lady. Normally the children don't show signs before they are born. But this girl—this unborn atrocity—definitely had something. And it wasn't like any power I've ever seen before. It was just a bright, glowing light. Unpenetrable. No curse could break it."
"It seems, then, that we must make sure she does not learn to control it. Kidnap her, and make sure she never sees Hogwarts. Keep her hidden from the world until you figure out what this power is—what makes it so different from the others. And never—never—let Tink Urbell find out."
Gothel bowed her head as the sun sank below the horizon. "Yes, my lady."