1. Very Much Alive

"Dumbledore Dead: World Mourns Loss of Greatest Wizard Since Merlin."

Mora Cartea traced these words over and over, hoping as hard as she could that it wasn't true. How could this one simple phrase send the world plummeting? How can these simple words cause thousands of people to lose their faith? How can the fall of one, extraordinary man, create such a controversy and corruption? Mora's mind buzzed with these questions, as well as dozens more, creating an unwelcome pounding in her head.

Throwing the article over her shoulder, Mora sunk down into her cot. She shuffled her trembling fingers through her blonde hair, pushing the strands out of her soggy eyes. Tears never used to be shed when Mora mind trailed to the Dark Lord. The reason she lived in hiding. The one wizard who had torn apart her life in thousands of different direction. The man who had destroyed her family, and vowed to have whatever was left of her bloodline dead by his hand.

As her moist hazel eyes scanned across the small, dark room, Mora couldn't believe that she was still locked away in this place. When she looked back on being left in this orphanage, sometimes it felt like yesterday, other times it felt like eons ago. But after nearly three years there, she still found herself huddling in the corner, comforted only by her solitude.

Here she was forced to spend her summer, surrounded by children who were supposedly like her. Children whose parents had either abandoned them or had died. Children who found themselves completely alone in this world. As everyone in the place told her, they were children just like her. But there was one detail that set Mora apart from them.

She was a witch.

Gracefully, Mora pulled her wand out from under her mattered pillow, feeling its immense heaviness in the palm of her soaked hand. She grazed her dirtied fingers over its tip, knowing how easy it would be to leave this place. How easy it would be to do the one thing that was forbidden, the thing she was not allowed to contemplate let alone consider; using magic outside of school, and especially, on muggles.

One more year. Just one more year and I'm free... Mora's thoughts desperately pleaded. In three months, Mora would leave this hellhole for her sixth and second-to-last year at Beauxbaton Academy. Mora would come of age this year, making her legally and adult and free of this nightmare.

Even though she would be with the friends she cared for so dearly there, the thought of returning to school left Mora disconnected and empty. In the past few months the immensity of the Dark Lord's return had finally sunken into Mora. She brought herself to the realization that he was back, and now, very much alive. Everyone at Beauxbatons dared not speak of it, as if by keeping their mouths shut, none of it was true. Mora had bought into this theory for such a long time. Yet now, she could finally see straight through their false acts of control and denial. Stare into the thing they were all too afraid to admit to possessing.

Fear. It ran rampant from ocean to ocean, from town to town, from wizard to muggle. No one could deny it any longer.

And for Mora Cartea, that was the scariest part of it all.

A small tapping noise on the window frame outside shook Mora out from her moment of terror. Slowly rising from her seat, Mora spotted a plump, muddy brown owl fluttering outside. A single envelope adorned with the Beauxbatons seal sat perched in its beak. Mora nudged open the window, carefully taking the letter from the creature. Before it had the chance to peck ferociously at her, Mora shoved a knut into the owl's claws. Satisfied, the bird flew away back into the empty night.

Sliding back against the wall, Mora shifted the letter in her hands. She barley ever got mail. Accept for the newspaper, which was delivered in secret to her weekly. Who could possibly be contacting her? And at the orphanage of all places?

Slowly, Mora ripped open the envelope, a piece of withered parchment falling into her hands. Dropping the envelop to the floor, she focused her attention to the letter. Quickly she unfolded it, curious to see its message.

...We regret to inform you that due to recent events, Beauxbaton Academy will not be re-opening for this year's term. We deeply apologize for any inconveniences caused by the sudden decision, however, we feel it is in our pupils' and their families' best interest and safety to -

Mora ripped the letter down the middle, throwing the shards of parchment across her tiny room. Shrinking down to the ground, Mora buried her head into her hands. She tried to muffle her sobs, hoping the supervisor down the hall couldn't hear her.

Now that the one place in the world Mora had, her home, was taken away from her, where was Mora to go? What was she supposed to do?

One thing was for sure, there was no way Mora would be staying in the orphanage any longer. Fury raging inside her, Mora shoved her wand deep inside her jeans pocket. It was dark outside, giving her a much better chance of slipping away into the night unnoticed.

Just as she was to make her escape, Mora lost her balance, falling to the ground harshly. Frustrated, she pounded her fist against the wooden slates of the floor. Then, she just lay there motionless, letting her sorrow finally catch up with her in every aspect there on the dusty ground. She could feel her heart splintering apart in her chest, leaving her hollow. She had nowhere to go, no one to turn to.

Mora's vision blurred, but not from the cascade of tears trailing down her face. Fighting for consciousness, Mora tried jumping to her feet, only for her knees to feebly give out underneath her. Reaching for her wand Mora felt a strange pain surge through her body, like each particle within her was being pulled in a different direction. Mora let out a muffled scream, failing in another attempt to stand.

Glancing madly around the room, Mora for a brief second, thought she saw someone standing above her, watching mournfully in her moment of terror.

"Mom?" she whispered, feeling her lungs becoming compressed. Suddenly, Mora felt the world around her disappear as she slipped into vast nothingness.