Prologue

Execution. That's what Assyrian felt like he was being led to. His comrades were silent and morose, their faces unreadable. All except for his sister's. Her rage showed without restraint on her cat like features. Her silver eyes glared as the wizards and witches studied them, poking and prodding to get all the information about the physical structure. Assyrian, however, found it amusing; though he was exceedingly careful not to show it.

One of the wizards approached the silver eyed woman and an audible snarl came from their direction followed by an astonished gasp. Assyrian would have groaned if such a noise could have been made by his torn vocal chords. Unfortunately, a terrible throat wound in his childhood had left the young man forever dumb.

Turning his head ever so slightly, Assyrian saw his sister with her wings in full extension. Their other traveling companions had already shrunk back, knowing this action to be a threat. The overly curious wizard however wasn't as smart. He stood transfixed by what he thought was a beautiful miracle. He thought the woman was merely showing him more of her reality-defying anatomy. Because of his interest in her wings, the wizard never saw Assyrian's sister's foot come flying up towards his chin. The toe of her rawhide boot caught him directly in the center of his jaw, snapping his neck instantly.

Assyrian's eyes widened and he leapt for the convulsing man as he fell towards the earth. He only had a few seconds left; Assyrian had to reach him! Milliseconds before the dying wizard's head hit the earth; the silver eyed male reached him. Assyrian's slightly glowing hand clutched the wizard's neck tightly, the bones crackling and popping as they returned to their normal positions. The attack and the healing was over in a matter of seconds; the wizards and witches still standing were just now pulling their wands from the folds of their cloaks. Their fallen comrade coughed a couple times before standing again, his eyes wide as he felt his neck in disbelief. Looking around at his fellow magic wielders, he raised his hands and shook his head quickly. "No no! Look! I'm fine! This man saved me!"

The wizard's ability to forget the kick that almost ended his life amazed Assyrian. Then again, the shock of being so close to death probably had given him temporary amnesia. More than likely, all the man could remember was being healed. Oh well, Assyrian would go along with what the man remembered and hope they didn't want retribution from his sister.

Feeling a familiar touch on his arm, Assyrian turned his head to see the silver eyed woman looking at him confused. He frowned and she bowed her head guiltily, her wings now folded tightly against her back. "I'm sorry." she whispered, her voice barely perceptible over the wizard's raised voices behind him.

Sighing, Assyrian shook his head and turned back towards the wizards to wait for them to announce what would happen next. He didn't have to wait long.

The same wizard whose neck had just been broken turned to face the winged people. He touched his wand to his throat and his voice became thunderously loud. Maybe to a normal person this would have been fine and perhaps even easier to hear, but for Assyrian and his comrades the volume was almost painful. Thankfully, once a couple of the winged people had slid to their knees clutching the sides of their heads, the wizard had contritely lowered his wand and returned his voice to normal.

"Um, er, please forgive my thoughtlessness. I forgot that your senses are far more acute than any human's. Um, so uh, as I was saying before, my name is Arthur Weasley. I, uh, work for the ministry of magic." Arthur's stuttering were clear signs of distress to the Assyrian and his people. It was easy to tell that the man was uncomfortable after his mistake. Luckily, one of his colleagues stepped up to his rescue.

"Oh, Merlin's beard Weasley! Step aside." An older with with a tall, pointed hat took his place. She wore long dark robes and a pair of glasses on her pointed nose. She held herself with dignity, poise, and most of all confidence. This woman looked as if she could take on an army and win, and it was obvious that she knew exactly what her appearance was. "My greetings to you all. My name is Minerva McGonagall, current headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And I have a very important proposition for you all." The witch paused here, waiting for someone to step forward and hear her offer.

Realizing what the witch wanted, Assyrian stepped forward with his sister beside him. He nodded his head for the witch to continue. She quirked a brow but didn't inquire to his silence.

"Hogwarts has been on tough times lately and we are in need of some assistance. There are a few students at our school who seem to lure in any kind of trouble or danger that happens to be in the vicinity. Some of these dangers might prove to be too much for these students to handle, and because of this possibility we have deemed it appropriate to provide them with guards. If you and your people are willing, we would be immensely grateful if you could do us his great service." Minerva finished with a flourish of her wand and two iron-wrought gates swung open behind her. "Those who would help us need only to step inside the grounds to seal your contract."

A few of Assyrian's people scoffed at the witch and turned, casting angry glares towards the rest of the magic wielders as well. "Assyrian, we didn't come here to play babysitter." One man said.

"Yea, we aren't going to be nannies to a bunch of snot nosed kids. We're out of here." Another agreed.

Assyrian sighed sadly as more and more of his kinsman turned and leapt into the air, a few loose feathers floating down to rest in the mud. Finally, only Assyrian, his sister, and a few others were left. Turning to make eye contact with each of them, Assyrian received a nod from the remainder of his comrades. They then took their first steps into this strange new world and into their new lives as part of it. Shedding any unhappy thoughts as they walked, the small group of winged people walked through the gates and the magical barrier surround the school grounds, and entered their new lives as Guardians.