Gwenyvere Haberdash and the Crystal Wand
by KitLee
Disclaimer: Hogwarts, its houses, and related terms do not belong to me; they belong to J.K. Rowling. Gwenyvere Haberdash, her brothers Teddy and Alexander, and her parents Thomas and Morgana belong to me; don't use them without my permission.
Author's Note: This is my first Harry Potter epic. I'll write more installments about Gwen if people r/r. Oh, and this has nothing to do with "The Menlo Park Misadventures." I'll try to write a sequel to that ASAP. Please r/r!
*****
Gwenyvere Haberdash was bored. It was summer vacation, and as everyone from school prepared for exciting vacations, Gwen was stuck a home.
At least her brothers would be back. Alexander and Teddy both attended Hogwarts. The Haberdash family had a long wizarding tradition, so it was quite a surprise when they found out that Gwen was a Squib. A Squib. How much more humiliating could it be?
Anyway, that reminded her that it was almost time to go down to Platform 9 3/4 to pick up her brothers. Gwen grabber her old bike and rode down to the station. Her father was at the office, and her mother was at a party, so Gwen was the only one to meet them. It was actually a good thing that only Gwen would be meeting them after their first year at Hogwarts. Mom and Dad still hadn't gotten over Teddy's being put in Ravenclaw and Alexander's being put in Hufflepuff. "At least they're not Squibs," Gwen thought moodily.
Gwen reached the station and found her brothers. "Hi guys!"
"Gwen!" Two twelve-year-old boys hurled themselves at their older sister.
"Where's Mom and Dad?" Alexander asked.
"They - they couldn't make it."
"You mean they didn't want to make it." Teddy said.
Gwen didn't answer. Teddy was right of course, but she didn't want to hurt Alexander. All she said was "Come on guys. You tell me all about it in the cab home."
*****
Alexander and Teddy had long since gone to bed by the time Gwen gave up waiting for her parents to get home. The large grandfather clock chimed midnight as she slowly ascended winding staircase to her third floor bedroom. The whole world seemed to hold its breath as the chimes sounded.
She suddenly stopped on the stairs. "Oh no," she muttered. Her crystal necklace had fallen off. Her mother would be so angry if she knew Gwen had lost it. Once, when Gwen was only five, she'd misplaced her necklace. She didn't even want to think about the rage that had followed. Her mother was furious for weeks and ignored her daughter for months after the incident.
Gwen ran downstairs and searched frantically until she finally found it, wedged underneath the couch. She picked it up and carried it back upstairs. However, this time she paused on the second floor. An eerie glow was coming from her parents' room.
Gwen crept through the dark hall, closer and closer to the door she got. She felt almost rigid with fear; her parents never let her enter their rooms. Every shadow seemed to come alive and leap out to stop her.
Suddenly, another eerie glow began; this time the source was her crystal necklace. A faint humming came from it, as though power buzzed inside the crystal, bursting to come out. The buzzing began to make Gwen's head ring. It became physically painful to approach the door, with every step her head throbbed, and the very beating of her heart caused her great agony. Gwen reached out to turn the doorknob, but just as she did, the floor seemed to fall out beneath her and, everything went black.
*****
Sunlight poured into her bedroom two days later. Lying tucked under the covers for the second day in a row, Gwen still felt weak and shaky from her run in with whatever it was in her parents' bedroom. The House Elves had finally found her, lying there unconscious, and had taken her back to her room. Since then they'd been trying to nurse her back to health.
Alexander and Teddy dashed in. "Morning Gwen."
She raised herself up weakly. "Morning guys."
"You look terrible," Teddy declared.
"Gee, thanks Ted, what a nice thing to say."
"You look a lot better," Alexander said. "But you still look sick."
"So what happened to you Gwen?" Teddy asked, pushing her collection of stuffed animals onto the floor and ploping himself into their chair.
Gwen described the light in their parents' room and her glowing crystal. She told them about the throbbing pain. "It felt as if my brain were exploding," she said.
"Wow," Alexander said. "That sounds horrible."
"So what do Mom and Dad say?" Gwen asked.
"Nothing yet," Alexander replied. "But Mom wants to talk to you when you wake up."
"What about Dad?"
Teddy laughed. "Where do you think he is? He's at work of course."
"So do you want to talk to Mom now?"
Gwen sat all the way up. "I might as well. I mean, I'm up aren't I?"
"You don't have to get up. Mom said she'll come to you. Teddy and I'll go get her." The two boys ran down the stairs to fetch their mother, but Teddy shot her a glance behind him.
A few minutes later, the children's mother, Morgana Malfoy Haberdash entered Gwen's room. Unlike her short, auburn-haired daughter, Morgana Malfoy Haberdash was tall, thin and blond.
"Hello Gwenyvere dear. How are you after your unfortunate - ordeal?"
"I'm fine Mom. Mom, what was that?"
"What was what?" Morgana Haberdash pretended to feign ignorance.
"That light."
"You saw a light?" she exclaimed.
"Well, yeah. What was it?"
Morgana then dropped her act of kindness. "Tell me what you saw Gwenyvere." It was not a request.
"Well, I was going upstairs, it was pretty late, and I saw this light coming from your room, so I walked over to it - "
"You did what!?"
"I walked over to it. Then somehow I just passed out. I was probably just tired." Gwen concluded, leaving out major details on purpose.
"What about your crystal?"
"What? Who said anything about my crystal?"
"Tell me Gwenyvere."
"Okay, okay. It started glowing and humming too."
"Did you take it off?" Morgana snapped.
"Well, yes, but only - "
"How many times have I told you never to remove that crystal Gwenyvere?" Anger flashed like fire in her mother's normally cold eyes.
Gwen stayed silent. She knew that any plea that she made would only anger her mother further. It was best to stay silent when her mother was in one of her rages like this.
But instead of the expected blow up and shouting, Morgana Haberdash just stormed out, leaving a very confused daughter behind.
*****
Gwen had a lot of time to think about the events lately during her additional two days in bed. Somehow her mother knew more than she was letting on.
She thought about other things too during her illness. Gwen hated being sick. Luckily, she rarely was. The last time she'd been this sick was when she was five and had - taken off - the necklace. Gwen bolted up in bed and grabbed her necklace. She could easily pull it up and look at it; the chain was especially long for some reason. The crystal itself was smoky gray. Gwen squinted at it. It looked like there was something inside it. Something red. She dropped the crystal and it fell, being caught by the chain and finally swinging erratically like a pendulum gone mad. There was blood it in.
Just then Teddy and Alexander ran in to see her again.
"Hey Gwen, we - whoa, what's the matter Gwen. You look terrible," Teddy said. The boys skidded to a halt right before her bed.
"Are you okay Gwen?" Alexander asked earnestly. "Is there anything we can do?"
Gwen took several deep breaths to calm herself. "Actually guys, there is something you can do for me. Where's Mom and Dad?"
"They're both out of town. They'll be gone for several weeks, I think." Alexander said.
"Perfect."
*****
Gwen and her brothers spent the next several weeks reading every tome of magic they could get their hands on. First went down into the library, but they found nothing about a crystal like Gwen's.
Next they had to break into their father's office. Again the search seemed in vain. It looked hopeless. Their parents were due back in just two days, and they'd read almost every book in their house.
"It's hopeless." Gwen waved her right arm to encompass her room, now crowded full of books. "We've looked everywhere and their's nothing about it anywhere."
"What about in Mom and Dad's room?" Alexander suggested.
Gwen shuddered. "Oh no. I'm not going back there."
"Of course you wouldn't - we'd go," Alexander said.
"I'm not going to let you guys do that. I am you big sister; I'm supposed to protect you."
"Alexander's right Gwen. We don't have one of the crystals, so maybe their room won't hurt us. In any case, it's worth a shot."
"Okay, fine. But if you start to feel sick, just stop. Promise."
"Promise," they chorused.
*****
Alexander and Teddy nervously crept towards their parents' room. They'd never done anything major like this. They were neither exceptional students nor exceptional athletes. They were used to letting Gwen take care of them. But now she was the one in trouble, and they sure weren't going to let their beloved big sister suffer.
Going down the hall, they experienced what Gwen must have, only to a smaller degree. The buzzing was almost non existent, and the pain wasn't that bad. The door was locked, but Teddy quickly used the "Alohomora" spell to open it. And then they were finally inside.
Oddly enough, they'd never seen their parents' bedroom. And while they'd expected to find something major, it turned out to be a disapointment. It looked like a perfectly ordinary room. The boys still searched the room for books and clues. Alexander tripped and fell near the bed.
"Get up," Teddy hissed.
"Teddy, look!"
Teddy bent down too and was amazed at what he saw. A metal box lay underneath the bed. Set in the lid, however, was what had caught Alexander's attention. A single gray crystal glowed faintly.
The boys lunged for it and carried it and the books back up to Gwen's room. The box was surprisingly heavy.
"Gwen, look what we found!" Alexander exclaimed as he and Teddy dumped it on the bed.
Gwen stared at the crystal on the box and then at the one around her neck. Both had the strange red dot in them that Gwen believed was blood. Surprisingly, the box easily opened when she touched the two crystals together.
Inside lay their mother's crystal wand.
Morgana Malfoy Haberdash didn't have an ordinary wand. The children had only seen it a few times, but they'd heard about it quite a bit. The wand was a family heirloom, she said. It was said to be the most powerful wand in the world.
Teddy saw a book lying inside the box, and he grabbed it up and began reading it. But Gwen could only stare at the beautiful wand. It literally was made out of crystal and not wood. In place of a dragon heartstring, pheonix feather, or unicorn tail hair, there were several strands of auburn hair - just - like - Gwen's.
That broke the spell the wand had over her, and she turned to Teddy who sat engrossed in the book. She and Alexander began to read over his shoulder, until he stopped; Teddy hated that. When he did, Gwen grabbed the book and began to read aloud.
"The Crystal Wand is the Malfoy family heirloom, passed from eldest daughter to eldest daughter. The wand, even without any substance, will magnify one's power. If one chooses to put his or her own hair in it, that will also work." Here Gwen grimaced as she realized that the hair in the wand was indeed her own - no one else in her family had hair like that.
"However, if the woman has a child of enormous talent, that talent may be captured in the wand. Be forwarned: This will drain the child of all of his or her magic. The magic can be replentished with time, but if you want, a simple cloud crystal pendant will forever drain the child of magic." The book went on to describe how to do this, but Gwen didn't care. She knew all she needed to know. Her mother had stolen her magic. And for what?
Teddy grabbed the book and kept reading. "This spell can only be broken if the cloud crystal is destroyed." Alexander grabbed the necklace and began hitting it with a large book. "But since these crystals cannot be broken, simply giving the wand to the person who is being drained will suffice." He looked at his sister and found her not listening to him at all. "Hey Gwen, are you okay?"
She grabbed the wand and felt warmth enter her fingertips. It was as if her entire body had been frozen up until now, and she'd never even known it. She felt more alive now than she ever had. "Yes Teddy. I'm okay."
*****
When their parents returned, the children were there to greet them. Gwen raised her wand, and instantly her mother stared at her with only fire in her eyes.
"Mother, I want answers," Gwen said calmly, clearly, and forcefully.
"Give me that wand Gwen," Morgana insisted, but now it sounded weaker and smaller.
"Mother, why? Why did you do this to me?"
"I said, give me that wand Gwen." Morgana moved menacingly forward.
"You'd better tell her Mom," Alexander piped up. "The Ministry of Magic will be here soon to arrest you."
Morgana spoke to her son, but her eyes never left Gwen. "How very - clever of you. Never forget thought that I, Morgana Malfoy, am more clever than any of you pathetic little - worms could hope to be. Now for the last time Gwen, give me that wand."
"No!" Gwen shouted. Their mother lunged at her, trying to wrestle the wand away from her. Teddy and Alexander grabbed their wands and pointed them at their mother.
"Give it to me Gwen!"
"No! It's my magic, so it's mine!"
"I don't care what your destiny says Gwen, give me that wand." She suddenly lunged for Alexander's wand and pointed it at Gwen. "Drop the wand Gwen."
Their father Thomas seemed to visibly snap back to reality. He raised his wand and pointed it at Morgana. But rather than yell and threat, he yelled "Expelliarmus!"
She flew backwards, dropping Alexander's wand and crashing into the opposite wall.
Thomas moved to stand over her. "You can't win this Morgana," he said. "You may as well just wait until the Ministry comes."
Her cold eyes sparkled maliciously. "Oh really Thomas. And who's going to stop me - you?"
"If I must."
She smiled, but there was no warmth or humor in it. "Well then I guess you loose," she said. She whipped out an old wand - the one she'd gotten as a child but hadn't used since getting the Crystal Wand - and cried "Disapperate!"
The Haberdash family stared at the spot where Morgana had once lain.
Thomas turned to his children. "Oh, children. I had no idea that - can you forgive me?"
The doorbell rang before they could answer him. The Ministry of Magic had arrived, too late.
*****
On September 1, Gwenyvere and her brothers stood together on Platform 9 3/4. Their father was nearby, standing awkwardly. He'd never been a strong or brave man (he'd been in Ravenclaw after all), but he'd always tried to be a good man. But somewhere along the way he'd been swept up by Morgana Malfoy, and in a desperate effort to keep her, he'd sacrificed his children for his work.
Gwen couldn't believe it. Only a few months earlier she'd been riding her bike to the station to pick up her brothers, full of self-loathing because she was Squib. But now, armed with new books and that crystal wand, she was ready to become a real witch.
Right before the train left, when Alexander and Teddy ran off to talk to their friends, Gwen pulled her father aside.
"Dad, about what Mom said about my destiny -"
"What about it?"
"What did she mean? How did she find out?"
"Right after you were born, all of you kids in fact, she had paid a Diviner to come and tell us your futures."
"What did he say about mine?"
"Well, it was a she actually - Sibyll Trewlawney I think was her name. She said that you were destined to face many troubles in your quest to -"
Just then the train whistles sounded. Gwen quickly hugged and kissed her father goodbye, and jumped on the train to go to Hogwarts.
TO BE CONTINUED (MAYBE) . . .
by KitLee
Disclaimer: Hogwarts, its houses, and related terms do not belong to me; they belong to J.K. Rowling. Gwenyvere Haberdash, her brothers Teddy and Alexander, and her parents Thomas and Morgana belong to me; don't use them without my permission.
Author's Note: This is my first Harry Potter epic. I'll write more installments about Gwen if people r/r. Oh, and this has nothing to do with "The Menlo Park Misadventures." I'll try to write a sequel to that ASAP. Please r/r!
*****
Gwenyvere Haberdash was bored. It was summer vacation, and as everyone from school prepared for exciting vacations, Gwen was stuck a home.
At least her brothers would be back. Alexander and Teddy both attended Hogwarts. The Haberdash family had a long wizarding tradition, so it was quite a surprise when they found out that Gwen was a Squib. A Squib. How much more humiliating could it be?
Anyway, that reminded her that it was almost time to go down to Platform 9 3/4 to pick up her brothers. Gwen grabber her old bike and rode down to the station. Her father was at the office, and her mother was at a party, so Gwen was the only one to meet them. It was actually a good thing that only Gwen would be meeting them after their first year at Hogwarts. Mom and Dad still hadn't gotten over Teddy's being put in Ravenclaw and Alexander's being put in Hufflepuff. "At least they're not Squibs," Gwen thought moodily.
Gwen reached the station and found her brothers. "Hi guys!"
"Gwen!" Two twelve-year-old boys hurled themselves at their older sister.
"Where's Mom and Dad?" Alexander asked.
"They - they couldn't make it."
"You mean they didn't want to make it." Teddy said.
Gwen didn't answer. Teddy was right of course, but she didn't want to hurt Alexander. All she said was "Come on guys. You tell me all about it in the cab home."
*****
Alexander and Teddy had long since gone to bed by the time Gwen gave up waiting for her parents to get home. The large grandfather clock chimed midnight as she slowly ascended winding staircase to her third floor bedroom. The whole world seemed to hold its breath as the chimes sounded.
She suddenly stopped on the stairs. "Oh no," she muttered. Her crystal necklace had fallen off. Her mother would be so angry if she knew Gwen had lost it. Once, when Gwen was only five, she'd misplaced her necklace. She didn't even want to think about the rage that had followed. Her mother was furious for weeks and ignored her daughter for months after the incident.
Gwen ran downstairs and searched frantically until she finally found it, wedged underneath the couch. She picked it up and carried it back upstairs. However, this time she paused on the second floor. An eerie glow was coming from her parents' room.
Gwen crept through the dark hall, closer and closer to the door she got. She felt almost rigid with fear; her parents never let her enter their rooms. Every shadow seemed to come alive and leap out to stop her.
Suddenly, another eerie glow began; this time the source was her crystal necklace. A faint humming came from it, as though power buzzed inside the crystal, bursting to come out. The buzzing began to make Gwen's head ring. It became physically painful to approach the door, with every step her head throbbed, and the very beating of her heart caused her great agony. Gwen reached out to turn the doorknob, but just as she did, the floor seemed to fall out beneath her and, everything went black.
*****
Sunlight poured into her bedroom two days later. Lying tucked under the covers for the second day in a row, Gwen still felt weak and shaky from her run in with whatever it was in her parents' bedroom. The House Elves had finally found her, lying there unconscious, and had taken her back to her room. Since then they'd been trying to nurse her back to health.
Alexander and Teddy dashed in. "Morning Gwen."
She raised herself up weakly. "Morning guys."
"You look terrible," Teddy declared.
"Gee, thanks Ted, what a nice thing to say."
"You look a lot better," Alexander said. "But you still look sick."
"So what happened to you Gwen?" Teddy asked, pushing her collection of stuffed animals onto the floor and ploping himself into their chair.
Gwen described the light in their parents' room and her glowing crystal. She told them about the throbbing pain. "It felt as if my brain were exploding," she said.
"Wow," Alexander said. "That sounds horrible."
"So what do Mom and Dad say?" Gwen asked.
"Nothing yet," Alexander replied. "But Mom wants to talk to you when you wake up."
"What about Dad?"
Teddy laughed. "Where do you think he is? He's at work of course."
"So do you want to talk to Mom now?"
Gwen sat all the way up. "I might as well. I mean, I'm up aren't I?"
"You don't have to get up. Mom said she'll come to you. Teddy and I'll go get her." The two boys ran down the stairs to fetch their mother, but Teddy shot her a glance behind him.
A few minutes later, the children's mother, Morgana Malfoy Haberdash entered Gwen's room. Unlike her short, auburn-haired daughter, Morgana Malfoy Haberdash was tall, thin and blond.
"Hello Gwenyvere dear. How are you after your unfortunate - ordeal?"
"I'm fine Mom. Mom, what was that?"
"What was what?" Morgana Haberdash pretended to feign ignorance.
"That light."
"You saw a light?" she exclaimed.
"Well, yeah. What was it?"
Morgana then dropped her act of kindness. "Tell me what you saw Gwenyvere." It was not a request.
"Well, I was going upstairs, it was pretty late, and I saw this light coming from your room, so I walked over to it - "
"You did what!?"
"I walked over to it. Then somehow I just passed out. I was probably just tired." Gwen concluded, leaving out major details on purpose.
"What about your crystal?"
"What? Who said anything about my crystal?"
"Tell me Gwenyvere."
"Okay, okay. It started glowing and humming too."
"Did you take it off?" Morgana snapped.
"Well, yes, but only - "
"How many times have I told you never to remove that crystal Gwenyvere?" Anger flashed like fire in her mother's normally cold eyes.
Gwen stayed silent. She knew that any plea that she made would only anger her mother further. It was best to stay silent when her mother was in one of her rages like this.
But instead of the expected blow up and shouting, Morgana Haberdash just stormed out, leaving a very confused daughter behind.
*****
Gwen had a lot of time to think about the events lately during her additional two days in bed. Somehow her mother knew more than she was letting on.
She thought about other things too during her illness. Gwen hated being sick. Luckily, she rarely was. The last time she'd been this sick was when she was five and had - taken off - the necklace. Gwen bolted up in bed and grabbed her necklace. She could easily pull it up and look at it; the chain was especially long for some reason. The crystal itself was smoky gray. Gwen squinted at it. It looked like there was something inside it. Something red. She dropped the crystal and it fell, being caught by the chain and finally swinging erratically like a pendulum gone mad. There was blood it in.
Just then Teddy and Alexander ran in to see her again.
"Hey Gwen, we - whoa, what's the matter Gwen. You look terrible," Teddy said. The boys skidded to a halt right before her bed.
"Are you okay Gwen?" Alexander asked earnestly. "Is there anything we can do?"
Gwen took several deep breaths to calm herself. "Actually guys, there is something you can do for me. Where's Mom and Dad?"
"They're both out of town. They'll be gone for several weeks, I think." Alexander said.
"Perfect."
*****
Gwen and her brothers spent the next several weeks reading every tome of magic they could get their hands on. First went down into the library, but they found nothing about a crystal like Gwen's.
Next they had to break into their father's office. Again the search seemed in vain. It looked hopeless. Their parents were due back in just two days, and they'd read almost every book in their house.
"It's hopeless." Gwen waved her right arm to encompass her room, now crowded full of books. "We've looked everywhere and their's nothing about it anywhere."
"What about in Mom and Dad's room?" Alexander suggested.
Gwen shuddered. "Oh no. I'm not going back there."
"Of course you wouldn't - we'd go," Alexander said.
"I'm not going to let you guys do that. I am you big sister; I'm supposed to protect you."
"Alexander's right Gwen. We don't have one of the crystals, so maybe their room won't hurt us. In any case, it's worth a shot."
"Okay, fine. But if you start to feel sick, just stop. Promise."
"Promise," they chorused.
*****
Alexander and Teddy nervously crept towards their parents' room. They'd never done anything major like this. They were neither exceptional students nor exceptional athletes. They were used to letting Gwen take care of them. But now she was the one in trouble, and they sure weren't going to let their beloved big sister suffer.
Going down the hall, they experienced what Gwen must have, only to a smaller degree. The buzzing was almost non existent, and the pain wasn't that bad. The door was locked, but Teddy quickly used the "Alohomora" spell to open it. And then they were finally inside.
Oddly enough, they'd never seen their parents' bedroom. And while they'd expected to find something major, it turned out to be a disapointment. It looked like a perfectly ordinary room. The boys still searched the room for books and clues. Alexander tripped and fell near the bed.
"Get up," Teddy hissed.
"Teddy, look!"
Teddy bent down too and was amazed at what he saw. A metal box lay underneath the bed. Set in the lid, however, was what had caught Alexander's attention. A single gray crystal glowed faintly.
The boys lunged for it and carried it and the books back up to Gwen's room. The box was surprisingly heavy.
"Gwen, look what we found!" Alexander exclaimed as he and Teddy dumped it on the bed.
Gwen stared at the crystal on the box and then at the one around her neck. Both had the strange red dot in them that Gwen believed was blood. Surprisingly, the box easily opened when she touched the two crystals together.
Inside lay their mother's crystal wand.
Morgana Malfoy Haberdash didn't have an ordinary wand. The children had only seen it a few times, but they'd heard about it quite a bit. The wand was a family heirloom, she said. It was said to be the most powerful wand in the world.
Teddy saw a book lying inside the box, and he grabbed it up and began reading it. But Gwen could only stare at the beautiful wand. It literally was made out of crystal and not wood. In place of a dragon heartstring, pheonix feather, or unicorn tail hair, there were several strands of auburn hair - just - like - Gwen's.
That broke the spell the wand had over her, and she turned to Teddy who sat engrossed in the book. She and Alexander began to read over his shoulder, until he stopped; Teddy hated that. When he did, Gwen grabbed the book and began to read aloud.
"The Crystal Wand is the Malfoy family heirloom, passed from eldest daughter to eldest daughter. The wand, even without any substance, will magnify one's power. If one chooses to put his or her own hair in it, that will also work." Here Gwen grimaced as she realized that the hair in the wand was indeed her own - no one else in her family had hair like that.
"However, if the woman has a child of enormous talent, that talent may be captured in the wand. Be forwarned: This will drain the child of all of his or her magic. The magic can be replentished with time, but if you want, a simple cloud crystal pendant will forever drain the child of magic." The book went on to describe how to do this, but Gwen didn't care. She knew all she needed to know. Her mother had stolen her magic. And for what?
Teddy grabbed the book and kept reading. "This spell can only be broken if the cloud crystal is destroyed." Alexander grabbed the necklace and began hitting it with a large book. "But since these crystals cannot be broken, simply giving the wand to the person who is being drained will suffice." He looked at his sister and found her not listening to him at all. "Hey Gwen, are you okay?"
She grabbed the wand and felt warmth enter her fingertips. It was as if her entire body had been frozen up until now, and she'd never even known it. She felt more alive now than she ever had. "Yes Teddy. I'm okay."
*****
When their parents returned, the children were there to greet them. Gwen raised her wand, and instantly her mother stared at her with only fire in her eyes.
"Mother, I want answers," Gwen said calmly, clearly, and forcefully.
"Give me that wand Gwen," Morgana insisted, but now it sounded weaker and smaller.
"Mother, why? Why did you do this to me?"
"I said, give me that wand Gwen." Morgana moved menacingly forward.
"You'd better tell her Mom," Alexander piped up. "The Ministry of Magic will be here soon to arrest you."
Morgana spoke to her son, but her eyes never left Gwen. "How very - clever of you. Never forget thought that I, Morgana Malfoy, am more clever than any of you pathetic little - worms could hope to be. Now for the last time Gwen, give me that wand."
"No!" Gwen shouted. Their mother lunged at her, trying to wrestle the wand away from her. Teddy and Alexander grabbed their wands and pointed them at their mother.
"Give it to me Gwen!"
"No! It's my magic, so it's mine!"
"I don't care what your destiny says Gwen, give me that wand." She suddenly lunged for Alexander's wand and pointed it at Gwen. "Drop the wand Gwen."
Their father Thomas seemed to visibly snap back to reality. He raised his wand and pointed it at Morgana. But rather than yell and threat, he yelled "Expelliarmus!"
She flew backwards, dropping Alexander's wand and crashing into the opposite wall.
Thomas moved to stand over her. "You can't win this Morgana," he said. "You may as well just wait until the Ministry comes."
Her cold eyes sparkled maliciously. "Oh really Thomas. And who's going to stop me - you?"
"If I must."
She smiled, but there was no warmth or humor in it. "Well then I guess you loose," she said. She whipped out an old wand - the one she'd gotten as a child but hadn't used since getting the Crystal Wand - and cried "Disapperate!"
The Haberdash family stared at the spot where Morgana had once lain.
Thomas turned to his children. "Oh, children. I had no idea that - can you forgive me?"
The doorbell rang before they could answer him. The Ministry of Magic had arrived, too late.
*****
On September 1, Gwenyvere and her brothers stood together on Platform 9 3/4. Their father was nearby, standing awkwardly. He'd never been a strong or brave man (he'd been in Ravenclaw after all), but he'd always tried to be a good man. But somewhere along the way he'd been swept up by Morgana Malfoy, and in a desperate effort to keep her, he'd sacrificed his children for his work.
Gwen couldn't believe it. Only a few months earlier she'd been riding her bike to the station to pick up her brothers, full of self-loathing because she was Squib. But now, armed with new books and that crystal wand, she was ready to become a real witch.
Right before the train left, when Alexander and Teddy ran off to talk to their friends, Gwen pulled her father aside.
"Dad, about what Mom said about my destiny -"
"What about it?"
"What did she mean? How did she find out?"
"Right after you were born, all of you kids in fact, she had paid a Diviner to come and tell us your futures."
"What did he say about mine?"
"Well, it was a she actually - Sibyll Trewlawney I think was her name. She said that you were destined to face many troubles in your quest to -"
Just then the train whistles sounded. Gwen quickly hugged and kissed her father goodbye, and jumped on the train to go to Hogwarts.
TO BE CONTINUED (MAYBE) . . .