SHARING THE SUNLIGHT WITH THE FREE - THE DAWN
Chapter Fourteen
Aurelia never knew how she got back to the Hogwarts grounds; her thoughts were in a daze. Professor Slytherin had watched his sister burnt to death. Small wonder now that he was so bitter, so terribly against Muggles.
'.suppose a horde of Muggles, even, desperate to root out our kind - would they stop to consider that children of magic are but children? Well, I shall enlighten you - it does not matter to them'!
No wonder he was so bitter, so vehement when speaking of Muggles. Aurelia could not blame him - she felt just as disgusted. And ashamed. She was Muggle-born. Did that then mean that she possessed the hideous, cruel streak that stained the blood of Muggles?
'But I would not burn anybody at the stake!' she cried out to the lake. And then, a horrible image flashed before her. It was a village. A small village, going up in flames.
'No,' she whispered. Burying her face in her hands, she turned and ran, up the castle steps, through the doors. Panting, she leant her head against the cool stone walls in the Entrance Hall.
She did not want to return to the Great Hall. Not now; she could not face anyone yet. She wandered along the corridors, trying to erase the scenes from her head. She looked around her. This part of the castle was quiet and dimly lit - it must be near the dungeons. Aurelia walked on, past a door, behind which light was peeking through the crack between the door and the floor.
A lighted room? Once it registered in her mind, she turned and stared. Who would be here now? Curious, she crept softly up to the door and opened it.
It was a small room, lit by candlelight. A table stood in the corner, empty except for a bottle of wine and a long glass. Before it sat that last person that Aurelia should wish to walk in on - Professor Slytherin.
He was collapsed on the table, his head buried in his arms. In one of his hands he was clutching strands of black hair. Samantha's hair, Aurelia realized with a shock. He was grieving for his lost sister.
It suddenly occurred to her what a private moment she was intruding upon. Silently, she stepped back and closed the door, breathing hard. She had seen more than she had ever wanted to. Overwhelmed, she fled back to her common room, past Lyle and Conroy who stared, up to her bed, and threw herself into it, exhausted.
Kière will be so amazed to hear this.
And once again, the awful feeling struck again - she had no one to tell.
'No one should be alone on Christmas day.'
Yet so many were. Professor Slytherin - why did the other professors leave him to himself? Aurelia thought she knew the answer - it was exactly why she had fled back here.
Miserable and feeling that this had indeed be the worse Christmas of her life, Aurelia fell into a restless sleep.
~
The other students started to return soon after Christmas. They arrived in ones and twos, driving up in carriages very like the Banning family's. Kière returned too; Aurelia was coming down the stairs to the Great Hall when he passed. Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, then Kière looked determinedly away, at a point in the ceiling. Aurelia stared at the ground and walked past silently.
Classes started again, and she threw herself into them whole-heartedly; what other choice had she? There was nothing much else to do. Ethel, despite her marvelous efforts at catching up during the holidays, had not reached seventh-year standard, and was therefore not in her classes. Furthermore, being in Professor Gryffindor's House, the two had not much time to meet. Aurelia was quite proud of Ethel, in a way - the cheerful girl was making friends quickly, especially within her own House. She had also taken over Aurelia's place as big sister to the six other Muggle- borns, in particular little Aleta Barnes. She had a smile for everyone, and especially for Aurelia, whom she waved to everyday from her House table.
Aurelia studied at night, not wanting to sleep until as late as possible. Sleep was a dreaded affair; it was then that she was plagued by strange dreams which she could never remember the next day, but left her with a chill the next morning. She worked under the covers, by the light of her wand, not wanting to remain in the common room in case Professor Ravenclaw came to check on her students.
Time flew past. By day, she moved as though underwater. She felt like a ghost, invisible to all around her. When Darby made his Mudblood comments, she barely heard them. Sometimes she caught Kière staring fiercely as Darby taunted her, his fists clenched by his side. The sight made her heart skip a beat, but she forced herself to walk away silently.
She never knew what happened behind her back, between Kière and Darby. But one day in late April Darby ended up in the hospital wing. Kière was put in detention for two weeks by a furious Professor Slytherin.
Still they did not talk.
Her dreams that night were even more restless.
~
'You must hurry, girl. There is little time - the chamber seals must be ready. And it must be summoned. The school must be cleansed! Pure, do you understand?'
She floated over, her wand held out. Her hand waved it automatically, tracing out an intricate pattern which seemed to form itself. Snakes appeared on the walls hissing and slithering about.
'Yesss,' they hissed. 'Massster.' They rose and bowed to him, two- dimensional though they were.
He reached out a hand to touch the wall.
'Yes. My ssssnakessss.you will ansssswer to me alone. All of me and my blood.' He spoke in a foreign language, hissing and spitting like the snakes. She understood, though. She could see the translation form before her in her mind.
'Now. The secrecy charm. A powerful one, the most you are able to use.'
She complied, the words forming themselves from her mouth. She could feel the power, the immense magic flowing out, concentrated by her wand.
'It is set!' he cackled happily. 'Ah, yes.' He turned to the snake carvings on the stone wall. 'Yesss.ssssoon, my dear, ssssoon you will sssee daylight again.'
He led the way out; she followed blindly, still as though on air.
'The entrance,' he ordered. Wand out, she repeated the spells. He ran his hand over the door and nodded to her.
'The work here is done. One last thing now, and it will be ready. The real work begins now.'
~
'This is a new potion,' said Professor Slytherin. 'An experiment, I should say. I will therefore not be expecting perfection just this once. But do not take that as a chance to slacken - I will know and I will deal with those who have not given their best.' His gaze lingered on Aurelia as he said this. She stared back, determined not to fail.
'We will be creating this potion over two weeks,' he continued. 'I will safe-keep your samples between lessons. Yes, Miss Grimsby?'
The Ravenclaw girl with her hand up put it down.
'What is this potion meant to do, Professor?'
'It will have a summoning effect,' said Professor Slytherin vaguely. 'If any of you actually manage to accomplish it,' he added sneeringly, looking round at the class.
'Summon what, Professor?' called out Darby.
'That is for you to find out if you succeed. Or rather, for me to discover when I test out your potions. Enough questions now! The ingredients have been prepared. You will work alone. Begin.'
~
'Come.'
As before, she obeyed the summons and let her feet carry her out of bed. This time they took a different path from the past months.
She had to complete her potion. Her mind was insistent on it. She went to the cauldron, and started to stir the contents.
'Blood.add it.'
She reached for the vial by the cauldron.
'No! Your blood.'
Her had was shaking, but it sliced a small cut in her finger with the knife. Into the cauldron, dripped her blood. After five drops, she was told to withdraw it.
'The last ingredient. Add the moonstone in exactly five seconds.'
She held it over the cauldron, ready to drop it in.
'Five.four.three.two.one.NOW!'
The moonstone fell in, but no splash ensued. A light was issuing from the potion; it illuminated the entire room.
'Now wield your power - See the darkness. Summon it. Send the light away.'
She raised her hand over the cauldron. Magic hung thick in the air as the light faded into darkness. A chill was settling over the room.
'Yes! Yes - it has come! Bottle it, hurry!'
She held the flask up. All the magic in the room was swirling around her, attracted to her as though she was a magnet and it was made of iron.
'Into the bottle,' she told it. It spiraled in, and she capped it.
'Very good.and now.'
The world was dissolving in mist. She closed her eyes.
And found herself in the Potions classroom, without any notion of how she had got there.
'Students are not allowed out of bed at this hour, Miss Bland.'
Aurelia stared up at Professor Slytherin.
'May I ask why you are in the Potions classroom at two in the morning?'
She could not answer. She looked from the flask in her hand to Professor Slytherin, and her mind drew a blank.
'I - I do not know.' Aurelia tried to remember what had brought her here - but it was gone, the last wisp of her dream had disappeared. 'I - I must have sleepwalked.'
'A likely story,' said Professor Slytherin grimly. He reached for the flask in her hand. 'What is this?'
She remained silent, knowing that Professor Slytherin would think her lying if she truthfully told him that she did not know. He studied it carefully, then the cauldron before her. Aurelia bit her lip, staring at the ground. She was in trouble now - if only she could remember what it was for!
'A potion, Miss Bland? And it seems like.the Potion that is due in class tomorrow.' He narrowed his eyes at her. Aurelia looked up, a jolt of remembrance running through her. That was why she was here - she had come down to finish her potion, not wanting to fail - had she? Yes.it must have been, there was no other logical explanation. And she must have dozed off too.
'I -' she tried to explain, but Professor Slytherin held up his hand.
'Admirable as your dedication may be, the fact remains that you are out of bed at inappropriate hours, Miss Bland. I am afraid I must refer you to your Head of House.'
He marched her out of the classroom and down the corridor. The other three professors came running out of nowhere.
'Salazar!' called Professor Ravenclaw. 'There was a strange light - it seemed to come from -' She stopped mid-sentence, gaping at Aurelia.
'Aurelia! What are you doing out of bed?' gasped Professor Hufflepuff.
'What is going on?' asked a puzzled Professor Gryffindor, looking from Aurelia to Professor Slytherin.
'Your dear Miss Bland, Rowena, was down in the Potions classroom trying to complete a project which I set my seventh-year class two weeks ago, a project that is due tomorrow. As she is in your House, I do believe you will want to deal with her?'
'Yes - yes.Aurelia, whatever were you thinking?'
'I shall leave her in your hands, then. I have some.clearing up to do in the Potions classroom,' said Professor Slytherin. 'And Miss Bland - I shall have to disregard your effort, because clearly, you would not have finished if you were working within the given time frame.'
'I say, Salazar, is that not rather harsh on her -'
'You may have your favourites, Godric,' said Professor Slytherin curtly. 'Only please do not try to have me view them in the same light. Good night.' He swept away down the corridor, presumably to clear Aurelia's cauldron and potion ingredients away.
'It seems we have all been woken for a false alarm,' said Professor Gryffindor huffily, staring after Professor Slytherin.
'Look on the bright side, Godric,' said Professor Hufflepuff. 'It was no explosion or accident as we thought. Rowena can see Aurelia to bed, and we should all get some sleep too; we have classes tomorrow.'
'Right as usual, Helga,' nodded Professor Ravenclaw. 'Good night. Come, Aurelia.'
Aurelia bade the other two professors good night, and followed Professor Ravenclaw.
'Whatever possessed you to go down there at this hour? Or earlier - I do not even wish to think how long you have been working. If this is what you do every night.no wonder you seem so tired nowadays. Aurelia, what is wrong? Why are you working yourself so hard?' Professor Ravenclaw half- scolded, half-worried as they headed for the common room.
'Nothing,' said Aurelia firmly.
'Are you still worried about K-'
'Professor, is it so wrong to work hard?'
Professor Ravenclaw eyed her exasperatedly.
'Aurelia, you are clever enough to make a distinction between normal diligence and excessiveness!'
They had reached the common room. Aurelia faked a large yawn.
'Excuse me Professor. I think I am more tired than I thought. I understand what you are saying. May I go to bed?'
'Aurelia, really -' Professor Ravenclaw sighed, but gave in. 'Go - and remember, you are supposed to be in bed at this time always. Good night.'
'Good night, Professor.'
She slipped into the dormitory quietly, so as not to wake the other girls. Falling back on her pillows, she stared at the ceiling.
She must have snuck out to finish her Potions project - or had she just crept into the Potions classroom after dinner and stayed there? And why could she not remember? Was it overwork that had her so exhausted that she could barely recall anything?
'Are you still worried about.'
About Kière and his family. Aurelia knew very well that was what Professor Ravenclaw was trying to say. She denied it over and over again, but kept coming back to the plain fact that she was indeed trying to prove something to herself. Prove her worth as a witch.
'She is no ordinary witch. I have reason to believe that she has, as the four of you suspect, incredibly strong magic.'
So what if Merlin had proclaimed this? Merlin was dead and Professor Slytherin was the only one who knew. And Aurelia had a strong suspicion that Professor Slytherin would never tell her, nor anyone else. What was the use of strong magic if she had no idea how it was to be used? How could she really be a Seer is she could not understand what the things she Saw meant?
And part of her was scared, too. Afraid that her Muggle blood condemned her as a monstrosity. Like Morgan Le Fay. She had read about that terrible Muggle-born witch and her awful deeds. What if strong magic merely twisted her into someone like Morgan Le Fay? Torturing and killing Muggles and wizards alike.the thought was unbearable.
Perhaps that was why Professor Slytherin would not tell her - he hated her, as a Muggle-born, hated her for having in her veins blood of those who had killed his beloved sister.
She could do that too, Aurelia realized with a shock. She saw, once again, in her mind's eye, the burning village. This time, Samantha Slytherin's agonized face was there too.
The thoughts revolved round and round in her head. Tired as she was, they kept haunting her. Kière. Merlin. Professor Slytherin. Samantha. And, as always in her nightmares, the witch-hunter was leering.
Sleep was long in coming, that night.
Chapter Fourteen
Aurelia never knew how she got back to the Hogwarts grounds; her thoughts were in a daze. Professor Slytherin had watched his sister burnt to death. Small wonder now that he was so bitter, so terribly against Muggles.
'.suppose a horde of Muggles, even, desperate to root out our kind - would they stop to consider that children of magic are but children? Well, I shall enlighten you - it does not matter to them'!
No wonder he was so bitter, so vehement when speaking of Muggles. Aurelia could not blame him - she felt just as disgusted. And ashamed. She was Muggle-born. Did that then mean that she possessed the hideous, cruel streak that stained the blood of Muggles?
'But I would not burn anybody at the stake!' she cried out to the lake. And then, a horrible image flashed before her. It was a village. A small village, going up in flames.
'No,' she whispered. Burying her face in her hands, she turned and ran, up the castle steps, through the doors. Panting, she leant her head against the cool stone walls in the Entrance Hall.
She did not want to return to the Great Hall. Not now; she could not face anyone yet. She wandered along the corridors, trying to erase the scenes from her head. She looked around her. This part of the castle was quiet and dimly lit - it must be near the dungeons. Aurelia walked on, past a door, behind which light was peeking through the crack between the door and the floor.
A lighted room? Once it registered in her mind, she turned and stared. Who would be here now? Curious, she crept softly up to the door and opened it.
It was a small room, lit by candlelight. A table stood in the corner, empty except for a bottle of wine and a long glass. Before it sat that last person that Aurelia should wish to walk in on - Professor Slytherin.
He was collapsed on the table, his head buried in his arms. In one of his hands he was clutching strands of black hair. Samantha's hair, Aurelia realized with a shock. He was grieving for his lost sister.
It suddenly occurred to her what a private moment she was intruding upon. Silently, she stepped back and closed the door, breathing hard. She had seen more than she had ever wanted to. Overwhelmed, she fled back to her common room, past Lyle and Conroy who stared, up to her bed, and threw herself into it, exhausted.
Kière will be so amazed to hear this.
And once again, the awful feeling struck again - she had no one to tell.
'No one should be alone on Christmas day.'
Yet so many were. Professor Slytherin - why did the other professors leave him to himself? Aurelia thought she knew the answer - it was exactly why she had fled back here.
Miserable and feeling that this had indeed be the worse Christmas of her life, Aurelia fell into a restless sleep.
~
The other students started to return soon after Christmas. They arrived in ones and twos, driving up in carriages very like the Banning family's. Kière returned too; Aurelia was coming down the stairs to the Great Hall when he passed. Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, then Kière looked determinedly away, at a point in the ceiling. Aurelia stared at the ground and walked past silently.
Classes started again, and she threw herself into them whole-heartedly; what other choice had she? There was nothing much else to do. Ethel, despite her marvelous efforts at catching up during the holidays, had not reached seventh-year standard, and was therefore not in her classes. Furthermore, being in Professor Gryffindor's House, the two had not much time to meet. Aurelia was quite proud of Ethel, in a way - the cheerful girl was making friends quickly, especially within her own House. She had also taken over Aurelia's place as big sister to the six other Muggle- borns, in particular little Aleta Barnes. She had a smile for everyone, and especially for Aurelia, whom she waved to everyday from her House table.
Aurelia studied at night, not wanting to sleep until as late as possible. Sleep was a dreaded affair; it was then that she was plagued by strange dreams which she could never remember the next day, but left her with a chill the next morning. She worked under the covers, by the light of her wand, not wanting to remain in the common room in case Professor Ravenclaw came to check on her students.
Time flew past. By day, she moved as though underwater. She felt like a ghost, invisible to all around her. When Darby made his Mudblood comments, she barely heard them. Sometimes she caught Kière staring fiercely as Darby taunted her, his fists clenched by his side. The sight made her heart skip a beat, but she forced herself to walk away silently.
She never knew what happened behind her back, between Kière and Darby. But one day in late April Darby ended up in the hospital wing. Kière was put in detention for two weeks by a furious Professor Slytherin.
Still they did not talk.
Her dreams that night were even more restless.
~
'You must hurry, girl. There is little time - the chamber seals must be ready. And it must be summoned. The school must be cleansed! Pure, do you understand?'
She floated over, her wand held out. Her hand waved it automatically, tracing out an intricate pattern which seemed to form itself. Snakes appeared on the walls hissing and slithering about.
'Yesss,' they hissed. 'Massster.' They rose and bowed to him, two- dimensional though they were.
He reached out a hand to touch the wall.
'Yes. My ssssnakessss.you will ansssswer to me alone. All of me and my blood.' He spoke in a foreign language, hissing and spitting like the snakes. She understood, though. She could see the translation form before her in her mind.
'Now. The secrecy charm. A powerful one, the most you are able to use.'
She complied, the words forming themselves from her mouth. She could feel the power, the immense magic flowing out, concentrated by her wand.
'It is set!' he cackled happily. 'Ah, yes.' He turned to the snake carvings on the stone wall. 'Yesss.ssssoon, my dear, ssssoon you will sssee daylight again.'
He led the way out; she followed blindly, still as though on air.
'The entrance,' he ordered. Wand out, she repeated the spells. He ran his hand over the door and nodded to her.
'The work here is done. One last thing now, and it will be ready. The real work begins now.'
~
'This is a new potion,' said Professor Slytherin. 'An experiment, I should say. I will therefore not be expecting perfection just this once. But do not take that as a chance to slacken - I will know and I will deal with those who have not given their best.' His gaze lingered on Aurelia as he said this. She stared back, determined not to fail.
'We will be creating this potion over two weeks,' he continued. 'I will safe-keep your samples between lessons. Yes, Miss Grimsby?'
The Ravenclaw girl with her hand up put it down.
'What is this potion meant to do, Professor?'
'It will have a summoning effect,' said Professor Slytherin vaguely. 'If any of you actually manage to accomplish it,' he added sneeringly, looking round at the class.
'Summon what, Professor?' called out Darby.
'That is for you to find out if you succeed. Or rather, for me to discover when I test out your potions. Enough questions now! The ingredients have been prepared. You will work alone. Begin.'
~
'Come.'
As before, she obeyed the summons and let her feet carry her out of bed. This time they took a different path from the past months.
She had to complete her potion. Her mind was insistent on it. She went to the cauldron, and started to stir the contents.
'Blood.add it.'
She reached for the vial by the cauldron.
'No! Your blood.'
Her had was shaking, but it sliced a small cut in her finger with the knife. Into the cauldron, dripped her blood. After five drops, she was told to withdraw it.
'The last ingredient. Add the moonstone in exactly five seconds.'
She held it over the cauldron, ready to drop it in.
'Five.four.three.two.one.NOW!'
The moonstone fell in, but no splash ensued. A light was issuing from the potion; it illuminated the entire room.
'Now wield your power - See the darkness. Summon it. Send the light away.'
She raised her hand over the cauldron. Magic hung thick in the air as the light faded into darkness. A chill was settling over the room.
'Yes! Yes - it has come! Bottle it, hurry!'
She held the flask up. All the magic in the room was swirling around her, attracted to her as though she was a magnet and it was made of iron.
'Into the bottle,' she told it. It spiraled in, and she capped it.
'Very good.and now.'
The world was dissolving in mist. She closed her eyes.
And found herself in the Potions classroom, without any notion of how she had got there.
'Students are not allowed out of bed at this hour, Miss Bland.'
Aurelia stared up at Professor Slytherin.
'May I ask why you are in the Potions classroom at two in the morning?'
She could not answer. She looked from the flask in her hand to Professor Slytherin, and her mind drew a blank.
'I - I do not know.' Aurelia tried to remember what had brought her here - but it was gone, the last wisp of her dream had disappeared. 'I - I must have sleepwalked.'
'A likely story,' said Professor Slytherin grimly. He reached for the flask in her hand. 'What is this?'
She remained silent, knowing that Professor Slytherin would think her lying if she truthfully told him that she did not know. He studied it carefully, then the cauldron before her. Aurelia bit her lip, staring at the ground. She was in trouble now - if only she could remember what it was for!
'A potion, Miss Bland? And it seems like.the Potion that is due in class tomorrow.' He narrowed his eyes at her. Aurelia looked up, a jolt of remembrance running through her. That was why she was here - she had come down to finish her potion, not wanting to fail - had she? Yes.it must have been, there was no other logical explanation. And she must have dozed off too.
'I -' she tried to explain, but Professor Slytherin held up his hand.
'Admirable as your dedication may be, the fact remains that you are out of bed at inappropriate hours, Miss Bland. I am afraid I must refer you to your Head of House.'
He marched her out of the classroom and down the corridor. The other three professors came running out of nowhere.
'Salazar!' called Professor Ravenclaw. 'There was a strange light - it seemed to come from -' She stopped mid-sentence, gaping at Aurelia.
'Aurelia! What are you doing out of bed?' gasped Professor Hufflepuff.
'What is going on?' asked a puzzled Professor Gryffindor, looking from Aurelia to Professor Slytherin.
'Your dear Miss Bland, Rowena, was down in the Potions classroom trying to complete a project which I set my seventh-year class two weeks ago, a project that is due tomorrow. As she is in your House, I do believe you will want to deal with her?'
'Yes - yes.Aurelia, whatever were you thinking?'
'I shall leave her in your hands, then. I have some.clearing up to do in the Potions classroom,' said Professor Slytherin. 'And Miss Bland - I shall have to disregard your effort, because clearly, you would not have finished if you were working within the given time frame.'
'I say, Salazar, is that not rather harsh on her -'
'You may have your favourites, Godric,' said Professor Slytherin curtly. 'Only please do not try to have me view them in the same light. Good night.' He swept away down the corridor, presumably to clear Aurelia's cauldron and potion ingredients away.
'It seems we have all been woken for a false alarm,' said Professor Gryffindor huffily, staring after Professor Slytherin.
'Look on the bright side, Godric,' said Professor Hufflepuff. 'It was no explosion or accident as we thought. Rowena can see Aurelia to bed, and we should all get some sleep too; we have classes tomorrow.'
'Right as usual, Helga,' nodded Professor Ravenclaw. 'Good night. Come, Aurelia.'
Aurelia bade the other two professors good night, and followed Professor Ravenclaw.
'Whatever possessed you to go down there at this hour? Or earlier - I do not even wish to think how long you have been working. If this is what you do every night.no wonder you seem so tired nowadays. Aurelia, what is wrong? Why are you working yourself so hard?' Professor Ravenclaw half- scolded, half-worried as they headed for the common room.
'Nothing,' said Aurelia firmly.
'Are you still worried about K-'
'Professor, is it so wrong to work hard?'
Professor Ravenclaw eyed her exasperatedly.
'Aurelia, you are clever enough to make a distinction between normal diligence and excessiveness!'
They had reached the common room. Aurelia faked a large yawn.
'Excuse me Professor. I think I am more tired than I thought. I understand what you are saying. May I go to bed?'
'Aurelia, really -' Professor Ravenclaw sighed, but gave in. 'Go - and remember, you are supposed to be in bed at this time always. Good night.'
'Good night, Professor.'
She slipped into the dormitory quietly, so as not to wake the other girls. Falling back on her pillows, she stared at the ceiling.
She must have snuck out to finish her Potions project - or had she just crept into the Potions classroom after dinner and stayed there? And why could she not remember? Was it overwork that had her so exhausted that she could barely recall anything?
'Are you still worried about.'
About Kière and his family. Aurelia knew very well that was what Professor Ravenclaw was trying to say. She denied it over and over again, but kept coming back to the plain fact that she was indeed trying to prove something to herself. Prove her worth as a witch.
'She is no ordinary witch. I have reason to believe that she has, as the four of you suspect, incredibly strong magic.'
So what if Merlin had proclaimed this? Merlin was dead and Professor Slytherin was the only one who knew. And Aurelia had a strong suspicion that Professor Slytherin would never tell her, nor anyone else. What was the use of strong magic if she had no idea how it was to be used? How could she really be a Seer is she could not understand what the things she Saw meant?
And part of her was scared, too. Afraid that her Muggle blood condemned her as a monstrosity. Like Morgan Le Fay. She had read about that terrible Muggle-born witch and her awful deeds. What if strong magic merely twisted her into someone like Morgan Le Fay? Torturing and killing Muggles and wizards alike.the thought was unbearable.
Perhaps that was why Professor Slytherin would not tell her - he hated her, as a Muggle-born, hated her for having in her veins blood of those who had killed his beloved sister.
She could do that too, Aurelia realized with a shock. She saw, once again, in her mind's eye, the burning village. This time, Samantha Slytherin's agonized face was there too.
The thoughts revolved round and round in her head. Tired as she was, they kept haunting her. Kière. Merlin. Professor Slytherin. Samantha. And, as always in her nightmares, the witch-hunter was leering.
Sleep was long in coming, that night.