Chapter One

She was looking at something in the water. Perhaps she was looking down to her home and her family, missing them and wanting to go back. Maybe she was trying to see her reflection, though the salty and rough ocean could not reflect anything. More likely she was looking at nothing in particular, and regretting the choices she had made, but filled with anticipation for the joy those same choices could bring. Dorcas couldn't help laughing at how pretty and wistful it was. Real mermaids weren't like that. Hans Christian Anderson was too much of an idealist for her. She scowled at the statue and moved away from the incoming tide.

"Stupid thing," she muttered under her breath. She then scowled at her shoes, which had gotten wet because she hadn't moved out of the way of the wave quickly enough. Dorcas made her way back up the beach to where Guy Locke was waiting on the street. She had picked him up in Barcelona and couldn't get rid of him. He had been visiting his mother, a Spanish woman. His father was an Englishman, and was currently living in London, but they were divorced. She was thankful to have some company, but he could get a little annoying at times. Dorcas also had to be careful around Guy, because he didn't know that she was a witch.

He was waving at her very enthusiastically, with both hands high in the air and flailing about madly, from the sidewalk. "Hey! Hey!" he shouted. "How about getting some lunch? I'm starving!"

"Guy!" Dorcas shouted back. "You don't have to yell! I can hear you just fine!"

"I know!" he said, still at the top of his voice. "I just like being the center of attention!" A couple stopped and stared at this shouting match, and Guy smiled and winked at them. They continued walking, occasionally looking back at Guy and Dorcas until they rounded a corner.

"You're really weird, you know that?" Dorcas told Guy jokingly, with a light punch to his arm.

"But that's what makes me such a fun person to be around! Anyway, I think I mentioned lunch earlier. There's a cute little sandwich place a few blocks down that way," he said, pointing. "What say we drop in for a little chow?"

"Works for me," she replied, and they started walking.

"So what'd that statue ever do to you? Does it owe you money? Did it beat you up as a kid?" Guy asked.

"What? What are you talking about? What statue?"

"The Little Mermaid statue. You were looking daggers at it. You know what I think your problem with it was? She wasn't wearing any clothes. Well, Dorcas, you know what? You just need to get over your fear of nudity. Society might not approve, but that's all the more reason you should enjoy art like that. You should follow my example: I have no problem with naked mermaids all over the beach. Don't give into the man! Fight the power!" He said that last part very loudly, and a mother with her two young children looked over, alarmed, and quickly scooted her children along.

"No, no it's not that. I'm just not a big fan of fairy tales," Dorcas said, her smile fading. Her mother had always told the story of The Little Mermaid to Dorcas as a bedtime story when she was young. Then she had met a real mermaid, and wasn't too keen on them anymore.

At the restaurant they were seated at a small, circular table covered with a mosaic of a smiling sun, and were handed brightly colored menus. Dorcas was trying to decide between the soup of the day or a simple turkey sandwich, when Guy suddenly yelled.

"Ooh! Ooh! They have danishes! Dorcas. We have to get some danishes. You can't go to Denmark and not eat at least one danish. I want one with apples and cinnamon on it."

"Fine, fine. We'll get danishes, but we have to have a real meal at some point," she replied, laughing. Several minutes later Guy and Dorcas were happily eating their danishes, when Guy suddenly put down his fork and got out his camera.

"Dorcas, look," he said quietly. "There's an owl outside the window. I thought they only came out at night." Dorcas whipped her head around to see, and indeed there was an owl outside the window, tapping its beak on the glass, and seeming to be looking at her.

"But who would be trying to contact me?" she whispered.

"What?" asked Guy absentmindedly, snapping away on his camera. Everyone else in the restaurant was also staring at the bird, but not Dorcas. She was trying to figure out a way to get the note tied to its leg without anyone noticing.

Mumbling something about having to use the restroom, Dorcas quickly got up and went out a side exit that was partly hidden by a plant. To a disappointed crowd the owl flapped it wings and disappeared behind the building, to where Dorcas was. She untied the note and stuffed it in her pocket as she watched the owl fly away. She wanted to wait until she could sit down and read it in peace and quiet before she opened the can of worms that she knew it was going to be.

Dorcas got back to her room very late that night. After taking a very long shower she dropped immediately into bed. She and Guy had already spent about two weeks in Denmark, and planned on leaving the next day. A lamp lit up the cobbled street below and shone through her open window, but she was too tired to get up and close the curtains. She fell asleep very easily, and had been slumbering for about fifteen minutes when her eyes suddenly opened and she was wide awake, all thoughts of sleep forgotten.

"The letter!" she whispered to herself. "I have to read it!"

She fumbled around in the dark to find her wand, which was hidden in her duffel bag. Upon finding it Dorcas whispered "Lumos," and went on a search for the clothes she had been wearing that day. She finally found her pants draped over a chair, and almost ripped apart the pockets to get at the letter. After finding it, she walked slowly back to her bed and sat down on cross-legged, still not unfolding the note. She had told all her friends not to write to her while she was gone. She knew their letters would fake, and full of sympathy, and always asking her to come back. But she couldn't go back, not now, and maybe not ever. What could she go back to? An unfulfilling job at the Ministry and the uncomprehending eyes of those who didn't know, and pity in the eyes of those who did? No. She'd rather spend all her time staring into the blank and sad eyes of the mermaid statue than stare into the eyes of those who knew her.

She sat on her bed for several more minutes, looking at the unopened letter, it's pure whiteness reflecting the light from her wand all over the room. Slowly and without a sound, Dorcas unfolded the piece of paper and looked at the bottom to see whom it was from before reading the content. Dumbledore.

Miss Meadowes,

You have to come back to Britain. You have had quite enough time to run away, but now we need you back here. I realize what a horrible thing you've had to go through; others have also had to go through the same thing, and many, many more will have to if you don't come back. You may not want to face your life, but if you don't do it now you never will be able to. I am writing to ask you if you want to join in the fight against Voldemort. I fear that he will get ever more powerful, and we need as many people as possible to fight him. You are a powerful and determined young lady, and I believe you will be essential in the fight. I look forward to seeing you soon, where I will give you more details.

Dumbledore

Dorcas read the letter through several times to make sure she got it right. Dumbledore was asking her to come back, true, but it was so that she could fight! He was being careful with his words in the letter, and was not being sympathetic, and it was a breath of fresh air for Dorcas. After the initial shock of knowing that her mother was gone, Dorcas could think of almost nothing else beside how much she hated Voldemort and his Death Eaters. She was consumed with her desire for revenge. But that had lasted only a month or two before the sadness of reality descended upon her. How could she kill Voldemort? He was one of the most powerful wizards, if not the most powerful, and had the backing of many other people, who were all almost as powerful, if not in magical ability, then in wealth and influence.

But Dumbledore's letter re-incited in Dorcas the lust for justice. This was her chance! Now she really could avenge her mother, and all those others who had died. She would do as Guy said and not give in to the man. She would fight the power! Dorcas glanced at the ring on her finger, and her reasons for wanting to kill Voldemort became much more personal.

The ring had been her mother's, and it had been her mother's favorite piece of jewelry. Dorcas couldn't understand why her mother liked it so much; she thought it was ugly, and even a bit scary. The band was a snake's scaly body, with two tiny emeralds for the eyes. It reminded her of Slytherin house; she had always assumed that a boyfriend who was a Slytherin had given it to her mother. The ring, evil looking as it was, reminded Dorcas of her mother, and made her want to kill the evil in the ring, and in the world. She only wore it for sentimental reasons; it made sure she would never forget her mother.

Dorcas resolved to go back to England the next day, and try to get in contact with Dumbledore. She fell asleep with thoughts of revenge prancing about in her head.