Calista awoke in her bed with a start. She had no idea what was going on. There were voices conversing down the stairs. It was my dad, and someone else.
"Move, stupid. You act like a Muggle to protect your worthless daughter, you scum." Someone said, a man, by the sound of his voice.
"What?"
"Muggle, non-magic people."
"Magic? Are you kidding?"
"Don't kid yourself, Lexton"
Her father's voice changed. It was deeper and more commanding, "Nott, you don't know anything about my daughter. You don't know what she can do."
"What can she do, she's a Muggle, remember?"
"She'll be great."
"They all say so."
"What, are you going to turn me in?"
"I have to, Lexton. The Ministry of Magic won't be pleased to know that you've been using the Cruciatus curse against us to find out what we know about the Dark Lord, and about the fact that he's not gone. Most of them are under the impression that we're on your side, you see." The man, Nott, gave a cruel laugh after his words.
"You deserve it. I know the truth. That Potter kid didn't utterly destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Potter just reduced him. All I need now is to find him, to ask him…"
"Going to use Crucio on Potter, are you?"
"You care, because I'm sure you have his best interests at heart. No, I'm not going to pry the answer out of him, as was necessary for you and your pathetic little club."
"Avada K—"
"NO!" There was the sound of groaning, and Nott had evidentially been punched.
"Very well, then. Severus taught me this one, before he feft us like a coward." Nott said calmly, before bellowing "Sectumsempra!" There was a crack. Calista finally came to her senses, She ran downstairs and saw her father. He was white as death. And bleeding.
"Magic?"
"Yes. Calista, listen to me. Get as much information as possible out of Nott, or anyone related to him. Use any means necessary. Interrogating the Potter kid wouldn't hurt, either, But don't pry the information out of him. Don't hurt him. He's on our side."
"Dad, where will I live?"
"You will live with your mother."
"I thought she was dead."
"She's hiding. In the house of Diyfs. Take this powder, throw it in the fire while saying "House of Diyfs". Step onto the fire if it turns green. Take your things" He died after the word "things".
Having little choice, Calista packed nearly everything she owned into several trunks. She lugged the trunks downstairs with difficulty, and tossed the strange powder into the fire, saying "House of Diyfs", almost certain that it wouldn't work. But the fire turned green, so she stepped in it, bringing her trunks with her. She felt like she was spinning, and inhaling hot ash. At last, she felt herself slowing down, and she came out of the fire, in a house that was totally alien.
"Calista!" Someone called. Calista turned. It was her mother,
"I'm a coward" The woman said.
"I need to live here." Calista replied, still dazed.
"I need to tell you what I know, Calista."
"Me too."
So they told each other everything. Calista told her mother about the man named Nott and the Potter kid, and her father being dead. Her mother told Calista about how she was a witch who was afraid of her own powers. How she had refused to go to wizard school, how she let her powers run amok. How they were set off by anything. They cried on each others shoulders, unable to understand anything.
The next day, the letter from Hogwarts arrived. Calista was a witch.
I stood in the line of first-years, never feeling more nervous. My mother had told me a little bit about this place when I arrived via green fire. I was still really confused, but I may be able to find answers, here. Maybe. They were calling out names, name after name after name, to be sorted by a hat. My mother told me about the four houses. About the Gryffindor house, for brave people, Hufflepuff, for people who were loyal, Ravelclaw, for those of intelligence, and Slytherin, for the "cunning" ones. Slytherin sounded the worst. And all the people sitting there looked thuggish. Finally, the black-haired witch reached the Ls. I was dreading it.
"Lexton, Calista" The witch called out. I stepped up to the platform, feeling like I was about to throw up. I placed the hat on my head, where it whispered to me:
"I have no doubt where to put you. There's a great mind, no doubt, very loyal, and of course, very brave. But the thing that stands out to me is your cunning." It said. I had no doubtwhat that meant. The hat yelled out to everyone "Slytherin". I took of the hat, and, with certain feelings of dread, I sat down. Someone whispered in my ear
"You are a pureblood, aren't you?" I chose not to respond. I didn't even know what a pureblood was. I wasn't really paying attention to everyone else being sorted. My attention returned, however, when the black-haired witch, who was called McGonagall, called out the name "Theodore Nott." Nott must have been the scum who killed my dad. No, of course not. The man who murdered my dad was a grown man. This person was only eleven years old. But there must have been some sort of relation. I made Theodore Nott my new target. I wasn't afraid to pry answers from his hands. Nott was made a Slytherin. Excellent. This would make my job easier. I was nearing falling asleep when another name caught my attention.
"Potter, Harry"
Although Nott was treated as just another first-year being sorted, Harry Potter was treated as though he were some sort of higher form of being. People were muttering. "Potter? The Harry Potter?", and things of the sort. This confirmed my belief that he would be important. I needed to collect information. But I needed to handle Potter more delicately. I schemed for a while, then turned to a person next to me. "My parents never told me about Harry Potter, what's his story?" The person told me everything, I knew that he would be important after that story.
I had spent the next six years silently collecting information, finding out a lot about the "Dark Side". I was barely even acknowledged. But when I was in 7th year, I decided to strike, hard and fast.