Raven followed her father miserably through the corridors; Lis perched on her shoulder like a guardian. The girl was very confused and frightened, seriously wondering for the first time if she'd loose control like that again. Never before had she considered it possible to create such havoc so easily when she was angry. Sure, if her street days her fury had been legendary, and no one tried to provoke her, but never had she been able to reduce a full-grown man to tear like that. Even if that man was Pettigrew.

Before she knew it, Lord Voldemort had stopped in front of a pair of very handsome redwood doors, which slid open as he ran his fingers over them. Raven walked inside, slightly awed, greeted by the sight of a large room that was a study, a bedroom and a sitting room all in one.

Without warning, something small jumped out from behind a couch with a yell, fingernail bared as if to attack.

Raven barely had the time to see it was a young girl with long, platinum-blond hair and vivid green eyes, before Lord Voldemort sent her flying across the room, where she landed heavily on a four-poster bed with a soft thud.

"Damnit!" The child yelled, glaring at the Dark Lord. Raven and her bird gave the young girl a stunned look, and suddenly noticed that the room was in a state that clearly showed it had been under assault. Obviously the child was being held here without her consent.

"Lis, this is Arleen Haara. She is the daughter of Isabelle and Justin Haara, renown Animagi, who have been a large threat to us, and have been recently eliminated. Arleen, however, is a powerful witch that can be a great addition to our ranks. I want you to keep her with out and teach her all the magic you know." Lord Voldemort said all this softly, obviously blind to the fact that the child did not want to be kept here.

Raven, on the other hand, was suppressing another rage fit. Firstly, she had no idea what an Animagi were, secondly, she thought it cruel to kill a kid's parents and let the child live afterwards, and thirdly, she had no desire to do any babysitting at the time.

However, it did not seem as though she had a choice.

(0)

"You do realise I don't want to be here, do you?" Arleen snapped over her toast, seated on Raven's bed. The older girl looked at the younger one with a look of disgust.

"You do realise I don't want you here, don't you?" Raven snapped back coolly. Lis rolled her eyes and put her head under her wing, annoyed by this childish behaviour. The little girl huffed silently and the pair glared at each other.

Finally, Raven broke the silence.

"What are Animagi anyways?" She demanded, swallowing the last of her cereal and checking out the little girl. She was about nine years old, but acted like she was much older.

Arleen scoffed, and instead of answering, she showed Raven.

Squinting as though she tried to remember something, for a few seconds the child looked simply foolish, but after a moment, with a gasp from the black-haired teen, Arleen made her blond hair change into a short, fizzy mane of red hair, which matched perfectly with her green optics.

The kid seemed satisfied at the look of disbelief on Raven's face, and continued eating her toast calmly.

"How do you learn to do that?" The teen blurted out, impressed against her will.

Arleen smirked. "You don't. You're born like this. Almost everyone in my family was an Animagi, and I've inherited the genes. It's cool, isn't it? What have you inherited from your parents?"

All animosity seemed to be gone from the child's heart, and was replaced by curiosity.

Raven sighed, pondering for a moment if she should say the truth. . . after all, what did she have to loose?

"My. . .I. . . I'm Voldemort's daughter. . ." She shrugged, looking away. "I guess I inherited his dark powers or something. . ." At that thought, she panicked slightly.

The little girl had winced at the sound of the name, and now seemed very interested, checking Raven out carefully.

"You don't look mean to me. . . maybe you don't inherit badness from your parents. . ."

The teen sighed, hoping the child was right.

(0)

Raven had classes with Macnair after breakfast, and she wasn't sure if she was supposed to leave Arleen behind, so she agreed to let the girl come with her. They were getting along quite well, except when the young girl became arrogant, which she did rather often.

"Are we lost?" Arleen demanded coolly, earning herself a glare from both Raven and Lis, who were rather annoyed with the child.

"No." The teen answered coolly, as her bird pointed its wing towards a door, seated on its human's shoulder. Without the raven, the two girls would have long since been lost, because the intelligent animal was the one memorizing the paths they had to take.

Pushing open the door, Raven was greeted with a roar that made her jump back. A long dragonish tail lashed out towards her, missing her by inches. Curious, Arleen pushed past the teen and walked into the room, awed.

Worried for the child's safety, Raven had no choice but to follow.

Macnair was standing on a balcony, out of reach from the beast that was growling in the shadows, smirk on his face.

"Good day, Miss Tromg. Today we're studying chimeras." He said softly, sneering.

"Uh-oh. . ."Raven's mouth dropped when the three-headed monster came forth, goat, lion and dragon mouths bellowing. The serpentine tail bashed towards her again and she jumped out of its was, Lis taking flight with a caw.

Arleen looked like she was trying to stay calm at her best, but the terrified trembles that ran through her were a dead giveaway to her fear.

"Stupefy!" Raven shouted, brandishing her wand. The spell hit the chimera, but only seemed to infuriate it more. The lion head gave a deafening roar, and the tail sailed through the air again.

This time, the teen didn't see it coming. It hit her across the chest, knocking her wand out of her hand and sending it sailing through the room, way out of reach. Lungs gasping for breath, Raven sank to her knees as the monster came closer.

"No!" Arleen cried, running forward, but the tail hit her as well and sent her flying into a wall. Raven looked into the furious monster's six eyes and raised her hands as the powerful tail came crashing down towards her.

(0)

Sorry for the cliffy, but I've got to keep you guys in suspense. . . more coming up soon, and the plot is going to thicken.

Next chapter, find out if Raven and Arleen make it out alright from their fight with the chimera. The plot is about to thicken, and it is not going to help our heroes.