Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize. It's all JKR's. But anything else is mine.
Hogwarts, The Great Hall, September 1, 1883
Ella looked straight ahead, unlike the other First years swarming around her. They were all looking at the ceiling, at the other students, or at each other. But not her. No, she was focusing on the Sorting Hat. She knew she'd have to go through this process three times, so she was determined to just let the Hat put her where it wanted. She would have to ask for a specific House the next two times, so she'd let the Hat have his fun while it could. She knew she'd be a perfect match for any of the Houses, the Founders had told her so.
She was almost bored as the others were Sorted. Finally it was her turn.
Well, well, well. What do we have here? A young Mora Malefica, that's what! My, how exciting. And with a heavy burden Fate has placed on your shoulders, too. Wisdom beyond your years, loyal to a fault, cunning to rival Slytherin himself, and courage beyond measure. You have presented me with a conundrum, Miss Sinclair.
Please just Sort me already. You already know where you want to put me, you're just stalling for effect.
Deny me my fun, why don't you? Fine. With your nearly insatiable thirst for knowledge thus far, I will place you in-
"Ravenclaw!" The Hat shouted. Ella just managed to keep from rolling her eyes. What a stunner! So the only she wouldn't be in is Hufflepuff. She sighed, feeling a pang for the misunderstood Helga Hufflepuff. In fact, the witch had been quite a formidable dueler in her own right. She was also the only one who could talk Gryffindor and Slytherin down from a rage, and the only one able to pull Rowena away from her books for a proper bit of fun. Ella had loved the plump witch very much. Ella would think of a different way to pay homage to the endearing witch.
A few Ravenclaws looked up from their last minute lookovers of summer homework to clap for her. Ella walked to her new House table with a calm confidence even the teachers envied.
oooOooo
Within the first few hours, Ella figured out that she needed to glamour her eyes. Her housemates were understandably creeped out by them, though they couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Her teachers knew exactly why young Ella Sinclair's eyes made them uneasy. They were the eyes of an old soul, and there were only two things that could age a soul like that. One was death and suffering, the other was Time herself. Many teachers were talking in the staff room about what "the poor little thing" had to have gone through to have eye's like that.
So Ella just transfigured her eyes a tiny bit and was done with it. It was harder than a glamour, but it couldn't be undone by anyone except for her. It caused some alarm for the first few weeks, but eventually it passed from everyone's minds. What could not pass from everyone's minds though, was how brilliant this witch actually was.
The Ravenclaws were understandably threatened by her brilliance, the Slytherins jealous, and the Gryffindor's uncaring. What Gryffindor's did care about, however, was their own House and winning the House Cup. And so Ella was shunned by her own house, bullied by Slytherins, and incessantly pranked by Gryffindors. Her saving grace were the Hufflepuffs, who merely ignored her. And for that, she was eternally grateful.
She did learn a few things through all that in her first three years at Hogwarts. She learned that being extraordinary did not mean being extraordinarily popular. In fact, people tended to hate and fight that which they didn't understand. So she also learned to not care what others thought of her. She learned how to stand up for herself. She learned inordinate variations of pranks and how to avoid them. All in all, it made her a very dangerous witch to cross. And that was something she began to teach others her third and final year. She began to not only defend herself, but also to give back as good as she got. For every spell or hex that was sent her way, the sender could expect the exact same one back except with more oomph behind it. She was, after all, a very powerful witch. She learned to watch her back, to always be prepared, and how to avoid a fight. She also learned the ancient art of pranking. Soon, the Gryffindor's were being repaid with every prank they'd ever played on her. And every single one of them knew it and exactly who had played the prank.
By the end of her third year, she could walk wherever she wanted, sleep whenever she wanted, and keep her head held high without a fear of anyone. And she continued to be one of the most brilliant witches Hogwarts had ever seen.
oooOooo
She slinked around Redunski, the caretaker. All he saw was a sleek black cat carrying a rat in her mouth. Ella spat out the grotesque thing as soon as she was around the corner. It was well-known that Animagus' had no taste for freshly killed meat in their forms. She kept up her image though as an ordinary stray cat by carrying around the random vermin in front of Redunski. (It had taken her a good amount of time to learn how to have two Animagus forms. It only worked because they were so similar to each other, just different in size.) As soon as she hit the Forbidden Forrest, she transformed into her larger panther Animagus. And then she ran. And ran. In fact, she ran all night long. It was her preferred method of getting rid of stress and anxiety. Though she was a Mora Malefica, she was still very human. She could reason away almost any emotion, but that didn't mean she did. She was still quite human, but made no attempt to show her classmates that. Subconsciously, they could all feel that she wasn't quite all human. How could she be, when she knew almost everything? When she made deals with forces of Nature? When her power was nearly unlimited? She could become the next Dark Lady and completely conquer all magic folk within a week at most. All at the tender at of thirteen. But she didn't, and never would. It wasn't in her nature.
But she couldn't press down everything. She couldn't hide the pain she felt from rejection. She could not tamp down her innate desire for relationships. She couldn't always ignore it all.
So she ran.
oooOooo
It was her third year when she properly met her first Hogwart's ghost. They had been watching her since she had arrived, and finally decided to talk with the little one. Oddly enough, the Bloody Baron was the one chosen to make first contact. This was, perhaps, because Ella knew the only curse that could make a ghost feel pain. The Bloody Baron was the one who had informed the lot of them of this tidbit of information. He knew of her knowledge of the curse because he had been the one to teach it to her. In fact, all of the ghosts had recognized the pale girl because she had visited them all at some point in their previous lives. They could remember, because they were ghosts. They paid no attention to Time. And they well remembered the formidable witch who relentlessly pursued their knowledge.
And it was in the Bloody Baron that Ella made her first real friend.
She had sensed him float up to her as she worked on an essay in the library. She cast a silent privacy charm and waited for him to speak. The minutes ticked by and he still hadn't spoken. Ella was no fool, she had noticed the ghost giving her a wide berth since she had set foot in Hogwarts. Finally, she spoke.
"Are you regretting that curse you taught me, Waldo?" Ella never looked up from her essay, but a faint grin traced her mouth.
"I daresay I am. Never expected to become a ghost myself, you know." The Baron's voice was a self-deprecating raspy whisper. Nothing like his old voice, Ella mused. The Baron she had known was brash and shouted all the time. It seemed that trait had not followed him into the afterlife.
"Oh, I know quite well how you expected your life to turn out. But surely it pales in comparison to following around teenagers and scaring the living daylight's out of them for centuries?" Ella was trying to bait him. Yet he did not rise to the challenge.
"Actually, it isn't all bad. Wouldn't have chosen it, but I don't mind it. Fate sure is a fickly one though, I'll give her that." The Baron's head popped up through her essay.
"Please, Waldo, do be serious." Ella was secretly amused though. If only Helena could see him now. Ella's tiny smile died. That old friend was gone too, yet her ghost wandered these halls. In fact, she was Ella's house ghost. Yet not once did the Grey Lady approach Ella.
"You know I hate that name, Eleanor. Please, do call me Baron." The Baron had repaid her by calling Ella by her dreaded first name.
"Cut the bull, Baron. What do you want?" Suddenly Ella was in no mood to trade banter anymore.
"What are you doing?" Ella knew exactly what he was asking. Why was she at Hogwarts when she could be ruling the world? What was she doing hiding her vast knowledge when she could be making strides in the wizarding world? Why was she hiding? What was her plan? Would she ever use that curse on the ghosts of Hogwarts? All those and more were loaded in the ghost's question.
"Saving the world." Was Ella's truthful response. And with that, she drew a thin rope of silvery substance from her forehead. She offered it to the Baron, and he touched the substance lightly. Instantly, he was caught up in Ella's memories. After nearly an hour, he withdrew and bowed low before her. Her cheeks instantly colored and she hissed at the prostrate man.
"Get up, you fool. No one will ever bow to me again." The ghost resumed his floating position with a trace of mirth in the vast amount of respect he had for the girl in front of him.
"Of course, m'lady." The Baron merely bent his head in respect in recognition this time. Ella fought the urge to roll her eyes. One day, she'd give into the urge.
"Please don't tell." Ella's eyes were imploring, and the Baron couldn't refuse even if he wanted to.
"Never, m'lady. I am forever at your service." Instantly a pale blue light flashed in between Ella and the Baron. He had just made an Oath.
"Great. Just great, Wally. Not only is there whatever it that was holding you to earth, but now you have just made an Oath to be forever in my service! What were you thinking?" Ella was pacing by now, grateful her privacy charm extended to showing everyone else that she was quietly studying.
"That now I go to the Great Beyond the very moment you do, secure in the knowledge I have done everything to assist you in your quest. You fascinated me before, but now you have entranced me. You are one amazing witch, and you have made yourself a friend for life." The Baron was in earnest.
Ella blushed again. "Fine. I don't think I need your help now, though I might in the future." Ella's eyes glazed over slightly as they always did when she thought of the future and planning. Her eyes suddenly refocused on the Baron. "Will the other ghosts join in an alliance with me if you tell them I am trustworthy?"
The Baron nodded. "They trust me. And now by extension, you." And that was how Ella made her first friend and her first ally.
oooOooo
She didn't expect to make her next ally so soon after the first. It was shortly before final exams, and she was running in the woods to let off steam. And it just so happened that she ran into a centaur. Literally. Both her panther and the centaur reeled back a few steps. She was immediately in a crouch, and the centaur had strung his bow. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Ella made the first move. She rose out of her crouch. The centaur recognized her move as nonthreatening and slowly lowered his bow.
"I was not aware that a panther roamed these woods. You have been stealthy, little one." The black haired centaur noticed an odd aura shimmering around the animal that was now sitting calmly on the ground, tail curled around her body, and licking her paw unconcernedly. Though Magorian noticed that her grey eyes never left his bow.
"You would be in great danger if my herd were to learn that an animal human was roaming these woods. They don't take well to humans." Magorian watched in slight astonishment as the graceful creature quickly transformed into a slight witch. Her wand was no where in sight, so Magorian relaxed and let his bow drop all the way.
The witch examined her fingernails, showing the same unconcern as when she was licking a velvet paw earlier.
"I am in no danger, I assure you. In fact, take me to your herd. I don't like surprises, I can't imagine anyone else liking them either. And if your leader wishes, I will demonstrate my power showing exactly why I am unafraid." Ella stared the centaur directly in the eyes.
Magorian was a young one. He had barely gotten out of his growing years. Everything he had been taught told him to shoot the human and be done with it. But even he couldn't dismiss the large amounts of magical energy coming off of the girl. And besides, he was rather drawn to the witch. And so he did as she asked.
The end result was a cowed centaur herd, an alliance with Magorian and the rest of the centaurs. Ella was quite pleased as she recounted her night to the Baron. He nodded at the right times, secretly being glad he was her ally. He did not envy whoever this Lord Voldemort was. The man would not last a minute against the girl he was slowing starting to view as his family.