"Just my luck, I wound up in the time of the Salem Witch trials, and I was stupid enough to get caught; just 'cause I'm not a Potter in this life doesn't mean the stupid unlucky streak doesn't still reach," Natalie groaned as she was roughly shoved onto the top of the pyre, ignoring the way the muggles cheered and jeered at her and the other prisoners. All of them women, some of them as young as five for reasons that confused her. As she was roughly tied to the stake, one of the muggles sneered at her,
"We will be finally free of you, witch!" He said. "Your kind will never destroy our village by enchanting our crops to die."
Natalie sighed, not even deigning to answer that one. The chances of a witch or wizard just stopping at that in the face of a witch hunting or a burning were extremely low. Most witches and wizards would have rampaged through muggle villages by now, using their knowledge of the Dark arts to bewitch their victims into killing everyone else or creating a fiendfyre vortex that would destroy a large chunk of the muggle town and burn everyone in the houses before they even knew what was going on.
This was the trouble with No-Maj's in general; while they were more than aware of the existence of magic in this time before the Statute came in and put the magical community under what was, essentially, a vast Fidelius Charm, they were not very good at detecting or even recognising magic.
She looked at the women and the girls who were being staked, one of them was a toddler who couldn't have been older than four. The sight of her crying, begging and pleading with her parents to stop this sickened the witch and made her wonder what the hell had made the muggles go this far against their child.
But what really insulted her was how the No Maj's genuinely believed she would be unimaginative.
Oh well, they'd soon learn.
While the twin sister she was born within this world had decided to stay with one of the magical villages after they were finished with Ilvermorny and they had gone their routes to the future, blissfully concealed from the No Maj's and snatchers, Natalie had decided to explore America. Unfortunately, she had come to a fairly remote village, separated by miles and miles of forest, and the locals were far from friendly. She had only been here a few minutes, and yet the stupid No-Majs had overpowered her before she even knew what was going on. She was being accused of things she hadn't even done. Why were witches and wizards always being blamed for things they hadn't done?
Natalie barely bothered to listen to the sermon; she had heard many things like it before, and besides it wasn't as if the No-Maj was imaginative or had anything creative to say anyway, and somehow he was able to spread his hateful rhetoric over the sobs, the cries, and the pleas from the women anyway. In any case, she was waiting for when the fires would be lit, so she could get to work.
When the fires were lit, the villagers cheered. But then they started screaming as the flames began growling, forming monstrous shapes. Natalie had her eyes closed in concentration, using her knowledge of Ancient African alchemy and parseltongue transfiguration to create long, snakes of flame. She smirked as she heard them hissing before she calmly made them attack the villages.
The No-Majs screamed in panic and terror as the enchanted fires whipped out, burning whomever they caught, making them scream louder and longer. Natalie clicked her fingers, using her magic to break free of her bonds and she lightly jumped down from the pyre. She turned and studied the women she'd shared the heap with.
They were staring at her with fear and shock, realising she was a genuine witch. Natalie silently flicked her hand out, and she had her wand in her hand; she didn't need it, but between her hand tricks and her wand, she would effortlessly deal with the No-Maj. Some of them realised she had escaped while the flaming serpents rushed around the village, sustained by her power. Under her control and guidance, they rushed into the houses and sent them all alight.
Some of the No-Maj's saw she'd escaped and gotten free, and she flicked her wand, and in their place were small glass statues which she destroyed or melted. Putting the tip of her wand to her hand, she blew…and a ball of fiendfyre, controlled and mastered by her power of occlumency formed in her hand, and she smirked in sadistic glee as the No-Maj realised she was worse than any witch she had seen before. And then….she stopped.
Using her power, she stilled the No-Majs.
"You made a big mistake, trying to burn me," her voice echoed for miles, "but now you will pay."
The very air darkened while the witch began to chant.
"This is a curse bestowed on all of you. For your hate, you will never be able to look at one another without picturing your reflections and hating yourselves for all time.
Those of you who have lied and others have paid with their lives, you will never be comfortable in your skin and you will transform into mockeries that will haunt you forever.
For the children who have been accused of witchcraft, you are innocent, however, those who helped their parents, you will forever more suffer nightmares where you will picture yourselves on the pyre.
You will never be able to rest. For the rich who took the food out of the mouths of the less fortunate, you will never feel full ever again. For those who accuse, you will suffer from accusations yourselves.
For those who feast on the innocence of others, you can and will never find peace, your minds and bodies will become twisted and deformed forevermore.
Those of whom use their strength to beat down those who defy or cross or argue with them, will become withered, and gnarled, until death becomes you in a hundred years time.
For the children and people who are innocent, you will be compelled to flee, but once you do, you will find yourselves transformed into animals, forever living your lives out there to see the world as you have never done before. So mote it be!" Natalie clapped her hands, and she watched in satisfaction as the curse took hold, and many of the No-Majs began twisting, their bones crunching, their faces contorting in agony, and their muscles stretching tightly.
After making sure she was ready, she apparated out. She had become an enchantress in this life, but she planned to have a few more like this, in Africa, Egypt, India, and Spain. Spain was famous for its enchantments.