Fallen Witch by Makkura Rating: G Ship: Harry & Hermione Canon: Books 1 - 6 Genre: Mystery, Romance Status: Paused Length: 1,227 words in 2 chapters Published: 17 Jul 2007 Last updated: 21 Jul 2007 This story unfolds as a stolen bundle is accidentally dropped into the sea on a stormy night. Several years later, the witch that has not been allowed to go to Hogwarts is found at last. Her first year is already the third for her classmates. Everyone is suspicious of her, and the mysteries of her past are not easy to unravel... From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/7393/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. A baby drowns Fallen Witch Disclaimer: Many of the characters are borrowed from the Potter universe. I will return them unblemished once I have told my story. I am not making any money with this. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chapter 1 – A baby drowns +++++ The night was covered in leaden clouds, pulling a heavy blanket over the sea that was shifting restlessly in its huge bed. Little Tim's parents had forbidden him to go out; the night was too dangerous. A fierce wind had been rattling the windows at dinner. And yet, Tim had sneaked out immediately after his parents had fallen asleep. He could not let the opportunity pass. Anything might be washed ashore on a night like this. Tim was a treasure hunter. His room was stuffed with his collections: large rocks that bore fascinating cracks and shimmered in the sunlight; shells of any size and colour; pincers of a crab; white, thin bones of a seagull; sand in several bottles that made the shelf they were standing on groan under their weight. Tim's parents had once tried cleaning up his room. He had not spoken to them for a month. Now, they left him to it; they had only advised him to be careful. And Tim had better be careful on a night like this. Just as he stepped onto the cool sand, lightning tore the leaden blanket high above his head, and a Death Eater rode through the path that had opened in the sky at breakneck speed, clutching his broomstick as he went. Tim, of course, had never seen a Death Eater or a broomstick that could fly before. He was, after all, a Muggle-born wizard in spe, and still had several years to go until his letter from Hogwarts would arrive. At the moment, his only option was to stare in disbelief at the strange figure that was flying towards him. Waves crashed onto the shore. The Death Eater was barely a hundred metres away when little Tim finally realized he might be in danger. Quickly, he seized a rock and aimed. It hit the Death Eater on the head; Tim dashed away back home as fast as he could. The Death Eater struggled not to fall off his broomstick, and lost hold of the grey bundle he had been carrying. It fell into the roaring sea below him. The Death Eater darted after it, but he was too late; waves closed in on top of the bundle, and it was gone. The Death Eater cursed inaudibly in the storm. He had not seen who had attacked him; and anyway, the Dark Lord was waiting for his report. Well, he had achieved something tonight, even if the bundle was lost. And so, he pulled up his broomstick and flew back into the clouds. +++++ Meanwhile, Camilla was putting her baby into its cradle. "Good night, sleep tight", she whispered, when a deafening crash made her look up. Pasha called urgently from outside. "Camilla! Come quickly!" She hastened to her husband's side. "What is it?" He pointed into the dimly lit water. "It's the Dark Gnomes again – they have not taken kindly to being banned from our grounds. It seems they have awoken the Great Shark!" Camilla gasped. Indeed, a massive black figure was rampaging through the village. Around it, the Dark Gnomes were gathered in a cloud to dodge the spears the villagers were throwing. Quickly, Camilla grabbed her knife and darted forward, lunging at the Dark Gnomes, kicking them as she went. Finally, the Great Shark was right before her. She raised her hand that held the knife, ready to strike – The Great Shark simply rammed his massive body into her, hurling her almost into the spears the villagers were holding at the ready. "Pasha, get away!" Camilla shrieked. Pasha ducked under the huge body just in time – and the Great Shark hit the small hut Camilla had just emerged from at full speed. It collapsed. The Great Shark was unconscious, so the villagers closed in on him to finish him off. The Dark Gnomes scattered quickly in all directions, brandishing their fists, shrieking and yelling furiously. Pasha approached his wife. She was sitting on a rock. Her eyes were blank. "Camilla, dear", he said gently. She did not react. Suddenly, a dark bundle came floating between them. Instinctively, Pasha reached out and grabbed it. It stirred in his arms, so he flung off the blanket that covered the bundle and saw – "Baby", Camilla whispered and stretched out her arms. Without hesitation, he placed the child into her arms. It had just woken up and now looked up at Camilla through questioning eyes. Pasha noticed a bubble around its head. A hand was placed heavily onto his shoulder. Pasha turned and saw the Village Elder, whose eyes were brimming with sadness. "I am very sorry, Pasha", he said quietly. "We could not rescue your baby." Camilla laughed. "What are you talking about, Elder? My baby is here." The Elder approached her carefully. "That is a human", he remarked. "Most likely of a wizard family, judging by the fact it has not drowned." "It is my baby!" Camilla retorted angrily. "Are you telling me I don't know my son?" The Elder exchanged a long, sad glance with Pasha and sighed. "Of course you know your baby. It is probably the best solution." Pasha started. "What? But, Elder..." The Elder motioned for him to follow, and they swam a few metres. "Look, Pasha", he said quietly. "I know this is hard on you, but are you willing to raise the child as though it were your own? Your wife is in shock, and this is the best remedy. I shall ask Calypso to concoct a potion that will turn the baby into one of us." "We are not going to get away with this, Elder", Pasha said. "I would love to take in the baby. But, it is of wizard origin. They are going to take her away from us." "The wizards are quite busy at the moment; Lord Voldemort is still at large, and nobody will have the leisure to raise someone else's child. If they get rid of the Dark Lord, the boy can still attend Hogwarts when the time comes. But he will be of your family." And finally, Pasha consented. He had little regrets about this over the rest of the day, which he spent rebuilding the hut, while Camilla was talking to him and the child happily. Their first shock came when Camilla changed the baby's clothes; it was wearing human attire, after all. Pasha dropped his tools when he heard his wife scream. He found her in tears. She pointed at the baby, unable to speak. The Elder hurried towards them, a sullen-looking girl in his wake. "It's a girl." Pasha had to wrench his mouth open to say the words in the presence of his wife, who was sobbing hysterically. The Elder shook his head resignedly. "Calypso", he told the girl hovering behind him, "administer the potion." And so she did. +++++ One year later, when the village at the bottom of the sea learned that Lord Voldemort had been vanquished by a small child, the girl truly was Pasha and Camilla's daughter already. Everyone called her Vanilla, since it resembled her mother's name; her parents, however, used the name that was sown into the blanket the baby had been wrapped in: Hermione. +++++ Welcome to my new story! Hope you'll enjoy. This is a short chapter, but the next ones will be longer, so stick around! Next chapter: New neighbours. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. New Neighbours A/N Welcome to the second chapter of Fallen Witch! I'm sorry about keeping it a bit vague in the first chapter... Of course, Camilla and her folks are Merpeople. And please, review!!! Disclaimer: I don't own them. This is just for fun; I am not making any money with it. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chapter 2 – New Neighbours It was Eldersday, and preparations for the feast were running high. The huge skeleton of a shark in the centre of the village had been polished to gleam and sparkle by the light of the lucines, those small red fish with forked tails and bubbles of light all over their tiny bodies. Six-year-old Vanilla loved to chase after them. Today, however, she was confined to the kitchen. Her mother had drawn up a long list of meals she wanted to cook for the Elder's birthday. Although quite a few villagers had come to help, Vanilla had also been asked to lend a hand, which she grudgingly did. "I mean, I am a child", she told Ben, her invisible friend, in confidence, "but Mum would not listen, so I guess I have to grit my teeth and bear it." Ben nodded his approval as she wiped the inside of the rusty pot her Mum just would not throw away. After a while, during which nobody paid attention to the pair, Ben grew bored and directed Vanilla's attention towards a small group outside the window. There was the Elder – and three people Vanilla had never seen before: a man, a woman and a scowling boy, all three of them with bright green hair. Vanilla turned towards her Mum. "Muuum? Who are they?" Camilla sighed. "I believe I have told you many times before that these are our new neighbours, Hermione. They are from Seaweed Village. And please don't stare. You're still on your first pot." "Why did they emigrate?" Vanilla asked stubbornly. Camilla did not reply. At the feast, Vanilla did not eat much, but spent most of the time watching the new family. They were sitting with the Elder, which was an unusual honour. The Elder was clad in white, and for the first time in years, his face was not the happy one Vanilla knew. Without warning, he got up and made a sign towards the orchestra. Immediately, the music stopped and everyone turned their faces towards the tall figure. The Elder looked at his villagers serenely. "My dear people", he said, "it is my pleasure to introduce to you our three new arrivals. Gillius –" He indicated the young man. "Plethora, his wife – and Flux." The villagers applauded politely. Vanilla stared at the boy, who was now eyeing the Elder in an almost suspicious way. "Please treat them with respect and kindness. Gillius has also told me he would like to speak to you about a few things." And he bowed to the young man, allowing him to stand up and sitting down himself. Gillius cleared his throat and smiled vaguely. "Dear neighbours, thank you for the warm welcome. I do hope we are going to get along well. However, I must speak to you on a serious matter. You know that my family and I came from Seaweed Village. And the reason for that is –" He paused. Vanilla watched him anxiously. Was she imagining this, or had his eyes just grown darker? Gillius continued, although it seemed difficult for him to speak now. "Seaweed Village does not exist anymore. A few days ago, it was attacked. My family and I were on a hunt at that time... We are the only survivors." Several people gasped at the news. Pasha asked warmly, "What happened? Who attacked you?" Gillius smiled sadly. "We are not sure. They had left no traces except... When we came back, we found a sign between the... remains." His voice failed. "What sign?" Pasha urged him. Gillius shook his head. His eyes were blank. Plethora patted his shaking hand. Vanilla was awed at the emotions that raged in the couple's faces. She had never seen her parents gaze at each other like that. "It was a skull", the boy named Flux spoke up. "A human skull, with a snake protruding from its mouth." He looked frightened as he said it. The villagers exchanged urgent whispers as the Elder got to his feet and called for silence once more. "You may have heard of that sign", the Elder said. "It was used a lot when a certain Lord Voldemort was still at large. He was, as we know, defeated by a small human boy. And yet, we do not know what happened to him after that. Whether he truly died is still an open question. He also had a lot of followers. I hoped he would not come to the bottom of the sea. There is no telling what will happen from now on. Please be prepared for the worst." +++++ The huge skeleton in the centre of the village had never looked less scary. Indeed, now that it was time to part, Vanilla more than once glanced at it fondly. She knew it had been placed there the day she was born; it had always frightened her. Today, she half wished she knew how to shrink it so it would fit into her trunk. Half a year had passed since the arrival of the new family. Since then, more nasty pieces of news had reached the village. Being a child, Vanilla had not heard too much about them, but Ben had advised her to speak to Flux about it, who seemed to like her in a very disgruntled fashion, and so she had got the gist of what was going on. The old hag living seven rocks away had apparently turned strange and would not see visitors in a while. Calypso, who had been the hag's student, had taken this recent strange behaviour seriously and gone to see her mentor almost every day. Once, Calypso had come back bruised and bleeding – the hag had attacked her. Pasha, Gillius and a few other volunteers had then taken their spears and set out on a mission they still did not speak about. The tip of Pasha's spear was no longer shiny, but Vanilla knew that if she asked, she would receive instant rebuttal from her mother. She therefore had no-one to discuss with except Ben and Flux; and both were not very insightful on the matter. A few days later, a shoal of lucines had come floating past. Vanilla had of course darted after them instantly, only to shriek in horror when she discovered all of them were dead. The evening of that day, the hunters had come back empty-handed. And yesterday, the Elder had called his villagers to make his grave speech. "My dear villagers, it is time for us to come to a decision. The hunters have informed me that they at last found prey today. It was a baby whale; usually, we do not attack the young ones, but under the present circumstances, our hunters decided to attack. The moment their spears pierced the whale, however, a ghastly spectre emerged from it. I believe this is what remained of Lord Voldemort." The villagers had been aghast at the words. Merpeople did not possess any magic. There was no fighting the evil wizard for them. And so, they had decided to leave. Apparently, there was a fathoms-deep lake right next to a wizard school; they would be fairly safe there. Pasha called from outside. Heaving a sigh, Vanilla closed her trunk and dragged it outside. +++++ Several undisturbed years passed. "Hermione! Hermione! Where has that girl gone to!" Camilla stepped out of her hut, looking around irritably. "Good morning, Camilla", Plethora called cheerfully. "Flux left earlier with your daughter. I think they wanted to visit the Giant Squid." Camilla frowned. "It's almost lunchtime", she told Plethora. "And Hermione has not done her reading exercises again. Instead, she ran off with your son again." Good-natured Plethora was not deflected. "Yes, isn't it sweet? Flux has been very talkative lately about how much fun it is to be with Vanilla." Camilla sighed. "Look", Plethora continued, "I do think you are a bit too strict with your daughter. If Vanilla and Flux have formed an attachment, why discourage them?" "You don't understand", Camilla said heavily. "Hermione is... well... different." "If you mean to say, she is cleverer than others, that is certainly not an obstacle –" "Oh, stop it", Camilla snapped. "Just tell your son to stay away from her, okay?" Plethora gaped at her in disbelief. "Are you that proud of her?" Pasha chose that moment to appear behind his wife. "Well, hello", he said. "What is going on?" "Hermione has left with Flux again", Camilla said bitterly. "Good", Pasha said distractedly. His face fell at the reprimanding glance his wife shot him. "Erm, can I talk to you? In private, no offence meant", he added hastily with a smile at Plethora, who smiled back. "Only I just received this from the Elder..." And he held up a thin envelope. A green seal was stamped onto it. Camilla blanched. "I – I'll talk to you later", she said vaguely and dragged Pasha into the hut. Plethora stared. "Wonder what she's on about", she muttered. She did not have to wait long for Camilla to resurface. "Our children have not come back?" Camilla asked with a titter. "They certainly are having a good time together." It was Plethora's turn to give a backhanded answer. "Oh, probably." Camilla moved closer. "Flux comes of age in a few months, doesn't he?" Plethora nodded, wondering where this was headed. "What do you think if he and Vanilla got engaged then?" Camilla asked happily. Plethora noticed the different use of the name. She decided not to comment about it. "Engagement... Isn't it a bit early for that?" Camilla shook her head. "Like you said, they seem to have formed an attachment." "Well, but you did say your daughter was different. What was that all about?" +++++ Next chapter: Bottles and Scars