Morgan le Fay Institute for Magic

Chapter 1 - Awfully Awkward

The wizarding world was falling apart.

Yet days like these almost made it feel like a wonderful place. Diagon Alley, the shopping hub for witches and wizards, was busier than ever now that the start of term was around the corner. The sun shone down on children laughing and playing in the streets, as their parents exchanged gossip outside every store front. The sweet smell of pumpkin pasties mixed with the heavy, bitter odour drifting down from the apothecary. Antique bullhorns floated around in front of their shops, calling potential customers in and advertising their wares.

The smile on Ravenna's face faltered.

Too bad it's all a facade.

"What else do you need to get?" her best friend asked, grinning down at her as they dodged a group of students racing past Ollivander's Wand Shop and into the broom shop.

For the umpteenth time that day, Ravenna noticed just how good Dan looked. The summer had been kind to him. His shoulders were broader than she remembered, as if he'd been working out. His tawny hair was shorter, as it always was during the holidays. Once they got to school, it wouldn't be long until it fell over his ears again, which he much preferred. Despite his eighteen years of age, one year Ravenna's senior, his face was round and boyish. Very fitting for the permanent grin adorning it.

"Just some new robes. You?"

Dan shrugged. "Parchment, maybe. B-but I can always get that in Dawnwich."

The corners of her lips tugged upwards as she followed him through the busy street. A boy on the corner of the street sold the Daily Prophet, his voice competing with that of his own bullhorn which drifted a few feet away. The newspaper showed the Minister for Magic, Harold Minchum, waving at potential buyers. The headlines screamed Brand New Minister Minchum Places More Dementors at Azkaban.

Dan skillfully dodged a plump woman who'd just emerged from the Magical Menagerie carrying two huge straw baskets, each covered with a black piece of cloth. It couldn't mask the vile, rotting smell that oozed from the baskets.

"Come on, let's get this done, so we can go and get ice cream. My treat."

Ravenna shook her head. "You and your ice cream."

"What can I say?" His sea-blue eyes twinkled when he glanced over his shoulder. "I'm absolutely addicted."

"Merlin's beard! We're not even at school yet and you've already started with the alliterations?"

Dan laughed, before taking her hand and pulling her into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. A bell above their head jingled, but it was redundant because the shopkeeper, a squat woman with a pointy hat on her head, was already in the front part of the shop helping three teenage boys.

Ravenna immediately recognised them as students of Hogwarts, the most popular school for witchcraft and wizardry in all of Britain. Their logo, a large red or blue H, shone proudly on their black robes.

The measuring tape vigorously continued taking measures of one of the boys while Madam Malkin turned to her new customers. "Ah, welcome, dears! Please, have a seat, I will be right with you. Hogwarts as well?"

"Er, no." Ravenna did her best not to look at the boys as she muttered her answer. "Morgan le Fay."

Even from the corner of her eye she could see them nudging each other and snickering.

"Oh! Well, that's okay, dear. The Morgan le Fay robes are in the back, I'm afraid."

The boy with a maroon and gold tie fixed Dan with a disgusted look. "Mulberry? Is that you? I thought your mother kept you locked up, like the ape you are."