Morgan le Fay Institute for Magic

Chapter 26 - Great Guilt

Ravenna couldn't remember how she'd gotten back to school. The one thing that filled her mind was the face of that man, lying lifeless and broken in the grass. Broken by her.

She'd never forget that face, blood covering the old scars that decorated his skin. Or the way his arms and legs bent unnaturally. Or those eyes, staring into the distance.

It brought her worst nightmares back to life. Her worst memories. Those eyes... She'd seen them before. She'd seen that same dull lifelessness in her mother's eyes, all those years ago.

Ravenna had been angry. She couldn't remember why. It couldn't have been anything big; she was only six. But it was the first time she'd felt the rage tear through her veins like that. Tears streamed down her face, and her throat hurt from screaming. Her mum had kneeled down in front of her and whispered something. She couldn't remember the words, but she could still see her mum sitting in front of her, looking into her eyes.

That's when it happened. The magic had lashed out, sending her mother flying out of the room. She'd smashed into the banister, only to tumble down the stairs, bashing her head on the steps. Her dad had rushed over to help, tried to stop the bleeding, to save her, but it was too late. She'd been dead instantly.

And now she'd done it again.

Ravenna hated herself for it. She loathed her power. And she despised her own lack of control.

"Well, isn't this a great start to our holidays," someone grumbled nearby.

Ravenna lifted her head. She sat on the floor of an empty classroom with her back against the wall. Dan and Ezra sat on desks, with their feet on the chairs. Willem had found a spot in the windowsill, while Ella paced around in front of them.

"Do you think he's been found yet?"

Ravenna had never seen the girl so pale. She wrung her hands, watching the boys wide-eyed as she waited for an answer.

"I don't think he's there anymore," Willem squeaked.

"What?" said Ezra. "What makes you say that?"

Willem pointed out the window. "Those boys, they're in level four. They were in the pub as well and they're coming back now. They had to have come across that... man, but do they look like they just saw a dead body?"

"Huh," said Ezra, looking over his classmate's shoulder. "You're right. He was in the middle of the path. They can't have missed him."

"What, you think someone t...t..." Dan sighed in annoyance. "You think someone got rid of the body?"

"Or something," Ezra muttered.

"Maybe he wasn't really dead?"

"No one could have survived that, Ella."

"That man." Ravenna's voice came out raspy, but four pairs of eyes shot towards her. "That man on top of the hill. He was watching. Smiling. He was..." She pulled both her hands through her hair.

"Did you say... smiling?" Ella gasped. "That's awful!"

"More like grinning, I guess... You didn't see it?"

"We saw him, but he was too far away to see his face clearly," said Dan. "Do you know who he was?"

"No idea. I've never seen him before." Ravenna shook her head, staring down at the tiled floor beneath her boots. Her voice trembled when she added, "I'm going to Azkaban, aren't I?"

The silence that followed told her plenty.

Azkaban. The most terrible place in all of Great-Britain – perhaps even the world. It was the magical prison guarded by dementors, creatures that sucked the joy out of people. It fed on every bit of happiness you had inside you, leaving nothing but depression and despair, until only an empty shell, a shadow of your former self, remained.