the unhallowed affair - t.m.r

et ainsi, ça commencé

"and so, it begins"

July Third, 1945

Isabella Yaxley wasn't scared of anything.

For as long as she could remember, she was constantly trying to find new places. Born just west of Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, her home was right on the outskirts of the Bohemian Forest.

By the time she was eleven, she had explored as much of it as she could, racing back to make it home in time for dinner. Her older brother, Ivan, always told her the local folklore of the first, trying to keep her out of the thick wood. He would warn her of the Forest Spirits, like the Ljeschi, who fiercely and proudly protect their lands, and the ever-terrifying Rubezahl- the giant trickster who plays his pranks on lost children. If anything, these cautionary tales only made her curiosity grow, and oftentimes she would seekout such things as Ljeschi or Vodyanoy.

So when Priscilla Yaxley sat her daughter down in late July of 1937, informing her daughter she would be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry- Isabella was more than pleased.

A whole new castle and landscape for her to explore- and that's not including the Forbidden Forest, which were crawling with all types of mythological creatures and spirits.

When she arrived, the castle was even more magnificent than she had spent months dreaming about exploring. Its towering spires and grandeur were unlike anything she had ever seen. She had walked up the winding path, through the gates, and into the castle's Great Hall, taking note of every hall and pathway.

By the time the sorting hat reached her head, she couldn't wait to leave the Great Hall and explore the castle.

"Slytherin!" The hat had exclaimed.

She soon found out her House was located in the dungeons, and what's better to explore in a centuries-old castle than the dungeons?

The Hogwarts dungeons were dark and eerie, with rough, stone walls that had been worn down by centuries of use. The air was thick with a damp, musty smell, and the only light came from flickering torches that lined the walls. She floated around the dungeons like a phantom, careful to not lose her way or get caught out of bed after curfew. The dungeons were a maze of twisting corridors and dark, shadowy corners, and it was easy to lose her way in the labyrinthine depths. But despite the darkness and the eerie atmosphere, Isabella wasn't scared- in fact, couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement.

Making her way deeper into the dungeon, she found strange symbols etched into the walls, wet from the dripping water leaking off the stone walls.  Every now and then, she would find small alcoves, only to find nothing but small piles of rubble and debris that had been left behind from years of neglect.

While she spent her nights exploring the dungeons, she would spend her days in the vast library of Hogwarts.

It was a vast space- the library- filled with the smell of ancient books, the soft rustle of pages turning, and the low buzzing feeling of old magic. The shelves were made of dark oak wood and were so tall that a ladder was needed to reach the books at the top.

The library was divided into many sections, each devoted to a particular subject of magical study, making it easier for the students to find their materials for each class. There was a section for Charms, where books on levitation and incantations could be found. The section on Herbology contained books on the magical properties of plants and their uses in potions. In the Divination section, books on predicting the future and interpreting omens could be found.