Straying into Darkness

Chapter 1: Fresh Start

I was falling, and I was falling fast. The darkness seemed to consume everything around me. It wasn't until I heard the same icy, sharp voice, echoing around me whispering my name, that I knew I had strayed into another nightmare. I wanted to run. I wanted to get away as far as I could. But the more I tried the further away the door to my freedom seemed to be. I felt my legs get heavier and heavier the more I pushed myself. I heard the voice again, clearer this time 'Come to me, I will find you.' The voice belonged to a woman, but no matter how hard I looked I couldn't see anything apart from darkness.

Breathing heavily, I was sitting up in what seemed to be my bed. I looked around with caution, tight grip around my wand, ready to attack if I needed to. After a moment my eyes seemed to adjust to the dark surroundings, and I figured I was in my room. I wiped a layer of sweat that formed on my forehead as I slowly got out of bed, taking a few more deep breaths. It was the early hours of the morning; you could just about see the morning sun poking through the horizon, creating the most beautiful ombre of colors in the dark sky.

I couldn't get any more sleep, so I decided it was time to get up. As I walked towards my dressing table, I pulled my robes closer around me feeling the cool silk gentle on my skin. We lived in a small village of Chalgrove, about 10 miles South of Oxford. It was a big house with 4 bedrooms that was full of antique furniture and vintage character throughout. We only moved in about two weeks ago after staying at multiple hotels and inns since we came from Norway, so I was glad to finally sleep in my own bed. I took a small brush from my dressing table and tried to relive my dream to make some sense out of it. It was the same nightmare night after night, the darkness, the falling, the feeling of anxiety. And that woman's voice. It felt so familiar as if I heard it before, but every time, I try to think who it belongs to, there's nothing.

I unplanted my long raven hair which fell in natural waves just below my shoulders. My eyes wondered over towards a suitcase which stood by the window on the other side of the room, when it suddenly hit me that in a few days, I would be attending my 5th year in Hogwarts the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I closed my eyes as I brushed my hair. The images of my old school of Durmstrang institute start to flash before my eyes. They were not pleasant memories, in fact, my last year has been the worst in my life. I was forced to learn the dark arts, unforgivable spells which included being tortured by the cruciatus spell until I could resist it. This is where I mastered the art of Occlumency, so that my professor couldn't use it to penetrate my mind and torture me further. Until the very end I didn't know the purpose of this, nor I could tell anyone, so I had to develop a strong mindset to get through each day. But things were not as simple as that. I was being trained, until I was ready to join the darkest wizard of the century, Gellert Grindelwald. I don't know why he developed this interest in me, I didn't ask for any of this. When the school and my parents finally found out, they wasted no time to get me out of there. We had to change our identity, my name, get out of Norway so that we couldn't be traced, therefore in the last 3 months we haven't lived anywhere for more than a week. We were on the run. Fortunately, my father is high up in the ministry, he met the great wizard Albus Dumbledore on one occasion when the ministry in Norway were after Grindelwald. Naturally Dumbledore became aware of the situation and suggested I be transferred to Hogwarts, where he is a teacher and will ensure my safety.

I stood with a sigh and looked over to my chair where my clothes sat neatly. I wore my sky-blue dress which reached just beneath my knees. The soft material gently hugged my waist, I straightened the light grey collar which perfectly matched the shade of my eyes. I examined myself in the mirror, my long eyelashes highlighted by small amount of mascara, made my eyes even more vibrant. I don't use much makeup; I much prefer the natural look. I heard a noise downstairs, which sounded like it was coming from the kitchen, which was probably my mum, as she's always up early. I decided to head downstairs.

'Oh, good morning darling, I didn't know you were up so early' my mum said from the kitchen preparing breakfast.

I walked along the kitchen island taking my seat opposite from where my mother was standing. She wasn't the best cook to be honest, but she always gave her best efforts.

'I couldn't sleep very well.' I said in a casual voice, hoping she wouldn't pick up on it, but as always, she did.

She took a seat opposite me taking my hand into hers and her expression softened. 'Another nightmare? Same as last time?' she asked with caution, trying to get me to open to her. To be fair I didn't really want to talk about it with my parents. Every time I mention it or try to make sense of it, all they say is that it was just a dream, and I shouldn't worry about it.

I took a deep breath and finally looked at my mum fully. 'I just don't understand. It's the same voice every time. It's like, it's trying to call out to me, tell me something.' My mum's grip tightened on my hand slightly. 'Sweetheart, you have been through a lot. I know there have been a lot of changes recently and it will take a lot to get used to. It's perfectly normal to be experiencing some trauma.' she said in a calm and comforting voice, but it only seemed to make it worse.

'But mum, you don't understand. It feels like it's a lot more than that. If you know something, why won't you tell me what's going on?' She let go of my hand and walked over to the cooker, finishing up the breakfast. 'Like I said, it's just a dream, it will pass soon enough.' I let out a frustrated sigh and looked out the window. It was a beautiful late summer morning. My attention was drawn to what looked like an open letter sitting on the windowsill. I couldn't help but to be curious. 'What's that?' I asked in a pretended bored tone as I gestured to the letter. My mum's eyes followed over to the windowsill and I noticed she tensed a bit, as she walked over and picked up the letter. 'Oh this? It's probably some ministry stuff, I will open it later.' She said as she pocketed the letter, clearly lying to me as I saw the letter was already open. It unnerved me even more, but I decided to play it cool.

'Is it about me?' I asked casually, taking a spoonful of porridge. I knew my mum wouldn't just leave a letter from the ministry laying around, plus in all those years my parents working at the ministry, they never got letters like this, unless it's urgent. There was a pause, as if my mum was trying to think what to say. 'Of course not! Why would you think it would be about you?' she let out a nervous laugh. I didn't want to do this, but I had to know, since my mum decided to lie to me, I had to find out another way. As I tried to focus, I was interrupted by my dad walking into the kitchen.

'Good morning my 2 beautiful flowers!' he said cheerfully walking up to my mum, giving her a peck on the cheek as she passed him the coffee.

'Looks like not all of us are in the uplifting mood.' He stated as he looked at me, concerned in his voice.

I moved my bowl away and got up. 'Fine, lets just act like a great loving family without any problems!' I exclaimed in a frustrated tone.

'Aria!?' My dad called after me, as I was walking away towards the stairs to my bedroom. But before I walked up, I stopped and turned to look at them both, now confused by my reaction.

'You know what, if you going to keep things from me, at least become better at lying, because right now, you are doing an awful job at it!' I spanned around and ran up the stairs only to hear my dad shout after me, but my mum calmed him down.

I walked into my bedroom and slammed the door shut. In that moment I couldn't wait but to leave this place and get away from my parents. I looked at my trunk which I had already started to pack, to be fair I never really unpacked it as I didn't know when we would need to move again. All my new school supplies and books were placed neatly, along with my clothes, robes and other things. I decided to take one of the books which was labeled advanced charms, and I spent my afternoon just reading in my room.