THE POTIONEER | hermione granger

CHAPTER ONE

THE POTIONEER | 2.1
"WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO YOURSELF?"
The Burrow, Devon | 1994

LITTLE HANGLETON SAT IN A VALLEY, shrouded in shadows and disarray since the Second World War, the town forgotten in muggle history. It was quiet and homely to the people who had lived there for years, but mysterious and haunting to the local youth. A house sat on the highest hill in the village, and that house was once filled by a proud family, the centre of Little Hangleton's community, the Riddle family. But one night, when the moon was at its highest point, that family was killed. No sign of struggle or a break-in, they were just gone and there was nothing anybody in that town could have done about it.

There was one suspect in the murder, but it really was a reach from the police to calm down the locals witch hunt. Frank Bryce. After the Second World War he came back to Little Hangleton to settle down, becoming the ground's keeper for the Riddles. That was the only idea that led the townspeople to believe he murdered the family. But of course it wasn't true. Something much worse killed the Riddles that dark night, something awful.

It was the 23rd of August as dusk settled over the town of Little Hangleton once again, quite similar to the night the Riddles died. Birds fluttered through the sky, disappearing into the trees and bushes, hiding from something the humans could never expect. Only one bird stayed out in the open that night, and it was a peculiar bird for that area. An eagle soared its way down to land on an electrical wire just outside the fences of the Riddle house, turning its head to catch sight of a silhouette stepping its way out of a small cottage at the bottom of the hill.