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PART ONE

SALVADOR HOUSE

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It was a silent night in Salvador House. Every room was full of dark shadows and peaceful silence. Everything was calm and still. Mrs Duvessa Salvador slept peacefully beside her husband, Silas, in the comfort of their king-sized bed. Down the hall, their eldest child, Damien, lay sprawled out across the bed, his head hanging off the edge. Across from that room, the young Verena lay peacefully in her bed, then suddenly began to whisper in her sleep.

"To agóri pou ézise," she muttered. "To agóri pou ézise tha petháno."

The first loud sound of the night awoke the eldest child. Having slid off his bed, he had fallen to the floor with a great thud. He groaned, massaging his head and neck. Feeling thirsty, he lit up a candle and opened the doors. Immediately, he was met with a fog in the air. After breathing in, regretfully, he began to cough violently. He closed in on the source as it grew thicker and thicker, appearing at the doors to his sister's chambers.

"What kind of shit is she cooking up in there?" he said to himself.

He reached for the knob, then turned around, whimpering in pain at his burned hand. He pulled his wand out.

"No one will know."

With one word, the door swung open, a gust of smoke blowing onto his face, stinging his eyes, and filling his lungs. The name of his sister barely escaped his lips as he walked in. He was horrified by the large flames that ate away at the fabric of her bed and the curtains. In the middle of the bed, still mumbling, Verena was in a deep sleep.

"Verena! What the hell is going on?!" he yelled. "Verena! Wake up! Father! Mother!"

He kept calling their names, trying to fight the flames that dared to suffocate him. His sister was close but surrounded.

"I should have paid more attention in Charms," he mumbled.

"Son," called his father. He paused, coughing due to the smoke. "What has happened in here?"

"How am I to know?" he replied.

"This better not be another prank gone out of hand, Damien, or your mother will-"

"Kill you," Duvessa finished, arriving inside the room. "Aguamenti!"

A strong jet of water burst from the tip of the mother's wand, and Silas soon followed suit. Duvessa cleared a path, and then Damien grabbed his sister and took her into his chambers. On his way, he heard her muttering words, recognizing the language they used to learn.

"The Boy Who Lived will die?"

"This cannot have been an accident," said Silas as he walked into the room.

"Verena, my child," Duvessa gasped, running to the bedside.

"I shall interrogate the maids," Silas continued. "If they are responsible for this- "

"I'm sure she's just... excited," Damien reasoned. "After all, this isn't the first time this has happened. Last week, it was water."

"I suppose we'll have to go to Diagon Alley again," Duvessa said. "Perhaps buy fire and water-proof sheets this time."

"Miss, the potion," said their family physician as she walked inside. "It should clear up her lungs, as well as induce a calming effect."

"Thank you, Fen, that'll be all," Duvessa said, and the woman bowed to Silas on her way out.

"She was muttering in her sleep," said Damien. "I was thinking she was crazy."

"What was it?" Silas asked, intrigued.

"The Boy Who Lived will die," he answered. "She was speaking Greek."

"How odd," Duvessa spoke quickly then pulled away from her daughter. "Well, let her stay in your room until we get a new bed."

Damien groaned with displeasure. "But- "

"Do not argue," Silas told him. "Go to bed now."

Silas followed Duvessa to their chambers. She was pacing when he walked in. She was panicked while he was calm and composed.

"This shouldn't be happening, not yet," Duvessa worried. "She had at least another year."

"Dove, she will be fine," Silas tried to assure her.

"You do not know the dangers," Duvessa said. "She could have burned this entire house down."

"But she didn't," said Silas, holding his wife in his arms.

"You and I both know she could have," Duvessa said with a scoff.

"As she grows, she will learn," he reassured her. "This is a gift to her and to us."

"It is no gift," Duvessa said in a whisper. "It is a curse."

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author's note:

hi dear readers!

i just wanted to say i have big things planned for this book... and I have written most of it already! this series is more of a slow burn rather than fast-paced, especially as i hope to allow you guys to get an understanding of this character, her relationships, and her overall story. i just hope you stick with me because i am quite proud of this story already!!

thank you!!