My first introduction to the world of magic wasn't encapsulated by small sparks and smiling faces but instead built upon by cruel curses and debilitating pain.
I had never before seen the worn wood of a wand glisten like starlight, feel the brush of spells tickle just below my fingertips or hear the whispers and wizzes of sweet charms. Instead, I was forced to experience a magic entirely void of life and ease, a reality entirely unfamiliar, an impossibility entirely true and entirely wrong.
A fear I had not yet known to fear.
My head spun wildly as my eyes darted beneath the silken fabric tied over my eyes. Whispers of starlight squeezing just between the top and bottom edges and threading through my lashes. Something incredibly thick and coarse tied my hands at my back and I had been forced to my knees.
Time had slipped between the cracks, the ground beneath me painting bruises onto my knees and hips as the green lights flashed curses beneath my skin.
"CRUCIO!"
The word had seared itself to my brain.
Pain had seared itself to my breaths.
It felt like fire in my veins, burning thick within my blood.
Someone laughed deeply.
The pain slammed shut and I gasped for air.
"This one ought to be the finest yet. Watch this mother."
A small scuffle of footsteps from my right.
"Crucio."
Every inch of my bones screamed. Or perhaps that was my voice.
"Stop. Please."
A younger male whimpered from my left and the pain grew for a moment before abruptly flickering away. Even beneath the blindfold, the darkness ebbed away slightly, leaving a small reprieve in my pain.
I flinched as something cool pressed against my wrist before it was promptly pulled away.
A third voice crashed through the ringing in my ears. A female.
"Up with you boy."
More shuffling and the boy yelped. His voice only continuing a few deafening moments later and though he spoke swiftly, it was far more muted than it had been moments before.
"Please. They do not deserve this."
They?
My thoughts crumbled as the sound of skin on skin slapped abruptly and a heap of something landed just in front of me, a hint of the outside world dancing just below the bottom of my blindfold.
A mess of tousled blonde hair, red tipped fingers gripping the dirt, pale skin peaking from beneath precisely rolled white linen sleeves. The boy groaned and clenched his shoulder as he sat upright and out of my sliver of vision.
"Please. I-"
"You want this muggle's pain to stop so terribly? You want it to live a life just as you do?" The other male taunted, closer now.
"She doesn't deserve-"
"Move aside brother, I've just the idea."
Seconds ticked by faster than I could count as the thick tread of boots walked right up to me, the tip of something thin and pointed against my blindfold.
The younger boy pleaded. "Marvolo please. Please."
"Don't beg." The woman sneered. "Absolutely pitiful."
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Heart of the Serpent: Ominis Gaunt (temporarily paused)
FanficOminis Gaunt has a past and a family that shadows his life, a soul burdened with guilt he never believes can be forgiven. Wren Harding has never known a life of magic until the day dark wizards came knocking on her door and changed everything, leavi...
