The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Prologue - The Beginning of the Fall

From 1925 to 1961 in Ireland, mother and baby homes were just beginning their journey through the 20th century. Unmarried mothers, quite commonly teenagers, found themselves interned in convent-run maternity hospitals that had been sold to them as a safe place to give birth. Not long after the births, the illegitimate babies were forcibly taken from their mothers and either abandoned in convent orphanages or adopted elsewhere. It was a harsh reality for over ten thousand unmarried mothers, one that was never truly recovered from.

In April of 1927, in a small town in Northern Ireland, a teenage witch was admitted to one if these such 'homes'. She spent days resting on clean beds in spotless rooms, until on a chilly Thursday morning, she began labour. The process lasted one hour and five minutes, causing a murmur of concern to surface with in the attending nuns. Never in their time had they seen a childbirth end so quickly, but as the baby itself seemed perfectly normal, they brushed aside their concerns. The new-born was placed in the mother's arms, and for the first time in its life, it felt love.

Three weeks later, the baby was forcibly taken from the mother and placed in the convent orphanage. The mother was left so stricken with grief that, when she failed to find her child, she then offered up her magic and took her own life. Abandoning the legacy her family had spent centuries producing, she chose to fall to her grief. Her baby grew up alone and unloved, unable to understand why its parents did not want it.

Given a name of Irish origin, the baby had just reached her fifth birthday, when everything began to shift. A miniscule formation of magic surged deep within her core, infiltrating her source of life itself, beginning her journey as a witch. It showed itself simply at first; strangely consistent good luck, perfect weather year-round and only in the area surrounding the orphanage. Little incidents that nobody in their right mind would take notice of. Five months later, the first true incident took place. When another child stole the craft supplies that the baby witch believed belonged to her, tears were shed in protest. As the nuns brushed it aside, dismissing the tears, the other child's glass exploded, and shards of shattered glass were embedded within their cheeks and hands. From the lack of surprise coming from the witch, the nuns began to develop their first concerns.

It grew from there. More incidents, more children hospitalized, more concerns. The nuns, unable to understand what was going on, allowed it to continue until her eleventh birthday. With too many issues arising, and the little girl somehow avoiding all of them, the nuns concluded demonic intervention and decided to get rid of her. On that day, they sent her off to live with an isolated family in the deep countryside of rural Ireland. In doing so, the Hogwarts acceptance letter written in her name was lost, and another one was never sent.

In excellent luck, the family were in fact a wizarding family. She was then legally renamed, as her new family accepted her as their own without complaint, separating her from her first name to mark the beginning of her new life. With one older child already, the parents home-schooled them both; she and her adoptive older brother were taught from the basics up, until she knew a competent amount of magic for her age. She was too young to question the occasional dark spell, or the meetings late at night in the dining room.

As home-schooling began to slow with time, she began to wander the surrounding countryside, learning everything and anything she could. The rural land was rich with magical wildlife; Fwoopers living in the forestry, a few displaced dragons hiding out in the mountainous regions, Nifflers creating dens anywhere possible, Banshees haunting the fields at night, and dozens more. The young witch very rapidly developed sufficient defence skills, along with an excellent knowledge of magical beasts for her age. Along with that came a strong love for the creatures; she admired their misunderstood intelligence and adored their natures, seeking to learn and connect as much as possible. With such a calm form of happiness, it was the second time she felt loved.

However, her life was once again upturned when she returned from an excursion to find their manor ruined, and her parents arrested by the Ministry on suspicion of performing consistent dark magic. Before she could make her presence known, a woman she knew as 'Aunt Rosier' dragged her from the manor, and they apparated elsewhere.

From there, the young witch quickly learned that her adoptive parents had been in league with a dark wizard in the magical world, although she did not know who. As the Ministry hunted for her and her adoptive brother, she was passed from family to family in this dark wizard's circle, taking on a different name every time to prevent detection. It was a cycle that continued unendingly for five years, until on the morning of her seventeenth birthday, a man with white hair and one colourless eye arrived at the manor currently housing her. He did not introduce himself, nor state his purpose, but he handed her a neat letter, sealed with a wax emblem containing four small images. A lion, a snake, a badger, and a raven.

"You will be safer there. For now." The man had spoken calmly, but with a lilt in his tone that brought unease. He then continued, confusing her further, "Your name was always meant to be Goldie McCulain, my dear. Perhaps it will make sense why in the near future."

With that confusing statement, he said his goodbyes, leaving her with the fresh knowledge of her supposed true identity. It was soon explained to her that she was expected in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only seven years too late. A few supplies were bought for her – schoolbooks, a new wand, a uniform - as she scrambled to learn as much as she could of what she had missed in those few years.

And so, a week later, left to fend for herself in the vast world, Goldie stared at the Hogwarts Express with a bubbling of fear forming in her chest. The family that had been hosting her muttered a vague goodbye before vanishing, leaving her to face the unknown with no sense of support.

Armed with her unfamiliar textbooks and a small bag of books, Goldie stepped onto the train, beginning her journey into fate.