The Hidden Child

Chapter 1

November, 1981

THE air was raw and crisp with the first vestiges of winter, and the Malfoy Manor was wrought with a cold November morning that seemed to penetrate its icy hands through its walls and floors, making its home in the dark crevices of the palatial estate.

Inside a small crib in a small dark room, laid an equally small infant, gurgling and giggling loudly. Her eyes twinkled with innocent wonder as she extended small, grubby hands towards the long black hair of the woman looming over her. The baby yanked on the frizzy curls and the woman growled. Frightened by the sudden noise, the baby started to wail.

The woman stood up, illuminated by a sliver of light, exposing the visage of Bellatrix Lestrange with an obvious scowl on her face. She roughly picked up the baby and slapped her face, "What do you want, now? Stop crying, you insolent child!" The baby cried even louder, unable to understand anything but the pain in her cheek and the sting of Bellatrix's nails digging into her skin. She carelessly dumped the baby on the nearby bed and took out her wand. "You want to cry? I'll give you something to cry about!" Bellatrix growled out, "Crucio!"

The small room was filled with a red light. The baby's wails got louder, echoing throughout the unused left wing of the Malfoy Manor.

As Bellatrix continued torturing the poor baby, her mark started burning. Ignoring the pain, she pushed through until Lucius charged into the room, slamming the door and knocking her wand out of her hand.

"We need her alive, not brain dead! You've seen what it can do to grown men, what more a baby!" Lucius shouted, "You nearly broke the vow!"

Bellatrix snapped, "Send me a house elf to take care of this cretin."

She left, slamming the door as Lucius carried the now sleeping baby, tear tracks visible on her tiny red cheeks, and placed her in the crib. He called a house elf, "Send Dobby over to take care of this child."


Unfortunately for the child, it wasn't her last time facing the wrath of Bellatrix.

When she was three, Bellatrix stole a wand for her to use. Training had begun and Bellatrix was ruthless. She flung spell after spell, not giving her time to recuperate, nor arming her with any defensive spells beforehand to protect herself. She was forced to dodge or endure the spells, which often left her writhing in pain and out of breath. But the girl quickly picked up the idea and imitated Bellatrix. She perfectly imitated Bellatrix's wand movements and said the words verbatim, "Crucio!" She felt all her rage, frustration, and pain manifest into that one spell.

Bellatrix casted a protego spell a second too late. She crumpled to the ground, letting out a shrill scream. The girl, in shock that it worked, dropped her wand. Bellatrix got up with a crazed smile, "Not as pathetic as I thought." The girl beamed at the only praise she had gotten her whole life. Afterwards, Bellatrix had grabbed a basic defensive spell book and tossed it at the girl. "Read it. I'll test you tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am," the girl ran back to her room through the house elves' tunnels. Since then, she has been reading the book religiously and carefully practicing the spells, following the wand diagrams.


By the time she was four, she had mastered almost all of the defensive spells and was able to block every spell Bellatrix threw at her. One day when Bellatrix called her to the dungeon, she was presented with three cages, each of which held a rat.

"Come now, child! Quicker! Today we're going to be learning about curses. Unforgivable curses. Don't ever use it in public unless I am around." she pulled the child closer, "These spells will only work if you really want it to. There are three. The first is the killing curse." She suddenly stood up straight pointing her wand at the first rat, shouting, "Avada Kedavra!" A bright green bolt shot out of her wand, striking the rat. The rat fell as if it was frozen, dead.

"The second is the cruciatus curse. I've used this many times on you, and so have you." She pointed her wand at the rat. "Crucio." At the last minute, Bellatrix twisted and pointed it at the girl. The girl's screams echoed throughout the dungeon. "Never let your guard down, girly!" Bellatrix hissed. She lifted her wand, ending the torture.

The girl lay panting, glaring at Bellatrix. "Yes, ma'am," she let out between gritted teeth.

"Now last one: the Imperius curse, which allows you to bend any living thing to your whim. For example," she turned towards the girl "Imperio."

Bellatrix flicked her wand up, forcing the girl to stand up despite her body's protests. "Accio, knife." Bellatrix's curved dagger flew into her hand. She carefully placed it on the lone table in the dungeon. Bellatrix turned to look at the girl, silently commanding her to grab the knife. "Good girl. Now lift your shirt and hold the dagger above your heart."

The girl's mind was reeling. This is how I die, she thought but she still tried fighting against the spell. She tried and failed to regain control of her limbs, or at least her right arm, as the knife edged closer and closer to her skin. With panic-induced adrenaline pumping through her veins and the tip starting to pierce her skin, she fought as hard as she could.

Then she heard a pop in her mind, and it felt like reaching surface after being underwater for a long time. She had finally regained control of her arm, but as she yanked her hand away, the knife left a deep cut on her chest. Bellatrix released her from the curse. "Took you long enough. Next time I won't be as kind." Bellatrix rang a bell, summoning Dobby to take the girl back to her room and deal with the wound.

When Bellatrix left, the girl crumpled to the ground, sobbing hysterically, waiting for dobby to come. The little house elf came, his big blue eyes softening at the sight of the little girl. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, comforting her as much as he could. Shocked by the amount of blood seeping through her clothes, he apparated them into her room.

He quickly called Daisy over to help. Dobby carried her to her bed and became worried as he felt her go limp in his arms, most likely passing out from blood loss. He cut open her shirt and used a cotton napkin to absorb the blood and put pressure on the wound. Daisy apparated into the room carrying some thread and needle, blood-replenishing potion, and some cotton gauze. Dobby gave her space as Daisy started stitching. He dropped a few drops of the blood replenishing potion into the girl's mouth. Once Daisy was done stitching the wound close, she covered it up the gauze. Daisy and Dobby waited for her to wake up, occasionally changing the gauze.

When she came to, she felt a throbbing in the chest and saw Daisy and Dobby. Remembering what happened, she burst into violent sobs. "Mother wanted me to kill myself!" She curled into a ball, pressing her face against her knees. Dobby pats her head while Daisy rubbed her back, trying to calm the girl down. Once she calmed down Dobby suggested a bath, shooing Daisy away.

Dobby helped the girl strip out of her clothes. He held her as she shakily stepped into the tub. Dobby carefully bathed her making sure to not wet the wound. "Does she hate me?" The girl suddenly asks.

Not wanting to break her heart and knowing the truth would break her, Dobby lied," No, Dobby is sure that mistress loves you miss. In mistress's own way."

"B-but..."

"Dobby thinks the mistress was just trying to teach miss."

The girl sunk down into the tub. "Hey, dobby?"

"Yes, miss?"

"Can you help me get some advanced spellbooks?"

"About what miss?"

"Anything, but defensive and combat spells would be good, too. Please, dobby?" He helped her out of the tub and with a snap of his fingers, she was dried and her clothes floated into the bathroom.

"Right away, miss." Dobby apparated away, leaving her to dress herself.

She winced as she lifted her arms and bent down to put down her clothes. She moved to her old and rickety cot, the springs groaning in protest as she got on.

Dobby apparated back as she got comfortable. He carried four thick books in his arms. He set the books down on old bedside table, it creaked under the weight. The girl picked up the first and thinnest book: 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration'.

"Transfiguration?"

"I thought miss might like it."

She opened the book, reading out loud, "Transfiguration is a branch of magic that focuses on the alteration of the form or appearance of an object, via the alteration of the objects molecular structure." She flipped through the book reading the first spell.

'Bird-conjuring charm.'

"Dobby how do you pronounce this?" She pointed at the incantation.

"Dobby thinks that it's pronounced ah-viss." She repeated after him, her wand making a series of crests and troughs.

A small yellow bird suddenly flew out of her wand, frantically flapping its wings around the small room. The bird knocked things over, Dobby catching them as they fell. The girl opened the window as small as a cup, barely big enough to fit the bird. She shoved the bird, pushing it out of the room through the window. She plopped down on the bed, swiping away yellow feathers. She flipped to the back of the book where the more advanced spells are.

'Crinus muto changes the hair of the caster.'

"Crinus Mu- moo- Dobby?"

"Myoo-toh."

"Crinus Myoo-toh." She said emphasizing each syllable. A bright white light appeared from her wand as she imagined herself with hair as long as Rapunzel - a muggle fairy tale book Dobby found for her. Feeling her hair get heavier, she twirled. She saw her hair growing, already touching the floor, but it kept growing and growing until the floor of her tiny room was covered with her hair.

As she stood up, she was suddenly yanked backwards and fell onto her bed. She pulled on her hair finding it tangled between the legs of the chair.

In the midst of untangling her hair, she dropped her wand in the sea of hair.

"Dobby! I dropped my wand!"

Dobby sat on the bed, thinking. He suddenly apparated away and came back with a pair of scissors. Dobby cut her hair off the chair legs and started burning the remaining hair.

"Dobby!" She let out a panicked squeak as she felt her hair starting to grow again at a faster rate. She tried to wandlessly reverse the spell but nothing happened. "I need my wand."

Dobby hurriedly burned through the mountain of hair trying to find the wand, only to realize that the empty spot would quickly be filled again. The girl let out a frustrated groan. She suddenly snapped her fingers. "Dobby, make my hair float. Maybe my wand will fall out." Dobby strained to carry the ton of hair and shook it.

A small crooked piece of wood clattered to the floor and the girl lunged for it before Dobby dropped the hair. "Crinus Muto!" She shouted, this time thinking of her choppy, shoulder length hair she occasionally saw in the broken mirror of her closet.

The girl and Dobby let out a sigh of relief as her head felt lighter. She took the transfiguration book and put it under her bed, vowing to never touch it until she could better control her magic.

They laid down tiredly, and the girl started laughing hysterically. Dobby soon joined in until he heard a deep bellow calling his name. His eyes widened the size of the moon. "Sorry, miss. Master Malfoy is calling." He apparated away, leaving the girl alone in her small room which now felt too big and too empty. Her smiled dropped as chills ran down her spine. Crawling off the bed, she hid in the closet, finding some sort of security and comfort. She curled up into a ball and sobbed, her loneliness getting the best of her.

Finally she fell asleep curled up with the rags in the closet, waiting for her mother to bang on her door, scream at her to wake up, and command her to the dungeon, just like any other day, in every other week, for the past four years of her life, holding on to the sliver of hope that one day, things will change for the better.