The Lion, The Wolf and The Phoenix ~ Harry Potter

Prologue | Summer Blues

Ariana O'Connor was never had a normal life, she had a cursed existence. Almost everything she done was unorthodox, from the way she turned into a beast at the full moon to the newly-resurrected Lord Voldemort trying to kill her, so why should she have thought her summer holidays would have been any different?

The witch managed to get five days into her holiday before it was turned upside down. Amongst the fatalities of the two monsters she lived with's violent outbursts was her entire supple of Wolfsbane Potion. As she didn't know how to brew the potion, Ariana had no hope in procuring more, so she ran away from her large house overlooking the stunningly beautiful Loch Gairloch on the North West coast of Scottish Highlands.

She packed up her Hogwarts trunk with everything she needed for the school year ahead, except the supplies she would need to purchase in Diagon Alley in London. She had sent Nova, her trusty owl, out to scout for an abandoned house she could live in for the time being, miles away from anyone she could bite during the next full moon. The thought of infecting anyone with Lycanthropy was simply too much to bare; it was one of her worst nightmares.

Within the hour Ariana was prepared to leave, just waiting on Nova returning. She did the next morning, with a dead from hanging from her beak, and her owner made sure to reward her with a few owl treats for dessert after her main course. Fiera, Ariana's loyal phoenix, had the ability to teleport in a flurry of flames, so she took the witch and her belongings to a derelict house in the middle of the Scottish countryside.

It was a large farmhouse with boarded up windows, surrounded by miles upon miles of green fields and trees. The interior looked worse than the inside; it was foul-smelling; damp crept up the walls; old furniture lay strewn across the dirty, dusty floor and quite frankly looked shaky upon its foundations. It was, however, suitable for Ariana to reside in until further notice.

The witch managed to remain there for a month. The first transformation into a full-fledged monster took its toll on her psyche. It had been traumatic, it caused such a feeling of bloodlust that she had to attack a human; a werewolf's primal instinct. Due to her lack of humans to maul, she attacked herself until sunrise. She had no control of her actions. It was like watching a television without being able to change the channel.

When she returned to human form, Ariana's body was covered in a few scratches on her stomach, back and legs, she had also cracked two ribs. Fiera happily mended her wounds, although they just added to her collection of scars that marred her pale skin.

Her 15th birthday was only a few days later, and she was miserable. Such an uncontrollable lust for human blood was a memory that played in her head on loop that, added to the illness and pain of the recovery, was horrible. Also, she had been having nightly nightmares about the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which gave her little sleep. They tormented her; every night she saw Cedric lying on the ground, eyes blank and dark.

The next day, however, three owls arrived carrying packages (it took them a little longer than usual to arrive due to her new place of residence). Hedwig, Errol (the Weasley family's large owl) and a large barn owl arrived. As per usual, Errol, ever the clumsy bird, crashed through a cracked window before getting back to his feet. Nova begrudgingly gave the owls a drink from her water tray before they took off into the sky again. She held Hedwig back to give her a parcel containing a pair of new goggles for Harry, since his birthday was just over a week over her own.

The birthday cards from Ron, Harry and Remus made her smile for the first time in days. She had asked if Fiera would retrieve Hermione's gift from the house, since she sent her gift via the muggle post office, and the bird proceeded to burst into flames and disappear with a pop, so Ariana presumed that was a yes.

Harry gave her a new pair of gloves for Quidditch, both Hermione and Ron sent a box of Honeydukes chocolate each and Remus gifted to her a book detailing the ins and outs of Charms. It truly did please Ariana that he knew her well enough to get a book; she loved them, though in that respect her personality was similar to his.

She had recieved letters over the summer, but they were less than helpful in telling her was was going on in the wizarding world. Ron's and Hermione's included phrases such as: "We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously..."
"We've been told not to say much in case our letters go astray..."
"We're quite bust but I can't give you details here..."
"There's a fair amount going on here, we'll tell you when we see you..."

Harry was the only other one who hadn't been kept in the loop and it was also driving him insane. The pair had been talking about their frustration, albeit in a censored manner in case they were intercepted, since the holidays began.

Remus had been a much more understanding and sympathetic but his letters carried as little information as the others. He had let her know that he had been doing well since he left Hogwarts at the end of the school year, which came as a massive relief to Ariana. He had asked how she was, so she lied and told him, and the others, that she was doing well; what was the point in worrying them?

Being kept in the dark really irritated her. What were they all doing that was so incredibly important? Why wasn't she and Harry allowed to know anything about? Why did they have to remain in the muggle world while the others were all together?

It made her absolutely furious, the injustice of the situation. If it hasn't been for herself and Harry, no one would even know Voldemort had returned! Hadn't it been them who watched Cedric be ruthlessly murdered, witnessed Voldemort come back, been tied to tombstones and nearly killed themselves?

On the fifth week of her confinement, Death Eaters attacked. At two o'clock in the morning, when Ariana was asleep on a make-shift bed, they had tried to bring the house down on her. Nova and Fiera attacked them, swooping and diving as the phoenix song to instil courage in Ariana and fear in the invaders. As the witch gathered her bits and bobs, the fiery lion she hadn't seen since before the third task appeared, attacking the Death Eaters with scalding teeth and claws. Ariana screamed when Nova was hit by the Killing Curse, leaving her body to fly off into the distance. Fiera quickly used her skills to get Ariana out before the house collapsed, appearing back in her tiny, box-like bedroom in Gairloch.

She immediately locked the door and let the tears fall, silently sobbing in order to keep the other residents of the house asleep, although they had probably passed out from being incredibly drunk anyway. The tears burned lines down her face but Ariana embraced the pain; she hated that she didn't have time to give Nova a proper burial to thank her and say goodbye. She had been a faithful owl to the very end.

The next day, Ariana had attempted to locate Ron and Hermione but they were nowhere to be found. They weren't at home, which worried the witch a little. Where were they? Were they safe and well? It had to be linked with their mysterious letters that contained tantalising clues to their activities, Ariana figured.

Ariana was left with one choice: Harry. She had been hesitant to visit number 4 Privet Drive because of his aunt's and uncle's horrid attitude towards Harry and wizards in general, but she threw caution to the wind.

At ten o'clock that morning, Ariana arrived at the Dursley residency.

~~~~~

Question:
In the first book of this series, why did Ariana's appearance gradually get worse as the book went on?

A: She grew increasingly ill

B: The amount of homework she had allowed her very little to no sleep

C: She was cursed