The wizarding world was falling apart.

Yet days like these almost made it feel like a wonderful place. Diagon Alley, the shopping hub for witches and wizards, was busier than ever now that the start of term was around the corner. The sun shone down on children laughing and playing in the streets, as their parents exchanged gossip outside every store front. The sweet smell of pumpkin pasties mixed with the heavy, bitter odour drifting down from the apothecary. Antique bullhorns floated around in front of their shops, calling potential customers in and advertising their wares.

The smile on Ravenna's face faltered.

Too bad it's all a facade.

"What else do you need to get?" her best friend asked, grinning down at her as they dodged a group of students racing past Ollivander's Wand Shop and into the broom shop.

For the umpteenth time that day, Ravenna noticed just how good Dan looked. The summer had been kind to him. His shoulders were broader than she remembered, as if he'd been working out. His tawny hair was shorter, as it always was during the holidays. Once they got to school, it wouldn't be long until it fell over his ears again, which he much preferred. Despite his eighteen years of age, one year Ravenna's senior, his face was round and boyish. Very fitting for the permanent grin adorning it.

"Just some new robes. You?"

Dan shrugged. "Parchment, maybe. B-but I can always get that in Dawnwich."

The corners of her lips tugged upwards as she followed him through the busy street. A boy on the corner of the street sold the Daily Prophet, his voice competing with that of his own bullhorn which drifted a few feet away. The newspaper showed the Minister for Magic, Harold Minchum, waving at potential buyers. The headlines screamed Brand New Minister Minchum Places More Dementors at Azkaban.

Dan skillfully dodged a plump woman who'd just emerged from the Magical Menagerie carrying two huge straw baskets, each covered with a black piece of cloth. It couldn't mask the vile, rotting smell that oozed from the baskets.

"Come on, let's get this done, so we can go and get ice cream. My treat."

Ravenna shook her head. "You and your ice cream."

"What can I say?" His sea-blue eyes twinkled when he glanced over his shoulder. "I'm absolutely addicted."

"Merlin's beard! We're not even at school yet and you've already started with the alliterations?"

Dan laughed, before taking her hand and pulling her into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. A bell above their head jingled, but it was redundant because the shopkeeper, a squat woman with a pointy hat on her head, was already in the front part of the shop helping three teenage boys.

Ravenna immediately recognised them as students of Hogwarts, the most popular school for witchcraft and wizardry in all of Britain. Their logo, a large red or blue H, shone proudly on their black robes.

The measuring tape vigorously continued taking measures of one of the boys while Madam Malkin turned to her new customers. "Ah, welcome, dears! Please, have a seat, I will be right with you. Hogwarts as well?"

"Er, no." Ravenna did her best not to look at the boys as she muttered her answer. "Morgan le Fay."

Even from the corner of her eye she could see them nudging each other and snickering.

"Oh! Well, that's okay, dear. The Morgan le Fay robes are in the back, I'm afraid."

The boy with a maroon and gold tie fixed Dan with a disgusted look. "Mulberry? Is that you? I thought your mother kept you locked up, like the ape you are."

Dan's cheeks turned crimson, but his perpetual smile didn't fade. "I d-d-don't know what you're talking about."

The boy's grin widened. "I'm sure you d-d don't."

His friends exploded with laughter. Ravenna's pulse thudded in her ears.

The stocky shopkeeper ignored the entire exchange, sticking two pins in the sleeve of a robe. As if it was nothing but banter among old friends. "Have a seat, dears. I'll get to you two when I'm done with this lot."

Dan shot her a meaningful glance as they sat down on the wooden stools, their backs against the dusty window. "That w-w-was awfully awkward," he whispered.

She snorted despite herself. "I think you mean awful. Who does he think he is?"

Dan merely hummed in response, staring down at his shoes as they awaited their turn. It wasn't long before the boys finished up and paid for their new robes. They stared at her and Dan as they made their way out of the shop, not one of them taking the time to thank the shopkeeper.

"Alright then, you two, come on up." Madam Malkin looked at them with obvious pity dripping from her face, making Ravenna itch to get out of this place.

"Just me," she muttered, climbing onto the small, round platform.

The measuring tape immediately jumped into action, while Madam Malkin herself went into the back to take out some robes. She came back with her arms full of royal-blue robes with a lilac M on the chest. One of them flew up and pulled itself over Ravenna's head.

As the shopkeeper flicked spells from the tip of her short wand, adjusting the robes to fit her, Ravenna stared at herself in the mirror. Her brown eyes stood wide open and alert. Her shiny black hair failed to hide the old scar on her cheek. Her gaze lowered, lingering on her collarbone.

She peeked at Dan, who was busying himself browsing through the brightly coloured belts with wand holders - not that his parents would ever let him wear those. Much too flashy for their uppish taste.

Slowly, she pulled down the hem of her robe. The wound above her collarbone was already starting to scar.

Another one for the collection, she thought grimly, pulling the robe back up.

"There you are, dear! All done."

"Thank you," Ravenna said as brightly as she could. "Two sets, please. That should do." She stepped off the platform and took the robes, following the older woman to the till.

Dan held the door open for her and they slipped back into Diagon Alley, her new robes stashed deep inside her bag.

"Dunno about you, but I really need some ice cream after that. I think I'll have three scoops."

A laugh died in her throat when she spotted three teenage boys, the same ones from Madam Malkin's, staring at them from down the street. The gold thread detailing the Hogwarts crest on their robes glittered proudly in the midday sun.

She knew what was going to happen. Hogwarts students never passed up an opportunity to show how much better they were than everyone else. How much Morgan le Fay was beneath them. And with their taunts in Madam Malkin's, these boys were obviously no different.

"Perhaps we should just go."

Dan's smile froze on his face. "Already? You're k-k-kidding, right? The w...w..." He took a breath, then started again. "The one time I have an excuse to leave the house."

Ravenna grimaced. His stutter had been bad all day. It always was during the summer, in the confines of his family's grip. It would get better when they were back at Morgan le Fay - that was home.

Before she had a chance to respond, the three boys set off towards them. She pushed Dan into the first alleyway they came across, just to get away from them. The chatter of people faded to the background. Tall buildings, squashed together tightly, blocked the sun from view, cloaking them in shadow. Their footsteps echoed off the cobblestones. Only a handful of people could be seen here.

"What are we doing here?" Dan asked. "Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour is the other way."

Ravenna snuck a look behind her to see the same boys following them into the alleyway. "Taking a detour."

Dan threw a glance over his shoulder. "Merlin's beard, not again..."

He placed his hand on her back and picked up the pace. Just a little further and they'd be back on Diagon Alley, where they could disappear among the shoppers.

They turned right, but the busy shopping street suddenly seemed miles away. Another glance over her shoulder told her the two Hogwarts boys were getting closer.

Where has the third one gone?

Her heart pounded in her ears when a voice behind them shouted, "Hey, freaks! Where do you think you're going?"

Ravenna flinched, but did not stop walking. She tried her best to keep up with Dan and his long legs.

"Are you stupid and deaf? I said stop!"

"Faster, Ravenna," Dan muttered. "C-c-come on."

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The force of the spell blew strands of her hair into her face. Blood drained from her cheeks. She turned around to find one of the boys had his wand aimed at Dan, freezing him in place.

He couldn't move, though the look in his eyes told her enough.

Enough of this. Ravenna's hands balled to fists as the fear made way for anger. "Let him go."

The two boys laughed. "Or what? What are you and your weak Morgan le Fay magic going to do about it?" The one who had cast the curse took a step closer to Dan. "We should let your mum know you've escaped your cage. She probably never even realised you were gone." He leaned in and added, "Pathetic."

Ravenna fished her wand out of her pocket and raised it, but it trembled between her fingers. "Let him go!"

They burst into laughter. The taller boy stepped forward, showing crooked teeth behind a nasty grin. "You don't think we're afraid of you, do you? A weak little witch like you?"

"You should be," Ravenna gritted out.

"Expelliarmus!" His friends burst out in new fits of laughter as her wand sailed out of her sweating hand. "You don't even have a wand. Now what are you going to do?"

She spun around, watching her wand land in the hands of the third Hogwarts boy, who seemed to have snuck up behind them. The few people who found themselves in this shadowy alleyway merely shook their heads at the commotion and walked on.

Nobody would come to rescue two Morgan le Fay students.

The anger bubbled up in her chest. Heat rose to her cheeks. When the magic tingled against the edges of her consciousness, begging to be set free, she let it.

The effect was immediate. Surprised yelps could be heard as the ground beneath their feet trembled and nearby windows rattled in their frames. The boy who'd cursed Dan was knocked off his feet by some invisible force, crashing into the brick wall behind him.

"Don't you dare hurt my friend." Her voice came out like a growl she barely recognised.

"What the bloody hell?" screamed the other.

"Ravenna!" She heard Dan's voice, but the red haze in front of her eyes didn't lift. "Ravenna, that's enough. Let's go."

Her unruly magic had taken control now, flailing around like a crazed bear, smacking the second boy straight into his already-wounded friend.

"You think you're better than us?" she snarled. Inky strands of hair lifting on the tide of magic surrounding her.

She turned around and found the third boy staring at her wide-eyed. He threw the wand towards her and tried to run, but she wouldn't let him. The magic crackled around her. It gripped his legs and sent him tumbling to the ground. Another boy tried to dash out of the way, but her magic caught him, too.

"Ravenna, stop! That's enough!"

She blinked. Her best friend's voice, his hand on her shoulder, his eyes staring deep into hers, lifted the haze. He was okay. He was fine. She could calm the magic now.

Except... she couldn't. She tried to pull it back, push it down, suppress it, but it had a mind of its own. It had gotten loose and she couldn't rein it back in.

"Stop, Ravenna! He's innocent!"

She flinched, glancing through the alley. He was right. That last boy her magic had caught, he wasn't wearing Hogwarts robes, but just standard, black ones. He'd sunk to his knees, grasping and clawing at his neck. His eyes bulged out of their sockets when he looked up at her, mouth wide-open in a silent scream.

Through the haze of magic and anger, Ravenna realised she recognised him.

"Let him go! He didn't do anything."

"I'm trying." She gasped. The anger morphed back into fear as quickly as it had before. "I can't control it."

"Yes, you c-c-can!" Dan gripped her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake, trying to bring her back. "Ezra has nothing to do with this. Let him go!"

She drew a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Stop, she thought, willing her rampant magic to calm. Go away. I don't want this. Go away!

A gasp came from her right, then running footsteps. Yet the magic still rumbled around her.

"It's okay," said Dan, sighing. "Let's just g-go home."

She opened her eyes just in time to see Ezra sprinting around a corner. The blood drained from her face. She'd attacked a fellow Morgan le Fay student. A classmate, no less. She'd become the bullies she'd been trying to stop.

With her head down and shoulders hunched, she let Dan lead her back through the alleyway. A nearby door rattled on its hinges and she took another deep breath.

Control it. You have to control it.

The sound of applause filled her ears, followed by, "Now don't go forgettin' your wand, love."

She turned to the voice behind her. A short man with a plump face and grey, dim eyes grinned at her. "Thanks," she muttered, taking the wand from his outstretched hand. The magic crackled around her like static, so she quickly stepped back before she'd hurt this man, too.

"That was slammin'," he said. "Best thing I've seen all day."

Her jaw dropped. At first she thought she must've misheard. But the man still smiled at her. "It was?"

"Yeah, of course! You're stronger than any Hogwarts brat. 'Specially a twerpy little Gryffindor." He let out another dry laugh. "You showed 'em good, the poor sods."

"Er... Thanks."

The man gave her a thumbs up. "Check ya later."

He raised his hand in greeting and walked off, leaving a confused Ravenna behind. No one had ever been positive about her rampant magic before. And they certainly never encouraged it.

Behind her, Dan scoffed. "Slammin'? Is he for real?"

With her eyes still on the retreating man, she said, "What do you mean?"

"You just attacked a bunch of p-people!"

The blood rushed to her face. "Not on purpose! Besides, they attacked us first."

"I know that," said Dan. "It may not be your fault, but that doesn't make it a good thing, does it?"

"Right," Ravenna muttered. And yet this random stranger thought it was.

"When was the last time you had your p-potion?"

Her heart sank. "What's that supposed to mean? I was just trying to help you."

"I know. But I can still feel the aftershocks of your magic shaking the cobblestones." Dan took a step forward and put his warm hand on her shoulder. "I know you hate taking those potions, but they'll help you stay in control."

She pressed her lips together. He was right, of course. The magic-suppressing potion did exactly what it promised. But the side-effects were awful.

Dan sighed. "Let's just g-g-go home, alright?"