the trial

  Adele rolled her eyes when the pear giggled and let her in the kitchens. A chorus of good mornings greeted her, alerting of her presence. A small witch turned around and smiled.

"Oh, there you are, pumpkin." Adele smiled back and walked over her to hug her, despite the flour and who-knows-what on her robes. She had to hunch a little to reach her.

"Here I am. There's something you wanted?" the small witch nodded to herself and started to talk.

"Well, you see... I was supposed to deliver this letter, but as you can see... This is a mess." She took an Acceptance letter from her pocket, and then pointed out the kitchen. "It could wait but... it's her birthday and I know how unforgettable can be. A lot of my students have told me."

"So, you want me to deliver this? And do the explanation, right?" Adele asked after taking the envelope. She remembered hers. His father thought it was silly but her mother had insisted. "But I'm not a professor yet..."

"Nonsense! You know our History better than that hag Rowena hired; I don't know where she found her. "

"Lady Hufflepuff!" she exclaimed, not used to see her badmouthing someone.

"What? It's the truth. And you can call me Helga, pumpkin. You know it. The point is... We are waiting until you are 21 to officially hire you but for me you're already a professor here." The smile Helga gave Adele was wide and warm, making her blush a little.

"Okay then. I'll be back before the sun sets, I guess. Can we have crème brûlée for dessert at dinner?" Helga nodded and Adele smiled before heading out.

"Excuse me... do you know where the Brown family lives?"

The man Adele asked looked at her for a whole minute before answering. "At the end of the town, miss. But I wouldn't go if I were you... Their daughter is strange."

Giving the man a lip tight smile she thanked him before she began to walk. Ignoring the stares she kept her pace until she reached the small cottage and knocked. She had to look down as a little girl opened the door. Her face was dirty on the right cheek and on her nose, as well her fingers, like she had just been playing with earth.

Adele knelt down and smiled at here."Hello, little miss. Are you parents at home?"

The girl nodded and looked somewhere inside the house. In a matter of seconds a man stood behind her grabbing her shoulder.

Adele stood up. "If we could talk inside Mr. Brown, I've something to tell you about your daughter."

Mr. Brown eyed her and for a moment Adele thought he was going to kick her out but he nodded, stepping out the door. Adele walked inside, thanking him.

"Mr. Brown... this may be a shock but your daughter has been accepted in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This means, she is a witch... But, this isn't something bad or to be afraid of. I can assure you..."

"I told you! Your daughter is possessed! And she has brought another freak! A demon!" A woman screamed from behind her, and before Adele could reach out her wand the woman knocked her over with a casserole.

When Adele recovered consciousness she was tied and her wand snapped due the force of the ties. Anger rose by her throat. How dare they? Her head was pounding, a headache forming around the place where she was hit. But she forgot everything when she saw who else was tied. The little girl, they were screaming at her, throwing stones until she cried for mercy. But Adele knew... the little girl was so thin for being eleven years old... she wouldn't make it.

She was next.

"You! Cry! Prove you're not a witch! A devil servant!" a man yelled, whiles the woman who had hit her screamed. "She already confessed! Burn her! Drown her!"

"She has to do the trial! Cry, woman, cry!"

Adele looked at them, her eyes cold. She didn't cry. Her pride, her anger stopped her.

"Drown her!" was the most popular chorus. Someone lift her from the ground and tied something at her ankles. "She's possessed!"

Rocks, they tied rocks at her feet. They throw her into the town lake. And it was cold. And she was sinking, drowning.

The tears started then, when she realized she was really going to die. She didn't want to die. She needed to swim, to rise. She fought, she kept drowning. The light started to fade.

Death took her. But she escaped.

She saw how they lifted her body. How they placed it in a stake, ready to burn it. They lighted her bonfire, but she felt cold. Was she dead? She looked around; no one seemed to see her. She didn't dare to touch them. She moved, far from the crowd. She turned around and then he saw him, his father. His eyes were wide with horror, anger, and sadness. But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at her body.

At her burning body.

"Father..." she whispered. But he didn't hear her. He draws his wand, and he calls her, his friend, his partner, his basilisk. And he closed his eyes, silent tears running down his face. "Father!"

Adele screamed, but he couldn't hear her. She wasn't there anymore. She saw how the town people ran, how they screamed. How they just drop dead after just one look. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She was as dead as them.

But she had chosen to stay.