The Raven and the Snake

Before the First Book

Her mother's photo on the right was older. Though she had been a young mother, she had managed to grow to adulthood. She was beautiful with long blond hair that fell past her waist and kind, light eyes. She had a dazzling smile on her face as though she was looking at her favorite person in the world.

Ariadne stared at them for a few long minutes, her cheek still pressed to the floor. She'd never had a chance to meet her father, but her mother had often spoken of him fondly and proclaimed he had died in the bravest possible manner for a 15 year old. Her mother had died just last year when Ariadne was 10. She'd had a heart condition all her life and it had finally taken her after a small stint in the hospital. Ariadne had sat next to her mother's sickbed, proudly reading out the one and only spell book she'd been able to procure when her mother breathed her last.

Her mother hadn't managed to live to her 11th birthday when the letter came proclaiming her acceptance into the magic school her mother had been convinced she would be admitted into. Now she clambered to her feet and moved to the nightstand, letting the locket swing free. She picked up the letter that was on a thick piece of parchment with gorgeous purple calligraphy, headed with a coat of arms that featured a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake with the letter H. Her mother would've been so proud. Perhaps her father too, as her mother often said he would.

The acceptance letter had come without prompting a couple of days ago, announcing that not only had she been accepted into this most exclusive of schools, but also that a representative would be arriving to discuss the finer details. Ariadne glanced at the clock, the letter had said the representative would come today, but the hours had been about as specific at the cable company's. Still, she really should get ready to receive a guest.

Ariadne went about the tiny room of the London flat, pulling on a t shirt and jeans. She made her way to the kitchen with her brush still in her hair to see her grandparents looking a little worse for wear. The letter, that her mother would have been so delighted to see, had wrought her grandparents with anxiety. Unlike her, they were what her mother had called "muggles", not having a drop of magic within them.

Indeed, her grandparents were far from "magical". They were still fairly young, only in their 50s, and had never dared to dream of magic until the birth of Ariadne. Her grandparents were a gay couple that had adopted her mother when she'd been about Ariadne's age now. She had come to them with strange tales and little understanding of the world as they knew it. She'd been a problem child, but they had kept her because as a gay couple in the UK, they weren't legally allowed to formally adopt a child and had begged one of their own parents to be the one to take the child in. It wouldn't have been right to give her up after pushing so hard to adopt a child of unknown origins.

When Ariadne's mother had announced to them that she was having a baby at the age of 14, they said they would be happy to raise the child her in her stead so she could continue school. Their chance at having a baby of their own. However, the baby soon started showing characteristics they'd previously thought was ridiculous, impossible. Ariadne's mother had sat down with them and explained in detail of her origins, stories they'd thought were a child's fantasies now proven true by the extraordinary toddler.

Unlike her mother, who was delighted at her child's abilities, her grandparents... they didn't know what to make of it. The stories of her mother's background were horrific in their opinion, filled with monsters and evil. The idea of Ariadne being a part of that world filled them with dread.

Ariadne smiled at them, "Good morning."

"Morning," Grandpa Chester said over his paper, looking as though "good" was far from the descriptor he would like to use.

"Good morning, Aria," Grandpa Lawrence said, pacing around the small kitchen, looking for something that needed cleaning. "Want some breakfast?"

Ariadne sat down next to Chester at the table. "Sure, eggs and toast?"