Morgan le Fay Institute for Magic

Chapter 25 - Atrocious Attack

Dawnwich had lost all its appeal for Ravenna. It had always been that quaint little town where nothing ever happened. It had been one of very few safe spaces for Morgan le Fay students, because half the town – the muggles – didn't know what they were, and the other half had gotten so used to seeing them around that they were simply ignored.

But now, as she wandered through town to finalise her Christmas shopping, everything reminded her of the one thing she was trying desperately to forget: Alois. The pet shop had been closed, its windows boarded up, since the day of the raid, weeks ago. On the town square a memorial was placed, with a plaque and a bunch of fresh flowers, for the two people that had been killed that night.

Ravenna soon decided to escape the depressing town and wait in the Fae's Foot for the others, but the pub wasn't any better. From the moment she sat down in one of the booths, Alois' face shot through her mind. His voice, as he convinced her the wizarding world needed change. His smile, as he tried to put her at ease. Now, all it did was make her shiver with disgust.

Luckily, it didn't take long for her friends to join her. Everyone except Ella and Ezra had split up early in the afternoon to get their Christmas presents, but they must've run into each other somewhere, because all four of them entered the pub together. Dan went to the bar for drinks, while the others joined her at the booth.

It took Ravenna all of two seconds to notice the gloomy look on Ella's face. For a second she wondered if she and Ezra had been fighting, but the worried look on the older boy's face told her differently.

"Hey, guys," Ravenna said as her friends sat down. "Everything alright?"

"Absolutely," Ezra answered. "Got all our shopping done."

Ella merely nodded, while Willem shot her a concerned look.

"Five butterbeers coming up!" Dan exclaimed, floating five mugs filled to the brim with butterbeer over to their table. When he reached them, she noticed his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and she could hold back no longer.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing," said Ella, her voice higher than usual. She grabbed one of the mugs. "It's fine. It's Christmas, how could something possibly be wrong?"

When the silence persisted, Ezra said, "Oh, Ella, I'm so sorry. I should never have brought it up."

Ella opened her mouth to respond, but her lip trembled and she took a sip of her drink instead.

"Brought up what?" came Willem's squeaky voice.

"It's my fault," said Ezra. "I was talking about how nice it was that we all stayed at Morgan le Fay for Christmas this year. How the whole class was complete over the holidays. But... Ella would've gone home if..."

Dan breathed in sharply before turning to their friend. "Oh, Ella..."

Ravenna felt her gut churn. That bastard, Alois, he was the one who had caused this. Him and his ruddy friends.

"It's my first Christmas without them," Ella muttered, tears shining in her eyes as she stared into her butterbeer. "My little brother used to love Christmas. He'd get all excited weeks ahead. My parents always gave him a giant bag of fizz balls, because he loved them so much."

Ravenna's heart constricted as her friend wiped the tears from her eyes, obviously struggling to not break down. She reached out a hand to pat her on the shoulder, but halfway through the movement she decided that was a silly thing to do, so she shoved her hand back into her pocket. How was she supposed to make someone feel better who was grieving the loss of their family?