In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume II: LXXX

Morganna's Point-of-View
Mykonos, Greece
October 1901

Summer ended. And as the colder months drew near, my body recognized it as a terrible reminder of what occurred five years ago. I heard about Marvolo fairly infrequently, which was surprising since he had been related to the infamous Mercurio and Milton. Their heinous acts always made headlines.

But to both my excitement and dismay, his name appeared in the Daily Prophet last year. I learned he suffered the same fate as his father and sired a child. Morfin Gaunt.

The article haunted me. Realistically, I knew it hadn't been my fault. Though, it definitely seemed that it was.

Mother Xilia stood next to my brother, with her spindly hand resting atop his shoulder. In the moving picture, I could see her hand squeezing firmly against his suit coat. The baby hadn't even been visible in the photograph.

I immediately laid the paper to rest in the fireplace. None of my family needed to see that. And since then, no more news presented itself.

"Morganna!" Lailah's voice echoed across the beach.

My fingers reached for my necklace at her scream. I worried something was wrong.

I squinted and put my sweaty hand across my forehead to block the sun, and the only thing visible had been her splashing out of the water.

"I'm tired. Can we go home now?" Her voice teemed with exasperation once she approached the shore. The little floats she wore on her arms squeaked against her chosen swimming attire.

I laughed as she kept huffing toward me. I stood up, brushed the sand off me, and extended my hand to her. Her little palm gripped my fingers, and we walked toward our house.

It hadn't been too different. Uncle Aesop had just added a second story for Lailah and myself. My room was directly across from hers, and we shared a bathroom.

Still, as a sixteen-year-old, I hoped for my own bathroom one day. But as a squib, I wouldn't be able to conjure one. I wouldn't be able to do anything magical.

And I was relatively okay with that. To be fair, I could have had my father's or even my brother's fate if my powers kicked in.

Uncle Ominis heard Lailah bounding up the front steps, and he pulled the door open for us. He mumbled some sort of spell over the top of our bodies to remove the sand from us and our belongings.

"There. How are my two favorite girls?" He smiled, expecting an answer.

Lailah piped up before I could say anything, "Father. We are young ladies. Not girls." She scoffed dramatically and pushed past my uncle.

I stifled my laugh by turning into my hair and coughing, but Uncle Ominis sensed the coverup.

"She's been spending too much time with Kassia, I think." He audibly chuckled and shook his head before following her up the stairs.

My father, Iskra, and Markov traveled abroad to Bulgaria. It was their visit the Krums, but I decided to stay home. I think most of my family forgot that I had to keep up with both muggle and witchcraft studies until graduation.

Prior to that, I counted the days until my aunts returned. Both Aunt Kass and Aunt Toi were somewhere on assignment, but they hadn't sent any owls.

Sebastian, like Iskra, had this time off, as well. He spent his days lingering about the house. Uncle Ominis had been incredibly patient with him. Something I wouldn't have given him the satisfaction of. Perhaps the feeling of hatred I encountered stemmed from my relation to Mother Xilia.

But deep down, I knew I should have been thankful.

I had been lucky.

I escaped whatever horrid fate Mother Xilia and Headmaster Black planned for me, and the rest of my family led the lives they desired. Aunt Kassia even took the liberty of replacing our surname. We no longer identified as Gaunts, but as the Galanis family.

We would recover Marvolo eventually. Although, Mother Xilia would have to be killed first.

...

The End