Magic Isn't Always Beautiful

Breakfast for Three

Zara woke with a start. It was 5:27 am, causing darkness sweep over the palace, but a tiny sliver of sunshine shone over the horizon. Zara had little over a half hour to get ready and prepare, but she would have to be ready for the second day of the Selection.

It will be over soon, and then normal classes will commence, Zara thought. If I make it through the Selection that is.

Quickly, she scrambled to the bathroom, where she took a shower, got dressed, and set out for the day. Her blue Selection outfit was comfortable and quiet, so she quickly dodged through the room and exited in the hallway. In a few minutes, Professor Briar would lead them to the Dining Hall, where they would have breakfast, and then to the Selection Room, where they would face their second day of trials. Today, it was potions. Unfortunately for Zara, she had never made a potion, and was fairly nervous for the tests she would soon face.

"Zara!"

A voice from behind her made her jump. She turned around, it was Clara.

"Help, I know nothing of potions, what do I do?" Clara said.

Clara's voice sounded unstable.

"I don't know," Zara responded. "Potions sound really confusing."

"I have to pass! If I don't, I don't know what I'll do! My parents will kill me!" Clara stressfully said.

"You'll do fine, don't worry."

Together, Clara and Zara waited in silence, both fretting over the trials of the Selection that were about to happen. Not even the soft red armchairs could soothe their discomfort. After what seemed like a millennium, Professor Briar opened the door.

"I see you girls are ready, where is everyone else?" Professor Briar said.

They looked around. They had been so occupied with their anxiety that they had failed to notice that no one else was there. They must still be sleeping.

"Everyone! Come on! Chop, Chop! Let's get moving!" Professor Briar yelled.

There was no response.

"EVERYONE I SAID LET'S MOVE," Professor Briar said loudly, at a volume Zara didn't think was possible for someone at her age.

Together, the three of them walked into each room, which were all empty. No one was anywhere to be found.

"This isn't funny!" Professor Briar said shakily.

Still, the rooms were quiet, and had no sign of any of the children. It was as almost they had just vanished.

"Homenum Revelio," Professor Briar said.

Still, the spell show that there were no other people in the entire Mansion.

"They can't have just disappeared!" Professor Briar exclaimed. "Unless they learned to apparate, which is unlikely."

She sighed.

"Okay, you two go head on to breakfast, I'll meet you down there"

Together, the two girls traveled down to the Dining Hall. While they walked on the palace roof, there was an unnatural quiet. Not the type of quiet that comes from a windless morning, or the stillness of the sea, but the type of quiet that comes after a disaster, as if Beauxbatons is in shock. It didn't matter how short or far the way was to the Dining Hall, it felt like an eternity.

Eventually, they reached the large candlelit room, only to find Archer, sitting by himself at his Manoir table. No one else was in the room. They walked over to Archer and sat down.

"Where is everyone?" Zara asked.

"I'm not sure, they all disappeared into the night, it was strange," Archer responded.

"But why are we the only ones remaining?" Clara asked.

"I'm not sure," Zara said.

But then, a thought struck her in the head with the force of lighting.

"I know! When we were out of bed, the disappeared then! That's why we were the only students not taken! Come to think of it, I didn't really notice anyone in their beds last night when we came back," Zara said.

"That makes sense, but how did they all disappear?" Archer asked.

Silence fell over the three of them. They all knew the answer before Zara spoke aloud.

"Because the didn't 'disappear'."

"The Coven," all three students said in unison.