Prologue
They crept down the long, dirt, Kazak road in the middle of rolling hills. There were 7 of them, all clad in black, silent material so they wouldn’t be sensed in the dead of night. They kept constant vigilance as went about the side of the road looking for babies abandoned by their poor mothers. One of them stumbled upon a newborn with fair skin. Without a sound, she picked her up and continued to walk.
~*~
The Augsburg Orphanage was abuzz with 13 Kazak newborns, left to die, being tended to. In the far right corner, three nurses where franticly trying to care for a five day old girl. Death was breathing down her neck. A nurse by the name Annamarie Eruherdiriel had tears in her eyes as her and her co-workers washed and immunized the baby. After they did all they could, they left Annamarie to kept watch over her.
She stayed all night watching the baby’s chest rise and fall slowly, a little too slow. She stroked her head, covered in little wisps of auburn hair.
“You will live, you will get better and you will survive.” She whispered.
At that moment, the baby stopped breathing. A single tear fell on her head.
“Dear God, please take this soul to you and welcome her to heaven. Amen.”
But God had different plans. At that moment, life gasped out of the baby. She let out a small whimper and opened her eyes.
Annamarie clutched her to her chest. “I think I’ll call you Anastassiya, resurrection.”
~*~
Eleven years after her recovery, Anastassiya has come to reside with Annamarie and her husband, Hans’ house with their two other girls, Raina Sway and Heidi. This is how she lived since she was a week and a half old.
There was a ‘bang' at the window of the room where Ana and Raina overlooked a computer screen. At the sound, they jumped and looked at the window.
There sat an owl with a white head and neck and a black bottom that met in the middle like flames. It had a letter in its beak.
Raina jumped to the window and opened it. Before it was entirely open, the owl dropped the letter in and flew off.
At that same moment, the doorbell rang. Ana ran out of the room while Raina picked up the letter and followed. At the door was their mysterious neighbor, Wilhelm.
“Ah, so I see received the letter.” He noted after they invited him in. “I’ll need to speak with your parents to, um, explain some things to them. You better join us, as well."
Still quite in shock, they went to find their parents.
The whole household, with the exception of Heidi, gathered in the living room and stared at Wilhelm.
“Well, first,” he started, “You’d better open that letter.”
Raina raised the letter. “It’s for you, Ana.”
Ana took it out of her hands and opened it. “Dear Miss Eruherdiriel, we are please to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…..”
“Care to explain, Wilhelm?” her father questioned.
“You see, Ana, you’re a witch.”
At this, her father jumped up. “You cannot come in here and call my daughter a witch!”
“No, no, sir. This isn’t an insult at all. Your daughter has magic……” And with that, he began to explain the wizarding world to a group of wide-eyed, blonde Germans and their adopted, auburn Kazak.
