Chapter Text
for some a prologue,
for some an epilogue.
- Bulgakov
When Mary was little, her mother used to tell her tales about wizards and the adventures they went through. She always imagined herself being one of them, coming along on one of their countless exploits. It was why the The Lord of the Rings series was one of her favourite novels.
As she turned eleven, it seemed as her dream came true. Mary has always kind of sensed that there was something different about her. She hasn't been like most kids, she could make things float for a few seconds or make flowers grow faster. Her parents couldn't really explain why these things happened, but Mary knew it.
It was when Mary had celebrated her birthday on a warm Spring day. Her parents and two older sisters had held a party, because all the kids Mary had invited didn't come. They did their best to make Mary's eleventh birthday something special, when the mail came in an unusual hour. Her parents had been a little sceptical when they saw her name on the address, but still let her open the letter.
It had been her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. At first, Mary thought her parents planned this as a surprise because of her love for fantasy, but when her parents claimed to be as clueless as her sisters she began to think about how it wasn't a coincidence that she could make things float or grow flowers or make things break without touching them.
Her suspicions were confirmed when an elderly woman showed up and brought her into a world she'd imagine when she was reading.
Never would've Mary thought that such extraordinary people like wizards existed and she out of all people would be one. Even entering a school full of children with magic running through their veins seemed impossible for Mary to believe.
So when she learned that there were other people like her – Muggleborns – and also people who grew up with magic and were either called Halfbloods or Purebloods, she couldn't contain her excitement. Even though her parents had been worried about this whole "Magic-Thing", they allowed her to pursue her path as a witch and Mary hasn't regretted it ever since.
So she had thought.
But being black and muggleborn didn't sit right with many kids at the school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had to learn it the hard way when her little imaginary world trembled apart, but she met people who liked her for who she was and wouldn't judge her.
Mary needed to fight for her place which many students in her year easily got without much effort. Sometimes even her friends, mostly the pureblood ones, didn't quite understand why it was so hard to fit in if you didn't grow up rich and with a magical family. Though she was quite popular in school and very pretty and outgoing, no one really seemed to think of her as a person with much depth or personality. This was something Mary really struggled with, because she knew she was more than this. She was more than pretty and funny, extroverted and easygoing or how many would've thought, dumb.
As she was entering her fifth year, Mary was challenged with her own identity and self-image, struggling to keep her friends and not being the number one target of her fellow Slytherin peers. Meanwhile outside of the safe bubble surrounding Mary and her friends, darkness grew on power, draining all the light and hope. With the years following Mary would know the darkness all too well and how much suffering it brought with it.