**Trigger Warning**: The following content may contain material that could be distressing or triggering for some individuals. It may include references to topics such as violence, abuse, hateful speech,mental illness, etc. Please proceed with caution and prioritize your well-being. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, consider stepping away or seeking support from a trusted source.
Apparently Madam Mastigia had returned earlier from the picnic in her private car leaving the children and Father Edle behind due to her office's secret magic alarm going off and alerting her. She is now waiting for Delphi in her office.
Delphi is dragged into the office by the guard and the nun and thrown on the carpet. She gets up massaging her knees and wiping away her tears as Madam Mastigia stands in front of her with an expression of triumph and a malicious smile on her face that makes her look like an ugly old pig ready to eat a luxurious meal.
Delphi stood up with tears and a burning rage in her eyes. She had enough; Mastigia was not going to keep her trapped here.
Thank you, Patrick, you can go now, Lina, you stay here," she thanked the guard and ordered the nun that had brought Delphi in and had her bag in one hand.
"So you thought you could break into my office and steal my trinkets, you little thief. I always told Father Edle that you were no good, and here is the proof." Mastigia said, bearing down on Delphi with a pulp-red face.
"What did you steal?" She spat in Delphi's eyes.
"Nothing," Delphi replied desperately.
"Liar!" she shouted and slapped Dephi hard on the face.
"I only took back what you stole from me." Delphi said, holding back her tears and looking loathingly at Mastigia.
"What did you say? You dare call me a thief." She struck again, causing Delphi to fall and making her lip bleed.
"The letters. My school acceptance letters, you stole them and hid them. Why did you do that?" Delphi asked accusingly, looking back at Mastigia.
"Why would you stop me from getting a better education? What did I ever do to you?" She asked again, demanding wanting to know the reason she was treated so badly.
"What did you do? she asks. If only you knew what kind of filth you are born out of. If only I could tell you what rotten seed you are to the likes of me. You wouldn't dare ask such a question. You don't deserve to go to an elite school with good and decent people." She said it with the utmost hate that was not only visible in her face and eyes, but her body shook with fury thinking about Delphini and how much she hated her.
"In fact, you don't even deserve to be here. It is my kindness that I let you in you Devil's kin." She hissed the last words through gritted teeth.
Delphi wished she couldn't sense her feelings or thoughts because the amount of hatred Delphi felt from this woman right now was immeasurable. Then what seemed like a thought; a fear of some sort struck her, and she tried to calm down.
"Besides . There was no need for you to apply for such schools. I told you before you don't belong there. Yet you applied regardless of my wishes." She said, calming a bit down, and looking at Delphi disapprovingly.
"I told you. You will be going to a school of your guardians choice. Not that you belong there either." She said the last sentence more to herself than to Delphi.
"But I don't want to go to any such school. Please just let me go to Eton." Delphi begged desperately.
"Never." Shouted Mastigia and slapped her again, losing all calm.
"I will tell Father Edle. He won't let you stop me." Warned Delphi in range.
"He will not know because you won't tell him a thing unless you want me to kick out your precious sister Anne." Mastigia said threateningly while grabbing Delphi by her collar.
"You wouldn't, you can't." Delphi said in disbelief.
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do, child. I will show you what I am capable of. She said, letting her down with a malicious smile and grabbing the letters, she turned on her lighter and lighthing them on fire she threw them in the fire place right in front of Delphi's eyes.
"No Delphi ran towards the letters, trying to put out the fire with her hands, but the damage was done. The letter had turned into a black pile of ash, and no matter how hard Delphi tried for some weird reason, her magic won't fix them.
She looked at the ash in her hands and, with tear-filled, furious eyes, looked back at Mastigia.
"I hate you. I hate you. I will never forgive you. I swear to God I will make you pay for this."
Hahaha Mastigia laughed at Delphi and then said, "I would like to see you try, child. Now to make sure you don't try to run away again, I will be keeping these." She said taking the money out of Delphi's bag and putting it in her purse.
"No, that's mine; you can't take it. I have worked really hard to earn it." Delphi protested
"As if I care." Mastigia replied with a haughty laugh.
Delphi ran forward, trying to take it back, but the nun Lina grabbed Delphi.
"Take her to the attic and lock her up. There will be no dinner for her." Mastigia ordered, and Delphi was dragged out of the room.
Delphi was crying her heart out when she was taken to the attic. They threw her roughly among the pile of useless things and slammed the door in her face, locking it.
Delphi sat there crying for hours. She was so upset that her untamed magic was causing it to snow, and for the first time in her life she couldn't control it, or maybe she didn't want to.
"Everything I worked so hard for—everything I did to get out of here was for nothing. Why did this happen to me? I have done no wrong. I never hurt anybody, then why?
Sister Anne said that God will help me and that he will punish Madam Mastigia, but he did nothing. Things have only gone worse for me day by day.
This is all his fault, stupid guardian. I will never forgive him. Even if they come to take me, I will never forgive them. Why did they leave me here? Why.
Am I going to spend all my life stuck in this attic?
No, I can't allow that I need to do something. I need to save me, but how?
I need to run. I don't care if I end up living in a trash dump or another orphanage; anyplace will be better than here." Delphi thought to herself and caused the pile of things to
levitate and throw itself against the walls crashing and causing a hurricane of snow and trash. She has never been this sad in her life. She hated being here with all her heart.
Just then there was a knock on the door, and Alice's voice was heard from the other side of the door.
"Delphi, are you alright? It's me, Alice. I am coming in." As Alice said the last words, all the things immediately fell on the floor with a loud thud, and the snow disappeared.
"Alice, what are you doing here? If anyone sees you, you will be in trouble." Delphi said she was running towards the door and hugging her friend.
"I know, but we are in a big problem." Alice said hysterical, and Delphi noticed she was out of breath and looked really pale and sweaty.
"What kind of problem?" Delphi asked, concerned, wondering how this day can get any worse.
"It's Sister Anne. She is in Madam Mastigia's office; she is really scared. I think I think she killed Madam Mastigia." Alice said this while sobbing, and as Delphi heard this, it felt like the earth had disappeared from beneath her feet.
"What? What are you saying?" She asked, shocked to her core.
"I am telling the truth. Come quickly." Alice grabbed Delphi's hand and began running.
They rushed through the orphanage as fast as they could and reached the office.
As Delphi opened the door and looked in, her eyes fell on the dead, lifeless form of Madam Mastigia in her chair, and next to her crying on the floor, looking extremely scared, was Sister Anne. She looked pale like a ghost.
She was surrounded by five other nuns, the weary old guard and father Edle. Who were all looking scared and suspicious of Sister Anne?
"I don't know how this happened. I was just talking to her about what she did to Delphi, and she just started screaming and fell. I swear I didn't do anything. Oh my God, Oh my God, she is dead." Sister Anne buried her face in her hands and cried hysterically. While Father Edle examined Madam Mastigia's body.
Delphi thought he shouldn't be doing that, but then she remembered that Father Edle had once told her that he used to be a doctor, but after getting tired of seeing so many deaths, he had joined the church to heal his heart and help save people's lives in another way.
Delphi went into the room to comfort sister Anne, but as she stepped in, everyone looked at her, and the nuns began shouting.
"You, how did you get out? Were you a part of this?" Lina the nun questioned Delphi furiously.
"She must have. Remember Madam Mastigia said she was a Devil's kin, and Delphi said she would make her pay for burning the letters. She must have killed her with sister Anne's help." Another nun named Hilda suggested looking both scared and determined to punish Sister Anne and Delphi.
"Don't be stupid; I did nothing. And neither did sister Anne." Delphi told everyone, firmly defending herself and Anne.
"Then how did she die?" asked a fat nun named Zoe, who also looked scared and suspicious of Delphi and Anne.
"Yeah, how did she? By the looks of it, you did some sort of black magic," chimed in the fifth much older-looking nun named Sarah, who was just as superstitious as she was old.
"Don't be ridiculous Black magic. Which century are you living in?" Sister Anne finally held back her tears and shouted at hearing the others nuns stupid accusations.
"Hilda and Sarah are right. Delphini has always been a weird girl, always living alone and quiet, and with all those unexplainable things happening around her, she must have done something, and I am sure you helped her." The last and the oldest nun named Camilla said, looking at them with a wise and judgey look as if her words were the law, and settled the matter.
"Enough of this nonsense; do you really think we can kill her?" Asked sister, shouting in disbelief and annoyance.
"I won't put it past you two. You hated her." retorted Lain with anger.
"Enough look, we don't know how this happened, but it's obvious we need to call the police, and in the mean time we need to lock up sister Anne and Delphi as they are prime suspects." Father Edle finally spoke his voice full of both authority and anger. It was obvious he had not expected to witness another death so soon, and the accusations of the nuns made him even more angry.
"Father Edle" sister Anne began to reason with him but was cut off by Father Edle.
"I am sorry, dear, but seeing the circumstances, this is necessary. I need to do my duty as the father of this orphanage. There is no other choice." He said with a pained resigned to the worst look.
"But father," Delphi was trying to say but was stopped as well.
"If you did nothing, you have nothing to worry about." He advised us, then turned to the nuns, "I insist you keep an eye on them as I call the cops." He instructed the nuns and left the room.
They took both Delphi and Sister Anne downstairs in the basement, where it was extremely dark and dusty with thick cobwebs hanging everywhere and old wooden drums and crates were stored. The nuns turned on the small yellow bulb and from a wire and locked them both in the basement.
"Sister Anne, what do you think is going to happen now?" Delphi asked sister Anne, extremely worried and scared. If she had thought her attic was bad, then this basement was worse.
"I don't know. I don't know." Sister Anne sobbed; she was shivering with fear. It was clear to Delphi that witnessing Madam Mastigia's death had shaken her deeply. Delphi held her hand and helped her sit down on one of the crates.
"I'm sorry, Delphi. I don't know what to do. I was supposed to protect you, but I got us both in trouble." Sister Anne said she felt guilty; she felt ashamed that she was handling it worse than Delphi, who was just a child and was yet so brave.
"Sister Anne, it's not your fault. Madam Mastigia was old; there will probably be a medical reason for her death. And once the police find that out, we will have no reason to be locked up here." Delphi comforted Sister Anne, talking reasonably.
She was also depressed about Mastigia's death, which was weird. She admitted to herself that Mastigia had done everything to make Delphi's life miserable, and Delphi hated her, realistically thinking that without Mastigia now Delphi was free at least once sister Anne and her names were cleared. Yet Delphi felt bad because, in truth, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was somehow responsible for Mastigia's death. She remembered her last words to Mastigia. "I will make you pay for this."
"Your right. Delphi, but that is not it. We are already at odds with everyone; even if we are not arrested once the police are gone, I don't think anyone will treat us nicely." Sister Anne said sobbing.
But Delphi could hear the words she was holding back. "The police will probably arrest us based on suspicion or even if they didn't. The orphanage will kick us both out, and once the word spreads, we will have to leave this town for no one will offer me a job, and poor Delphi, she can't even go to Eton now. God, what are we going to do?" This is what sister Anne thought desperately as she cried her eyes out.
Delphi sat next to her and prayed to God with all her heart that he may send one of his angles to save them.
Little did she know her wish was about to come true. Madam Mastigia had indeed died of powerful magic. The magic of the unbreakable vow she had made to Narcissa Malfoy. She had crossed the line today when, out of maddening fear and hate for Delphi, she had made Delphi the most unhappy she had ever been in her life.
Mastigia had promised that she would keep Delphi happy and healthy, but today Delphi was neither happy nor healthy, as it was the first time her magic had not worked properly, which only happens when a witch is deeply grieving. This sadness triggered the unbreakable vow and killed Mastigia.
Mastigia's death also set up the alarm at the Ministry that a Squib had died due to magical reasons in front of a Muggle Sister Anne; therefore, it was the duty of Ministry of Magic's Head Auror to fix this problem and find out what caused this magic.
And so miles away underneath London Subway, Harry Potter was preparing to visit the New Heaven Orphanage.