"Loreley!" echoed from any direction.

The impenetrable darkness enveloped her like a cloak. It surrounded her on all sides, above and below, and no matter which way Loreley turned, it would not give way.

"Mama?"

At first, she stumbled forward hesitantly. Fingers outstretched, Loreley groped through the darkness, hoping to sense or recognize something.

But the thought of her mother wiped away initial caution. So she began to run.

Pointlessly.

There was nothing but darkness everywhere. It was not clearing, and there was no candlelight or daylight to find- no matter which way.

Nothing. Just nothing.

"Loreley!" it sounded again. This time more pleadingly.

"Mother! Where are you? I can't see you!" Her voice seemed thrown back by something neither her eyes nor hands could find.

Were there walls? Where was she? Why was she here?

The questions slipped away from her and frayed as quickly as if the answers were insignificant.

"Wisp!" her mother called out in the darkness. Panic was in her voice and transferred to Loreley like waves on a beach. Her heartbeat raced, her fingers cold and clammy.

"Loreley!" it sounded more demanding.

"I can't do this," she muttered. The magic eluded her and refused to be grasped. It was as if she were trying to grasp a slippery fish, which immediately escaped her fingers and leaped away.

"A wisp! You have to light a will-o'-wisp!" her mother screamed in sheer panic.

Loreley was trembling. Her whole body went down to her fingertips. She was afraid - and didn't even know exactly what of.

"Loreley!"

"I-I'm trying!"

Out of nowhere, something suddenly shot toward her, and suddenly she could see: The long, brown-red hair fell in tangled strands around her mother's distorted grimace.

"You have to do it! FUCKING DO IT LORELEY!"

The brown eyes were wide and bloodshot. A pure figure of horror. The hands that had once so gently caressed her hair reached for Loreley's shoulders and dug painfully into her flesh. The lips opened and formed a shrill, long, drawn-out scream...

The shrill, drawn-out whistle of the Hogwarts Express snapped her out of the sticky clutches of sleep, and the monotonous rattle shattered the last remnant of the dream as if it were made of glass. Darkness turned to the interplay of shadow and sunlight beyond the window and transformed into the view of the breathtaking landscape of the Scottish Highlands. The tracks wound through the rolling countryside, past mountainous slopes and lochs glistening in the autumn light.

From the reflection of the train window, Loreley gazed up at her own blue eyes sprinkled with green. Copper-red, long hair fell in shorter strands around her face. Because it bothered her so often, she had tied it into a loose braid today. The witch must have moved in her sleep because some strands had come loose.

She looked tired. There were visible circles under her eyes; they were small, and her complexion was paler than usual. But that was probably no wonder after she had hardly slept in months.

Slowly, her mind cleared. New thoughts wiped away the rest of the dream memories, and Loreley sighed softly as she rubbed her eyes with her fingers. Another nightmare. This shadow had been plaguing her for months and wouldn't go away. Nonsensical dreams of her mother begging for help, trapped or already dead. She would have loved to go to Hogwarts immediately - still the summer vacations, not to waste a second. But she couldn't.

Not only because the Ministry kept the events in the library of the wizard school strictly secret to avoid unrest or panic among the parents. A simple student had nothing to do in a place where an Unspeakable had disappeared without a trace. Her mother or not... in the eyes of the cursed English officials, she was nothing more than a risk of secrecy. They did not care about the two children who, after their father, had now lost their mother and were now sitting with their aunt in a foreign country. In a school that was still new to them and outside in a big, strange house. Nothing here in England meant home to them... especially not now. But she had to be strong.

Loreley yawned and was about to close her eyes when a low hum drew her attention lower from the reflection. Her little sister Sophie was asleep in her lap. The same copper-red curls and the same freckles also marked Sophie's features, making the sisters look painfully like their mother. Loreley lifted her arm, brushing a strand from the sleeping girl's face, wondering how her little sister would cope with the situation and at Hogwarts when she was already having a hard time. And she was, after all, a full five years older.

The scraping of the department door snapped her out of her heavy thoughts.

"Excuse me? Is this seat taken?"

At the door stood an older boy. Short and slightly curly black hair stood above almost clichéd green eyes. In contrast to the pale complexion of Loreley and Sophie, his tone was more southern. What made Loreley wrinkle her nose slightly was the Hogwarts cloak with the green lining and the silver and green striped tie to the symbol of a snake on his chest: a Slytherin.

Loreley had had a year to find out the facts behind the talk of Slytherins. Some might be true, some might not. The fact was, she didn't get along with most of the students from Slytherin's house. In his defense, though, she didn't get along particularly well with some students from other houses either.

"Is the rest of the train full?" she asked, obviously hoping the Slytherin would get the message and find another compartment.