Prologue Part 1
Princess Brielle was a very strange girl.
Not just by Auradon standards. Of course, in Auradon, strange could mean anything from wearing pearls when it was clearly an instance to wear gemstones to keeping an anaconda in your house and feeding it your homemade gumbo. Regardless, nearly everyone would agree something wasn't right about Brielle. Maybe it was the way things always seemed to go wrong around her. Maybe it was the way people saw her doing things normal people shouldn't be able to do. Like lighting candles without a lighter if she wanted to stay up past her bedtime. Or flipping the pages of her book without touching them if she didn’t feel like having to put down the sandwich she was eating alongside her reading. Maybe she was some sort of superhero. Maybe she was a magical fairy. Those weren't exactly rare in Auradon, Brielle had counted a total of twelve at the last royal gala. Or maybe, and perhaps most likely, she was a
"Witch!" Princess Audrey had screamed at her one warm late July Friday. "She's a witch! That's why she's so freaky!"
Days at Fairy Godmother's Pre-High School Summer Academy (Because the value of schooling doesn't end in the summer months! Or so the brochures went) had become increasingly repetitive ever since her classmates had started suspecting there was more to Brielle than met the eye.
“Now, now, children,” Fairy Godmother was rushing over in an attempt to mediate. “We mustn’t say such things, let’s be friendly towards our fellow classmates-“
”But Fairy Godmother!” Audrey had exclaimed. “She’s a witch! She’s using magic!”
”Princess Audrey, who are Princess Brielle’s parents?”
”King Beast and Queen Belle…” the pink princess begrudgingly admitted.
”Exactly. And you’d never accuse the High King and Queen of being witches, now would you?”
”No…”
”Now children, let’s be kind to each other and not accuse of things we don’t have proof of!” With a tinkling little laugh, Fairy Godmother left, satisfied in feeling she had resolved any further conflict. She would be incorrect in this assumption.
”Just because your parents may not have been dirty witches doesn’t mean you aren’t,” sneered Prince Chad. “There’s something not right about you, and we’ll figure it out.” And with a determined finality, Chad, Audrey, and the small crowd of ten-and-eleven-year-olds who had gathered to gawk at Brielle stalked off, some turning to shoot glares occasionally, others yelling insults at the honey-haired ten-year-old who hadn’t been welcome on the playground for months.
She wasn’t going to pretend the comments didn’t sting. But showing weakness would only make the taunts worse. Besides, if Chad and Audrey couldn’t find anything else to make fun of about her other than her supposed magic, that would reflect more on their bullying ability than her witchiness. Or so she reminded herself as she took a few shaky deep breaths.
The soft meowing of a cat snapped her out of her thoughts. Brielle wiped her eyes and looked up as the familiar silver tabby cat leaped from the branches of the tree she was sitting against. The cat had been visiting her occasionally ever since she had first been able to display her magical ability, if you could even call it that. The cat was the only one who seemed to appreciate the way she could make rose petals open and close in on themselves like some bizarrely beautiful many-lipped oyster. She couldn’t help but think the cat and her magic were interconnected somehow. Brielle ran her fingers over the grass beside her. Both of us are, outsiders, aren’t we, little cat? Judging from the way the cat purred and rubbed her head against her knee, Brielle couldn’t help but think that though she hadn’t spoken aloud, her feline companion agreed.
A knock on her door startled Brielle and broke her concentration on the book she was reading. It was the next day, and Brielle was holed up in her room. It was the only place that seemed to be free of comments or looks.
"Princess Gabrielle!"
It was Lumiere. The former candelabra had been a loyal member of her father's staff since the pre-Auradon days. Peppy and lively, Brielle preferred him to his rather grumpy companion Cogsworth, though Lumiere occasionally got on Brielle's nerves. Especially when he addressed her as Princess Gabrielle.
Brielle hopped off her bed to answer the door. "Lumiere, how many times must I tell you to just call me Brielle?"
Lumiere smiled at her, the kind of smile that adults gave to children who simply didn't understand. "Princess Gabrielle, your parents have stated previously that they prefer I refer to you with your official title. Unless you'd prefer I use your full name?"
Brielle didn't prefer that at all. Since Princess Gabrielle Rosalind Amelie du Beaumont of The United States of Auradon was quite a mouthful, Brielle resigned, albeit begrudgingly.
"Did you need something, Lumiere?" she asked dully.
"Oh, no," the slender servant started. "I was simply informing you that a guest is awaiting you in the parlor. The King and Queen are already there, along with Prince Benjamin."
Brielle was sure she must have misheard. A guest? For her? It must have been a mistake. Guests never visited her. Why should they, when she was just the spare? All of the things, the parties, the gifts, the guests, they were all for her twin brother. Prince Ben, who, because he was born 13 minutes before she was, got the kingdom, the throne, and all of the attention.
"A- a guest? For me?"
Lumiere nodded. "They said it was important that you spoke to them straightaway?"
This only confused her more. "Who are they? What are they here for?"
Lumiere said nothing and simply gestured for Brielle to follow him. Though she was still absolutely bewildered, she resolved that the only way for her questions to be answered would be to talk to this mysterious visitor.
Lumiere held the parlor door open for Brielle and she rushed in, baffled yet excited. After giving hurried thanks to the former candelabra, she took in the sight of everyone in the room. There was Cogsworth, holding the visitor's bags. Her parents, on the couch and looking upset, though Brielle hadn't a clue why. Ben, who looked just as perplexed as he was. And across from the King and Queen was a rather stern-looking woman with black hair and spectacles that seemed to match the markings on the cat that kept visiting her. She was wearing bizarre, long, emerald green garments that quite looked like a cross between a robe and a dress, along with a black pointy hat cocked to the right. Brielle couldn't explain it, but though this woman seemed rather stern and prim, she felt more at ease around her than with the people she grew up with in Auradon. Perhaps she could sense the similarity between the two of them. The stern woman smiled at her, the kind of grandmotherly smile that made Brielle feel at ease. She spoke with a heavy Scottish accent, though this made her seem even more posh.
"Hello, Miss Du Beaumont. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. I've been waiting to speak with you for quite a while."