The Enchanted Refuge

Prompt: Once upon a time, there was a royal family who lived in a beautiful castle in a hidden forest. However, an evil sorcerer by the name of Lord Voldemort cursed the royal family and all who lived there, creating an eternal winter in the woods surrounding the castle, transforming all the servants into talking animals, and trapping King Frank and Queen Alice in an enchanted portrait. Their one-year-old son, Neville, was transformed into a beastly lion-like creature, and was forced to stay hidden from the outside world. There seemed to be no way to break the spell, but everyone in the castle tried to keep hope alive. The animal-servants were tasked by the portrait King and Queen to raise Prince Neville, for they were useless trapped inside their painting prison. But they spoke to their son every day to remind him how loved he truly is. But as Neville grew, he had never been very sure of himself, and now the curse had made it even worse. By the time he was eleven years old, he soon fell into despair and lost all hope of finding a way to break the curse. In a faraway village of Privet Road, there lived a pretty little orphan girl named Harriet, who was 11 years old, had long, curly black hair, and bright green eyes. She loved to read stories of adventures and fantasy. However, those stories were only temporary relief from the cold hardships of reality in her life. Simply put, Harriet did not fit in at Privet Road, for everyone else, including her narrow-minded Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, shunned her and talked behind her back, believing she was strange and odd for believing in magic beyond the village. Poor Harriet was treated like an unpaid slave by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who forced her to do as they say, lest she receive a beating, have her meals forfeited, or be locked in her tiny cupboard used as her bedroom as punishment. But Harriet always tried to stay hopeful that someday things would change. But after being kicked out of her Aunt and Uncle's house during an especially bad day, Harriet decided to leave Privet Drive and find the change she was looking for. So that night, she packed her meager, but precious belongings, took a horse she named Philippe that she had cared for in the village woods after he was abandoned by the village stableman as a young foal, and rode off into the deep forest. But the forest was dark, cold, and thick, and soon, they had ventured into an area with deep snow falling, even though it was the middle of June. Then, Philippe got spooked by wolves howling in the distance, and threw Harriet off in his haste to gallop to safety. Harriet fell into a snowdrift, and desperately called out to the horse. "No, Philippe, wait! Come back!" But her horse was already too far away, and the wolves were starting to get closer to the poor girl. Harriet struggled to stand up, and began to run as the vicious wolves broke through the thicket. She fell down a snowy slope as she came to a clearing. Huge gates were in front of her, and she quickly ran toward them. "Help! Is someone there! Oh, please let me in!", she cried as the wolves got closer. Luckily, Harriet was able to push the gates open and slam them shut just before the wolves could get to her. She ran from the gate, and found herself in front of a huge, majestic castle. Shivering from the cold snow and wind, Harriet knocked on the enormous doors, but they opened all by themselves. She cautiously walked into a large, dark foyer that led to a dimly lit hallway. "H-hello? Is anyone there?", Harriet shivered as she called into the darkness. If she had listened hard enough, Harriet would've heard faint voices coming from two figures in the hallway near her. "The poor little girl must've lost her way in the woods!", whispered a male voice with a French accent. This was Sirius Black, a servant in the castle that had been turned into a big, furry, black dog. "Keep quiet, Black! Maybe she'll just leave!", hissed a second male voice that was deep and silky. It was Severus Snape, another servant that had been turned into a sleek, black panther. Harriet could've sworn she heard those voices, but it could've been her imagination. "F-forgive me, I don't mean to intrude or t-trespass, but I've lost my horse, and I-I need sh-shelter from the storm for the night.", she called out. Sirius spoke to Severus again. "Oh, c'mon, Snape, have a heart! She obviously needs help!" The stern panther tried to cover the dog's mouth with his paw, but Sirius bit down hard on it, making Severus yelp in pain. To Harriet, Sirius said, "Of course, Mademoiselle! No need to worry, you are welcome here!" Harriet jumped in surprise, grabbing a lit candlestick from a table. "Who said that?", she trembled. Sirius bounded up to her from behind. "Over here!" Harriet turned around, but she didn't see the dog, as he was too low to the ground for the candle's light. "Where? I can't see you!", she said. Sirius chuckled with amusement. "Right here! Look down at your feet!" Harriet did as she was told, and saw the huge dog grinning up at her. "Bonjour!", he said. The girl let out a short scream, stumbling back, falling over and dropping the candle, making the small flame go out. She stared in awe and shock as the dog gave her a lopsided grin. "You...you can talk!", she finally said. At that moment, Severus the panther came into view. "Well of course, it's all he ever does around here!", he huffed. To Sirius, he said, "And now you've done it this time, Black! She cannot stay here!" Sirius glared at the strict panther. "You know, I'm surprised at you, Sev. After ten years of being isolated in this dump of a castle, you want to kick out the first guest we've got?!" They were about to argue further, but Severus noticed Harriet still staring at the two in shock. He turned to glare at the poor girl. "Don't you know it's rude to stare, you insolent brat?!", the panther snapped. Harriet shook herself of her shock and said meekly, "I-I beg your pardon, sir. I've just never seen animals that....that.....heehhhh.....ehhhh....ehhhh...ATCHOO!" Her apology was interrupted, however, by a large sneeze, a testament to her cold she had caught outside. "You poor little child, you're soaked to the bone! Come sit and warm yourself by the fire.", Sirius spoke kindly, ignoring Severus' protests and leading Harriet to the living room where a roaring fire was burning. Harriet smiled. "Th-Thank you, sir." "Now, now, no need for that. My name is Sirius Black! That sourpuss panther there is Severus Snape. He may seem like a killjoy, but he means well.", he said. Harriet giggled as she was gently sat down in a comfy armchair and wrapped in a warm blanket by a kind-looking brown and grey wolf named Remus Lupin. "Oh, my, what service!", she beamed. "Thank you, miss.", Remus responded, smiling. Severus had given up on trying to kick their guest out. After all, she did need help, but there was still the problem of the young Master upstairs.... A motherly female weasel named Molly Weasley with red fur and a warm smile came up to Harriet with a tray of tea and biscuits. "Here you are, dearie! My chamomile tea should help with that cold of yours in no time!", she said. Harriet thanked her and sipped from a pretty teacup, already starting to feel better. Perhaps there was hope for her after all. Harriet was given a nice guest room in the East Wing of the castle. Of course, she still had to have dinner before bed, so the animal servants told their young Master, Neville, that they would be having a guest for dinner. Due to his beastly appearance, young Neville did not want to have dinner with Harriet, for he was afraid of scaring her away. But the King and Queen, still trapped in their portrait, were hoping that this girl could help them break their curse. So Neville agreed, but he was reluctant to show his beastly face. Harriet was dressed in a pretty blue evening gown by a talking tabby cat named Minerva McGonagall, and had her hair styled in a pretty updo by a lovely French swan named Fleur Delacour. They had warned Harriet that the Master of the castle looked very...different, due to Lord Voldemort's curse, but he had a kind, brave heart. Harriet was not afraid when Neville came down for dinner. He stammered a bit due to his nervous nature, but he did his best to be a gentleman to his guest, even kissing her hand and offering her a pretty magical lily flower as a gift. Harriet smiled and thanked the beast-prince, putting the lily in her hair. The dinner went well, to Neville's surprise, and he and Harriet found out they had much in common. They soon became good friends as the days passed. Harriet met the other animal-servants of the castle, including Arthur Weasley, who was Molly's husband, and their seven other weasel children, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron,& Ginny. She also met a dreamy white hare named Xenophilius Lovegood and his daughter, Luna, an equally dreamy little white rabbit. Eventually, Neville even let her meet his parents, which surprised everyone, since the room with the magical portrait of his trapped parents was usually off limits. King Frank and Queen Alice were delighted to hear how well Neville had been doing, and how Harriet was playing a huge role in breaking the shy beast-prince out of his shell. Just then, a beautiful flash of glowing magical light surrounded the castle. The spell was broken and Neville transformed back into his human form of a prince! Everyone was human again, and the King and Queen were finally free from the enchanted portrait! When Neville had finally accepted Harriet as his friend, that was what had lifted the curse! It was a joyful reunion. Harriet was hailed a true hero by everyone in the castle, even Severus! Lord Voldemort would never harm anyone again. As Harriet and Neville danced in the ballroom, surrounded by their now-human friends, little Luna looked up at her father and asked him. "Are we all gonna live happily ever after, now, Daddy?” Xenophilius smiled at his ever-curious daughter. "I believe we will, my little moonlight. I believe we will." And so they did.