Bellatrix Black awoke with a start that morning. She lay in bed for a moment, but as the sleepy feeling left her, she realised. She realised what day it was. September the first. The day she started at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was the first of her sisters to start at Hogwarts, and she was so excited. Her letter had arrived two and a half months previously, as she had known it would, having been able to perform magic since she was a little girl. Her parents were Cygnus and Druella Black, and although they didn't show it, Bella knew that they were proud of her. She was almost certain that she would be in Slytherin – all of her family had been sorted into Slytherin House. All of her aunts and uncles, her grandparents and obviously her own parents. They had gone up to London shortly after she had received her letter, to get everything that she would need for school. Everything was brand new, from her books, to her cauldron, to her robes and of course her wand. It had been so exciting to go to Diagon Alley to buy all of her school things, but having been properly brought up in a respectable wizarding home, she knew better than to show any outward emotion. So she and her two sisters, who were nine and seven, walked around the shops without smiling or getting excited when they saw something they really wanted, they simply walked up to their parents and told them, with an attitude that some may have mistaken for coolness or arrogance. But they knew better. They knew that if they behaved like this they would be rewarded, and if they didn't they would be punished. In the privacy of their own home, obviously their parents had an image to maintain, but they would be punished. So the girls had learned very quickly to follow the rules that their parents set, but they didn't mind. They already knew that they were unbelievably rich, that their parents could afford the best for them, and regularly did spend extravagant amounts of money on each of their children.
Bella walked down the many flights of stairs that led from her bedroom to the dining room. Her parents were already sat down, but her sisters were not. Their House Elf had already filled all the available space on the dining room table with various trays of breakfast food. Bella saw to her delight that there were pancakes! That was her favourite breakfast! She loved having pancakes with banana and chocolate or strawberries and chocolate but her absolute favourite was cinnamon sugar, and she could see a large bowlful right in front of her chair. She sat down at the table, but didn't make a start on breakfast. In the Black household, you didn't start eating until everyone was present, the food being kept warm by magic. The only exception to this rule was if someone was ill, or not in the house. So Bella had to wait for her sisters to come downstairs for breakfast before she could start. After about ten minutes both Andromeda and Narcissa had come downstairs, so breakfast could begin. Bella had a total of seven pancakes – two each of banana and chocolate and strawberry and chocolate, but she had three that were filled to bursting with cinnamon sugar. It was an amazing way to start the day. As everyone else had finished their breakfasts, Bella asked to be excused so that she could ensure that everything was in order in preparation for their departure for Kings Cross Station. As she climbed the stairs up to her bedroom, Bella could not help feeling excited, and for the briefest of moments, her emotions were visible on her face. Everything that they had bought in Diagon Alley was packed neatly in her trunk, which had the Black family crest stamped upon it. Her parents had also bought her a large tawny owl, which she had named Cliodna, after a medieval witch. She stroked her owl, which was securely locked in her cage, ready for the journey to Hogwarts. Bella, seeing that everything was ready for her departure, left her bedroom and walked back down the stairs to tell her parents that she was ready. Her father called for the House Elf, who promptly brought Bella's school things downstairs, ready to go. Bella wondered how they would be getting to Kings Cross Station – it was something that they had never discussed before today. But she knew better than to ask. Her parents had difficult moods to gage, so she didn't like to do anything that might provoke them if they were in the wrong mood. It was different if they were outside the house, as her parents had a reputation to uphold, but she always stepped a little lightly around the family home. So she just wondered, without asking, how they would get across London. She knew that they would never have done anything to associate themselves with the muggles, as that could cause people to speculate that they sympathised, and potentially might become blood traitors. That was something that her parents would never allow. They were a pureblood family, part of the Sacred Twenty Eight, so to be associated with muggles in anyway would be a social catastrophe. The time was ten o'clock, and Bella knew that she had to be on the train to Hogwarts by eleven, which didn't give the family much time to travel across London, especially with her heavy trunk full of school things. The family had gone to sit in the drawing room, and Bella had gone with them. She was starting to get anxious as to how they would get to the station in time to go, but she didn't show it. She knew that her parents must have a plan, even though she didn't know what it was. So she sat drinking her tea in silence, with her father, mother and two younger sisters, all sat on the comfortable chairs that were scattered around the room. At ten forty-five, her parents stood up. Obediently, Bella, Andromeda and Narcissa stood up too. They walked to the front door. Her father looked at each of his daughters in turn. "We are going to apparate to Kings Cross", he said. Now that he had said it, it seemed obvious to Bella. Of course they would apparate. It meant that they would not have to interact with muggles, as they could just apparate onto the platform. She had never apparated before, and neither had her sisters, but they accepted that this was the best way for them to travel today. They all held hands, and her father twisted his right foot. Bella was pulled into blackness, just able to feel Andromeda and Narcissa holding onto each hand. She could not breathe. Her whole body was being squeezed, and just as suddenly, she could breathe. And her body felt normal again. She breathed a sigh of relief. They had made it. She looked around and was confused for a moment. They were quite clearly still in muggle London. But then her parents ushered the three girls towards a brick wall, and they just walked through it. This was more like the scene that she had expected – men and women in robes, as well as some in odd clothes that the muggles must wear, and the scarlet steam train, with the words 'Hogwarts Express' painted on the side. Bella relaxed for a second, before realising that they had left her trunk in the entrance way of their house. But that same moment, their House Elf appeared with her trunk. Her father ordered the Elf to place the trunk on the train, and then leave to start preparing lunch for the rest of the family. She obeyed. Bella looked around. There were many other young witches and wizards saying goodbye to their parents, and getting on the train ready to depart. There was a clock on one of the walls, and Bella saw that it was nearly five to eleven.
"Goodbye Bellatrix" her father said. He never called her anything but her given name. Her mother didn't either, unless they were completely alone. Then her mother would call her Bella, but she didn't mind really.
"Goodbye Bellatrix" her mother was saying now. "Enjoy your first term at Hogwarts, won't you?"
"Bella gave her mother a hug, whispering "I will. I love you" in her ear.
Her father did not approve of verbal love. He didn't really like public displays of affection, past himself holding Druella's hand, but Bella knew that today was different. She may not get a hug from her father, but he wouldn't stop the rest of the family hugging her goodbye. Next it was the turn of Andromeda and Narcissa. They were both sad that they couldn't go to Hogwarts too, but they had said their goodbyes yesterday and Bella had assured them that it wouldn't be long before they would be able to join her getting on the train. So today they just hugged each other very tightly, before Bella released herself, promised to write as soon as she could and got on the train. She waved goodbye one last time and then went to find the carriage with her trunk on. She knew that her father would have disapproved of her standing at a window waving goodbye to her family, and she knew that her mother and sisters would have understood. She had walked a fair way down the train now, with many of the Hogwarts students saying their final goodbyes on the platform, or waving to their families from a window. Bella found her trunk, about halfway down the train, so she went in and sat down. There was no one else in the carriage yet, so Bella sat quietly, waiting for someone to join her once the train was starting to leave. After a couple of minutes, the whistle sounded. Bella could see that the passage way was becoming a lot more crowded as everyone made their way onto the train. Then the train jerked, and they were on their way.
