The rain ricocheted off the ground in fat, gloopy drabs. A young girl sat in the windowsill on the third floor of a mansion, watching the rain pour. It had hardly stopped all Summer, which had led her to sulk. She much preferred to play outdoors, away from the wretched gaze of her father, away from the hatred. She dreamt desperately of a place where she didn't have to listen to his vile vitriol about his great heritage being tarnished. Her younger sister seemed to suffer the brunt of the resentment, because she wasn't gifted.

She sighed as she thought of her little sister, Millicent. Millicent had come to resent her more as time went on, as her father had come to praise his eldest daughter more for her abilities. Millicent made no effort to hide the fact that she strongly resented her. It didn't help that her mother also sometimes played favourites with her. Her mother was a distant woman, spending little time away from her work, but she would occasionally spoil her daughter with rare signs of affection, telling her how pretty she was. Millicent had inherited her father's heavy, jutting jaw and big build. She knew that Millicent was jealous of her own looks, her slimmer build and caramel brown hair. But it was her gift that made Millicent more jealous than anything. She had often tried to confide how difficult her gift was to her sibling, but the complaints fell on deaf ears. She wished that she could swap places with her sister, so she could see what it was like to be 'special'. Millicent had changed from when they were younger, and seemed more like their bully of a father every day.

Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted by a call to breakfast, and she hurried down, the bitter thoughts gone in an instant. She could barely contain her excitement, sensing the letter on the table in the dining room. It was finally time for her to leave home and attend Hogwarts, something she had wished for since her mother had told her about it. She ran at breakneck speed, ignoring the scolding from the regal portrait on the wall. She reached the dining room, where her mother and father already sat.

Her mother was reading the Daily Prophet, drinking her coffee slowly. Her father was giving her a rare 'smile'. It frightened her when he smiled, his face twisting into an unnatural smirk. It was like he didn't know how to show joy. She could already feel the pride beaming off of him. My little prodigy, finally going to Hogwarts! I can finally show off her talent to the world, and we will be more respected by the other Purebloods. The thought was so loud she almost thought he was speaking to her, though he hadn't uttered a word. He stared at her, then irritation flashed in his eyes when she didn't move. "Go on, open your letter girl!" He snapped impatiently, and she beamed as she ran to do just that. He couldn't dampen this special moment in her life.

"No running indoors, dear." Her mother said absently, even as she ripped open her letter, relishing in this perfect moment. Her eyes took in the cursive written in green ink, savouring the details.

Dear Miss. Bulstrode,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Her heart swelled with pride at the letter, savouring the moment before flipping over to the next page. A large list of required textbooks and materials were on the next leaf, and she found herself feeling a little apprehensive. One of her parents would have to go with her to Diagon Alley for all of these things. She hoped it would be her mother, but the thoughts from her father made it clear this would not be the case. She decided not to let it dampen her excitement, excited at the concept of her new life beginning.

Millicent came into the room then, her face falling as she saw the letter in her elder sister's hands. Her jealousy welled up inside of her. It would be another 3 years before she received her own letter of acceptance. Until then, she would have to begrudgingly accept the fact that her perfect sister would be going to school and she wouldn't.

The house elves came in then and served the breakfast, her favourite, pancakes with strawberries. She couldn't help but beam as she ate, even as her father positively sang about how he could finally rid himself of the shame of his name being thrown into the dirt by his halfblood wife. Her mother completely ignored him, continuing to sip at her her coffee absently. Her thoughts were another story however, filled with just as much bitterness and resentment as her husband's. If he noticed, he didn't care. "Hopefully, you'll be in Slytherin. That way you can uphold our family honour." Her father said proudly. "One of the other sacred 28 families might consider an arranged marriage if you are. That would secure our position and standing, so don't let us down." She fought back a wave of disgust at her father's desperation to be recognised. She wasn't even convinced that anyone would notice her at school, let alone care about her heritage. Her parent's friends seemed to care a lot about it, but she knew that there would be an assortment of muggle-born children at the school. The family finished eating before her parents left to go to the Ministry, off for another day's work.

Millicent openly glared at her now. "I hope that you get sorted into Gryffindor. Father would be so disappointed in you. It's just what you deserve." She sneered at her older sister, sticking her nose in the air as she too left the room. Sighing, the older sibling tried her best to deflect the maelstrom of negative thoughts her sister sent at her, knowing full well that she was doing it to hurt her more. She knew that her older sibling would hear her unkind thoughts and weaponised it.

Galatea Bulstrode had been born with a very rare gift, the gift of Legilimency. Her gift enabled her to read the thoughts of those around her effortlessly. Indeed, she couldn't help but read others minds. However hard she pushed the thoughts away, she never successfully blocked them out. It had led to a lonely childhood; while her sister enjoyed playing with children her own age, she abhorred it. She could remember a particularly unfortunate occasion playing with the Malfoy's son when she had hit him over the head for thinking something nasty about her. Her father had been furious with her, along with the rather terrifying Lucius Malfoy. After that, she had spent most of her time playing outdoors, alone. Galatea didn't feel a lot of benefits from her gift. She resented that she had been given it at all.

She found her mood falling as she thought of how her gift would affect her friendships with the other children at Hogwarts. Perhaps there would be someone there who could do what she did, she thought weakly. She wasn't sure how it would feel to be around a crowd of other children. Suddenly, she didn't feel quite as excited about going to Hogwarts.