Eden Fitzgerald was perfectly normal, no matter how hard she tried not to be. She was normal with no hint of magic in her body. It comes naturally, she knew. It had never shown itself in her, though, no matter how many times she had read the Harry Potter Series and tried all of the tricks she had thought of. She knew herself to be a muggle.
That was the reason she was so confused when an owl flew into her house after a long day with friends. She was absolutely puzzled and had no idea what to think of it. In its beak was a letter with the seal of Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry stamped onto it.
That's the moment it clicked. She rejoiced, realizing this had to be a letter from the Wizarding School in Scotland. Still, she couldn't help feel a bit odd about the letter. Anyone could have sent her that letter.
Then again, this was her chance to be abnormal. She could possibly be a muggle-born witch! There was no way she could pass that up. She gave the letter to her mother who read over it. Mrs. Fitzgerald closely examined it before nodding.
"Oh, I know I've seen this information somewhere before! Ugh… Marius, our ancestor I believe… He was considered a squib…" her mother babbled in thought, her face twisted in concentration. "Tut, tut… Ah! Yes! He stole some letter from his family…" Her mother was murmuring, almost inaudibly. She began rushing from the living area to their home library to search through what Eden knew was old family journals.
Puzzled, but nevertheless intrigued, she followed and watched her mother thumb through the leather bound book from the very beginning.
"He was the first one to journal his life, you know. He was a squib from the Black family. Everyone thought he was a nutjob, the way he wrote and spoke," she babbled. She grabbed a series of withered leather books and set them down on the dark wooden end table.
"Who?" Eden asked, exasperated as she couldn't even get a word in. She was too confused to let her mother continue much longer.
"Marius Black! I've already told you this, darling, please keep up. He was a squib, as he called it. I've only read the beginning of the first journal and looked through his last. He was abused by his family," Mrs. Fitzgerald stated matter-of-factly. "I thought he was delusional, in all honestly. He was slowly going a bit loony nearing the end of his years."
"So… the magic gene just sort of resurfaced?" Eden questioned.
"Yes. I suppose that's how it works…" she murmured, deep in thought. "However, we'll speak with that wizard or warlock or witch, or whatever, that will come tomorrow to give us more information!"
There was all the proof she needed. Right there on the end table was the proof the Wizarding world was real. A person, a squib, had laid out all the information she needed. Marius' life had to have been written in those books for years. There were so many of them, way more than she had.
"Mom?" she finally found her voice. Her mother's attention turned back to her.
"Can I borrow all of his journals?"
The first book was older than her by a long shot. It was almost one hundred years old and hadn't been opened for a while. The leather that it was bound in was ragged and felt as though it might crumble underneath of her light touch. She could feel the crack of the journal as she opened it to find once blank pages filled with the words from an inked quill. It made so much noise that she opened it slower than she meant to, in fear that it wouldn't fall apart. Her eyes scanned it quickly, setting it gently in her lap.
September 1st, 1923
I cried to get this journal today. My parents had no sitter for me today so I had to go with them to Diagon Alley. My parents are the people who I'm speaking of. Though I can barely call them that.
I should keep a record of who I am for my children and descendants along the line, if I even live that long. I am Marius Nigellus Black, the third child and son of Cygnus Black II and Violetta Bulstrode. I have two siblings, Pollux Black, aged eleven, and Cassiopeia Black, aged eight. This year is Pollux's first year at a wizard school named Hogwarts.
I am part of the most prestigious pureblooded wizarding family, known as the Black Family. A squib is the ultimate disgrace. I have no power, magical or otherwise, and I have been taught precisely since the age of three proper etiquette and writing techniques. This is only so I write all of the letters for my guardians. They don't deserve to be called my parents, I recently decided.
They are purebloods. I am a squib. I am not, under any circumstances, a proper citizen. I am merely a servant to the people that should be my family.
I know a few other squibs, but usually they're kept hushed up. There's Venus Malfoy, who's thirteen. She's the sister of Acheros and Almeda. They're mean. Then there's Walter Potter. He's alright, but his parents always get into fights over him… Mr. Henry Potter doesn't want to disown him, but his wife really doesn't want a squib in the family… Same for the others in his family… Then of course there's Florence Parkinson, Earnest Burke, and Cecilia Weasley. Cecilia is the only one, I believe, that won't get disowned.
Violetta is calling me now. I have to go.
Marius
Eden finished at the exactly right time. Well, sort of. She rushed it a bit nearing the end because she got excited, but as she shut the book she was startled by a soft knocking pattern on the door.
"Hey mum! Someone's at the door!" she called as she set the book on the sofa. She stood up and got to the door before her mother, opening it with a smile. It was the day after the letter had been sent. She was excited to see what magical person would be showing up at her door. She opened it, a bright smile on her face.
Neville Longbottom was the wizard that was sent to inform us. He was a Herbology professor at Hogwarts now. She knew that, at least, from the Deathly Hallows' epilogue. He was wearing the equivalent of muggle clothes in the Wizarding world. Of course, it wasn't exactly the most integrated into the society as most wizards would thing.
"You must be Ms. Fitzgerald. Is your mother here?" he asked, getting straight to the point. Neville had slight scruff on his face and it wrinkled with his cheeks as he smiled. Eden couldn't help but wonder if that itched.
"Oh, yes. One moment Professor Longbottom! Come on in, if you'd like," she babbled a bit, not even thinking about how she had known his name before he had told her. He caught that, however, and was a bit taken aback by the realization of a muggle-born knowing his name without him introducing himself. She went to go get her mother, leaving Neville to work out the puzzle in his mind on the sofa.
As mother and daughter entered the living quarters, Neville stood up to shake Mrs. Fitzgerald's hand.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fitzgerald," Neville said sincerely. "I'm the deputy headmaster and Herbology professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm Professor Neville Longbottom."
"Please, call me Erica, sir. This is Eden, as I'm sure you know." Her mother gestured for him to sit yet again.
"Yes, yes… Now I suppose I should explain all of this, ehem, craziness to you."
