Purpose is something that everyone is born with. Some are born to be loved by others, some are born to love, some are born to have an occupation, and some are born to save others. I've never understood this. How people could just know their life's purpose.
My father's purpose was to protect, according to him. He's an Auror that works for the Ministry of Magic, and he works to protect everyone. I don't know why anyone would want their job to be their purpose, but I guess I have no real place to judge.
My sister's purpose was, in my opinion, to be a never-ending pain in my ass. But according to her, it's to become an Auror and prove her house's stereotype wrong. I don't honestly understand that either.
I didn't understand a lot of things, and I wanted to understand, I wanted to learn, I wanted to find my purpose.
That was the goal of going to Hogwarts for this green eyed witch, to find my purpose, and learn magic of course.
Chapter 1
"Father, do you know why Grandma and Grandpa are wanting to talk to us?" I asked as we prepared to use Floo Powder to go to Lepus Manor.
"It's not us, it's actually more, they want to talk to you." My Father, Phil, replied as he anxiously twiddled a strawberry blond strand of paper straight hair, and made an effort to not let his blue eyes meet my own.
I kept my face in the cold neutral expression that it sits in naturally, and glanced at him in slight confusion.
"Don't worry, CloClo, it's just about Hogwarts." Dahlia, my older sister said, putting a meant to be reassuring hand on my shoulder. I quickly gave her an icy look, shrugging off the unwanted contact. Dahlia was going to be starting her seventh year at Hogwarts. With downturned green eyes and strawberry blond waves, she possessed a cheerful kind demeanor that apparently is not common in her house.
"Okay… But couldn't they have phoned, or sent their owl? This is weird, we honestly never even see them outside of birthdays and Christmas." I stated, with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, don't worry so much, CloClo, it's just going to be them wishing you luck and telling you stuff about Hogwarts! Afterwards we'll eat dinner with them, and I remember how much you liked their house elf's cooking." Dahlia sang, quickly ruffling my blond wavy hair, throwing down the glittery dust, and walking into the fireplace.
"Lepus Manor!" she exclaimed, disappearing.
"Alright, you're turn, Clover. Go on!" Father said with a kind smile, holding out the jar that held our Floo Powder supply. I looked up at him meeting his friendly gaze, and nodded. I grabbed a handful of powder, sighed, and threw down the powder.
"Lepus Manor." I said in a loud deadpan, closing my eyes, and keeping my elbows firmly tucked, as I had been instructed to. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the familiar extravagant manor. As I stepped out of the fireplace, I noticed just how much nothing had changed in the seven months I'd been gone. The lights were still a tad too bright, the silvery walls still had the same emerald accents, and Dahlia was already talking up a storm with my Grandmother and Grandfather.
Penelope and Seus Lepus sat upon an extravagant silver couch, that would have looked much more extravagant if it wasn't for the plastic covering it. Penelope Lepus had light gray hair and upturned green eyes giving her a natural stern expression on her aged face. Seus Lepus had hair of dark brown that was turning silver at the temples, light green almond shaped eyes, and whenever he gave his rare smile, dimples would always appear seemingly out of nowhere.
As Dahlia talked, Grandfather looked over, noticing my presence. He gave a small smile, and beckoned me towards him.
"And how're you Clover? You seem to have grown since we last seen each other." He said, giving me a tight hug.
"I am doing well, Grandfather. How are you today?" I replied, upturning my mouth slightly, to at least resemble a smile.
"Even better now that I've seen you." He fondly answered, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I turned to my Grandmother who looked callous as ever. She gave me a short look up and down, and gave a short nod to me.
"You need to cut your hair before school starts, Clover." She stated.
'A pleasure to see you too, Grandmother.' I thought, but would never utter.
"I fully intend to, Grandmother. It's a pleasure seeing you today." I said formally, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Grandfather began to get up from the couch, his knobby knees popping with each movement. "Well Clover, dear, I suppose it'd be a good time to go talk in the library. Dahlia, please stay here and wait for your father. If you see Ranrey, tell him to go upstairs and find your uncles."
My grandparents lead me through the corridors to their library. Once we got there, Grandmother sat down on the couch, patting next to it while giving me a pointed look. I sat next to her and looked down at my lap, while Grandfather uttered a spell, starting a fire.
"Grandfather, what is going on? What do you need to tell me?" I asked calmly.
He sat down across from my Grandmother and me.
"We need to talk to you about Hogwarts, Clover. Has your father told you at all about blood purity?" He asked.
"Blood purity? No, he hasn't. Does it have to do anything to do with blood types?"
"Of course he didn't, Seus! I don't know why you even asked." Grandmother chimed in.
"Penny, please," he sighed, "In the Wizarding World, not all blood is the same. There is Pureblood, like your Mother, Grandmother and myself. There are no Muggles in Pureblooded families, and they are seen as superior to others. Then there are Muggle born wizards, such as your father, who come from completely Muggle families. Who are seen as…lesser beings. Half-Bloods such as yourself and Dahlia, aren't seen as bad as Muggle born, but they're seen as tainted by Muggle 1blood if you understand what I'm trying to say."
"I'm following, so are you saying that I should expect some type of prejudice at school?" I asked, my grip on my dress began to tighten at the thought that my hopes of a peaceful and ignored existence at school seemed dashed away because of something as stupid as this.
"If you do what we ask of you, like Dahlia, you will experience no harassment because of blood status." Grandmother said.
"When people ask who your parents are, you will claim our daughter as usual, saying her last name is Lepus, because of our status, you'll be very likely experience nothing but respect. But you will say your father was an American wizard named Arnold Repling, he passed away. Don't worry about who it is, just say it. Because of that blasted Rappaport's Law, it'll already be assumed that he's pureblood." Grandfather said.
I looked at them, stunned, just thinking about how stupid all of this was. Blood purity seemed like racism with extra steps, and I believed it was just another thing that I didn't understand, that I'd be forced to deal with.
"So, I have to lie to everyone I know about who I am?" I asked.
"Yes, if you don't want to subject your sister, and yourself, to endless torment, possible attacks, and even death, you have to." Grandmother answered.
I was conflicted. I thought of myself who told the truth in every scenario I can. I know how I think, I tell the truth, I avoid trouble, and stay quiet. Like my mother, and she was who I was expected to be. She was who I had to be, and this conflicted with who I was supposed to be.
"Don't worry, Clover, it'll become natural to you with time, just remember to stick to your story." Grandfather said, patting my face lovingly.
Suddenly, the door busted open, a dark-haired man with sparkling green eyes in his early thirties came in with a giant grin on his face.
"Proteus Lepus! I've told you time and time again to not bust through the door like some sort of low class hooligan!" Grandmother yelled.
He practically danced to her side, kissing her promptly on the cheek. "I can't help it, I was just so excited to see my darling niece!" Proteus said, proceeding to lift me from my seat, giving me a smothering hug. I gave him unamused look, which I wished he could have seen but my face was firmly squished tightly against his torso.
Once he let me go I gave him a nod.
"It's pleasant to see you, Uncle." I stated formally.
He rolled his eyes, "Why must you go on with the formal language? And didn't I tell you to call me Uncle Pro. Remember, I'm a Pro at being the hip and far out Uncle!" he practically sang, making me cringe a little on the inside.
As if on cue, my other Uncle, Brontes, entered making the room a couple degrees colder, just the way I preferred it.
"I'm sorry about Proteus' intrusion. I hope he didn't interrupt your talk with Clover." Brontes said, bowing to my Grandparents.
"Oh, we were just getting finished talking, Brontes, worry not." Grandfather replied with a merry chuckle.
"I'm glad to hear that. Ranrey asked me to inform you all that dinner is complete, and the dining room is already set. Dahlia and the Mud-" He looked at me and paused, "Phil is waiting in the dining room." He finished straight-faced as always.
My grandparents began getting up, so I proceeded to start towards the dining room.
"It is nice to see you." He said, still expressionless as ever. I nodded to him, knowing that he'd understand my silent greeting. He was the family member I saw myself in the most.
We had a quiet dinner which mainly consisted of Uncle Proteus and Dahlia happily chatting. I knew it was because Father was there, since no one outside of Uncle Proteus particularly liked him.
'I wonder if they hate Father because he's Muggle…' I wondered. I had always thought they just didn't like him because they wanted my mother to marry someone else, but him being Muggle could easily be a factor in their hatred.
"Phil, we will be keeping Clover and Dahlia here at the Manor for two days before they go off to Hogwarts. We will do all the shopping, so do not worry about that. Make sure to your goodbyes before then." Grandmother said as everyone had quieted down.
"Can I not just morph into someone else and come along? This is an important experience and I'd really like to be there while my little girl gets her first wand and all of her school supplies. Please, Penelope." My father stated, uncharacteristically firm.
For a moment, the entire was silent, blinking at my father.
"It's Mrs. Penelope or Mrs. Lepus to you, Phil. And the answer is no you cannot! You knew what you signed up for when we agreed to this proposition when Dahlia first went to school. I'm not risking my grandchildren, her children's fair treatment at school because of your foolish desires." Grandmother stated with a glare.
"This is ridiculous, Penelope, you know what I am, and you know it's a specialty of mine to not be recognized. So why don't you let me have this experience with my kid?" He paused for a moment.
"Do you hear that? They're my kid's too! They're not second chances to fix your mistakes with Baucis!" He roared, slamming his fist on the table. Half the table gave a surprised inhale, since my Mother's name is not typically said in Lepus Manor nor in our own home.
"How dare you speak to me as if we are equals, Mudblood? As if you have a right to say a thing about my daughter. It's bad enough that I have to see you on bloody holidays, it's even worse that these poor children have your disgusting genes in their bodies. You have no right to say anything to me you disgusting Mudblood!" Grandmother said coldly, and with authority.
"Penelope, please, not in front of the kids." Grandfather cut in with a glare. She closed her eyes and was silent for a second.
"You will leave now, Phil. And don't you dare come back." Grandmother confidently said, a more distant look than I had ever seen in her eyes.
My father wordlessly got up, "Come on kids."
Dahlia and I silently got up, following our father to the fireplace, quickly going home, not talking of this occasion ever again.
I hope you enjoyed, and please feel free to leave a review with what you liked, and what I can improve on as well! Be safe and thank you for reading!