It was a humid summer day. One where you couldn't go outside without your hair sticking to the back of your neck and you felt like gasping for air. It seems to have been this way forever. The summer days were long and the pulsating sun was relentless.
Today was the day Vera received her letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The letter, scrawled out in emerald ink by one Minerva McGonagall, brought in by the family owl, Impereon, arrived precisely on time. It was taken from the owl by one of the house elves and placed into the hands of Vera's doting mother, Dina.
As she read the handwritten envelope, tears began to stream down her face. "Another one, Marshall. Our last baby is going out to school. I cannot believe it. Wasn't Georgiana just starting a few years ago? Oh, but they're all so grown up now...all of my girls...they're all women now." She sniffed and excused herself. She had got emotional lately since she found out about her eldest daughter, Jolie, was pregnant. Dina didn't want to accept being a grandmother. Vera's father reached over from his specially-ordered Daily Prophet and took the letter. His fingers brushed over the Hogwart's seal and a ghost of a smile appeared, nostalgia swimming through his head. Down the lavishly decorated hallways he strided, always brisk and confident, as he believed a man of his stature should appear at all times.
First, a slight knock on the door. And then he peeked through the crack in the door. "Vera, darling?" and there she sat, brushing her golden hair over and over and humming a lullaby her mother used to sing. So much still a child, he wondered if maybe Hogwarts wasn't the place for her. The world wasn't safe these days, especially Great Britain. He shook his head. Of course Vera was going to Hogwarts. It's where her parents went to school, not to mention both of her sisters. She'll be fine. She'll have her sister. His eleven-year-old daughter got up from her bed and trotted rather fast up to him; she could tell he was hiding something behind his back.
"Yes, Daddy?" As she said this, she teetered on one foot, trying to peer around the corner see what he had behind his back.
"Get ready to go out. You've got to go school shopping." With that, she jumped up and down trying to get her letter out of his hand. He couldn't help but break out into a grin at this light teasing. This was a significant time for a young witch or wizard. Getting your letter, complete with the shopping list, is an acknowledgment of their magical ability. It was their first time to London in three months.
Of course, being the Austrian representative to the minister meant being in the who's who. There were two parties every year which they traveled back to London to attend-the summer party which meant summer holiday for the children and the Christmas party. Being pureblood meant keeping in touch with all the other pureblood families. Marshall liked to keep his status high with all of his old schoolmates, even setting up two of his daughters with their children. "Setting up" means to be married, of course. It was the only way to make sure that purebloods don't dwindle down to extinction. Some were more focused on it than others. So much so that they were willing to murder people and dabble in Dark magic. However, Marshall knew that tinings like were way too much. He kept a respectful distance, just enough to secure his family's safety.
Marshall was confident that Vera, as well as all of his children, were bright. She would survive. Harry Potter's return to school was all over the papers last year, but maybe things were over, and Marshall wouldn't have to hide from past grudges for choosing to alliance himself with one party over the other.
As he watched his youngest daughter, with an ear-to-ear grin, skip right into the fireplace and disappear in green flames, he couldn't help but share her enthusiasm. She was going to be great.