Yes, yes this is yet another fanfiction based on Pottermore.
Constructive criticism, suggestions and reviews wanted.
Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape or form own Harry Potter and its characters. If I did, I would be British and a very, very rich woman indeed.
My name is Rita Lestrange, better known as Rit, daughter of Rodolphus Lestrange. Currently eleven years of age, and a recent recipient of my Hogwarts acceptance letter.
Father had been thrown into Azkaban after the war, but managed to escape, on the basis that the dementors were no longer interested in him, and his blatant ignorance to the world around him meant that he was deemed able to be released into the wizarding world once more. I never knew my mother, and Father is somewhere between refusing to tell me and unable to tell me. Despite being mostly unaffected by the dementors and Azkaban, the war had done quite a number on him and he was losing what little of his mind he had left as a result. All the 'comfort' I have on the matter is that he assures I am definitely pureblood.
The Ministry had decided that children of dangerous former Death Eaters should be monitored, so they gave us a Muggleborn woman to supervise me, under the pretense that she was a 'substitute mother' for me. However, she had arrived a tad late, as Father, while slightly absent, had managed to successfully teach me all three Unforgivables, letting me use his wand to cast the spells. Despite the fact that she was in our house under the pretense of a Ministry-approved programme, it was a tad strange, as virtually none of the dangerous Death Eaters survived the war, and those who did were in Azkaban, except for Father. While the circumstances were suspicious, she treated me like her own child, and as the only mother figure I'd ever known, she stayed with no questions asked.
Regardless, nowadays, Father spends his time locked in his room, reminiscing about the 'good old days', when muggleborns were despised and purebloods were in power. Personally, I had no issues with muggleborns and muggles, and the introduction of Annette had only helped matters.
Annette had been sorely disappointed in the lack of muggle items in the Lestrange Manor, and had ordered a few muggle appliances to help me 'learn the importance of muggles', a cover for her wanting a little bit of comfort from the intimidating manor. She taught me how to charm the items into working in the wizarding world, including a television set and an oven, which lead to many hours of fun.
Previously, I had spent my time in the manor's extensive library, reading up and learning all the schoolwork that I would ever need to know, along with all sorts of interesting extras, such as magical baking and multiple volumes of Hogwarts: A History. While Father was please I read about the 'glorious past', he was unimpressed that I was insistent on becoming a bookworm, claiming I was becoming like 'that know-it-all Mudblood, Granger'. I didn't mind in the slightest – in fact, I was rather proud.
The Ministry had been incredibly wary when they saw the amount of underage magic being used consistently at the manor, but once they had placed Annette within the house, she was more than happy for me to practice my magic, so long as it didn't hurt anyone. She taught me how to bake cupcakes by hand, and then how to bake them using charms. Given the explosion that had occurred when we had attempted it the muggle way, she allowed me to continue baking them the magical way, and was rather impressed that I could make them on a large scale at a decent quality. She also insisted that we watch some television, which she called 'TV'. She introduced me to the wonders of muggle shows, particularly a Japanese kind called 'anime', which we spent days and days watching on end.
She also insisted that I become an Animagus, and that I should associate with my cousin Draco and his children. While I agreed on the first, I wasn't keen on the second. I knew that Draco wasn't particularly fond of Father's deceased wife, his aunt, as not only had he been tortured by her, his son, Scorpius, was currently going out with Rose Weasley, the daughter of war heroes Ron and Hermione Weasley, the latter of which also having been tortured by said aunt. Annette had tried to force us to meet, but I wasn't keen on being compared to my crazed father and his dead wife, and Draco wasn't keen on meeting what he considered to be the crazed offspring of his crazy aunt. So, much to Annette's disappointment, the happy family reunion would have to wait until we met at Platform 9¾.
"Rodolphus Lestrange, you are not allowed to leave the house under orders of the Ministry! I will take Rit shopping for –"
"Annette, I've been to Azkaban. Twice. Do you really think I care what the Ministry has to say? I will take my daughter to go to Diagon Alley right n-"
"You most certainly will not! Or have you forgotten that you're under house arrest? Like I've already stated, I will take Rit-"
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed some floo powder and walked towards the fireplace. The two of them would be fighting for quite some time before they came to a mutual disagreement. It's faster to go on my own anyway, so no love lost. Before throwing down the powder, I called to my supposed guardians, "Goodbye, Father. Bye Annette," before chucking the powder and shouting, "Diagon Alley!"
Brushing the soot from my clothes, I wandered to Gringotts to make a withdrawal, enough to cover my school supplies, some new robes and some food, probably some ice cream from Fortescue's. I hadn't realised that Father was under house arrest, but that did explain why he wouldn't, or rather, couldn't, take me out of the Lestrange Manor. Pondering what he could have done to get the house arrest and the Ministry official, other than being one of the biggest supporters of Voldemort of all time, I began what I knew what would be a long shop.
After a rather uneventful but successful shopping trip so far, I had managed to get my school robes, all the required books and all the magical items I was supposed to possess. That left three things; my chosen pet, my wand and my ice cream. Considering the order, I decided it was probably best to get the wand, then the food and finally the pet before flooing home again. So, once again wandering the streets of Diagon Alley alone, I went towards the south side in the search for Ollivanders.
After a few minutes, with destination in sight, I looked down to the ground. Contrary to popular belief, you can learn a lot from looking at the ground, and it's quite easy to navigate if you know how. It was quite a nice cobblestone, actually and I've never-
"Oof! What do you think you're doing, wandering into people like that! Honestly, children these days…"
I tuned out after I figured out who was speaking. Lovely, I get to meet my cousin, his wife and his kids long before I really wanted to. Fabulous, nothing better.
"Look at me when I'm speaking to you, girl! Who do you think you are!"
I looked up at him and glared, blowing some of my mousy brown hair off of my face.
"Nice to see you too, cousin. Have a nice day? Hello Astoria, Scorpius, Jade. Just gotten Jade her wand then, did you Draco?" Standing up, I looked my irate cousin in the eye, much to the disturbance of Astoria and Jade and to the absolute fury of Draco and Scorpius. Clenching his fists to the point where his knuckles were going white, he managed to spit out, "Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are."
Smirking, I held out my hand. "Rita Lestrange, call me Rit. I'll be in first year Hogwarts this year."
While Draco glared at my offered hand, Scorpius had relaxed slightly, and Astoria had gently pushed Jade towards me. "Scorpius will be starting third year, and our dear little Jade will be starting first year as well." She pushed Jade towards me a little more. "Jade, say hello to your father's cousin."
Jade shuffled her feet a little, then hesitantly looked up at me and muffled a quiet, "Hi." Astoria gave her a reassuring smile and then gestured for Scorpius to say his part, all the while giving Draco a look that was quite obviously screaming 'behave like the adult you are'. Scorpius rolled his eyes and smirked back at me.
"Aren't you a little young to be walking the streets of Diagon Alley by yourself?"
My eyes narrowed. I don't take well to being patronised, as poor Scorpius had yet to discover. Wordlessly, I managed to tie his shoelaces together. Then, gesturing that he should come closer, he tried, and fell spectacularly onto his face. Well, that had eased some tension. Jade was now giggling, Astoria looked disapproving but amused, and even Draco had calmed down and was smirking. Scorpius, on the other hand, glared at me and then proceeded to get up, looking all the more mortified. Muttering something about me being a crazed little bint, he went and stood behind his father and sister.
Astoria looked me over, and voiced what she had appeared to be mulling over for a while.
"Rit, would you like to come over to our house before school starts? Only if that's ok with your father, of course."
Grinning, I looked up towards my cousin and his family. "Sure, I'd like that. I apologise in advance for my rude departure, but I should really get my wand before dark…"
After the cheery goodbyes from Astoria and Jade, and as polite a goodbye as I was ever going to get out of Draco and Scorpius, I walked into Ollivanders. The bell that resided above the door rang, and Mr Ollivander himself turned around. He began to size me up with beady little eyes, before muttering incoherently. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat.
"Good evening, miss. Can I help you?"
He looked nervous, like he was scared of me. Upon actually deigning to use my brains, I remembered exactly why he'd look nervous. Father had been a dangerous Death Eater who was extremely loyal to Voldemort, and had been to Azkaban. Twice. Aside from mousy brown waist length hair and hazel eyes, Father and I looked quite alike. Short, stick-like figures with faces that looked permanently sullen. As age had caught up to him, Father had needed Muggle glasses, and much to his irritation, I had needed them from early on as well. I possessed black rectangular glasses, which had silver glitter covering one arm that slowly began to reduce in concentration around one lens. Regardless of our differences, we did look alike, and ultimately, I was a Lestrange. Poor Mr Ollivander had a right to be worried.
"Um, yes please. I'm looking for a wand?"
"A wand, you say? Your name, if you please?"
"Rita. Rita Lestrange."
He paled as his suspicions had been confirmed, that I really was the daughter of one of the worst Death Eaters of all time. I sighed at his petrified expression. He jumped slightly, clearly forgetting I was there, and scampered off to find a wand, muttering to himself the whole time.
"No, no, not that one, no, perhaps…" He stepped off the ladder. "Try this one, Miss Lestrange. Ebony and phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches, surprisingly swishy."
Taking the wand, I waved it around a little, but the wand flew out of my hand and flew back to Mr Ollivander, who resumed his muttering. "No, no, not that wand... perhaps this one? No, no, not that one either. Aha. Try this one, Miss Lestrange. Blackthorn and dragon heartstring, twelve and three quarter inches, hard."
Taking the wand once again, I felt a connection with the wand that I hadn't felt with the other. Muttering a quick hair colouring charm, much to the alarm of Mr Ollivander, I managed to colour my hair a much more reasonable dark brown with a black stripe, a nod to Narcissa Malfoy, whom was more or less my aunt, despite Bellatrix not being my mother.
Mr Ollivander, looking surprised, managed to say, "Well, I suppose that settles it then, doesn't it? That'll be seven Galleons."
Passing the man his gold, I walked out of the shop. Noticing my pile of shopping by the door, I sent it back to the manor, and proceeded to tuck the wand in my pocket and go to the menagerie.
Having arrived back into the main part of Diagon Alley by half past five, it was obvious that I was going to have to choose my pet quickly and miss out on the ice cream before I went home.
Darn it, I was looking forward to that ice cream. Oh well.
Walking inside the menagerie, I was quickly drawn to a black kitten in the front of the store. It was adorable, something that I was certain I was going to have as my pet for Hogwarts. However, as I was looking around for staff that I could ask about the kitten, I spotted another kitten in the back corner of the shop.
Curious, I went back to investigate, much to the chagrin of the black kitten that was the object of my affection just a few seconds ago. Wandering over to the back of the store, I took another look at the little kitten that was stuck in the corner hidden from view. It was even cuter than the black kitten that I'd been paying attention to before. Smarter too, it seemed, as the kitten mirrored my movements, complete with the same look of blatant curiosity that I must have presented.
While it was clear that the kitten was a mixed breed, it appeared to be mostly ragdoll. It had black ears and a symmetrical mask that covered the eyes, but not the muzzle, along with a black, bushy tail and sharp blue eyes. The kitten had stilled when I had, and now that I was no longer of interest to it, it returned to the post that had been in the corner.
"Beautiful cat, isn't she?"
I jumped, then mentally scolded myself. War or no war, Father had taught me to fake being unaffected by anything and everything, and being startled by something as simple as an unexpected comment was unforgiveable in his mind. Sighing, I turned around to meet the witch in charge. "Yes, she is. What breed is she?"
The witch frowned. "She's a ragdoll and Kneazle mix. It's a real shame no one's taken her…"
"I'll take her," I said automatically. Despite not having thought it through, I suppose it was more or less given that I was going to buy her. "How much?"
The witch's eyes widened in surprise. "You sure? She'll be a right handful, she will be. You sure you'll be able to handle her?"
"Yes, sure. Now, what else will I need and how much is she?"
"She's going to be fifteen Galleons, young lady. Now, to the most important part of the process: what are you going to name her?"
Contemplating the options, it was obvious that she was going to be quite a snob of a cat, so a majestic name would suit her nicely, complete with the added bonus of appeasing Father. However, I had never been good with choosing names, whether it be for toys or pets.
A few minutes later, the sales witch was getting sick of my inability to choose a name and was tapping her foot in irritation.
"Any day now, miss."
Glaring at her, I said the first name that came to my head. "Anastasia."
Raising an eyebrow, she repeated, "Anastasia? Are you sure?" Her doubt quickly subsided to panic when I proceeded to a position that made it look like I was going to think about it some more, something that she wasn't particularly happy about, given that she had wanted to close the store at least quarter of an hour ago. Quickly, she wrote down the required stock taking notes and grabbed the items I would need to look after a cat.
"Right, there's a pamphlet in there about tracking charms and such, as well as information on how to look after your new cat properly," she was saying, shoving things into my arms in a flustered whirlwind. "Enjoy your new cat, have a nice day, goodbye!"
And with that, I was shoved out of the store, the door slammed behind me with a resounding bang.
Smirking to myself after a successful day's shopping, I sent Anastasia's things home, picked her up, and went to the public fireplace to floo home.
So, what do you think?
Link for the glasses Rit wears here: http(colon) collections/kirk(underscore)heroes/kirk(underscore )heroes/melissa(underscore)kirk/g1
Remember to replace words in brackets (parenthesis) with the appropriate punctuation.
Review please!
Luna