A/N: Fast forward a couple more years! In my head, Shakespeare is a closet wizard, so both magical and non-magical people can enjoy his works and make Shakespearean references. It just seemed like the kind of thing Mrs Black might scare her daughters with, y'know, being a snob and all that jazz. Oh yes, and she addresses her daughters rather medievally, despite it being the '60s. I couldn't resist.


Chapter 3: Split Jump

Three girls sat in the library under the watchful eye of their mother, who had taken it upon herself to educate Bella, Andy and Cissy before they went to Hogwarts. On this particular day, each of them had been given the task they hated the most. Bella had a page of very ugly mathematics, including long division, Andy was being forced to study basic wizarding history – you could never be too young to start learning history – and Cissy was being made to write a story.

There was the sound of a beak tapping against glass downstairs, which meant that an owl had arrived. Mrs Black rose to collect the letter, sweeping from the library.

"So," said Bella, adopting her mother's tone, thinking she could catch her sister out today, "Andromeda, what are the names of the five most recent Ministers for Magic?"

Andy, nine years old, began to confidently recite, "Faris Spavin, Elladora Black, Ares Applewood, Nobby Leach…" But then her voice faltered, as she screwed up her eyes, trying to recall the one name she could not tick off with her fingers.

"Stupid," Bella interrupted. "You forgot Tryphene Lestrange, who was Minister up until the year before last!"

"I was just getting to him," said Andy calmly.

"HER," her sister corrected. "Bet you you're going to Hufflepuff two years from now."

"Well, H comes before S. We're leaps ahead of you. Just like A comes before B. Besides, badgers eat snakes."

"THEY DO NOT!"

"Young ladies!" exclaimed their mother as she re-entered the room.

Once half a minute of silence, guilty looks and reproachful glares had passed, she spoke again. "Bella, you have a letter. Apologise to your sister, or you will be denied the privilege of opening it."

"Sorry, Andromeda" said Bella.

"Do you know what nasty young girls who scream and raise their voices like that are called?"

"No."

"They are called shrews."

"Oh."

"No man will marry a shrew until they have been tamed. Do you understand now?"

"Yes," said Bella, thinking of the men she knew.

Her mother handed over the letter, and as soon as she saw the wax seal, with the great letter "H", her teeth flashed in a gleeful grin. After tearing apart the envelope greedily, she read the letter aloud.

"Dear Miss Black…We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…"

Bella put the letter flat on the table so that her sisters – particularly the awful Andromeda – could see everything clearly and jealously, from the handsome green ink to the crest at the top of the letter, which featured a badger, a lion, an eagle and a snake, all moving.

That night, Bella was re-reading her Hogwarts letter before Cissy cut in. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Go back to sleep, Cissy," snapped Bella. The tiny girl, her expression unchanged, obeyed.

"But what are you doing?" whispered Andromeda, whose bed was in the middle, between Bella's and Cissy's.

Bella edged away from her silently, continuing to re-read. As the snake on the crest flicked its forked tongue at her, she smiled.

"The Dark Lord said he's a descendant of Salazar Slytherin," she said.

"Of course he is," said Andromeda. "All wizards are related to each other somehow. We're probably related to him…"

Bella liked this idea very much. "I wish we were! How do you reckon we could find out? Maybe tomorrow we'll ask mother to show us some books on…"

"I didn't mean – HIM – I meant…but there's no way! Normal people – normal men – don't look like that!" spluttered her sister. "You're sick!"

Bella blinked at Andromeda. She was the calm one now, and her sister was the screaming baby. "You're right, he's not a man. He's more than that." And while her sister's horrified eyes were fixed on her face, Bella slipped the letter under her pillow. "But do you know why I really can't wait to go to Hogwarts?"

"It's the same reason I can't wait for you to go to Hogwarts."

"Why, Andromeda," said Bella. "I think that's the smartest thing you've said today; I might even have to look upon your fat face again in two years' time, even if it is at the Hufflepuff table."


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