A large Bengal Eagle Owl sat on the Weasley dinning table, and clasped in its great claws were two letters. When all of the Weasley family was huddled around the table were the two letter given to their respectable owners.
"On the count of three, open you letters, ok?" said Molly
"Ok," replied Ginny and Ron.
"One, two, THREE," said all the Weasleys together. Ron ripped the envelope of his letter apart and then help his Hogwarts Acceptance letter in the air for all to see. Ginny, however quietly open hers and studied it.
"Well done you two," cried Mrs Weasley proudly. She hugged her youngest son tightly and then her niece.
"Can we go shopping for our Hogwarts things then, Aunt Molly?" asked Ginny sweetly. She knew that Molly had already had their books for them and gotten their robes. But those were handed down things. This time around Ginny wanted to do things with style.
"Well we already have your clothes and books, but you will be needing potions ingredients and a wand." said molly, frowning.
"I want to get my own cloths please, Aunt Molly, and my books." Ginny told her "aunt" innocently. "I can buy them myself, didn't I tell you that when my Biological mother came over she gave me a key to her vault?" this was of course not true, but Ginny needed an excuse to be able to use her own vasts amounts of gold, and Lysandra was rumored to be very very very rich. Very.
"I..I, you – Vault?" Molly stammered.
"Yes, Aunt Molly, I thought it would be rude of me to use your money when my biological mother had already stashed away some for me."
"Alright then, I suppose we shall make a day out of it," said Molly, exchanging a glance at the rest of the family. "How bout we all go? It's been a very long time since I've been to Diagon Alley for the day, and for pleasure too. Whilst your buying your things we can go and get some ice cream."
The rest of the Weasleys agreed to this, Ginny was so happy she had trained them to jump when she told them too.
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"Dudley, please come here," called Sirius Black from the library. Dudley heard him and rushed in there.
"What is it, Sirius?" he asked nervously. Sirius wasn't the kind of parent that punished children for being naughty, rather admonished them for getting caught and then pranking them for the next day or so. Dudley couldn't think of anything he'd don wrong, well besides placing frogs in Sirius's bed but he was sure he hadn't left any evidence that it was him.
"I've been thinking."
"Isn't that normally dangerous?" teased Dudley, rather weakly. Sirius grinned anyway.
"Would you like to become my son?"
"Come again?"
Sirius got off the reading chair he'd been resting on and stood up, placing a comforting hand on Dudley's shoulder. He looked directly into the boys blue eyes, affectionately he smoothed Dudley's blond hair out of his eyes. "Dudley, I want to take you on as my heir. I have all the paperwork if you say yes and..." Sirius stopped talking and just studied Dudley's face for a moment. "Well do you want me to adopt you?"
"Yes! I mean... What about Harry? Are you adopting him too?" Dudley asked. Then he realized that HAD to be it. Dudley could only get a father like Sirius if Sirius had to do it because of Harry.
"No, I couldn't do that... James-," Sirius took his hand off Dudley shoulder and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I just can't do that, he's James son not mine... But you could be mine. You could become Dudley Orion Black. Imagine how much my mother would scream if she heard that," Sirius chuckled.
"Ok... So what happens now?"
"Well I send this paperwork off to the ministry, they approve it, then I magically bond you to me as son to father. That means we are pretty much erasing Vernon from your DNA, because I've taken over as father."
"So I'll look different?"
"Yeah, a little bit here and there."
Dudley tired to absorb it all and just stood there for a moment, "Ok," he said finally. Sirius beamed. "Does this mean I get to call you dad?"
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Ginny threw the Floo dust onto the fire, "Headmaster Dumbledore's Office," She called and stepped through the fire.
Inside she encounter Albus speaking to Professor Quirrel. Who, it seemed, had just returned from his trip to Albania. Ginny knew that Albus had set Quirrel up to go to Albania so that he could find out for once and all if Voldemort was indeed lurking in the dark forests in that area. It wouldn't be too hard to persuade poor Quirrel to take a little rest, study the black forests - and send him straight to Lord Voldemort. Ginny reasoned
And Quirrel was now in Albus's Office, Where it would be all to easy for Albus to read his mind. Albus would realize that Voldemort was possessing him, and decide that was even better. He would keep an eye on Quirrel, make sure things didn't get to out of hand, and essentially use him as target practice for Harry. Harry would do it alone, hence fostering his maytre complex.
Ginny had loathed Albus for doing this the first time, and wasn't about to let him do it the second time. She was giving this Harry what her Harry always wanted, a chance to be a real boy. Next thing you know I'll be helping animated wooden puppets, and we all know how well that turns out, Ginny thought humorlessly.
"O-oh hello, Miss P-P-Prewett, I've o-only heard b-brilliant things about you from P-P-Professor D-Dumbledore," Quirrel stuttered, Ginny felt sorely tempted to slap the man, tell him to speak straight and stop being possessed. Of course this was a bit much to ask of a man when one was only 10, pretending to 11, while really over 3000 years old.
"Ah, Ginevra, Professor Quirrel was just leaving," Albus said and gave Quirrel a pointed look. The possessed man mumbled his goodbyes and left the room. "Now, Miss Prewett, what can I do for you?"
"Lysandra left me with large amount of money for my schooling, the Weasley family extend an invitation for you to come to Diagon Alley with us." Ginny quoted her mothers words, then a wide smile broke on her face, "Oh please come, Bumblebee, it'll be fun!" with the enthusiasm one can only use whilst a child.
"Sounds terrific, we can invite Sirius and the boys to tag along as well," Albus agreed. Nodding her head Ginny stepped back into the fire place.
"Be there at 11 tomorrow, kay?" Ginny said then grabbed a huge handful of Floo dust from /the bucket hanging on the fireplace mantel. "The Burrow!"
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Harry grabbed the school letters out of the horned owls beak, and replaced it with some bacon from his breakfast. A frown crept over Harry's face, Sirius, who was sitting next to harry, noticed this.
"Whats up, kiddo?" he asked, leaning over to see the mail in Harry's hands.
"It's the Hogwarts letters, Dudley's dos'nt say his name, It says 'Dudley Orion Black', whats that supposed to mean?" harry said, still frowning at letters. Dudley looked up and pulled his letter out of Harry's hands.
"Sirius, whats this?" Dudley asked, his voice betraying hope.
Sirius cracked up laughing Why did my only Godfather have to be mad? Why? Harry thought then noticed Dudley was laughing too... at him.
"What in the... Great, my cousin and Godfather have simultaneously gone mad. Just great," harry said with an exasperated sigh.
"Surprise!" The two wheezed out in between laughs, harry buried his head in his hands and groaned.
When Sirius and Dudley finally managed to calm down Sirius finally had the grace to explain. "Well you see, Harry, I decided that Duds is as good as my son and adopted him. We decided to not tell you till the magical bonding ceremony, but apparently Albus has already caught on... he would,"
"That doesn't explain the excessive laughter,"
"Yes, well, you see, I am quite mad, Harry my lad." Sirius responded with grin. Harry just rolled his eyes and read his own Hogwarts acceptance letter to see what he would need.
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Draco stood still as the shop assistant measured him for his new school robes. Guinevere sat on a stool, few meters away, watching her brother like a hawk. Draco heard voices quickly approaching down the hall of the shop. Madam Malkin was leading a troupe of customers.
Their was two boys roughly his age, one was a scrawny boy with messy black hair, and the other was a slightly pudgy boy. Trailing behind them was tall man with long black hair tied up behind his head, he had aristocratic looks, slightly gaunt. His grey eyes reminded Draco of his mother.
Guin, in her inquisitive 4 year old-ness, got off her stool and went up to the tall man and asked him quite bluntly if he was a vampire. Draco had to admit, he did look a bit like one he'd seen his book, but his sister had no class, no class at all!
"No, I'm sorry I'm not the blood-drinking type." The man barked out. Draco supposed it was a laugh. Seemed to him more like a bark, like a dog... maybe he was really a werewolf! Draco shivered. "Now whats you name, little girl?"
"Daddy says I'm not allowed to tell strangers my name," Guin said. Draco resisted the urge to slap his forehead.
"Oh ok, well I'm Sirius Black," The man said. Draco gasped, father had read the newspaper to him. It said that Sirius had been falsely accused and that once he was released he saved his godson aka Harry Potter and his mudblood cousin. The rumor mill stated that Sirius had since sent in the papers for adopting the mudblood as his heir. Quite scandalous.
However, Father had told him that Harry Potter would be a powerful bonus on their side despite his questionable origins. So Draco went into his best likable mode.
"Hey," Draco said in his best cool voice. "Sorry about my sister, shes just a curious type. I'm Draco, and my sister is called Guinevere."
Sirius nodded at him then turned to who must be Harry and the mudblood. "You guys be alright here on your own? I'll just go out and see if I can Molly and her brood." The boys murmured they'd be fine and Sirius set off.
Choosing the best topic he could think of, Draco asked. "So you guys like Quidditch much?"
"Course!" one said, "I'm Harry by the way. I reckon the Harpies are good for this season." Draco looked at him astounded.
"The Harpies? Nah, their a girly team of girls. It's the Tutshil Tornadoes all the way." Draco Draco, wondering how The-Boy-Who-Lived could support such a team. Must come from Sirius, Draco remembered his mother once saying they were a team for horny old men. Whatever that meant.
"What are you, crazy? Its obviously the Chudley Cannons!" said Ron Weasley as he entered the shop back with Ginevra in tow, Harry beamed at his best friend. "Whose this, Harry?"
Before Harry could reply Draco raised his nose to the air as he had often seen his mother do. "I am Draconis Abraxas Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy by Narcissa. And you must be a Weasley, how quaint." Draco sneered his best sneer. Ginny snickered behind her hand, his sister may have changed him a bit but in the end he was the same old Draco.
Ron's face grew red and his hands balled up into fists by his sides. "Harry," he said in a dangerously low voice, "what are you doing talking to a Malfoy?"
"More like what is he doing not talking to a Malfoy," Draco shot back before Harry had a chance to open his mouth. With a bemused smile, Harry stepped out of the way and started placing bets with Ginny and Dudley as whether the red-head would punch the blond in the face, first.
"That doesn't make sense!" Ron shouted, it looked like he was about to stomp his foot like an angry 4 year old might.
"Of course it doesn't make sense to you, your a Weasel," Draco sneered. Guinevere rolled her eyes behind Draco's back, and joined Ginny.
"Drake's gonna take forever to finish placin lower people in their place, and I wont be able to get any ice cream cuase of it." The young Malfoy complained.
"Brothers can be very frustrating," Ginny agrreed.
"Are you Weasley's sister then?"
"Nah, I'm Just his cousin, but I was brought up as his sister."
Guinevere shyed away at this statement, "Daddy says I shouldnt talk to Blood Traitors like the Weasleys."
"I'm not a Weasley though, just a cousin. I'm not a Traitor," Ginny explained to the young girl and watched as Ron punched Draco in the jaw; the boys sobs brought Madam Malkin rushing in.
"Oh well," Guin said with a dramatic sigh. "I spose I best be going, Daddy won't be plaesed with Draco at all. I'll never get any ice cream today."
Ginny said her goodbyes as Guinevere pulled her brother out of the clothing shop. The older boy had his nose cupped with his hands, but blood still dripped on the floor. Ginny turned her gaze to Harry and Dudley who were exchanging money on the outcome of the fight. Ginny shook her head to herself, today was going to be a long day.
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With clothes, books and potion supplies in hand the combined broods of Black and Weasley made their way to Ollivander's Wands. Ron already had his wand via hand-me-downs but at Ginny's will they were going their to get her a brand new wand, Mrs. Weasley still hated the fact that Ginny was buying her own way as she firmly believed that Ginny wasn't old enough. But in the end no one could refuse Ginny's puppy dog eyes.
Dudley was first to be tested for a wand, he managed to completely confuse poor Ollivander. He seemed to have a very similar core to that of a house elf and hence needed a wood that would remark on servitude yet also have a core of freedom and independence.
"My, my young lad, you are puzzling let me see... try Ivy and Phinoex Feather, good for Hexs," the aging man said and as soon as Dudley's hand touched the wand Ollivander snatched it back. "Definitely not, Mr Black, not a chance... Try 8 inches of mahogany with a dragon heart string, pliable with a bit more power than the last one."
Dudley took the new wand to his hand and gave it a hesitant wave, the window broke. "Not right!" the wand maker moaned, "not right at all... You need something more delicate." Ollivander searched through boxes of wands until he found what he was looking for. "Willow and Unicorn Hair, 10 and quarter inches, quite springy and rather feminine." Dudley took the wand looking rather disgruntled that Ollivander could suggest that he would work well with a 'feminine' wand. Which much to his cousins amusement, he did.
"A perfect fit! Yes I think the unicorn hair dose it... right whose my next customer?"
"But Mr. Ollivander I'm not a girl!" Dudley practically shouted.
"I never said you were my lad, I just said the wand was feminine. It's womanly in the old sense of words, a traditionally female gender role; kind patient and loyal. Now if you've quite finished with your fuss over the wand I would like to move onto this young girl." Mr Ollivander said and indicated to Ginny. Dudley blushed and muttered under his breath about he was simply making a remark, not a fuss.
"Now we move onto miss Prewett I believe? Ah I remember your fathers wand, Rowan and Dragon Heart string, 12 inches, sturdy. Now your mother on the other hand... I do believe she was turning people into frogs before my Grandpa could speak." Ginny did her best impression of a shy smile as the wand maker prattled on.
Ollivander pulled out his measuring tape and wrapped it around her head, writing down the measurements in an old dusty note book. "Which hand is your wand arm?" He asked as he proceeded to measure Ginny's arm span.
"Right," she said and allowed the wand maker to take her right arm. H e measured from her index finger to her elbow and back again, all the time scribbling in his notebook.
Ginny was given several wands to try, all failed for her. Even the wand that had been hers the last time ago only gave a feeble buzz. Ollivander was forced to test her magic just as he had tested Dudley's. "You have fiery powerful magic, commanding and when it needs to be quite dangerous. I see that today I will have a tough time fitting you... Try Phoenix feather and Birch, a short wand only 6 inches... no their goes my book stand, this wand is very unfitting, no don't worry about putting out the fire Mrs Weasley I can do it." and so on went the trials. At one point Ollivander even tried Harry's Holy and Phoenix wand.
Half an hour later everyone was slumped and sitting down quite bored, Ginny was sweating and her hair was messy. Mr. Ollivander looked quite wild himself. He told her quite bluntly that none of his wands fitted her as he could only provide Phoenix Feather, Dragon heart string and Unicorn hair.
"I wonder Miss Prewett, could you try very hard to levitate this wand box here without a wand? With the power of your mind?" Ollivander asked in a tired voice.
"Surely she can't!" cried Mrs Weasley, "she's just a little girl, how could she possibly manage wandless magic?"
"We shall see, Miss Prewett if you would?"
Ginny smiled to herself and put on a show of focusing her thoughts, making her face redden with concentration. Ginny made sure the box wavered as it rose. The room broke out in applause. Ginny let the box fall and grinned.
"As much as I thought," Ollivander declared. "Your vampire magics interfere with your witch magics. You'll need something that allows a lot more flexibility. I was thinking along the lines of a staff... I have a few out the back if you'd care to try?"
"Yes please, Mr Ollivander, sir," Ginny said in a shy polite voice. The Wand maker shuffled out back to retrieve his small stock of staffs. Staffs were rarely used in common day Wizardry, infact they were barely seen at all. Powerful half breed warlocks were known to use them though, such as Merlin himself. The last Staff wielder had died 142 years ago, so many believed that modern wizards and witches magics had come to far for such ancient items to be wielded.
Ollivander tried a fair amount of staffs on her of varying height and width until he came to hers... Ginny believed it was one of the more beautifully crafted. It had a wood that started a golden color at the bottom and then worked its way up to a rich brownly red. The handle was a white silvery color and the top piece was as well, it was a carving of what looked like a stag with wings and fangs... Ollivander spoke and brought her out of her thoughts.
"Desert Ironwood with Lignum Vitae handle, 63 and half inches. A core of Peryton spit, not what she seems this one. Just screams out changes, power, perhaps a bit blood thirsty but kind." Ginny took the staff from his wiry calloused hand at tapped its base to the floor, a bright blue flash came and quickly ebbed back into the staff leaving a slight almost black blue aura around the figure head. It was beautiful.
Crys of "Wonderful!" "Well done," and "Finally!" met Ginny's ears but she only had eyes for the lovely staff. "A good fit!" The wand maker said, obviously happy to be done with her. "That will be 36 Gallons and 2 Sickles, Miss Prewett, Staffs don't come cheap. Ginny gladly gave the man his money.
"Now Mr Potter I do believe it's your turn." Ollivander said and Harry's trails began.
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And thats all for now, Next chapter we will be finally going to Hogwarts. A thanks to all those of who have reviewed.
Ellyanah – Thank you! Some times I wonder if my plot is to cliché or even worth continuing,but with a nice ego boost form you, How could I not continue to write?
Zafaran - My schedule allows you chapter 6, however 7 may take awhile... I'm quite busy so you may not hear from me for awhile. As for my Muse, I have brilliant ideas, its wrtting them down thats the problem!
See you guys soon ... I hope crosses fingers
