A lesson regarding marriages:
"Quit bothering me with that, Cissy!"
Curious I stood still in front of the library door and pressed my ear against it.
"I am just worried about you..."
"Don't be so sentimental! We should all fight for this noble endeavour. Don't you want to restore the old order?"
"But of course I do! Even so, you are my sister and I don't want you to be injured during a duel."
"It's hardly probable that I will be harmed. The dark lord himself educates me in the dark arts."
"Nevertheless a lot can happen. Why don't you allow Rudolphus to..."
"Oh no, not this again Cissy! You sound like our grandparents. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that I can't fight myself. I won't let a man fight for me! I want to change something myself!"
"Is he fine with that?"
"Yes, Rudolphus agrees to it. We've already been friends in school, we have the same ideals."
"But you will marry soon. Aren't you going to become more domestic? Do you really mean to say that you don't want children?"
"Cissy, how many times do I have to tell you that we just marry to preserve the old traditions? We marry for the right reasons, however that doesn't mean that we want children together. We are friends and a good team, yet we aren't horridly corny lovers!"
"Are you really certain that you want to marry him then?"
"Yes."
"Why? You'll find someone you love and with whom you can preserve the old traditions as well."
"No, I won't. You know who I love and nobody else will ever do. But I have to marry someone. Rudolphus is my friend, so he is the person that will bother me least.
- Now we'll conclude this discussion forever. You better not tell our parents what I've told you else I might forget that you are my sister for a while and trust me, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes in that case."
A lesson regarding the future:
"Why were you so sad at Bella's wedding today Meda?"
"I wasn't. Why do you think I was Peipei?"
"Stop calling me that and stop putting on an act, you were. You may have smiled but your eyes were bleary several times. I know you, I know how you usually smile."
"Weddings are just very emotional, when you get older you'll surely understand."
"Quit patronising me, you are the only one that never does that. And you were emotional in moments the other women weren't. What's wrong?"
"Why did you pay attention to such details?"
"You are the person that always notices when I am not well. I intend to know whenever you are in a bad mood too."
"That's not fair towards the rest of our family, is it? We all care about you. Especially Cissy goes to great lengths for you."
"Cease starting a hare, you know for sure what I mean."
"All right, if you truly want to know I'll tell you. - I thought about where I'll end up in a years time once I'm finished with Hogwarts."
"Why is that making you cry?"
"Because I am merely three years younger than Bella, but my future is still completely uncertain. Bella's marriage was precisely what our parents wished for her. An outstanding affiliation with one of the most noble Pure-blood families next so ours. I am worried they'll be none to happy with my marriage."
"I am certain mother and father would be pleased about a son of a less noble Pure-blood family as well."
"... You are probably right."
"Don't worry too much about it Meda. As far as I am concerned I would be delighted if you would find someone who brings you happiness, regardless of whether he is noble or not."
"That's sweet of you... I think the same way pertaining you." Meda smiled fondly at me. "I dearly hope you'll find your true love."
"Ugh, I'm eleven!"
Her face lost some of its sallowness as her smile turned into a mischievous grin.
"Who knows, maybe you'll find your other half soon! … Maybe you already know him!"
"No way!"
"If mother and father want to keep up the Black tradition with one of us you'll probably marry Sirius or Regulus some day!", she laughed.
"Under no circumstances!"
"Why not? The two of them are at your age."
"Quit messing around with me! They are both children!"
"Sirius is the same age as you are."
"Meda!"
"It's okay, I'll lay of..." she said and raised her hands reassuringly. "You can't take a joke... Peipei.", she grinned anew while walking a small step away from me.
"Just you wait!" I screamed in equal shares furious and guffawing and dashed after her as she made a run for it.
A lesson regarding never loosing one's face:
My first encounter with the dark lord was terrifying.
I was on a visit to Bella and her husband Rudolphus in his estate. One night there were multiple loud pop noises all at once. I knew what those sounds meant. Several people had just apparated.
To my knowledge exclusively the immediate family was able to apparate here. How come I heard so many cracks? Who could appear here just like that?
I rose from my bed uncertainly and slipped on a gown over my nightie.
First I peeked out of the window of the guest-room I was staying in. However the gardens of the mansion were still silent and deserted.
I opened my room door quietly and sneaked down the corridor. At the end of it I peered round the corner tentatively. The light in the ground-floor was on. I descended the stairs slowly.
For fear of all sorts of intruders I nearly reversed, but my fear eventually lost to my nosiness and I walked down the last steps into the foyer.
Voices could be heard from the dining room and I couldn't dissuade myself from heading closer. Perhaps it would be possible to recognise a familiar voice... I knew I was being careless, but I was bursting with curiosity.
On the brink of pressing my ear against the wood of the door, to better understand what the people inside were saying, it opened.
A tall man stood in front of me.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in." he said and sneered at me. The glance he darted at me reminded me of a hungry wolf that had spot its prey. A cold shiver ran down my back.
"Show a spark of decency Greyback and invite our unexpected guest in.", said a domineering man's voice from somewhere behind the massive man.
The man named Greyback stepped aside with a mocking bow and I could see into the dining room. An assembly of people sat at the dining table of my sister.
Bella and her husband sat near the bottom end of the table. At the end sat a man whose face I solely knew from the newspaper and an old photograph of my father. Save that he didn't look as normal as the young man with the strange eyes in the photograph. Likewise he wasn't so blurry as in the snapshots in the newspaper.
This man was the dark lord and his visage let my hair stand on end.
His skin was as white as the bones of a skeleton and his eyes were as red as blood. His facial features were faintly reminiscent of those of the huge snake coiling besides him.
To stare at him was as if I were staring death in the face, his look was so piercing it seemed to literally permeate me.
Paralysed by fear, I did not have two brain cells to rub together. I didn't know how to act for the life of me.
Therefore I did what I was inculcated to do my whole life.
"Good evening.", I greeted all the attendants, even though I could not avert my gaze from the most scary man I've ever seen, and curtseyed deeply.
A lesson regarding proper conduct:
"You've got to hand it to her, she has manners.", said the dark lord. His voice sounded amused, although his facial expression remained as cold as before.
Everyone present appeared to be relieved at his comment and I heard a couple people laugh.
"Why didn't you mention you had your sister over Bellatrix?"
"I believed her to be asleep. Please accept my apologies for the sudden interruption. I am sure she was simply startled by the noises."
I looked uneasily at my sister, but she faced the dark lord not me. Her entire demeanour was uncharacteristically submissive.
"You are Cassiopeia Black?"
It rather sounded like a statement not a question.
"Yes, my lord."
"What is your impression of this meeting you witnessed out of curiosity?"
The uneasy feeling of being tested rose drastically.
"... I don't want to presume to possess the ability to get the measure of this meeting." I said cautiously, evasively. "Kindly excuse any inconvenience I've caused by interrupting you and your... companions. Surely you have important duties you need to attend to. I do not want to keep you from them any longer, my lord."
"She speaks well for someone who can't temper her whims, Bellatrix.
- Escort her back to her room and ensure that such an incident won't be repeated."
His voice got even more frosty while saying that and my teeth started to chatter due to my bout of nerves. I tried to hide my nervousness to the best of my abilities but I was fairly certain I was trembling uncontrollably.
Out of the corner of my eyes I perceived Bella standing up and walking towards me, but I still couldn't look away from the man that seemed to radiate immense power with each exhale.
As if my body were in the possession of a puppeteer my legs and arms moved to curtsy once more before I turned to my sister.
Her gaze was frigid while she ushered me out of the room in silence. Muffled voices could be heard once more by the time the door was closed behind us and we climbed up the stairs.
The moment we entered my room Bella slammed the door shut and cast a quietening spell on the room.
"I am awfu..."
"How dare you interrupt us?! Are you crazy to attempt to eavesdrop us?I would have thought that someone taught you manners you silly girl!
Do you know how lucky you were to be my sister? The dark lord was far from pleased about this wretched attempt to secretly listen to our conversation and rightly so! If you were somebody else than a family member of a faithful death eater you would have suffered the consequences! Are you even aware of that?"
"Yes, of course..."
"That's just empty words. Just you wait until mother and father hear of what you've done!"
"Please don't tell them Bella! I am awfully sorry, I will never do such a thing again!"
"Quite right, you won't! Otherwise the dark lord will make you feel the consequences regardless of which family you belong to! That's precisely why I will tell mother and father! You asked for a punishment! - I'm going to go back downstairs now and I don't want to hear another sound from you until morning! You got that?
- And don't you dare talk with anyone besides our family about what you've seen just now! You should truly be ashamed of yourself! Think about what dishonour you have brought to our family!"
With this she turned around and left the room swiftly.
As soon as the door shut behind her I broke down under the weight of what had just happened and all that had been said.
I lay curled up in a ball on the floor until late at night and wept.
A lesson regarding family:
I sat alone in the kitchen and waited.
Since the incident with the dark lord I wasn't allowed to be present at family meals. Whenever we visited my aunt or uncle or when my grandparents came to see us I was sent to another room. I was not permitted to be home alone either. I ought to always feel that my family had a low opinion of my actions keenly.
"How are you?", whispered a familiar voice behind me.
Startled, I wheeled around. Beside the door, half-hidden by the kitchen unit, cowered Regulus. He looked wary.
"What are you doing there?"
"Psst! Speak quietly, they mustn't realise I'm here."
"They?", I whispered back, being a bit baffled.
"My parents. They want for me to avoid bad company. For the time being that includes you."
"Why are you here then?", I asked and looked at him defiantly.
"Because you appeared sad when you and your family arrived here. - And because I like you."
A small blush suffused his cheeks and I had to smile.
"Thank you, that's really sweet of you. - But you should go now, I don't want to cause you trouble."
"Are you sure I shouldn't cheer you up? I truly wouldn't mind."
"You already consoled me for the simple reason that you cared enough to be worried about me."
He looked at me sceptically.
"I'm really serious about that Reg. Off you go!"
"Well, all right... It will come out all right Peia, I am sure of it. I will tell my parents lots of stories about how well-behaved you always were towards me. I can surely convince them to change their mind for your benefit. - See you next time!"
With that said he went away. A smile still played upon my lips.
There was a crack beside me and I wheeled around once more.
"Kreacher brings water and bread for the naughty Miss.", said the small, sullen house-elf that had emerged.
I looked at him blankly for a moment. "Thank you very much, Kreacher."
Kreacher's facial expression got even more surly as I started to grin like a Cheshire cat.
"Unseemly Miss, possibly even more disgraceful to the Black's than Master Sirius.", grumbled the elf ere he disapparated.
"You should really stop doing that.", said an amused voice behind me.
This time Sirius stood beside the kitchen door. Although he neither bothered to hide nor to talk in a whisper.
"I thought according to your opinion one should be polite to everyone?"
"I still think so... Oh well, I guess there are exceptions. One can just be polite that often to a specific individual and get nothing in return until one stops that vain endeavour. Kreacher is someone who will never reciprocate or even acknowledge acts of courtesy. That's why it's pointless with him."
"It annoys him, hence it isn't."
"I see that another Black will soon be sorted in Slytherin.", he chuckled.
"So do all Black's anyway, don't they?"
"Almost. - Whoa, water and bread, how pleasant. I was served worse things."
He sat down at the table with me. "How was your encounter with the dark lord?"
"Won't you get into trouble with your parents if they cop you here?"
"I always have trouble with my parents, that won't make a big difference.", he retorted with a shrug, though he tensed up for a second. "Well, how was it?"
"Interesting, truth be told I still don't know exactly what to think of it."
"Weren't you delighted to meet the saviour of our society?"
I was wary about how to react. It would be quite easy to reply to the same question if my parents were to ask it, since I would know the correct answer. However something was wrong with the way his voice sounded while asking. As if he wasn't sure if he shared the opinion that the dark lord was our saviour. But how could he not sympathise with the views of our family?
Every one we knew considered the dark lord as the saver of Wizarding Britain. I shook my head, I clearly read too much into it.
"It... it was strange... and frightening. Though I didn't know how to act at that moment. In all honesty, I cannot remember everything that happened, I was way too nervous. I just acted automatically, without thinking. When I think back on it now, all events of that night are blurred."
Why was I always so honest with Sirius? I should just speak after careful deliberation and not simply say what came to my mind.
"He has to be frightening and incredibly powerful, otherwise our families would not tolerate him as the leader of the defence."
I nodded silently, chewing my bred lacklustre without being actually aware of it.
"Hey, don't look so sad."
"My parents think I am a disgrace."
"So do my parents."
"Why?", I asked surprised.
"I am too sentimental, too active, not sufficiently proper, my manners are lacking and I ask the wrong questions, in short: I am no worthy Black."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
He waved his hand as if he wanted to dissipate my sympathy.
"Let's not focus on that, - let's do something to take our minds off things."
"What can distract us at this point?"
"Come along." Sirius leapt up, suddenly abuzz.
I followed him feeling uneasy. An excited Sirius wasn't necessarily a good thing.
When he grinned at me mischievously I had a sense of foreboding that I had just committed a big mistake.
A lesson regarding solidarity:
"... Thank you Minny, but I would like it best to not go to the ball at all."
"Miss Cassiopeia should be glad that her parents and Miss Bella have forgiven her. Miss should give her best to be on good terms with them once more.", cautioned me the elf with a friendly voice.
"You are right there but if I make a gaffe, even a very small one, I will be punished even worse."
"Miss Cassiopeia is well-educated. If the Miss displays that to everyone nothing can go wrong. Minny believes in Miss Cassiopeia."
"Thanks a lot." I smiled at her.
Someone knocked on the door and a moment later Cissy entered.
She wore a stunning ice-blue dress by which her eyes seemed even more radiant than usual.
"You look beautiful Cissy."
"Thank you Peia. I came her to help you to get ready."
"Thanks, however Minny is helping me already."
"I know, but today you should look even better than you usually do. Tonight everyone should see anew why you are worthy of the name Black."
"... Thank you Cissy."
She smiled briefly.
"- Aside from that I think it is outrageous that you never accentuate your eyes. You are really pretty, it's such a shame that you are too lazy to use make-up. I wanted to do something about that for years. You've got the same eyes as mother and me but no one ever notices because you..."
In the next quarter of an hour Cissy lectured me about every single mistake related to my appearance or demeanour that I've ever done.
I was more than just a little baffled at the end of her rant. Normally Cissy was the calm one from the four of us. She often kept to the sidelines and observed instead of talking. Something must truly trouble her for her to talk like that.
"You were at balls dozens of times Peia, bear that in mind later on.", she said after a small pause. Her voice was stern and seemed to tolerate no dissent. "This one is not one bit different. ... Don't worry yourself!"
Her hand moved towards my shoulder. For a short moment it seemed like she intended to pat me, before it stopped midway, froze in place for awhile as if unsure how to proceed - and finally backed away again. After Cissy had consulted the watch on her wrist she disappeared swiftly after exclaiming how late it was.
Shortly thereafter Meda came to comfort me, but I was already less nervous about the evening.
A lesson regarding wand lore:
"Oh, another Miss Black, I've been waiting for you.", rang out a disembodied voice through the overstuffed shop. A moment later a lean man with unkempt hair emerged.
"And Miss Andromeda Black as well, what a delight! 10 inches, cypress, Dragon heart-string, if I remember correctly."
"Quite right.", my sister replied and smiled.
Meda had volunteered to go with me to Ollivander's while the rest of our family transacted businesses in Knockturn Alley.
"And this Miss Black is called...?"
"Cassiopeia."
"Pleased to meet you. Your great aunt with the same name bought her wand in the twenties from my father. 9 inches, hawthorn, Curupira hair, very unusual. My father experimented with many different wand cores for a while..."
Mister Ollivander disappeared behind a shelve. "Let's see..." could be heard faintly, before he emerged once more.
"Let's get started with this one: 10 ¾ inches, vine, Dragon heart-string."
Once I touched the wand a chair collapsed behind the counter.
"No, this wand is obviously still waiting for it's true owner. Well, all right..."
Ollivander disappeared so fast this time that he seemed to end in smoke.
"9 ½ inches, yew, Unicorn tail hair."
A windowpane burst.
"11 inches, hawthorn, Dragon heart-string."
A chandelier dropped from the ceiling.
"9 ¾ inches, willow, Unicorn tail hair."
A ladder toppled over on the side.
Mister Ollivander cheerfully clapped his hands.
"I guess we have to try something entirely different."
A couple of minutes nothing was to be heard besides rustling.
"11 ¼ inches, walnut, Phoenix feather."
A warm feeling spread inside me and my surroundings appeared to glow. A non-suppressible snigger ascended my throat before I dissolved into giggles. I felt as if I had retrieved a part of me I never knew was missing.
A lesson regarding Hogwarts:
Cassiopeia,
I won't be able to bid you farewell on platform 9 ¾. That is why I wrote some important things down you'll need to know before your first year at Hogwarts:
You will soon realise that the headmaster is an imbecile who favours Gryffindor's and discriminates against Slytherin's. It is a shame that you'll experience Hogwarts under his guidance.
Keep away from Gryffindor's, they are a rowdy bunch of Mud-bloods and dirty Blood-traitors. You shouldn't waste time on Hufflepuff's either, unless you want to be bored to death by pathetic, drippy good-for-nothings. The only thing that makes their presence less bothersome than dealing with Gryffindor's is the circumstance, that their ineptitude at least isn't paired with wrongful pride. You can use them for extra-curricular experiments quite well.
Your best bet would be to solely spend time with other students of your house. Slytherin is the only reputable house anyway.
If you have concerns go to Slughorn, he will overlook many things if you use the right words. You can emphasise that you are a Black, he likes to collect influential and sensible students. If he likes you you'll get away with a lot of things.
The teachers in Defence Against the Dark Arts started to change each year while I was at school, therefore you won't learn much. I will start teaching you the Dark Arts during your holidays.
Never forget that magic has no confines. No one should ever draw boundaries to the endless power one can obtain through all kinds of magic.
Don't let the people at your school manipulate you to think otherwise, they are the scum that taint our society. They simply want to undermine the culture we grew up with, fight back.
Always emphasize that we true wizards and witches won't ever forget the old order of our world. Show the scum their rightful place. But be careful that you won't get caught.
I expect you to behave decently.
Be a Black, a Slytherin, be cunning.
Bellatrix
A lesson regarding farewells:
For the first time ever I wasn't in a bad mood on the first of September. This year I would not be all by myself but in a castle full of peers.
"I wish you all the best for your first year in school Cassiopeia. Play up and make me and your father proud.", my mother said with a faint smile. She pulled me against her to embrace me in one of her rare, brief hugs.
"Thank you mother, I assure you that I'll make you both proud. I will write every week. See you soon."
I looked at my father. "See you soon father."
He gave me a nod and softly touched my shoulder.
"Carry yourself like a proper Black. Remember your lessons. Select friends that will be useful for you later on. Don't fail our expectations."
"I won't."
I curtsied before I took my leave and went to Meda and Cissy, who already stood at an open train door.
We waved to our parents before we boarded the train.
