The evening following Nefaria's purchase of her wand, the girl spent the entire night holed up in her room practicing magic. After a few hours, she had mastered all the basic spells in the first few chapters of Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. She had all her pillows floating above her head with a simple "Wingardium Leviosa", and she had ripped and repaired all of them for practice of "Diffindo" and "Reparo".

Nefaria smiled and looked up at the pillows in wonder. She had done magic! Real magic, with a wand! When Bellatrix came to check on her later, Nefaria was fast asleep in her bed, clutching her wand with a huge grin on her face. The pillows still floated above her. Bellatrix smiled a small smile.

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From then on, every day Nefaria stayed in the backyard all morning and then again in the evening. In the morning, Bellatrix taught her daughter normal magic she would learn in school- transfiguration, charms, and even a bit of herbology. Then in the evening, they would practice dueling.

Nefaria caught on quickly; after the first month, she could disarm Bellatrix in a duel. It was a great feat, and Bellatrix ran up to her, picked her up, and squeezed her tight the first time it happened. Nefaria stood up straight and tall, looking very proud of herself.

A few months later, Bellatrix walked out into the backyard at the beginning of the lesson, cupping something in her hands. She kneeled down to Nefaria and said, "Nefaria, I think it is time you learn one of the most important spells in this family. It is difficult, and it requires a lot of effort. Are you ready?"

Nefaria smiled and nodded. Bellatrix opened her hands and a small garden frog was resting there. "First, make it bigger," Bellatrix said.

Nefaria pointed her wand at the frog and said, "Engorgio". The frog grew three times its size. Bellatrix nodded slightly.

"Now, I want you to gather up all the emotion you have in your body. All your hatred. All your anger. Can you do that?"

Nefaria clenched her fists and thought hard for a moment. Then she relaxed. "I can't," she said quietly. "I can't be angry when I do magic. I love it!"

Bellatrix sighed. "Is there anyone you hate, Nefaria? Anyone in the books you read that you absolutely despise?"

Nefaria pondered for a moment. "I hate Father," she said quietly.

Bellatrix jolted back, surprised. Her eyes flashed with anger and she pulled out her wand. "Crucio," she said. Nefaria fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Bellatrix lifted the curse after only a second- barely enough time to feel much pain. But it got the point across.

Nefaria looked up at her mother in fear. "M-mum?" she said, trembling.

Bellatrix looked at her coldly. "It was necessary. I'm sorry, but it was necessary. You will never say a word against your father in this household. Do you understand me? He was a great, powerful wizard who benefited the world and tried to purge mankind of filth. I know why you hate him," she said, suddenly softer. "You hate that he left. You hate that we have to live here like this, in solitude."

Nefaria nodded meekly. "Don't hate your father. Hate the boy whose fault it is your father fell."

"Who?" Nefaria asked. "What's his name?"

Bellatrix opened her mouth, then suddenly closed it. "Knowledge is dangerous, Nefaria. If I told you the boy's name, you would figure out your Father's name, too. And that can't happen. Not yet. You need to just focus on learning and becoming a powerful witch. When you're old enough, I'll tell you. But right now, just know that he was a great man."

There was a moment of silence. "Mum," Nefaria said in a very small voice. "Can I still learn the spell?"

Bellatrix took a deep breath. "The incantation is 'Crucio'. You have to mean it, Nefaria. It has to be full of hatred. You want to torture that animal. Try it."

Nefaria looked at the large frog. She clenched her teeth. She tried thinking about the boy who killed her father, and she said the incantation. The frog twitched, obviously uncomfortable, but it didn't have the full effect. Nefaria closed her eyes. If Father was a great man, why did he fall because of a boy?, she thought. If he was a great man, he would have defended himself. No, I still hate father, she concluded. It was his fault that he died.

She thought about this more, and she could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her. She pointed her wand and shouted, "Crucio!" The frog began squirming, tortured by Nefaria's curse. It made odd croaking noises. Nefaria gazed at it in wonder.

Finally, she let go, and Bellatrix finished off the frog with a quick killing curse. "You'll learn that one another time," she said to the side. "Were you thinking about the boy?" she asked Nefaria.

"Yes, Mother," Nefaria replied.

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There came a time when Nefaria had had the chance to torture every animal, bug, spider, and insect that Bellatrix could get her hands on. Nefaria still wasn't sure what to think of it. She enjoyed the feeling of power and magic flowing through her veins when she cursed the animals; she knew that she was dominant and powerful and she loved it. On the other hand, she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to be the one under the curse. She couldn't forget the quick second in which her mother had caused her such pain.

Nefaria stood patiently in the backyard, waiting for her mother to return. Before Bellatrix had left, she leaned down to Nefaria and whispered, "I'm going to give you a special treat today."

Nefaria looked around in boredom. Finally, Bellatrix returned to the backyard, something large floating behind her as she walked closer. "What charm did I use?" Bellatrix threw the question at Nefaria.

"Locomotor," Nefaria fired back. This was just one example of the constant training that Bellatrix enforced on her daughter. "What is that?"

Bellatrix grinned widely. "An animal for you to practice Crucio on," she said.

Nefaria craned her neck to see the animal more closely. "Is that a… wait a second, Mother, that's a person!" she exclaimed and gaped, eyebrows furrowed. "Who is that? I can't torture a person! And you kill the animals afterwards. Are you going to kill a human, Mother?" she asked, disbelieving.

Bellatrix giggled. "Of course I will. Don't think of it as a human, Nefaria. It really, truly is an animal. It's a muggle."

Nefaria sighed. "Mother…" she said uncertainly. "What's so bad about muggles?"

Bellatrix stepped forward and put her shoulders on Nefaria. "They're filthy. Their blood is tainted. They don't know magic. They're stupid. They're disgusting pigs who deserve only to be ruled by us." She looked straight into Nefaria's cool blue eyes. "We are superior."

Nefaria slowly nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

"You're damn right it makes sense. So, you ready to practice?" Nefaria pulled out her wand, and took a defensive stance. Holding her wand in front of her, she rocked back and forth on her two feet, ready for anything. Bellatrix made a flourishing movement with her wand, and the man was turned right side up. She flicked her wand again, and he woke up, standing in front of Nefaria.

"Wh- what's going on? Wh-where a-am I? What h-happened?" he stuttered. Bellatrix nodded to Nefaria, indicating that she start.

Nefaria licked her lips in concentration. "He is stupid," she said quietly. Bellatrix chuckled. Nefaria took deep breath. "Crucio!"

The man let out an ear-splitting scream. He fell to the ground, squirming and twitching, consumed by an invisible force of pain. He was in agony. After a few seconds, Nefaria lifted the curse in surprise. "Mother?" she asked uncertainly. "Is it supposed to sound that way? It's… it's horrible."

Bellatrix pursed her lips and clenched her fists. "Yes," she said coldly. "I don't want any of this 'feeling sorry for the enemy' nonsense. He deserves to be tortured. I don't want any more uncertainty. Understood?"

Nefaria stood up tall, not wanting to disappoint her mom. "Yes, Mother." She turned back to the man, whimpering on the ground. She put the curse on him once more. Inside, she cringed when she heard him yell again, but she put on a cold face for her mother, showing no emotion whatsoever.

Finally, the man stopped screaming and he just lay on the ground, still squirming but too exhausted to let out a sound. Bellatrix smiled at Nefaria, and the little girl flicked her wand. The man relaxed, panting hard, closed his eyes, and slid into unconsciousness.

"That was incredible, Nefaria!" Bellatrix exclaimed.

"Thank you, Mother," Nefaria replied, trying to smile.

Bellatrix turned to the man and said "Avada Kedavra" softly. A green light shot out of her wand, and the man stopped breathing. Nefaria clenched her jaw and her fists, and cringed.

But Bellatrix's back was turned, and she saw nothing.