Honest Lunar Raven: The Dursleys hated Jen more than than their canon versions did Harry because here, her parents were alive and, to their knowledge, just decided to dump the problem in their "normal" laps, hence the blinding. The idea of magical poisoning has never occurred to me; in fact, I can't think of any stories that feature that scenario.

Voodoo in this story, like in real life, is an amalgamation from lots of different sources. However, though it's part of her skill set, I'm still not sure how often it's going to show up. It is much like a nuclear weapon: extremely powerful, but there just aren't a lot of situations where its usefulness will outweigh the risks of being caught doing it.

Disclaimer: Did Harry take the easiest courses simply because the red-haired barnacle did? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.

Chapter 5
Parent-Teacher Conference

In the week following Jen's acceptance into the Black family, life in 12 Grimmauld Place found a stable routine. She and Sirius would wake early in the morning and walk together to breakfast, which was made by the increasingly affable – to Jen – Kreacher. Afterwards, they would split and go to their separate callings: Jen to the library, where she truly devoured books on seemingly every subject contained therein; Sirius to the Head's study, which daily threatened to overwhelm him with paperwork related to family investments and the House's seat in the Wizengamot. Around one in the afternoon, Jen would fetch him from the room for lunch. At this time, Narcissa arrived from Malfoy Manor via Floo to join them for the rest of the day.

Lunch would generally be fairly pleasant, and Jen and Sirius would again depart to their respective domains. Some days Narcissa would go with Jen, and Sirius could hear laughter constantly ringing through the house; on others, she would retire to the study with him and lend what assistance she could. During these work sessions they would discuss many topics, and after they ruled any talk of her sexual partners and his experiences in Azkaban off-limits, they found a camaraderie of sorts developing between them, despite their differing political views and the gulf that had existed their entire childhoods due to the half-decade between them. Sirius had even come to the point that he was willing to call her by her nickname, something he had not done once in the entire 34 years he had been alive. They accomplished so much in their afternoons together that by the end of the week, he joked that he was going to use his position as her head of family to force her to be his assistant. Strangely, she no longer considered that the torture she first would have.

Once all the work was done, he, Jen, and occasionally Cissy would have a light dinner and discuss whatever crossed their minds. Though his goddaughter was still irritatingly tight-lipped about her past, he learned enough to understand her as she was now, even if he never found out how she got there.

The weekend had come upon them, and Jen knew Sirius was planning something. She knew not what, but the excitement leaked through his Occlumency shields and put her on guard. In the time they had spent together, she knew what he was like before unleashing a prank, and the clues she was finding were very similar to that. Her suspicions were confirmed when she was banished from the drawing room for the morning, and then passed Andi on her way to the library. Even Kreacher refused to tell her what was in the works; on Cissy's orders, she discovered.

Once in the library, she noticed the letter Sirius had given her the first time they met laying on 'her' couch. Picking it up, she opened the envelope and pulled out the actual letter. She put one of her fingers on the surface and felt down the left side until she came to a series of indentations consistent with the scratching of a pen. She focused some magic into the words written there and 'listened'.

"Dear Miss Potter," a droning 'voice' said, "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the fourth year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September first. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."

"Interesting," Jen muttered. For all that Sirius had done for her, there was still a part of her mind that doubted he would be able to get her into Hogwarts. Her fears had apparently been groundless. She felt the second sheet of parchment and decided to deal with it once she went shopping for her supplies. Setting it on the table, she returned to the book she was currently reading, a discourse on Veela from 1830, written by Bellatrix Black, sixteenth of the name.

It was around ten when Cissy knocked on the open library door. "Jen, we need you in the drawing room."

"Are you going to tell me now what it is you three are plotting?" She whined. She did not like people keeping secrets from her; they tended to come back and bite her on her cute little ass.

Cissy smirked. "I think it will all be clear to you once you're there."

Sighing, she walked with her adoptive aunt to the room. She hadn't minded being banned from entering; they had not used it the entire week she had been here. As Sirius explained it, the drawing room was for guests, the sitting room was for the family.

The doors were closed, but through her connection to the wards, Jen had felt five people and a house-elf hide in wait for her. She knew that three of the people were Sirius, Andi, and Dora, but the other two had come through the Floo connection; one with Andi and Dora, the other just a minute ago. Tightening her hold on the magic running through her body, she affected a calm mien and opened the doors.

"Happy Birthday!" yelled several voices and, even as she had prepared for a fight, the shouts still startled her. She was not happy when she heard laughter and comments on the height of her jump coming from the various members of her family.

"Oh yes, that's nice, pick on the blind girl," she snapped, which cut off the laughter from two sources and simply increased the volume of the other four. "At least Kreacher's on my side."

"Miss Jen is blind, yes, but Miss does not need to see. Miss is more gracey than smelly-dog Master," the elf said, and oddly did not follow this with a disparaging comment under his breath.

Sirius walked over and dragged her into the room. "Jen, there are a couple of people you need to meet. The first is Ted Tonks, Andi's husband and the Black family's new solicitor."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Dromeda and Dora have told me quite a bit about you." Ted spoke with a light voice, and, like his wife, had thick shields.

"Mostly good, I hope," she returned, and smiled at his laugh. She turned to Andi and mouthed "Dromeda?" Andi shrugged, and she grinned wickedly at the heat coming from her aunt's cheeks.

"And this," Sirius continued, "is someone you will become very familiar with, Hogwarts's Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor, Minerva McGonagall. She's here to test if you know enough magic to advance to the same year as the other students your age."

"Hello, Miss Potter—"

"Black."

"I'm sorry?" the professor asked.

"It's not Potter, it's Black." Jen had been thinking over the issue and had spoken with Cissy a few times concerning her birth parents and Sirius's offer. This was certainly a sudden manner of acceptance, but he deserved a shock after the way he had laughed at her.

"Very well then, Miss Black, I have just a few tasks for you to perform. May I see your wand to ensure that it is in good working order before we begin?"

They obviously haven't told her much, she thought. "I do not possess a wand, Professor. I have no need of one."

"Oh." This caught McGonagall off-guard. "I see. Could you first freeze the water inside this for me, and then levitate it." She pushed a goblet forward.

Jen raised a hand and tapped the side of the goblet; the water immediately froze, and she then flicked her fingers to lift the block.

"I meant levitate the goblet, Miss Black, not the ice by itself." Another finger flick had the cup orbiting the ice.

McGonagall gave an exasperated sigh. "I see you are just as dramatic as your godfather. Next," she conjured a turtle with a flourish of her wand, "transfigure this turtle into a teapot."

Jen rested her hand upon the animal, and it obediently transformed into the pot.

"Hmm, if we were in class, I would have to deduct points for retaining the original coloration—" She fell silent as, with a slight application of will, Jen pictured the color white in her mind and imposed it on the teapot.

"Please keep in mind, Professor, that I cannot see. It would be best if you specified a single color for any future assessments."

McGonagall was silent a moment, and she heard Sirius whisper, "Don't worry about it, we've learned to just accept it and move on. She's as hard-headed as anyone else in the room."

The professor straightened in her chair. "Well, that is the third year Charms and Transfiguration tasks completed; since Professors Spout and Snape neglected to report any exercises, we will finish with Defense Against the Dark Arts." A wave of the wand vanished the teapot, and another conjured a standing human dummy. "Please demonstrate the Stupefy and Incarcerous hexes."

Jen frowned; she did not recognize the terms McGonagall used and assumed they were the incantations. The way she worked her magic, she had never needed or learned those. "Would you describe the effects of those two spells for me?"

"You do not know them?"

"I possibly do, but I was not taught Latin incantations. As such, the names you used mean nothing to me."

There was a huff from the professor and a stifled giggle from Dora's direction. "Stupefy renders the target unconscious, Incarcerous binds it."

She nodded, then aligned her will to direct her magic in such a way. A flick of the wrist launched her restraints at the target, and when it connected, there was a pulse of magic. Having accomplished her task, she returned her attention to McGonagall.

"That… was not exactly what I requested. I wished the stunning hex to be separate from and before the restraining spell, not infusing the bindings. And, quite frankly, I'm not at all sure what you used instead of rope," the older woman said, examining the metal wire and hissing sharply when she sliced her finger on one of the many blades it was festooned with.

"Professor," interjected Ted, "it's a Muggle material called razor wire. If Jen used it on someone, it would not only bind them, but also cut them in multiple places. As a restraint, it's far more effective than rope."

"I see," she said. "You are more familiar with this object, so I will accept it as a suitable replacement. Miss Black, you have a tentative acceptance into the fourth year classes. You will meet with your Head of House every month during the first term to ensure you are not experiencing unreasonable difficulties.

"There is the matter of your electives to determine. You have five choices, from which you may choose two or three: Ancient Runes, the translation and, later, practical application of the various runic languages used to accomplish magical feats without a wand or potion; Arithmancy, the characterization of magic through numbers; Care of Magical Creatures, which is exactly how it sounds; Divination, the prediction of the future; and Muggle Studies, where you will examine Muggle culture and objects.

"If I might give some advice…" She waited for Jen's nod. "You have lived your entire life in the Muggle world, so Muggle Studies would be a waste of your time, especially as taking the OWL in that course does not require attending the class. Divination is an extremely… inaccurate discipline, so it would perhaps be best if, like Muggle Studies, you ignore that option and study it on your own time only if you wish to take the exam.

"Care covers each creature independently, so you would not be behind the other students when you begin. The same is true of Ancient Runes, with each year dedicated to a different language. The first year of Arithmancy is meant for the students to learn mathematical manipulation; when I explained your circumstances, Professor Vector told me that you would require a background in Aljibbera."

Jen tried very hard to stifle her laughter. "I think you mean Algebra, Professor. Which language did the Runes class cover last year?"

"Futhark, I believe; this year they will learn Ogham."

"Wonderful," she said. "I would like Ancient Runes and Arithmancy; I should be at the same level as the other students in those classes."

Sirius grimaced and muttered, "Of course you would choose the two most difficult electives they offer."

"Sirius, stay here and fill out the rest of the parchmentwork with Professor McGonagall. Dora, shouldn't you be at work?" At her mother's reminder, the normally peppy woman yelped and ran over to the Floo. "We'll be back down for lunch, and then we should go ahead and run over to Diagon Alley for her school supplies." Andi grabbed one of Jen's arms while Cissy grabbed the other, and then the Black Sisters frogmarched her out of the room.

Lunch passed quickly, then the four Blacks reassembled in the drawing room, Ted having also departed back to his firm. Sirius decided to have a quick lesson before their departure.

"All right, Jen, have you ever used Floo powder?" At her shaking head, he continued, "It's not the most comfortable or easiest manner of travel, but since Diagon Alley is under anti-Apparation wards, this is the fastest. What you have to do is think about the address you want to travel to and throw the powder into the fire. Walk into the fire, and – this is the important part – speak the address while still walking. It's important that you don't stop, otherwise you're going to be thrown out of the fireplace you're traveling to. You will feel like you're spinning and you might even be nauseous, but don't stop walking. Understand?"

"Yes, Sirius."

He nodded. "Good. I'll go first, then Cissy, then you. Andi will bring up the rear. Everyone clear, good." Without waiting for a response, he grabbed a handful of Floo powder from a shallow bowl on the mantel, tossed it into the fireplace, and entered the flames with a whoosh, calling out 'Leaky Cauldron'.

Jen watched Cissy do the same, and, with a shiver, followed her godfather and aunt. It was not as bad as they had her believe, in fact she felt completely still apart from a falling sensation. The worst part was easily the sound of rushing wind and total lack of her magical sense. A second whoosh heralded the return of sound, and she moved to join her family just as Andi arrived at their location.

"Good, Sirius was worried you would become lost," Cissy said after she saw Jen. "He has distrusted the Floo since he accidentally missed his grate when he was six and ended up in the Russian Embassy by mistake."

Ignoring said man's growls, she continued, "As it is a Sunday afternoon, we only have a few short hours before the stores close, so we shall divide the tasks between us. Andromeda, would you be willing to attend to the apothecary and purchase the necessary ingredients?" Andi nodded. "Excellent. Sirius, go to Gringotts and have two money bags filled. You can meet with my sister at the apothecary to give her one and then come to Madam Malkin's where Jen and I will be to pay for the robes. Jen, you will then go with Andromeda to the bookstore before joining Sirius to get a wand." She cut off the girl's protests. "I know you do not need one, but one properly matched to you may, in fact, aid your magic. If nothing else, you will avoid standing out further.

"Everyone knows what they are doing first, any questions? No? Good, let us begin." With those final words, their general set out for the entrance to the alley.

The words of the letter come almost directly from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", first American edition. I took out the part about sending the acceptance owl and added the part about fourth year. I figured that the Hogwarts Quill probably has a form letter it uses, so the letters will be similar for all years.

Now you know how Jen gets information from her books. The 'voice' she hears is generally the author's voice if the text is handwritten, the printer's voice if a manual printing press is used, or a dull drone if it was created by an automated process, like all her math and science books were.

None of the electives were explained in canon except for Care and Divination, so you get my take on them. The way I envision it, Voodoo requires runic diagrams, so she is familiar with Futhark, and she's already self-studying Calculus, so simple Algebra is not going to be an issue.

Yes, Cissy's a serious shopper; what else is she going to do all day while her son is at school and her husband is at the Ministry? I get really tired of reading about a shopping trip to Diagon, especially when Harry buys basically the same thing in every story, so here Jen's getting passed around like a soccer ball. After all, she only needs to be present to give her input on her clothes and books, and of course search for a wand…

Silently Watches out.