The New Marauder

Thirteen

A sharp bite to my ear makes my head lift up, and I stare at my owl standing on the table next to me, giving me a weird look.
"I really need to give you a name, huh." I whisper, stroking his chest. "How about, Dr. Whoo?" I ask, thinking of mine and Uncle Theo's favorite show. When he doesn't respond, I try to think of more; however, Professor McGonagall chooses to take advantage of the moment to sit down in one of the other seats.
"Would you like to tell me what happened in there?" She asks, removing the stern front she's had up all day.
"I accidentally used my wand." I lift it up and show her. "I don't know what happened. I just thought of-"
"Let's not think of it again, shall we?" She rushes out, gently nudging the tip of the wand away from her. "Is that all?"
"Mr. Ollivander said he knew my parents, well, he said he sold them their first wands." I sigh looking down. "I feel confused, really. I don't understand how they could leave me with Uncle Charlie. Not that he's not a good person, he's the best. So is Anna and Uncle Theo." I smile, thinking of all the times we did things as a family.
"I can't speak for your parents, but I would like you to try and understand their situation. You see when you were born, there was a war going on here in Europe, a terrible one. Not one that would make it into any type of muggle news, well not directly." She pauses, looking out to the passing people. "During that time, no one knew who were friends or who was foe, Ms. Black. And your parents were one of the few fighting against the people who were having fun hurting and killing innocent people. They were so proud to go against some of the darkest Witches and Wizards of all time and let everyone know where they stood. Then you came along, the bad people found out and used that against your parents. They took your mother away from you and your father, so he decided to do what he did to keep you safe. No one other than a trusted few knew of your whereabouts until today."
"So I'm not safe anymore?" I ask, looking around at all the people in the alley.
"You are, sweetie, trust me. You are one of the safest out there." She assures me, patting my knee gently. "We are just being overprotective of you because there are some of those bad guys that got away with everything they did and will do anything to hurt your parents for putting their friends in prison, that includes hurting you."
"Why aren't they locked up like the others?" "Some of them paid lots of money or claimed they didn't know or understand what they were doing, even going so far as saying they were forced into doing it." She says grimly. "But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter, though, is that you are safe and happy, most importantly that you learn all the things you want to in order to keep you safe and happy."
"Whoobacca makes me happy." I say, eyeing my owl. "Really?" I ask, letting out a huff at his indifference.
"Trying to come up with a name?" She asks, laughing a little. "I suggest waiting a little longer, take the chance to bond and get to know him."
"I will. Thank you, Professor." I smile back.
"You're welcome. Even though I may not be your head of the house, please know my door will always be open to those who need to talk." She says, patting my knee again. "There is another matter I wished to discuss before we part ways." She continues a bit more sternly. "The staff at Hogwarts have been made aware of your condition, I want to assure you that no matter what, you shall not worry about where you fit in. Keeping that in mind, the Headmaster and I discussed it at lengths and have come to the conclusion that no matter what house you are sorted into, we feel it's best that for the time being, you will have a the guest dorm rooms to yourself while attending school."
"I won't be sleeping with any of my friends?" I ask, feeling my heart sink.
"Unfortunately, due to the potential of possible bullying and or future concerns of parents, you will have to sleep separately. I know it's not fair, Orion, but for now, that's the way it has to be." Holding back my tears, I give her a nod. "That being said, if you were to become friends with those who do not care for your condition, you are more than able to ask them to share your dorm with you, so long as you are all in the same house." She finishes, giving me a wink.
"Okay." I whisper, perking up a bit.
"I will see you on September first, and just between you and me, I really hope to see you in Gryffindor, Ms. Black. I hear you're an excellent flyer, possibly better than your mother, and we could use your talents on the pitch." She says before standing up and walking over to Anna and Uncle Theo.
   
"So this is it, huh?" Anna breaks the thick tension as we stand out on the street looking at the shabby, rundown area.
Houses surrounding us had broken windows and doors that hung off hinges, leaving their emptiness for all who pass to see. While the smell of rotting trash filled the cool sunny air, threatening my surprisingly good breakfast to spew from my stomach.
"We have to either get in or leave; I'm about to barf." Sam says, holding his stomach.
"Well, there's number eleven." Uncle Theo points to a small house that has a loud TV playing. "And there's number thirteen." He points to one of the rundown houses. "Are we sure we got the address right?"
"Yep." Anna checks the paper one last time before looking up as if something hit her on the head. "The Black family is old, ancient, and all that right?"
"Yeah, so?" Uncle Theo shrugs cautiously, looking at something moving in one of the trash bins.
"So what if they have placed an untraceable charm on the house. We do it in the States to avoid all those No-maj laws. I bet-"
"They placed one on this place." Theo sighs, looking up to the sky. "Great, we will never find it."
"That's not great. What about Kreacher?" I say, glaring at Uncle Theo.
"I was-"
"That's it, Ori, call Kreacher." Anna almost shouts excitedly at me.
"Um, what?"
"Kreacher should be able to bring one of us inside so that way it will reveal itself to the rest of us." Anna explains, smiling widely.
"Oh, okay." I nod. "Kreacher?" I call out nervously.
A loud crack rings out in the middle of the small courtyard, making Sam and me flinch.
"Young master has called Kreacher?" Kreacher says, bowing to the ground.
"Oh no, you don't have to do that." I protest, not liking the way he used to being treated.
"Kreacher must show his masters the respect they deserve, Master Orion." He bows again, causing me to blush.
Thinking quickly, I shake my head. "Well, I'm not like the other Blacks that came before me." I try to reason with the old elf. "It displeases me that you treat yourself the way that you do."
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because Kreacher throws himself at my feet, bawling his eyes out. "Kreacher is so sorry, Kreacher did not mean to insult his master. Kreacher will do better to remember, Kreacher promises."
Utterly confused at what to do, I look up to Anna and a laughing Uncle Theo for help. "Um Kreacher, how about to help make me feel better you take Uncle Theo inside so he can show us where you live?"
"Oh yes, Kreacher can do that. Kreacher will do anything to please Kreacher's master." He says frantically while crawling over to Uncle Theo.
"Now hold on a moment Ori-"
Whatever he was going to say was cut off by another loud crack as he disappears from his spot.
"That went-"
"Not so greatly. What kind of people did I come from?" I say more to myself rather than anyone else.
"It doesn't matter who you came from, Ori." Anna says, pulling me into a hug. "It what you do and how you act that makes up who you are."
"I know, but if I come from bad people what will people think of me?" I let out a breath. "What's stopping me from becoming like them?"
"I will stop you." She answers holding me tighter. "I will not let you go down a dark path, I will stand beside you through all the good and bad in your life and make sure you come out as good as you are now."
"You got me too, Ori." Sam speaks up. "No matter what, best friends for life."
"Thanks." I mumble into Anna's soft leather jacket.
"Now, where is your-"
All the houses around us start to move at once, as a grinding sound fills the empty air. In front of us, a battered door emerges between the number eleven and number thirteen followed by dirty brick walls and grimy windows that seem to push the two houses apart out of its way. By the sounds of the TV still loudly playing, the No-Majes haven't even noticed that their own house was moving about a quarter of the way down the deserted block. Glancing back at the house, I catch Uncle Theo walking out of the door shaking his head wildly.
"Nope." He breathes out a bit angrily. "Not a chance in hell will we be staying in that vile place until we get it cleaned and up to standards."
"What why?" I ask moving toward the worn stone steps but stop when Uncle Theo pulls me back.
"Let's go see first before we make-"
"Not a chance in hell, Saranna!" Uncle Theo shouts, surprising us all. Never in all the time I have known him has he ever shouted in anger; whatever he saw in there must be really bad.
"Theo." Anna says softly.
"No."
"She needs to see."
"She can see it when it's done being fixed up." He argues, stomping his foot.
"What about-"
"Saranna, it's bad. Like really, really horrible bad."
"Yet she needs to see to understand." Anna says forcibly.
"That's a bad idea." He points back to the house. "I say we move on to the next one in hopes it's better than that shithole."
Moving slowly, I walk over to my Uncle and take his hand. "It's okay Uncle Theo, I can handle it, I promise."
He takes his time looking from me and back to Anna before giving up and holding tight to my hand. "Fine but don't say I didn't warn you."
Taking it as an okay to move forward without being held back, I take the first steps up to the doorway. Pushing on the shabby black door, I suck in a breath at the stench that seeps out. Its smells like old damp dust and mildew has taken over all the fresh air within the house leaving nothing else behind.
Moving past the doorway, I take in the tall peeling wallpaper of a long gloomy hallway lined with grimy old portraits that were hung all crooked on the what remains of the same walls. Taking a step further into the house I flinch at the sound of the dirtied carpet crunching under my feet while something stutters around behind the baseboards.
After a bit, I realize the chandelier covered in a mix of cobwebs and dust, the door knocker outside, and almost every doorknob, fastener, and every candle holder were all shaped differently yet still of the same thing, serpents.
Last night, after we had gotten done in Diagon Alley, I snuck one of the first books I saw in my pile to the bathroom and read well into the night. It just so happened that the book I had picked up was Hogwarts: A History. From that, I now know that the serpent is the house sigil of Slytherin. It also said that the reason the founders parted ways because Salazar Slytherin wanted to only admit Pureblood Witches and Wizards into the school leaving the rest of the children to fend for themselves but when the other founders overruled him he left the school and refused to have anything else to do with it until the day he died.
It didn't take long for everything Professor McGonagall said about my family and who the bad guys were to click into place like a long-lost puzzle finally being completed. However, standing here, in my family's home, I don't feel a sense of pride at who they were and what they've done, I feel sick to my stomach and angry. How could anyone be proud of belittling and hurting people who had no choice in the matter when it came to who they were born from? How could they enjoy killing innocent people just because some wizard so long ago said a certain blood type was better than the other?
I don't think I could ever understand that, but what I can understand is that I have the chance to make things right, to turn it all around and show the world my father wasn't the only Black in this world willing to fight for the little guy. From this moment on, I will right my family's wrongs and fight any who think that it's okay to hurt, maim, and kill the innocent.
"Uncle Theo is right." I say, staring into the emerald gem eyes of the snake hanging off of the chandelier. "This place needs to be cleaned, and brought up to standard." I tell them turning on my heel to face them. "The right standard."