Lyra Black

Chapter One:

Lyra Black had always been smart. She had to be, having grown up without a guardian. She lived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place with her house-elf called Kreature, and her grandmother's portrait. She had never agreed with her grandmother's views, but she never outright disrespected the woman. 

Two years ago she had begun at Hogwarts and been sorted into Ravenclaw. She was somewhat surprised when she found out her grandmother was proud of her, as she was always raving about the greatness of Slytherin. None the less, she was proud, which made Lyra quite happy. 

She was a well-mannered girl, having been raised by her strict grandmother, even if she wasn't technically alive, and was respected at school. She loved it there, though she did love her home too, in a strange sort of way. She loved the quiet of school and the library that was hidden deep in Grimmauld Place. She was never the outgoing type but loved her friends. She was friends with a girl called Padme Patil, who had introduced her to her twin sister, Parvati. They were her best friends, though she didn't get along well with Parvati's friend Lavender. 

Lyra was currently at the kitchen table eating breakfast and reading about wandless magic. She had found she could do it at a young age, and it was quite helpful when she didn't have a parent to help her. A grey barn owl flew through the window and settled on the back of her chair with the Daily Prophet tied to its leg. Lyra smiled kindly at it and untied the prophet, paying the bird before it flew off again. She unfolded the paper and nearly spat out her juice as she stared at the headline.

Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban.

Her father had escaped from Azkaban. She had no idea what to think. On one hand, he was still her father, but on the other, he had murdered thirteen people and left her alone for twelve years. With mixed feelings, she brushed off her skirt and hurried up the stairs to inform her grandmother. 

"Grandmother?" She called softly. The old woman opened her eyes and peered fondly at the girl. 

"Yes, child?" Lyra held up the newspaper.

"It's Sirius Black. He's escaped from Azkaban." She knew better than to call him her father in front of her. The old woman stared at the picture of her oldest son,

"Stupid blood traitor," she growled, before turning her gaze to her granddaughter. "Don't worry about him Lyra dear. They'll catch him." Lyra smiled gratefully,

"Thank you, Grandmother. Good morning." 

"Good morning. Shouldn't you be preparing to leave? Kreature was going to apparate you to Diagon Alley." Lyra nodded,

"Of course, goodbye Grandmother." She hurried to her bedroom and collected her purse and wand. She took a look in her mirror and smiled. She supposed she was rather pretty. She had bright silver eyes, they weren't just grey like the rest of her family, no they were bright silver, and sharp as knives. People never lasted long under her stare. She also had the traditional Black Family hair. It was pitch black and slightly wavy. It was medium length and she liked to keep it that way. She was of average height and build too. She was dressed in a black skirt and a light blue top that kept up the family image. She was the Black Family heir after all. With a last look at herself, she swept out of the room to where Kreature was waiting for her. She clasped onto his hand and he apparated her to Diagon Alley, before returning to the manor.

She walked down the street, collecting her school things, and occasionally greeting someone from school. Soon, she had collected nearly everything she needed, all that was left were the books. She had saved them for last as she could easily get distracted by them. She adored books and reading and was taking every subject this coming year. She looked at her list and found that she already had nearly all of them. All she needed still was her Care of Magical Creatures book. 

She looked up and furrowed her brows when she noticed they were in a cage trying to eat each other. Ignoring the shop owner, she approached it and opened the cage. Her hand darted in and out, collecting one of the books. She held it shut and examined the book, before running a finger down its spine. She smiled in satisfaction when it shivered and calmed down. 

She continued to look around the shop and collected a couple of other books that caught her eye. She got another one on wandless magic, one on dementors and defenses against them as she had read they would be around the school this year, and one on the difference between animagi and werewolves. She already knew all about animagi as she herself was one. She had become one when she was around ten with the help of Kreature and her Grandmother who both thought it was a brilliant idea. They thought it would be helpful for avoiding people who she didn't want to see, and Lyra just thought it would be interesting. 

Her animagus form was a small black puppy, which Kreature thought was adorable. No one else knew she was an animagus, and she was planning on keeping it that way. She was interested in werewolves because she had only ever heard of them as 'filthy half-breeds' from her grandmother and Kreature. If they ever talked about her father when he was at school, she would always go on about how utterly unacceptable it was for him to be friends with a 'filthy half-breed' like Remus Lupin, one of his school friends. She wanted to learn about them to formulate her own opinion rather than going off her grandmother's.

She paid for the books, before meeting Kreature near Ollivander's so that he could apparate her home. She felt the familiar tug in her gut, and before she knew it, she was standing outside her bedroom at Grimmauld Place. She smiled contentedly and thanked Kreature before going into her room to pack for Hogwarts, as she was leaving soon.