I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT FOR GEMINI (To rewrite or to die, that is the question)
Gem's POV:
Have you ever done something useful but unbelievably painful and annoying? That is an accurate description of how I feel when apparating. The feeling of getting sucked into a tight tube and being completely distorted before suddenly getting thrown back into reality is not a pleasant one, by any means. There were few things more unpleasant than apparating, to say the least. However, it was an effective transport method, and how I found myself in a completely unfamilar setting. Hogsmeade village was rather picturesque, with stores on each side of the streets, music playing at every corner, and way too many people walking towards too many places at once. I had to wiggle myself inbetween crowds to even get an idea of where I was, or if I had apparated to the right place in the village. I felt like I was pushed around by crowds for way too long by the time I spotted the pub from the picture. From the outside, it looked crowded and smelled... weird. Not in a bad way, but in a- yeah, a weird way. Did people really spend time in places like these?
The answer was yes, because as soon as I entered, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of people inside. Now I recognized the smell. Azkaban guards often had bottles that smelled like this- I think they called it alcohol? A sort of drug that temporarily blinded people of all common sense. I heard from Sirius that it tasted vile but eventually became delicous. Why would people drink something like that on purpose? It was becoming too much. The drunken laughs, the sudden change in temperature from hot to hotter, the annoying music, the noise- there was too much noise at once. I didn't know what to focus on, what do do, where to go, who to talk to. I realized for the first time since leaving that prison that I was truly lost. Sure, I knew how to do spells, sure, I knew wizarding history. I also know what Sirius wanted me to do- talk to Harry Potter. Not that I'd do it, but at least it was a goal. What was I even doing here? I came here to figure out letters from two people who are currently unavailable- and by unavailable I mean dead. They were both dead.
I know no one here. My only family are portraits and criminals, I don't have anyone to help me here on the outside. I might have been innocent before, but I escaped Azakaban, which was a crime in itself. And now I was a runaway criminal in an extremely crowded pub, with no one to talk to or to help me. By now, it felt like all the noises were merging with each other, the lights were mixing into imaginary colors and I couldn't move. I was stuck in place, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I'm alone here, I would have been better off staying at Grimmauld place. Yes, I should go back, it was safe in there. Safer than here anyways.
My feet began moving, but I wasn't aware of my movements. It was like I was witnessing my actions, not living them. Avoiding the people around me, moving towards the door, clenching my fists, grapsing the handle- but someone stopped me. I seemed to go back into my body as I felt a hand on top of mine, dragging it away from the handle and back into the crowd. The hand then grapsed my wrist, dragging me across the busy pub. I couldn't bring myself to look up, but the person guiding me felt cold, way too cold to fit in with the other attendees of the bar. Don't be scared, Gemini, look up. Look up. Look. Up.
And I did. Turns out the person dragging me was not a stranger. It was a woman in an expensive black dress, with rings and silver bracelets and stunning diamond earrings and black hair with two white stripes. As we got to a table near the corner, she looked at me, eyes identical to mine staring at me with a stern expression. This was no Azkaban guard, this was Narcissa Malfoy, who was now sitting down on a chair at the very corner of The Three Broomsticks. She didn't say anything, but instead motioned for me to sit next to her. Hesitantly, I agreed, sitting on a rustic chair. It was only then that I noticed another person at our table. He had been described to me plenty of times, an old man with a long beard, bright purple robes, and twinkling eyes. But seeing him in person was another experience. Staring right at me with a smile on his face was the current headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.
"It's nice to meet you, miss Black! Would you like a lemon drop? It's one of my favorite sweets at the moment!" I eyed the plastic wrapping suspiciously, but slowly nodded. If Dumbledore offered me a gift, who was I to refuse? The old man smiled, handing me the small package, which I unwrapped and separated from the small... candy? Is that what it was called? Anyhow, I put it into my mouth, trying to identify the new taste as he began speaking again.
"I'm quite glad you made it today. When my predecessor Phineas told me you were coming, I came here at once. I hope you don't mind having your mother here too. After all, she is the one who came up with the plan for your escape! What a clever woman you've become, Narcissa... But I'm getting off topic here, aren't I? Miss Black, you are a witch with... a lot of potential, more than many of the students I have ever taught, as a matter of fact. For an eleven year old girl to become an animagus is unheard of in the Wizarding community, and to survive in the circumstances you were placed in as an infant... You're a powerful being, you are. And it would be rather unfortunate for those skills of yours to go to waste so early! To develop your magical talents, I'd like you to become a student at Hogwarts starting this September."
My mother seemed to shake her head at Dumbledore's compliment, but muttered a quick 'thank you' nonetheless. As for me, I was almost too stunned to speak at first. Me? A student at Hogwarts? It sounded impossible, mad, even. I was a wanted criminal, not a normal witch. Should I show my face at Hogwarts I'd become an anomaly. "Mr. Dumbledore, how would I even attend school? The Ministry wants me back... there- they want me to go back there and any contact with the general public will guarantee me being imprisoned again. I'm sorry if I seem to be missing something, but how would I even attend classes? I don't know anything about this world."
My mother crossed her arms and Dumbledore smiled once more, popping a lemon drop into his mouth. I looked around at the people near our table, but none of them seemed to be batting an eye at us. It almost looked as if we were invisible to them all, decorations in a corner, not people. "You are no ordinary witch, miss Black. You will be a student like any other, but with a few changes here and there. If the situation comes to it, I can teach you myself! Oh, it's been so long since I taught a class, how wonderful it was. Plus, you can fly around the school and be unnoticable, can you not? That fixes a lot of out problems."
He spoke as if his words were obvious but still managed to sound calm and reassuring, as if he had dealt with similar... Issues before. For a brief moment, I thought of how the whole system would work. Even if I could fly around the school, how would I be able to be a human during classes? Dumbledore seemed to notice my doubts but shook them off by assuring me that they had already been dealt with.
My mother looked rather unintrested as she spoke to me, staring at a jade ring on her hand. It looked expensive, but Bellatrix once told me that not maintaining eye contact with someone as they spoke was rather rude. If even she could remember that, why did my mother not dare to look at me in the eye? Coward. Sure, she got me out of jail, but she had to face me at one point or another. I was her daughter, after all. Not some accessory to leave in Albus Dumbledore's care and forever run away from.
"The headmaster and I have agreed on me taking you to Diagon Alley so you can get your wand as soon as possible. That way you can move into Hogwarts and become accustomed to it before the Term starts. Take my hand, we're leaving now."
Too much information, too quickly. Nevertheless, I grabbed my mother's hand and watched Dumbledore waved us goodbye, not getting to thank him for the lemon drop as I was already getting sucked into the weird world of apparation. After the world was done spinning, my mother dragged me into an alley, seemingly irritated or stressed. Maybe both. I could understand why, but it was still not pleasant to be around her, especially when my insides were threatening to spill out for the second time in thirty minutes.
"Turn into your Animagus and follow me. Don't get lost alright? It's full of people this time of the year"
I nodded, letting the painful transformation take place. It was quicker this time, so I was soon flapping my wings and follwoing my mother out into the open space. To say the least, I regretted it quite a lot. The street was filled to the brim with hundreds of people going in and out of stores, walking in every direction, talking very loudly to hear each other over the crowd, so I heard screams. The air smelled of smoke and candy and mild sweat, which was now accentuated by my animal form. How disgusting, not even Azkaban was this filthy. Kids of all ages from 11 to 17 would glance at me and some would try to catch me, but I got out of the way or flew higher, all while trying to follow my mother, who would occasionally glance at the sky to check I was there. What was it with children and butterflies, were they obsessed or something? Because trying to catch bugs in a jar was rather rude of them, especially to me.
Eventually, my mother entered an old-looking store called 'Ollivander's, makers of fine wands since 382 BC' Hold up- 382 BC. 382 BC was way too long ago, how long had this whole Wizarding society thing been going on for? And why did they still feel the need to hate muggles after so much time, did character development not exist in this universe? Apparently not. So I entered the store after my mother, who closed the door behind her and looked around for anything she could deem suspicious. As for me, I stayed flying, glancing at the rows of boxes, some falling over each other and some staying afloat- alfoat? Well that was a new way to store items. The air here no longer smelled foul, but rather had the scent of dust and ink, similar to the smell of the rooms at Grimmauld place. I noticed that a lot of things related to Wizards smelled like dust and ink, how interesting.
An old, skinny man with white hair down to his shoulders walked towards us from the neverending rows of wands, smiling knowingly at the air. He was dressed in a suit that didn't fit him quite right, but he walked with a sense of confidence nonetheless. Ollivander's, was this the store owner? Fitting.
"You can turn back now", my mother said. I immediately started transforming until I was standing in front of the man and next to my mother. I glanced at him waiting for some sort of shock on his face, but instead, he looked at my mother and she exited the shop, leaving me alone and with plenty of questions.
"Well, I was expecting you here Miss Black, I find it great that you are following your... path to my family's shop. But let's begin. Put your wand arm to the side.."
He began measuring parts of my body, or well, his magical tape did and he just wrote down the measurements. I wondered what all this had to do with me getting a wand but ignored it as he made his way to the shelves and brought some boxes to the table. He got out a long, dark wand and handed it to me. It.Felt.Wrong. Right off the bat, it felt bloody wrong.
"Dark oak wood, dragon heartstring, 13 inches, quite pliable and suited for transfiguration. Go on give it a wave."
I did as he said and 5 lamps exploded on the spot, sending glass flying across the store. I winced and gave him back the wand. It went on for what seemed ages and the pile of wands was getting taller and bigger every time. I felt like I had been trying these wands for hours when Ollivander stepped out of the now half-empty shelves with a box so old that it was barely keeping itself together and had its label written in another language, it seemed as if Ollivander was just as confused as I was. He lifted the lid with extreme care and got out the most unusual wand I had ever seen. It was a dark blue hexagon with a pointed edge that looked very fragile and seemed to be radiating some sort of unfamiliar energy. And as per Wizadring custom, it was covered in dust.
"This is the oldest and finest wand on this shop, it was made by my ancestors in Greece and the wand didn't seem like it would find a new owner any time soon. I have good feeling about you and this one, though. It is made of dark blue Greek quartz, with a pegasus feather core, and, well, not flexible at all since it has no wood. It is rumored that this wand is good for all branches of soecery as long as it finds its rightful owner. Have it, give it a wave."
He looked at me expectantly as I took the wand from his hands and into mine. The quartz felt cold to the touch, but warm at the same time. I didn't know how to express the feeling, but it felt... right. I hesitated to wave it, scared that it would cause another explosion. 'come on, Gemini, Sirius and Bellatrix didn't raise a coward'. Right, they didn't raise a coward, so I waved the wand, feeling energy pour in from my body, through the object, and out into the air as a swarm of small, nearly invisible butterflies. They fluttered around the store before ultimately disappearing, leaving small beads of light falling to the ground.
"That'll be 12 Galleons dear"
I considered going outside to tell my mother but she came in, asked how much she had to pay, paid, told me to put the box in my backpack and to transform. I did as she said and we quickly exited the shop, people looking at my mother with expressions varying from pity to anger probably because of my...situation. We made our way back to the dark corner and I transformed back into a human, glancing at the box in my hand. My mother silently put my hand on her arm and we were gone from Diagon Alley in an instant. Did I mention how much I hate apparating? I hate it very much.
I was proud to say that I did not fall and felt minimal dizziness when we landed back at the pub, where Dumbledore was waiting for us. We walked over to him and he smiled, probably because he could see the box with my wand in it. Although I was weary of spending time with my mother, Dumbledore made the experience less uncomfortable and rather enjoyable as he told stories of past students who became prominent wizards and waitches after Hogwarts. I wished I could become a prominent witch after Hogwarts, a free witch. Of course, I knew that this wouldn't be possible, people who were in Azkaban had a bad rep, but people who escaped were unheard of. My case was unheard of. Even if I was found innocent and freed from all charges, people wouldn't trust me. I sighed. That was something I would have to deal with later, for now, I had to focus on getting to Hogwarts. Small steps.
As soon as the old man stood up and put his arm next to mine, I knew it was time to go. My mother seemed to get the message beacuse she stood up and apparated without a second thought. Not even a goodbye, how great was that? Though she did pay for my wand, so I couldn't be too upset. I grabbed his arm and nodded at him to get us out of the bar. The now familiar feeling of getting sucked into a tube overtook my senses and for a millisecond I felt the need to throw up. Just as I was about to empty my lunch into whatever was around me, we landed in a vast circular office full of books and moving paintings and magical artifacts and many other items I could not name. I let go of the Headmasters' hand and looked up to all of the paintings that were staring at me. They were dressed in clothes from all periods of History and looked at me wearily, as if I were to set fire to them at any second. I only felt relieved once I saw the face of Phineas Niggelus, who gave me a quick wink and motioned for me to sit at one of the chairs in front of Dumbledores' desk.
The man smiled warmly at me and started speaking.
"Well, Gemini, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where you will learn how to control and channel your magical abilities as well as preparing to be a fully fleged member of the Wizarding World. The most important issue to be adressed is that of your classes and how you will get to them. This problem, however, has been adressed seeing as your animgus is rather unnoticed and quick. "
He then pointed at a small hole next to Phineas' portrait that was big enough to fit a cat but I hadn't noticed when I came in.
"There is one of these in each room in the school, it leads to a chamber from which the room can be seen but not the other way around. This will help you attend your classes without people seeing you while still being able to know about the other students. "
So I would become a stalker to the other students, maybe even an urban legend. That sure seemed to be a legacy worth remembering! Dumbledore stood up and lead me out of his office into a beautiful chaos of rooms, corridors, shifting staricases, and way too many talking paintings. As we walked, the paintings smiled at the Headmaster and others gave him waves and greetings that he returned with no problem. We walked along the large corridors until we reached a rather deserted one within the so-called "Astronomy Tower". We walked until we reached a peculiar painting of a galaxy. The various shades of purples and blues seemed to dance, giving the black backgrpund life and making it very enjoyable to look at. It went from the floor to the ceiling but it looked nothing like other paintings. Modern, almost.
Dumbledore smiled and told me to imagine a word, any word while looking at the painting. I thought of the word "Nebula". There wasn't a specific reason for it, I just thought it sounded good and fit the painting's contents. Reading astronomy books had become one of my main hobbies back at Number 12, I found the night sky fascinating. Dumbledore didn't speak for a long time, which gave me an opportunity to admire the painting itself. It was so beautifully crafted, so realistic, almost picture-like. And it also felt... familiar, for some reason.
"I suppose that you have chosen your word by now, seeing as you look rather entertained by the painting. It is my turn to leave now. You just have to say the word in order to access your living quarters which have been decorated for you according to your preferences from Grimmauld Place. Good Bye, miss Black, it eill be exciting to see how this year turns out."
He winked at me as if he knew something was going to happen but was too distracted to say so and left, popping another lemon drop into his mouth. When he was out of sight, I stood in front of the circular galaxy and said the word. Immediately, it started to spin and seemed to open up until it had a hole big enough for me to pass through. The tunnel looked dark but I entered it nevertheless, touching the stone walls to guide me through the new space. I walked for what seemed like mere seconds until I was suddenly overwhealmed by light. The room was beautiful. The bed was big and circular, with desks and wardrobes and sofas all around it. The room was a cylinder with a ceiling bewitched to look like outer space, with thousands of colors splattered all through it. It all seemed to glow in the dark, just like my room at Grimmauld Place. The thing that stood out to me the most was a door, or rather, a window with a handle, that opened into a balcony. Opening the door shot a night breeze into my face, which took me off guard. The night was clear and quiet, there was no lightning, no storm, no cold. Just quiet.
So I sat down and took out Regulus's small trunk from my cloak, taking out the second letter. Now that I was at Hogwarts, I might understand them a bit better.
"Dear Reg,
Today was my first time going to Diagon Alley! It is truly amaing how one bar can hide such wonders and still function. My parents were a bit disoriented, you should have seen their faces! I was worried about people not being friendly to them but I was wrong. In fact, some wizards were fascinated by their muggle antics. I tried to talk to Petunia again but she just ignored me. I then tried to ask her if she wanted to come with us but she called me a freak again. Reg, am I a freak? I just don't know how this happened and no one in my family truly understands what it means to have magic, not even Severus, who at least has a wizarding family. I wish you were here Reg. I'm also very glad that your fight with Sirius finally ended, you seemed quite upset about it. About your parent's abuse to Sirius... You should tell someone, Reg. An adult who can be trusted and who can put a stop to it. Until you can do that though, you need to do your best to stick to your brother and help him as much as you can. Believe me Reg, losing a sibling when they are not dead is very painful, I would hate to see you two go through that even if I don't know him personally. I wish you could come to Hogwarts with me.
Lily Evans"
HAIIIIIII well ummmmm sorry for being so distracted and not posting BUT HERE IT IS I will do my best to post more often because PEOPLE ACTUALLY READ THIS and well yeah thanks for reading BYE BENCHES (future me here, this is like 4000 words now, please help.)