Chapter 1
September 1st, 1936
"Walburga if you don't finish packing now you'll miss the train!" Her mother called from downstairs.
"I'm almost done!" Walburga threw some clothes in her suitcase before closing it. She got up from the floor and took a last look at her room before stepping out and closing the door before she rushed down the stairs.
"What have I said about running?!" Her mother said with her usual sharpness.
Walburga fixed her eyes at the floor to avoid her mother's angry glare. "I didn't think, sorry." She tried to sound as normal as possible but her voice was a little shaky.
"No obviously not" her mother hissed. "I'm not sure if I want to send you off to Hogwarts if you can't even walk down the stairs without making a scene."
It felt like she had swallowed a rock. She looked up into her mother's eyes, her voice filled with panic as she spoke. "No, please. I'll behave I promise."
"Do you really?" She put her hand in her pocket and pulled something out, it was her wand. "I don't believe you." A cruel smile spread across her face as she pointed her wand at Walburga. Maybe a quick lesion will keep you out of trouble."
Walburga backed away a few steps. "Please don't, I promise I've learnt my lesson, I'll behave, I promise. Just please don't." She felt how silent tears started running down her cheeks.
"Stop crying this instant!" Her mother yelled as she took a step closer to Walburga.
Walburga tried to stop crying she really tried, but it was too late.
"Crusio!" Her mother shouted. Green light shot through the tip of her wand hitting Walburga. It felt like thousands of knifes stabbing through her body. She tried not to scream but she couldn't stop herself, it hurt too much the pain was unbearable. She lost all control of her body, she couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she couldn't do anything. It hurt so much, and it was so scary. She thought she was going to die she thought her mother was going to kill her. After what felt like hours the pain suddenly stopped and she fell to the floor. Her whole body aced. She wanted to cry, she wanted to hide, to lock herself up in a room and cry her eyes out, but she didn't. Instead, she lied on the cold hard floor, letting thoughts fill her mind. Her mother had hurt her before, but not like this, never like this. What spell did she use? For how long had it been going on? It felt like hors, but it probably hadn't even lasted for a minute. She snapped out of her trans when she heard her mothers' sharp voice.
"Don't lie there like a weakling, get up!"
She slowly stood up. She felt dizzy.
"I hope you've learnt your lesson." She said sharply. She glanced at the clock. "Oh my, is that the time already? We have to go, or you'll miss the train.
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Walburga ran through the pillar and landed on platform 9 & ¾, which teemed with people, students hugging their parents and sibling's goodbye before boarding the Hogwarts express, witches and wizards talking and laughing, happy to finally be reunited after a whole summer spent apart from each other.
She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the other children hugging their parents' goodbye. Walburga couldn't remember the last time she got a hug from her mother, and she didn't expect getting one this time ether. She sighed "Well I'm of then, goodbye." Walburga turned and was about to leave to board the train when her mother grabbed her wrist.
"Wait, remember... do not go near any mudbloods or blood traitors. If you do, I will hear about it and there will be consequences. Do you understand?" Her grip tightened round her wrist. Walburga could feel her mother's nails digging into her skin.
Walburga gave her a nod. "Yes"
"Good" Walburga's mother let go of her wrist. "You can leave now. And don't forget toujours pur." She gave her another nod before making her way trough the crowded platform and board the train. She didn't have any friends yet, so she thought the safest option was to find an empty carriage to sit in. She was about to give up when she finally found one. Walburga stepped in and closed the door behind her, she put her luggage on the steal shelf over the seats before sitting down. The seats weren't very comfortable. This will be a long ride, she thought and pulled out a copy of "The history of magic" and began to read.
5 minutes into her reading Walburga heard a voice.
"Excuse me, can I sit here?"
Walburga looked up from her book. There was a girl standing in the doorway, she had brown wavy hair, pale skin with freckles on her nose and hazel brown eyes, she looked to be about the same age as Walburga.
"Yes, of curse have a seat." She said and gave the girl a friendly smile.
The girl put her suitcase on the steal shelf over the seat before sitting down.
Walburga really hoped that the girl was a pureblood, she didn't want to be seen with any blood traitors or worse, mudbloods.
"So, what's your name?" The girl asked.
Huh? Oh yeah. Walburga, Walburga Black." She had gotten lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "What's your name?"
"Euphemia Braithewaite." She said, a small smile forming on her lips.
Braithewaite? She thought, wasn't that a pureblood name? Good that meant that she was safe to speak with, she though to herself. "Is it your first year?"
A glimpse of excitement appeared in her eyes. "Yes, it is. What about you?"
"Yeah, same." She said as she let herself relax, relieved that she had met another first year, a pureblood one. An awkward silence washed over them. They sat quiet for a few minutes before Euphemia finally broke the silence. "So, what house are you hoping to get sorted into?"
"Slytherin, of course" It was a tradition for all pure bloods to get sorted into slytherin, those who weren't was an embarrassment to their family, all pure bloods knew this. So why ask? Walburga thought. Maybe she just asked to break the awkward silence.
"Yes, me too... Obviously." Euphemia rolled her eyes.
The girls kept talking as time past.
Walburga looked out the window and noticed that it had begun to get dark. "We should probably change into our school robes." Walburga said as she opened her suitcase and picked her robe up before opening the door. She glanced back at Euphemia "she you later." She said before stepping out and closing the door behind her. Walburga walked to the nearest toilet and begun to change into her school robe. She had to admit, she quite liked Euphemia.
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Walburga and the other students stepped out of the train where they were greater by a short man with brown hair put up in a messy ponytail, he had big bushy eyebrows, a long crooked nose and small brown eyes. He looked kind of scary. The man wore a grey knitted shirt, brown baggy pants and black leather boots covered in mud. He introduced himself as Ogg, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts. They followed Ogg to a lake where boats were waiting for them. Walburga rode with Euphemia and two other girls she didn't know the name of. One of them had long blond har and blue eyes and the other one had grey eyes and brown hair cut to her shoulders.
The boats had crossed the lake and the students stepped out. Ogg led them into the castle and stopped them in front of some stairs that led up to a large wooden door were another teacher stood waiting for them. He had brown hair slicked backwards and a beard. "Good evening, everyone I am Professor Dumbledore and I teach transfiguration. Soon I will let you in to the great hall were the sorting will begin. There are four houses you could be sorted into, those are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Once you've been sorted into your house you'll go and sit down at your table. When everyone has finished eating the prefects will show you the way to your common room, were you will remain for the rest of the evening.
There was only two people that got sorted before Professor Dumbledore called up Walburga. A mudblood by the name Rose Anderson that got sorted into hufflepuff and a half blood named Bill Jones that got sorted into ravenclaw.
When it was Walburga's turn, she straightened her back a little extra and held her head high as she walked up to the sorting hat with confidence. She knew that she would get sorted into slytherin. "Toujours pur." She mumbled to herself as she made her way through the crowd towards the hat. Dumbledore hadn't even placed the hat on her head before it shouted "SLYTHERIN!!".
The great hall was filed with applauds as Walburga sat down at the slytherin table.
A couple more got sorted before it was Euphemia's turn, she walked up to the chair and sat down as Dumbledore placed the sorting hat on her head, it thought for a moment before it started to speak. "Hmm, you are cleaver, and competitive as well, but I sense that you are brave oh yes very brave. It'll be GRRR- "the hat stopped. "Hold on for a second... I sense something else, you are ambitious as well, that changes things. It'll be SLYTHERIN!!
Everyone looked confused, but soon the the great hall was filled with applauds as. Euphemia made her way to the slytherin table and sat down next to Walburga.
She couldn't help but notice the disappointed look on Euphemia's face.
"What's the matter?"
"Oh, nothing I just got a little confused. That's all." Euphemia said and gave her a reassuring smile.
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Walburga opened the door to the dormitory, there were 4 beds, all had dark brown wooden frames with emerald green bedding and matching curtains round the beds.
Walburga chose the bed on the left corner of the room. She liked to face the wall while she was sleeping. She began to unpack her things. There were 4 wardrobes, one for each person.
She had just finished unpacking when two other girls walked in. They were talking and laughing.
One of the girls had brown har tied in a bun, she had blue eyes and was quite tall. The other one had blond hair in a braid, she had brown eyes and pale skin. Walburga recognised them as Mary Bulstrode and Druella Rosier. Both of them was a part of the sacred 28 and they had known each other for as long as she could remember , but they hadn't really talked much.
"Hi." The blond one said.
"Hi." Walburga answered and gave the girls a friendly smile.
"I guess we will be roommates from now on." The brown haired girl said as she threw herself on the bed in the right corner of the room. "I'll take this one." She looked at the blonde girl with a teasing smile. "Sorry Drue looks like you'll get to chose one of the beds in the middle."
"You can be so... agh fine." The blonde muttered as she sat down on the bed.
"You can have my bed if you want." Walburga offered.
"How very kind of you, but it's okay I can take this one. It doesn't matter that much to me anyways." She said.
The brown haired girl looked at Walburga like she tried to figure something out. "Hold on a minute, you're Walburga Black aren't you?"
Yes, and you're Mary Bulstrode. And you," she said as she looked at the blond one, "you are Druella Rosier."
"Correct!" Druella and Mary said at the same time, they looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Hold on for a sec, there is four beds but we're only three, where's the fourth girl?" Mary said and scanned the room like she expected to find a fourth girl hiding somewhere.
Suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Walburga said to the person on the other side of the door.
The door opened and Euphemia stepped in. "I believe this is where I'm supposed to be?" She said and looked around the room.
Walburga lit up when she realised who it was "Oh hi, it's you!"
"Do you two know each other?" Mary asked curiously.
"We met at the train." Walburga said. She was glad that Euphemia and her got to share a dorm and Mary and Druella didn't seem too horrible ether, maybe they could be friends all four of them? She thought to herself.
"Cool." Mary answered simply.
Euphemia sat down on the empty bed and began to pack up her things as the girls talked, trying to get to know each other.
When Euphemia had finished unpacking and the girls had talked for a while Druella yawned and threw herself backwards on the bed. "I'm tired let's go to bed." She said as she crawled under the covers.
"Good idea." Euphemia said as she got in to her bad as well, and so did Walburga too. Mary turned of the lights before she too crawled into her bed.
"Good night." Mary said.
"Good night." Walburga and Euphemia said at the same time. Druella didn't answer. "She's probably already asleep." Mary whispered.