An education
The decade that followed was what Sirius Black would, in retrospect, describe as the happiest years of his life. The remaining Death Eaters had either been captured or fled the country. His family was safe. His influence in the Ministry, fueled by connections and gold, grew steadily, and likewise his wealth and investments. But most importantly of all, Lyra and Harry were growing up and it was time to begin their education, an endeavor in which no effort or expense would be spared.
The two siblings took to each other from the very beginning and henceforth became a constant source of pride and exasperation for Sirius and Cassie. As soon as they learned to walk, they had started practicing magic, although at that age most of it was still accidental outbursts.With Harry and Lyra having inherited marauder DNA which Lily's and Cassie's DNA could not solve.They had learned to read and write by age 6 and 5.Then Sirius gave them lessons in languages like Latin and French when they could still learn it quickly.In supplement to that, Sirius and Cassie made them read and learn all manner of different books, mostly on wizarding culture, history, society and especially genealogy. In a matter of weeks both were able to recite from memory their entire family trees for the past several centuries, as well as those of several other prominent families.Both Sirius wanted to start later but Cassie told him that it was easier to let them learn now than later.
It was a subject which truly fascinated them; they would sometimes spend hours reading of the lives and exploits of their illustrious ancestors. They remembered some tales since they had been told them as bedtime stories,Like William Potter who faught Morgana Le fey herself and lived to talk about it.Others were Pretty new they read about their Grandfather Fleamont Potter who was a genius potioneer whose discoveries made way for innovations today, his most famous being the Sleakeazy hair potion. They read about the Dueling and Political Prowess of Arcturus Black,Harry and Lyra's great-grand father,who Harry made his personal idol.They also read about Cassopeia Black(their mother's namesake) and her way of blackmailing people to get what she wanted.
Its not that the family of four also didnt have fun,Sirius and Cassie took special care of that,they went to waterparks where Harry and Lyra had loads of fun together,the duo also had a lot of fun pranking their parents.Harry and Lyra were closer than most siblings.
They also made some friends like Daphne Greengrass(Harry's childhood friend),Neville Longbottom(his best friend)and Theodore Nott,while Lyra had a best friend in Astoria and Stephen Greengrass.
Now they were at the age of nine and (eight) for Harry and Lyra.Where the Harry and his friends were playing exploding snap with his friends.It was Harry's Birthday and Harry got a Herbology book from Neville and a Cleansweep-6 from Lord Greengrass.(and the fact that he held half the shares in the company did not count).It was at 8 pm did Harry's friends left.
After dinner, Sirius called Harry and Lyra into his study. He had been saving the best gift for last. He took out a long black box from the drawer of his desk and handed it to Harry, who opened it. Inside lay a masterfully crafted dark brown wand. "Fourteen inches, ash and Dragon Hearstrung. This was your great- grand father's wand, Harry,I tried finding James's wand in Godric's Hollow,but..I wasnt able to find it" Sirius said quietly. Harry's eyes widened. He carefully took out the wand and closely regarded its intricate patterns, the mark of a true artisan. Clutching it, he felt a type of inexplicable connection, faint and distant yet unmistakably present.
"T-thank you, Dad," he said hugging him.Sirius turned to Lyra.
"And this is for you," he said, handing him a shorter wand that was slightly curved at the hilt, "Twelve inches, walnut and dragon heartstring. This used to belong to your great grandmother Melania." Lyra was shocked. she examined the wand intensely before gripping it with force, almost as though she was trying to assert her power.
"Thank you, Dad."
"These wands may not be perfect, but will most likely show some affinity towards you. I'm afraid you will have to wait a while before you get your own made," he paused as both Brother and sister nodded in understanding. "The reason I am giving you these," he continued, "is because starting from next week, you will begin the Hogwarts first year curriculum with your tutors. You look surprised. Don't be. These are all basic things that any wizard or witch would know at your age just several generations ago. It is only in recent times that standards have been, shall we say, slipping away."
"You shall cover the basic subjects with your tutors. In the evenings, you will have lessons with me. It is time you were taught rhetoric, diplomacy and political economy," Sirius had not even finished his sentence before ecstatic grins appeared on both faces of brother and sister.(Seriously(no pun intended) did Sirius think that his son and daughter would be excited to learn politics). He had one more surprise left; realizing that they would hardly be able to sleep from the excitement already, he told them that Theo,Neville and Daphne would be joining their lessons.