Glimpse of Childhood
Hyacinth has flown before, but not for a game of quidditch. It is not proper for a lady of Black to be roughhousing and sweating in the air for all to see.
Hyacinth commands her broom into her hand, the familiar feel of the wood brings her a sense of comfort. Sirius and Regulus were already hovering about four feet above the ground. Hyacinth gets on the broom, slightly unsteady.
Sirius flys down to her level, and grabs her hand to help her level herself, “It's going to be okay Cousin, don’t worry we’ve flown so many times before, you won’t fall. And if you do, I told Kreacher to send a pillow cushioning charm your way!” he chuckles.
This gives Hyacinth the confidence to push off the ground and join Regulus in the air. The trio decides to play a game of catching the snitch.
Hyacinth realizes she is extremely competitive, taking off without caring if Sirius or Regulus are behind her. They end up in a still of time, none of them can spot the golden glint.
The three kids gather together, just resting in the air.
Sirius lets out a huff of exhaustion, “so why are you staying with us?” he asks.
Hyacinth shrugs, “I’m not sure, my father said that he and Mother will not have time to entertain me. Aunt Walburga said she would take me off their hands for the school year”
Sirius seems to take this as a good enough answer because he doesn’t ask anything anymore. He looks at Hyacinth, her long black hair is plaited into two braids. She was wearing traditional wizarding robes, a white collar chemise with a robe folded over her chest and a purple band of fabric around her waist. She looks like the perfect pureblood, Sirius thought. His eyes catch something flying around Hyacinth’s face.
Hyacinth immediately begins to swat it away, but the white butterfly is blocking her vision, causing panic to swell in Hyacinth’s stomach.
“Wait, Hyacinth slow down, don’t move too much or you’ll fall off your-” Sirius was cut off by the delightful cheer of Regulus.
“I see the snitch” he screams. Regulus races towards it and bends his body forward almost getting off the broom.
Sirius and Hyacinth forget about the floating butterfly and they watch in horror as Regulus slips off his broom and starts to pummel towards the ground.
Sirius screams and starts barrelling towards Regulus, trying to catch his fall but he only makes it worse he and Regulus end up rolling onto the ground together in a big ball.
Hyacinth lands on the ground and immediately abandons her broom, “Merlin! Are you two alright?” she screams. The two boys stare at each other and then stare at Hyacinth. The trio breaks out into laughter, “You must be careful next time, that was insane!” Hyacinth says. She starts to pamper Regulus, the young boy was only seven something could have hurt his head. Once Hyacinth was satisfied with knowing that Regulus was right, she moved on to Sirius and started inspecting him for injuries. She found a blossoming bruise on Sirius’ leg, “I have some slave in my trunk, let's go to my room!” she says.
-
It was late October and Hyacinth was still at Grimmauld Place. The trio had grown as thick as thieves in the past weeks, much to Aunt Walburga’s delight.
They were all currently having a family dinner. Hyacinth’s parents decided to accept Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion’s invitation to join them for Samhain.
The trio is seated at the end of the table, their food already cut up and placed on their plates for them, but no one is allowed to eat yet. Regulus and Sirius were bickering about which cider was better, apple or peach. But Hyacinth was staring at her parents.
Her mom was wearing a beautiful wizarding hanbok, made of stardust satin and shimmershade velvet. The inner layer of her hanbok was a delicate white lace. The stardust satin Jeogori created glowing constellations on her sleeves. The Chima was a dark velvet purple, and it had star patterns swirling around it.
Uncle Orion gets up from the table and clinks his glass. “Everyone please join hands.” The children and adults join hands.
The candle centerpieces are suddenly lit, and the incense begins to burn.
Uncle Orion bellows,
“By blood and name, we stand unbroken,
Ancestors heed the words now spoken.
Through shadowed veil and ember’s light,
We honor thee on this dark night.
By fire, by bone, by blood’s decree,
We claim our past—so mote it be.”
Uncle Orion grabs a candle from the mantle and passes it to Aunt Walburga, who passes it on to the next person in the circle, each person invoking an incantation.
When it finally gets passed to Hyacinth, she takes a deep breath and states her intent clearly and steadily like her Professor said to.
“Flames ignited, the veil is thin,
Ancestors, let your light begin.
I am Hyacinth Violetta Black, of blood and bone,
Guide my path, I stand alone.
In shadow, in fire, in memory free,
I call, I honor—so mote it be.”
Hyacinth feels a surge of warm magic wash over her, and she immediately smiles.
Sirius and Regulus take their turn before the candle is passed back to Uncle Orion. He places the candle in the center of the table. Everyone pulls out their piece of parchment and begins taking turns letting the flame envelope their wish.
Hyacinth holds her parchment in her hands, the words feeling heavy, she was told to write of something she wished to get rid of whether it be a fear, a habit, or regret. Hyacinth brings the parchment close to the flame and she watches as the fire eats at the paper.
The words, “I fear I don’t feel any emotion. I fear I only know duty” burn away into nothingness.
Aunt Walburga grabs her pouch and hands everyone an amethyst stone attached to a chain.
Aunt Walburga looks at the children, ‘Don’t forget to put this under your pillow tonight children” she warns them.
The meal continues in silence, no one daring to talk until everyone has finished their meal.
Uncle Orion clears his throat once everyone puts their utensils down.
“I am Orion Regulus Black, by blood and right,
I shield my kin in the darkest night.
By fire, by name, by fate’s decree,
No harm shall come, so mote it be!”
Hyacinth feels another rush of magic tingling in her body, and she watches as Sirius and Regulus shudder from the intense magic washing over them.
Hyacinth watches as her father stands, and firmly shouts,
"By blood and bond, I stand in accord,
Shielding this house with will and word.
With fire, with name, with loyalty free,
I honor this vow—so mote it be!"
The house is filled with magical energy, Hyacinth could almost see it floating about. The golden strings of magic tie her to everyone at the table.
Uncle Orion closes the ceremony,
"The flame has burned, the veil has thinned,
Ancestors, kin, and those within,
We have spoken, we have heard,
Bound by blood, by will, by word.
With honor, we thank the spirits near,
Your wisdom lingers, strong and clear.
Return now, rest, until fate’s decree,
We walk our path—you walk with me.
The circle is closed, yet unbroken shall be,
By fire, by name—so mote it be."
The flame continued to burn, and even as everyone got up to leave, no one blew it out, the wax was dripping onto the table, the candle collapsing onto itself before it finally ate its last breath of oxygen.
-
After dinner, the snowy owl flew onto Hyacinth’s windowstill. Attached to Meadow’s foot was an envelope addressed to Hyacinth.
It read:
To Hyacinth Black, The largest bedroom on the top floor of Grimmauld Place.
There were three pages inside, one from each sister.
Hyacinth recognizes the first letter immediately, and Narcissa’s cursive flows onto the page in neat rows.
Dear Cinthie,
I wanted to start by apologizing, it has taken me so long to reply to your last message. I have been trying to adjust to the nuance of school. I received your bag of chocolates, thank you, dear sister. I miss you. I’m so excited to come back to Noctis Veil and tell you all about Hogwarts. I found out I have an affinity for charms. Can you believe that? It is quite exciting. I’ve made friends with the other years, but I usually hang out with Andy and her friends. Did you know that Andy has friends in other houses? And they aren’t purebloods? I was surprised to find that out, but they aren’t as bad as I thought.
How was your Samhain? I'm writing to you after the other Slytherins and I completed the ritual, so hopefully you get this letter before you sleep.
I have so much to say that I can’t fit onto one page, I will see you at Yule. And I also attached Andy and Bella’s letters to this parcel.
Love you, Cissy
Hyacinth gasps when she finishes reading the letter, Hyacinth doesn’t know what to feel about that. She moves on to Andromeda and Bellatrix’s letters.
Baby Sister Cinthie,
How have you been? How was Samhain? I have been so excited to celebrate. The other 7th year and I led the ritual, and I could see the magic flowing. It is strong this year.
I have been spending my time reading up on what I can do with my research, did you know I could become a curse breaker with my research in dark artifacts? Mother and Father would never allow me to be an auror, but maybe they would allow me to at least do this.
Maybe when I tell them, you can be in the room, you know? To soften the blow. Have you caught Mother or Father reading any letters from any suitors? If you catch those letters before they do, please burn them. Please, Cinthie, I beg of you.
I bought you the prettiest thing when I went to Hogsmeade. Can’t Yule come any faster? I’m terrible at keeping surprises in.
See you soon, your sister, Bella
Hyacinth's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. She unfolds the last letter, Andromeda’s neat print fills the page.
Good Morning Cinthie (it is morning for me at least).
I spent the morning staring at Bella’s hair, it had gotten so unruly and untamable. I’ve tried helping her contain it, but it continues to poof.
I wonder what you’re up to these days, Mother tells me you are at Aunt Walburga’s place for most of your days. I hope Cousin Sirius and Regulus are treating you well. If not, I will send Bella on them.
I am prefect this year, meaning I get access to the beautiful bathroom here. It's an entire room, with an enormous pool, just for us. I will take you one day, secretly of course. It reminds me of the bathhouses that Grandmother took us to when we were visiting her.
It's the afternoon now, I was planning to send this letter earlier, but Cissy and Bella want to include their letters as well. I’ve been spending my days studying. I don’t have a moment to spare nowadays. I hope for Yule we can get the blasted gala out of the way and we sisters can all have a moment for ourselves.
Talk to you soon, Andy
Hyacinth hugs the letters to her chest and smiles. She tucks them away in her trunk between her books. And starts to draft a reply.
-
Hyacinth was tossing around in her bed at Grimmauld, she couldn’t sleep. The magic was buzzing in her veins.
She got up, grabbing the stone from under her pillow. She dragged her blanket on the ground as she made her way to Sirius’s bedroom down the hall. She knocked softly, before peeking her head in.
“Siri? Are you awake?” She whispers,
Sirius’ head pops up from under the blanket, “Cinthie? You too?” he says, surprised.
Hyacinth rushes up to Sirius’ bed and sees Regulus smiling at her.
“All of us, huh?” she smiles.
Hyacinth gets into the bed and drapes her blanket over the three of them, the soft enchanted everwarm fleece hugs the three of them close. And she makes sure that all of their Amethysts are under the pillow. It is said to give them a prophetic dream if used correctly on Samhain.
-
The sunlight filters into the room, Hyacinth can hear Aunt Walburga’s footsteps walking around Sirius’ room.
Hyacinth registers that the trio had shifted in their sleep, Sirius and she ended up squishing Regulus in a tight embrace the entire night, while the poor boy slept on his back.
Hyacinth realizes that Aunt Walburga doesn’t do her usual morning routine of screaming for the children to wake up and start their day, but instead, Hyacinth can feel her warm gaze on the trio. It encourages Hyacinth to allow her eyes to droop and fall back asleep.
-
It was the first week of December and Sirius was sneezing and coughing. He could barely walk without shuddering from the cold. And his sneezes have been producing silvery dust.
Hyacinth was in the library researching the issues. Sirius was right next to her, a blanket resting over his shoulders. Regulus was across from them, silently finishing up his latest oil painting.
Hyacinth makes a sound of triumph, and she points to a page in her book, The Healer’s Hand: A Compendium of Magical Maladies & Remedies, on page 358, a list of symptoms for an illness called, Wispwhispering Flu.
“It says it right here!”
Sirius peers down at the page, his eyes watery.
A mild but annoying magical ailment that causes shimmering wisps of mist to escape from the nose when sneezing. Symptoms include:
- A tingling sensation in the throat before sneezing.
- Sneezes that release silvery mist or small, harmless sparks.
- A faint, whispering sound in the ears as if spirits are talking when the fever peaks.
- Temporary wand misfires due to unstable magic flow.
“Well! What's the cure for this disastrous monstrous flu I’ve got?”
Hyacinth wrinkles her nose, “It says we need the Whisperbone Elixir” she grumbles.
There are currently no adults in the house, Kreacher is on an errand for Uncle Orion. There was no way they were going to get the Whisperbone Elixir until they came back, which could take hours.
Regulus puts his paintbrush down, ‘Brother, maybe you should just rest until Mother comes home” he says.
Sirius groans and stomps his feet to his room. Recently, Sirius has been questioning all sorts of authority and asking why things are the way things are. Which is causing Aunt Walburga to get extremely frustrated with her eldest son. He doesn’t want her help.
Hyacinth watches him leave and sighs, “Regulus, do you have any peppermint pearls?”
Regulus raises an eyebrow, “Yes in my room, I have a jar full of them” he says.
Hyacinth grabs Regulus’s arm and makes him lead her to the jar.
It’s on the highest shelf, and the two of them were barely tall enough to reach it.
“Will you catch me if I fall Reggie?” she asks. The pair were relatively around the same height and stature despite Hyacinth being a year older.
Reggie vehemently nods his head, “Of course!”
Hyacinth can see the jar, and she would just need to climb on the shelving slates to get to it. She places one foot on the shelf and slowly ascends. Once she reaches the highest shelf, she grips the jar in her hand and looks down to show Regulus.
Regulus smiles, “Yay! Good idea Cinthie, now you just have to get down,” he says.
Hyacinth looks down and realizes that she is a lot higher up than she thought she was. Her breath starts to quicken, and suddenly the bookshelf starts to tip forward.
Hyacinth goes tumbling down with the bookshelf, Regulus tries to catch her but an abundance of toys and books fall on top of them.
The pair barely had a chance to react to the loud crashing and falling of items. The sound of the door slamming shut, prompted them to get up instantly.
Anxiety was pooling in Hyacinth’s veins. She was deathly afraid of Aunt Walburga’s punishments. She had seen her whip the back of Sirius’ legs for misbehaving, and Hyacinth did not want to know how many whips she would be getting for destroying Aunt Walburga’s bookshelf.
“Boys? Cinthie? Where are you three?” Aunt Walburga sings.
Regulus and Hyacinth look at each other in fear. They could both hear Aunt Walburga’s heels clicking herself up the banister. The door to Regulus’s room swings open, and Aunt Walburga stares at the two in confusion.
“What are you two staring at? Where is Sirius?’ she asks. When the pair don’t reply she wanders off to presumably Sirius’ room.
Hyacinth and Regulus stare at eachother in wide-eyed open-mouthed shock, how did Aunt Walburga just ignore the mess they made? She wondered. They turned around to shock themselves even more, the shelf had somehow pulled itself back up, and the items on the shelf reorganized in their original place.
“Reggie, I don’t know how that happened, but let’s never tell anyone about this ever again,” Hyacinth says.
Reggie gulps, nods his head, and asks, “Was that accidental magic, Cinthie?”
“I think so”
-
The pair rush into Sirius’ room. Aunt Walburga had gone to the Floo room to call for the family healer. Regulus recounts what just happened to the pair for Sirius to hear. Although the older is sick, he still manages to chuckle.
Sirius was looking sickly pale, his curly hair was sticking to his neck and his nose was red.
“Here are some peppermint pearls, Siri”
Hyacinth hands Sirius the jar, “I risked my life to get these for you” she adds, gaining a small snicker from Regulus.
“Cissy always gave me these when I was sick, she says they help clear my nose” she adds. Sirius thanks her.
“I’m glad it's Cissy who said that and not Bella,” He says.
Regulus and Hyacinth giggle.
The healer strides in and Aunt Walburga makes Regulus and Hyacinth leave the room.
-
It was nearly two weeks until Yule. Hyacinth was still in Grimmauld Place, in a History of Magic and Pureblood Society class with Professor Malcrow. She animatedly explains the history of Hogwarts and how it came to be, and Hyacinth clings to every word.
She so desperately wants to go to Hogwarts, but her eleventh birthday is just three more years away. For now, she will be satisfied with learning every single thing about the founders and their relationship to the school.
The sand hourglass on Professor Malcrow’s desk chimes and the trio is dismissed.
The trio descends the stairs towards the dining room. It would be their last class together until the new year. The table was set with a traditional French dish that Hyacinth couldn’t name.
“Mother says that you will leave with your parents after the Ministry Gala is over?” asks Regulus.
Hyacinth nods her head, “Yes, Mother will pick up my sisters and they said we will all meet there”
Sirius quietly eats his fish, not saying anything. Hyacinth stares at him, the boy has gotten over the wispwhipsers, but he doesn’t seem to be his normal self.
‘Siri? Is everything okay?” Hyacinth asks.
Sirius mumbles something that Hyacinth can’t catch. Regulus looks at his brother in surprise.
Hyacinth asks him again.
“I don’t want you to leave us, why not just stay here?” Sirius demands.
Hyacinth raises her eyebrows, not expecting Sirius to have enjoyed her company as much as she enjoyed his, “Sirius, I will be back in the new year! And you could always come to Noctis Veil! I can show you my cool room, and we have a large field that we could fly in!” she exclaims.
Sirius gives her a wide smile, her words dispelling his worries.