July 3,1971, 12 Grimmauld Place
The day Sirius Black got his own Hogwarts letter began as days usually began for Sirius. He rose with the Sun,washed,dressed,and made his way to the dining room. The room looked out on the London streets through a charmed window. Today,it was bright and sunny. A few clouds were in the northern sky.
As usual,Kreacher showed up with their breakfasts at 8:00 am on the dot. Sirius dug into his flapjacks like there was no tomorrow,and Orion did the same with his fried eggs. Afterwards,they cleaned up and went to do their separate things. Orion would read in the family library,Walburga would compose neat,correct letters to other pureblood ladies in the solar,Kreacher would get things ready for luncheon,and Regulus would read up on the history of magic.
The first place Sirius went was the conservatory at the back of the house. It had magical and non-magical plants from all over the world. Sirius liked tending the orange trees because they smelled very good, like toothpaste or Fluxweed stems. The oranges themselves came from a supplier in Texas,the best in the business. Mr.Audendried was universally understood to be one of the best magical plant suppliers there was, and he’d been supplying the Black family since 1934.
Sirius spent an hour tending to the orange trees,then a few minutes on the periwinkle blossoms at the far end of the conservatory. He tended them utilizing bundimun-skin gloves and enchanted trowels. When he was done,he went to his room to read Potions for Beginners, the 1958 edition, by Conrad Lufkin.
11:00 am
"Sirius! Imry just came back from his morning meal! And he's got a letter for you!"
Imry was the Black family's pet owl,a barn owl with off-white feathers. He always knew to come back to 12 Grimmauld Place after sending or receiving mail.
Sirius went to the sitting room,where Imry waited in the window. He had a letter in his beak. Sirius' heart jumped when he saw the crest on the envelope.
Hogwarts!
The envelope read:
Master Sirius Black
The Bedroom With The Muggle Electric Fan
12 Grimmauld Place, Hackney, London
And the letter read:
Dear Mr.Black,
You have been selected to be a first-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We await your owl no later than the 15th of next,
Sincerely,
Horace Slughorn
Alternate Headmaster
Attached was a list that read:
First-year students will require:
Uniform
Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)
One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags at all times
Books
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic (1968 edition) by Bathilda Bagshot
Hogwarts:A History (1969 edition), by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
Transfiguration 101 by Jolyssa Miller
Magical Plants and Animals:A Primer by Theon Dunbar
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (1963 edition), by Newt Scamander and Raymond Goldstein
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentyn Trimble
How to Protect Against Dark Magic (both beginner volumes), by Niall Queensbury
Other Equipment
A wand (preferably Ollivander)
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set of brass scales
Students may also bring a pet of their choice,provided that they can control any danger it might provide to others
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS,UNLESS THEY ARE FROM A NOBLE HOUSE
Sirius couldn't believe it. He was going to Hogwarts!
"Mum! Dad! Reggie! Kreacher! I'm going to Hogwarts!"
——————-
7:30 pm
After supper,as was his tradition,Orion retired to the drawing room. The room was outfitted in the style popular during Archer Evermonde's term as Minister for Magic,with flutéd ceiling pipes,busts of past Heads of House Black,and paintings done in the Charteris style depicting House sigils. Bookshelves lined the long walls,decorated with greenweed from the Ethiopian steppes and filled with books on all sorts of Wizarding subjects. At the farther end was a door that was magicked to lead up to the house's highest story. Orion was reading through a letter from Christoph Pucey when the door opened to admit Walburga.
She looked mad,with a face as red as a tomato. She walked with a stumbling gait such as Orion had never seen her use before. With a 'humph' she settled into the chair opposite Orion.
"My dear Walburga,whatever is the matter?"
"It's our son. He is as wilful as you must have been at that age! We're at war,and he dares to defend the Mudbloods!"
"Everybody needs defending at some point or other. And we're not at war yet,no matter what arseholes like Carrow,Thicknesse,Yaxley,and Burke say."
"Not Blood Traitors! Did you know that he wants to be a Gryffindor? Gryffindor! With all the other blood traitors and Mudbloods,I shouldn’t wonder! “
"More power to him. We can't all be Slytherins."
At that,Walburga rose spluttering.
"Are you listening to yourself? I sent him to his room without supper,but then he sidestepped me and had Kreacher deliver it to him! The nerve of that elf!"
Orion decided to summon said elf. "Kreacher!"
A crack like a whip,and the elf appeared on the mantel. "Yes,Master Orion? How may this unworthiest of elves serve you?"
"Get a Dutch ale for Mistress Walburga,and make it snappy. And stop calling yourself unworthy."
Another crack,and Kreacher disappeared.
"Dear Walburga,what's wrong with Sirius being a Gryffindor? At least he'll get exposed to more world views than the bloodist pap you've been feeding him and Reggie. I've always meant to have a talk with you about that."
She slapped him across the jaw,almost breaking it. "Orion Michele Black! How dare you agree with your Blood Traitor of a son,when you ought to disown him for his foolishness! You crybabies calling us racist,people like you are why Lord Voldemort is rising to power! Mudbloods are nothing but a taint on our society. At least we have people like him now,who will set things to rights. And what of Regulus? Will he want to be a Gryffindor too?”
"You would support that bloodist tosspot? Do you know what him and his followers plan to do once they gain control of Magical Britain? We're meant to be an equal society,yet people like you keep setting us back! And do you forget that Dougal Flint,your own great-grandfather,was a Muggleborn? As for Regulus,being a Gryffindor might do him some good too.”
Walburga might've slapped him again,had Kreacher not chosen that moment to come back bearing a tumbler of Netherlands Best ale.
"Anyway,tomorrow morning,I'm going to have a talk with our sons encouraging them to renounce your worldview. And you will not be permitted to accompany Sirius and myself to Diagon Alley when we go to get his school supplies,nor will you be permitted to accompany him and myself to Platform Nine and Three Quarters when it comes time for him to depart for Hogwarts. Now leave me,before I get Kreacher to summon an Auror for domestic violence."
Walburga turned on her heel and stormed out of the drawing room,but she stopped at the door.
"You'll rue this day,Orion Michele Black! Don't think I don't mean it!"
With that,she left the room. Orion wondered on how to handle things. Hopefully she'd be more rational in the future. Next year it would be Regulus boarding the Hogwarts Express. But this coming September it would be Sirius. Sirius,his golden boy,who had always been attentive,polite,and smart. Regulus had always been more like Walburga,but his opinions seemed almost as tolerant as Sirius's, or Orion's own for that matter.
He would sleep on it.