HP • 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 ─ 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐱 𝐎𝐂

Bella

The month of returning to Hogwarts was approaching, but none of them would be going back. A wave of melancholy enveloped Cassi, causing all her plans to crumble, all the visions she had nurtured for the future were swept away like leaves in the wind.

She wouldn't be setting foot in the school again. Instead, she would face a battery of N.E.W.T. exams, with the results sealing her educational path at Hogwarts with exemplary grades. An honour award awaited her for her services to the school, notably for assisting the petrified students during the tumultuous second year.

She was already being guided to join the Ministry. However, the feeling was unsettling, as if something was deeply distorted and corrupt. Voldemort had left his mark, and Cassi suspected her mother had also been involved in this machinery. It was as if they had contrived a scheme to free her from the clutches of the Death Eaters once and for all.

With the Dumbledore's Army coin, she sent a letter to Neville, using an enchanted parchment to ensure that only he could decipher the contents. The responsibility now rested on his shoulders.

Neville would have to lead the newcomers to the D.A., guiding them skillfully, conducting discreet training sessions to avoid unwanted attention. Draco would also be an ally in this process, sharing his knowledge in Defence Against the Dark Arts. However, a crucial secret remained hidden: any attempt at betrayal would be punished with the loss of voice, a curse that she ensured would be quite painful this time.

The school was under the dark yoke of the Death Eaters. But they would manage, Neville is braver than he thinks, and Draco is much more talented than he hides. She had hope in them.
Death Eaters continued to die, and Voldemort began to worry about the mysterious deaths.
But they hadn't found the cause yet. None of them had. The Devastating Shadow remained a mystery.

Narcissa and Bellatrix always disappeared during the afternoons. Narcissa was only found inside her potions room, or in the mansion's library. Sometimes in her greenhouses tending to the Narcissus flowers.

Speaking of Narcissus flowers, there were many of them around the Gaunt mansion.
Cassi found it strange the first time she saw them, pausing briefly to admire them - they were her favourites.

(...)

She was sitting in the library, her eyes scanning the newspaper pages with a mix of disbelief and indignation. The Daily Prophet was now a vehicle controlled by the Death Eaters, and the headlines accused Harry of murdering Dumbledore.

UNDESIRABLE NUMBER 1

proclaimed the headline in bold letters, a sordid trick to summon him for questioning. It was a cunning strategy by Voldemort to incite distrust and prevent rebellions.

But it was the next article that plunged Cassi into an abyss of horror.

Registration for Muggle-Borns

The Ministry of Magic was conducting a census of "Muggle-borns" to uncover how they acquired knowledge of magic. They claimed, based on research from the Department of Mysteries, that magic could only be passed down by wizards through procreation. Therefore, in cases where wizarding ancestry was not proven, the so-called "Muggle-borns" had likely obtained their powers through theft or coercion.

The Ministry has decided to eradicate these magic usurpers and, for this purpose, invites them to come forward for interviews with the newly-created Muggle-Born Registration Commission.

Cassi gasped, devastated. At that moment, eleven-year-old Muggle-born children were immersed in newly-acquired spellbooks, completely unaware that they might never set foot in Hogwarts, perhaps never see their families again. Now, they were forced to prove their wizarding ancestry to the Ministry, and without a wizard in their family tree... They would die.