minnow // sirius black

one

1: the first four

Our letters came the day of our birthday, at approximately 5-PM.  Nothing made us happier than to see these milky envelopes in the beaks of a snowy owl and a barn owl. James was delighted that his letter was in the grasp of the beautiful white owl while mine was held by the barn owl that was almost poop colored.

Mum and Dad immediately threw a 'party', just the four of us, and continuously praised us for something that was technically our birthright. We had cake and ice cream, and they each promised we'd go to Diagon Alley in August for supplies, but that we would go tomorrow to look for pets.

Mum suggested the trip tomorrow, saying we needed to have time with our animals to learn how to take care of them and 'bond'. Dad agreed with her, so James and I were beyond ecstatic.

Despite the clarity of the letter, Mum reluctantly allowed me to get a pet snake, promising she would talk to the Headmaster and get special permissions. I made a promise to her, and subsequently the Headmaster, that if I was allowed to bring the snake, that I would never use it to harass or scare other students, and that I would keep him in his tank (which was incredibly large) at all times unless I was in the room.

He agreed, with an extra promise to me. He promised to make sure that Biscuit would always have rats as food, provided by one of the teachers, who was very insistent on me being allowed to have him, and requested to be allowed to use him for lessons. I was overjoyed.

The trip to Diagon Alley for our supplies went quickly, as Mum and Dad split up, Mum taking me, and Dad taking James, each getting half of the list. Mum and I went to Flourish and Blotts to get two copies of each listed book; as well as a couple I found interesting - for light reading. James and Dad went to Potage's Cauldron Shop to get our cauldrons, before heading to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to get a few items for Dad.

We met back up at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to be fitted for a few sets of plain black robes. Mum made sure Madam Malkin made the hood of mine a little larger than usual, as I had an obsession with oversized hoods. We then went to Ollivander's to get our wands - James was chosen by an 11' Mahogany (I didn't hear when Mr. Ollivander mentioned his core).

I was chosen by a 9 3/4 (ironic) Ash wood wand with a Unicorn hair as the core. While the handle was slightly thicker than the rest of the wand, the handle also showed off a beautiful floral pattern. The rest of the wand was straight, slightly narrowing to a dull point. Mr. Ollivander went on and on about how Ash wood mixed with Unicorn hair made for a wand that would never change allegiances from one witch to another. He said that my wand would always be my wand.

We ended the trip by going to the Joke shop, and Dad allowed us each 3 prank related items that were allowed in school.

The following month went by as slowly as you could imagine, but when September first came, we were the happiest we'd ever been.

I coined that day as my happiest, and I wasn't wrong. It was the happiest day of my life for a very long time.

Our parents finally let us go after promising us to write frequently, and to send treats every week, just in case they were depriving us of our sweets. I promised Mum that I would keep James out of trouble, and he promised Dad to keep me 'away from boys'.

Once we made it onto the train, I decided to find a compartment with other girls, and not to sit with my twin brother. It was a decision I was thankful I made, as I made my closest friend within the first few minutes of the train ride. The compartment I chose was basically full, three girls, and two boys. It was a larger compartment that could seat 10 people.