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Eight years have passed since the defeat of Voldemort. Neptune didn't know exactly what this meant, but she knew it to be true. Voldemort was defeated, most certainly. This was a solid, irrefutable fact, and such things had always been a comfort to her. So it was no surprise that she whispered this under her breath as she scrubbed at the kitchen floors, her hands smarting from the cleaning solution. After all, if someone had the wits and courage and strength enough to defeat another as horrible and wicked sounding as Voldemort, then surely Neptune could deal with a little roughing up from the Remoras. Yes, she told herself, spending hours cleaning the manor and cooking the meals and doing the children's homework was surely nothing next to defeating Voldemort.
By the time Neptune had finished scrubbing the floors, washing the dishes, and preparing for the next day, the rest of the family had long since gone to bed and night had fallen hours ago. While she would've preferred to eat around a dining table with her own family that night, the eleven-year-old didn't bother complaining as she climbed the ladder to her attic with sore, raw hands. The climb was quicker that night, and she had been moving double-time. A letter had come for her today. The fact that the letter came for her was odd enough; what was even odder was the way it was addressed:
Miss N. Black
The Attic Above the Kitchen
9 Abington Lane
Camden
London
How the sender knew her name, let alone where in the manor she slept, was a mystery to Neppie. She loved mysteries.
The pale girl expertly avoided the creaks in her old wooden floorboards, not wanting to take any chances in waking the Remoras. She plopped down on her tiny worn-down mattress, pulling the letter out from the waistband of Isaac's old shorts. She marvelled at the heavy feeling of the envelope, and the curving letters of the address, and the fancy red wax seal that sealed the letter shut. Not wanting to wait a moment longer, she slid her index fingers under the envelope flap and broke the wax seal, slipping out the thick piece of parchment. It read as such:
