At that moment, I decided nothing else mattered. Faster than I thought, I took off during school to her home. I had been there a few times prior, but nothing felt as urgent as this. What was a twenty minute walk was cut to eight. I knocked on the door, taking greedy lungfuls of air as I waited. And then she appeared before me, bedding wrapped around her, glasses on and fogged, face red with tear tracks cascading downwards. That was a moment I recall my thoughts

‘She’s as beautiful as ever.’

The sunspots were making an array of colors dance through her eyes. Her hair was disheveled and unkempt from what seemed like days of tossing and turning in her bed. I stepped forward and held my arms to her, she collapsed. The sobbing began anew.

—————————————————————————

December 2014

Four months had passed since the death of Hina’s father. He died in a factory accident, leaving her mother widowed, and Hina without an orphan. The life insurance policy he had luckily made the funeral expenses seem less. The emotional trauma that his death left behind however could not be fixed with money. I comforted her to the best of my abilities. With my own family dead, I had experience with the grieving process.  We took it slow, and after summer ended she was able to function in her classes and pass them thankfully.

I remember being so proud of her for how strong she was, for feeling and letting her emotions out. I grimace even now remembering my own parents unfortunate demise, and I commended her on her willpower. She would smile at me, and say her strength to keep going was because of me. I felt like my purpose was fulfilled in those times. Like everything was right in the world.

Christmas was coming, a gift had to be bought for her, so I did my best to find something she would like, settling on a small basket of things she adores. She granted me the gift of a Kendo repair kit. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that with my lineage, it wasn’t necessary. So I thanked her with a smile instead….that was the night I asked her on a date. To be my girlfriend. I remember her looking startled, before she laughed in my face. I was so nervous and scared she would reject me. But instead, she flicked my forehead and said-

“You dolt, we’ve been dating for months! At least I thought so.”

That was also the night we shared our first kiss. On Christmas Day, it was perfect. We celebrated the New Year together, we went to the Shrine after, and prayed. I remember wishing to always have a piece of her with me. No matter how far apart, or where we are. I didn’t know how literal it was until later.

—————————————————————————

April 2016

I remember screaming into the rainy night until my throat was raw and raspy. I remember clawing the ground with my fingers as drops of acid slammed against my skull. The dull thud noise barely registered to me as I stared lifeless into the bloody dirt that lay before me. Fingernails raw and cracked, eyes crying tears that felt like a lake of fire across my face. My mind is numb, the only thoughts sporadically bouncing off of my mind are threats, anger, violence against myself. Thoughts of what I needed to do to get Hina back. That I wished instead for us to always be together….why did she have to go. For what purpose was she taken. 

I remember silence. As if all the rain stopped around me. The pain faded, I was only left a husk…then, teeth pulling, mind numbing, aching, horrible, sounds beyond comprehension worked its way out of my body as purple light filled the area.

It appeared before me. The weapon of my mindscape. The Empty Blade. And I realized at that moment. The shrine granted my wish.

—————————————————————————

???


I was allowed to reminisce on my memories for just a moment. And of course, my thoughts go to her. Mei. A smile spreads across my face involuntarily. I remember the first day she was introduced in class, the expression on her face was that of a painting, lifeless, stuck in an expression that only the artist themself could divine. I got nervous when she was supposed to sit next to me, I looked to the window and watched from the corner of my eye as she sat down and turned to me. In that moment, almost compelled by fate, I spoke to her-

“Hi! My name is Hina Laelynn. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

And maybe I imagined it. But I swear she smiled for just a moment, and I felt like I did the right thing.

—————————————————————————

???

I remember watching her spar in Kendo practice. If anyone noticed, a glimmer would have probably appeared in my eyes as she moved during the match like it was her own kingdom. Like it was her court, and everyone unfortunate enough to cross her path would be succumbed to her rule. I moved to stand up as she finished, stuttering in my footsteps as her sparring partner approaches her first. A grin on his face. I can’t hear what he says, but for some reason, a heat rises in my chest and my movements no longer lag. Before I know it, I had reached her side and grabbed her hand.

“We’ll be on our way, I’ll return her to you tomorrow.”

The words spill from my lips, and I pull her along away from the now startled man. For just a moment, I see what looks like a smile pass across Mei’s lips. It fills me with flushing heat across my neck.






—————————————————————————

???

Crying. Pain. Sadness. Heartbreak.

“Help.”


—————————————————————————

???

Snowing, the feeling in my chest had lightened by this point. Mei and I were together, she helped so much and had been a joy to be around. Even if others at school found her a bit off putting, or extra protective. I appreciated it. The protection, the unfamiliar feeling of safety. She bought me a basket of items for Christmas, I bought her a Kendo repair kit, her mouth twitched when I did it. I wondered why. She asked me to be her girlfriend, I was so startled I couldn’t help but laugh for a moment. I flicked her forehead lovingly.

“You dolt, we’ve been dating for months! At least I thought so.”

We kissed that night. I’ve never felt so protective of someone’s happiness. As if she was the most important person to me. And I could tell the same was for her. We went to the Shrine that night and prayed together. I remember wishing that one day, we would get married.

The next day, I bought her a Promise Ring with a gift letter to be sent to her house in a few months.

—————————————————————————

???

I miss Mei.

—————————————————————————

Sagittarius walks into the bathroom. Ten minutes later he comes out and dries off. Harry is practising some incantations out of the Charms and DADA textbook. “Starting off early?” Sagittarius asked while getting his own wand. Harry shrugs. “I’ve already taken a look and mostly memorised everything in the DADA book for this year, but I need some Charms practice.” He says flippantly. “Really? I didn’t know you’d be so studious, definitely a good thing though because I plan on doing my best as well. Any particular interests? I happen to have some friends that I know are quite good at certain subjects, maybe we could start a study group.” Sagittarius chuckles, grabbing his bag as they both get ready to head out for an early breakfast. “Definitely DADA, from the tutoring I’ve had it’s one of my best subjects, Charms, and Transfiguration was both my mother and fathers best subjects respectively so I have a bit of natural talent in those, Potions is something I haven’t had much actual experience, I shouldn’t expect too much here, according to Sirius. He told me Professor Snape might have a grudge against me for issues with my father.” Harry frowns slightly and sighs as he says this. Sagittarius looks almost appalled, “Why would he have issues with you for things your father did? That’s incredibly petty, especially for a teacher.” 

They both head into the Great Hall and sit down at the Gryffindor table, the only people in the hall currently are Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore who sit at the main table. Harry and Sagittarius both pull out their respective books to review before classes today, Professor McGonagall heads down to them and smiles. “Good morning to you both, here are your schedules.” Sagittarius takes his first, quickly scans it, and sighs. Once she leaves he turns to Harry who has a neutral face on, “Double Transfiguration, DADA then Charms after lunch, on the first day.” Sagittarius slightly leans against the table, “I’m more worried about double Potions with Slytherin tomorrow.” As he says that the Great Hall opens up again, Aurora and Orion both walk into the hall, green and blue robes respectively.

Once they spot Harry and Sagittarius they both head over and sit down at Gryffindor, Orion stops right before he sits down and turns to the head table. “Headmaster, are others houses aloud at other tables?” Dumbledore smiles with a twinkle in his eyes, “Yes Mr. Black it is definitely aloud just slightly uncommon, it may be wise to change to your house when breakfast starts but do not worry about teacher repercussions.” Orion nods at him and sits down next to his sister, she looks the most tired out of everyone but is still coherent enough to call her brother a nerd. Said brother rolls his eyes and they all sit in respective silence. Aurora flips her wand through her fingers, Orion reading a History of Magic book, Sagittarius reading a Potions book, Harry silently practising incantations.

More and more people start to flood into the hall as it gets closer to time, some give confused looks at the group of four, some Slytherins give cold neutral looks at Aurora who stare back at them heatedly in return. The only person who actually nodded at her was a girl with striking blonde hair, who Sagittarius immediately recognized as Daphne Greengrass Heir presumptive of House Greengrass. Aurora turns back to the group and sees Sagittarius’ look. She rolls her eyes, “Yeah she’s my roommate, seems to be a networking scheme or something but she doesn’t seem malicious.” Aurora shrugs and gets up to head over to her table, Orion does the same with a nod and a smile at the Gryffindors, they both head off in time for Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape to hand them their class schedules.

Breakfast happens the same as the sorting feast last night by food magically appearing, it proceeds quickly. Once it disappears everyone gets up to head to the first class of the day. Not entirely sure where to go, Sagittarius and Harry just follow the crowd. Sagittarius grabs his head as an onslaught of emotions and random feelings flood through his head, almost overwhelming them before he clamps down on his Legilimency and tries to focus on a single person to drown out the others, shoving the tiny bit of guilt aside he focuses on the prefect leading the way. “Nervous about doing a good job, pride at being given this position, anxiety about his OWLS, typical stuff but this guy is a very open book. Alright 1, 2, 3, breathe in and out. Just like mom and mother taught me. Speaking of, I should owl them my sorting tonight.”

Sagittarius calms himself down as they continue walking to Transfiguration, as they all head into the classroom the only thing in there besides the desks is a tabby cat sitting on Professor McGonagall’s desk, Harry smiles at it when he walks in, they both sit down together. Class starts in five minutes so Sagittarius takes out his Transfiguration book and quickly reviews it. Harry sits down next to him and just relaxes scoping out the classroom. Two Gryffindor students rush in at the last second with a quick, “Oh my Merlin we made it on time.” Coming from the red-headed one, that looked a lot like the prefect, “I think it was Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnigan” Sagittarius thought, they both quickly took a seat, as the cat jumped off the desk. In midair, it turns into Professor McGonagall. “Welcome class, to your first lesson at Hogwarts. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn here,” she said. “Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.” She then turned around and changed her desk into a pig, then back again. Everyone was suitably impressed, after the demonstration, McGonagall started a very long lecture, with everyone doing their best to write down notes.

In the last thirty minutes of class, everyone was given a matchstick and told to transfigure it into a needle. Sagittarius turned to Harry to watch him first before attempting it himself, Harry stared at the matchstick for a moment, incredibly focused before saying the incantation with a wave of his wand and turning it into a needle on his first try. Sagittarius raised an eyebrow at the impressive display, “Any tips before I try this?” He whispers quietly to Harry, who looks back and says equally as quiet.” Imagine it as a needle in your head before you say it, fully visualize it and be confident in your words. Magic is about intent.” Sagittarius focuses quietly, using his Legilimency to focus his hardest on the image of a needle, before saying the spell, the matchstick turns into a 3/4th of a needle, and then trying again it turns fully into one. He turns to Harry who smiles and gives him a thumbs-up, he gets up to grab two more matchsticks and transfigures both of them into needles as well. At the end of the lesson, Harry and Sagittarius are the only ones with fully completed transfigures, Each is awarded 5 points for their efforts.

After this lesson the day passed by relatively quickly, DADA being a subject Sagittarius was glad he was good at, to begin with, because Professor Quirrell is almost impossible to understand with his stuttering, and Harry kept wincing every time they made eye contact, weirdly so did Quirrell. Charms were quick too, Professor Flitwick being a very fun teacher, dulled slightly from only doing a lecture this period, the day passed by relatively quickly. The next day Herbology was a slightly interesting affair only because the shy kid Neville Longbottom was a certified prodigy in this class, easily earning house points and answering questions from the most likely 4th-year curriculum. Sagittarius wondered how good he would be if he had that confidence in all the other classes. “Something to consider if the opportunity arises I suppose, might be worth trying to establish a relationship with him.” Sagittarius thought to himself with a shrug.

Finally the most dreaded first class this week came creeping up. “Potions.” Harry said simply with a small grimace, He breathed in and out slowly as the first years all walked to the classroom together. Sagittarius puts a slight hand on his shoulder to steady him as they are both walking in, finding a desk, both of them sat down and waited, the Slytherins on the other side of the room keeping to themselves, almost an invisible divider between the two Houses. Sagittarius did spot Draco, attempting to make conversation with one Aurora Black. The girl in question looked the most bored Sagittarius has ever seen her, leaning back in her chair and waiting for anything interesting to happen. She catches his eye and smirks with a little wave.

The door abruptly opened, and he walked in with a flourish and cape blowing behind him was Professor Severus Snape. He commanded quiet and obedience by stance and aura alone “You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through the human veins, bewitching the minds, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper to death — if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

Silence followed his declarations as he scoped the classroom with an annoyed gaze. Sagittarius’ fears came true when the Professor turned abruptly from his silent pacing towards their desk. “Potter! What would I get if I added a powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” Professor Snape suddenly snapped, glaring at Harry. He impassively looked back, “The first step to the Draught of Living Death sir.” He stoically said not even surprised at the targeting. “Well, it seems there are some brains to go along with the fame.” Snape sneered, the class stayed silent around them. “Once again, where would you look if I said to find a bezoar?” Harry responds, “Either in your emergency kit, or if we were in the wild in the pit of a goat’s stomach…Sir” He added as almost an afterthought, still answering impassively. Professor Snape narrows his eyes, dropping the sneer but still looking decidedly annoyed.

Sagittarius tilts his head slightly with a flash of insight as the cog turns in his head, “He looks surprised, with the tiniest hint of guilt, but not guilt at what he’s doing now. Guilt for what has been done.” With the subtleness of a battering ram all insights that could have been afforded to Sagittarius immediately stop as Professor Snape turns to look at him and a headache works into his brain, Sagittarius winces slightly but stands firm, “LeFay! What’s the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?” He says with force behind his voice. Sagittarius almost panics before he remembers after a half-beat of hesitation. “Nothing sir, they are the same plant which also goes by the name aconite.” Sagittarius says with confidence. Professor Snape nods with a grunt, “Passable. Both of you will see me after class.” The Gryffindors both nod impassively.

Sagittarius breathes out slowly as Professor Snape turns around to write the instructions for the cure to boils on the board, as he says begin, everyone who was in pairs has one of them walk up to the potion cabinet to get all the necessary ingredients, while the other stays back to get the instruments and cauldron prepared, as Harry got up to walk to the cabinet Sagittarius puts a hand on his arm. “Wait a minute, we don’t need to get those I have my own.” He pulls a potioneers kit out of his bag full of ingredients and all the items needed for potion-making. Harry raises an eyebrow and sits back down to get the cauldron ready, “So why do you have all of this?” Harry asked inquisitively, “My parents are both incredibly accomplished potioneers who both have masteries in their respective fields, as well as some others. I’ve learned how to safely brew most potions by myself with their tutelage, we should be fine.” Sagittarius responded already getting to work, instructing Harry to start crushing the snake fangs.

Their process was definitely faster than everyone else’s, getting off to an early start both of them moving with speed and confidence, about half an hour went by  before being interrupted, Harry twitched his wand into his hand and snapped “Accio porcupine quills!” The quills that almost fell into Neville’s and Seamus Finnigan’s cauldron came into his hand with a relieved sigh, Professor Snape stalked over from his desk, “Potter! What are you doing?” “Stopping an explosion from happening sir, they almost added the quills before taking the cauldron off the fire.” Harry said with slight trepidation for the first time. Snape narrowed his eyes then looked away, turning to Neville, “Boy! Next time you won’t be so lucky, be more careful.” He said imperiously before taking his post again. Neville shakily nods and turns to Harry, “Thank you so much, that would’ve been awful.” Harry nods at him and continues working on their potion, at the end of it with a soft wave of his wand Sagittarius bottles the pink potion, rose and heads towards the headdesk.

Handing it over Professor Snape who takes it silently and pops the cork off, sniffing it slightly, nods with a near-silent “One point to Gryffindor.” Knowing that potion was perfect and done with twenty minutes to spare Sagittarius stoically accepts the unfairness and heads back to his seat, on the way he notices some of the Slytherins notably Draco and his cronies giving him glares, but the one partnered with Aurora gives him an appraising look, that almost looks impressed, while Aurora herself gives him a definitive thumbs up and a smirk. She and her roommate both stand up and present theirs next, Professor Snape only looks at Daphne when he says. “5 points to Slytherin.” Draco presents next, being given 5 points as well. His smugness radiating, distracts from his lacklustre potion, obviously going for speed over quality.

The rest of the class passed by quickly Sagittarius just zones out not wanting to get caught practising any other subjects. The first years quickly filed out of the room, Harry and Sagittarius stayed back as instructed, once everyone left they both walked up to the front desk. Professor Snape stood imperiously, once they closed the distance standing about five feet away from his desk he looked up from his papers, “Well, I know that Mr.LeFay knows why he’s here, but do you, Mr. Potter?” Professor Snape said, not sneering as he did before but still with a tenseness to his voice. Harry considered this for a moment and took a quick glance at Sagittarius, seeming to not want to say in his presence, at Snape’s continued look he spoke, “Yes sir, from what the Headmaster has told me, we have a conflict to resolve before the semester continues, but since I am the student and you’re the teacher I left it to your discretion.” Harry said reluctantly. Snape in a lapse of composure snorted at that. “Conflict is an understatement Potter, your father terrorized and bullied me in my school days, and you are almost an identical copy of him. That is something I cannot ignore without resolve and Dumbledore knows this.” Snape said derisively. “Unfortunately this is something that most likely cannot be resolved because the person I have this conflict with is not here to settle it, so I will make this quick, I will ignore your very existence in every facet as long as you ignore that part of you that makes up your father while in my presence then we shall agree to disagree and move on. Is that agreeable for you Mr. Potter?” He continued. Harry stood there for just a couple of seconds, Sagittarius could feel the conflict and suppressed anger, none of this showed in his next few words. “Perfectly agreeable Professor, I hope to change your opinion of me through actions rather than words. May we leave?” He quietly said with steel and control in his voice.

Sagittarius who has been standing quietly for this back and forth straightens when Professor Snape looks at him. “Not yet, I want you to know LeFay that I know what you did and what you tried to continue to do. If you attempt to do so again unintentionally or otherwise I will give you detention for the rest of the year. Do you understand me?” Snape snapped off. “Yes sir, I understand very well, it won’t happen again.” Sagittarius responded with a slight shaking in his voice. “Good, you both may leave.” Snape ushered them both out, as they stepped out together and started walking to the library, Harry let out a sigh of restrained anger. “That went over better and ultimately way worse than I thought. I can’t believe he still holds a grudge.” Harry muttered, “What issues does he have with you?” He questioned inquisitively,  Sagittarius fidgets slightly, he looks around as they walk wondering if he should dodge the question. “Uh, I don’t know if I should say, let’s just say for now I’m really really good at reading people.” Sagittarius responds quietly, Harry nods.

They both continue to walk in silence for a moment, “Harry, I wanted to ask about the spell you used to save Neville from the explosion?” Sagittarius asked, “Oh yea it’s called Accio the summoning charm, typically taught in the fourth year but it’s pretty easy to learn early, just circle and flick slightly up at the object you want to summon while saying the spell and object you want to be summoned, I can show you later if you want.” Harry explained and then offered. Sagittarius agreed readily.

Later that night they have their first Astronomy class, it passes over smoothly with no issues but a lot of confusing terminologies. As everyone starts walking back to Gryffindor tower, Sagittarius walks to the Owl Emporium, to find his familiar that he got special permission for, “Hello Jade! How’ve you been darling?” The raven flies down and perches on his hand taking the offered treat and pecking their hand nuzzling into his shoulder. “I need you to send a letter to my parents, do you mind?” The raven caws an affirmative in response, Sagittarius hands the pre-drafted letter, that has his sorting, friends he’s made, favourite classes, the usual first-year Hogwarts student stuff.

As the raven flies off into the night Sagittarius turns around and heads toward Gryffindor tower to end his night excited but nervous about how their parents will react to his sorting, as he walks through the Fat Lady’s portrait into the common room, he spots Harry talking to Neville in quiet whispers by the fireplace. Harry waves him over, as Sagittarius approaches he says. “Do we need privacy for this? Also Mr. Longbottom we haven’t had much opportunity to talk yet but may I ask why you’re so nervous?. And why do I need to be a part of this conversation?” Sagittarius asked. Harry chuckles as Neville blushes slightly and looks down, “He wants to know if I could give him some pointers, I was trying to reassure him that it’s only been a couple of days and he shouldn’t worry.” Harry responded with amusement in his voice, “Still doesn’t answer my question, why am I here?” Sagittarius returned with an eyebrow raise. Harry smirks at him for just a brief moment, yet Sagittarius notices it and feels the cog turn in his brain once again, “He’s testing me, he’s putting me in a scenario where I have to read someone and potentially shift their view with words alone. And here I thought we were Gryffindors, not Slytherins Potter.”

Sagittarius narrows his eyes for just a moment considering his options, before shrugging, “Mr. Longbottom, don’t worry it’s only the second day here, you have plenty of time to improve if you feel you aren’t up to calibre. If you still feel this way by midterms feel free to ask us the question once again. For now, just do your best.” He said with almost a melodic quality to his voice,  Neville stands up slightly straighter, a faux glow coming to his eyes as he blinks rapidly for a moment. “Thank you Mr. LeFay for the advice, I shall take it to heart, I will improve.” He smiles and nods to them both, as he walks off Sagittarius notices two things, one that Neville almost seems to be two inches taller, and two that Harry is side-eyeing Sagittarius with a speculative look on while slightly smiling. “I have to say, Lord Potter, I didn’t expect you to be so underhanded.” Sagittarius says not even looking in his direction yet, Harry chuckles, “Whatever do you mean good sir, you definitely should’ve and most likely did expect this from the moment I told you my first two sortings.”

Quietly stepping into the room, Harry Potter bumps his shoulder teasingly into Sagittarius’. “Heir LeFay, I presume? Honour to finally meet you face to face without all the potential formality of writing letters.” Harry says with the tilt of his head in a pseudo bow. Sagittarius bows in return with a smile, “Well met, Lord Potter. It’s a likewise honour to be acquainted with someone such as yourself.” They both share a laugh at the unnecessary banter, while Aurora and Orion look back and forth between them both as a tennis match.

They both sat down across from the twins and began to engage in mindless chatter, talking about the curriculum and what house they wished to get into, Sagittarius and Aurora having definite picks of either Gryffindor or Slytherin for themselves. Harry and Orion didn’t particularly care where they were sorted. Their talking was paused when a slight knocking noise was heard at the door, Harry stood up and opened it tensely, almost like he was expecting something bad to happen. Sagittarius noticed.

“Hello, Lord Potter, may I come in?” Draco Malfoy’s voice was heard from the corridor, Harry takes a look at the others in the compartment before nodding and allowing him to come in, Draco turns back and says something to his bodyguards before entering. He smiles when he sees Aurora and Orion who both tensely smile back before he looks at Sagittarius and raises an eyebrow. “Well, do I get to know who this mystery person is now? Apparently, you’re influential enough to be seen with these families without repercussions.” Draco says, not friendly but not hostile either. Sagittarius nods at him and says, “Yes I suppose you may know, I am the Heir to the LeFay family, a family that is direct descendants to Morgan LeFay herself.” He says with confidence and immediately and only a slightly guilty feeling, blinks hard, and focuses on Draco’s reaction.

Draco at first registers shock, and disbelief before looking at everyone else for confirmation, at their nods and Aurora’s smug look he instead adopts a mask of calm and poise. “Well then, I would like to formally apologise for my attitude when we first met, had I known who you were I would have acted much more appropriately and with the proper respect that you deserved.” Sagittarius takes note with his Legilimency that he is sincere but also incredibly nervous, not at anyone in this given room. But perhaps for repercussions from someone else for the faux pass he made at an influential family. “Possibly his father, I’ve heard he can be quite strict from Lord Black, maybe at the castle this will be an opportunity to rectify his behaviour.” Sagittarius thinks to himself while outwardly putting on a smile. “Think nothing of it, Heir Malfoy, you wouldn’t have done something like that if you had known.” Draco nods and stands up quickly, “Pleasure seeing all of you and I hope that we can be allies in the future.” He holds a hand to Harry first who shakes it firmly, then Sagittarius who nods and shakes it back just as firmly. Draco takes his leave and walks out of the apartment.

The air immediately seems to clear and Harry calms down and puts his wand away. Sagittarius raises an eyebrow at that. “I didn’t even notice you pulled it out, how much have you practised before even arriving here?” Harry takes a moment to shake the tenseness out of his shoulders before replying. “I’ve had a couple of tutors over the past couple of years to help with theory, as well as incantations and motions. Sirius was incredibly thorough in my being prepared.” Harry shrugs, Aurora and Orion almost look a bit sad before that emotion is gone in the blink of an eye. Sagittarius notices but tries to ignore it in favour of asking Harry about what house he would prefer. “My parents were both in Gryffindor so that’s definitely an option.” Harry says in reply before a knock appears on the door again, He sighs and before he can stand up it opens to a bushy-haired girl with a few books on hand and an overall dishevelled appearance who asks very quickly. “Have any of you seen a toad? Neville is looking for it.” Harry looks confused at the rapid-fire pace before he replies. “No, but you could probably ask one of the prefects to summon it for you instead of searching all around for it.” She nods twice before she notices the scar on his head. “Oh my god, you’re Harry Potter! I’ve read all about you in your biographies and The Dark Lords of the Ages! I’m Hermione Granger.” Harry’s smile suddenly gets slightly more tense and fake. “Yes I am, but if you don’t mind I’d like to be left alone for a while and mentally prepare for whatever happens at Hogwarts.” She nods again and waves at him and everyone else in the compartment before leaving quickly with a blonde slightly hunched over the boy who seems to almost stand up slightly straighter when seeing exactly who is in the compartment. Before he walks off as well. Harry sighs, closes the door. “Hopefully no more interruptions, speaking of everyone should probably get changed soon just in case.” Everyone else nods, Aurora steps out of the room while everyone changes, and then everyone steps out when she does.

Sagittarius looks up as the train starts to slow down and the announcement goes off that the train will stop in 10 minutes. Everyone gathers their things and heads off the train. A voice booms out. “Firs’ years, firs’ years over here!” a ginormous man with a scraggly beard waves his hands and directs the first years over to the boats, He seems to give an extra wave and nod to Harry who does the same back. “Could just be another fan, but they seem to know each other. Harry wasn’t tense or anything this time so most likely something else.” Sagittarius clocks mentally, the four of them pile into a boat across the lake, a squid comes out at one point and almost seems to wave at everyone before sinking down once again.

Once that surreal experience ends, everyone successfully makes it onto the shore of the castle, some drier than others but here all the same. A tall older woman in green robes takes a headcount of everyone before casting a few spells, clothes get dryer and people become warmer. “The firs’ years Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid. “Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.” She pulled the doors open and led everyone through the entrance of a massive hall with incredible architecture, stone walls aligned with torches, and the ceiling too high to even comprehend.

As they are being led through the halls and up the marble staircases, Sagittarius turns to his group and quietly says. “I can see why we weren’t allowed to visit or see pictures. This place is amazing.” All three of them nod back with equally amazing looks. The first years are led into a smaller room outside of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall turns to everyone, “Welcome to Hogwarts, the start of term banquet will begin shortly, before you take your seats you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, while you are here you will have classes, sleep in the same dormitory, and spend free time in the House common room. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history. While you are here you will earn house points by triumphs and breaking rules will result in house point loss. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will win the House Cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house you are sorted into. Please follow me.” Her commanding and stern voice could cowl even the most sarcastic of people, it had everyone on edge and hanging on to every one of her words.

As she turned and led everyone into the great hall, four tables aligned with different colours from right to left with a clear path carved into the floor patterns leading up to a large table full of older people, and Albus Dumbledore himself at the head. A four-legged stool with a hat sat on it, the first years all lined up and ready, the hat opened and began to sing, to the first year’s shock.  

“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,

But don’t judge on what you see,

I’ll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats are sleek and tall,

For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There’s nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can’t see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you’ve a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You’ll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don’t be afraid!

And don’t get in a flap!

You’re in safe hands (though I have none)

For I’m a Thinking Cap!”

The whole Great Hall burst into applause after the song finished, Professor McGonagall walked forward with a roll of parchment. “When I call your name, you will put the hat on and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Abbott Hannah!” Who quickly went to Hufflepuff, then. “Black Aurora!” She stepped forward even with the slight mutters and whispers, two minutes went by before “SLYTHERIN!” She smiles, gets off the stool and takes her seat at the furthest one of the far left table, Sagittarius, Orion, and Harry all clap along with the green and silver table. “Black Orion!” Calm, as can be Orion steps forward, appears to be almost having a genial conversation with the hat before it yells out. “RAVENCLAW!” Blue and bronze cheers in response, with Aurora, Sagittarius, and Harry clapping along too.

Quite a few names went by a couple going to Gryffindor, others going to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. The bushy-haired girl that was talking while McGonagall led everyone through the castle made it into Ravenclaw. Finally, “LeFay Sagittarius!” With an almost imperceptible gulp and his heart pounding, Sagittarius steps forward and the hat goes over his eyes.

“Well then, interesting to meet you, Heir LeFay, so what will it be hmm? Slytherin like Morgan herself. Or do you choose to embrace your rebellion and courage? Tradition or being who you are. Either way, both houses will help you along your journey. Neither is bad for you, ambitious and cunning as you are, as long as you don’t lose sight of who you are along the way. The choice is yours.” The hat whispers in Sagittarius’ mind, as he grapples with what feels right, “I choose to be me, in whatever facet that may be. If rebellion is what accomplishes my goals, so be it.” Sagittarius mentally prepares himself as his heart calms, almost a sense of peace filling them. It feels like the hat almost smiles for a moment, proud of Sagittarius. “GRYFFINDOR!”

The table on the far right with gold and red colours bursts into applause, Harry gives him a thumbs up and a smile, Sagittarius takes a moment as he steps down to say hello and shake hands with some of his housemates, Draco Malfoy goes next and the hat immediately shouts. “SLYTHERIN!” Smugly he steps off and goes to the Slytherin table sitting next to his bodyguards. Names get rattled off again and again before the man of the hour gets called. “Potter Harry!” Full of confidence and grace, Harry walks forward with measured steps as everyone waits with bated breath. The hat goes on his head. One minute turns into two, then three, then five. Harry’s eyes seem to narrow while closed he slightly tilts his head and smiles. Sagittarius notices it’s not a nice smile, it looks more like the smile of the Cheshire cat before it got the canary. “GRYFFINDOR!” The sorting hat shouts, over all the applause is the only person that notices Harry’s smug smile, the Professor with the turbans glowing angry look, and the Professor with the dark robes and greasy hairs annoyed/unsurprised look. Is Sagittarius, before the looks vanish from everyone’s face and Harry sits down next to Sagittarius. “That was a fun conversation, don’t think the hat has ever been threatened before. But first time for everything, I’ll make sure to tell you later.” Harry says when Sagittarius raises an eyebrow at his flippant words.

He shrugs, Dumbledore stands up and begins to speak. “Welcome!” He said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak, Thank you!” He sits back down. Everyone claps and cheers, Sagittarius turns to Harry, “Is he mad or a genius?” Harry replies, “Why not both my friend, but mad is definitely the word I would use.” He seems to have an almost annoyed glint in his eyes when he says this Sagittarius notices. After everyone has their fill.

Professor Dumbledore stands again and the hall falls silent, “Ahem, I have a few start of term notices to give out. First years note that the Forbidden Forest is in fact forbidden and should not enter, older students should do well to remember this fact too. Magic should not be used in between corridors, Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested may try out for their respective house. Finally, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a painful death. Everyone is dismissed!”

Sagittarius takes note that Harry’s face gets even more annoyed at that last declaration, and so does the Professor with the greasy hair and hooked nose. Everyone stands up and begins to file out of the hall with their respective houses. Finally making it to Gryffindor tower, everyone files in and chooses their roommates. Surprisingly only two boys per room this year instead of the normal five, according to the prefect that was recently changed upon request of the Headmaster in all houses.

“Mind doing me the honour of being my roommate Lord Potter?” Sagittarius says sarcastically with a genuine smile adorned to his face. Harry rolls his eyes and does a graceful yet equally sarcastic bow back, “Why, of course, Heir LeFay it would be my pleasure.” They both walk into a room together and set up their things. “So Potter, what did the hat tell you? You seemed smug when walking off for a second.” Sagittarius says while putting his things away.

Harry raises an eyebrow, “Perceptive aren’t you, I’ll watch out for that, also just Harry is fine. But basically, it told me to go into Slytherin or Ravenclaw and I told it, ‘I have secrets to keep and either of those houses will pry till they figure it out, so Gryffindor or I fire every spell I know up this hat.’ Apparently, that counted as rebellion and bravery so he stopped arguing about it and let me win.” Harry looks so smug saying this and Sagittarius can imagine why, he immediately broke and started laughing, soon enough Harry did as well. Once they caught their breath and finished putting things away they both laid down in their beds. “First day starts tomorrow, time to show out and be the best I can be. Also, get Harry to talk about those secrets of his” Sagittarius says to himself before falling asleep.

Sagittarius nods to himself and piles the rest of his books away in a suitcase with his Legilimency books at the bottom under his clothes, while not exactly forbidden to have them they are considered to be somewhat taboo in nature by certain members of the Hogwarts staff. At his mother’s advice, he will resolve to learn how to transfigure book covers first. With that thought in mind, Sagittarius heads out of his room down the lavish castle staircase towards the main archway exit of the stronghold. He waits at the exit and sees his mothers approaching just as he was almost nodding off.

Still extremely early in the morning, with the sun shining brightly through the overall cloudy skies. Rose and Dove approach Sagittarius, before Dove takes his hand and says, “Hold on tight dear, a side-along apparition is not a fun experience the first time.” he nods and mentally prepares before the feeling of being sucked into a narrow vacuum dominates his senses and mind, Sagittarius almost keels over as his feet touch solid ground, briefly righting himself as Dove and Rose gives off an amused look.

Sagittarius looks around the busy platform and notices that none of them muggles seem to have noticed them, which is odd in its own right. “Why do they not notice us suddenly appearing out of thin air?” he quietly intones to Dove, she responds by telling him about the vast Muggle-Repelling and Notice-Me-Not charms on this platform.

They all continue walking through the crowd, the charms masking their presence as well. They make it to a very conspicuous wall that seems to radiate suspicion, mostly because all the muggles seem to avoid it like the plague, Sagittarius’ parents look back at him again, this time Rose says, “Alright kid, time to work your deduction powers again, see what you can see.” she smiles as she says this with confidence that she thinks he’ll be able to do this. Sagittarius looks around the platform before sighing and blinking hard, noticing this is the dead centre of platforms 9 and 10, as well as all the muggles avoiding this specific spot completely. “Must be where the charms are centred on, which means that there’s something about this wall that they need to hide. Might as well try and see what happens.” he walks forward towards the wall with a calculating look, before putting his hand on it, and almost stumbling as his hand passes through it completely.

Sagittarius looks back to see Rose beaming with pride, and Dove has a more slight but equally proud smile. He steps through the wall and opens his eyes to see multiple wizards and witches of all kinds with children and pets, he feels two hands on his shoulders, with his mothers leading him up towards the train labelled Hogwarts Express.

As he loads his luggage, he turns back towards his parents giving them each a smile and hugs, “Thank you for bringing me here, I love you both, and please don’t blow anything up while I’m not home please.” he laughs a bit, they both look at each other before speaking at the same time “Sorry hun/dear not gonna happen.” They smirk and give him a kiss on each of his cheeks, “Make us proud at Hogwarts and don’t get detention in the first week.” Said Dove, with slight tears in her eyes. Sagittarius nods and looks back at the train, seeing it getting ready to take off.

He hugs his mothers again; they wave him off as the train starts to ride down the tracks, he settles down and starts to scope the compartments, eventually finding what he’s looking for. Throwing the doors open. “Well my friends, are you ready to shake Hogwarts down to its core,” Sagittarius says with a broad smirk looking at his friends Aurora and Orion Black. They look at each other and nod back with equal smirks, “Why yes we are.”

Sagittarius smiles seeing his friend and Aurora’s twin brother, Orion looking relatively the same as he remembered. His crew-cut black hair now had a bit of almost gold specks in the spiked upfront, still about an inch taller than his twin counterpart. (He’ll never let her forget the height difference) Navy blue eyes, the only gene either twin received from the surrogate Sirius used. besides the fiery personality. “Makes sense though, Amelia Bones has a helluva personality.” Sagittarius thought to himself as they approached the father-son duo.

“Hey, kids! Did your fitting go okay?” Sirius said, looking at Aurora. “Yea dad, besides Draco, everything was fine.” She replied with a note of contempt towards the boy’s name. Sirius raises an eyebrow at this and laughs a bit at her obvious disgust. He turns to Sagittarius and smiles at the kid he hasn’t seen in about a year. “How are you Sagi! It’s been forever since I’ve seen you.” He says with a flare and drawl at the last word.

Sagittarius smiles a bit confused at the nickname, before replying. “I’ve been good, Lord Black. How about yourself Sir?” He replies with respect akin to his status of Lord.

Sirius looks a bit confused and almost affronted at the title usage, and Aurora elbows his rib (quite hard in Sagittarius’ opinion). Rolling her eyes she says. “You don’t need to pull title shit here dude.” Turning to her dad she continues. “Also why do you call him Sagi? Tarrius would be a much better nickname, dad.” She says with a smirk and a bit of an incredulous look at her father. Sirius rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment, “Yea, actually that probably is a lot better, to be honest.” Turning to Sagittarius. “Sorry for just going with a nickname without asking, kid. Do you mind?” He says towards the black-haired kid that isn’t his own. “Not at all Sir, a nickname is fine if that’s what you want.” Sagittarius replies with a smile. 

Aurora rolls her eyes once again at the title, before sitting down in one of the few pavilion-style chairs near the ice cream shop, pulling out her wand. “11″ Hazel Wood, Veela Hair, good for Charms” She says smirking, “Took me about an hour to find one and went through 20 wands, Orion got his too.” She nods to her brother and he grabs it from his pocket. “13″ Elder Wood, Dragon Heartstring, Ollivander said it was good for Transfiguration.” He says shrugging slightly. Sirius has a look of pride on his face looking at his kids. Aurora leans over to Sagittarius and whispers. “Harry got his yesterday when it was less crowded. 11,” Holly Wood, Phoenix Feather core, Ollivander said it was the brother of the wand that gave him his scar.”  She sighs at the last bit, before continuing. “I feel really bad for him, he never gets to go out for more than an hour or two at a time, less if it’s crowded. I understand why Sirius does it, but I can tell it’s getting to him.” Aurora looks a bit sad at this.

Sagittarius racks their brain for what to say at the moment. “Well, when he gets to Hogwarts we’ll just have to show him around a bunch and catch him up on what he’s missed won’t we?” He says in reply to her nervousness. She looks a lot more comfortable and relaxed after that. She nods and cracks her neck. She stands up. “By the way, two questions. Where are your moms and do you want ice cream?” She looks at him questioningly. “They are gathering potions supplies for the shop back home right now, also yes, coffee ice cream please.” She raises an eyebrow at their choice. Looking extremely like her father at that moment. She steps towards the stand and orders a mint chocolate chip and coffee waffle cones. She returns with the prize and hands it over.

They all sit in silence for a bit listening to the busy streetway, Sagittarius tries to tune out the conversations, as he feels his Legilimency wanting to work.  “It feels like it’s trying to force itself into place, this is giving me a headache.” Sagittarius sighs at that thought and rubs his left temple for a second, Aurora and Orion look a little concerned, he can feel it without even looking. Stupid Legilimency, he smiles reassuringly at them, they, unfortunately, don’t seem to buy it. “I’m fine guys, just a bit of a headache coming on.” Sagittarius says trying to convince them.

They both look at each other, before turning back to him and saying with the twin speak, “No, you aren’t.” It’s a little unnerving because they never speak at the same time typically. Sagittarius sighs again and looks around to see Sirius going into Flourish and Blotts, to buy his kids their books. Sagittarius motions them both closer, and they do so. “Remember when you bought me the Legilimency book because I said I was interested in it?” he says this to Aurora. She nods, they both continue looking at him interested in where this was going. “Well, according to my parents. I am something of a Natural Legilimens. Specifically the branch of it that lets me deduce and observe things at an especially heightened level. For instance, my parents had me use it to see if I could open the doorway to Diagon Alley, even though I’ve never been here. In a minute of time, I deduced how to open the doorway by the shifting of dust on the stone floor and the indentation of the bricks alone.”

As he continued, they both looked at him with differing expressions. Orion looked almost jealous and in awe of what he was being told. While Aurora looked excited but that she was trying to hide it. “I don’t fully know how it works for now, but I do know that I can’t turn it off. So sorry in advance if I deduce anything I shouldn’t.” He finished saying this before throwing his ice cream away and closing his eyes. He can still feel both of them looking at him and he forces his Legilimency not to reveal anything about what they’re feeling at the moment. “Personally, I think that’s really cool.” Sagittarius looks up to see Aurora looking at him with a genuine smile on her face. “We all have fun little quirks about us Tarrius.” She shrugs and looks at her brother. He smiles too and leans in a bit more. “I agree with my sister, what you have is a gift Sagittarius I’m proud of you for telling us.” Orion says with reassurance and pride in his voice for his friends gift. Sagittarius gives a small smile at that and looks at both of his friends. “Well, glad we got that outta the way.” he fully starts to smile and starts laughing a bit too.

He sees Aurora look behind him and looks to see Sirius walking out of Madam Malkins with two bags of books and two sets of dress robes. He turns to Sagittarius and says, “Hey kid, I saw your parents walking into Malkins, they should be out with your stuff in a minute, they got your school books too.” Sagittarius looks behind him to see his parents walking towards them just as Sirius finished talking. He smiles at them and they smile back. “Hey hun, everything went okay while we were gone?” Dove says while handing over his books and robes.

“Yes mother everything went perfectly, I met Lord Malfoy’s son while getting my measurements done.” he says with control in his voice even as he hears Aurora growl quietly behind him. They both look at each other with raised eyebrows, before nodding to him with a look only he can understand. “Well, are you ready to go then? We got everything we needed.” Rose says with a bit of edge in her voice. “Most likely from the mention of Malfoy’s name.” Sagittarius ponders in his mind.

He nods to his mothers, turning to Aurora and Orion, “It was nice to see you guys. I’ll see you again on the train on September 1st.” They say with a look to both of them. They nod back, and Aurora gives him a hug before he leaves. He shakes Sirius’ hand with a nod and a “Lord Black.” Sirius nods his head and says. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Heir LeFay.”  Nodding to his Mothers. “Ladies LeFay, your son was respectable as always.” They nod back to him with a smile and Sagittarius stands next to his mother’s side. They head back to The Leaky Cauldron, together flooing back to Castle Avalon, in preparation for Hogwarts.

The Goblin looked over his glasses at them all, “Name and vault key?” He spoke slowly, sounding extremely bored.

Dove smirks slightly, before sliding over a key and replying, “LeFay, specifically Vault 600.”

The Goblin suddenly looked a lot more awake before looking at the key and back at us. “Right this way, Ladies LeFay.” he said, sounding a tad more nervous than before we approached.

“Hmm, it’s been quite a bit of time since I’ve seen this happen.” Sagittarius thinks to himself as they make their way out of the room towards an odd contraption. “Mom, Mother, is that an actual minecart?” Sagittarius says in a low monotone voice, full of contempt. They both turn and look back at him and say at the same time, “Why yes dear/hun, this is definitely a minecart and it’s the only way down.” By Morgana, they look so smug saying that. Sagittarius sighs heavily, before resigning himself to sitting down on it, and just going along for the ride. His mothers sit beside him, both looking relatively excited about whatever is going to happen. “Why, why do I have adrenaline junkies as parents.” Sagittarius silently intones to himself, preparing for the ride this is going to be.

As the cart starts to slowly move before taking off down the tracks! He slowly breathes out to calm himself as the cart rapidly spins, turns, and twists through the winding tunnels. Sagittarius swears he can hear a dragon in the distance as they approach the lower levels of the catacombs.

Before stopping in front of an intricate vault with the family emblem blazing across the door in front of him, two wands crossed over each other, a purple shield with two crows on top of the shield. Half of the family motto is on the top ribbon and the other half on the bottom. “The LeFay Vault 600”, the Goblin that Sagittarius doesn’t even know the name of says sparingly, and who appears to be completely unaffected by everything that had happened. Sagittarius looks at his moms and slightly smiles at both of their looks of excitement.

Looking around, Sagittarius notices the incredibly crazy blown hair of Rose, though Dove’s hair seems to remain completely perfect. Probably magic, but as they unbuckle from the cart and stand up to the vault, they both look at Sagittarius and Rose says “Hey kid, would you mind staying out here for a moment while we collect the money and other items we need for the shop back home, we’ll only be a few minutes. We’d take you with us but uh,” Rose flounders for a second trying to think of what to say before Dove interjects, “Someone forgot to key you into the vault wards before we left, even though I told her to before we went to sleep last night.” Dove says with a fantastic glare, pointing at Rose as she emphasizes “I”. Sagittarius smiles and laughs at his Mom’s terrified look before leaning against the cart and trying to stretch his legs out and saying, “Go ahead Mom’s, I’ll be fine waiting here, I can prepare myself before we have to go back up.” He says, looking distastefully at the minecart once again. Dove smiles at him and says, “Thank you for your patience hun, love you and we’ll be out in just a moment.” She then turns to Rose, grabs her wrist, and starts to drag her into the vault. All the while Rose is looking at Sagittarius and mouthing “Save me please!!” he just smiled mischievously back at them before turning away and whistling innocently. 

As he crouches near the cart to stretch his legs, he watches his parents make their way to the front of the vault and whisper something. Sagittarius can’t make it out from this distance. It takes a while to wait. In that time he does get the name of the Goblin, “Nagnok.” They said, “An interesting name,” Sagittarius says with a smile on his face, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you Mr. Nagnok, and I hope to see you again next time I come to Gringotts.” The Goblin looks away, but they seem to have what passes for a smile for a Goblinkin. The two of them fell into a less awkward, more comfortable silence as they waited for Rose and Dove’s return.

After about 10 minutes they came back, this time with both of them having a bag that wasn’t previously in their hands. “Hello hun, miss us?” Dove says upon seeing Sagittarius, with a cheeky grin on her face. “Well, I would’ve died of boredom out here without Mr. Nagnok to keep me company.” He says back with a thankful glance to the Goblin in the corner of the minecart. Nagnok nods to the Ladies LeFay, and they smile at him before saying, “Thank you for keeping our son company Mr. Nagnok, we know they can get bored quite easily.” Rose says with a wink and a bit of teasing in their tone. Sagittarius rolls his eyes with a smile, and Nagnok nods and says, “It was my pleasure Ladies LeFay. Are you ready to go back to the top?” They nod to him and get ready to get back on the cart.

Sagittarius massages his temples before sitting back on the cart and mentally preparing himself. They begin to recede to the top, making all the same twists and turns. “It’s almost worse this way!” Sagittarius groans to himself as the cart continues climbing up and up, before stopping at the top once again. His parents look happy about the ride. It’s almost adorable seeing Rose’s childlike glee, as well as Dove’s more contained excitement. “They really are made for each other, huh.” He thinks, and smirks at his parents. They may be harsh with their training but they love him and each other, that’s more than enough to make up for whatever happens in training.

As the couple and their son get out of the cart, Sagittarius turns to Nagnok once again and says, “Thank you for your time, sir. It was great meeting you, and I hope to meet you again one day.” Nagnok looks confused for a minute, Sagittarius blinks hard as he feels his Legilimency pop into motion, and realizes the Goblin probably hasn’t ever had a wizard thank him for his job before. The Goblinkin nods at him, still slightly confused, and heads back to their teller’s desk. Sagittarius looks at his mothers who are smiling at him. He thinks back to his Legilimency, slightly lost in thought to its uses and slight annoyances. “What do I do when I get to Hogwarts? Will this persist? I don’t want to read someone’s emotions and learn something I shouldn’t without permission. But I also can’t just turn it off.” As he thinks this to himself, he feels one of his mothers put a hand on his shoulder and lead him out of Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

As they all step out of the bank together and shield their eyes from the blinding sun. Rose chimes in with, “I’ll never get used to the sun being so incredibly bright after being in the catacombs, it’s so annoying!” she hisses the last word out to not make too much noise. It doesn’t really help much, we’ve been getting weird looks since we’ve been in Diagon Alley. Probably the muggle clothes, but they’re so much more comfortable to wear and especially more stylish. Definitely worth the off-kilter looks.

“On our way to Ollivanders then, hun?” Sagittarius hears Dove’s voice come from over his shoulder. Sagittarius responds with a. “Absolutely Mother, I hope I get a good wand.” A break from his normal maturity, he has a giddy look on his face as he brightly smiles back at his parents, acting every part of his 11 years of age. They both smile back, Dove’s being more contained but still full of love, while Rose’s is a full grin with all her pearly whites showing.

We make our way down the street past a couple of people that were still giving us slightly weird looks and a muggle family that was looking a little overwhelmed, with a daughter that was probably trying to forcefully commit everything to memory leading them. Sagittarius makes slight eye contact with the bushy-haired girl and smiles at her. She grins back and continues down the very busy walkway. Sagittarius pushes open the door to Ollivanders, tapping his fingers in a random beat on the pants of his right leg.

We walk in to see a slightly older gentleman with wide eyes, pale as the moon leaning over the counter at his next customers. “Hello!” He says with extreme enthusiasm, before looking at Sagittarius’ moms and bowing slightly, “Ladies LeFay, this is the first time I’ve had one of your lineages buy a wand from my shop. I will make sure it’s a good one!” They both incline their heads at him and Dove says. “We hope that you do Mr. Ollivander, our son has high hopes and we do as well.” Before nodding at their son and sitting down in the chairs provided, assuming this will take a while. Ollivander looks at Sagittarius,” Well, are you right-handed or left-handed son?” Sagittarius responds hesitantly. “I’m ambidextrous, Sir.” Ollivander looks on with a slightly faraway look in his eyes at that, before smiling once again. “I have a few wands for that! I’ll be back in just a moment.”

He leaves for about two minutes before returning with probably 30 wand cases. Sagittarius is given a wand and is told to then, “Give it a wave.” He waves the wand, and instantly the potted plant in the corner of the room wilts. Ollivander takes it back while saying, “Nope, nope, not that one.” He can slightly hear his mothers laughing in the corner of the room. He smirks slightly and waits to be handed another one. Ollivander hands him about 15 to 20 of the wands he has collected already. Some of them yield quite funny effects, such as Rose’s hair turning from its usual dark lavender to blue for a moment. She almost seems sad to change it back but wills it to do so at Dove’s look. Ollivander doesn’t look deterred at all and seems more excited with how long it takes.

Sagittarius was about to be handed number 27 before Ollivander got a look in his eye and said, “You’re directly related to Morgana LeFay herself, correct?” saying this towards Rose and Dove. Rose responds with, “Yea, we are. Why do you ask?” with a very skeptical and slightly suspicious look on her face, as Ollivanders turns around and almost carefully creeps towards a lone wand case in the very back of the shop. He hesitantly pulls it out and places it in front of Sagittarius. “9″ Vine Wood, Thestral Tail Hair, Moderately Flexible, and good for Defence and Healing. Give it a wave.” He says before stepping back a couple of inches.

Sagittarius looks at it for a second, before shrugging and picking it up. The moment he does, he suddenly feels like a dam burst inside his brain, like a magical block was placed and then subsequently destroyed from the amount of raw magic that was transferred through them into his new wand. As he waves the wand, black sparks tinged with purple shoot out of the end of it, instantly bringing the potted plant back to life. He looks at the wand in awe as his parents start applauding behind him. Hearing that shocked him out of his revelry and shock of his wand. As he gathers his thoughts, Sagittarius looks at Ollivander; he sees him with a strange look in his eyes, calculating almost, with a hint of fear behind it. Before it quickly wipes away he says, “Just the wand, or would you like anything else today?” Sagittarius turns to his parents and looks questioningly at them, silently asking if there is anything else he needs. Rose and Dove look at each other for a moment, seeming to communicate with only eye contact in a way Sagittarius could never understand. Dove, the one who takes his training more seriously, steps forward and says, “He’ll need an Auror regulated wand holster as well.” Sagittarius raises an eyebrow at his mother before nodding along with what she said. Ollivander looks directly at her, “Usual enchantments on it as well? Non-summoning, Quickdraw, Weather Resistant?” Dove nods along with all of them, Ollivander nods before tallying the total up to 22 galleons. Dove pays him the agreed amount, and Sagittarius takes his wand and puts his new holster on his right arm. Ollivander tells him with a smile, “To activate just flick your wrist up and it’ll slide into your hand, take care and have a good day.” Sagittarius nods at his instructions and tells him to have a good day as well.

Before they head out of the shop, his parents turn to him and say, “We’ll have to go into some less desirable places today for supplies, so that means you, unfortunately, can’t come with us into Knockturn Alley. But you have about 10 minutes till you’re supposed to meet up with the Blacks, so while we run errands you can go get fitted at Madame Malkins, and then get ice cream with them!” Rose says with a lot of enthusiasm, especially about ice cream for some reason. Sagittarius laughs and says. “That’s fine! I’ll go hang out for a bit, maybe try and get Aurora to read with Orion and me for once.” Both parents laugh at that knowing it’s probably not gonna happen, they both give him a kiss on the cheek, and Rose hands him 50 galleons for his robes. Before they head off into a slightly shady-looking alleyway.

Sagittarius shakes his head slightly and stretches, making his way into Madam Malkins. He opens the door to see her already fitting two people, a boy, and a girl. The boy, looking at him, has his platinum blonde hair greased back with some kind of product, an angular aristocratic-styled face. But for some reason, Sagittarius can’t shake that he looks like a ferret. Shaking that thought from his head he turns and recognizes the person the boy is attempting (and failing quite badly) to flirt with. “Aurora Black didn’t expect to see you yet.” Sagittarius says to her with a warm look on his face as she turns to look at him. He does a quick once over and sees her much the same as last time they met, slender and a bit on the short side with black hair as well as slightly dyed blue tips that flow out past her shoulders. He also noticed with a smirk, her leather jacket on the coat rack near the entrance of the shop. Madame Malkins says while measuring Aurora, “I assume you’re here for Hogwarts as well, so I’ll fit you as soon as he’s done.” She nods towards the other boy. Sagittarius nods and goes to sit down in the chair by one of the measuring platforms.

As he sits down, the one with slicked-back hair looks at him and says, “Nice to meet you, I’m Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.” He says this with such an air of importance and narcissism, it almost makes Sagittarius gag, Aurora shows no such restraint and gags out loud. He has to reign himself in to not laugh at her mocking, he barely manages to feign expression into something akin to interest. Malfoy for his part completely ignores Aurora and focuses solely on the new arrival, “What’s your name?” Malfoy says, still with an attitude but he seems genuinely interested for the moment. “The things I do for my friends, Aurora owes me for this.” Sagittarius thinks to himself before responding with his most charming smile that Draco seems to fully buy, “Sagittarius LeFay, it’s nice to meet you Mr. Malfoy, and I hope we can get along at Hogwarts.” “God it hurts to smile this hard, and at someone that I can tell will hate me if I join the wrong house”. Aurora does look slightly relieved that the attention is off her for now. “Might as well keep it going.” Sagittarius thinks to himself.

Malfoy continues staring at Sagittarius as he gets fitted for his school robes. “I don’t believe I’ve heard of a family named that before, are you muggle-born?” He says that last word with such contempt, “it’ll be fun to put him in his place once we get to the castle.” Sagittarius silently intones, looking at Aurora he can tell she’s struggling to not say anything either. He continues to smile at Draco, a lot more condescending than it was a second ago, yet he still seems not to notice. “No, definitely not muggle-born. But I certainly do dress like one.” Draco seems to just now notice his attire and not at all pureblood outfit, he looks at Sagittarius like he’s something he’s stepped in. Before turning away as his robe finally gets done, and getting ready to head out, “Well if you wise up, and start acting like the blood status you say you are, then talk to me, until then.” He finishes getting ready and heads out the door.

Sagittarius turns back to Aurora who looks positively murderous at what Draco had just said. She calms down slightly when he leaves and turns to Sagittarius. “Why didn’t you tell him what family you’re from? That would’ve shut his trap real quick.” She grumbles as Sagittarius steps on the podium and they start taking his measurements as well. “I’m not too worried about it, from what you’ve told me he’s harmless, just extremely annoying. Wasn’t he part of the reason we met?” Sagittarius remembers, it was about a year ago at a political party hosted by the Flamels, in which the LeFay’s introduced themselves to most of the wizarding world, only some of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses were invited. The Malfoys were not one of them, so it wasn’t a surprise that Draco didn’t know him. There he met Aurora and Orion Black. Twin children of Sirius Black, as some of the only younger kids at the party, of course, they found each other quite quickly, talking about certain experiences with the wizarding world, Orion talked about his lack of suitable books, he hoped Hogwarts would help rectify that, Sagittarius agreed heavily, it made them quite good friends right off the bat, Aurora immediately called them both nerds, but she said she was glad only select people were invited to the party, at the time he didn’t know who she was talking about but later on through owl letters she expressed her dislike of someone named Draco. At the time of the party, she also spoke of her other sibling being stuck at home, before looking around the room like she hoped no one could hear her. At Sagittarius’ questioning look she relented and said that she wished her adopted brother Harry could be here as well. “He’s not allowed to leave the house often because of the amount of hiding Death Eaters that could attempt to harm him for revenge.” He figured she meant Harry Potter, which would make sense since Sirius Black was his Godfather. After his parents passed it was a smart idea to hide him away.

After the party was over they said they would message each other by owl and would keep in touch. Which they continued to do for over a year, learning new things about themselves and each other. Harry even sent a letter to him once, although an extremely short one that had said that Aurora and Orion mentioned him and he was excited to meet him on the Hogwarts Express. Sagittarius responded back with the same enthusiasm and that he couldn’t wait to get to know him. The trio agreed last week to meet at Diagon Alley today for supplies and to celebrate together. Sagittarius is snapped back to the present by a tape measure hitting his side and the lady telling him, “You’re good to go, be back in about an hour and you’ll get your outfits along with hers.” Looking at Aurora she grabs her leather jacket and slips it on looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Well? Are you ready to meet up with my dad?”

I do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with the series, and all of it is owned by J.K Rowling. Pronouns are as follows: Sagittarius – He/They: Aurora – She/Her and Orion – He/Him.

Chapter 1. New Beginnings.

“Virtus absoluta absolute corrumpitur..”  Sagittarius mutters to himself as he gets ready to head out for the day. This is probably the thousandth time he’s remembered the family’s motto, but they’re one for sentimentality, so he might as well say it one more time before they head off to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies for Hogwarts. He probably won’t see or hear that phrase while he’s at school, so he might as well acknowledge it while he can. To be honest, he’s looking forward to leaving these castle grounds for a bit. Finally, being able to breathe fresh air instead of practicing wand incantations and movements at the request of their tutors and parents. His parents, Rose and Dove LeFay’s are quite intimidating but loving. He learned they just want the best for him, so he might as well try to live up to it.

As they head down the stairs of the castle, they catch themself in the mirror. Looking over himself, he sees the same shaggy black hair with a pure white tuft in the front that almost hangs over his right eye, shoulder-length in the back, and normal ripped black jeans with a grey shirt that he always wears, with his usual purple eyes looking back at him. “Never gonna get used to the purple eyes, hope it doesn’t freak people out.” Sagittarius mutters to himself before continuing towards the road for an early morning walk to their parent’s shop.

He starts to think of his friend Aurora Black, daughter of Sirius Black, wondering if she would meet him at Diagon Alley to celebrate their Hogwarts letters like they decided when they got them. “Well, time to floo out of Avalon.” Sagittarius thinks to themself. This place is under the Fidelius Charm near the coast of Northern Ireland, probably cast by Morgana herself in the time of 1000 A.D.

As he makes his way out of Castle Avalon towards his parents’ shop with a book under his arm.  “The Twisted Crow,” Sagittarius smiles to himself as he reads his parents’ shop name aloud. “Mom! Mother! Are you ready to go yet?” he raises his voice to project over the stirring and bubbling of cauldrons, as well as his parents’ armada of protection gear for their latest volatile explosion waiting to happen. “Coming dear, one second!.” Dove’s voice is heard from around the corner. “Shit! Wrong ingredient, Dove!” Rose sounds uncharacteristically panicked.

Sagittarius walks over to the seat near the front counter and sits down, waiting for the boom to happen. Boom! “There it is.” he mutters to himself, dragging out the e at the end. Sitting down, he flips open his book of Legilimency to pass the time, “Living With Legilimens: Choose Your Minds Wisely.” This is something he’s been perfecting for a couple of years now. The practice of Legilimency, specifically a branch called “Deductive Genius.” His parents mentioned something about a muggle named Sherlock Holmes when they talked about it. It’s apparently a rare gift that he should work on perfecting. So, Aurora bought him this book for his 10th birthday after he mentioned his interest in Legilimency. They thanked her for it quite heavily when they received it. Her father probably got it from the Department of Mysteries while on Auror duty. Sirius could never say no to his daughter’s puppy dog eyes.

He’s gotten almost halfway through the book before their parents walk out in muggle attire, same as himself. “Ready to go, hun? Big day today!” Rose says with a smile and her usual excitement and enthusiasm while Dove runs a wet rag over her cheek to clear a grease mark. Sagittarius smiles back and closes his book with a practice wand in place of his bookmark. “Yeah, mom, I’m ready to go.” he says while trying not to bounce his leg in excitement for the day to come and all the things he’d get to see. “Remember dear, we’ll be quick, but you can see your friend for an hour or two while we run some errands, okay?” he hears Dove say as she goes back to throw the rag away in the sink before grabbing his hand to get him to the floo. “Yes, Mother, I remember.” Sagittarius chuckles slightly as he says this. “Alright dear, go ahead and step in the floo then.” Dove says encouragingly. Sagittarius takes a deep breath before gathering some floo powder in his hands and throwing it in while shouting, “Diagon Alley!”.

As the green flames erupt around him he remembers the fateful words of his family motto, “Absolute Virtue, is Absolutely Corrupted.” before stumbling a step or two out of the floo portal, into what appears to be a tavern he’s never seen before. As he straightens up and looks around he hears from behind the fire roar twice more and both his parents step out. “Are you ready hun? Do you want a drink or anything before we leave, where do you want to go first!?” Rose stammers excitedly. Sagittarius is still trying to wrap his head around the first question before Dove chimes in with a soft laugh, “Love, calm down so they can figure out what to do first, but I’d recommend Gringotts bank dear.” She says with a smile and close to equal excitement in her own eyes. Sagittarius thinks to himself for a second before saying, “Gringotts first then Ollivanders?”. His parents both turn and smile at each other, “Let’s go then!” Rose cheers, before the couple and their son walk out of The Leaky Cauldron’s exit together, to see an anticlimactic brick wall. Sagittarius looks at his parents incredulously, “I feel like I’m missing something here?”. They both smiled at each other again this time a bit mischievously before turning to him again. “Why don’t you practice a bit of your talent, hun? Treat it as a challenge.” Dove says with a bit of a smirk in her voice.

Sagittarius sighs and smiles slightly before turning to the plain wall to see if there’s anything he missed. Narrowing his eyes he blinks hard and he can feel something akin to a cog shifting into place in his brain, he then looks at the wall with more interest. Seeing the collection of dust that was disrupted on the stone floor and multiple indentations across the bricks, he steps forward and taps the following pattern, three up and two across, before stepping back with a slight glare. Sagittarius turns back to Rose and Dove before sighing and saying, “Wand activation? Or was I just completely wrong?”. They both look quite proud of him, which he assumes is a good sign. “You were awesome dear! That was the exact pattern. You just need a wand for it, let me show you.” Rose says with excitement and pride in her voice. She steps forward and taps the same pattern Sagittarius did but with a wand this time.

Sagittarius looks on in awe at the cascading bricks flowing out like a sideways waterfall, before looking past it and seeing wizards and witches of all ages, young and old! He struggles to contain his excitement and begins looking at all the different shop names as they pass them until they get to Gringotts. Some notable names were, Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. which he could not wait to go into, others were ones named. Eeylops Owl Emporium. He had no use for that since he has his messenger raven named Jade, she’s quite lovely in his very biassed opinion. Flourish and Blotts, is another one he cannot wait to go into. “Aurora definitely would call me a bookworm if she was here right now,” Sagittarius thinks to himself. “Hopefully I’ll get to meet her, Orion, and Sirius before we leave for the day.” He shakes himself out of his thoughts as they get ready to head into Gringotts for the first time.

For people with Tourettes

888-4TOURET

For those without Tourettes

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Hartman, J. (2017). Premonitory urges and touretting volcanoes. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 15(1), 154–182. https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.15.1.07har 

Burd, L. (2014). Language and speech in Tourette Syndrome: Phenotype and phenomenology. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 1(4), 229–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-014-0027-1 

Miller, J. (2001). The voice in tourette syndrome. New Literary History, 32(3), 519–536. https://doi.org/10.1353/nlh.2001.0039