Reading

13th July 1963

"No, Missy Black, you mustn't!" Tizzy cried, holding her large elfin ears in frustration.

"Why? Lemme!" An adorable two year old girl imperiously stated with her hands on her hips.

"The Library is dangerous for the young missy. We's can't take you there. Master and mistress would have our heads!" Mitsy, the other house elf overlooking the youngest Black's care, reasoned.

Bellatrix paused, considering.

Two years had passed since Bellatrix Black was born, and her drive to control and practice her magic were bearing fruit. Her wandless abilities were coming along nicely, even if for now they were limited to simply moving and summoning objects around.

She discovered something about magic during her practices. Every day she would exhaust herself from magic use, and when she would wake up the next day, she would feel invigorated and she would be able to practice longer than the previous day.

It seemed that the more one used magic, the more one would be able to use it, much like a muscle.

She wanted to learn more about magic and its intricacies. And there was one particular branch of magic she needed to master as soon as possible.

That was why she wanted to get into the treasure trove of the renowned and coveted Black library, perhaps having forgotten in her haste that there were many ancient tomes there that would curse her to a most gruesome death if she did not know how to handle them.

And therein lay her current predicament.

"Fine. Tizzy. Mitsy. I want ask question!" She demanded, attempting to project the demeanour of a slightly precocious pureblood.

"What is it, Missy Black?" Tizzy asked, relinquishing her hold on her ears, and looking at the young girl in trepidation.

"Do you have to tell parents my secrets?" She asked.

Tizzy and Mitsy shared a glance with each other.

"No... not unless they ask Missy Black"

"Yes, only if the master asks do we have to tell the truth..."

Bellatrix felt that being born in the Black household actually meant one was rather isolated from the others under the care of house elves until they could begin their formal Noble education at the age of five.

After all, she had not met her family past her initial month since birth. It also felt like she was somewhere completely different from the house she was born in. It was rather perplexing for her, but she was also grateful for the freedom.

She knew that it was a House Black tradition to leave the early care of the children to the House Elves, only divesting that responsibility from them when the young scions were old enough to learn their positions and responsibilities.

But even then, Bellatrix felt slightly odd.

Even so, this presented her an opportunity, one she desired to grasp at this very moment.

"Then, Tizzy, Mitsy, can you keep my secrets unless parents ask?" She asked.

"We's will Missy Black, only if it be not dangerous!" Tizzy replied with a vigorous nod of affirmation from Mitsy.

"Then. Can you teach me reading?" Bellatrix asked. She knew she had to have some sort of plausible excuse for why she was able to learn so much before she was formally introduced to the rest of her family whenever that happened.

Tizzy and Mitsy shared another glance as they fidgeted a little before turning to Bellatrix with a nod.

"This, we can do... little missy Belly" Tizzy said carefully.

And so, the path opened for Bellatrix to wring out as many advantages as she could for herself with the help of two adorable little house elves.

—

26th July 1963

Bellatrix gave it a little over a week before she 'mastered' how to read. She gave it this much time on the off chance the elves were ever questioned about her childhood activities.

She would be able to claim that she had indeed spent time learning to read at the age of two, appearing only as a monstrous prodigy and not the anomaly of nature that she was.

She never wanted a single soul to know about her transmigration after all. No, that was a secret she would keep and bury to the end of her days.

With that being the case...

"Tizzy, Mitsy!" Bellatrix called out.

Two simultaneous pops sounded along with their adorable squeaky voices.

"Yes missy?"

"I have an idea!" Bellatrix gave them both a warm smile, though the two elves hopped on their feet nervously. They had tended to many little Blacks over their long lives but this one somehow had a talent to put them in uncomfortable situations.

"Missy?" Tizzy spoke, shifting her feet.

"I want to know. Which one of you do my parents call for the most?" Bellatrix asked with a glint in her eye.

Tizzy's ears perked up, sensing something unusual with this line of questioning, but responded dutifully nonetheless.

"That be Tizzy young Missy. Mitsy be in charge of cleaning and cooking and Tizzy be in charge of monies from Missy's vault and buying what Missy needs..." The little elf explained.

'I have a vault?' Bellatrix thought, interested in this nugget of information. She would broach that topic later. For now there was something more urgent that required her attention.

"There are two of you..." Bellatrix began, smiling comfortingly to the two house elves, who for some reason felt on edge.

"Mitsy, I want you to get me some books from the Black library -" and upon seeing Mitsy's hesitance, she hurriedly reassured, "Don't worry, I won't ask for anything dangerous, I just want to read..."

Mitsy shifted and responded slowly, "Mitsy can do... but Mitsy will have to go to Kreacher's house where all the bookies be."

Bellatrix paused, knowing nothing about the character of the elf before Regulus had died. She asked the two elves, "Will Kreacher be a problem?"

"No... Mitsy does not think so, but Mitsy will try and avoid Kreacher in case" Mitsy spoke consideringly.

"Okay, that's great! Tizzy, whenever my parents ask you about me say I am doing well and there is nothing to worry about. If they ever ask you about the books, you can honestly tell them that you didn't give them to me and that I found them. They shouldn't find out anyway, but this is just to make sure. Understand?" Bellatrix asked softly.

Tizzy nodded with an uncharacteristic smile. Her little Missy was so devious. In truth, Tizzy had a mischievous streak, and managing to obey the master while also allowing her mischief was a wonderful thing in her opinion.

"Which bookies does young Missy want?" Mitsy asked, also inwardly smiling at the thrill of sneaking past Kreacher. The young Missy was keeping them on their toes, and it was quite fun to play her games.

Bellatrix placed her small toddler hand on her chin, a facsimile of consideration which only seemed adorable from an outsider's perspective, and spoke slowly.

"Tizzy, what do all the Black children learn before they go to Hogwarts? I wanna get a head start so I can impress everyone in the family when they try to teach me! I'll learn everything beforehand and see their dumb faces!" Bellatrix spoke with a childlike innocence and glee, inwardly hoping her assumption was correct.

"Oh Tizzy knows. All the young Blackies are taught etiquette, music, traditions, mind arts, history, and wizard genealogy!" Tizzy said confidently.

Bellatrix's eyes gleamed, then spoke again sorrowfully, "I don't know if I'll have time to learn all of that... maybe I'll just focus on one thing for now...."

She pretended to deliberate before seemingly coming to a decision.

"Hmm... Mitsy, could you bring me books on mind arts?"

"Yes, Mitsy will find whatever she can!" She exclaimed before disappearing with a soft pop.

"Tizzy, is there any way you can copy the books?" Bellatrix asked when it was just the two of them left in her room. She knew from vague recollections that books in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library had anti-copying charms placed on them, but she also knew that house elves had their own magics that wizards often overlooked in their hubris. A testament to that would be when Voldemort overlooked the fact that house elves could apparate through his wards with no issues when placing his locket Horcrux in his Inferi cave.

Tizzy paused to consider before speaking, "It is… possible young missy, but…" she skipped on alternating feet in a sign of agitation, "Black family rules mean even copies cannot be shared outside of family else thieves will have nasty curses on them".

Bellatrix smiled, "How about this Tizzy," she said, leaning in conspiratorially with her two-year-old-frame, "I'll get you to copy whatever books Mitsy brings so she can return them to the Black library, and when it's time for me to leave and join the rest of my family, we can burn all the copies in my room?"

Tizzy relaxed slightly, "Can do Missy. The copies will only last for a few years before they vanish."

"Perfect"

It didn't take long for Mitsy to return along with a stack of books. Without wasting time, Tizzy snapped her fingers, and an identical stack appeared beside the original one.

"Okay Mitsy, you can return those where you found them. The next time I ask you to bring a book for me, just give me the copy instead so the originals are left alone. I won't be needing them for more than a few years."

Mitsy nodded before popping away with the stack she brought with her.

Bellatrix made it to the stack that was slightly taller than she was and picked up the top book. It was a thick tome, the title of which read, 'Magicke Of The Blacks, vol. 23. Mind Arts'.

She flipped to the first page which had a list of contributors, all of Black ancestry. It turned out that the family Magicks were self-updating and whenever a Black had something new to add, there would be space in the book's endless pages.

She looked upon the rest of the pile and found them to be less family-specific. Titles such as; 'Occlumency - A beginners guide', or 'Mind Arts: How To Deceive', or even a particularly eerie sort of book with the title 'Breaking the Minds of your Enemies'.

Despite some of the books having a somewhat morbid undertone, Bellatrix was excited for something fun to do.

She would try and master the arts of Occlumency and Legillimency before she was formally introduced to the family, whenever that would be.

And thus, Bellatrix's days would be solely focused on mastering mind magic, whilst also relentlessly pushing the boundaries of what she could accomplish on her own with wandless magic.