Castle

Roots Castle was a magnificent structure that stood proudly atop a hill, casting its dark shadows upon the forested island.

Bellatrix felt that a timely lightning bolt would complete the vampiric aesthetic.

She walked in silence, still holding her grandfather's hand. She paused at that idea. Grandfather. She had only met the man for little less than an hour and he had grown on her considerably. She was rather impressed with him, and as strange as it was, she could feel the love and concern radiating off of him when he looked at her.

She smiled warmly to herself. She never had experience with family in her previous life, but her singular interaction with her grandfather had her reevaluating what family meant. She was no longer quite so nervous in meeting her sister and cousins.

She of course 'knew' their names, but not quite exactly what they were like at their young ages. She would be lying if she said she did not have any preconceived notions on the Black Family simply because of her knowledge, but her singular meeting with her grandfather made her realise she did not know a thing.

As she mused, they had already passed through the castle's portcullis that magically lifted upon their proximity, and were now approaching the front gate.

"Kreacher," grandpa called.

"Yes, Master?" The elf appeared and bowed. Bellatrix observed the elf. He was well dressed and mannered. He did not have the sickly pallor he was described as having in the books, nor did he seem insane. He rather gave off the air of competence along with a healthy independence shared by her own elves.

"Get the children gathered in the main lobby to meet their sister" he ordered.

Kreacher bowed before glancing at her with a smile of acknowledgement and popped away.

Hand in hand, they soon entered the interior of the building after passing through the bailey.

Creak.

The hall was… incredible. Not only could Bella feel the saturation of magic, she also sensed the dark twinge in the air. It sparked against her skin, and felt so comfortable. She lost herself in the feeling and she was unaware that her smile of satisfaction was seen by her grandfather who had a doting smile on his face.

"You can feel it?"

"Mhhmm… Is this dark magic? Why does it feel so nice?" Bellatrix asked with her eyes closed and a hum of contentment.

Arcturus nodded, "Yes, it is dark magic, but more than that, it is the dark magic of the Blacks. The walls of this castle are saturated with the magic of generations of young Blacks going back for centuries. It is a welcome to blood it recognises."

Bellatrix hummed, only having the presence of mind to open her eyes and looking around. The main hall was… extravagant. Patterned marble decorated the floor, two rows of ornate chandeliers lining the ceiling. The main floor was overlooked by a mezzanine supported by stone arches. She figured this would be an area for any large formal events and balls.

They continued to walk, their shoes producing satisfying clicks against the polished marble. The magic around her sung to Bella in an entirely new way than usual. She hummed a soft melody to herself in response to what she was feeling.

Arcturus raised an eyebrow. She knew the child was sensitive to magic, but to think it affected her so much. That was worrying.

"I never asked," He began.

"Hm?" Bellatrix asked.

"How is your Occlumency? You said you practiced?"

The widest smile made it to Bellatrix's face. She stopped in the middle of the hall, and made eye contact with her grandfather.

"Try" Was all she said and Arcturus smiled. He started using passive legilimency but could feel nothing.

"With your wand, grandfather," Bellatrix rolled her eyes. Did he really think she was simply lazing around for the past few years?

Arcturus grinned widely. He was loving her more the more she spoke and acted.

Wasting no time, his wand appeared in his hand with a mere flick, and without skipping a beat, pointed it to Bellatrix's undaunted gaze.

"Legillimens!"

Arcturus felt himself struggling through a thick magical ward before he came across the first defence. Granted, he wasn't placing his full efforts in his Legillimency attack, but it was still rather impressive.

"A ward?" He was incredibly impressed. This ward resembled an anti-apparition or anti-portkey ward and currently was laying dormant. It seemed his granddaughter wanted him to explore further without getting trapped. He chuckled at the thought even as he made his way through her mind with utmost caution. The more he did so, the more his eyes widened.

Runic arrays slowly rotated about regular platonic solids. They were rather unique as far as forms of Occlumency shields went. They were still quite weak compared to a master Occlumens, but Arcturus could feel that they were strengthening themselves somehow. As he pondered on that, he saw something in the center of all the geometrical shapes.

The pulsing 'heart' took his breath away.

He felt that if he passed any closer towards that center, he may actually lose his life. He retreated as fast as possible, and noticed a bead of sweat trail down his temple when he came to himself.

"How…"

"I had the idea to add wards after reading more on our family magic. It just seemed logical to add them to Occlumency shields with a few adjustments. I manipulated anti-apparition wards to work so any legillimens would find it difficult to leave my mind once they entered. The other wards were much the same. I learned a bit of arithmancy for the arrays, and they help me to consciously control my magic and emotions…" Bellatrix explained as they continued walking.

"What about… that center?" Arcturus asked, fascinated by the approach she took.

Bellatrix smiled, "I don't know. All I wanted was an arithmantically perfect core, and then magic seemed to help it a little. I still don't know what it did, but ever since, my shields are constantly being strengthened by the ambient magic."

"Unbelievable…" Arcturus murmured. His granddaughter was simply a monster. In the best way possible. The fact that he was worried that her sensitivity to dark magic would affect her now seemed laughable. Quite soon, she would be at the level of control where she could probably cast unforgivables all day long without feeling any of the negative consequences.

"That reminds me, Grandfather…" Bellatrix began, "Do we have any portraits of Nigellus Black II?"

Arcturus thought for a second, "Lord Black of the 13th century?"

"Yes, I read he was the only recorded Paragon Occlumens, and I wondered if his portrait contains his mind."

Arcturus laughed in amusement, "No, you won't find his portrait anywhere. It is one of the mysteries of our family. If his mind does still exist somewhere, we don't know where it is."

"Oh," Bellatrix said with disappointment.

Arcturus laid his hand on her head and rubbed it affectionately, "We're here."

They stopped in front of large studded double doors from which faint voices could be heard.

Bellatrix fidgeted with the hem of her black dress. She did not feel prepared to meet the other children. Long-buried insecurities began to emerge and her grandfather seemed to sense it.

"Don't worry Bella, they're family," Arcturus said simply, as if that was all that mattered.

"Family…" It was a foreign concept to her. She did not know what to expect, but nodded nonetheless, steeling her resolve.

The doors opened slowly to reveal a large lounge. On one end, luxurious couches surrounded a large fireplace, and in the center, upon the ever-present polished marble flooring sat a grand piano. But that wasn't what drew her attention. Voices emerged from the couches that were facing away from the entrance.

"Come on Cissy, It was a joke, a joke, no need to be all uppity about it," A jovial boy's voice bounced about the lounge.

"I'll kill you, Siri," A cold yet melodious voice responded.

"Yea! Cissy, kill 'em!" A toddler added.

"Reg? B-but… how could you want her to kill me? Don't you love me anymore?"

"Deserve it!" Came the response.

"Ah!" Siri's voice came with mock pain.

"Siri." The cold melodious voice stated once striking steel gray eyes met Bellatrix's violet ones, "They're here."

And then all became quiet.