The Big Dipper

The Letter

As the years passed, Ken visited regularly, always for Ursula's birthday. He sent her Christmas presents and little gifts for other holidays. He took her to visit her grandparents and great grandparents in the summer, and for her eighth birthday he took her to America. He took her again when he was ten, and both times they visited his thunderbird sanctuary. She met his brother Barnaby and his wife Wilhelmina ー Bat and Willie ー and her cousins Leon and Beatrice. Their third child, Felix, was born shortly before her eighth birthday. She saw them often, especially since they lived in England.

Ursula still spent time with Nymphadora over the summer, especially as she got older, and her cousin would ramble on and on about Hogwarts, letting Ursula soak up every word. In addition to her friend Charlie's dragon obsession, he was becoming quite good at Quidditch. Andromeda and Ted continued to teach Ursula, particularly about the Muggle world. She needed it, especially with the lessons from her governess, the beliefs of the Malfoys, and the increasing pressure from her grandparents to represent the House of Black.

Druella died when Ursula was nine. Cygnus took over Ursula's lessons to prepare her to inherit. Before she passed, one of her missions was to introduce Ursula to the boys she thought would make a good match. She considered Lucian Bole, Terrence Higgs, and Adrian Pucey, three sons of pureblood society, but her eyes were set on a match from one of the sacred twenty-eight families. Despite Narcissa's insistence that Ursula did not need to consider suitors at such a young age, before Druella died she made sure she had examined and vetted all possible candidates, determined to plan for Ursula's future.

Marcus Flint she didn't like ー Druella thought the way he behaved was not up to the level she was looking for. Jacob Selwyn was a better choice in Druella's mind, snobby and uptight to the bone. Lewis Burke was another promising candidate, as he was more laid back than Jacob but just as proper. A proper pureblood, Druella believed. There were other candidates, but her favorite was Hadrian Rowle, a tall, blond boy set to inherit a fortune from his father. He was bound for Durmstrang, but at every party, every dinner he attended, he and Ursula always struck up a conversation. They were both children, neither of whom really understood what their families had planned. Ignorant of this, they were just friends.

On the other hand, because of this, Madam Tripe's lessons had advanced, particularly when it came to dancing and good conduct. Ursula spoke fluid French at this point. When she was nine, she and Vanessa were joined by another family friend, Gemma Farley. She had strawberry blonde hair and green eyes and got on fairly well with the other girls.

When Ursula was ten, discussion arose about sending her to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts. Despite the Blacks having gone to Hogwarts for centuries, Lucius and Narcissa were considering sending her abroad, knowing that Beauxbatons had a reputation for educating young women in ladylike pursuits.

"It might be good for her," said Narcissa one evening. "Her French is quite good, and what better way for her to improve?"

"She would definitely grow up properly at Beauxbatons," agreed Lucius, "but I'm afraid we need her father's opinion."

They wrote to Ken, and his response was swift and clear. He wanted Ursula to go to Hogwarts, end of discussion. It was one of few things he had taken a hard stance on when it came to raising Ursula, but education was no joke to him.

"This time next year, we'll be at Hogwarts," said Vanessa. The three girls often brought up Hogwarts while they worked. Ursula had told Vanessa that she might be going to Beauxbatons and Vanessa had simply said no, as if that was all it took. She was delighted when Ursula said she would be going to Hogwarts.

"We'll be in Slytherin," said Gemma with conviction.

Of course, they had already had this exact conversation, and more than once. All of their families ー with the exception of the Scamanders ー had been in Slytherin for generations. Privately, Ursula had fears about being placed in one of the other three houses. She wanted to be in Slytherin like her mother, but her father was a Hufflepuff and her grandfather a Ravenclaw, and she knew the rest of her family would not be pleased if she did not become a Slytherin.