Spawn of Azkaban

Chapter Seventeen

Song for the chapter: and i'd go a thousand miles— Montell Fish

The next few weeks were hectic, to say the least. It seemed Bianca couldn't go anywhere on Hogwarts grounds without seeing someone getting asked to the dance, a group of girls gossiping, or a group of boys sulking. The castle was stirring with teenage hormones and Bianca wanted no part of it. Lessons were still in full swing, not that anyone seemed to care. Bianca spent a lot of her time holed up in the library.

Today she decided to finally crank out her paper about the sacred twenty-eight. Luckily, she got an anonymous book for Christmas.

"Are you sure you want to use it? What if it's cursed or something?" Cedric asks her as they sit at a table in the library.

"Well, hopefully, the curse doesn't affect me until after I've finished the paper," she grumbles.

The table of contents displayed all the names of the sacred twenty-eight:

Abbot. Avery. Black. Bulstrode. Burke. Carrow. Crouch. Fawley. Flint. Gaunt. Greengrass. Lestrange. Longbottom. Macmillan. Malfoy. Nott. Ollivander. Parkinson. Prewett. Rosier. Rowle. Selwyn. Shackebolt. Shafiq. Slughorn. Traverse. Weasley. Yaxley.

Bianca was surprised to see names like Longbottom, Ollivander, Shacklebolt, and Weasley on there. Of course, they are pureblood families, but they were so noble it didn't seem like they belonged amongst all these dark families. Then again, Bianca's last name was on there too.

The next few pages went on to talk about blood purity. It discussed how pureblood wizards are stronger and superior, half-blood wizards were tolerated, but still lesser than, and muggle-borns (or as they called it mudbloods) are no better than muggles themselves.

Bianca was disgusted, after just the first chapter but forced herself to keep reading. Bianca was slightly interested to see the history of the Blacks, Lestranges, and Malfoys. These were all the different pieces of her coming together. She knew it wouldn't be anything good, but she couldn't stop herself.

She began with the Abbotts, it told a little about their family history, and then there was a family tree. The chapter highlighted accomplishments of well-known Abbotts, etc. It wasn't too exciting, but it did help with her paper. She moved onto the Averys and it was more or less the same. When Bianca flipped the page to the Blacks, her heart began beating hard against her ribcage. She could practically hear it echoing through the silent library.

She skimmed through the history which mostly consisted of the astrological significance behind many of her ancestors' names. The family tree was almost humorous. There were portions of the tree covered with a symbol. At the bottom of the page, with each corresponding symbol, there was a reason why this member was disowned from the family. Isla Black: married a muggle. Phineas Black Jr: supported muggle rights. Marius Black: squib. Cedrell: married Septimus Weasley. Alphard: gave an inheritance to disowned member. Sirius: ran away. Andromeda: married a muggle.

Bianca almost cackled upon reading this. She knew one day her name would be on there and that made her the most satisfied she had ever been. Unfortunately, when Bianca got to her name, there were no accompanying siblings. Bianca's shoulders fell in defeat, but she continued working on her paper.

Bianca was just finishing with the G names when Cedric yawned from across the table. Bianca looked up at the clock to see that it was nearing midnight. "Aren't you tired," Cedric asks groggily.

"No, this is quite interesting. It's disturbing, don't get me wrong, but I like learning more about my family," Bianca explains pointing to the book.

"Alright, well, I'm going to put these away and head back," Cedric excuses himself. He saunters away to the bookshelves, carrying his books with him and smirking at a few younger students.