Dark Dynasty || Tom Riddle

i. a phoenix feather

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Armando Dippet (Order of Merlin, Second Class, Grand Sorc., International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Greengrass,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. Yours sincerely,
Diana Prewett
Deputy Headmistress.

Victoria Greengrass suspiciously read the letter over and over again. She had always wanted to attend Hogwarts, mostly because the longed dearly to escape her family's grasp, but until just a few months ago it seemed unattainable for her. Now that she finally held the paper she was waiting for in her hands, she was afraid it was all just a big misunderstanding. But every time she finished reading again it felt a little more real. Slowly she turned the page to read on.

UNIFORM
Fifth-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
5. One set of dressrobes for special occasions
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 5) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory 4 by Adalbert Waffling
An Advanced Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions, Book 8 by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
3 cauldrons (pewter, standard
size 2, 3 and 7)
1 set each glass and crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

It was the 28th of July already and Victoria wondered why the letter had arrived this late. She had to hurry now and send an owl with her response. As she was thinking about the term that would start soon, she heard the heavy wooden front-door move. In walked her father, a tall man with facial features made out of the same stone that replaced an actual heart within his body. He wore a grim expression and sported a new scar on his cheek, along with a streak of ash, but his day seemed to have been successful. Otherwise half of the house's furniture would've been in shreds by now. Victoria was thankful everyday that they were blessed with magic or they would have to replace the furnishings at least once every month, which would strain even the Greengrass' wealth. Then again, without magic it would be very much more difficult to destroy a dining room.

"Father," she greeted James Greengrass and received a mere nod in return.

He took of his black coat and although he hadn't stepped a foot in the school for almost twenty years, the silver and green badge of Slytherin still embellished his chest. Ancestry mattered to the Greengrass family, one of the famous 'sacred twenty-eight' pureblood families, and none of their ancestors have ever been in a different house than the finest of them all, Slytherin. His daughter should've attended, too, but he wasn't content with the amount of muggleborn students that visited the school these days, so Victoria was homeschooled. But now with his wife dead, he had no other choice but to send her away.