Comfort & Cunning

1. Acquaintances

The blur of brick buildings zoomed by as I stared out the window of my parents' Mercedes. Making our way through the side streets and into the city, we wound closer to King's Cross Station. I began to miss the quiet of the Scottish country side, which I much preferred to the hustle and bustle of London's busy streets. I had spent the week here in London, completing my shopping list for school. After spending the last six years of my life in the highlands and down by the shores of Loch Morar, I was used to a much calmer existence.

For the past few years I'd been enjoying my personal education at my family estate in Scotland. I spent my days studying History of Magic in my mother's expansive flower garden and learning about magical creatures while sprawled out on a blanket on the perfectly trimmed lawn. Growing up wealthy gave me the opportunity to excel in every subject, due to expensive tutors and private professors.

As far as my personal life went, my friend group consisted of a few socialite teens around my age, none of which I trusted. Mostly we spent our time sneaking away and spending our parents money on alcohol while they were ignoring us somewhere else in the world. When my parents were busy, it was easy for me to hop on a train to Glasgow and spend the weekend stumbling around the pubs and back alleys of the large city.

My father, James Crow, is a high ranking Curse-breaker for the Ministry of Magic. He spends most of his time in Egypt and various other parts of the world, breaking curses on ancient artifacts in order to give the Ministry a chance to study them safely. He is well known in the wizarding world, though not only for his intelligence. His side of the family has been known to play on the wrong side of the tracks, frequently involved with 'You Know Who' and Death Eaters alike. Most people believe him to be following in the same footsteps. It was hard not to notice the sideways glances and muttered comments when we strolled down the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley, heads always held high. Though I had heard every rumor imaginable, I couldn't say for sure how he spends his time. He was barely present for my childhood and only expressed his love in the form of gifts, as he missed most every holiday and birthday throughout my life. Daddy dearest was never there, in his place I would instead find an owl, usually with an apology letter and the newest model of Thunderbolt or Nimbus that year.

On the other side of my exceptional parenting duo, is my mother Belladonna Wolfe. Never having to work a day in her life, mother is the heiress the Shikoba Wolfe wand-maker fortune. Wolfe Wandmakers are a well known craftsman family in the States. While Olivander is the number one Wand maker in the UK, Ilvermony students rely on Wolfe Wandmakers for their supplies. My mother never had to worry about money or consequence. Though she didn't have an occupation to keep her busy, she was still often absent in my life. She spent most of her time at dinner parties and social events. The only time I would see her would usually be around midnight, stumbling up the marble steps of our estate, stinking of expensive white wine and cigarette smoke.

With my atypical parenting, I obviously lived most of my life doing whatever I felt like, without supervision. While partying, drinking, and smoking my nights away, I still managed to have superb grades and excellent marks thanks to those previously mentioned private tutors. This is what led to my parents receiving a personal letter from Professor Dumbledore, offering me a place at Hogwarts if I ever decided I wanted to continue my education at an actual school of magic.

After a lot of consideration, and finally being fed up with my drunk mother and absent father, I decided to start over new, making the choice to attend Hogwarts.

The Mercedes pulled to a stop in front of the train station, kids and teens alike were pushing trolleys stacked with trunks and animals, all running to the brick wall that concealed Platform 9 3/4 from the Muggle world.

I sighed as I finally got the energy to peel myself from the cushioned leather interior, our family butler Argo opened the door for me as my black boots hit the cobbled streets. Of course, my parents were far too busy to send me off themselves, and left it to Argo to deliver me safely.