~Chapter 3- School Shopping~

The news of the Mark being seen at the World Cup was all over the Daily Prophet. People were speculating about it, asking questions like, “What if he’s not dead? What if he returns?”

Though people were frightened, life returned to normal, and before I knew it I was in Diagon Alley with Ted, Andromeda, and Dora. It was time to buy my new supplies for the coming year.

After going to Gringotts for more wizard gold, I stood outside the bank with my family. Andromeda announced that she would go with Ted to refill my potion making kit at the Apothecary if Dora would take me to Madam Malkin’s for new robes, so our group split up and I followed Dora to the robe shop.

“What do you need today?” Madam Malkin politely asked us upon our arrival. “School robes?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Okay. Stand right over here and I’ll measure you.”

She led me to the front of a long, tall mirror where a bewitched tape measure began to take my measurements. Dora stood behind me, messing with her hair again. Once she decided on the length, she had trouble choosing a color. Every few seconds it changed from bright blue to hot pink to neon green. Finally she settled on a brilliant orange tone.

“Can’t you just choose something simple?” I demanded as the tape measure measured my arm. “Like brown or blonde?”

“What fun would that be?” she asked playfully, twirling a strand around her finger. “No, I think this is good.”

“I’m finished. I’ll get your robes,” Madam Malkin said as the tape measure flew into her hand. She went to a rack and began pulling black school robes from it.

“Why do we have to wear black at Hogwarts?” I whined. “It’s so plain. I wish we could wear purple or something else.”

“I always wanted hot pink, but that didn’t happen,” Dora said. “Anyway, I’m going to look at Muggle clothes over there. I could use a few more t-shirts.”

Yeah right, I thought as she advanced to the t-shirt rack. Dora probably had more brightly colored Muggle tees than any other witch in our world.

“Here you are,” Madam Malkin said, handing me six neatly folded pairs of black robes.

“Thanks,” I told her. I went up to the counter to pay. Dora came over holding about ten vibrant t-shirts and a few pairs of jeans to buy, and as soon as I took out several Galleons to buy my robes, she said, “Wait! It says on your list that you need dress robes.”

“Dress robes?” I asked. “What for?”

“Doesn’t say. I’ll help you pick one out. I saw them in the back.” As we went to the very back of the store, I still wondered why I needed something fancy to wear. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. Even if the black robes were boring, they allowed me to blend in with the crowd of Hogwarts students. Could I find dress robes that allowed me to do that?

“Dora, do you know about this?”

“Know about what?”

“The dress robes. Is there something going on at Hogwarts this year? I thought you might know since you work for the Ministry.”

“Well ... ” She seemed to be fighting the urge to tell me something, something that was making her excited. “Yeah, I do know, but I won’t tell you. It’ll spoil the surprise.” She bit her tongue—literally.

I started looking at the robes. They were all really long and fancy and beautiful. They came in every color and design. If I was anyone but myself, maybe I would’ve enjoyed this. Instead I felt nervous, which was stupid.

They’re just robes, I told myself. Just pick a simple one.

“What about this?” Dora questioned. She held up a bright green dress with silver rhinestones that was the exact same shade of green her hair had been earlier. I sighed. That was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

“No! I can’t wear that and you know it. I have to pretend I don’t exist, remember?”

“No, you don’t. Lyra doesn’t exist. Lindsey can go around the school in a bright green dress if she wants.”

“No, Dora. I just don’t like it.” I gave her an excuse. After all, only someone like me could make school shopping so complicated. Only Dora would make it even worse.

“Then try this,” Dora said, thrusting a white dress at me. It resembled a wedding dress. “If you’re going to be a chameleon, go with white.”

“I’m not getting married, Dora. That dress looks like a wedding dress; it’s too fancy. I know I’m being picky, but I want the right one.”

“I understand. How about this one? The color might fit the occasion.”

“Dark green?” I asked. She was close to giving away the event. At that moment I decided I wanted to know what was happening at school this year—it would help me decide if I should even waste my money on fancy robes. “What’s that have to do with the occasion?”

“Never mind! I don’t want to spoil it. Okay, how’s this one?” She was holding a light pink dress with silver trim. It had spaghetti straps and a really long skirt decorated with silver rhinestones. I didn’t pay attention to it. Instead I said, “Dora, please tell me!”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No!”

“Fine, then.” She always had to be so difficult! “I’ll just take that one, then.” I didn’t care anymore. Any color or style worked. When I got to school, I would mail the dress back to Madam Malkin’s and Dora would never know.

“Okay, we’ll buy this one. Now you need shoes.” Several minutes later we were at the counter purchasing my new dress and heels (and the jewelry that Dora insisted on buying because it “completed the look”).

“You know I still have to buy my school books and parchment and new quills,” I said. “I don’t think I should overspend on jewelry.”

“You have plenty money for your other supplies as well as a whole Gringotts vault full.”

“No, I don’t. I’m not allowed into my Gringotts vault. I don’t have—” She stepped on my toes really hard to stop me from saying anything that might blow my cover, even though she was the one to bring up the Gringotts vault in the first place. I knew the Lestranges had a heavily guarded vault deep underground in the bank, but I didn’t have the key for it, of course. I was just using the Tonks family vault until I got my own.

“Let’s go to Flourish and Blotts,” Dora said. “We need to get your books.”

After buying my spellbooks we bought parchment and ink at the supply store, but of course we lost time because Dora accidentally smashed a whole shelf of color-changing ink. After repairing them and apologizing over and over, we departed and headed down the street again.

“I think that’s all we need,” Dora said. “Mum and Dad are getting your other items.”

“So where do we go now?”

“Let’s get some ice cream.”

Florean Fortescue’s ice cream parlor was just ahead, so we went inside and ordered triple-scoop cones (mine was Chocolate Frog flavored and Dora’s was some weird mixture of Pumpkin Pasties, Best Blowing Gum, and plain vanilla). We licked them as we sat under the umbrella tables outside the parlor where Dora examined her new shirts and I flipped through the pages of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4.

“So, what do you think of this one?” she asked me. I looked up from the paragraph I was reading and stared at the blinding bubble gum pink t-shirt she was holding. It said in purple letters ‘The Weird Sisters.’

“More Weird Sisters shirts, I see,” I said with indifference as I shrugged and returned to my book. “Well, it’s definitely you. How many do you have now?”

“Lost track. Twenty or so, I think. Some were bought at concerts.”

I nodded just as a new, unfamiliar voice said, “I wouldn’t wear that one if I were you. The pink might clash with your hair.” I looked up to see a guy about Dora’s age staring right at her. She didn’t look happy to see him, whoever he was.

“And what are you doing here, Harper?” she demanded. “Making a deposit at Gringotts. I’m earning so much now,” said the man called Harper.

“Great. Tell someone who cares,” she said, looking away from him and taking another lick of ice cream.

“I see you haven’t changed much, Dory. You’re still that strange Metamorphmagus who always stood out from the crowd with your stupid hair and colorful robes.”

Dora jumped out of her seat and faced him, ice cream in one hand and wand in the other. She pointed her wand at his throat and said, “Shut up or I’ll hex you!”

“Whoa, no need to get confrontational! I just wanted to say hi!” Harper said. “I mean, I haven’t seen you since we graduated Hogwarts!”

“Yeah, right. Now listen, I have to finish school shopping with my sister, so if you’ll just leave us alone—”

“Aw, is this your sissy? She’s so cute,” he said, turning to me. “Are you starting Hogwarts this year?” He used a baby voice when he talked to me.

“Try fourth year,” I said as I snapped my book shut. “And I know some good spells. Professor Lupin taught us some handy ones last year.”

“Remus Lupin?” Harper asked. “He actually managed to find a job, did he? Met him once. Strange guy.”

“Well, he was a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,” I said, glaring at him with my arms crossed. “He taught us about things like—”

I stopped speaking as he gasped.

“You ... ” he said. “You look ... ”

I smacked myself in the head with great frustration. I knew what he was thinking. I wanted to scream at him like I wanted to scream at everyone else for gasping and flinching when they looked at me, because I wasn’t Bellatrix, no matter how much I looked like her (especially when I was glaring). Every time someone did that, I began to get a headache. Didn’t they realize I was an individual?

“Why don’t you just go?” Dora said. “Go on, go play with the gold coins in your Gringotts vault. Show off your earnings to everybody. That’s what you always did in school.”

He laughed. “Wow. Becoming an Auror made you feel all tough, did it, Dory? You think you can do anything, don’t you? But I know better. If you were a really good Auror, you would have captured those Death Eaters at the World Cup, but you’re just the same weird little—”

BAM. He was on the ground in a flash of orange light.

“I told you I’d hex you!” Dora said. “Now go!”

“Nymphadora!” Andromeda’s scolding voice said. “What are you doing?”

“Er ... ”

“Ow! I’m dying!” Harper said as he grabbed his face. “I’m dying!”

“Good for you,” I muttered to myself. “That’s what you get.”

“We should go,” Andromeda said. “Come on, Lindsey. You have all your stuff, right?”

“Yes,” I said as I climbed down from my seat and stuffed the last bit of ice cream cone into my mouth.

“Let’s go, Nymphadora.”

“Awww, still living with Mummy and Daddy, Dory?” Harper mocked. “Or should I say Nymphadora?”

“Don’t—” Andromeda began, holding Dora’s robes as she pointed her wand at him again, but I was quicker. I aimed my wand at his face, shouted, “Furnunculus!” and his face began to grow boils.

The spell was partially for Dora but mostly for me. That’s what he got for comparing me to Bellatrix Lestrange.

Dora looked at the fierce looked on my face and smiled, but Andromeda yelled and said it was time to go.

“Fireplace, now,” she said, giving me a handful of floo powder. Then she turned to Harper and began to apologize while Dora yanked my hand and pulled me through the door of Eeylops Owl Emporium. We tossed our floo powder into the flames of the fireplace, which turned emerald green, and shouted our destination. Moments later, we were swirling through the Floo Network and landing in the living room of our house.

We stood up and wiped soot from out clothes. Dora turned to me and said, “Nice hex. Where’d you learn that?”

“Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4,” I muttered. “Anyway, who was that guy, and why was he acting so immature?”

“Martin Harper. He’s one of my old classmates. Thinks he’s got it all because he has a high-paying job. As for the immaturity, he’s always been like that.”

“His name sounds familiar,” I said. “Does he have a younger sibling at Hogwarts?”

“Er ... no,” Dora said, her face turning slightly pink. “I’m sure you’ve just heard of a similar name. In fact, it’s not really that unusual. Anyway, Mum and Dad should be back any minute, once they get him sorted out. We should take your stuff upstairs…”

“I can take it, just hand me my robes,” I said.

“No, I’ll carry them for you,” she said, knocking her knee on the coffee table as she began to walk swiftly down the hall. “Less work for you, you know.”

“You’re acting strange,” I said as I looked at her. Her face was getting pinker. “That Harper guy—what was his problem?”

“Nothing, okay!” I rolled my eyes at the ceiling and continued to go down the hall, but stopped dead when I realized something. Dora crashed into me; my robes tumbled to the floor.

“You went out with him, didn’t you?”

“No!” she said, her face glowing brilliantly.

“Yes, you did! Your seventh year! You brought him here over Christmas break!”

“Fine, I did! But don’t go telling people! He never gave it up after I broke up with him, and he only wanted me in the first place because I’d turned myself into a skinny, long-haired blonde! I dumped him because he was a prat, and he obviously still is!” she flared.

“Don’t get your wand in a knot; I was just asking!”

That was the truth. Even if she’d been dumped by boys so many times it was impossible to keep track, being in a relationship was something Dora could do but was off-limits for me.

“Okay,” she said, calming down. “Let’s go.”

We went upstairs to my bedroom. I reached for the doorknob just as we heard Andromeda and Ted come in from the fireplace downstairs. “We’ll be getting punished, won’t we?” I asked.

“Er ... maybe you. I’m a full grown adult; they can’t punish me.”

“Great. I didn’t even start this! Besides, Dora, you’re a full grown adult who still lives with her parents. Have you ever thought of getting a place of your own?” I inquired as I forcefully pushed opened my bedroom door.

“I’ve thought about it, but I’m trying to save money.”

I walked into my room and set my stuff down. I opened the school trunk at the foot of my bed and began piling my new books and robes into it.

My room was really plain. The walls were pale blue, as were the blankets on my bed, and were basically bare except for a few Gryffindor posters (which really didn’t go with the blue, but I didn’t care about that).

I closed my trunk and sat on my bed as Andromeda came in. She stood in the doorway and gave the two of us a stony look.

“You two shouldn’t have done that,” she said. “That poor boy’s face was covered in boils once we finally got him sorted out.”

“He deserved it,” Dora said firmly.

“What did he do to you?” Andromeda challenged.

“Made fun of me.”

Andromeda sighed, shook her head, and left.

Turning away, I walked to the front of my room and stared out the window. For several minutes, there was silence. “What’s wrong, Linds?” Dora asked.

“Everything.”

“You’re not going to let that idiot get to you, are you?”

“Dora ... you don’t understand.”

“Then explain to me.”

“You can be anyone you want, especially with your Metamorphosing powers. You can change yourself into anyone. You can show people who you are. Me—well, I’m the opposite. I look so much like them—” (I spat the word out) “—that that’s all I can be.”

“That’s who you are.”

I felt anger boil inside me. “Don’t tell me that!”

“What am I supposed to say? You are the Lestranges’ daughter, so just deal with it! Maybe there’s a reason you were forced into this life, or maybe ... I don’t know ... ”

“You—don’t—understand.”

“Then help me to.”

Then I sighed. This conversation had happened many times over. I knew deep inside that I wasn’t going to get anywhere by taking my frustration out on Dora. So I said, “Never mind. You can leave if you’d like.”

“Well ... you’re starting school in a week, so we might as well have some fun before you leave. How about a game of Exploding Snap?”

“No.” I knew she was just casually trying to get back to the way we should be, but I declined. “I think I’ll just rest for a bit.”

Dora, with a sad look on her face, shrugged and said, “That’s fine.”

When she was out of the room, I stretched out on my bed with my arms crossed and closed my eyes. I wasn’t tired, but for some reason a nap sounded like a good idea. Everything became dark as I eased into sleep ...

A six-year-old girl sat on a couch next to a woman. The look of confusion on her face was obvious. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, puzzling her.

“Andromeda,” spoke the girl, “may I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead,” said Andromeda, though she’d obviously read the look on the girl’s face and knew the worst was coming.

“Why does Dora call you ‘Mum,’ but you tell me to call you ‘Andromeda?’ And she calls Ted ‘Dad.’ Why can’t I?”

“You could if you wanted to ... ”

“But you never told me that.”

“Why are you so curious all of a sudden?”

“Because today, when you sent me to be watched by Mrs. Peachtree next door, all the other kids she was watching there said ‘mum’ and ‘dad.’ I think I’m the only one who doesn’t say that.”

“Well ... ”

“There’s more. I talked to a girl there, and she said her name was Helen. I told her mine was Lindsey but I had a different name, Lyra. Then I told her nobody called me Lyra because nobody could know that was my real name. I didn’t mean to tell her!”

Andromeda was now staring into space. Her eyes were glazed as she focused on a distant thought. Obviously her worst fear had been confirmed.

“Andromeda, I’m really confused!” cried the girl.

Andromeda blinked; her eyes lost the look. Pulling the girl close to her, she ran her fingers through her straight brown hair and said with a sigh, “Lindsey, I think it’s time for you to know the truth.”

“What truth? Did you lie? You told me never to lie!”

“I know. But this is different.”

“Then tell me!” The girl looked scared, confused, upset, and desperate all at once.

“This isn’t easy for me to say ... but Lindsey ... your real name is Lyra, but your last name isn’t Tonks. And Ted and I ... ” She paused, trying to put her thoughts into the right sentence.

“Ted and I are your aunt and uncle.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we’re not your parents.”

“You’re not?” the girl said tearfully. By now she looked terrified at the shocking new truth. “Then who are my parents?”

“Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange ... ” said Andromeda weakly.

However, the girl still looked confused. The names of two terrifying Death Eaters meant nothing to her. She had something else on her mind. In almost a whisper she asked, “What happened to them? They didn’t die, did they?” Her lower lip trembled nervously.

“No, they didn’t die.”

“They’re still alive!”

“Yes—”

“So I can see them! Please take me to them, Andromeda!”

“I can’t, Lindsey.”

“Why not?” Her temporary excitement had changed back to the tearful expression.

“They ... are ... in Azkaban.”

Once again, Andromeda’s words meant nothing.

“What’s that?”

“Prison.”

“Prison! What did they do? Did they kill someone?” Now real tears were shining on her pale face.

“No, they didn’t.”

“Then what did they do? Tell me!”

“I think this is enough for now.”

“Please!”

“Time for bed, Lindsey!”

“Andromeda!”

“Bed!”

The girl broke away from Andromeda’s arms and said, “One more question.”

“Lindsey, I think this is enough—”

“What’s my last name?”

Andromeda relaxed her tense face, and, closing her eyes, calmly said, “Lestrange.”

“So I’m Lyra Lestrange,” the little girl said, letting it roll off her tongue. “Not Lindsey Tonks.” Then she ran away, around the corner and up the stairs. The sound of sobs followed her as she left.

The last thing I saw before opening my eyes was the sight of Andromeda’s hurt face. Then I was back in my bedroom, staring at the light blue paint on my wall. The blue blankets beneath me were the same ones I’d cried into that day Andromeda had told me everything. Now I was there again, arms wrapped around my legs, head against my knees, staring out the window and watching the setting sun. I stayed like that until I heard Andromeda call me down for dinner.