Pureblood Principles closed

Eris studied the pages of the old book religiously, hand tracing over the rowell family tree over and over again. The tree ended at the name Jane. There was no line across to a husband or a line down for her two daughters. According to the book Jane Rowell had disappeared 12 years ago, just a year before the vanishing of Lucas Flawey. It was considered to be one of the biggest mysterious events of the modern magical world. How two pure-bloods had vanished into thin-air. Eris knew where one of the two missing wizards were, but what about the other one? Eris wondered if her mother was being brainwashed by her father, and maybe she was truly a good person. Maybe Eris could save her mother, and bring her back to the magical world. Eris would be a hero if she found the long lost Jane Rowell...who had been hiding under the wizarding world's noses for the past 11 years.

Eris sighed longingly, staring at the Rowell family tree. She was looking at the names of the family she had always wanted. Eris couldn't help but feel sad, thinking of all the times she had cried herself to sleep, wishing she had grandparents, aunts, and uncles like the other children, or the times that she had sat alone at grandparent's visiting day. All those horrible moments had been for nothing, because this whole time Eris had a family just under her nose. It was ironic that her family had finally showed itself, just months after Eris had been kicked out of her mum's house. The book didn't tell Eris what she needed to know though. She wanted to know everything about her mom's family. It was hopeless, she was never going to find anything out. Eris let out a little sigh, about to give up and head inside when she heard a girl's voice.

"Is that the Pure-Blood Directory?" than "You know, most of that information is bias and inaccurate, there are important details they left out in there."

Eris looked up at the girl with hope shining in her eyes. "I know, " she said excitedly, unable to hide the excitement growing in her. What if the other girl could tell her more about her family history, and just the history of purebloods. "What do you know about the Rowell family?" Eris asked, unable to hide a smile, as she looked up at her would-be savoir.

Something about the way the red-headed girl looked at her made Amelia feel like someone was genuinely interested in conversing with her, and that didn't happen often. The Ravenclaw couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at the corners of her lips as she watched the girl's eyes shine. Something about her tone was excited about knowing the inaccuracy in the book, though, which confused the brunette slightly. If she knew of the bias, why would the girl even bother reading the book? She suppose inaccurate knowledge was better than none at all, but she was curious as to see the girl's actual reason.

The red-head blurted out the question rather quickly, almost like Amelia had when she had interrupted her reading in the first place. The question made Amelia's brow furrow ever so slightly, wondering why the name sounded so familiar. It only took a moment for the name to internalize, and the first years big, brown eyes widened in realization. "Of course I know about the Rowle family." She stated, trying to watch her tone and not come off like the know-it-all she knew she could sound like...and be. The short statured girl sounded like she had been pronouncing the name a tad bit funny. Was that why the girl had picked up the Pure-Blood Directory? What business did she have with that specific linage? Her curiosity was never-ending, and more and more questions arose in her mind until an abrupt, different thought came to mind. Her manners.

"First thing's first," Amelia said, suddenly taking a seat square in front of the girl. Her cloak was long enough to cover the thin layer of dampness on the ground, thankfully there wasn't much snow beneath the bigger tree they sat beneath. "I'm Amelia Lovell." Her parents had always taught her to introduce herself, among other good mannerisms. It was very important having grown up in what some would call a strict household. After she was satisfied with their introduction, Amelia continued. "They're one of the 'Sacred 28'," She gestured a dainty hand towards the book the fellow student was reading. "But you should know that by now." That was essentially the main subject within the Directory. She hesitated before continuing, though, for the Rowle's history was dark and unfortunately sad. "It means they're a wizarding pureblood line for as long as they can date back, which is a long time. The oldest one I can think of right now is Damocles Rowle, who was an anti-muggle Minister of Magic back in the 1700s. He basically created Azkaban, the old prison guarded by dementors..." Her smile kind of faded with her sentence, and she paused once more. Amelia didn't want to let this girl's hopes down, it wasn't a pretty history. "There's a lot more to this...but are you sure you want me to continue? It's not a very...nice tale." The Ravenclaw girl knew almost everything she could about this family. It was a very important part of the past, and History of Magic had always been one of her favorite subjects. She waited for the girl's response before continuing.

This girl had said Eris's family name weirdly, but Eris was so eager for information she looked past it and smiled faintly as the girl introduced herself. Her nerves were so high that Eris could barely get out. She wanted the answers to her family now, not some stupid introduction, "My name is Eris Elcan." She said her name, as if it was foreign. Eris wasn't even sure that she wanted to be called Elcan anymore. She almost wanted to add that her mum's last name was Rowell, but thought better of it. She would tell the Amelia girl the truth later, if Eris had too. Depending on the questions Amelia asked, and how far into her own life she was willing to devolve to get answers. Something about the girl reeked of bossiness and curiosity. The way she had came to Eris and started their conversation had made Eris weary. She was used to people with that same arrogant-knowledgeable nature trying to pry into Eris's life, so if Amelia tried to ask too many questions, Eris was ready to shut down the conversation without getting all of her precious answers about her family.

Eris looked at the other girl with awe. This was a person who knew about her family history. The person with the answers. Eris felt a pang of envy, as the girl launched into a speech about a man who might of been Eris's great-great something. Her envy was undiluted by the fact the man had done terrible things. At least Eris assumed he had, judging by the look on the girl's face. She wasn't sure what dementors or Askban was, but from the way the girl was speaking, Eris could only assume the worse.She knew she should be displeased with the fact her great-great whatever had done something terrible, but Eris just wanted to know more about her family. She wanted to know the whole story about her family, but what she really wanted to hear about was her mum.

"What do you know about Jane Rowle?" Eris asked, trying to say her mum's last name the way the other girl had. Her mum had always said her last name as Row-ell, but maybe that was just one more thing her mum had lied about. Eris wouldn't put it past her mother to even say her family name wrong, in an attempt to keep Eris's heritage from her. Eris wanted to know everything about her mum, and everything about the people that her mum had grown up with. She just wanted to know why her mother had treated Eris the way she did, and what events in her life had shaped Jane to be such a terrible person to her own daughter.

The fact Eris was still smiling gave Amelia the courage to continue the story. She seemed nervous behind the smile, though it was hard for Amelia to understand exactly why. It wasn't the easiest job for her to read people, she expected everyone to display their emotions as they played out in a raw way. What Amelia wondered briefly was why this girl had a different surname than the family she seemed so desperately eager about. That thought quickly left her head, though, as her mind filled with more facts that she dug up about the infamous Rowle family.

The brunette's thoughts were quickly interrupted when Eris asked if she knew of a Jane Rowle. Furrowing her brow in concentration, the name just didn't ring a bell to Amelia. Shaking her head sullenly, "I don't believe I know of a Jane Rowle. There were people adopted into the family, or some who married in, so maybe she's from a farther branch in the tree then what's readily available." Amelia thought for another second, then spoke again, "The Rowle's were a pretty extremist death eater family. They have a long and unfortunate history of being of service to Voldemort. A lot of their lives and where they are now are unknown."

Amelia gave her a moment to absorb what she had said before she said, with a grim expression, "One of the most notorious Rowle family members was a part of the second wizarding war. Thorfinn Rowle. Less than twenty years ago, he caused great damage...to the castle, set fire to a groundskeepers hut, and murdered his own companions in an attempt to hurt students here at Hogwarts." Talking about the event made a shiver go down the eleven year olds spine. 'Hurt' was an understatement as to how cruel and careless this wizard had been. She couldn't even imagine living a life like they had back then.

Eris listened in awe, smile fading more and more as the girl assured her that she had no idea who Jane Rowle was. Amelia kept talking though, going on and on about what seemed to be a very bloody history. Eris felt a pang of guilt that she had been born into such a horrible family, and she felt even more guilty for still wanting to know the Rowle side of her family. She wanted to know her father's part of the family too, but there were no wizard records of the family name Elcan, and there were no muggle records either. Just a gun company, that Eris's father was clearly not a part of.

Eris listened to Amelia, as if her life depended on it, trying not let her anger about this girl knowing more about her family than Eris herself get to her. The more Eris sat and thought about it, the angrier she felt. Not at the ravenclaw girl talking to her, but at her mother for keeping Eris's family away from her, and at the Rowle family for not trying to find their missing daughter. Maybe they had tried, but they hadn't tried hard enough and it hurt. Eris couldn't help but imagine a world where she was the one talking about the Rowle family with a sense of pride, even though they were a sick twisted family.

Eris snapped out of her thoughts as Amelia stopped talking, feeling guilty for wanting to know her family more. The Rowle family seemed horrible. They had supported Voldemort and were pure-blood extremists. Eris couldn't imagine what would happen if she had lived with them her whole life. How different would she be? Would she still be close friends with the muggle-born hufflepuff she had met on the train. What her name again? Oh yes, Michelle.

So why had her mother married a muggle if the Rowle family was so against muggles and muggle-born wizards? Eris sighed, feeling confused again. None of this made sense. What even was a pure-blood, and why was it so important to be one? Eris didn't understand it at all. Even after reading that book about pure-bloods, she was still confused. She had seen many people at Hogwarts, and wasn't able to tell what was so much better about a pure-blood.

Scratching at her head faintly, Eris studied Amelia. Was she a pure-blood? Most likely. That would explain why she knew so much about the Rowle family, and how she knew things that even Eris's book wouldn't cover. Eris felt jealous again, wishing she had the education Amelia had about pure-blood families. It made sense that the Rowle family was horrible, just like Eris's mom, but Eris still wanted to know them.

Finally, realizing that she was just sitting there with a hand still in her red-hair, Eris broke the silence. Her voice was quiet, and contemplative. "What is the difference exactly between a pureblood and the rest of the magical community?" she asked, with a slight frown. Why had the title of pureblood caused so much bloodshed, and what did it have to do with her mother?

Amelia had never really thought much about her bloodline. There were a lot of people she knew through her father who still leaned towards their pureblood supremacy ways, though, and it always left a bitter taste in the Ravenclaws mouth. As far as she could tell, muggleborns and halfbloods and purebloods or any other -blood for that matter, were all the same. Nothing changed in a huge way from being different in that sense. To her, it mattered what your personality was like, how you treated other people and living things. That meant more to her than any family tree with 'pure blood'. The superiority complex some wizards and witches had was absurd to Amelia.

That's also why the first year knew so much about pureblood families, though. Her father would go on long tangents about the royal pureblood families, the sacred 28, the 'good old days'. They had a large estate, being the wealthy family they were, and her father would host get togethers and celebrations where many pureblood families would gather, all with relatively the same superior mindset. Amelia tended to avoid these types of parties, preferring to be on her own or with her select few childhood friends. Most of the children her father brought around with his friends had the same ideals as their parents, so there were never many kids that saw eye-to-eye with her.

Looking at the way Eris continued to look at her, she figured the red-head had a very deep connection with this family. Amelia still couldn't put her finger on it, though, and tried to contain her curiosity for fear of scaring the girl away. There were a mixture of emotions the first year saw in Eris's face. Failing once again at understanding why, the brunette decided to add something positive to the mix. "Honestly, I feel most of the Rowle family was just born in unfortunate circumstances. They were tortured and manipulated. I don't think they were all too terrible." Her gaze dropped to the ground as she spoke, her tone a lot more quiet and understanding, than the know-it-all tone before.

Amelia glanced back up with dark brown eyes and again admired the girl's beautiful head of red hair. She felt rather drab and boring in comparison. Lost in thought for a moment in the silence that has ensued after her tangent, she snapped out of it only when Eris asked her a question. Taking in a deep breath, she contemplated her answer for a moment. "I don't personally believe there is a difference," Looking up at the sky now, she studied the few clouds that drifted past them, "I mean, other than factual things, like how far back it goes in your family tree with wizards and witches born from other wizards and witches. It doesn't make you more strong...or smart...or nicer than anyone else." A small frown pulled the corners of her pink lips down. "And that's coming from a pureblood herself." Amelia didn't like to talk about her bloodline, it just wasn't important. It was unecesary, senseless.

"Adults took things too seriously, and those adults came to power...and they created that divide." It was almost like the first year came to this conclusion as she said it, realizing how true the statement was. Suddenly, then, with the thought of adults on her mind, something dawned on Amelia. "Jane...Jane Rowle? You asked me about Jane Rowle, right?" Her eyes got wider, realizing she remembered where she'd heard that name before. The heard the faint conversation in her mind, but couldn't remember who had been talking about this lady. Had it been her father? Her mother? A conversation at one of their many estate events for pureblood families?

The Lovell girls brow furrowed in concentration, trying to remember all the vague details she could. "I'm pretty sure she was on board with the anti-muggle ideals." The more she tried to remember, the easier the memories came to her, "I'm pretty sure she went to school with my father and mother. My father was in Slytherin and my mother was in Ravenclaw, so she had to have been in one or the other. I think...I think something terrible happened to her at the end of her time here at Hogwarts."

Eris couldn't help but feel an absurd rush of gratitude for the brown-haired Amelia girl as she offered some comforting words about the Rowle family. Maybe they were just born in a horrible life, and had done unspeakable things like supporting Voldemort because of that. That would explain why Eris's mum had gone crazy. Eris felt herself grow hopeful again. Now that Voldemort was gone, maybe the Rowle family was good again! Maybe her family could understand what Eris felt about her family life, as Amelia seemed to think that her family members had been tortured and abused. Eris wanted to see her family even more now, imagining what it would be like to have aunts, uncles, and grandparents of her own. There weren't any bring-your-grandparents to school days at Hogwarts, but Eris still wanted to have a bigger family. The longing for a family had filled Eris up for years, and now she was close to getting it. The only thing holding her back was well, everything.

In the silence before Amelia started talking again, Eris took a moment to pull her thoughts together and back onto pure-bloods instead of her long-lost family. As the girl started talking, Eris brought her mind back to the words that Amelia was saying, instead of her racing thoughts about the Rowle family. The pure-blood divide confused Eris, and it seemed like it confused Amelia too. It didn't sense why there had to be a divide between people based on something so unimportant like blood. You couldn't even see somebody's blood unless they were bleeding, so why would it matter? You couldn't look at somebody and measure their self worth based upon what their blood looked like. All blood ran red, to the extent of Eris's knowledge.

It was terrible, that just because a group of adults long ago had decided that blood mattered, there had to be divides in the magical world that was Eris's home now. Eris hung her head, wondering why there had to be so much pain and death over something as simple as blood, when Amelia suddenly asked about her mother, and launched into a speech about her mother. Eris glanced back up at the girl, staring at her at brown hair, with an expression icy indifference. Instead her heart was beating at 5 hundred miles per hour, as she waited to hear what the ravenclaw had to say.

Eris couldn't control the little gasp that came out when Amelia mentioned that her mother was on board with the anti-muggle drama. Eris clasped her hands over her mouth, watching in mute horror as Amelia finished her short story. Something terrible had happened to Eris's mother, but what? Eris blinked rapidly, as tears filled the short girl's eyes. What had happened to her mother, and if something so bad had happened to her mother, how had she ran away to muggle London and gotten married. If she was such a muggle hater, than why had she married Eris's father? Was Eris's father even a muggle? Eris let out an almost inaudible sniff. Was it possible her mother was brainwashed? Maybe that was the horrible thing. Eris couldn't help but sink down a little lower, back sliding off the tree and into the grass, as she avoided the other girl's eyes.

"So, Jane Rowle. Does anyone know what happened to her?" She asked finally, in a grave whisper, as if she had suddenly lost the will to speak.

Amelia was definitely an optimist of sorts, though she also considered herself a realist. She felt other people’s emotions very strongly, especially when she was close to them as a person. The Ravenclaw felt this way with animals, students, professors, family, friends, even strangers. Although she lacked the excellent social skills to reach out to these people, she'd always had the ability to feel for other people very strongly and showing it. She watched Eris go through a roller coaster of emotions and she felt sorry for the girl, in a sense, and the same questions kept repeating in her head, ‘Why is this so important to you? What do you gain from this?’

Thinking about the Rowle family and speaking about their history made Amelia sad behind her factual attitude. The things she had heard and read about them when she snuck into her father's study were rarely ever positive things. Most of them believed in in pureblood supremacy and were very deeply connected with the then 'dark lord’ and that was something that made the Lovell girl a bit sick to her stomach. They had almost been made examples of what happened when you didn’t obey Voldemort at the time, and that made her feel the conflicting emotion that was sympathy for them, too. From what Amelia had heard, most of them didn’t even search for Voldemort after his initial resurrection, which had to say something.

Something about the specific mention of Jane Rowle seemed to completely change Eris’s persona. What had appeared to be quite an open book of emotion before, was now quite a bit more closed off. Why hadn't she asked about any other specific names? It didn't make much sense to Amelia, just like the bloodshed over lineage. Reaching the end of her tangent, the red-head looked something close to horrified and then defeated, avoiding eye contact. The Ravenclaw suddenly wondered if she should continue at all, looking at the grounds around them in some relatively deep thought.

A whisper escaped the girl's mouth, only one question asked. “I'm sure someone knows. Me, I don't know.” She felt bad that she couldn't answer all the girl's questions. Something about how passionate this girl was about this family and what happened to them made Amelia want to help her figure out the mystery. After just a small pause, the Raven made a suggestion, “I could always owl my parents, ask them if they know anything about Jane Rowle or what happened to her after Hogwarts…” It was an open-ended idea, she wasn't even sure it would lead anywhere. Finally striking up the courage for one small question, the eleven year old blurted, “But, why is this so important to you?”

Eris sighed, finally meeting the girl's eyes. "Jane Rowle was my mother." She said it quietly, barely able to speak over the waves of shame and rage filling her head. Her family was horrible, and none if it made sense. Her mother was evil, born of a pure-blood family, but had married Luca. At once, as Eris thought of her mother, memories flew into her head one by one, and there was little she could do to stop them as the little-red head curled in on herself, shrinking down again, until she was practically curled into a ball under the tree.

Eris was five years old, and her mother was smiling at her and Bella as they crawled around their measly flat, dragging toys behind them in their errant quest to find the best toy. The trail of discarded toys followed behind the twins, as they walked than crawled across the flat. Jane Rowle stood, back pressed against the floor way, with her husband's arm around her. She laughed at the two girls, than picked up Belladona and spun her in a circle, pressing a kiss to her daughters brow before pausing to do the same to her already smaller daughter, with the bright red tuft of red hair on her head, similar to her fathers.

Eris and Bella were seven, and they were sitting in their living room, as their mom ordered them books on amazon, lips pursed as Eris asked for books about magical worlds and the fantasy kingdoms she had come to adore. "There is no magic." She vigorously reminded her red-headed daughter, as the other girl frowned disapprovingly at her sister. Their mother touched a hand to her chest, and the locket that always rested there. "JR & LF". She rubbed at the locket, before quietly ordering the books about magic for Eris, after repeating "there's no magic" under her breath again, with a desperate gaze at her husband, who looked thoughtful and confused at the words, and the locket on his wife's chest.

Eris was nine, and her birthday cake was on fire. Her sister was screaming, and her father was silent. He kept muttering the words "Flawely under his breath," and shooting enraged looks at Jane Rowle, who was also screaming at the burning cake. Without another word, Eris's father was screaming too. "What have you done to me Jane?" There was a bang, and the firey cake exploded, to the horror of the young girl who's hands were curled into fists . Her mother, father, and sister looked at Eris, as her hands shook at her sides. Jane Rowle, mother and friend took a look at her daughter's clenched fists and the fiery cake and screamed "Freak!" with 20 years of rage.

Eris was 10, and her mother was crying and throwing things out from under her bed and into the snow outside of their house . A key, a trunk, and a slur of insults. "You aren't my daughter anymore. Get out!" A slam of a door, a burning sensation in Eris's eyes, and a pair of brown eyes watching Eris fall out into the snow. A jacket appeared, falling down the steps and into Eris's almost full arms, as her sister vanished into the house after her mother.

Eris hadn't realized she was crying in front of a total stranger, but here she was. Curled up in a ball under a tree, thinking about her past, with tears pouring down her face. It wasn't fair at all. Why was her mother so evil? The young girl let out a sniff, trying to calm down her racing heart and the tears now pouring down her face. "I-i'm sorry." She choked out, feeling bad for Amelia. It wasn't Amelia's fault that she had to deal with Eris's emotions and flashbacks. Hopefully Eris's breakdown wouldn't ruin the girl's option of Eris. "I'm normally not this sad." Eris said, with a weak attempt at a laugh, as another tear plopped down onto the grass, that was already wet from dew.

With extreme effort Eris uncurled herself from the tight ball she had been curled up in, and stared at Amelia. What if she hated Eris now?