#the man had thirteen years of time to himself. assuming it didn't naturally grow like that he was probably meticulous in styling it

[okwritingandpain]

Hogwarts Legacy: The Curse of The Ravenclaw House: Phineas Nigellus Black x Reader

Chapter 4: Mending Cracks

"What is it now, Scrope?" You ask as the one-eared house-elf appeared in the common room. Other students were whispering about you. Scrope sat across from you at one of the small tables in the corners of the Ravenclaw common room.

"Professor Black wishes to see you in his office." said Scrope, "Another window appeared." You turned your head in curiosity. Another window?

"Brilliant!" You say, standing up. "I'll be there as soon as I can!" You starting heading towards the door in a rush. Your classmates slithered away from Scrope as they looked at him with the most appalled looks. "Are you coming with me? I have some floo powder--"

"Scrope doesn't need floo powder. Scrope can apparate." He said, snapping his fingers and disappearing.

"Right, Penny and Deek taught me about that." You mumbled, throwing the floo powder in the flames. "Headmaster's Office Hallway." The flames ingulfed you and before you knew it, you were in the Headmaster's hallway. You took a deep breath before walking up to the giant griffin statue. You, luckily, still remembered the password you had stollen from Scrope two years ago. "Toujours Pur." The statue shifted as you jumped onto the platform that turned into Professor Black's office. He was sitting at his desk, reading a book. Looking up, Professor Black looked shocked at your sudden appearance.

"How did you...?" He trailed off, trying to understand what was happening.

"I told you the polyjuice story right?" You ask to his shock.

"The what?" He squinted at you.

"Never mind." You say quickly, "Where's the window?" Black pointed behind himself where you remembered the portrait Headmistress Niamh had once occupied. Instead there was a new window. It still had the Ravenclaw House crest, but now the window depicted the crest in a vial surrounded by blood.

"I suppose we have to venture into another window." Black gave you a small smile as he walked in front of it. You joined him, holding his hand as he stepped up onto a desk and entered the window. Inside was a too familiar place. You didn't want to be here. Black looked around confused. "Where are we?" He asked, examining the dark wood walls and stone floors.

"My home." You say, looking at the sign. "My muggle orphanage." He looked at you confused.

"You are a muggle?" He asked, suddenly becoming distant. You shook your head, watching him lighten his demeanor.

"I don't know. I was sent here by a man whose wife had just died. I assume she was my mother...sometimes I like to believe that at least on of them was a wizard...it would make the ancient magic thing make more sense." You give a nervous laugh as you look around the hallway which was as bare as you remembered it. The orphanage was always cold and distant. It never felt like a true home. It was a place of despair...

"I didn't know..." Black whispered, "I can't imagine..." You sigh as you walk past the front desk where a snoozing receptionist laid. Black followed you quietly as you reminisced on the past. You remembered growing up in these halls. Kids would play around you as you sat alone thinking to yourself. That was most days, but this day...something felt different about it.

"I can't believe it." You whispered, "This day of all days." You stop at a cracked door that leads into where you spent most of your time in the evenings...the library. Black (naturally being taller than you) stood up you, peering in to see what the commotion was. Inside was a thirteen year old version of you. At the time, you had no idea that you were a wizard and that only in a mere three years you would get a chance of a life time. You remembered that you had gotten your hands on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The library was small, but every corner was filled with books upon books. You sat in an arm chair that was in front of a large fire place. It was cozy and comforting.

"Y/N, what are you doing in here so late?" A man appeared in the other doorway across the way. Your younger self put the book down and turned to look at the man.

"Hello, Charles." Young you says, motioning for him to sit in the chair next to you. He shrugs, sitting down and crossing his legs.

"It's late. Maybe you should head to bed like the others?" He asked, looking at the door. "I think we all want to go to bed."

"I can take care of myself. You don't need to watch me." You say, picking up your book again. He glared at you, but an idea flashed through his mind.

"If I told you," He began, "that if I show you a magic show, would you go to bed afterwards?" You snort as you read your book. A large smile grew on his face. "I'm serious! A magic show." He stood up, pulling out a wand from his coat pocket. You set your book down, confused. Black's eyes grew wider.

"What's with the stick?" You ask, setting the book down. Charles smiled, giving a few waves for dramatic effect.

"It is a wand. I think it will impress you more than you think. Lumos!" He waved his wand and a bit of light appeared at the end of the wand. You looks at him with awe.

"Great trick." You muttered, trying to hide your shock. He smirked once more as he turned to the fire.

"Glacious!" He shouted as bits of ice set the fire out. The room was dark now, besides a few candles behind you.

"How did..." You said shocked.

"Incendio!" Charles said, relighting the fire. "Are you sure these are merely tricks anymore?" He sat back down as you stared at the fire.

"Magic...is real!" Your face lit up with glee. If magic was real, than why hadn't you known about it before? Was there some sort of secret wizarding world?

"It very much is." He replied, holding a letter in his hands. It held a seal of a school. "I was supposed to give this to you, but luckily I had a few charms up my sleeve to stop such things from happening."

"What?" You reach for the letter, but he moved his hand away.

"You have no place at that school. Not with the residences that reside there. You won't even know it exists. Half-bloods such as ourselves don't need to get involve with pure-bloods like Black." He snapped, shoving the letter into his coat pocket.

"Then why show me this!?" You retort, trying to grab his coat.

"Levioso!" He hisses, making you float in the air. "I showed it to you, so you would beware of the harsh reality we have been given. You need to know that pure-bloods are the enemy. They will kill us all. It seems you don't appreciate what I have shown you. You don't deserve magic." He walked over to you and put his wand to your head. "Oblivate." He hissed as you dropped to the floor. You looked up at him confused.

"What's with the stick?" You ask. His demeanor returned to a smile.

"Go to bed, Y/N." He rushed you out the door as you leave. Charles paced around the room, gripping the wand in his hand. He took out the letter from his pocket and read what it said:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Phineas Nigellus Black

Dear Y/N L/N,

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 September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Matilda Weasley Deputy Headmistress

Charles crumbled up the paper and threw it into the fire. Black shifted above you.

"You don't think that's Cornelius, do you?" He whispered, close to your ear. It couldn't be! There was no way! But Black had the right idea. You couldn't believe it...he had been there throughout your entire childhood until Professor Fig appeared at the orphanage door one day.

"Could it be?" You ask, watching Charles pace the floor. The blue magic was appearing again. Charles squinted and then turned towards the door you were hiding behind.

"You're here again?" He asked, rushing towards the door. In a panic, you and Black bolted down the hallway. Behind you was the growing louder footsteps of Charles as blue magic appeared under your feet. "It can't be!" He yelled behind you, "You of all people, Y/N. Of course you're. Just. Like. Me." The hallway was a dead end. You and Black turned around to face Charles.

"Cornelius..." Black hissed, raising his wand. "Arresto Momentum!" Charles froze for a second as Black grabbed your hand pulling you past him. You both ran until you saw the front doors. You were so close, almost there!

"Crucio!" Cornelius snapped as it hit you. The pain was gut wrenching, unbearable in everyway. You expected Black to keep running, to leave you behind...but he didn't he stood in front of you, facing Cornelius.

"Flipendo!" He yelled.

"Protego!" Cornelius shouts, blocking the spell. The two duel as you wait for the pain to stop. Black defends best he can until--"Diffindo!" As a large slash hits him in the stomach knocking him on top of you. Cornelius runs up and yells, "Avada Ked-" Everything went black again. You were in Professor Black's office, laying on his desk. He was on the floor, groaning.

"What is happening anymore." You muffled as you rolled over to lay on your face. Black stood up and pushed you off his desk.

"I am done with all this!" He snapped, pushing his chair over. "I didn't sign up for this!" You stood up, rubbing your eyes and looking at the empty portrait where the window used to be.

"There like a pensive, but...interactive." You muttered, turning to Black.

"Why are we seeing them?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Maybe...Cornelius is uh...trying to find us...both?" You sputter to Black's glare.

"Preposterous." He hissed, pacing the floor. "What would he want with me or you?"

"He hates you...he hates this school...I'm like him." You list off a few things. Black glares even harder as he set up his chair again and sat down.

"Let us not worry about this...get to class." He snaps to your shock. Feeling a bit betrayed you leave the office. Black watches you leave as Scrope appears behind him.

"Master..." Scrope says, "Scrope has brought you a message." He hands Black an envelope. Nodding his head for Scrope to leave, he opened it.

"Sincerely, Cornelius Hopkirk." He reads aloud, slowly setting the paper on his desk. "Merlin's Beard." He whispers, looking at the empty portrait behind him.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

While Snickers is right in the previous tags about how they have what can be assumed to be the same eye color in the manga, I’m also fully on board with a purple-eyed!Ray AU for these tags:

#Ray growing older and looking more like Isabella than he did as child is exactly my jam #more suffering for my boy

Because there’s never enough of that, right? _(:△」∠)_ (One of my favorite headcanons to indulge in is Ray growing a beard when he’s older. This is first and foremost to honor Yuugo, the man who became a father figure to him and the other cattle children in the bunker, but if he hasn’t told his family about his connection to Isabella or he has but he’s struggling with how he’s growing into her features with every passing year due to all the issues they never were able to resolve due to her death, it provides more of a buffer between himself and her.)

Forever grateful to @just-like-playing-tag​​ and others who do these edits

Particularly this one from S1e07 because Isabella has her own eyes looking back at her for the extra gutpunch 🥲

Although you could maybe spin it as him having a darker shade of purple that appears black except in the brightness of the sun, like what pan_ahoi does in this comic: https://twitter.com/pan_ahoi/status/1557764413297664000

This would mean that ray probably couldn't keep it a secret anymore. One of his siblings, norman probably, would get suspicious and confront him about it.

That also touches upon Norman noticing this and how quickly Ray moves to change the subject.

Will it cause more pain for Ray? For him, looking at his reflection would mean staring at the same eyes of the woman he sees as a monster and a constant reminder that he is related to her, would he hate himself even more?

I don’t know if I would phrase it as him hating himself more because of this? Because no one can control their genetics, and he never delves into angst over his black hair and other physical traits he inherited from her. He instead focuses on the actions of himself and others:

His phrasing of the “true nature” of demons in chapter 123 makes me think back to how he justified his self-immolation in chapter 32:

He fully convinced himself that the only way he could atone for what he did was by committing suicide as the linchpin of his plan. He views what he and Isabella did—using the children of plant no.3 for their respective machinations—as reprehensible. So I feel he would still beat himself up over this inherited nature/loathsome predisposition and how their brains must be wired similarly more than actually hating any physical traits he might have gotten from her, but they would be triggering for him any time he’s having a negative-thought spiral (you could easily write all of this off as pedantic semantics though lol)

And by the time isabella has passed away and no one knows about ray being isabella's biological son, would the younger kids always point out that ray's eyes remind them of their mama? what about the older siblings; don, gilda and norman? would they be happy or have mixed feelings with ray having the same shade of purple eyes as their mother? would it be painful for everyone to look at ray?

Can you imagine everyone's reaction when ray finally tells everyone that he is isabella's son? They would bombard him with questions and encounter more topics that are difficult to talk about. Would this result in more angst and issues? trust issues??

I firmly believe that by the point this information would be revealed, none of the children of Grace Field would feel any differently about him. While they might know him now as Ray their mother’s biological son, they’ve known him as Ray their brother for much longer; the brother who even if he was distant and aloof at Grace Field looked after them and who after the escape began to more openly care for them.

They love him and trust him to protect them so much they instinctively gravitate to him in times of peril and worry, just as much as they do toward Emma, Gilda, Don, Anna, and Nat. You don’t throw out years of familial love and affection for something out of one’s control and ultimately inconsequential. Whatever features he might have inherited from Isabella, they’ve associated them with him and separately from her longer. It probably would only register every now and then if he said something or acted in a way reminiscent of her.

But that knowledge would add another layer to their time at Grace Field, and I feel they would likely treat the subject gingerly, though the specifics would depend on how the reveal came about—if he sat them all down to discuss the matter on his own terms, if somehow they got a hold of the information from HQ about all their mothers and Ray didn’t have a chance to tamper with it (I’ve seen this in a fic which was a nice touch because I generally see him taking this information to the grave unless he’s prompted by an outside force to divulge and confront it lol), if one of the Sisters mentions it to them, if somehow Ray’s note to Isabella was on her person yet undamaged when she died, etc. But regardless, I don’t think their curiosity would trump their sensibilities about not pushing him about it because he had his reasons to keep the truth about the house a secret, so he must have some for why he never revealed the true nature of this relationship.

An AU thought (and a bit of spoilers)

Sometimes i think about an au where everything is the same, but ray has inherited Isabella's purple eyes.

will it bring more angst? To see your son's eyes staring back at you with the same color as yours? will it bring more shock to isabella? will she have a hard time looking at him in the eyes? will it cause more pain for ray? For him, looking at his reflection would mean staring at the same eyes of the woman he sees as a monster and a constant reminder that he is related to her, would he hate himself even more? And by the time isabella has passed away and noone knows about ray being isabella's biological son, would the younger kids always point out that ray's eyes remind them of their mama? what about the older siblings; don, gilda and norman? would they be happy or have mixed feelings with ray having the same shade of purple eyes as their mother? would it be painful for everyone to look at ray? edit: I have a headcanon that ray basically looks like the male version of isabella if you ingore his spiky hair and especially when he gets older. And in this au, he also inherited her purple eyes. This would mean that ray probably couldn't keep it a secret anymore. One of his siblings, norman probably, would get suspicious and confront him about it. Can you imagine everyone's reaction when ray finally tells everyone that he is isabella's son? They would bombard him with questions and encounter more topics that are difficult to talk about. Would this result in more angst and issues? trust issues??

what are your thoughts? i think I'm thinking too much...