Cause and Effect, My Love

Chapter 2: Introducing Capella Black

Lord Voldemort had supporters from all corners of magical establishment, but many of his followers were witches and wizards of aristocratic, pureblood families. Death Eaters from these families were difficult to convict because they were well associated. Whether most followed him willingly is "debatable," since many claimed blackmail, threats, and brainwashing forced them to join Voldemort. However, most of these families were, by their very mindset, natural followers of Voldemort.

The most notorious of these families were the Malfoys, the Lestranges, and the Blacks, all of whom were related by marriage. The Blacks are the most essential to our history. They were a highly dysfunctional family and considered themselves among the elite, the oldest and the purest of wizarding families. They hated Muggles or Muggle-Borns. Any relative who associated themselves with these people were instantly disowned, their names removed from the old family tapestry.

Of the last generation of Blacks, the name of Capella Black is noticeably absent from the tapestry. Capella Black was born to Auriga Black and his wife, Hydra--the youngest of three children and their only daughter. Two years after she was born, her parents removed her to the mansion of her uncle, Alphard, and his wife, Lucille. It was perhaps a hope of Auriga and Hydra to redeem a portion of Alphard's large fortune by allowing him to raise their daughter. As a result of her relocation, Capella never developed a close bond with her parents or older brothers Sirius and Regulus. Though already raising a son, Alphard and Lucille welcomed Capella without protest, seeking to treat her as their own daughter and raise her to their good own standards.

Alphard dedicated himself to productivity. He emphasized the importance of athleticism and skill work. Alphard was also skilled craftsman, specializing in the creation of magical devices. Capella took to her uncle's values quickly. She began to ride horses with him daily and helped with some of his inventions, including a special clock made specifically for Molly Weasley, a cousin of the Blacks, to trace the location of her immediate family members. Alphard's inventions had a strong influence on Capella's own inventions, which would come to revolutionize Resistance technology.

Alphard was pleased with Capella's apprenticeship enough to disregard that, while most witches and wizards show some ability at "magic" around the ages of two or three, Capella had shown no ability to perform magic by her eighth birthday. Her cousin Thomas Alphard Black, alternately, was a magical prodigy. His remarkable skill won him the favor of the Black family. He was also an unpleasant child. He had a constant need to be nurtured, never left his mother's side and was incapable of being self-sufficient. On his tenth birthday, his state had not changed at all.

For his tenth birthday party the Blacks enlisted the services of at least five bands, three of whom were popular wizard bands of the time; a traveling menagerie; catering from a popular restaurant in wizarding London; and a Seer. Thomas Black's birthday parties were always extravagant, a staple of high society. Several of the wealthiest and most famous witches and wizards attended his birthday parties out of loyalty to the Blacks or vanity, wanting to be seen among the elite. Capella spent most of her time at these celebrations with her oldest brother, Sirius. To her misfortune, Sirius had refused to attend the birthday party that year, choosing to spend that particular summer with his friend, James Potter. Luckily for her, the stables were open that night.

Capella had only one preferred horse in all of her uncle's stables--a black Welsh pony named Trinity. It remained unsaid that Trinity was Capella's pony. Riders left the pony alone out of approbation of how well suited the pony and the rider was. Over time, Capella and Trinity gained a small group of admirers who would stop to watch her ride. She was not surprised that night to find her pony waiting patiently in the stable--and that she had quickly acquired a small audience not soon after she had started to ride.

One of these spectators, Severus Snape, was attending his first Black party. While not of the same social class as the Blacks, Snape had, during his time at Hogwarts, the fortune of developing a close acquaintance with Lucius Malfoy, whose family always came to the birthday party. His business with Malfoy that night was to tour Alphard's stables. On the way to the stables, Snape requested to stop by the fence surrounding the riding fields. He was captivated by who he thought was a young boy riding a pony. He shortly discovered his assumption of the rider's gender to be an error: the rider greeted them with a distinctly feminine voice. Malfoy, having known Capella from past parties, introduced Snape to her briefly before Narcissa Black, Capella's cousin, who had just emerged from the mansion, interrupted his him. Narcissa dragged him back into the mansion to visit the Seer, leaving Capella and Snape alone.

This new guest intrigued Capella. She wondered whether he liked horses. Snape was not expert at riding. His family could not afford the luxuries of frequent horse riding. But he enjoyed riding, and was curious to see her uncle's stables. She eagerly agreed to show him. She also wondered if he would ride with her. She rarely had ridden with anyone other than Alphard. Snape reluctantly agreed to a short race around the track on one of Alphard's horses. This "short" race turned into several. Snape, convinced his borrowed horse could beat Trinity, lost every race. He often complained that Capella was playing tricks, or that he "wasn't ready that time." Nevertheless, he arrived to a point where he could grudgingly admit that Capella was a fine rider, Trinity a fine pony, and himself in need of improvement. Capella afterwards agreed to stop racing and invited him to visit her family and ride with her if he could, promising to help him with his riding skills (though she was eight and he twelve). Snape was hesitant to accept. Capella restated that she would be expecting him, but he was in no way obligated to come.

Neither of them were distracted enough from this conversation to notice a commotion coming from the mansion. Capella noticed it only when she heard a thud and saw the horse she had loaned to Severus on the ground. Outside the fence, Thomas Black was aiming his father's wand at Snape. She was not sure what he said, but he appeared jealous. Capella demanded he go away. Thomas complied, returning to the mansion, demanding for his mother. He had mistakenly left his father's wand on the ground. Agitated, Capella picked it up and held it in her hand, asking Snape if he knew any spells that would cure a stunned horse.

Thomas returned with his mother, Lucille, who politely insisted Capella return to the party and accompany her son. Again, Capella refused. Already agitated at Thomas, Lucille opened the gate of the fence, yanked Capella out and began to lecture her about being disobedient. Capella defended herself and denied any disobedience on her part. She was not obligated to obey her cousin's demands. Lucille did not want to hear this. Taking the hands of her son and Capella, she forcefully joined them together and pushed them in the direction of the mansion. Thomas was instantly happy with this. Capella was not. She tried to remove her hand from Thomas' grip, but he was holding her hand too hard. Alphard's wand was in her free hand. She began to beat his hand with the wand, to no avail. She succeeded only when she became enraged and pointed the wand in the direction of his feet, causing him to flip in the air and land on the ground. By then his hand lost its grip on Capella's. This was Capella's first sign of magic.

Lucille, in a strange mood, refused to speak to her niece after the incident. Capella went to her uncle instead, wanting to know the reason for her cousin's strange behavior. Alphard explained that during the party, Thomas visited the Seer. After his reading, Thomas immediately began looking for Capella. He never explained why. Capella never found out what the Seer prophesied until she was thirty-five years old.