14th March, 1890 — Slytherin Common Room

Being part of the Lestrange family came with certain expectations – if one couldn’t manage notoriety then it was important to at least be accomplished. So far she had achieved neither but preparations were being made for the future and Seneca was a far more committed partner in crime than Frida. It simply wasn’t fair that she was saddled with a Hufflepuff and Kris for siblings when there were far superior beings in their gene pool!

“When I’m an animagus we could go anywhere without anybody knowing. You can change your face and I’ll transform and no one will see us coming,” she smirked, underlining a passage in her book for future consideration. “Apart from your father, I doubt we’ll ever confound him.”

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Seneca Lestrange

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   Seneca Lestrange

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

As a child, Seneca had flirted with the idea of becoming an animagus, like Papa, so she would then be both an animagus and a metamorphmagus. Then she went to Hogwarts and she saw that her talents didn't lie in Transfiguration. Perhaps that was only fair, for her natural abilities in the subject. Even Seneca, who loved being special compared to the general population, thought that it would be slightly insufferable if she was great at everything. Jack of all trades, master of none, said the muggles. All great men were remembered for one area of expertise and one certain accomplishment, even if they had other interests and talents as well.

She supported Gretchen's goal of becoming an animagus. It was a useful skill to have if you were lucky enough to get a practical animal. Not much use in being an elephant animagus, unless you were left wandless in a dark alley and someone tried to murder you.

"I wish to be as introspective as Papa is," Seneca agreed. No one could fool Lucius Lestrange. Seneca suspected it was due to his legilimency abilities. That had to explain why he always seemed to know what to gift her for Christmas and her birthday.

"Have you made any progress in your studies? When do you think you will be ready to make your first attempt?"

  

In all honesty Gretchen was absolutely petrified of what would happen when she tried to transform for the first time. What if she got stuck forever? What if she was something utterly dull or worse ugly and it was an embarrassment to be seen? It would be just her stupid luck to end up turning into an earthworm.

“Soon,” she assured her cousin airily, though really she had no idea. It certainly wouldn’t be in the next few months, though she had high hopes of being a prodigy and achieving a successful transformation before her schooling finished. It was possible. She might just have to call in a favour or two.

“I know Frida and Kris are older than me but I still think I’ll manage it before them.” She rolled her eyes. “Especially Kris. Even if he didn’t have all the time in the world I doubt he’d manage to concentrate for more than five minutes. Why couldn’t I have had your brother? At least he does something.”

  

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

Frida and Kristoffer wanted to become animagi too? Let's take them up seperately.

Frida: Was she even capable of having ambitions? The only thing going for her was that she had pureblood and that she had a womb, so she would give birth to as many new purebloods as possible. At least she wasn't like some of their cousins, who were more likely to run off with a muggle, just to prove something.

Kristoffer: Wasn't he dumb like an animal already? He was lucky to be taken under Papa's wing, because Uncle Orestes had spoiled him way too much.

Of course Gretchen would manage to turn into an animagus before them.

Then, her cousin brought up Seneca's brothers. "Which one are you referring to?" she asked in bemusement. Claudius, she assumed. He hadn't done something overly significant, but he wasn't a failure either. Unlike Cash, who hadn't used his potential and his bright mind yet. That being said, Seneca had a blindspot for her "failure" brother. If Cash wasn't her brother, she'd consider him a failure who deserved to be stripped off his free will and be imperio'd into doing something useful. With Cash, she even excused his Quidditch career a bit. At least he had a passion for a magical sport, unlike some wizards who had as many muggle hobbies as they could find. And she was sure that Cash, with his bright mind, would take up some research position after his Quidditch career was over and he'd do good for the wizarding community that way. Then, he would marry a good pureblooded girl and bring as many pureblooded wizards into the world, so their kind wouldn't die off.

  

Gretchen raised an eyebrow at the question – Claudius hadn’t done anything so what was to be admired there? He wasn’t an embarrassment as far as she knew but Gretchen considered being the star player on a famous Quidditch team considerably more impressive than simple wealth. Not that she didn’t enjoy the latter but it was not something she had ever needed to long for: prestige was what she sought above all else.

“They’re both admirable,” she began diplomatically. “But I doubt anybody will recall Claudius’ name in a hundred years' time. Apart from whoever has to keep the family records I suppose.”

  

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

Seneca didn't like the implication that Claudius was an unremarkable man. Which she begrudgingly had to admit to herself that it was true. Claudius was not terrible, but he wasn't great either. He had always lived his life in peace, done his work well but not great enough to be considered particularly talented or bright. And he seemed to be content with that. It really wasn't the sort of attitude one wanted to see in a firstborn, though. If Seneca had been her father's son, she would have made sure to do something great and remarkable with her life.

She still didn't want her family to be thought of as anything less than great.

"It is sometimes better not to be remembered at all than to be remembered for the wrong things," Seneca replied diplomatically as well, though, deep down, she didn't really believe in that piece of wisdom. She wouldn't want to live an unremarkable life that nobody would care to know about once she was gone.

"It is better to be like Claude, than our uncle Tybalt."

It was even better to be accomplished like Seneca's father, or their cousin Tiberius, but Seneca didn't say as much. She didn't want to give up power and admit that Claudius was boring.

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At the thought of uncle Tybalt Gretchen felt the familiar stab of unease in her belly. He had spent the majority of her life in Azkaban before his break-out and subsequent sentencing to the Dementor’s Kiss but she had always held a degree of fascination with her wicked uncle. Since learning of his infamous crimes she had wondered whether it was something in their family blood – he was hardly the first to kill and likely not the last – and whether Tiberius and Tatiana wondered the same.

They were the cousins she knew the least and the ones she always felt uneasy around, so in all likelihood she would never get an answer to her question.

But did she want to be more Claude than Tybalt?

Not especially.

“I don’t intend to be a footnote in the family history,” she said plainly. At least Seneca would be noted for her strange defect of birth, what did she have other than the possibility of an excellent marriage?!

  

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

Seneca shared Gretchen's sentiment and that was why they were such good friends. Since she was a child, Seneca knew that she would do something great with her life. Even though many people considered her abilities odd, she believed that they made her special and that people were just jealous.

As for Gretchen, while Seneca thought her very intelligent and clever, she would need to put in more effort into doing something great. Becoming an animagus would be a nice beginning. Then, she would have a unique and special ability too, so she wouldn't just be another smart girl.

"And you won't!" Seneca encouraged her friend. "You will become an animagus! And who knows, maybe you could be elected Minister of Magic too. Josephina Flint did it, after all."

Josephina Flint was an inspiration to Seneca. She had been elected Minister of Magic at a time when things were even stricter for women. She also dared to say the truth about blood purity, etc. Nowadays, people were too concerned about not offending poor people, mudbloods, and immigrants.

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Glad to have avoided the discontent she had seen brewing in Seneca’s lovely eyes Gretchen let out a light laugh at the pronouncement. It was folly to be too hubristic but she was not without her ambitions – and at least Sen didn’t mock her for them.

She supposed, more than anybody else in the world, Sen understood how truly terrible it was to think that one’s only worth in the world was what marriage could be made for them. It worried her that she had ever begun to care about such things: perhaps making the best marriage was all there was for them?

“True,” she replied. “But her granddaughter is held higher in most people’s estimation.”

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

TW: ableism

Seneca had to stop and think for a moment to remember who Josephina Flint's granddaughter was. Or, to be more precise, which one Gretchen was referring to.

"Ursula Black?" Seneca asked. She huffed out of her nostrils in a snobbish matter. "Oh yes, she is fashionable, had seven children and got sick. What notable accomplishments! Even her sisters-in-law are more impressive than her, and one married a muggle!"

What was wrong with Iola Whats-her-face-now? Seneca could understand eloping with a half-blood, even a mudblood, but a muggle? For Seneca, muggles were like cripples. They missed a certain important quality that made them... useful. Seneca suspected that Iola had married a muggle because she suffered from a saint complex. She wanted to feel good about herself, for marrying someone who was so much beneath her.

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Gretchen laughed at the assessment and shook her head.

“I meant more people look up to her than look up to Josephina Flint. She’s what you’re supposed to do if you’re a proper lady, not run the Ministry.”

And their family had certainly never been the sort that allowed for people who didn’t do what they were supposed to.

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

Seneca sighed. ‘‘It's because most women couldn't run the Ministry that they're ruining it for us all.’’ she commented. Yes, it was all women's fault, not the patriarchy's. It was because some women were useless and overemotional, so then the exceptions like Seneca and Gretchen had it more difficult in life.

  

The predisposition of most of her sex towards fainting spells certainly didn't help matters, it was true enough, but Gretchen was fairly sure that the men had something to do with it all. After all, plenty of them were utterly incompetent but still found themselves in the highest of postions?

"Nephele certainly couldn't," she muttered darkly. "But your stepmother probably could."

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

‘‘Yes, she very much could,’’ Seneca agreed. As Seneca grew older, she realized that her Papa didn't appreciate most women. She had grown up being his little girl, so she didn't understand it as much. A woman would have to work hard to win his affections or be born with a useful condition as Seneca had.

‘‘Maybe she should run for Minister the next time instead of Uncle Priam.’’

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Gretchen rolled her eyes. Between Priam and Nephele the Nutter it was a wonder their side of the family had any respectability left – the sooner she could get out of that house the better!

“I doubt your father would be keen.”

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

‘‘My father is very fond of her,’’ Seneca commented. Before his marriage to Belphoebe, one could say that he wouldn't be keen on a woman working in general. He had chosen Belphoebe in spite of her being the head of a department.

‘‘It's also better to have one of our own kind in office than, I don't know, some muggle-born butler or a half-goblin.’’ She didn't think that muggleborns ought to be burnt in a fire, she simply didn't think they were suitable for positions of power. They didn't know the wizarding community and its needs like someone born to wizards. Poorer people were also not as capable to hold positions of power. They didn't have the mindset to rule. Most of them were miserable and had victim complexes and expected to get things without putting in the necessary work.