Ascella Black (Memoria)

## Ascella Black

**Ascella Galexia Yaxley (née Black)** is a former student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the beginning of her First Year, she was sorted into Slytherin House.

## Biography

### Early Childhood (1971-1982)

The First Wizarding War was just beginning to gain momentum when Archibald Black's wife found out she was pregnant with their second child. The woman was almost due to give birth, and any worries were the last thing she needed at the moment. However, their relatively peaceful life ended when, closer to midnight on June 17, 1971, her husband apparated in their living room, soaked to the skin and cradling a tiny bundle to himself. According to Archibald, the bundle turned out to be his daughter from another woman, whom he had been seeing for quite a long time, and from that moment the baby begins to live with them as a full member of the Black family. As expected, such news negatively affected his wife, and thirteen hours later she gave birth to another beautiful daughter of theirs. Archibald, seeing this as an opportunity to hide his little affair, used magic to deprive the doctors of unnecessary memories. He told his wife that they would announce to everyone that Aquila had given birth to twins that day, and they would raise both girls in this lie.

As she grew older, the difference in the attitude of her mother and sister towards her and her twin became obvious to Ellie. They pretended to be a happy family in public, but took off their masks as soon as they stayed alone. Miranda first showed her contempt for the younger girl, and then began to simply ignore her existence. Aquila, on the contrary, paid too much attention to her, punishing the girl for every slightest mistake and not hesitating to use inappropriate words in the process. Ascella had never felt loved or cared for by her mother, but fortunately, Archibald doted on his baby girl, and Ellie gradually began to get used to her other family members' dismissive attitude towards herself.

Soon after Ascella discovered her magical abilities, Aquila's hatred for her became more noticeable. The girl actively learned to cast spells under the strict guidance of her father, and his wife obviously loathed the brunette for every new success. Things got heated when Ellie, being only a child, stole her father's wand and accidentally injured her "twin". Hespera escaped with only a scratch, but Aquila screamed and cursed so much that Ellie literally couldn't stand the pressure and fainted, choking in tears. Later in life she realized that if her father hadn't returned home earlier that day, Aquila would never have given her any help.

When the girls finally received the letters shortly after their eleventh birthday, both Ascella and Archibald felt a certain relief. The man didn't like the way his wife treated his daughter, but at the same time he understood that he had already forced her to do too much by taking Ellie into their family. She didn't want to raise another child, who was, moreover, *his* but *not hers*, she wasn't going to love this kid. Archibald wanted Ellie away from Aquila for as long as possible, and Hogwarts seemed to be the perfect solution.

## Relationships

### Family

#### Aquila Black

> *"You're not a Black. You're not worthy of that name. With all these weird life views and frivolity, all you deserve is to be a Weasley for the rest of your life."*
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> *"Well, I'll be proud to be part of their family instead of yours."*
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Ascella never had a good relationship with her stepmother, whom the whole world, including her, considered her real mom. Being a little girl, Ellie didn't always understand how she deserved such a dismissive attitude towards herself. Over the years, Aquila began to treat the brunette more and more rudely, she never hesitated to insult the kid or raise a hand at her when Archibald wasn't around. After growing up a little, Ascella began to think that she was simply an unwanted child. Her parents were probably expecting one baby, and she ruined their plans. The girl lived with this idea until 1987.

As soon as her father died, Ellie immediately understood everything. Aquila took her and Hespera home from school on the day of the funeral and immediately told her stepdaughter that she wasn't her biological mother and no longer wanted her in their house. A couple of days later, Aquila announced the engagement between Ascella and Corban Yaxley, and it was obvious that the woman wasn't going to pay attention to any objections. In the summer before the seventh year, Aquila organized a wedding for her stepdaughter, so as not to run into her after the girl graduated from Hogwarts. After that, Ascella didn't see or hear anything about the woman for many years.

#### Hespera McCormack

> *"Run away? Hessie, you must be crazy. If only your mother found out that you were dating a Muggle-born, she would've made such a scandal and locked you up for good. And if you run away with this guy? She will definitely disown you!"*
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> *"Who cares? I don't want to live my whole life regretting that I missed my chance at love. And if it means leaving behind my family for which the purity of blood is above common sense... Well, so be it."*
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After Archibald, Hespera was the only person who truly loved and respected Ellie. The girls were close friends from early childhood, believing in the lies that their father came up with. As "twins", they always tried to stay together, and Hessie was often there to calm her sister after another fight with their mother. Of course, Aquila didn't approve of this and tried with all her might to destroy the connection that had formed between her own daughter and the adoptee, but her plans never ended successfully.

After the death of their father, Hespera was the only one who did her best to support and protect Ascella from the attacks of the rest of the family. She was suffering, too, but she was also well aware that their father meant much more to Ellie than to her or even Miranda. However, the girls' paths temporarily diverged after graduation: Ascella was forced to move to her husband, who had been waiting for her in his mansion for ten long months, while Hespera ran away along with her Muggle-born boyfriend, to live a free life. No matter how much Ellie tried to get in touch with her sister, she was constantly hindered by her husband, who didn't approve of such connections. He knew perfectly well that Aquila cut Hessie out of her life forever after the "disgrace" and expected Ascella to do the same.

### The Weasley family

#### William Weasley

> *"You don't talk to this Weasley boy anymore. And if you disobey me, Ascella..."*
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> *"But Father, he seemed nice to me. He helped me with the Defence Against the Dark Arts, and we got along really well. And he's a family after all, why not?"*
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> *"He's **not** your family. None of them are. And the sooner you understand this, girl, the easier it will be for you to live."*
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> - Ascella and her father about Bill Weasley during her first Christmas holidays
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Despite the very negative attitude of her family to the Weasleys, Ascella managed to get close to their eldest son, Bill, during their first year at Hogwarts. The children found a common interest in studying DADA, and in general, they more or less complemented and balanced each other. However, when the girl came home for the Christmas holidays, she received a harsh lecture from her father and a portion of screams from her mother on the topic of poor choice of friends. They didn't give any significant arguments, only stated that she should take an example from her twin and not associate with blood traitors anymore. The brunette didn't quite see the point in this, but under the pressure of her family, she gave up and, returning to Hogwarts, began to diligently avoid Bill. The boy tried to talk to her a couple of times, but knowing that her parents probably have their own eyes and ears at school, since they were able to find out about her friendship earlier, Ascella crudely rejected his attempts. She regretted the loss of such a good friend, but the girl also understood that she wouldn't be allowed to live in peace if she continued to communicate with a family that her father didn't accept as his own.

## Etymology

* Following the traditions of the Black family, her first name, "Ascella", is the one of a star system in the constellation of Sagittarius. Meanwhile, her middle name, "Galexia" is another huge and more obvious reference to the stellar theme.
* Theoretically, her last name should be Weasley. However, her father disowned this part of his family the same day he graduated from Hogwarts, not wanting to be associated with blood traitors in the eyes of the magical community.

## Trivia

* Her personal Amortentia aroma as of 1987 is petrichor, ginger cookies and ink.