All was not sunshine and roses however my grandmother's health has taken a turn for the worse, she could barely lift her hand to her face to eat and that is if she could even chew or swallow the food before her lungs tried to jump out of her mouth. The Medi-witch who visited said that she was perfectly healthy except that her age had caught up with her and that we should spend as much time with her before she passed. To say that I was distraught would have been an understatement, I was about to lose my grandmother and there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
For the first 3 days after hearing the news, I locked myself in my room and cried a lot with Mipsy having to shove food down me to make me eat. On the fourth day, Bellatrix blasted in the door and threw various painful spells at me till she got an agreement to speak with my grandmother out of me. Leading me there she pushed me into the room and closed the door, "Erik dear, do not be sad it is simply my time. I am not afraid of death I am slightly happy that I will get to see everyone again. I will get to see the ones I lost smile again when they welcome me into their embrace, so don't be sad that I die, be happy that I lived. Don't pity those about to die be happy about loving and being loved." I spent the next few hours crying onto her shoulder until her hand fell from my head and her last breath left her. "Goodbye, Grandma." That was the last thing I said before I left the room.
Bellatrix and Cass decided that I wasn't allowed to mourn and immediately grabbed me and threw me into the duelling room. They then attacked at the same time, normally this would cause some setbacks for me however at that very moment I was so emotionally charged that the shield I conjured was like a mountain before them. The next thing they knew I was dismantling them, all my spells were supped up so they had doubled in speed and power meaning they had less time to defend themselves and any hasty shields they brought up were crushed. Not even 30 seconds later the mother-daughter duo were on the floor after having been hit by two stunners, I quickly left to my room leaving them to be discovered by Kreacher.
The funeral was scheduled for the following Wednesday, The day before I went off to Hogwarts. Daphne was certainly correct when she called my wand beautiful and deadly, since the 4 duels I had with Bellatrix after I got it were all crushing defeats. I had not noticed it before since the wand I was using was not a good match but as soon as I got one that matched perfectly the amount of magic I could utilise seemingly increased by a factor of 5. Of course, Cass didn't like the fact that she had even less of a chance of beating me now and decided to duel with me non-stop to try to catch up or to wear me down enough to make a mistake for her to capitalise on. Or I guess she was trying her best to keep my mind off of the funeral. "Thank you, Cass. For helping to take my mind off things." I said causing her to be caught off guard and stunned. A quick revenerate from me woke her, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" She shouted while hitting my arm.
Getting back into the swing of things caused time to fly by until it was time for the final farewell. After waking up in the morning and getting dressed in a nice suit, I had breakfast with Walburga and Arcturus who explained that this would be a small funeral today with just a few people. Those invited were all family, meaning they were all the people still alive from the off-shot families who would be coming to pay respects.
The funeral started when everyone had arrived, Arcturus gave the opening speech, "Today we are gathered to pay our respects to Sasha Bodewig. She has lived a full life of 172 years, where she has had a large impact on many of those here. She helped me with my grief of losing my wife and most of my children during the war with Grindelwald. I would like to take this moment to thank her again."
After Arcturus, Dumbledore approached the stand. "Sasha has been a good part of my life, she was able to help Ariana when she was young. Also helped me with the running of Hogwarts as a member of the board and her substantial donations over her many years of life. For this, I and the many students of Hogwarts pay our respects and give thanks."
The speeches continued with various people of all ages saying thanks to my grandmother for the final time. The coffin was then lowered into the hole and the flowers and wreaths were placed. "Goodbye, Grandma."
The day passed we had a small meal and I continued to duel with Cass. The next morning Arcturus took me to King's Cross station. "Remember you are now the lord of the Bodewig family as well as the heir to the Black family. This means many people will want to curry favour with you or try to make deals with you. If you show weakness they will try to take advantage."
Through the station, we carried my luggage which wasn't shrunk down. Arcturus led me through the wall between platforms 9 and 10 to reveal the steam engine in its magnificence, "We are about 30 minutes early so you have plenty of time to find a compartment to sit in. Daphne will arrive soon. Enjoy your time at Hogwarts and if you ever need anything you can summon Mipsy or Kreacher."