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Astoria shivered as she looked around herself. There was no one there. She ran to the Headmaster’s office. |
The climb to the stairs was always terrifying. Once you got there, of course, there was no coming back, but it always felt unnatural to her to meet with Dumbledore in such a professional way. Even though it was probably the best. And there she was – in his office. He was looking at a book that he closed when he saw her come in. |
"Oh, Astoria. It’s good to see you", he said with a light tone. |
She lowered her gaze as anger took over her. If it was so good seeing me maybe you should’ve done it earlier, she heard herself hiss in her mind and bit her tongue to hold it in. |
"You too, professor", she said drily as she sat at the chair In front of him. |
Let the trial begin. She was impatient already for her sentence. |
"I heard you are doing well, especially after the ball" he said with an innocent smile. |
"Yes, I’m better after the incident. I also noticed that the problem is resolved now", she said in a hope of an explanation but got none, only a nod her way. |
"What Igor did during the selection of champions for the Tournament was very out of place. I never wished for you to find out that way", he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. |
This surely was a dream and not real life because everything felt out of place. Draco Malfoy. Harry and their relationship. Being an Elroy. Yet a voice screamed inside her mind telling her it was the first right thing in her life. |
it’s true. It was all true. Not a lie. Not a coincidence. My name is Astoria Elroy – |
"Am I in danger because of this?", Astoria let out a sharp breath and tried to give herself a stoic look. It was the hard question. It was the only question that mattered. |
Dumbledore let out a deep sight. He looked calm, as he always was, studying her with his watery eyes under the bushy eyebrows. |
"Yes, very likely". |
"Why?’, she snapped. |
"Maybe I should start with some history?", he proposed. |
His hands slipped under the desk and he took some candy. He took one as he chewed it, thinking and rearranging his thoughts. Dumbledore had this habit. It drove her insane. |
"Please do", Astoria insisted with irritation. |
"You belong to a very ancient magical family", he said as he finally swallowed the candy." The accomplished wizards of that house define themselves by their red eyes, powerful pyromancy and mind-control. A genetic advantage, yet not all of your blood shares these abilities", he spoke softly as if he was reading a book. |
"Do I share any of them?" |
"No", he answered quickly. |
A stupid question. You should be careful with those, he hates them. Of course, I don’t have those abilities, I would know by now. |
"Why am I in danger then?" |
"The last person to possess all three was your grandfather. One of the most powerful wizards in his time. His son, your father, has fallen as a wizard. He is dangerous and skilled, yes, but is in fact not accomplished in the standard of his family. His sister, your aunt, has no powers. Her son is magical but also appears to not show any signs of developing any of the required skills to lead the family and inherit it’s fortune". |
Fortune, flashed in her mind. |
"Where is my father?" |
They were all dark wizards, echoed in her mind and she remained silent, curiosity quickly dying in her. |
"He is not the one you should worry for, at least for now", Dumbledore noted calmly and took another candy. |
"What do I have to do?" |
"You may not be the head of your family but there is a high possibility if you are to ever have a son, he will be", Dumbledore said slowly, between his fingers a chocolate candy that seemed to have all his attention. He handed it to her. |
She took it. He used to spoil her rotten with chocolate candy when she was very young. Some early memories from that period of her life still hadn’t faded. |
"I’m a child. I’m not going to have children". |
"Yes, but you do appear to be sexually active already", he noted as a statement, ignoring the redness that fan out across her face like a wildfire, "A child from your blood that can become an accomplished wizard and with the right father, another powerful name, it could threaten to disbalance the wizarding world. This is what Igor fears". |
Astoria went silent. She thought of Draco’s kisses. She thought about how he warned her they will use her. He was probably hoping for the same. |
"Why did they abandon me?", she finally asked. |
"It’s hard to tell", Dumbledore smiled. He was to good at it – lying that is. |
"You must have some clues", Astoria insisted, now struggling to keep her breath calm. |
"Because you are a girl. Girls in your family cannot be an heir to the family’s name as they cannot become accomplished by possessing all three magical abilities the Elroy’s bloodline carries", he said drily. |
Maybe there was no other way to say it so it wouldn’t hurt, yet it did. She moved in her chair, tried not to look at him as she was ashamed of tears. Dumbledore didn’t care. |
"Why take me then?", she was crying now. |
This wasn’t the first time Astoria tried to initiate this conversation, but always got little clues and mostly vague and distracted answers. It was a pathetic habit she never got rid of. He released a deep sight and remained silent for long. For a fact Dumbledore had little empathy in himself and it was a hard thing to figure out because he was so good at understanding human emotions which also perfected his responses most times. But he didn’t try to pretend with Astoria. Most of the time she just stared at her with sadness in his eyes and never said or did anything while she cried and tried to hide the shame that came with tears to her. |
"Your grandfather was my friend", he finally said, "Your resemblance is true, you are a copy of him", he said with a smile. |
My grandfather- |
"They told me he was an evil wizard", Astoria whined. |
"He was, yes", Dumbledore said calmly as ever. |
"Am I an evil wizard? ", she pleaded as all self-control was gone from her. |
"No, I don’t think you are", Dumbledore responded calmly, then got up and rested his hand on her shoulder, "This is a choice I believe is yet to come to you. And I think I know you well enough to know you will reject it". |
I am good, I am good – |
"My mother", she finally said between breaths, "What about my mother?" |
"Unfortunately, she is dead. My condolences", Dumbledore said as he left her and turned his back to face his bookshelf. |
Something boiled inside of her. |
"You have to know", he added after a minute, "You are the only heir in the direct bloodline. Your child, if male, is certain to inherit everything". |
This was a threat. She had an aunt that had a boy. They could try to kill her. And her father – he is in Azkaban – gone to her. |
"What do I do?", she sobbed. |
"You are safe in Hogwarts. I will protect you. And maybe be more careful with boys", Dumbledore turned to her with a smile. |
He’s lying – |
The Other’s voice threatened. |
"Go to Moody", Dumbledore said, "He will help you protect yourself". |
As she left the Headmaster’s office Alastor Moody was already waiting for her in the hallway. He looked at her with disgust as he saw her face red and covered in tears. |
"Pull yourself together", he spat at her, "I need you angry". |
The pain was worse than being punched in the gut. It was worse than when he cursed her. Astoria somehow learned she had a family, a powerful one, and she was an inconvenience to it. She was unwanted, abandoned, an orphan truly. Harry wasn’t like that. She knew he was loved as a baby. You could even tell, he carried that love with him. And she wasn’t. How could she be? |
Moody dragged her outside the castle. She could see the hallways still empty. Class was still not dismissed. Thank god, because she was a mess. |
"I want you to concentrate", he said. |
She didn’t. Her eyes passed through him. My mother is dead and my father is in Azkaban. They were all dark wizards – |
Suddenly her body was on the ground. Her robe was muddy. He had hit her with a spell and she couldn’t even see it from tears, let alone dodge it somehow. She probably couldn’t dodge it even if she tried. |
"I SAID CONCENTRATE!", he screamed at her. |
She got up. Took out her wand. The world was spinning around. |
And then she remembered Moody told her to not use it. It was a technique he wanted her to develop. |
Another attack. She managed to doge this one but not the one that came after. A red light crashed into her and left her in pain on the ground. A curse that twisted the skin around the bone underneath. This continued again and again until she was bruised and he finally decided it was enough. |
"You are horrible at this", Moody said and smirked, "To think you are all that’s left of the great Nicola Elroy". |
A click in his throat. Anger flushed her. She got up, Moody wasn’t even trying to hit her, he was just laughing at her. |
"You have his face. I never got the pleasure to fight him, maybe for the better, but at least I could do to you what I wished I did to him." |
His tone was different. As if his voice changed. Then he coughed and took out a drink. She despised him. |
"It’s a pleasure hurting you", he said in a distorted high-pitched tone of his voice that happened after he drank whatever he was drinking. |
Astoria stood frozen a few steps away with a blank stare taking in every word. She couldn’t believe he was talking like that to her. It was surprising for a teacher but also it confirmed to her he knew who she was. And he believed it. |
"He used to be such a great deal back then, they whispered his name when they uttered it", he laughed. "Elory, not so mighty now, eh?" |
And her arm moved. Almost by instinct. Her aim was bad with just using fingers, though it was impressive to even channel magic like that through the body without a helping tool like a wand. |
"When the Malfoy boy knocks you up, do you think you will be able to protect the baby?", he spat at her, three spells flew towards her. |
"SHUT UP!", she screamed at him as she tried to hit him. He dodged or repelled all her efforts. |
Astoria took off her robes. It was winter and all she had was a skirt she wore to try to be beautiful. A notion that now seemed absurd to her. And a black shirt under all the robes and the scarf. All was gone from her. But she didn’t freeze. In fact she swore she was sweating and burning. A new feeling of heat ran through her body and it gave her more energy than she ever had. |
Astoria noticed a few students coming closer to see. The light and the noise probably lured them in, curious to see. Harry was there. |
Fuck, she thought as a spell hit her and she screamed in pain, falling to her knees. |
"If you get pregnant, you know, they will rip it out of your stomach and make you watch as they kill it", his voice deep and low again, "That’s how your family is". |
This finally made it. She screamed, this time with anger. Her body moved by instinct. Her feet were in a position she never learned. Her hand towards him, two fingers to navigate the blow. White, like lightning. |
Moody was on the ground. |
"I HOPE YOU ARE DEAD!", she screamed at him and fell on her knees, gasping for breath. |
Laughter everywhere. Moody was laughing. For a man without a leg and a prosthetic, he was quick and he was strong. But most importantly, hard to kill. |
"Why won’t you die, you old bastard?", she hissed at him. |
"Do you know", he said, laughing, "It was me who put your daddy in Azkaban?" |
Her eyes went blank. Rage sunk in. She got up. This time she was going to try to kill him. This time she wouldn’t miss. |
"He also bled like you but surprisingly no blue blood. And I thought you were almost royal". |
Blood fell on her face. Astoria realized her nose was bleeding. It tasted like metal and she liked it. She was probably covered in blood and mud. Her clothes – ruined. She felt like that as well - ruined. |
There was again a burning sensation. She spat out a few curses at him, but he laughed as he dodged them all. Her whole body - electrified. |
A voice echoed in her mind. She relaxed herself. Felt safe with him, felt warm. Closed her eyes, the most stupid decision during a magical duel, but he called and she had to answer. |
I’m you. A thousand lives in one- |
She opened her eyes just in time to doge a curse. |
"If you don’t hit me, I’ll Crusio you till sunrise", he screamed at her, a manic voice echoed around. |
And she did. Fast, towards him, a lighting bolt. She hit him. Blood spread in a circle around him as he fell on the ground and did not get up. People screamed. They sounded worried. God, the satisfaction she felt inside was indescribable. She wanted him dead. |
Only fear sank in when he stayed on the ground for what felt like hours. Each second that passed she counted, and he still did not move. Her limbs trembled and Astoria ran to him. As she got closer she could see the blood pouring from him. Moody was hurt, badly. |
Horror sank in her and drowned her down. She forgot her hatred, grabbed him, crashing on the ground, bruising her knees. Blood in blood. Her fingers tried to grab something on him but everything was red. |
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