"Atria! Atria!" Jasmine basically pounced on the other girl, a smile on her face and laughter echoing around them both.
Atria snagged Anson and brought him to the hug as well-luckily for Atria, she was allowed to stay with Jasmine on summer break. It had been so hard for Atria to leave her wand at school-especially knowing that Ezra, who once let Atria freely use her wand wouldn't let her anymore due to her dark magical affinity. And staying with Jasmine, who's parents didn't have issues with using magic would make her feel better.
Honestly, their house was just depressing. Atria had tried writing and flooing their father, but had never heard anything back. Secretly, of course-but Atria was always questioned about it. She had a sinking feeling due to Ezra's needle-sharp questions that something was amiss, but she couldn't exactly bring it up to anyone else. Such an accusation towards a pureblood, no matter their marital status and magical status wouldn't stand up.
It would have to be brought up to the family's head. And in Atria's case, her maternal grandmother, Yvone, would do her best to fix it, but her paternal grandmother Violet surely wouldn't due to her hatred of Ezra. At best, Atria's bringing it up would get both her and Atreus away from their mother and be able to see their father more often- at worse, Atria could be removed from both families due to "false" allegations.
And considering she was the heir to both-two generations down in one, direct heir in the other- she couldn't rock the boat without losing more than she'd gain.
She'd spent the majority of her summer reading, doing essays and practicing her wandless magic when her mother or brother couldn't see her. It felt bad to have to hide her magic, knowing that the rest of her family resented her ability to do it to begin with. And on top of that, her mother was nearly obsessed with making her physically exercise- to "beat the asthma right out of her".
Sadly, it only hurt Atria's immune system instead of helping it.
"Hey, Jasmine! How's your summer been so far?" Atria extracted herself from Jasmine's grip, and continued speaking, "Anson, I'd heard that you were staying here due to family reasons. Everything okay?"
"Er… sure." Anson's short answer gave Atria everything she needed to know.
"Sorry. That sucks. Hopefully it gets better from now on." Her voice was quiet and sincere.
"Now that we're back together, it definitely will be!" Atria let herself be led away from their parents, and she could tell Atreus was trailing after them. He'd surely be whining to Ezra later about "being left out". Or "not invited to hang out" or something like that. Atria was glad that she was able to go to school away from him just because she didn't have to do his homework anymore.
But when he eventually went to Ilvermorny academy, she would surely be expected to "take care" of him. Ugh. She shook her head as Jasmine led them outside, onto a quadpot pitch. It wasn't Atria's sport of choice-she much preferred the british counterpart, quidditch. "Oh! You all have a quadpot field?"
"Yeah! Isn't it the greatest?"
"Atria likes quidditch," Atreus sneered the word, "But I think quadpot's great!"
Of course he did. Regardless of her brother's attitude, Jasmine and Anson took Atreus' questions in stride and they played quadpot for a little bit before heading back into the house at one of the house elf's behest.
"Atria! You can stay with your friends the rest of the summer. Give Mommy a call every night before bed, okay?" Ezra hugged Atria and then turned to Atreus. "Let's go home."
The look that Ezra gave Atria though-was enough to make her hand shake-almost unnoticeably, as she waved goodbye. After they left through the floo, Jasmine and Anson relaxed a little.
"That's the kid you're giving half your magic to?" Jasmine's eyes narrowed. "He's stuck up. And he's mean!" As if it were the greatest offense on earth.
"I know, right?" Atria couldn't help laughing.
That week went by in a blur for Atria, and so did the ones after. Though, the week before they were supposed to go back, they had to go clothes shopping. And thus-they went to one of the tailor shops in New York City.
Atria had never been taken somewhere so nice in her life. There was only a small problem.
"Atria? Are you sure your mother didn't give you any money to go clothes shopping with?" Amethyst was most curious about that answer, and Atria's answer made her eyebrows hit her hairline.
"No, Ma'am. She said I could just use the ones I got last year-"
"Your robes change each year to signify which year you are." Amethyst reminded the child gently.
"No matter, you won't be paying. I just thought, seeing as you were Heir Clare, they would have given you a stipend every month to take care of your image with."
"My grandmother gives my mother the money, and my mother has always hoped that Atreus would be chosen as heir." Atria shrugged. "He can't be Heir Clare, due to him being a boy, but she wanted him to be Heir Auxatia."
"So she uses the money on him instead of on you."
"Yes. My grandmother still buys me things-I think she notices it. But Atreus always complains about me, so that's what my mother does."
Such blatant favoritism towards one child. Amethyst could understand helping him a little, but what she'd heard from Hawthorn, Lilah Starling, Jasmine and Anson, her family was starting to seem.. A little.. Abusive.
And the sad thing, in Amethyst's eyes, was that she could only bring it up after Atria was given headship over whichever family she was considered heir for. Which could be any time between the current date and the time she died.
"Don't worry about it, honey. When you stay with us during summers, we'll make sure to pay for you." It didn't really matter to them, Atria realized.
Whenever Atria was home, she was always the one making sure the bills were paid, the one dealing with the debtors, the one to be running the budget.. To have someone willing to just give like that-.
"Thank you, Lady Amethyst."
And thus, that particular concern was taken care of privately- Atria got fresh, new robes that were tailored to fit her, and the Grave family came to be one of the groups that she considered family.
"So, Atria! My uncle- Professor Bonneville, the potion's professor? We're having lunch with him at a pizza parlor! Have you ever been to one?"
"A few times! There were a few in Florida that were pretty nice!" Atria had to admit that she missed the sun and the beach-even if the Grave family practically owned their own little slice of the beach for themself. It was just.. Different.
"Good!"
They all finally gathered at the Pizza Parlor, and Jasmine, Anson and Atria found themselves at their own table while the adults sat at their own table across the way. It was really strange to Atria-that they would allow the children time for themselves.
Everything was strange. She couldn't believe it. Was this how everyone else lived?
She kept having those thoughts, over and over, but she was lucky enough to have Jasmine and Anson to draw her out of them. "So what classes are you all taking? I know that I'm taking a few of the more advanced courses, or at least the faster-paced ones."
"So I'm taking advanced years two and three of transfiguration, defense against the dark arts, dark arts, elemental manipulations for fire and water.." Atria began ticking off each course on her fingers, "and.. Advanced potions. The rest of my courses are the regular course load, unless I decide I want to switch later."
"I was also asked to join the fourth year wandless magic class." Quite an achievement for someone that was only at Ilvermorny a year. But-Atria had help. Professor Starling was always willing to explain things to Atria and to give her more attention than in class.
"So I got asked to join advanced charms, potions, herbology, healing magics and transfiguration, and air and earth magics," Anson offered, "I think I'm doing well. Like I just learned magic was real last year.."
"You're doing great-!" Jasmine and Atria echoed.
"Really! You're gonna go far. It's not all about blood purity here, you know? Britain is more like that than we are." Jasmine's eyebrows wiggled.
Anson laughed.
"My course schedule is advanced transfigurations, charms, defense against the dark arts, elemental manipulations for air and water, advanced potions…"
So they were all gifted in one way or the other. And some of their classes overlapped, so that was good.
"So we're all gonna have potions and transfigurations together," Jasmine nodded, "We'll actually have a class together this year! Maybe we can share notes and stuff!"
Atria laughed and snagged a piece of pizza as it was set down in front of them, chewing on it thoughtfully. "Mhm! Maybe charms too if I can convince Professor Starling to let me try it out for a couple weeks."
It wasn't casting the charms themselves that was what made Atria average at it-it was the fact that no matter hard she tried, she didn't understand the theory.
"You both are going to have charms together, transfigurations, potions, elemental magics, defense against the dark arts and herbology," Atria pointed out, "While Jasmine and I are going to be sharing the water elemental classes, defense against the dark arts, potions, transfigurations.."
"Anson, you and I are going to share transfigurations, defense against the dark arts, no elemental classes, and potions.."
"We all are going to have a few classes with each other!" Hopefully it wouldn't be like last year, with them all having to stick strictly with the first year's classes with each house. That would be awful, Atria decided.
It wasn't that she hated her housemates-she just.. Had a hard time relating to them. She was much too serious for them sometimes, she thought. But this year would be different, as it was told to them after they left- to foster house cooperation, after first year, classes would include every house.
As the adults stood, so did the children, and they were whisked back off to Grave Manor. That night, they fell asleep easy, and the next morning, they were sent back to Ilvermorny to start classes.
The sorting went as scheduled, and the day after, Atria approached Professor Starling to request placement in the advanced charms class.
"Professor Starling, I promise I can do it- I know that my grades were just a little above average, but this year, they won't be!" Her eyes met Professor Starling's in a display of forwardness that she usually didn't show.
"Do you want to be placed there, or is your mother pushing you to?" Professor Starling asked, one eyebrow raising as she took a sip out of her coffee mug.
"I want to. Jasmine and Anson are going to be in the class, and I want to have as many classes with them as possible.." Atria admitted this easily and flopped down into one of the chairs in her office. "I don't have many friends in Thunderbird. Other than Haytham."
That wasn't a lie, Starling mused. She secretly hoped that Atria would make friends in Thunderbird, but it didn't seem meant to be. She was too shy, too uninviting, too smart- all things that the younger students didn't like or didn't try to show off.
"Fine. I'll get you in, but you'll have to take advanced Herbology as well, or your schedule won't work," Professor Starling gave a nod. "I have faith in you, Atria. If you need help, please come to me or another teacher, okay? Most don't take such a heavy course load, even as a fourth year."
The advanced courses were par for the magical universities, though- potentially, the students could graduate with at least 2 masteries if they pushed themselves hard enough. It looked like Atria was going that route..
"Thank you, Professor!"
The smile on the child's face was wide, and before Atria could fully stand, Professor Starling placed her hand up, indicating for her to wait.
"While you're here, I want to discuss something with you. Next year, before the end of the year, you'll be able to choose your elective courses for your third year. Let me explain what they are- I'll give you the listing so you can look them up in the library with Jasmine, Anson and Haytham later. Haytham has already chosen his, but- you should know that with the course load you're taking you can graduate with possibly two masteries, maybe three, if you play your cards correctly and continue on the path you're already on."
"So next year's extracurricular courses are as follows," Professor Starling spoke as she wrote down the piece of paper in front of her..
"Care of Magical Creatures and Animal Handling
Arithmancy
Ancient Runes and Rituals
Theoretical Magics and Applications
Elemental Magics, in depth
Warding and Curse Breaking
Healing Magics
Human Transfigurations
Theory of Magical Casting
Wandless Magics for Beginners
Physical Education for Health and Elemental Magics
Basic Kendo and fighting styles"
She paused and looked at Atria, "So, you and myself have gone through the entirety of Wandless Magics for Beginners last year, and it'll be noted in your file, along with the grades you've received. Yes, those essays I assigned you were for a grade, and you passed with flying colors."
She stopped a second and tapped the pen on her lips before continuing, "I also assigned you work from the Theoretical Magics and Applications course as well. We can continue that this year-if you would like to. I would prefer to see if you think you can after your first week with your new schedule, though."
"All of it sounds exciting! I want to do it all!"
"The good thing about these courses is that they're all very short. Every nine weeks, it starts another course-whether it be a continuation of the one you just took or a completely new subject. The bad part is that they're highly aggressive in mental and physical toil."
"I..have issues with the physical aspects. Like I have problems with the laps they're giving me.."
"I was about to suggest to the Headmistress that you be put in basic kendo and fighting styles. It's less rigorous on your body-especially because you're a water elemental, you'll need the meditation and mental fortitude required of you to learn both your water and fire elementals. If we start with the water elemental first, it should build up your stamina enough to begin teaching you the fire style in earnest."
"So I could do that instead of regular Physical Education?" Atria asked.
"Yes. It's the same class period as your regular physical education class, so I truly see no difference, especially since you're starting your elemental manipulations classes this year instead of next year. I can privately tutor you in the next class of Intermediate Wandless Magics so you can start next year with Advanced Wandless Magics and Castings."
"This schedule is very, very ambitious, Atria. Your mother will have to sign off on it, and on top of that, you're required to select a club for attendance. We have as follows: transfiguration, potions, quadpot, dueling, arithmancer's, charms.."
"Dueling! I want to be in the dueling club!"
"Very well.. Well, Atria. Your new schedule will work like this: All the classes you're having with your friends will be morning courses, with a few in the afternoon. The others will be in the evening-such as the kendo basics course, and the two you'll be doing with me for private study. You can come see me any time after dinner, before 10:00 PM. The dueling club usually meets on Saturday evenings at 6:00 pm."
Professor Starling wrote out the time sheet as follows:
Class || Yearly Schedule
Time
Potions 2 || 3
9:15 am
Charms 2 || 3
10:00
DADA 2 || 3
10:45
Dark Arts 2||3
11:30
Basic Elemental Magics 2||3
1:00 PM
Herbology 2||3
1:45
History of Magic 2||3
2:30
Transfiguration 2||3
3:15
Afternoon Classes:
Basic Kendo and Fighting Techniques
4:30 PM
Theoretical Magics and Applications
Independent Study w/Professor Starling
Intermediate Wandless Magics
Independent Study w/Professor Starling
"This doesn't look too bad.." Atria scrunched her nose as she looked at the paper, "Actually, this looks really doable.."
The time that she would previously use to just read in the library was taken with better, guided courses. She would still have time, she knew, just not as much.
"We'll have to get you through Theoretical Magics and Applications 1 and 2 this year, so you can start out with Applications of Theoretical Magics 3 next year, in time with the rest of the other students."
"Do you think your mother would sign off on this? Truly?" Professor Starling leveled her best teacher-gaze at the student.
Atria grimaced. "She should. I don't see why not, I'm already doing that much research on my own time. At least I'll be getting class credit if I'm doing it with you, right?"
Professor Starling nodded. "I'll have to have leave from both your parents for this. I'll contact them right away, and give you the official schedule tomorrow. But for reference.." She tapped her wand to the paper and with a muttered spell, there were two sheets in Atria's hands. One schedule, and the other page that had the information on the electives and clubs.
"Go rest up, child! I have some things to finish before the classes begin on Monday."
Atria nodded and said, "Thank you, Professor Starling!"
Lilah Starling put her head in her hands and sighed-after she made sure Atria left the room. She was either going to make or destroy the most prodigious talent that had come through those halls in the past seventy five years. Heaven help her..
The morning that classes began, Atria received a letter at breakfast from her mother. Unsurprisingly, Ezra had allowed it and apparently Scott was supposed to be showing up some time after dinner to sign the form in Professor Starling's office. Of course, Atria knew how her mother hated him and if it got back that she had seen him, there would be hell to pay.. But she wanted to.
At that point, it'd been more than a year since she had seen her father. She had to at least show up for her private courses-just to see. Maybe she could be there when he showed up..
The day dragged on for Atria, and though her class schedule was advanced, it wasn't quite as hard as she was expecting it to be. She had honestly expected it to be more draining- going through all those classes in a day. The only thing that exhausted her was the physical education course-which was to be expected. But at least she wasn't sent to the nurse with yet another asthma attack.
Progress!
It vindicated her a little to know that maybe it was the wrong type of exercise she had been doing instead of her just being unfit to do it all.
After dinner was done, and she had bid both Jasmine and Anson goodnight, Atria made her way to Professor Starling's office, a couple books pertaining to theoretical magics, as well as the book for the intermediate wandless classes. Haytham was kind enough to lend her his old school books, at least, and made a point to explain a few things that she seemed to find
issue with.
It was halfway through that night's wandless magic instruction that her father stepped out of the floo network- through the middle of Atria performing a wandless levitation spell. Scott's eyes were wide, taking in the fact that there were several things levitating, without a wand in sight. But as soon as Atria realized he was there, the few books that she managed to levitate crashed to the ground as she rushed towards her Dad.
"Dad-I missed you so much!"
"I've been trying to talk to you all summer-I saw where you flooed me and never got a response back!" He looked worried more than anything as he hugged her tightly and then let her go as he turned to Professor Starling.
"You're Professor Starling." It wasn't a question, more of a statement. "Scott Auxatia. Nice to meet you."
As they talked, Atria gathered the textbooks that she managed to levitate and held them to her chest in the other chair.
"I've been getting your letters and we've been corresponding the past year, but I've never seen you in person. It's nice to put the person to the prose." Scott tilted his head a little. "So this new schedule is very advanced. And it's required for me to sign off on it so Atria can attend these classes permanently."
"Yes. To put it quite frankly, Atria is a genius. She's highly intelligent and her magic.. Is amazing." Here, she paused for a second, "She innately knows how to use it. It would be a waste for her to sit in regular classes when she could be learning and doing more in another class that would fit her needs much better."
"But to have all of them quite so advanced, with doing two years in one..? That's a little ambitious, isn't it?"
"With this schedule, she'll be able to at least have two masteries by the time she graduates at eighteen, maybe more if she picks similar subjects. We currently have two other students in higher years that are also in this program, as it's highly selective. I managed to get Ezra's signature this morning."
"Atria and I discussed this the evening she came back from summer break- and we discussed the load it might put on her. As two of her elective classes are taught by me, by private instruction, we can take those as quickly or as slowly as needed. I have no intentions of overwhelming your daughter."
Scott tapped his chin with his finger for a moment and finally asked, "If I sign this, does it require that she attend these courses to the end of the year, or is she able to pull out at any time.. If she needs it?"
Scott was more concerned over his daughter's well-being, and that made Professor Starling's eyes soften.
"She would have to complete the courses in their entirety, but the teachers would be willing to accept late work or give Atria private tutoring until the end of the year to ensure her passing their class. And then next year, she would be put in the normal course, after these."
"Makes sense."
"Atria, are you sure you want to do this? It'll be a lot of work. I just want you to be sure you know what you're signing up for."
"I do, Dad. I'm good at magic, so it shouldn't be too hard.."
"With you being sick… I worry, you know?"
"This evening's physical class went well. They have us doing other things besides laps. Dad, I can keep up. I promise."
"Alright. Professor Starling, let me have the paper.."
Professor Starling handed the paper over to him, as well as a pen and the man signed quickly. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work."
He stood and hugged Atria. "Love you. Floo call if you need me, okay?"
"Yes, Dad! Love you too!"
The man disappeared through the floo and Atria looked back at Professor Starling. She bit her lip, a little unconsciously, and said.. "Please don't tell my mom he showed up. She doesn't like me being around him."
Professor Starling gave a nod. "My lips are sealed, dear. I'll only tell her that he signed the papers. No more, no less."
"Thank you." The child's shoulder's sagged with relief.
"Go rest. We'll start your advanced study classes next week. I'll send a message to you when I'm ready to see you for them again. Until then.. Please make sure to take care of yourself."
Atria nodded, and as she turned she looked over her shoulder and shyly said, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." The amusement in Lilah Starling's voice was lost on Atria-but her tone was warm, so she didn't read anything into it.
Atria's classes the next day were hard, but she could do it. As time passed, she got used to the fast-paced learning, the amount of tests, exams and homework without a drop in her grades. She still had issues physically, but she couldn't do very much about the effect the magic-draining potion had on her body.
The year went well-her independent study sessions paid off, and she managed to not only get through the material that was scheduled, but the class after that as well. She was definitely ahead of her peers.
Another person became a staple in their friend group-Haytham, who was pursuing a mastery in potions, was always willing to help them out and spend time with them, even though he was a fifth-year. Their dinners were always huddled around each other, bouncing ideas around and talking about the greatest innovations in their fields of choice. One person in particular that Haytham kept bringing up was Severus Snape, the Potions professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Judging by his awed tone and frequent talks about him, Haytham adored him-or at least, his work. Atria, in and of herself, while relatively good at potions compared to her peers, could barely keep up with Haytham's explanations, even in the simplest instances.
Oh, she tried, but she didn't have the expertise, time or patience to truly research into the field the same way she naturally excelled in the Dark Arts or Dark Arts Defense, which was rather strange considering she had a hard time of physically fighting. But her magical talents far outpaced her physical ones. She was cunning, resourceful, and ambitious in her attacks, always trying to use something strange or out of place in her spell-casting repertoire to surprise and throw her opponent off-kilter.
Jasmine excelled more at the theoretical side of magic, easily learning the theories, explanations and interactions between magic and their applications to and against each other. Her goal was to become a researcher that studied squibs and no-mag borns to learn how and why each happened. To her, it was a curiosity-how people maintained their magical cores, how they managed to get magic and utilize it in the first place.
And Anson-well, he excelled with Herbology, Potions and the Healing arts. He, in particular, loved reading Helga Hufflepuff's work, theoretical and practical applications of it. He had managed to recreate her spells a few times, and after that, one of the nurses began tutoring him in her free time, and eventually, as a second-year, he became one of the student interns in the medical facility.
Overall, they were considered the strongest of their year, and a few of the years beyond that, as well.
Everything was going well-and a week before the end of term, Headmistress Cross stood in front of the student body at dinner one evening.
"Hello, students! Next year, we'll be doing a student exchange with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Here, she paused, waiting for the hubbub and chattering to die down.
"Oh, we're so going," Haytham commented, and Anson nodded his agreement.
Atria, herself was on the fence a little. She didn't know what type of programs they had, or if it was even worth it to her to attend, but it did seem like a good opportunity.
"Information has been sent home to your parents to look over already, and if you're interested, put your name on the list! This coming Wednesday, all those that are on the list will be called out of their classes to attend a meeting about it. Please keep in mind that space is limited and current students will be chosen based on a set of standards we've put in place."
"Reminder that our annual dueling championship's finals are this friday!"
And thus, the din of the dining hall exploded as everyone excitedly chattered amongst themselves.
"We'll be getting in, for sure," Haytham murmured, "We're all top of our class, high in the dueling club, in advanced classes for our years, I'm nearing a mastery in potions, myself.."
He ruffled Atria's hair a little, "Don't worry about it, I'm 99% sure we'll get in."
She nodded, and continued eating quietly. As dinner ended, she walked up and put her name on the list, with most of the rest of the school, and continued her way back to her dorm.
The next week passed easily, and then she, along with a few others in her year, were requested down into the dining hall. There were only a few names requested from each year, and she was pleased to find herself amongst them.
"Welcome to the opening ceremony to your acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! I'll step aside to allow Headmaster Albus Dumbledore to address you and your questions momentarily, but I wanted to thank you for taking this opportunity in furthering your magical education."
A few of the students murmured a quick, "It's okay," or "cool", and a few nodded.
Haytham squirreled his way in, a little late, but a little huffy, and sat down next to Atria.
"Welcome, Welcome!" Professor Dumbledore started, "You all have been chosen to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and have been named the best and brightest of your yearmates! Such an accomplishment."
"Your parents have already signed your acceptance and your permission forms, so there's no worry about that-and I thank your heads of houses for their speedy and organized time management skills." He paused here, looking over his half-moon spectacles.
Atria's head tilted up, watching him carefully. "As so many students are going to be in one place, we're going to be hiring security, for both Ilvermorny and Hogwarts students. It seemed to be the best course of action for everyone involved."
"In Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. You'll be sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Each house is tied to your personality and your choices-for they are far more important than our abilities."
"We offer a variety of courses and this year, we're allowing our teachers to begin advanced studies, offering the same pace as Ilvermorny Academy. We won't be offering Mastery Courses, but as our Professors have attained masteries in their field, they may be willing to take on an apprentice or so before their mastery exam."
Haytham's hand shot up, and Headmaster Dumbledore gave a small nod. "So all Professors would be willing to take on apprentices or just a few?"
"All Professors will be open to taking at least one apprentice." He said.
"That's all. Thanks, Professor."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a little as he continued, "Our extracurricular sports will be merging as well- we'll be keeping Ilvermorny's Dueling Club, Arithmancer's Club, Potions and Transfiguration Clubs while Hogwarts will keep Quidditch, Gobstones, Choir and Band. They are open to anyone and everyone of any skill level."
"Hogwarts Classes begin on September first, a full week after they begin at Ilvermorny, so you'll come to Ilvermorny as you usually would and attend your first week of classes, however, you'll be required to wear Hogwarts robes. At the beginning of the week Madam Malkin or Tiana Twilfit the seamstresses from Diagon Alley, will be here to take measurements and send your uniforms to you before you leave for Hogwarts on August 31."
That sounded reasonable, Atria thought. But.. her mother hadn't paid for her robes for years. Jasmine waved from the other side of the room-so Jasmine's parents would be paying for them again. One less thing for her to worry about, then.
"Thank you for attending the Hogwarts exchange program! Are there any other questions?"
There were a few questions- "How are we going to go to school at two places at once?"
"There will be an international floo set up in one of the greeting halls. All students will be able to come and go with ease."
"Will we be able to keep our teachers?"
"You'll be able to choose which classes you want to take and with who during the summer, when the time-table choices will be sent out!"
And other minutiae, like, "Will we get a map?" And other simple questions. Would there be an open house? Could their parents meet the teachers beforehand? What was the day to day life like? What kind of food?
Atria tuned it all out and focused on mentally preparing for her next test. Something didn't seem right-she knew something had to happen because her mother hadn't been writing to her, or floo-calling, or anything of the sort, and she felt like it had something to do with this.
She, Anson, Jasmine, and Haytham found out the next morning as Atria's family owl soared in with a thick packet from her mother and brother. Atria read the pages quickly-apparently the Hogwarts exchange program wasn't so selective with the first year candidates and it was first come first serve, so Atreus would also be going with Atria to Hogwarts.
Atria's shoulders slumped, and while they tried to cheer her up, it just wasn't happening. Atria knew that Atreus would just go to her mother with every single misstep, every single wrong, every single hair out of place would be told. Honestly, Atria had enjoyed her time at Ilvermorny so far, but she wasn't sure if it was because she was good at magic or if it was the fact that she didn't have her mother and brother breathing down the back of her neck every waking moment. She truly enjoyed her freedom and next year her wings would be clipped by her younger brother.
"You'll still be spending most of the summer with me," Jasmine assured, and that caused Atria's face to split into a soft smile.
"True. And I'll have you, Anson and Haytham! It shouldn't be so bad, and since we're years apart, we shouldn't be sharing any classes, so he can't be that bad to me."
"Does your grandmother know about how they treat you?" Haytham couldn't resist asking, "Does she know how anxious you are about them? You're both family's heirs, they have to treat you better than this!"
"..." Atria was silent for a moment, and her head tilted up as she responded, "She knows, but she's the matriarch for two families, the same as I will be. She's busy with everyone and everything. And.. if I can't handle my own mother and brother, how can I deal with a power-hungry family?"
"I'm an heir to the Bonneville family, and I understand, but they don't treat me as your family does you. It's wrong! And I can't stand to see them hurt you all the time-!" Haytham's furious words didn't raise higher in volume than a strained whisper, and Atria's hand came and rested on his shoulder.
"I.. I'll have to deal with it until I graduate and become Lord Clare or Lord Auxatia, Haytham. I can't change it.." She leaned against his side with a heavy sigh, her eyes closing. "Really, thank you for worrying about me. You have no idea how much it means that you do worry for me-as a person, not as someone to be controlled."
His arm wrapped around her shoulders and he squeezed her tight to him for a moment and gave a nod. "I'll support whatever you do 'til then, I guess."
"Wouldn't have it any other way, Haytham," Her voice was dry, and her eyebrow raised. The conversation after that filtered off to what if's about houses, about food, about everything.
The dinner was good, and Atria found her time passing quickly, before it was time for the dueling club's championship. Parents would be there, watching their children duel for fun and for glory-and most of all, for the prize of having it on their record.
Atria was sure she could best up to fourth years in dueling-she'd done it in the club easily, but to do it in front of parents, some of whom held masteries, some of whom were part of MACUSA, it put more pressure on her. Even though she was competing in the junior division, she took it seriously. She wanted to win this with everything she had-she wanted to win this and prove her mother wrong, that Defense Magics were useful.
Once more, she found her solace in Haytham, who was participating in the Advanced division, for fifth to eighth years. He patted her shoulder and smiled at her warmly before being called to his side of the stage.
"All Junior Division entries, come forward to the stage." Atria straightened her robes, her wand in her hand as she walked to the center of the dueling stage with the rest of them. Her eyes were determined, her face was set and she was calm and collected as her face scanned the crowd. Her mother, grandmother and younger brother were there, looking out of place.
Her mother excitedly waved and Atria raised her head in a small nod.
As people were called, they moved to either end of the dueling stage, eager to begin casting the magic they'd learned that year-or in the case of the second years, what they'd been learning for two years. The duels went fairly quickly, considering that most of the fourth years were easily wiping the floor with their opponents.
With Atria's luck, she only ended up facing Jasmine. Their duel was decently long, as Atria was holding herself back to show off Jasmine's strengths- Jasmine may have excelled at the mental aspects of casting, but Atria excelled in applying them.
After a few moments, a simple disarming charm pulled the wand from Jasmine's hand, and it slid into Atria's palm easily.
"I forfeit!" Jasmine said, a smile on her face, and Atria walked over to her and offered her hand. She giggled a little as Jasmine hugged her.
"You did great!" Atria's face heated in a blush, and her head ducked a little. "Thanks. You did too, you know? You should be my dueling partner more often."
"Hah. No, I don't think so, Ms. I'm-the-best-duelist-in-school!"
"No, that's Haytham!" They giggled together as they walked off the stage.
The next two contestants were called up, and Jasmine went to sit with her parents in the seats, as she'd been eliminated. And.. it was time for the last duel.
"Final Duel for Title Junior Dueling Champion! Atria Clare-Auxatia and Damon Jamison, please step into the dueling arena."
Atria moved to stand in the middle, and they both bowed to each other. Damon was a fourth-year, tall and strong, on the quadpot team from Wampus house. He definitely had the advantage here, if he managed to get her wand out of her hand, Atria knew.
He was definitely stronger, faster-probably had more spells to use, too, but.. She would do her best. And that was as good as it was going to get.
"Duelers! Ready.. Set.. Go!"
Damon's first spell was a stunner, and Atria's first spell was a perfect whirlwind shield-the stunner simply rolled back at him, guided by her magic with not a simple incantation. Atria's eyes met his as he dodged out of the way of his own spell, and she took that moment to fire two jinxes at him- one that would cause him to lose his sense of balance, and the other to affect how and what he was seeing.
The first one shattered the shield he managed to erect, and the other hit him square in the chest.
He chuckled and rolled his shoulders a little. "Aw. The tiny second-year's spell didn't do jack."
But Atria knew it had worked, because the next spell he sent at her merely rocketed into the ground to her left, instead of at her chest, where it had been aimed. Heh.
"I'd say it worked well-enough."
And then, she moved forward, knowing that she had the advantage on him now-it would be okay to get closer now that he would be having issues pinpointing where she actually was.
She dodged a bludgeoning curse-and a few other spells that were of a darker nature. So he was a dark mage? She would have to be careful about the power of her spells, then.. And she had something that he didn't. She could use both aspects of magic-light and dark- so her wand tilted in her hand, jabbed through a motion quickly and efficiently, and Damon flew through the air, landing flat against the outer portion of the dueling arena.
He snarled as he sat up, his eyes wide with fury- and a whistle blew. Atria's head snapped to the referee, who was waving.
"Duel over! Due to Damon stepping out of the dueling arena, the title goes to Atria by default. Atria Clare Auxatia, you are our junior dueling champion!"
Atria blinked as cameras flashed, as people cheered and she waved excitedly.
The referee walked to the stage and pointed her to the area where the Advanced Dueling Competitors sat. "Wait over there until the end, and then we'll give you your rewards."
"Okay! Thank you!" Atria nearly skipped off the stage. That sneaky bit of magic worked too well-and though she'd won by a technicality, she still won.
"Very nice bit of magic you did there," She was congratulated by the older students, "So smart! Too bad you're not a horned serpent!"
She chuckled as they settled down around her, and she watched the remaining duels, only really paying attention to the ones Haytham was participating in. His were… electric. She could feel the magic prickle at her skin, she could feel the power of the spells radiating around him-it was wonderful. And proud of him.
He was so aggressive with his spells, as well, only going for offensive maneuvers and using his body and stamina to dodge them-and then, was his elemental manipulations. Fire and Air- she sighed. Every single technique he used was flawless, and Atria knew he would win. No one could really stand against him.
The final duel was over in a matter of moments, and the two dueling champions were up on the stage, a medal around their necks and a boxed set of collar clips with decorative chains in their hands as they waved.
"Good job," Professor Starling greeted as she walked up behind them. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you." Atria's smile was bright and sincere, but it soon slipped off her face as her mother, brother, and grandmother approached.
"I'm so proud of you, Atria," Her grandmother said, hugging her tightly.
"Thank you.."
"You're a credit to our house. I couldn't have a better heir." She winked and Atria laughed, but it was cut off by Ezra.
"She could have been killed! Did you see the type of dark magic he tried to cast on her-?"
"Mom, I did good. I'm good at dueling. I'm fine, I promise."
"No, Atria."
"You're grounded. I told you not to do this, and you did it anyway-"
Ezra was already ranting, gesticulating with her hands as Atreus snickered behind her back. "Should've listened, I guess."
"EZRA. Your daughter is doing things that haven't happened in our family for generations and you're here, grounding her because she's good at this type of magic? She's not staying with you this summer, that's for sure." Yvone's eyes were cold as she stared at her daughter, and they lit warmly when they found Atria's.
"Don't be afraid. You did well, and I'm proud of you, dear. I'll be picking you up at home on the day you come home from school. If you need me, owl me, okay?"
"Yes, Mamaw."
"Good. Ezra, Atreus, come with me. I'm not going to have you ruining her good cheer."
"Fine." It was a sullen pout, and Ezra's eyes narrowed as she looked at Atria.
Atria let out a breath as they disappeared into the crowd and Professor Starling remarked, "I like your grandmother, Atria. Is there any way she can be the one I interact with?"
Atria laughed. It felt right-Ilvermorny was her home, she realized, after they left. And they couldn't take it from her.
On impulse, she hugged Professor Starling tightly, her eyes closed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you-" She repeated.
"You're welcome, Atria." The soothing motion of Professor Starling's hand over her hair made her eyes tear up a little, and as she pulled away, she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.
"So.. party in Thunderbird!"
They cheered and took off to the common room together.