Book 3: Astoria Greengrass and the Legilimens of Hogwarts
Song rec: "Popular" by Nada Surf

When the Hogwarts Express started to pull out of the station on the first of September, Astoria had a burning feeling that she should not have been on it. The images of her parents and grandparents left her window first, and soon all of the students' families were out of view. The train, therefore, seemed like such a defenceless place. If there were supposed to be Aurors on board, where were they?

Though it was nice to see Flora and Hestia, Rhiannon had immediately treated them more as bandmates than as friends and had dispensed the unhappy updates about Pariah and Infinite Records. Flora looked like she could not care less, whereas Hestia never really recovered from the news, even after the fact when she and Rhiannon chatted about the O.W.L.s.

"That reminds me… How did you do on the Astronomy O.W.L.?" Flora asked.

"Outstandingly," Astoria beamed.

"Well, that makes one student in the N.E.W.T. class," Flora joked.

"Neville Longbottom told me he was taking it, too," Astoria mentioned.

Hestia and Rhiannon stopped talking. Flora rubbed her forehead.

"Department-of-Mysteries Neville Longbottom?" Hestia asked in a slightly scandalised tone.

"Now, how many Neville Longbottoms are running about?" Astoria said. "Listen, I know what you two are thinking, but Professor Sinistra is all right."

"All right? Nobody who was 'all right' would have the material to write that book like she did. Have you read the book? Did you hear who she was married to?" Flora pressed.

Astoria had known for many months whom Professor Sinistra had married.

"Yes, I've read her book," said Astoria for convenience, though it wasn't true.

"Sinistra's a good person," Rhiannon said with finality.

Flora raised her eyebrows. Then she rested her eyes, trying to doze off.

"She's a bit down about not getting appointed as a prefect," Hestia whispered.

"I can hear you," Flora mumbled.

"I know. Hey, what about you, Astoria? Some of your cousins were prefects, weren't they?"

"Er, several have been," Astoria said. Over the summer, she had not been thinking of things like prefect status and had hardly considered herself prefect material. However, with the topic raised, she started to wonder, a bit indignantly, why she had not been selected for the duty. Did she not seem assertive enough? In contrast, did she seem like the type who would dock points for loose ties and shoes not shined? Astoria felt a glare at Hestia coming on but halted it. The girls had company. Rhiannon sat a little straighter, hoping that a fan of Pariah had located them, but that was not the case at all. The young witch who entered their compartment was only there to deliver each of them a scroll. Astoria hadn't any idea regarding who on the train would contact them in this manner and opened her letter a little warily.

There was nothing to fear. It was merely an invitation to lunch, written in a variety of calligraphy that took several obnoxious liberties. She sighed when she saw that the addresser was Professor Slughorn, who had been her father's potions instructor but was now likely going to teach D.A.D.A.

"What are you waiting for, Astoria? Let's go get food," Hestia said.

Astoria laughed, "I should tell you about some of the conversations my family has had regarding Professor Slughorn!"

"Huh? You know him? Does he have good grub?" Rhiannon asked.

"Yes, I would think he does. That isn't the issue. He likes to associate with students whom he thinks have potential… potential to give him expensive gifts. He is a very materialistic man. It's funny that I've received an invitation to his club after so many in my family have declined."

"Persistent old sod, is he? Well, I want you to come with the band and get some free food. Nobody said yeh had to shower him with gifts later in life," Rhiannon pronounced.

Astoria and her friends arrived at Slughorn's compartment, and Flora tapped on the door. The portly old professor stood in the threshold, a bit beside himself, gaping at the Greengrass more so than any of his other guests. At first, Astoria could not see round his girth to see whom else he had invited.

"Why, it's Adam Greengrass's girl!" he said in a hearty voice, taking her hand from the bottom and tapping the top of it. His hand was decorated with chunky rings. Astoria faked a smile. She then looked to her left and right and did not see any of her relatives because they knew better than to come.

"Come in! Come in! You know Blaise, I assume! A fellow Slytherin, he is!" Slughorn boomed at Astoria, continuing to ignore her three friends until they fully entered the compartment.

It was not a pleasant entrance. Sitting by the window was Blaise Zabini, a terrible enemy of Astoria due to the way he had treated her sister and Rhiannon. Zabini, like Astoria, had been invited because of his fortune. However, it was rumoured that his mother came to possess that fortune through a series of killings of her seven late husbands. There was never a trace of proof of this after investigations, so that apparently made it okay in Slughorn's mind. Reliably, Zabini was looking utterly disgusted at Ginny Weasley, who sat across from him, and made a point to distribute the glare amongst the other girls as well.

"Ah, the Carrow twins are here!" Slughorn said belatedly. "Hestia, I know all about your skill with potionmaking," he beamed at Flora, failing to explain his source of knowledge. "And Flora! Why, your skill in Arithmancy hardly knows boundaries!" he said to a disgruntled Hestia.

"Goodness, it's Rhiannon Clarke," he continued, a bit forced. "M'dear, you shall be in history books one day — yes, you shall! Have a seat, all; have a seat!"

Astoria, who was first to take a seat, made a desperate step toward Ginny. That motion was overpowered by Slughorn's belly, and Astoria fell into a tight seat on the other side of the professor. Flora braved the seat next to Zabini, whilst Hestia and Rhiannon somehow made two spots out of one.

"I will need to Extend this compartment soon. You see, I have invited four others!"

Daphne, Sofronia, Adamina, and Asenath were very unlikely to pay Slughorn this visit, so he shouldn't have needed to do anything, although the students present would have liked some more space anyway.

"Who else did you invite?" Zabini demanded stiffly. "…Sir?"

"Oh, some very good company indeed! Cormac McLaggen, see, he's bound for the Ministry… half his family is already there! Marcus Belby as well, only the nephew of the very wizard who invented the Wolfsbane Potion — ah, you know Belby, Rhiannon? No? Oh, I see. Well, I also invited Neville Longbottom and… Harry Potter. I'm sure you know of them!"

"We're good friends," mentioned Ginny, looking grateful that more people whom she did not hate were on the way.

The reasons for Astoria to leave were increasing in number. Slughorn was after money and power: two things Astoria had which, to many, made her the ideal acquaintance. Astoria absolutely hated when people offered dishonest friendship or treated her preferentially hoping for return on investment. If she was not a Greengrass, who would pay the slightest bit of attention to her? Rhiannon, Flora, Hestia, and Ginny would, but Slughorn would not. Astoria's individuality meant nothing. It was difficult to find honest people, and some people were as bad as Slughorn, who considered the cold, prejudiced Zabini somebody important.

Slughorn was asking Flora about her "interest in potions," which made Astoria realise that her friends had not been invited to lunch because they were in a band, which was particularly important to Rhiannon. Slughorn made no effort to tell the twins apart from one another and seemed to have invited them to bait Astoria. Rhiannon was only there because she was a sensation as the first Muggle-born Slytherin and maybe even because she was connected with a Greengrass…

Actually, maybe Astoria was the choicest amongst the currently enrolled Greengrasses in Slughorn's mind. Even with no commitment, some of her cousins might have just shown up for the food. But they were nowhere to be seen, and Slughorn had not mentioned inviting them at all.

Maybe the fact that Asenath's brother Renshaw was a Squib bothered Slughorn. That prejudice would have been the only explanation for the brilliant Kippling sisters being ignored. It wasn't like their different surname had gone over Slughorn's head; everybody knew that Laureline Greengrass married Salomon Kippling, a Squib. Adam Greengrass's specific line was considered "clean" by people who concerned themselves with the absurdities of bloodlore. The twins and Zabini would be favoured by Death Eaters. Rhiannon's Muggle parentage was what made her special as a Slytherin, but it was not necessarily what Slughorn preferred.

He was chatting with Hestia and Ginny about charms when Astoria inserted, "Oh, did you see the article my cousin Adamina had published in Challenges in Charming last month? She is only sixteen."

"I — I did, yes," said Slughorn with a nod. "Very special those Kippling girls are. Very talented young ladies. Funny how it goes that way, isn't it, m'dear?"

"Is it?" Astoria bit.

Obliviously, Slughorn said, "Well, one might have thought that they would have been put at a disadvantage… with their father's, er…"

"Disability?" Astoria said loudly, watching people shift their eyes from her for no reason. "I hope we don't consider that a shameful topic here."

"Oh, not at all," said Slughorn quickly. "I'm only saying how remarkable it is that—"

"No, it isn't remarkable," Astoria countered. "My uncle Salomon had his girls well-versed in Arithmancy before they were even old enough to take the course. Sofronia and Adamina are much better at witchcraft than I am, but I understand you find that surprising."

The sound of Rhiannon's chewing surfaced in the quietness. When she swallowed, she offered a hand to Astoria. They left the compartment with the twins close behind. Ginny, Astoria saw, had been blocked from the exit by Slughorn's behind as he stuck his shiny head out of the door.

"Oh, me," he muttered into his moustache. "Not again…"

Only a few steps away from their compartment, Flora and Hestia said they were going to turn round and get in the queue for the W.C., so Rhiannon and Astoria were left to speak in private.

"I didn't know he's that way. I thought, y'know, since he invited me…"

"He isn't like Zabini, but, as you know, Zabini was present."

"So, what is he? Like a closet racist or somethin'?"

"Essentially. He isn't hateful, but he would expect me to get better marks than you. As you saw, he should have invited Sofronia and Adamina since he bothered to invite me, but…"

"Sometimes I think Squibs get it worse than Muggle-borns. And that's sayin' something 'cause I know what it's like as a Muggle-born. Nobody sticks up for Squibs, really, 'cept your family. Isn't that right?"

"Well, I wouldn't minimise anything Muggle-borns have had to endure. What is appalling is that otherwise Muggle-friendly people can be so nasty when it comes to the matter of Squibs. If you don't mind keeping a secret, Neville told me that when his family thought he might be a Squib, they would do things to test him, like dangle him over ledges or throw him in deep water. He was only a toddler, too, but at any age!"

"That's stupid. And all to see if he had magic. It was just the opposite with my parents, they tried to beat it out of me," Rhiannon sighed. "Did, er, did your parents ever think you were a Squib? I know they kept you home-schooled because of how that wand made you…"

"Maybe they did at one point," Astoria considered, a grim feeling spreading over her as she remembered being babysat by Renshaw.

"Some people got a theory that I'm a descendant from a Squib, believe it or not. Ata— Ata-something, they call it. Magic in Muggle-borns. Makes sense, don't it? What do you think?"

"Oh, it's 'atavism.' That's a sound hypothesis, but to use it as an argument in the favour of Muggle-borns against a supremacist hardly gets the job done. The argument for atavism can give the impression that Muggle-borns are 'passable' or something because they have magical ancestry far back. You shouldn't need to be sponsored by that idea. You're a witch because you can perform magic, just as I am a witch, and that's the end of it," Astoria declared.

Rhiannon unexpectedly drew her into a hug. At that point, Astoria had only been able to appropriately hug Rhiannon when, unbeknownst to Astoria, Barty Crouch Jr died and Rhiannon was horribly upset. Hugs like they used to share in what felt like the distant past might cause Rhiannon pain or an unpleasant bittersweetness, because she used to fancy Astoria. The problem was that Astoria was a natural hugger. A second problem: the timing was deplorable.

"What's this?" Hestia asked stonily, staring at her friends hugging as Flora slid the door shut behind them.

Through the glass, Astoria saw that a crowd had hazardously filled the passageway. Surely not all those people had come to see them hug.

"Oh, that's about Potter, that is," Flora said of the mass of students. She took her sister by the arm and sat her next to Rhiannon as though she was presenting a baby with her favourite teddy bear. The effect, frankly, was not much different, as Hestia calmed significantly.

"We nearly collided with him trying to get away from all these buffoons," Flora continued, rolling her eyes. "The poor kid's going straight toward Slytherin territory, though. Crabbe and Malfoy and all…"

Flora continued with an unnecessary description: "Parkinson's all over Malfoy, disgusting as ever. I mean, honestly, nobody needs to witness that level of snogging."

Flora found Astoria's grimace hilarious, whereas Hestia was obviously reassured by it. Rhiannon saw it, too, though, and her suspicions rose. It was going to be a long year if Astoria could not get this involuntary reaction under control.