Book 4: Astoria Greengrass and the Curse of Quennell Park
Song rec: "Spring Rounds" by Igor Stravinsky from The Rite of Spring, Part I: Adoration of the Earth
Notes: With lots of dissonance, Rite of Spring is not an easy listen, but as a composition, it played a role in my inspiration. In the movement "Spring Rounds," young girls in a vernal pagan festival dance the Khorovod, a circle-dance in Eastern Slavic tradition. The twist is that in the second movement of the full piece, one girl is chosen by fate to dance herself to death for the spring gods. I wanted to match the feeling of horror in the song choice - the tone has darkened. At this point in the story, the events of Deathly Hallows begin to seep into our characters' lives. The Greengrasses have not gone to war, so the war comes to them.

Memories extracted via Legilimency are in italics and centered.

Astoria was up and shouting of Death Eaters alongside Rhiannon shortly before the property alarms began to do the job for them. It was so urgent to wake everyone and remember exactly which hallway her parents were in. It was so foolish of her to leave their sides. At the blare of the property alarms, she and Rhiannon breathlessly made their way back to Daphne and the others. The thought of having to leave cousin Renshaw and his wife behind plagued her constantly, speaking louder to her pounding heart than the alarms.

We'll come back later for them. We'll leave a message somehow. Father will know what to do.

It was only a property breach. Of course Death Eaters could breach the property somewhere, right? The land was huge. But the mansion itself had more protective charms. They could do it. The family could withstand the assault.

"How many did you say?" Astoria panted once they reached the sides of her parents and sister.

"Looked like ten of 'em?" Rhiannon gasped.

"How did they get over the barrier, Daddy?" Daphne cried. "I thought there was an arithmanceutical code! How did they know the code?"

"That's not important right now," Uncle Faunus said, rushing up with his family behind, all looking incredibly well-rested and raring to go. "Adam, lift the Anti-Apparition charms for a second. I'm going to get my son."

"I can't lift the charms at a time like this, Faunus! Are you mad?" Mr Greengrass shouted, his panic emanating cold on Astoria's skin.

Uncle Faunus's look of pain was difficult to see. Astoria was worried about Renshaw and Gracie, neither of whom used any magic. She could imagine how Uncle Faunus and Aunt Elly felt right now. But if her father lifted the Anti-Apparition charms, there was no telling how many more Death Eaters would show up outside. Mr Greengrass cast the Amplifying Charm on his own voice to announce to the rest of the family still running through the halls.

"Ten Death Eaters are on the grounds. We are meeting on the landing. Everyone will link hands. When everyone is together, I will lift the charm, and we will Disapparate. Be prepared to hold tightly."

The screeching alarms of the house suddenly overpowered his voice. Adam and Estelle Greengrass looked at each other in shock for but a moment, their hands clenching their children's shoulders.

"Be prepared to engage," he announced grimly.

There were so many in the family, and only ten Death Eaters. It was going to be okay, Astoria tried to think, as Uncle Faunus, Aunt Elly, Xylia, Ansel, Sylvester, his wife, and her father bolted down the stairs towards the breach. But Astoria gasped when Asenath started tailing her elder sisters.

"What do you think you're doing, Azzie‽" Astoria shouted.

Asenath's tattoos and black hair might have made her look tough, but she was not of age. Astoria and Asenath got along about as well as their respective Hogwarts Houses did, but to think that they would have to see each other get hurt against Dark magic…

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to make Death Eater filets," Asenath spat and disappeared with her family.

"Daddy, how are we all going to Disapparate if—" Daphne piped.

"We may have to get rid of the threat first," he said mostly to Aunt Thalie, who had just come down from upstairs with Uncle Helvetius, Artemis, Erez and his wife, all in summer pyjamas.

Those four were all armed, but when Aunt Laureline came down with Adamina, Sofronia, and Uncle Salomon, Astoria realised they had a major problem. Astoria was one of the youngest people in the family, so it wasn't like they had to worry about protecting small children. However, Uncle Salomon, like Renshaw, could not use magic. How were they supposed to hide and protect him whilst keeping him close enough to the scene to Disapparate when the time came?

There are more of us than the Death Eaters, Astoria repeated in her head. She wasn't even sure of how many — over forty? But some of them were quite elderly… some were not of age… There were ten Death Eaters who managed to get through far more than ten layers of shield in her house, roaming downstairs somewhere.

Ten real Death Eaters, really in her house, and this was it. They were going to become a newspaper article like all the other dead families. Death Eaters were in the school, and now they were in her house. It was the order of things, wasn't it? She had been fated to die as a blood-traitor for her whole life with the name of Greengrass, but with Rhiannon Clarke next to her…

Well, there were plenty worse things to die for than for one's best friend.

Astoria did not want her mother to feel her shaking with fear, so she loosened herself from her grasp. Her mother would fight; she could not hold her the whole time. But Astoria could not sit back and be protected anymore, not with the chance that she had been the trigger for the Death Eater's arrival.

Pariah, Astoria thought. How she had willingly advertised her views to Voldemort's supporters from the very beginning.

Draco, Astoria thought. How stupid they had been to think they could be something.

But Pariah and Draco were over, and Astoria was prepared to stand on her own against those who would kill her family and friends. That was why, when crackling sparks began to fly from the dark rooms below, and her parents ran to defend their home and family, Astoria went with them.

It became too much effort for her parents to stop her involvement in the emergency, and that was exactly how she wanted it. She wanted to prove that they had not sent her to that awful school for nothing. She had made something out of the experience that she could use to protect those she loved. She drew a quiet breath as the Death Eaters began lighting up the main floor with green. They had not come to interrogate or intimidate. They had come to kill. She tried not to think about how most Death Eaters had more time practising Dark magic than she had had on this earth.

Astoria nodded at her panic-stricken sister, who blinked tears out hard and steadied herself. Rhiannon flung off her flannel, revealing her scars from Slytherin's basilisk and the tattoo mocking the very same creature. Astoria had no tears and no scars just yet.

Barefoot, she ran down with the crowd of family members into the ballroom. Uncle Faunus and Aunt Elly held off the encroaching Death Eaters there with powerful blasts. Astoria could not see the invaders, but she could see their spells. Everyone was ready with a connecting Shield Charm, and for a moment of locking arms and holding hands, it looked like they would be able to Disapparate. Astoria felt that they had won, between the hold of her sister and mother. Maybe it wouldn't be night-time out where they would go.

There was a bright yellow flash, and shatters rang out in triplicate. A masked, hooded figure had broken a corner of their joint Shields and reached to take something very precious from them.

"NO!" Astoria howled as Daphne was torn from her arms and hoisted in the air.

It was all her fault they were going to lose Daphne. She had been the one holding her. How could she defend her stupid, stupid self if she couldn't even save her own sister? The Death Eater who held Daphne captive was choking her with force unseen, parading in front of the line of terrified Greengrasses and his entourage on the other side.

All of the black-cloaked horrors aimed their wands at Daphne, forcing an entire forty-two people into surrender. A wave of pyjama-clad arms dropped their wands without even being told. The sound echoed harshly in the bare, white ballroom, like parts of little wooden toys breaking. With burning eyes, Astoria looked to Rhiannon, who had her hands behind her head, and followed suit.

Somebody's got to be doing something, she prayed as her sister gasped for breath.

When they were young girls, they used to see who could hold their breath for longer. Unlike their little tests to see who could jump higher, that one always got them into trouble. Daphne won the competitions, though. Daphne always won at everything.

Please, please, please…

A short Death Eater stepped forth and removed her mask, apparently of mind to address them as a superior.

"The famous Greengrasses," she said in a tired voice. "Surely this isn't all of you. Hm… I know. Mulciber, we'll need to find the Mosbys and the Springhouses after this. Plenty of family connections — the Wakelands and the Salems. Oh, and those awful Kipplings. If you're not careful, a Greengrass will swipe you and bear you a Squib."

"They're all gone," Astoria's grandmother piped up. "Left before us."

"Is that right?" the Death Eater cooed, twirling her wand at the old woman's nose.

Grandmother, don't talk…

Astoria could not pick where to look. Her choking sister in Mulciber's grasp, her threatened grandmother, her petrified family. The large room felt stuffy as Daphne started to pale. Her parents were too terrified for their daughter's life to make a move wandlessly. Astoria couldn't do anything wandless at all, except an ounce of Legilimency if she really tried…

In staring at the horrible figures, Astoria realised there was only one Legilimens present among the enemy. This could be to their advantage if they could save Daphne first. There had to be more they could do than watch in fear. After all, only seven of the attackers were branded Death Eaters. The other three were simply thugs in dark clothes. More information… more information had to be there.

Astoria, my love.

It was almost like it was her mother's voice. Astoria looked at her mother, whose eyes were glued on Daphne. Surely she had spoken.

Astoria, I want you to duck whenever I move my hand. I want you to pick up your wand once I get Daphne back. Don't be afraid if something happens to me. Keep moving. I have never used this spell before, and I need to use it without a wand now.

It was a Legilimency wavelength, just like Professor Sinistra had tried to use with her before! If Maman had been a Legilimens this whole time, why hadn't she said anything? How long had she known Astoria was studying Legilimency illicitly? Astoria had thought her mother would be furious if she found out. Had she really accepted her this whole time?

Astoria responded with an affirmative as best she could, given that her mother had asked so much of her in only a moment. It was much easier to send thoughts to her mother than to anyone else, and Astoria wasn't sure why that was so surprising to her. She had to keep her thoughts quiet, though, or the Legilimens would know, and everything would be ruined.

Daphne, dear, it's all right, Astoria sensed her mother thinking. She wished Daphne could sense the reassurance, too. As the Death Eaters kept their eyes on the taunting of her grandmother, they failed to notice her mother bending her ring finger beneath her thumb tightly. She punched it forward, not speaking the incantation but thinking it with all her might…

Avada Kedavra!

Mulciber hit the floor hard, but so did Daphne, and the entire scene erupted into chaos. There was no light in the room, and it was so hard to see the Death Eaters. Her family, though, wore light colours that could be targeted.

Mrs Ciel-Greengrass grabbed her wand, ran forward, and brought her elder daughter back under her wing. Astoria scooped up her wand and did her best with Shield Charms, desperately casting them on herself and on any friend in range. She wondered how long she could keep it up with the bombardment of Dark magic thundering in the room. There was no way they could all link up and Disapparate with this many Death Eaters attacking. Astoria sent a Shield over Uncle Salomon, who had quickly become a favourite target, and tried to use Legilimency at the same time to the effect of a horrible headache.

Getting into the mind of the ringleader witch was one of the most jarring things Astoria could have done when she was supposed to be keeping her cool. The leader of the pack was none other than Ivory Stretton, the mother of Rhiannon's bully and former roommate, Imogen. She wasn't the only Slytherin connection, either. Xavier Lofthouse, the father of an older student Xander, was the horrible Legilimens fighting Uncle Faunus. Kestrel Gibbon, who had only just left school, had taken up the Dark Mark in honour of her dead father. Worst of all was Theodore Nott Sr, too old for the job but in too deep to say no. Astoria could never face her friend Theodore again if…

Her attention was brought back to Stretton, who was loudly fighting Aunt Laureline in order to get to "the dirty Squib."

"Legilimens," Astoria pried, and to her excitement, the onslaught of Legilimency was ruining Stretton's aim at her aunt. Astoria only had so much time before Stretton would find who was casting the spell. But what followed in Stretton's thoughts ruined every hope Astoria had half-formed.

Rabastan says I'm foolish to work without the Dark Lord's orders. He's jealous that I actually know how to do it. I could usurp Rabastan's position with this move.

"The boys say they got a story that might help us, Ivory," says Bates Mulciber. "Old witch Jugson there says she knows a Greengrass when she sees one. Their Squib married a Muggle. Looks like Renshaw and Grace Greengrass and a Bob Page are living in a farmhouse in Bromyard. Own land on Burying Lane."

"How funny is that? Burying Lane," I say.

"I think Lofthouse can milk them for what sorts of protections they got on Quennell Park. We'll bring Jugson so he can make his mum proud."

"We'll bring more than Lofthouse and Jugson, Bates. The Squib and the Muggle won't be any problem, but the main branch…"

"Right. We need good backup," Mulciber says.

"If they're too afraid to leave their posts, I'll remind them of how much money the Greengrass's stuff will be worth in Knockturn," I plan, "and of our duty to show blood-traitors how it's going to be."

It takes half the day, but we locate the farmhouse of the Squib and his wife and storm the place. The old Muggle man fell asleep glued to his television. Exactly as a Muggle would be. He's like squashing an ant on the pavement. The Squib comes tearing down the stairs, like we're mere home invaders. I like his face when he sees what he's up against.

"Didn't count on us, did you, Squib?" I say, and I kill him.

His body slides down the stairs, leaving only the screaming wife in the upstairs hallway. She sees her dead family below her and runs back into her room. I send my party to capture her, but what I hear doesn't sound like their magic. It's loud.

"She shot Nirys and Sid in the head with a gun! They won't make it," Lofthouse suddenly informs me, reading the Muggle's thoughts even from our spot at the stair. "No matter. I got what I need out of her. Quennell Park's barriers are based on an arithmanceutical code, and she has it to get in. Muggles are so easy to read! We can go to Quennell Park straight after this!"

"Go kill her then. Mind the gun," I order.

I hear that silly machine again, but the impact and pain that follow tells me I'm the one who's been shot this time. It's only my shoulder. I staunch the bleeding. I'll live. Dark magic feels worse.

"Go on, then, kill me — I'll kill yeh in hell all over again!" the Muggle sobs before I win her life.

Astoria's eyes were raw as she left Stretton's memory. Renshaw was dead. His corpse was, for an eternal second, the only image Astoria saw in the room full of clambering people. He had been the one who taught her — not just told her — what it meant to be a Squib. Astoria had always wondered what he thought of her after it turned out she could use magic. They were so far apart in age, it was hard to say. But she had always thought an apology was in order… Or maybe an apology for turning out to be a witch would have been even less appropriate. But anything. Anything to thank him for helping her know she wasn't the damned disappointment the rest of the world saw!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to make me feel better when I was little, Renshaw. I'm sorry I'm like the rest of them after all. I won't be stupid with my magic, Renshaw, I promise. I'll be responsible and I won't brag.

Renshaw. His new wife, Gracie. Her grandfather who had had no idea what was happening. All had been murdered by the people who were attacking Quennell Park now. Astoria wondered if her mother knew yet. Astoria was merely standing in a Shield Charm now, doing nothing to help like she had planned. Her Legilimency had given her the names of the attackers. She didn't want their damn names. She wanted them all dead. Why was her family trying to hold these monsters off with defensive magic?

Kill them. They're really killing us, Astoria thought in bitter fright.

Everything Astoria knew about the Killing Curse, she had learnt from Crouch Jr. You couldn't cast it without murderous intent, and a lot of power was needed behind the spell. People could say the words, and nothing would happen. But Astoria's mother hadn't even said the words or used a wand. She had killed to save her child.

With the shocked Daphne still in her arm, her mother waved her wand in a circle over her head, creating a black Shield around them, bringing Rhiannon into the huddle with them and screaming for Astoria all the while. Astoria had seen Theodore use a smaller version of that spell before. She ran to her mother, parrying spells from the attackers on the way. Her father jumped to her side with Uncle Faunus — they killed a witch named Fanny Flint and a wizard named Rel Amand with less hesitation than earlier.

"Three down!" Rhiannon announced to Daphne, who could use just about any news after what had happened to her.

Inside the black Shield, it was even more difficult to see the room, which was flashing all colours and resonating ugly sounds in the escalating fight. Stretton, having blamed her string of misfires on her shoulder wound rather than the haze of Legilimency, was briefly occupied by dressing the gunshot wound Gracie had given her. Stabbing her wand deep into Mulciber's corpse, she seemed able to restore her open wound with very Dark magic. Astoria couldn't watch that any longer. One Death Eater, Jugson, had finally broken the defences of Astoria's grandmother, wounding her badly in the abdomen. Mrs Ciel-Greengrass did not let the attack go unnoticed; from her incredible Shield emerged a black dragon's head, roaring enough to shake the house. The spell seemed to drain even as powerful a witch. She and her skin's rosiness faded to white as the dragon ripped through Jugson's body.

"Estelle!" Astoria's father screamed, but his cry was drowned out by an onslaught from the remaining Death Eaters.

The sight of Jugson had taken away Mrs Ciel-Greengrass's fortitude. Dark magic always came with risks, and the black Shield dissipated in spite of her best effort, so Astoria and Rhiannon did their best to keep up regular Shields. The power of the attackers was too much to compete with, and they could only hope to guard themselves until there was nothing left in them. In the clearing, Astoria saw her cousin Sofronia take a hit to the face from Kestrel Gibbon.

"I can't see! I can't see!" Sofronia screamed like a wounded bird, only bringing more attention to her. "Mum! Mum! I can't see!"

It was not her mother but her helpless father who jumped over her, of mind to die protecting her. Astoria hated to feel it all — how badly Uncle Salomon wanted to save his child, how badly Kestrel missed her own father. Kestrel was sweaty and unsure of her mission, removing her mask to wipe her forehead. Astoria thought perhaps her own pain would help her understand what she was doing to another family… but Kestrel's young face set hard and she moved to kill the Squib and blinded girl.

"Av—"

"KESTREL!" screamed cousin Erez, for he had watched Kestrel get Sorted all those years ago, led her to the common room, and let her off detention with a warning…

Astoria could not stop the river of people's pain. This was what it meant to be a Slytherin, she felt as she watched her cousin lose his options in the fight against Dark magic.

Erez's wife Hazel rushed to his side as he cried over the dead body of his younger classmate, a familiar face to him, who had lost her way. Adamina weaved her way toward her father and sister like there was no one else in the world, grabbing them and bolting toward Astoria's group. Adamina was livid, and the majority of her blame rested on Astoria. Astoria stopped looking at her, but it didn't help. Would she have blamed herself for the Death Eaters' arrival if she had not picked up on Adamina's ill feeling? Probably, yes.

"We have to go, Uncle Adam!" Adamina roared. "No one can take the others! They're too strong!"

Astoria and her father gaped as their attention was drawn to Stretton, Lofthouse, and Nott's ability to hold off twenty or more adults, slowly picking away at them with highly injurious curses.

"Uncle Adam!"

"Mina, if I lift the charm now, there could be dozens more! We'll never get out of here! Do you see the situation I'm in?"

Astoria's head was spinning, but she was finally able to help.

"Father, there aren't any more on this mission! There aren't any more trying to Apparate here!" Astoria gasped.

"Like hell there aren't! Astoria, stay down!"

"Adam, she's a Legilimens! A better one than me!" Mrs Ciel-Greengrass declared in French. "Listen to your daughter for once!"

"Quit talking French and get my dad out of here!" Adamina screamed at the top of her lungs.

Astoria choked on a gasp as she realised Xavier Lofthouse was about to plant an explosive spell into her grandmother.

"He'll kill Grandmother!" she screamed and pointed at the tall wizard with the pointed nose on his mask.

Mr Greengrass was then forced to ignore his desperate niece for the time being in order to save his mother. He brushed Astoria's cheek with all the feeling of a goodbye, and before she could do anything, he and Uncle Faunus went into the crowd.

"Daddy!" Daphne screamed. "Oh my God!"

Finally recovering her senses, Daphne was able to assist Astoria, Adamina, Rhiannon, and the superior witch erect Shields around Uncle Salomon and Sofronia. Sofronia was still blind from Kestrel's curse and crying into her father's shoulder for fear of what she could not see. Astoria's father was clear across the room, trying to do what twenty others could not against the remaining Death Eaters. Her father was angry with her for learning Legilimency. If she could do even more, maybe he wouldn't be so upset. It was futile, even with her wand and words. Her Legilimency and her curses had their limits, and without Stretton close by, she couldn't even pry into her mind anymore.

Maman, what if I'm the reason they're all here? Astoria panicked the longer her father was gone in the crowd.

Do not think things like that. This is not your war.

Language was irrelevant to Legilimency, but Astoria sensed that her mother thought in French. Astoria had gradually come to think more in English over the years unless she was actively speaking French. She wished it hadn't happened. She wished she had known her mother was a Legilimens this whole time; she would have thought in French to make her prouder. She would have kept the uglier parts of herself buried even further so that her mother would not have to see.

Astoria, we will always love you. This is not your fault.

But it had to be! Even Adamina knew it! Whilst Astoria wallowed in self-pity, two of the unranked attackers broke their way through the flock of Greengrasses, leaving multiple injuries in their wake.

"Lofthouse says the fat one really is Slytherin's Blot!" yelled the blond to his companion, charging forward.

Their names were Caleb and Don. They called themselves "Snatchers," and they meant to take Rhiannon, Uncle Salomon, and Sofronia in one go before going for Astoria's mother. Almost in perfect formation, Astoria and Rhiannon acted with all they had.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Diffindo!"

Rather than looking at what they had done, they looked at each other. Astoria remembered the first time she had met Rhiannon's eyes. They had been filled with tears on the Hogwarts Express. All Astoria wanted was to see her friend happy and safe. Now she had killed somebody right in front of her. Legilimency was an awful thing, Astoria decided, having unwillingly made spotless contact with her victim's last few thoughts. She would never speak them.

"Rhiannon, I'm sorry," Astoria said desperately, her wand still writhing at the weight of the Killing Curse. "I'm sorry. They were going to kill you."

"I mean," Rhiannon croaked, "yours ain't bleeding like mine, so I guess that's better…"

They looked away from the bodies awkwardly, as though they simply didn't want to bring attention to a small breach of etiquette. Astoria could not think of a single thing to say to her mother except "I'm sorry," a statement she was feeling further and further away from as she saw so many in her family fight for their lives.

Maman tore a man in two over there, she thought, but Astoria was not an adult, a parent, or a warrior. She was fifteen and still had no idea how so much hatred could have been contained in these dead bodies around her. There were only three Death Eaters left, but their power became more apparent the longer the fight drew on. These three had been able to break every charm on the property and house. They had been able to hold off not only the sheer number of Greengrasses, but the strongest amongst them. And Astoria's father was still in there somewhere, and the more she thought about it, the more her mother did. And the more her mother thought about it, the closer they moved into the hellfire fight.

Aunt Laureline was once again holding up against Ivory Stretton, but it was all too obvious who would lose in the end, and Adamina had to decide between guarding her powerless father and helping her mother. She ran forth with several powerful blasts that ultimately did nothing, and it was hard to watch. Astoria was afraid to fire into the crowd of her loved ones and afraid to leave her mother and sister. Uncle Faunus was quite possibly as strong as Mrs Ciel-Greengrass, able to keep even a Legilimens like Lofthouse on his toes.

Father fought Theodore's dad, and everything prickled in Astoria's heart. If God was listening, she would have just liked to make it clear that she would take her father over her friendship with Theodore. But she severely wanted both, knowing it was too much to ask for in a world like this. Lofthouse's voice cleared her thoughts in one sharp moment.

"Ah, this is the father of the dead Squib!"

Whatever amount of Uncle Faunus's Occlumency was left all shredded upon Lofthouse's announcement. Astoria, from ten odd feet away and with no eye contact, could feel Uncle Faunus's whole being crying out for his son.

"Y-YOU—!" his strong voice broke upon learning of the loss of Renshaw. "MY SON!"

"Your defective son, yes," laughed Lofthouse, swinging his arm at the tragic-stricken, half-baked spells Uncle Faunus cast.

They both moved to cast the Killing Curse at each other, but Lofthouse was at complete peace with Renshaw's death and that much smoother. Uncle Faunus's pain abruptly went silent.

Sofronia still could not see what had happened, but when everyone began to cry out Uncle Faunus's name, she wept even louder behind Astoria, who had utterly no time to help her. Uncle Faunus had died the moment he lost his focus, and his death had distracted everybody in turn. Astoria hated that she was now thinking this way, but she had to move before she would lose her father, too.

Adam, no, stay focused, she felt her mother mentally beg, too, and they ran forward in the crowd, leaving Daphne to guard Uncle Salomon and Sofronia. Rhiannon came too, horribly afraid that one of the toughest among them had fallen. She blocked a curse flying toward Asenath, who was weeping over the body of her father. Lofthouse had begun to push through everyone, and screams of defensive incantations followed his trail. Stretton was still intent on killing everyone there.

"Stretton — the witch — she's been shot with a gun! Gracie shot her, and she used a corpse's tissue to close the wound! It was her shoulder! Can we do anything — get her weak spot?" Astoria shouted to her mother and Rhiannon as Stretton closed in on the mourning Aunt Elly and Sylvester.

"Hell yeah we can!" Rhiannon yelped. "Accio bullet!"

Bullet? Astoria wondered. What's that mean?

"AAAAGH!" Stretton screeched, clutching her shoulder and dropping her wand.

Rhiannon caught a small silvery seed and flung it out of the crowd. Sylvester, in the midst of trauma of losing his father and brother in one night, picked up the wand swiftly and handed it off to Grandfather, who had been Disarmed. Astoria's mother was still as intent as ever, casting the Killing Curse upon Stretton even though she was wandless. Astoria did not blame her at all. Old Nott Sr truly shook once Stretton fell dead. He conjured that black Shield over himself and ran out of the hoard of the crying Greengrasses.

"Nott! NOTT!" cried one of the bodies.

Rhiannon and Astoria spun to see one of the Snatchers they had left get to his knees. It was the one named Don. Nott Sr hoisted him up, and they scrambled for the doors to the garden, escaping.

"NO! I KILLED HIM! I—" Rhiannon shouted. "I THOUGHT HE WAS DOWN!"

"It's okay, Rhiannon!" Astoria cried back. "Forget them if they're escaping! We just need to Disapparate without Lofthouse cursing or grabbing us!"

It seemed everybody was trying to chase Lofthouse, which made for a slow funnel as they reached the hall. It accomplished nothing. Lofthouse took the opportunity.

"Imperio!" he said as calmly as he would have if he still had nine comrades.

"NO! NO! ADAMINA, NO! IT'S MUM! ADAMINA!"

Astoria feared the worst as there was a crack through the air. Shoving past those she loved, she saw that Erez and Hazel had saved Aunt Laureline from being killed by her own daughter, but they had not been able to dislodge Adamina from the Imperius Curse. No one wanted to cast anything substantial on her. Mr Greengrass was able to safely Disarm his glassy-eyed niece, but even as he gained her wand, she began to use magic with hand motions. She didn't know how to do that on her own.

Astoria felt like she was the only person in the hall looking at Lofthouse instead of Adamina's wandless attacks. He had decided to turn and run away the same moment Adamina ceased casting offensive magic and began casting spells on herself.

"Petrificus totalus!" Aunt Laureline quickly cast to halt Adamina's potential harm to herself.

Astoria knew it was already too late. Adamina had the same black curls and the same delicate posture as always, but she had become a living bomb. This was Lofthouse's last resort for getting a feather in his cap for killing everyone at Quennell Park. He had tried an explosive spell on Grandmother earlier, and now he put Adamina to shame by having her cast it on herself. He was bolting away from Adamina like he feared her whilst maintaining the Imperius Curse on her. All signs pointed to a very bad ending for her family.

"GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!" Astoria shouted as loud as her lungs would allow, breaking away from her father's side. "BOMB! BOMB IN THE HALLWAY! BOMB! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!"

In the confusion, Astoria was able to reach Adamina and cast a Banishing Charm on her to push her further down the hall away from the family. It was not that she was trying to let Adamina die, but she had to save everyone else first. In the darkness of the mansion at night, no one was able to see what had happened to Adamina or Astoria. Aunt Laureline, Mr Greengrass, and Erez were rushing up the hallway, all calling for Adamina, who was directly under Astoria's wand. Astoria had no way of making this look better and had to act fast.

"Prior venare," Astoria begged her wand, but nothing was happening to save her cousin.

What would come first? Would everyone think she had become the new threat? Would Lofthouse emerge from one of the rooms and kill them? Would Adamina explode?

"Astoria!" her father cried from down the hall. "What are you doing?"

"PRIOR VENARE!" Astoria screamed violently, and her wand obeyed with relish, acquiring a taste for Dark magic that Astoria had never wanted it to have.

Adamina had a seizure, her arms reaching and shaking at nothing as her mother fell over her. Her mouth opened so wide that her jaw dislocated with a painful crack, and out of it rose a glowing ball of fire, bright enough to light the hall. It had a fiery texture and throbbed precariously. Astoria had been right; Lofthouse had made Adamina into a bomb.

"IT'S THE BOMB — GO! TAKE HER! GO!" Astoria screamed, shoving her cousin across the smooth floor.

"Wh— ASTORIA, NO!" Aunt Laureline screeched, grabbing her daughter and trying to reach for her niece at the same time.

When Mr Greengrass ran forward, Astoria cast the largest-scale Banishing Charm she had ever done on purpose, sending her whole family back to the ballroom. Adamina was still under the Imperius Curse, and Lofthouse was still in the house. He had killed Uncle Faunus. He could still kill them in their moment of weakness before Disapparition. She had to make sure the creep died. Astoria had used this hex only once, on Imogen Stretton no less, and if sending Lofthouse's own bomb back to him didn't kill him, nothing would.

Astoria just had not expected him to be so close by.