Book 4: Astoria Greengrass and the Curse of Quennell Park
Song rec: "Nightclothes" by Radical Face

Rhiannon and the Greengrass girls were back from Ilvermorny for the summer. Rhiannon had, somewhat decently, completed her sixth year at Ilvermorny once she had been able to locate all her classes. With the encouragement of Daphne and Asenath, she had even tried out for Quidditch, and she was one of the Beaters for the Wampus team. Rhiannon and Asenath were friends again, but by Merlin if there was anybody she wanted to date less than Asenath! Rhiannon thought of Hestia every day. She didn't even know if Hestia was…

No, no, it was too terrible to think.

Part of Rhiannon's coping mechanism involved getting lots more tattoos, and Asenath coped with the loss of her father and brother by working endlessly on designs for under-the-table customers. In addition to the basilisk skeleton on her back, Rhiannon now sported a patterned sleeve with the moon phases in the centre down the length of her scarred arm in honour of Professor Lupin. She couldn't wait to show him. She also had a Wampus cat up her side for the House that had accepted her as one of its own even though no one there understood her accent. For Astoria, the inner wrist of her wand hand had the constellation Telescopium, because Astoria spent so much of her time at a telescope. The constellation looked more like a misshapen kite than a telescope, but it was the meaning that was important. Each time Rhiannon got a new tattoo, she spent considerable time thinking of what her next one should be. She liked displaying them at dinner because the Greengrasses couldn't say anything about it.

The mansion in Boston was not as grand as Quennell Park, but everyone sat at the same enormous table, so each dinner was a banquet. Rhiannon never bothered to "dress for dinner," even though the Greengrasses had provided her with plenty of clothes. What would they do, kick her out if she used the wrong fork? She was seventeen. She'd probably have to find her own place once she graduated. Well, actually, she might not have to, but she would want to. Where would she live? Close by in Boston? What would she do with her life, anyway? There was no band. She had no plans. Maybe she'd work the counter at Wowza's Wizarding Music Store in Boston's Mystic Square district. That, at least, would be slightly related to what she had wanted when she was younger and naïve. It was only a step down from what her friend P.R. did in London, really. But she missed him, too…

The weather was nice, and Rhiannon thought about going for a walk once she was done with her meal. Sofronia enjoyed joining Rhiannon for long walks because since she had lost her vision, her parents had been pulling the same overprotective stuff Astoria's parents liked to do. So the girls often got out of the house and explored Muggle Boston even though it evoked distaste and worry in the family.

Their worry didn't save Astoria.

Whilst the adults chatted at one evening dinner, Rhiannon finished her meal and excused herself from the table. The second she turned to the door, though, Daphne gasped so loudly Rhiannon thought she'd choked. Daphne's eyes were at the ceiling, her mouth was dropped open, and sweat was pouring from her. In fact, most of the other family members were sweating profusely, too. Some had begun to fan themselves; others uncouthly gulped down their drinks. Asenath, true to form, removed most of her top clothes right at the table. Rhiannon drew her wand, thinking something bad was happening. It seemed like she was the only one unaffected, but after a second scan of the room, Hazel Wakeland, Erez's wife, and Valera Greengrass, Sylvester's wife, were both fine. Mrs Ciel-Greengrass was fine. Sofronia's dad was fine. All of the Springhouses were fine. Only the born Greengrasses, not the married family, were getting sick.

"What's happening?" Rhiannon asked Mrs Ciel-Greengrass as if she would know, but she didn't. She was trying to talk to her overheating husband, whose whole head was red.

"Everyone, let's make the room cold!" the witch exclaimed in response to the communal fever.

Rhiannon quickly helped to magically chill the room whilst Mr Wakeland wet a napkin and placed it over his wife Thalie's head. Adamina fanned Sofronia with her hand even as she herself was panting with the heat. Then suddenly, it stopped.

People who were slumped over sat up, and people who had resorted to grabbing the ice out of their goblets now looked embarrassed to have it melting in their hands. Everyone started chattering about what had happened, but Daphne stood up and wiped her face with her hand.

"Astoria!" Daphne shouted, and the chattering halted. "It's Astoria!"

Mrs Ciel-Greengrass immediately welled with tears at the name and started shaking her head. In French, she said something to Daphne that was halfway between a chastisement and an offer of comfort, but Daphne wanted the conversation public.

"No, it's Astoria! She's alive! My baby sister's alive! I Saw her! The Inner Eye showed me — Astoria's saved! We're all saved! Astoria and, and, and her s-s—"

"Daphne!" Mr Greengrass exclaimed.

"You have to believe me! Astoria's at Quennell Park! I Saw her!"

Mr Greengrass was in terrible pain to hear those words, and he was already stuck comforting his sobbing wife.

"Daphne, how dare you say these things to your mother? You're frenzied with grief. Leave the table. We will talk later," he said.

"No, please!" Daphne cried, gesturing with her arm, "Daddy, Astoria's at Quennell Park, alive! My Inner Eye—"

"You have no Inner Eye, Daphne!" Mr Greengrass shouted, and he pointed fiercely so she would leave the room. "Do not slander your sister's peace!"

"THE LAST TIME YOU IGNORED MY INNER EYE, UNCLE FAUNUS DIED!" Daphne roared. "ASTORIA IS ALIVE! SHE'S ALIVE, AND THE WAR IS OVER, AND SHE'LL BE HAPPY! I'M GETTING ON THE NEXT SHIP HOME TO SEE HER, AND YOU CAN STAY HERE WITHOUT ME!"

Daphne stormed madly out of the dining hall, leaving her family utterly shattered. Rhiannon took after her, in part because she didn't want to be round the Greengrasses anymore, and in part because she wanted to know what was happening. Rhiannon was a depressive realist; she wasn't about to believe in Astoria's miraculous survival only to feel the grief once again. But why did Daphne have a vision the same time people started overheating in a cool room?

Daphne snaked past all the furniture in the next several rooms until she burst through the doors of the courtyard, the only patch of grass in the urban house. Rhiannon pursued her running at first, but she slowed to a walk. She didn't want to come across as angry or forceful. Really, she wasn't angry. Daphne was either correct, or her mind was just trying to cope. She hadn't done anything wrong.

"Hey," said Rhiannon.

"Hey," Daphne said, heaving in the sticky evening scent.

"They ain't got no reason to yell at you like that," Rhiannon commented.

"Thanks. I know what I Saw."

There was a pause. Daphne was still wiping her face. Then she walked to the bench and hunched over, removing the fancy new prosthetic arm that she hated. She squeezed her other arm tightly over her stomach. Rhiannon knew sod all about the Inner Eye, but she trusted that Daphne's was real.

"I swear I Saw it," Daphne said. "Through clairvoyance. Remote viewing. It came suddenly with the heat. Daddy will never believe me. I don't know what to do. I have to go see Astoria. Oh, Rhiannon, I bet you don't believe me, either…"

"Well, Daphne, it's all right. I'd really like to believe it. You and me both want her back. I hope she is out there. But, y'know, if she isn't, she's always with us in her own way," Rhiannon said quietly.

"I know. But… I… it's real. I know. Because she had… Er. Well, she had some injuries. She was at Quennell Park, and something was on fire, and she put it out. It was like she felt the same heat we did. And she put it out and walked back to the house. The house had lots of burns on it, but it was standing. She seemed okay, really, but she's alone. I don't know what to do. The war's over. I don't know how I know, but it's over. She was at the house alive, Rhiannon, I swear. She's set in motion something my Eye can't fully understand… Something good…"

"Move your arm off the seat so I can sit next to you?" Rhiannon suggested.

"Oh! Sorry," Daphne said, setting her prosthetic on the other side.

"No, it's fine. Listen. There's only one way to find out what's happening. I'm of age, and so are you, so if you wanna buy tickets for a boat, I'll come with you."

"Oh, but the ships won't sail home due to the war…"

"They'll go to France, the way we came. We'll get one for France, and from there take the ferry if it's running. If it ain't, I'll Apparate us from the shore. We'll just go back the way we came and see for ourselves. I'm not gonna say I believe you, Daphne, but I'll search far and wide until we find out something about why this happened."

"My sister's alive," Daphne wept. "I want to go home right now."

"Well, we can't Apparate that far," Rhiannon said. "Let's figure this out tomorrow, right? Don't worry what your parents say. I'll stick with you."

Daphne shook her blonde curls out of her face.

"I don't know how she survived. My baby sister… oh my God… I saw her so clearly. She had a bad scar on her arm. Her shoes were all wet. I don't know what's happening," she blubbered.

"We're gonna find out," Rhiannon vowed. "Promise."

Rhiannon walked back inside, and all eyes were on her. So she said, "Daphne's outside. Just leave her be for now," and they actually listened. Not fifteen minutes later, the evening owls came. The headline in the sunset edition of the Boston Hoot read in boldface:

BRITAIN'S WAR ENDS: HARRY POTTER NAMED HERO

The large family clambered so wildly for the few copies delivered to them that Mrs Kippling made duplicates of the headliner and tossed them across the main living room. Rhiannon snagged a copy. There was nothing in the article about individual names other than Harry Potter, Voldemort, and the new Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt. Those were the only names relevant to an American audience. After all, they'd never have known Astoria Greengrass. In spite of that, Rhiannon read everything again just to be sure.

There was no proof that Astoria had somehow survived, but if half of Daphne's comments were true, could the other half be real, too? Rhiannon ran back out to Daphne in the courtyard to show her. Family members would soon follow, and Daphne would be overwhelmed with questions.

Rhiannon handed her the newspaper. Daphne didn't even care to read the article, because, as she had tried to say, she already knew.