Chapter Thirty Four
By Boat Or By Horse
0o0
The weather grew steadily colder throughout the week as the soft September sunshine gradually hardened into the chilly amber glow of fall, bringing with it one of the oddest lessons that Astoria had ever had at Hogwarts.
On Thursday afternoon, Professor Moody, scowling and irritable as always, informed them that he would be subjecting each of his students to the first hand effects of the Imperius Curse in person.
"He's joking," whispered Anthony Goldstein impatiently. "He can't do that, it's illegal."
Somewhere near the front of the class, Hermione Granger seemed to be insisting the same thing. Heedless of these warnings however, Moody was undeterred. He began beckoning each of them forward in turn to the front of the classroom.
It was the first time that Astoria had ever not been happy to see Anthony Goldstein proven wrong.
"I don't want to do that!" whispered Parvati Patil, frightened past the point of endurance as Dean Thomas shuffled by to take his turn with Moody.
"Maybe there won't be time," suggested Lavender hopefully, looking at the clock.
As though he had sensed Parvati's weakness, Moody made quick work of forcing Dean Thomas to do a set of spectacular headstands and then turned his eye onto their row. "Miss Patil!"
Parvati looked about in wild terror.
"Come here, girl," called Moody impatiently. "I can make you, if you'd rather."
"I- I don't want to," Parvati stuttered. "I'm afraid."
"You'll be more than afraid when a group of wizards finds you late at night and decides that the easiest way to make you stay docile-"
"I'll go next," said Astoria, taking pity on Parvati, who had turned a delicate shade of grey.
Moody's magical eye twisted in his skull to observe Astoria at a very unnatural angle. Astoria had not yet spoken in one of Moody's classes, preferring to stay silent and avoid his attention as thoroughly as possible. He peered at her now, curiously.
"Alright, Greengrass," said Moody after a long pause. "Let's see what you're made of."
Astoria stood up, trying to control the shaking in her legs, and made her way toward the front of the class. Parvati made a small, thankful sound as Astoria passed her desk but Astoria could not bring herself to respond.
Astoria squared herself and faced Moody, forcing herself not to blink. Moody raised his wand.
"Imperio!"
The effect was immediate; it was as though she had slid into a warm bath at the end of a very long day. Something- an awful thing that Astoria was just conscious of, which she seemed to have always been grappling with- had been lifted. For the first time in her life, there was no choice to be made. Astoria sighed as terrible relief blossomed in her chest.
Moody suddenly spoke into her ear, his voice private and small, like the squealing of her own conscience: 'Do a cartwheel.'
Relieved of the burden that was her own mind for the first time in her life, Astoria felt herself springing forward, felt her hands reach for the ground.
Coward! Astoria's own mind whispered back, drowning out some of Moody's insistence. You've never been able to make a choice or pick a side. You would like this.
Astoria felt herself stiffen mid-spring.
Some of the bathtub-like effects of the spell seemed to be wearing off. She no longer wanted Moody's voice inside of her mind. It was bad enough to be subjected to her own thoughts, but Astoria's mind was the only place that was truly hers and Moody's presence suddenly felt like a terrible invasion.
'Do a handspring,' whispered Moody, his niggling voice suddenly less tiny and more commanding.
'No,' thought Astoria nauseously.
'Do a handspring!'
Suddenly Astoria was awake again and nothing was warm or peaceful. The sounds of the classroom came back at full force. Astoria was laying on the ground, suddenly aware of an ache in her arm that had not been there before.
"Well!" said Moody in his real voice, peering down at her with apparent surprise. "That was something."
"Ow," muttered Astoria, testing her arm.
"Well, well, well. You fought back, Greengrass," growled Moody. "You did a half of a handspring and then pulled away. You'll be feeling that in your neck tonight."
Astoria struggled back to her feet, already feeling a dull ache from where she had hit the ground without raising her hands to block her fall. Astoria stumbled forward, ready to go back to her seat, but Moody threw out an arm out to impede her progress.
"Nope," he barked. "We're going to do that again. Watch her eyes, the rest of you! That's where you'll see it."
By the end of the class, Astoria and Harry were the only two students who had managed to throw off Moody's curse completely. Astoria had never been less proud of an academic achievement in her life. Her body hurt too much to celebrate.
"Potter, Greengrass, Longbottom!" barked Moody before Astoria could make it to the door. "I want to see you here tomorrow night at eight o'clock. I have a special lesson in mind."
Astoria could tell that even Harry was deeply uncomfortable with Moody's notion of what a 'special lesson' might be, but all three of them nodded warily. Even Neville, who looked as though the promise of having to undergo the imperious curse again might just do him in.
Moody paused, eyeing the rest of the class, most of whom were snaking toward the door as furtively as possible.
"You too, Goldstein!" Moody called. "Eight o'clock!"
0o0
The next day's Care of Magical Creatures lesson did nothing to dissuade Astoria of the dread she felt for Moody's fast-approaching, nighttime lesson.
"He did what?" asked Theodore in surprise.
"He put the Imperius curse on all of us and then asked Harry, Neville, Anthony Goldstein and I all to come back at eight o'clock tonight for more," said Astoria tensely.
"He put us under the curse too," whispered Theo. "Malfoy had a fit and refused to come up to the front. Moody made him stay back after class. You almost have to give him some credit for refusing- what if Moody had turned him into a ferret again?"
"Talk about shaking things up," Astoria muttered. "Moody couldn't just have us take notes out of the textbook, could he?"
"I don't know what he's thinking," mused Theodore pensively. "It's illegal to use an Unforgivable Curse at all, let alone on minors! He can't seriously have expected any of us to be able to fight him- it's like he just wanted to prove how helpless and incompetent we are."
"I fought it," admitted Astoria quietly. "So did Harry."
"Why is he pulling you two in for extra work, then?" asked Theo, looking distinctly impressed despite himself. "There are grown wizards that can't fight off the imperius curse, you know! What did you do? Every time he tried on me, I blacked out completely. Blaise Zabini almost had it near the end, though. He was the closest in our group."
Their conversation ended when a Skrewt set the nearest crate on fire and Astoria and Theodore were both obligated to run for cover behind Hagrid's cabin.
A notice had been pinned up in the entrance hall when Astoria and Theo climbed back up the hill after class.
"It's about the Triwizard Tournament," said Theodore, who stood a half a foot taller than the rest of the crowd and could read the sign with ease. "The other schools are arriving at six o'clock on friday," Theo added. "Class gets out early. We'll miss thirty minutes of potions."
"Great," said Astoria, thinking of Maudlin's rapidly approaching arrival, feeling an odd sensation of nervousness at the prospect. "Extra Moody with a side of visiting guests."
Theo laughed but his chuckle did little to brighten Astoria's mood.
By seven thirty that evening, Astoria was beginning to seriously wish that she had just allowed Moody to force her into doing gymnastics like the rest of the class. Surely Moody had only picked Astoria because she had stood out from the the crowd, as Harry had? She could not think what he wanted with Anthony and Neville, but Astoria suspected it could be nothing good.
It was Astoria's firm opinion that being fairly promising at something rarely merited further punishment, but she could not see a way of phrasing this feeling to Moody, so at quarter of eight, Astoria left the common room and made her way down to Moody's classroom alone.
Harry, Anthony and Neville were already there waiting. To Astoria's surprise, so were Ernie Macmillan, Blaise Zabini and Susan Bones.
Unsure who to stand next to, Astoria settled for making eyes of acknowledgment at Neville and Harry before leaning against the wall opposite the door. Several moments later, Astoria heard the dull thunk of Moody's wooden leg making its way down the hall.
"In!" Moody growled at them, throwing the door open.
"Sir!" said Anthony Goldstein the second Moody had limped inside after them. "I don't understand what we're doing here. I'm positive that I didn't do any worse than the rest of the class, and I really don't appreciate being insulted-"
"You'll stop talking now, or I'll show you what insulted really looks like," barked Moody, heaving himself into his desk chair and panting slightly.
Anthony fell silent at once.
"Sir?" asked Ernie uncertainly, competing with the sound of the ticking clock on the wall. "Sir, should we have our books out?"
"You won't be needing your books," growled Moody roughly, eyeing his noisy clock carefully, "but we'll give them 'till eight o'clock on the dot before we start without them."
Astoria did not know what Moody meant by this but she could only assume that they were waiting on more students.
Sure enough, when the clock chimed eight and Moody shoved out of his seat to begin his lesson, the door opened and admitted a very resentful looking Draco Malfoy, who was followed by Crabbe and Goyle.
"There you are," growled Moody. "Pushing punctuality to its limits, I see."
Malfoy leaned against the nearest desk, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Moody insolently. For once however, he did not dare to talk back.
"Alright then. Now, you're all here to participate in a little experiment of mine," said Moody, his voice as bumpy as rocks. "I have a theory about how I can make a better impression- especially for those of you who are struggling in class."
"I'm not struggling in class," insisted Anthony, who could not seem to keep his opinion to himself. "I did the same as everyone else-"
"Not the same as Potter or Greengrass," Moody sharply. "They both managed to throw off the curse. You sang the national anthem. Pride can be a real asset when it comes to fighting the imperius curse, but it can also be a hinderance. You were more concerned with how you looked in front of your peers than you were with fighting. That's why you're here, boy."
Anthony blanched, clearly wanting to retort but lacking the courage to do so. Astoria exchanged an accidental look of embarrassment with Harry, not appreciating her name being used as a success story any more than he did.
"So, this is what we're going to do," said Moody. "I'm an adult and I've been trained as an Auror. Some of you may not be having any luck fighting me off because the starting point is way above your threshold. We're going to split into pairs and I'm going to have you try cursing each other-"
"What?" sneered Malfoy, breaking his sulky silence at last.
"You heard me, Malfoy," growled Moody threateningly. "Since you wouldn't participate during class, you're going to break up into a pair now and practice fighting the imperius curse. If you refuse, you'll work directly with me and I can't promise that I won't personally curse whatever dignity you have left out of that greasy little head of yours."
There was a very heavy silence. Draco had gone a shade red that Astoria had rarely seen before and the look on his face quite literally threatened murder but he objected no further.
Personally, Astoria could not quite see what Moody was playing at. Certainly Draco was only a school boy, but Lucius was another matter entirely. Hadn't Moody gone far enough by turning Draco into a ferret? Did he really need to reinforce his point so dramatically? Or was that, perhaps, the point?
"Ok," said Moody, rubbing his hands together sinisterly. "Our pairs..."
Draco quickly stepped toward Goyle, but Moody was having none of it.
"I don't think so," growled Moody, reminding Astoria oddly of Snape. "Goyle, you partner Bones- she looks nervous and you shouldn't put up much of a fight."
Poor Susan Bones was literally shaking as Goyle lumbered toward her.
"Malfoy-" Moody broke off, surveying the cluster of students, his swiveling eye coming to a rest on Harry.
"Are you kidding?" sneered Malfoy ferociously. "I won't do it. You can take me to the headmaster-"
"Greengrass!" barked Moody, staring hard at Draco with his normal eye while running a hand over his chin thoughtfully. "You partner Malfoy."
Malfoy went a second shade of red but Moody had already moved on, partnering Zabini with Harry and Neville with Crabbe. Anthony moved toward Ernie once it became clear that they were the last unpaired students remaining, neither of them looking displeased about the arrangement.
"Now," barked Moody, moving toward the front of the class, "I doubt many of you will mange to pull off even a weak version of Imperius Curse-"
"This is illegal, sir," intoned Anthony flatly. "No one is supposed to use an unforgivable curse. The sentence is Azkaban. Why are you trying to teach us how to use the curse instead of throw it off?"
"That's the thing about magic," said Moody softly. "It does a person good to understand how it works in both directions. A Healer's job may be to tend to the sick but you'll nearly always find that, in learning how to cure, a Healer also unintentionally learns how to kill. Often, the cruelest of murderers and fiends are in charge of our well-being." Moody's eyes flashed dangerously. "Do yourselves a favor children and don't allow yourselves to grow up to be fools."
Once again, nobody dared to speak. Moody cleared his throat and went on, "As I was saying, I doubt that many of you will be able to bring about even a weak imperious curse. It is advanced magic and it requires a certain force of will that many of you will continue to lack, even as adults. In the off chance that one of you does gain control however, I don't want any enthusiastic rule breaking. Your command is to force your partner to kneel. That's all. See what it takes to force another person to do your bidding and, with any luck, you may come to understand how to prevent being turned into a mindless slave yourself. You may begin."
There was a great deal of muttering and an awkward shuffling of feet. Nobody seemed very keen to be the first to utter a highly illegal and immoral spell out loud.
Finally, Astoria heard Blaise's shout from the other side of the room. "Imperio!"
Astoria turned to look, curious to see if his spell would have any effect on Harry, but Harry appeared mostly unscathed.
Draco scoffed, disappointed. When he felt Astoria's eyes on him, he turned to look at her almost awkwardly.
"Well," said Astoria unhappily, seeing no way around the matter, "go ahead then."
Draco raised his wand uncomfortably before lowering it again, his eyes darting toward Moody shiftily. "When my father hears about this!" he muttered nastily.
"Just go, Draco," Astoria sighed, sensing that dallying would only bring Moody back toward them.
Draco raised his wand again and squared his shoulders, his lack of motivation showing despite his efforts to hide it. "Imperio!"
Astoria waited for the warm, bathwater-like charm to settle around her head but it did not come. Astoria shrugged, feeling a little relieved, even if she did not want to admit it.
"Alright," said Draco, pulling up his sleeves, looking a little embarrassed by his lack of affect. "Imperio!"
This time, Astoria could sort of feel it; a weak warmth in her limbs. With a quick shake of her body however, she was able to push the tingling sensation out past her fingertips.
"Imperio!" said Malfoy again, becoming frustrated.
The room began to grow slightly muffled but, as before, there was nothing stopping Astoria from shaking the feeling away. There was no force of will to command her attention, much less to make her want to submit to his spell.
"Fine," Malfoy sneered. "You go."
"Imperio!" shouted Susan Bones and, to everybody's surprise, Goyle blinked stupidly and swayed a little before snapping up straight again in shock.
Astoria raised her wand, uncomfortable in the extreme.
"You have to mean it, Greengrass!" Moody called across the room. "Think of how you meant it yesterday when you forced me out of your head. Imagine that you are desperate, that you need that boy to do your bidding. Do that and you will understand the enemy."
Draco sneered, hating this instruction even more than Astoria. "The enemy?" he echoed nastily.
"Imperio!" said Astoria.
It was a very odd feeling, not warm or muffled at all because Astoria was no longer on the receiving end of the spell. She was the decision now; not the impulse. At that moment, Astoria understood that, unlike Arithmancy or potions, this was something she was good at naturally. Astoria had been rubbish at math since the day the concept had been introduced to her, but she had always been good at convincing people to see things her way. That same principle of skill seemed to apply to this brand of magic. Astoria could almost feel Draco, because she had created a living, breathing link between the two them.
So precise and so minute was this bond, that Astoria could sense Draco's discomfort as the spell hit him. He did not want to appear weak in front of Moody. He was angry, desperateto avoid shame. He hated the fact that Astoria was trying to force him to do this. Deep down, he felt that she should know better, that she should side with him. He didn't want to curse her either.
Malfoy might instinctually want to resist being a puppet, but there was a powerful part of him that was willing to be convinced, to do as she told him. Draco was capable of following blindly, in a way that Astoria often forgot when she was not forcefully linked into his mind. Astoria thought of the way that Draco sometimes parroted his fathers words without thinking first, dimly understanding that the key to forcing Malfoy into submission lay somewhere in this hazy truth. The way ahead was to convince Draco that what Astoria wanted was the safest thing; if Astoria managed that, she was certain her spell would work.
Astoria jerked backward, sickened, no longer wanting to feel whatever it was that she had just felt. She broke the connection, bringing her wand safely down by her side.
Malfoy blinked confusedly, his cheeks going slightly pink. Astoria could tell by the distracted look on his face that he had just felt some of the warm absence of self that Astoria had felt when Moody had put the imperius curse on her.
"You didn't mean it," grumbled Moody, limping across the room. "You stopped before he could fight! Do it again."
Astoria hesitated, staring at Moody's gaunt, scarred face, seeing him for the first time.
Surely the only two students that Moody believed had a real shot of being able to make the curse work had been Astoria and Harry. It suddenly seemed very likely that Moody had chosen Astoria to partner Malfoy simply because Moody knew that Draco would hate Astoria shaming him and that Astoria would not only be able to so, but would hate doing it herself. It was a carefully calculated punishment and, for a long moment, Astoria stared at Moody defiantly, speaking volumes of hatred with her eyes.
"Forget this!"sneered Malfoy shakily, collecting himself. "I'm leaving."
"You've been warned, boy," said Moody dangerously, pointing a gnarled finger at his chest.
Draco looked as though he would have spit in Moody's face if he thought he could have got away with it.
Moody turned toward Astoria. "Go ahead. To his knees."
"Imperio!" said Astoria, wanting to get this public mortification over with as soon as possible.
She meant it this time and she felt the connection come shooting back into her train of thought. Draco gave in readily, privately desperate for the numbness, preferring Astoria's authority over the furious smudge of his own thoughts.
Draco dropped smoothly to his knees on the classroom floor, as though it had been his plan to do so all along and he had needed no prompting. Astoria lifted the spell immediately. The class had gone quiet again, watching from behind Moody.
"Good," growled Mad-Eye in an eerily reverent voice. "Now, that is how it's done."
0o0
"Draco!" Astoria yelled, weaving between Susan Bones and Ernie Macmillian as they made their way out of the classroom at nine. "Malfoy, wait up!"
Draco had left Moody's classroom so quickly that, by the time Crabbe and Goyle had had found each other again, Draco was already heading down the steps to the dungeon, arguing with Blaise Zabini.
Astoria sprinted after them, only dimly able to spot his sleek blonde head in the gloomy tunnels below next to Blaise's dark curls. "Draco, stop for a second!"
"What?" snapped Malfoy, stopping where he was and jerking away from Blaise, seething.
"Oh, look," said Blaise in his smooth, amused voice. "It's Greengrass, come to curse us all."
"Shut up, Blaise," panted Astoria, reaching them at last and turning her attention toward Draco, who looked like he was in no mood to listen. "You were right about Moody, he's insane. I'm sorry-"
"Yeah?" sneered Draco in a cold tone that Astoria had never heard him use before, his face actually twitching with repressed anger. "You think? He seems to like you enough. I guess you were right- having a whole family in prison really is like having a magic charm, isn't it?"
Zabini chuckled, as delighted as he was surprised, looking positively dizzy with glee at the idea that Astoria would chase Malfoy down the hallway looking for forgiveness.
Astoria flinched, determined not to let Malfoy or Zabini put her off from apologizing, because the humiliated and angry look on Draco's face when he had come-to on the floor was still seared onto the back of Astoria's eyelids.
"No, it's not!" said Astoria angrily, ignoring the fact that Draco had just loosely spoken about her mother in front of Blaise. "Moody doesn't like me any better than you. He just paired me off with you because he knew I would feel bad cursing you-"
"You could have just said no!" Draco burst out snarlingly, a flicker of something very accusing passing across his face before he caught himself.
Blaise had frozen, his eyes no longer on Astoria but on Malfoy instead, trained in fascination. Whatever fun Astoria had offered by being ridiculous, Malfoy had just topped by being wounded. Draco seemed to realize this too late, because he suddenly looked even angrier than he had when Astoria had stopped him.
"Don't follow me around like some sad little puppy trying to apologize," he spat. "As if spending a night with Moody, Potter and Longbottom didn't make me feel sick enough! Go back to your common room and mull the whole thing over with that dynamic duo. Potter and Longbottom-" he laughed "- I think I'd throw myself out a tower first!"
"I know," said Astoria, so desperate to alleviate her own guilt that she ignored this comment about Harry, "but it's the whole scenario that's wrong. Moody just forced a class of fourth years to use the Imperius Curse on each other! Think about it, Malfoy! Don't yell at me- you could have just left!"
"And what?" Draco snapped, loosing his glossy veneer of coolness again. "Have that madman turn me into a ferret and beat the living piss out of me again!?"
This was a fair argument, in truth. The bruise on Draco's left jaw was faded but it was still visible, even in the gloomy dungeon torchlight. How many times had Moody levitated Draco ten feet into the air only to bring him down again onto solid stone?
"I'm sorry," drawled Blaise in taunting disbelief, "would you two like a minute?"
"What?" snapped Draco distractedly before catching onto what Blaise was insinuating with a scowl. "Piss off, Zabini!"
Draco pivoted and Astoria knew it would be smarter to let him keep walking, but she just couldn't quite give it up.
"Did you even go to Madam Pomfrey for that?" asked Astoria tightly, hot on his heels
"For what?" sneered Draco evasively. Astoria pointed at his face and Draco let out a breath through his teeth that came out sounding like a hiss. "Why?" he asked, jerking away from her before muttering, "It's just a bruise..."
"Draco!" said Astoria, becoming progressively more annoyed for reasons she could not quite name, "look, I'm sorry but I really didn't have any choice with Moody standing there-"
"You were impressive, really," said Blaise. "Not many fourth years could have pulled off an unforgivable curse. I thought I felt something the last time I tried, though- "
"It's an Unforgivable Curse for a reason," said Astoria uncomfortably, liking this praise about as much as she had enjoyed the actual lesson. "It's not something to get excited about. That whole class was so illegal I'm surprised Crouch didn't sense it from London."
"So what if it's illegal?" asked Draco lividly. "Moody's happy enough to use it on all of us against our will! Maybe we should teach ourselves how to use it. It evens up the playing field, if you ask me."
Astoria could not agree with this but she did not want to argue. She had followed Malfoy to apologize, not to fight.
"Your dad will probably have Moody sacked any day now," said Astoria in exasperation. "I don't know why any of this even matters."
"Will that make you angry?" sneered Draco accusingly. "Now that you're Moody's little pet project?"
"No!" said Astoria, feeling that this was very unfair. "Moody's insane! Come on, Draco..."
"His father told him to keep his head down, anyway," smirked Blaise. "It doesn't sound like he's planning on trying to have Moody fired anytime soon to me..."
Draco shot Blaise a look of ill-concealed contempt and Astoria suddenly understood part of what was making Draco so irritable.
Draco had written to his father to complain but Lucius had told him to suck it up and ride it out. Lucius was probably just as afraid of going toe to toe with Moody in public as Snape was.
"He won't say that when I tell him that Moody's been putting us under the Imperius Curse in class," spat Draco resentfully.
"Or maybe he'll tell you to stop going out of your way to get Moody's attention," said Blaise unkindly.
"Stop it, Blaise!" said Astoria, annoyed that he was provoking Draco further on purpose when Astoria was doing her best to calm Draco down and make him forget that she had just used an illegal curse on him.
"Oh-hoo," said Blaise, his eyes sparkling with repressed mirth. "She's standing up for you, Malfoy! That must be the guilt talking."
"Both of you stop it," Draco muttered hatefully, embarrassed by this comment despite himself.
"I'm only trying to say sorry," said Astoria irritably.
"You've said it," snapped Draco, his eyes hard and unforgiving.
"Fine," said Astoria, in a voice that was equally chilly, wishing she had caught Draco alone because she was certain he that would have been more willing to listen to her if she had.
Astoria spun around and headed back toward Gryffindor tower, feeling guilty and unhappy.
She was not alone in this feeling. The moment she had tumbled through the portrait hole, Astoria spotted Harry sitting by himself on a couch near the fire, looking very conflicted.
"Some lesson, eh?" spat Astoria angrily, still shaky from the confrontation in the hall. "That'll be one to tell the kids about."
"Yeah," said Harry in a low voice. "It wasn't really what I was expecting, either."
"Moody is a head case," said Astoria tightly.
"Moody's alright," said Harry, coming to Mad-Eye's defense slowly. "A little overzealous maybe... he's just paranoid."
"Real into punishing Death Eater's kids too," snapped Astoria, her anger reaching a level in her voice that was a bit unacceptable. "Or haven't you noticed?"
"What, you mean Malfoy?" asked Harry, frowning.
"Yeah, I do actually," said Astoria coldly.
"I wouldn't feel bad about that," said Harry. "Malfoy had it coming."
"Moody turned him into a ferret and beat up him, Harry!" exclaimed Astoria exasperatedly.
"Only because Malfoy tried to curse me while my back was turned," said Harry flatly. "Anyway, it's not as though Malfoy got seriously injured."
"No, but-" Astoria had to stop herself, because she was dangerously close to speaking about her own mother in order to prove a point and she did not want to do that in front of Harry. "You're right," said Astoria thickly, after struggling pause. "I'm going to bed. Night, Harry."
"Night," said Harry, peering at her in concern. "You sure you're alright?"
"Yeah," said Astoria. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
0o0
Astoria spent much of Friday in a haze of anxiety, unsure about whether she was more excited or nervous to welcome the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. There was a powerful part of her that was inclined to believe that having fresh faces around might be fun, but it was also hard to focus on the positive while the idea of having to show Maudlin around the grounds loomed over her like a scheduled visit to St. Mungo's.
When potions class was let out early, Astoria followed the rest of the Gryffindors back up to the tower in order to drop off her bag and then went down to the lawn to wait.
The students were organized by class. Astoria found Theodore in the line of fourth years easily enough, as he was the tallest person in their year by several inches.
"I wonder how they'll do it," said Theo, shivering slightly as a light breeze picked up and the moon came up above the tops of the trees in the forbidden forest. "They can't Apparate in."
"I suppose not," said Astoria, drawing her cloak closer around her shoulders.
"Look!" screamed a third year boy, pointing to a large object that was hurtling toward them at a great speed through the air above the forest.
"Its a dragon!" screamed the third year, losing his head completely. "Dragon!"
"Shut up!" snapped Draco Malfoy in annoyance, cuffing the third year about the ears.
It was not a dragon at all however, but a flying, horse-drawn carriage. The carriage came to a loud, almost catastrophic landing some twenty feet away with a tremendous spray of dirt and rocks.
A boy in pale blue robes hopped out first to fix the stairs in place. The headmistress came next- a giant woman, the size of Hagrid but much more magnificently adorned. She stepped down onto the grassy lawn in relative comfort. Dumbledore began to clap and the rest of the assembled students followed suit.
Astoria watched beadily as the Beauxbatons students formed a line behind the giant woman, waiting to spot Maudlin's familiar, well coifed head.
Astoria had never seen Maudlin in his school robes before, and she could not help but recognize that the blue striped shirts that the boys were wearing under their pale silk robes suited his complexion well.
A girl with dirty blonde hair came out of the carriage next and scuttled along quickly so that she could stand next to Maudlin. Astoria realized that this must be the girlfriend she had never met and, for a moment, Astoria was faintly surprised by the girl's meek appearance. Unlike Maudlin, who had clearly spent a lot of time fine-tuning and fussing over himself, his girlfriend wore her hair in a simple pony tale and wore no jewelry.
She's probably the heir to a entire country's fortune, thought Astoria somewhat cruelly, feeling guilty for this mental stab almost the second after she had thought it.
The Beauxbatons students went into the castle and the eyes of the Hogwarts students drifted back toward the air, waiting for the inevitable arrival of the Durmstrang delegation.
"They're coming from the lake," said Theo a moment later, prodding Astoria in the side.
With a sonorous squelching sound, the lake hiccuped and began to give birth to a gigantic ship, which seemed to have come upward from far below the surface of the watery depths. It surfaced and settled, bobbing against the choppy current. A plank was lowered and they were able to catch their first glimpse of the students from Durmstrang.
Astoria laughed out loud when she spotted Alec, who was wearing the red robes of the north, trimmed with silver fur, as if they were a terrible punishment. There was always whiff of rebellion about him, his long angular body somehow expressing his message of distaste without words.
A man in magnificent furs seemed to be the Durmstrang headmaster, even though he stood a head shorter than most of his male students. This man pushed himself to the front of his pack importantly.
"Dumbledore!" the man in the furs beamed, his mouth curling into a smile as cold as the arctic from which he appeared to have come.
"Look!" hissed Ron Weasley in a carrying voice when the Durmstrang party reached the light from the entrance hall. "Harry- it's Krum!"
"Krum?" whispered the same third year that Draco had smacked. "Viktor Krum?"
It was undoubtedly the Bulgarian national quidditch star in the flesh. Astoria stood on tip toe to have a better look, noting as she did so the bored and almost annoyed expression on Alec Hundin's face as heads in the crowd turned to stare at his very famous classmate.
"Come on," whispered Theo, pushing Astoria toward the edge of the crowd so that they would not be trampled by a pack of sixth year girls, who were tying to edge their way closer to Krum.
They ran into Fred and George Weasley on the outskirts of the Hogwarts group and Astoria was amused to find that they were almost as starstruck as the girls had been.
"Bloody hell!" said George, almost beside himself. "Did you have any idea he was so young?"
"I did actually," said Astoria, recalling what Maudlin and Alec had said about Krum before the World Cup.
Theo raised his eyebrows and continued shimmying his way toward the castle, not keen on hanging around with the twins.
"Think about how rich he must be," said Fred longingly. "He's already played in a world event! That's what we should have done, George. Never mind a joke shop, we should have been up at dawn every day, training..."
The great hall was noisy and clamorous, busier than Astoria had ever seen it with such an influx of people and colors to stand out against the standard Hogwarts black.
"Where do you think they'll sit?" wondered George, staring at the pack of surly looking Durmstrang students, who were busy removing furs and gazing up at the enchanted ceiling in awe.
"Eh," said Fred. Krum and some of the larger boys took seats at the Slytherin table and the rest began to follow suit. "Figures. Look at Malfoy-"
Draco had leaned over his golden plate and was attempting to strike up a conversation with Krum, looking very smug. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be built the same way as most of the larger Durmstrang boys and Astoria could sort of see why this had seemed like a natural seating arrangement to them.
The students from Beuxbatons, meanwhile, had settled in at the Ravenclaw table and all of them- save for perhaps Maudlin and two or three his more merry friends- looked cold and a little sulky.
"Woah," muttered George with a laugh, pointing to a particularly stunning blonde girl in pale blue Beauxbatons silk.
Even Astoria was forced to concur with this assessment. The girl George was looking at really was radiant. Astoria wondered how it was that she had never heard Maudlin or Alec mention such a creature before.
"Reminds me a bit of the Veela that we saw at the Cup," mumbled Fred, trying hard not to stare. "Sort of otherworldly, isn't she?"
Astoria imagined that Fred was probably spot on in this comparison. Maudlin was a terrible sucker for aesthetics, it was true. Things that were not beautiful or convenient rarely interested him for long, but if this girl was only part human, Maudlin would be thoroughly old school in his way of thinking about her. He was not nearly as rude as Draco could be about blood purity, but Maudlin would certainly consider spending much time with somebody- even someone as beautiful as this girl was- faintly beneath him, if one of her ancestors could be considered less than human.
Dumbledore, meanwhile, had conjured up extra seats at the staff table and was clapping his hands in order to gain their attention.
"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," he announced. "I now invite you all to eat, drink and make yourselves at home!"
The food appeared and Astoria noticed at once that, along with the usual hearty Hogwarts fare, several rather foreign dishes had made their way to the center of the tables as well.
Astoria watched out of the corner of her eye as Maudlin stood up from his seat and crossed the hall toward Alec, who was sitting with the rest of the Durmstrang students at the Slytherin table.
Astoria knew that the most appropriate thing to do would be to go and say hello herself, but she helped herself to a bowl of chicken stew instead, putting off the inevitable moment when she would have to reconcile Maudlin as part of her Hogwarts life for as long as she could.
The beautiful blonde girl stood up behind Maudlin but came toward the Gryffindor table instead. She tapped Ron Weasley on the shoulder and pointed toward something, requesting a dish of some kind. Ron did not move however, as he seemed to have been stunned speechless at the sight of her.
"What a prat!" laughed George as Ron finally came to understand what the girl was asking for and managed to pass her a bowl of fish, looking baffled.
Everybody had nearly finished their dinner now and Astoria could see that Maudlin was beginning to peer about the hall curiously- a most dangerous sign of impatience. Mostly to prevent him from coming and finding her in front of people, Astoria pushed her plate away and stood up.
Maudlin and Alec were sitting on the other side of Krum, talking very animatedly. To Astoria's intense discomfort, they seemed to have taken Draco Malfoy away from his interest in Viktor and pulled him into their own discussion
"At least you had air to breathe," Alec complained. "Imagine being sealed inside a ship with almost nothing but men, miles underwater for a half of a day, and you'll begin to grasp what I'm talking about."
"There you are!" said Maudlin brightly, catching sight of Astoria. "I looked for you-"
Out of the corner of her eye, Astoria saw Draco Malfoy turn his pale eyes onto her slyly.
"You were looking at the wrong table," said Astoria lightly, kissing Maudlin once on the cheek. "I sit on the other side of the hall."
"Oh, that's right," said Maudlin running a hand through his thick, dark hair. "I forgot- you're in the disreputable house, aren't you? Do they put you in the corner on purpose?"
Maudlin probably had not realized how rude this comment was, if his smile was any indication, but Draco Malfoy laughed anyway.
"I've always thought you two might make good friends," said Astoria, her eyes falling onto Draco suspiciously before switching back to Maudlin. "Funny how quickly you managed to find each other."
"You are not supposed to have this," said Krum in a surly voice, surprising them all. He was indicating a gold lighter in the pocket of the fur trimmed cloak that Alec had cast off. "Professor Karkaroff said-"
"Karkaroff can blow me," said Alec smoothly, looking perfectly unconcerned. "On second thought though, who would want him to? The snaggletooth on that man!"
"Alec," said Astoria, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Darling!" Alec purred.
"What to you mean by laughing? This is not funny," said Krum, turning back to his stew and scowling.
"I thought it was," said Alec smoothly, smirking.
"Sit down," said Maudlin, scooting over so that Astoria could fit next to him. A flash of silver against his navy shirt caught Astoria's eye- a cufflink perhaps- before it disappeared under the table again.
"Just so you know," said Astoria lightly, "there are some who would say that the table you are sitting at right now seats the most disreputable house."
"One can only hope," said Alec in an offhand voice.
"You're in the same house as Harry Potter though, aren't you?" said Maudlin, intrigued by Harry's fame just as much as anyone who didn't know Harry always was. "Point him out to me, Astoria."
Astoria managed to find Harry and indicate which was his head between Ron and Hermione's.
"Well, he's not very impressive to look at, is he?" said Maudlin.
"He's not very impressive, period," Draco sneered, annoyed by the turn the conversation had taken. "The way people talk about him- like he's some kind of powerful wizard. He's just a boy with a messed up face. He's not even particularly smart."
"Really?" asked Maudlin, who seemed to find the idea of the 'Famous Harry Potter' being nothing more than a scarred boy slightly funny.
"Yeah," said Draco smugly, his eyes twitching onto Astoria, perhaps challenging her to contradict him. It was clear that he felt himself to be very much in his element. "Sure, he can fly alight, but that's about the only skill anyone here has ever seen him show."
"That's interesting," said Maudlin. "He's quite famous in your country though, isn't he? Do you share a common room with him, Astoria?"
"Mhmm," said Astoria, annoyed already.
"What about a bathroom?" wondered Alec mischievously. "Do you all sneak in to watch him shower? The pitfalls of fame..."
"Only on very slow nights," said Astoria coyly, stealing a french fry off of Alec's plate. "We mostly sit around and plot new ways to make ourselves seem a bit more disreputable."
Alec laughed but Draco seemed more annoyed than ever at the notion of Astoria and her classmates trying to catch a glimpse of Harry naked.
"Alight, alright," said Maudlin with a stiff smile, perhaps not loving this visual either. "Who here is worth knowing then, if we can't even count on Harry Potter for excitement."
"No one in Gryffindor," said Malfoy, "that's for sure-" he began to point out some of the more charismatic Slytherins and Astoria watched, faintly annoyed as Maudlin took him for his word, asking invested questions about each of the people Draco pointed out in turn.
"What do you think, Astoria?" said Maudlin at last. "Where are your friends?"
"I don't know," said Astoria simply, not wishing to have to introduce Maudlin to Theodore, Tracey or- Merlin forbid- Fred and George. "I wander."
"Tracey Davis down there is her best friend, probably," said Malfoy, indicating Tracey's sharply framed face. "Unless you count Theodore Nott, but I almost never do because all he ever does is complain or lurk about quietly."
Astoria gave Draco a long, hard look, no longer certain of his motive. It was natural that he might have fallen into conversation with Maudlin and Alec based on the arrangement of their seating, but Astoria rarely saw Draco go out of his way to charm anyone who could not give him something that he wanted. Perhaps it was just that Maudlin's family was consequential enough that Draco knew better than to be his usual, instigating self in front of him?
"Do you have any better looking friends?" complained Alec, grinning at Astoria from across the table. "Why is it that the most beautiful people always surround themselves with ugliness?"
"Tracey is quite good looking, I think," said Astoria stoutly. "She's funny as well, which I happen to think is a more winning trait, personally."
"He was only kidding, Astoria," said Maudlin placatingly, not even bothering to glance at Tracey.
"She's friends with the Weasley twins as well," said Draco slowly and there was something calculated about his tone. "They've got a terrible reputation of course- always in detention for stealing or blowing things up."
"Really?" asked Alec, his attention properly piqued at last. "Where are they?"
"I'm sure they're not as bad as that," said Maudlin, his tone polite but just firm enough indicate that he was not entirely pleased. "I'm sure Astoria wouldn't spend all of her time with thieves."
"I'm only repeating what I hear other people say," said Draco, raising his eyebrows cooly, but the fact that Maudlin had instinctually stood up for Astoria's honor was clearly not lost on him.
The arrival of Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch soon put an end to their talk. Dumbledore stood up and began to reiterate the rules of the tournament, focusing heavily on the age restriction that he himself was personally reinforcing.
"The campions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire," said Dumbledore, rapping his wand upon a large wooden case that Filch must have snuck in while Astoria had not been looking.
The box melted away to reveal a roughly hewn and very old wooden cup. The cup was completely unremarkable in every way except for the fact that it was full of dancing blue flame.
"Who carved that?" wondered Alec, smirking rudely. "Merlin, I suppose?"
"Anyone wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school upon a slip of paper and feed it to the flames of the Goblet of Fire," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions will have twenty four hours to do this. Tomorrow night- Halloween- the champions names will be drawn."
Maudlin was looking at the Goblet of Fire tensely, as though he was steeling his nerves before a round of boxing against a giant. Astoria wondered idly why Maudlin was even bothering to submit his name when it could not have been any more clear from the look his face that he did not wish to compete. A second later however, Maudlin had blinked and the look of hesitation was gone.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Alec," said Maudlin, standing up with the rest as the feast came to a close. "I have to get back. Draco-" he nodded, shaking Malfoy's hand.
Alec raised a feeble hand in Maudlin's direction, fumbling about in his pockets for his illegal lighter.
"What do you think?" asked Fred, catching up with Astoria outside the Great Hall. "Reckon we can fool an age line?"
"I wouldn't risk it," said Astoria truthfully, grinning at him just the same. "Who knows what kind of enchantments Dumbledore could have put around the Goblet- the man has a funny sense of humor."
0o0
Oy, late again. This chapter should have been up yesterday. I'm trying guys, I'm trying so hard. My summer job is batty.
This chapter reminded me a little of the one where Sirius Black attacked Astoria and Neville in third year. This story isn't usually action heavy and when it does turn the focus that way, I'm never quite sure if I'm satisfied with the results. In either case, I sort of enjoy having a glimpse into Moody's mind and I think I like the fact that (for people who aren't Harry) he's sort of sowing seeds of resentment and fear all over the place.
I also like the fact that it forces Astoria to feel some of the loyalty she generally represses for people with Death Eater connections.
As always, reviews are a treat and a privilege. I hope to have the next chapter up on Wednesday (for real this time, as it's already mostly written and only needs some editing). I'll probably do some Maudlin and Alec exposition with it!