"Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men." -Senaca

Chapter 4

I stumbled out of the fireplace coughing, for I was covered in soot.

"Blast! Stupidest way to travel if there ever was one." I griped some more as I swatted at my clothes. Giving up I looked around. It was a depressing sight. In front of me there rested a long wooden table packed with chairs. The walls were roughly cut stone. Heavy, old pots and pans hung up around the kitchen.

I rubbed my arms and sat down in a chair. The others who had arrived were all talking worriedly to other people I didn't know. I kept quiet and listened. I wanted to know what all this hubbub was about. The piece of paper mentioned some Order and a headquarters.

"Do you suppose Snape—"?

"Professor Snape, Ronald!" A bossy, bushy haired girl scolded.

"Yeah. He must have heard something and told Dumbledore." I tried to put names with the faces, but I'd only met them this morning.

"Why d'you reckon we had to move this morning? Don't they usually strike at night?"

"Probably wanted to sneak up and surprise us."

"Stay unpredictable."

"Do you think we'll get to go home?" Ginny, I believe that's her name, asked the group quietly.

The others didn't say much after that. We were all still waiting for Molly and Arthur to arrive with Remus. A couple minutes later they all appeared with a loud crack. The others launched themselves out of their seats and surrounded the trio. I caught snatches of the conversation but it didn't make any sense to me. They seemed to have forgotten I even existed, which was fine by me. Unable to piece together any useful information, I searched for my luggage. It might have understood more of what they were saying if I'd been a little bit more familiar with British jargon, while not a different language I still wasn't used to it.

Sighing after I realized that my stuff had been thrown haphazardly across the room, I decided it was probably best if I left them to it and had a look around. They were too caught up in the excitement, or terror, I wasn't really sure which. I twirled my wand through my fingers as I made my way up some stone steps and into a dimly lit hallway. I noticed old fashion gas lamps provided the poor lighting.

I walked quietly, not wanting to disturb anything. Rather large, rectangular pieces of wall stood out in the gloom; it looked like someone had removed objects that had hung there for years. There was an enormous discolored piece of wall near the end of the hallway. An old, life size painting, or perhaps a mirror used to hang there I guessed. I reached a spiraling staircase with intricately carved handrails that looked suspiciously like large serpents. In fact, the whole decor so far seemed to include dark or subdued colors and snakes.

"Talk about obsession. Must be some old wizard's house. I do like the snake thing though. A touch overboard, but not bad." I figured someone must have come through and disposed of the truly ridiculous things. I slowly headed up the stairs, spying several other discolored places on the walls as I passed.

"Astrid! Where is she? Ginny, are you sure she came through? ASTRID? Astrid?" I cringed as Molly's frantic voice reached my ears.

"Good grief woman." I muttered to myself. She sure was a protective thing.

"Yeah? I'm here! Just exploring." I said as I made my way back down to the hallway. A look of relief passed over Molly's face. She and the rest of her army had reached the bottom steps.

"What were you thinking running off like that?" Molly scolded me, dragging me back down the stairs and into the basement kitchen.

"You don't want to go off explorin' in this house mate. Lots of dark stuff that's bound to get you unawares." Somebody said gruffly. I tried not to roll my eyes. I could handle myself thank you very much.

"Who's that?" A freaky looking man with a wooden leg and a bulging blue eye growled. He was missing a huge chunk out his nose. I'd seen weird people back home, but he took the cake. I shrugged inwardly and supposed I'd get used to it.

"That's Astrid, ourcousin from America. She'll be living with Mum and Dad from now on." Bill told him.

"She'll be helping us with our newest products. In fact, if our calculations are correct," George, who was wearing a white shirt, said while pretending to check the time.

"And they usually are," Fred, who was wearing a white shirt with a stain, said.

"Then our first product should be taking effect,"

"In a few short minutes." The way they finished each other's sentences was kind of creepy.

"Fred, George! I told you not to prank her! How many times MUST I tell you?" Their mother really had a powerful set of lungs. I thought about my morning and didn't remember anything unusual, but then again I didn't know what was normal for that house either.

"Where did you guys plant it?" I tried to think of everywhere I'd been this morning.

"You never know." They gave me identical impish grins. "Could have been anywhere."

A shriek from behind Charlie startled everyone. Ginny, or I assumed it was Ginny, was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at the twins. Two black horns peaked out from beneath her hair and a long tail lashed savagely behind her. Her skin had turned as red as a ripe tomato, and her nails were black to match her horns.

"I see you're finally showing your true inner spirit, Gin. I always knew you were a little devil." The twins burst into peals of laughter. Everyone else who was standing in the kitchen, and there several not including the ones I knew, chuckled or hid their smiles behind their hands.

"I TOLD you not to put it on the BLODDY DOOR! How THICK HEADED can you POSSIBLY BE? GRRR!" Ginny launched herself at her twin brothers. One of them dove beneath the table while the other one decided to sacrifice a tall, skinny, black haired boy with glasses.

Molly was shouting, trying to be heard over all the laughter and the ruckus that followed as the twins continued to evade their sisters murderous clutches.

I had a smug look on my face as I tripped one of the twins, I really couldn't tell them apart as they were moving to fast, and the other one tripped over his counter part. They both tumbled to the ground soon followed closely by an angry red demon.

"Oops, how clumsy of me." I said dryly. Ginny had a hold of one of their throats before Arthur, Charlie, and Bill pulled them apart.

"Everyone to your rooms! I want you ALL settled in before lunch! Hermione, help Astrid find a room." I looked around for Hermione. The bushy haired girl bustled me out of the kitchen, grabbing one of my duffels. I slung on my backpack and grabbed the other one. We'd come back for the trunk.

"Hello, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I'm Hermione Granger, I go to Hogwarts with Ron." I tried not to wince at her. Her articulation was disgustingly perfect, and the way she seemed to almost, yet not quite, talk down to you.

"Astrid." I said, following her up to the fourth landing.

"Well, Astrid, This is the room I share with Ginny. Did you want your own? You're more than welcome to bunk with us."

"My own please. I wouldn't want to intrude." I said, forcing myself not to snap at her.

"No, really, it wouldn't be a problem." She insisted, opening the door.

"No thanks, Hermione. If you don't mind, this is getting heavy." She pursed her lips, obviously disappointed but not willing to push the issue farther. I shook my head at her back. She didn't say much until we reached an evidently vacant room. The door had once been painted black, however over the years most of it had peeled off.

She opened the door and set down my bag besides a musty, four-poster bed with green hangings. The rest of the room was empty save for a small night stand, a mirror, and two other doors I assumed led to the bathroom and a closet.

"Thanks." I said curtly, dropping my stuff on the floor to inspect the rest of the room.

"You're very welcome. Now, you can go ahead and get settled in. I'll ask one of the boys to apparate your trunk up here." She gave me an encouraging smile and left.

"Yeah, whatever." I said and proceeded to open one of the doors. It was a good-sized bathroom, perfect for one person. I smiled in amusement as I noticed that the same gothic, snake touch had been used in this room also. While I was using the bathroom I heard someone drop off the trunk before popping back out.

"Cool." I said as I surveyed my room. It was certainly spacious. It was almost like a master bedroom, though it had a slightly masculine touch to it. I shrugged and decided to break camp. As I added my own room items I speculated on what my life would be like now. Would I make friends at this stupid wizard school? Did I care? No, not so much. I was more interested in causing major mayhem, only this time nobody would know to suspect me. No more questions on who charmed the walls orange or lit so-and-so's hair on fire.

I unrolled a thick rug I'd brought from home out of my trunk, which had supposedly been my mother's. It was ideal for traveling. I could shove all my school supplies, including my cauldron and books, into one of five compartments. I had a set of old metal keys that opened the five different locks on the trunk. All I had to do was insert one of the keys into the keyholes and then open the lid to show that compartment. If I wanted to use a different compartment I'd shut the trunk, lock that compartment, unlock the compartment I wanted, then open the trunk again.

After I'd unrolled the black rug, luckily it matched the room, I began stripping down the bed. There was no way I was crawling under those bug-infested things. Who knew what could be under there? Not to mention the fact that the sheets could be used. I shuddered at the thought.

"Used sheets, oh gross!" I folded the old bedspread and what not before kicking it under the bed. If someone needed more blankets they could have these. Done with that I decided to unpack everything I wouldn't be taking to school. I'd left the bathroom door open so I went to see what was behind door number two.

"What do we have for her Johnny?" I opened the door and just as quickly slammed it shut. "Holy shit!"

The door rattled as the thing slammed into it. I braced myself against the door, trying to bolster it with my body. The door jumped forward and I slammed it shut again, ramming it with my shoulder. There was no lock on the door to hold it in. Bloodcurdling screeches and squawks came from the creature.

"Shit, shit, shit!" The door shuddered and I could hear it clawing at the door. The wood started to splinter as it grew more frantic. I knew I couldn't hold it back anymore. I spotted the main door and judged the distance.

"One, two, GO!" My adrenaline was high as I sprinted across the room and slammed the door shut behind me. Not looking back I practically flew down the stairs, thankful that no one else was there to get in my way.

I must have jinxed my self with that last thought as the door on the second landing opened. The boy with glasses from the kitchen looked up from where he stood. He froze in surprise as I tore down the stairs, the monster in hot pursuit.

"MOVE!" I bellowed. He seemed to come back to his senses and to my surprise grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into the room. He almost managed to bolt the door shut before the thing stuck it's hooked beak into the room. He was thrown to the floor as the bird like horse came at me.

"BUCKBEAK, DOWN! DOWN BOY!" The battered looking man with graying hair was launching himself at the beast from his place next to the door. Taking advantage of the distraction I ran out the door, down the hallway and through a room with moss green carpet, and into a room with several glass cabinets. I whipped my head back and forth, looking for the lock; I saw a thick wooden door just ahead and without pausing dove inside. I prayed that there were no spiders or other biting creatures.

There was a heavy wooden board that bolted the door shut. I slammed that down and leaned against the door. Not five seconds later there were a series of vicious slashes and bangs on the other side. I was nearly tossed but managed to catch myself. I let out a shaky breath when I realized the door would hold.

"Shit that was close." I heard shouts from people trying to subdue the animal. I put my hands on my hips and slowly paced back and forth, trying to slow my breathing. I couldn't see anything and I didn't want to stray far from the door. I wiped my brow with my forearm and leaned heavily against the door. I felt like a limp noodle.

I haven't ran like that since School ended.

I scrunched up my face as I tried to think of what the animal could be. I wanted to call it a hippogriff, but it couldn't be. Who keeps a hippogriff as a house pet? I'd just wait for them to get the thing under control. Twenty, then thirty-five minutes went by before someone gave me the all clear.

"You can come on out Astrid! It's safe!" I snorted.

Yeah right.

Collecting myself, I heaved up on the plank and opened the door.

Arthur and Remus were still panting heavily; their clothes had been ripped in a couple of places and Charlie was sporting a black eye and a painful gash on his arm. I winced sympathetically, unconsciously tracing the nearly invisible scar running down the inside of my forearm.

There were several others who looked worse for wear as well. A woman with shockingly pink hair was grimacing slightly as she shifted on her feet and the freaky guy with the eye was glowering at me along with a couple other older men.

I gave them all a small nod of thanks before retracing my steps out the door. This house was a lot bigger than I'd thought.

"Stop right there. What did you do to the hippogriff? Why were you even near its room in the first place? You shouldn't be snooping around where you're not wanted, girl." The man with the chunk missing from his nose growled menacingly, stepping in front of me.

"Excuse me? Snooping around where I'm not wanted? Better watch your self old man. That thing was hiding in my closet and I sure as hell didn't put it there." I said scathingly.

The look on his face and would have had me running if I wasn't so worked up myself. I'd been scared shitless when I was running through those rooms and he had the audacity to tell me that I wasn't welcome here and that it was somehow my fault? As if!

"And you know what? I don't care if you don't want me here. Its not like I had a choice in the matter anyway, I had to come here! You obviously have no idea what you're talking about and have no right to accuse me of prying, especially when it's your own fault. If you didn't want me around the damn hippogriff then you should have taken better precautions!" I let out a disbelieving snort and stalked past him, my chin raised stubbornly.

"Get back here, girl!"

"Go to hell!" I flipped him off over my shoulder and stormed back through the rooms. I heard what could have been laughter but was too angry to pay attention. I passed my cousins, Hermione and the boy with the glasses as I stalked out of the room with the moss-green carpet. They were eyeing my warily. I would have too if I'd noticed the thin stands of crackling black energy jumping around my fingertips.

I remembered several other fights I'd had with my dad before he died. He'd been a large, muscular man with a terrible temper. I reached my room and was too busy fuming to notice that my door slammed shut without me ever touching it. It had always stunned people that my dad was an accountant and not some professional boxer.

Because you have to be able to take the pain you dish out, I thought bitterly.

I marched over to my truck and yanked out my boom box a friend from school had bought me one year. It was one of my most cherished items. It was magical and was charmed to play muggle compact discs along with wizard channels, illegally of course. It'd taken months before I got the thing to work properly. I pushed play and cranked up the volume.

I exhaled noisily and lost myself in the music. It was hard rock music that always pissed off my dad with all the screaming guitars and heavy base. I smirked at the thought of playing a little Rob Zombie. I rolled over and put him in. Dragula blared into the room.

Dig through the ditches and Burn through the witches and slam in the back of my Dragula!

I turned it down after a while, feeling a bit more relaxed. I loved music, it was a great outlet for frustration; so was hitting a punching bag my dad had given me, but I'd sold that before I left the States. A tentative knock on my door made me groan. Had I not made it clear that I wanted to be left alone?

"Go away! I don't need help! I'm not hungry, and no I would not like to talk!" I yelled through the door. There were a few moments of silence before I head them slowly head down stairs.

I hope that wasn't Molly. She really does make excellent coffee.

I sighed and decided I should take a shower. Glancing at my watch, which I realized was inaccurate due to the change in time zones. I figured they'd give me another hour or so before sending someone up to get me.

A/N:

If you guys remember Sirius saying he put Buckbeak in his mother's bedroom, in this chapter I am implying that some rooms are connected...like old Victorian married couples' rooms.

Later, the author.