Harry enjoyed his meeting with Professor Lupin that afternoon, but for every question that was answered, two new ones jumped in Harry's mind. He spent several minutes jotting down some of his unasked questions after finishing his studies after dinner, hoping that the professor may have more information another time. Unfortunately, it took him longer than usual to fall asleep that evening as his thoughts drifted toward his parents, then Nova, then the previously-nameless demon that slaughtered his parents. When he did fall asleep, he dreamt that he was buried in a tomb of asps… but even more peculiar, he could talk to them. At least, they could understand each other. Harry spoke to them in his native English, while he could understand their sibilant language with perfect clarity.

When he got up the next morning, Othniel couldn't help but remark at Harry's saggy eyes and his hair, which was even more disheveled than usual. "You okay, man? You look like you haven't slept a wink…"

"It's nothing," Harry assured his friend. "Just a bad dream is all."

At breakfast, the school owls dropped off the daily post. Ana was excited to receive her note, while Harry was less-than-enthusiastic to receive his, though he was at least glad to see Hedwig that morning. He stroked her chin-feathers and offered her a couple of small bites of sausage.

"Omigosh," Ana squeaked with delight as she read her note. "I know who my new pen pal's going to be! Her name is Daphne Greengrass, and she's a firstie at Hogwarts! I'm beyond excited to begin my correspondence with her!"

"That's awesome," said Tallulah. "Are you going to write to her today?"

"Did Merlin have a beard?" giggled Ana.

Meanwhile, Harry groaned to himself as he read the contents of his note, which was considerably less exciting than the one Ana received:

"Mister Potter,

Your upcoming detention begins next Saturday, September 14th. You will meet Mister Floyd in the entrance hall at 4 PM sharp. He will give you further instructions then. Do not be late.

Sincerely,

Sen. Professor L.E. Frye"

"What was that all about, Harry?" asked Othniel upon hearing his friend's defeated sigh.

"Got detention a week from tomorrow," mumbled Harry. "Between you and me, I'm not looking forward to it."

"Maybe that'll learn ya not to break school rules," chuckled Othniel.

"Teach, Othniel," Tallulah chimed in, wagging a finger. "I'm from rural Georgia and even I know better than that."

"Teach, learn… same difference," Othniel replied with a shrug.

"Not really," cooed Tallulah. "Teaching always requires at least two parties – even if one of them is more of a something than a someone; just one is needed for learning."

"Well, you're also a lot smarter than I am," admitted Othniel. "You were the first to get that matchstick to transform into a needle yesterday…"

Tallulah blushed. "Well, I guess that goes without saying…"

Meanwhile, Ana began writing a letter to her pen pal at Hogwarts:

"6 September 1991

Dear Daphne,

Hiya! How are you? My name is Anastasia Harrison, but I also go by 'Ana' for short. I adore your first name… it's very lovely. Like Anastasia, Daphne also comes from Greek – it means 'laurel' (I'm sure you can tell I'm a total nerd).

I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to have a pen pal from Hogwarts – there is so much tradition and prestige associated with your school; I'm honestly a little jealous! I know there are several houses at Hogwarts, just like we have at Ilvermorny – where did you end up being sorted? I'm a second-year Horned Serpent, which is where the scholars tend to go. Our colors are teal and gold (I love teal, for what it's worth), and I finished top of my year last term.

I'm 'no-maj' born, meaning my family isn't magical. My parents are pharmacists of all things! I have an older sister named Nell, and we have a golden retriever (they don't allow dogs at Ilvermorny, but they let me bring my kitty Scaggs along… he's a massive Maine Coon!)

I can't wait to get your reply, and get to know you better. I'll see if I can attach a picture next time.

With love from Ilvermorny,

Anastasia"

She gently folded the parchment, then tapped Harry on the shoulder. "Hey Harry, could you have Hedwig take this note to the owlery please?" Hedwig was still pecking away at the last of Harry's uneaten sausage patties.

Harry nodded. "Hedwig, would you be a good girl and take Ana's note when you go back?" His avian companion cocked her head and hooted softly, which Harry supposed was an affirmative response. She took one last nibble of sausage, then grabbed Ana's note before swooping away to the owlery.

Tallulah's face then brightened. "Harry? Othniel? Don't forget that we have astronomy tonight with Professor Forkgrinder."

"What time is that supposed to be?" asked Othniel. "And where is that exactly?"

"Ten o'clock in the Observation Dome," drawled Tallulah. "It's the big glass half-sphere roughly halfway between the Proving Grounds and Morrigan Forest."

"It's an easy class," added Ana. "Professor Forkgrinder is hilarious. He's got all sorts of goofy mnemonics to help you keep the names of stars and constellations straight. And telescopes are provided, which is nice… I can't believe how much a personal telescope costs at Nessel Road!"

Harry went upstairs along with Tallulah and Othniel to the Horned Serpent tower after lunch so they could spend a few minutes to relax together. Once again, Harry spotted Nova sitting by herself in a corner, with a textbook in her lap and a mug of hot tea in her hands.

"'Scuse me for a minute," Harry told his friends in a soft voice. "I… need to talk to Nova about something. This shouldn't take long."

"Are you sure?" whispered Tallulah. "She can't stand us!"

"I just want to try," Harry assured her. He made his way to the other side of the room and cleared his throat. "Erm, Nova? Can we talk for a minute?"

Nova slowly lifted her gaze from her book; her grey eyes met his green ones. She sighed. "What do you want, Potter?"

Harry knew he had to get to the point. "I know you're Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Roger's daughter," he said. He couldn't resist the urge for his lips to curl into a smirk. "You look just like your dad, but you have Aunt nk,Rhonda's eyes."

"So what?" huffed Nova.

"I guess… I'm just a little tired of the tension between us," admitted Harry. "If it means anything, your parents never rejected you… they love and miss you very, very much. Even Remus… Professor Lupin said so. He's a very good friend of theirs, as is my godfather, Sirius." He could tell that Nova's eyes began to well with tears.

"I really, really want to believe that," Nova whispered, perhaps more to herself than to Harry.

"Why did you come to Ilvermorny?" asked Harry. "Professor Lupin said that you didn't have to pay tuition as your father used to teach here, but I don't think that's the reason… at least the only reason. Like myself, you're a Hogwarts legacy. You could have just as easily stayed in Magical Britain."

"Because I wanted to get away from my grandparents, whom I thought were my actual parents until I got my acceptance letters from Hogwarts and Ilvermorny," replied Nova. "They're… they're not good people, Harry. They have very antiquated, even hurtful views on who should and shouldn't practice magic. I didn't even know my actual parents existed until I was almost eleven… my grandparents literally never talked about them."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "Not long before my first term started, I did some soul-searching. I wanted to know who I really was… I asked my grandparents some, erm, uncomfortable questions. Of course they got defensive – they'd change the subject, or make up some story to assuage me. For instance, they completely slandered my mother's good name… they told me that she was a Knockturn Alley harlot that seduced my father!" Another teardrop fell. "They were so ashamed of the fact that my father was dating a non-magical girl. They felt it better to cover it up with senseless stories than to tell me the truth. It's so, so insulting. I may still be a child, but I'm not naïve."

"Aunt Rhonda is a good woman, and the closest thing I had to a mother after my actual mother died," Harry offered gently. "She may not understand magic, but that hasn't stopped her from loving Uncle Roger or myself. He offered her a friendly smile. "Would you like to maybe, erm… come to Surrey with me this Christmas? Meet your birth parents? I know they'd be thrilled to see you for the first time in many years…"

Nova's lips formed the faintest of smiles. "I'll… I'll think about it, Potter." She offered her right hand to him. "Thank you for reaching out to me. Perhaps, going forward, our interactions might be a little less awkward."

Harry gratefully shook Nova's hand. "You're welcome, Nova. I s'pose I'll see you around."

A few minutes before ten that evening, Harry, Othniel and Tallulah began making their way to the Observation Dome for their weekly Astronomy class with Professor Forkgrinder. The dome was exactly as Ana said it was – a massive glass dome about two hundred feet across and a hundred and twenty feet high. Although it wasn't quite as tall as the castle, it was positioned on the highest point of Mount Greylock so that the top of the glass overlooked the tallest castle spire.

When the children entered the observatory, the first thing they noticed was a staircase that hugged the inside of the dome. There must have been at least three hundred steps which led to a mezzanine that was suspended not far from the top of the dome. This platform had dozens of smaller telescopes mounted on tables – ostensibly for student use, plus a much larger central telescope.

The main level had regular student desks, and various models and charts of what looked like the solar system, star charts, and other celestial bodies. Tallulah even gasped when she saw a large yellow orb floating around the perimeter of the observatory… but there were eight smaller objects that appeared to be gravitationally-bound to it, and smaller spheres still orbiting many of the eight orbs.

"It's our Solar System in action," she squeaked excitedly.

"I didn't know that the Sun moved," replied Othniel. "I just thought that the Earth revolved around the sun, and the Moon revolved around the Earth, and that's it."

"The Sun is gravitationally-bound to a supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy," replied Tallulah. "It revolves around it much in the same way the Earth revolves around the sun. The time it takes for the Sun to complete a revolution is called…"

"A cosmic year," chimed in Harry with a grin. "We learned that in our science class last year."

"Show-off," snorted Tallulah.

"Greetings, greetings, fellow star-gazers," came a boisterous greeting from the opposite side of the observatory. A slightly heavyset, mustachioed man who looked to be about fifty strutted to the front of the observatory. "I'm Professor Tregoweth Forkgrinder, and I'm positively thrilled to be teaching you the exciting art that is Astronomy!" He paused momentarily to adjust his toupee. "We'll be studying stars, planets and their moons – yes, all of them – and if you pay close attention, you'll even learn how to find a planet in the daytime!"

Forkgrinder's speech patterns were unusual in that they came out in a perpetually-excited state, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because it made mundane topics seem more interesting. He started the lecture with the planet Venus, which was approaching its maximum brightness for the year.

And just like that, the class was over. "Keep looking up!" exclaimed the eccentric professor as he dismissed his students.

"At least we get to sleep in tomorrow," said Othniel with a yawn as they left the observatory. "Though that wasn't a bad class… I'm not sure what's magical about it, but I'm not complaining…"

"Then there's no excuse for you not to at least get an Exceeds Expectations," replied Tallulah. "It's just once weekly so you shouldn't get overloaded with tons of homework."

"That's easy for you to say," huffed Othniel. "We have to plot twenty stars according to their position on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram by next week… I don't even know where to begin!"

"If you paid attention, he gave us quite a few of those in class today," Tallulah said matter-of-factly.

"But I took a bunch of notes," groaned Othniel. "I guess I don't understand some of it."

Tallulah giggled. "That's why you ask questions, silly. He's given you plenty of opportunity to ask but you didn't raise your hand one time!" She gave Harry a look that practically begged him to back her up.

"She's right, Othniel," Harry added. "Professor Lupin told me earlier that the only bad question is the one that's left unasked… and I think that applies anywhere!"