HP • Legilimency | 𝐍. 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐞

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Astria awoke with a start as a massive ball of fur leaped onto her face. She chuckled upon realizing it was just Lago.

"Naughty kitty," she quipped, pointing a finger at the furry face with a permanent scowl of Lago, who responded with a look of disdain, as if saying, 'Ungrateful wretch.'

Checking the clock on her bedside table, Astria realized Lago had done her a favor. He woke her up in time to get ready for the day.

With agility, she got up and glanced around the dormitory. Some of the other girls were still in deep slumber. She moved silently as she prepared to face the day.

Whispers followed her as she left the Slytherin common room. Draco was by her side, acting as a watchdog, while his two friends, Greg and Vincent, trailed behind them like bodyguards. Both were perfect examples of endogamy in its fullest form. If they couldn't speak, Astria would have sworn they were devoid of any cerebral activity.

Lago, who rarely strayed from her side, made for a much better bodyguard, growling at anyone who came too close to her.

Blaze was one of the kindest towards Astria. Very polite and didn't ask indiscreet questions about what it's like to be an orphan in a Muggle orphanage. She was grateful; some classmates were being overly rude about the death of her parents.

Things like, "So you never even visited your home?" Or "Your elves must be dead by now" were the easiest to handle. But what she detested the most were the pitying thoughts and glances.

The Slytherin common room was one of the most well-hidden, tucked behind a secret door in a wall of skulls. Inside, there was a beautiful view of the black lake, and it was possible to see the creatures swimming gently. Every week, a new password was posted on the notice board so they could enter the common room.

The corridors were shared by caretaker Filch, who had a cat named Madame Nor-r-r-is, who purred like a motorcycle. She was skinny, dusty-colored, with eyes bulging like lamps, much like Filch's.

She patrolled the corridors mostly on her own. If someone broke a rule in her presence, or even stuck their big toe out of line, she'd rush off to fetch Filch, who appeared, asthmatic, in two seconds flat.

Astria liked the little animal. Just as Lago seemed, they always walked together, tails intertwined. The caretaker didn't approve of their friendship. He said nothing, but he thought. Which to Astria was pretty much the same thing. However, as the days went by, both of them developed a mutual understanding of friendship due to their cats.

Draco found it very odd. If it were up to him, just like the other classmates, he'd give madame Nor-r-ris a good kick. Of course, they never did. But they thought.

Quickly, she discovered that there was much more to magic than waving a wand and saying funny words, which she occasionally translated from Latin to English alongside amusing wand movements. However, it was a great help to have focused on learning new languages while growing up, and to have grasped enough of dead languages to read Virgil's 'Aeneid' in its original Latin. Besides French, which she was forced to become fluent in due to Madame Beaufort, she also had a bit of Italian. Blaze was more than willing to help her with the language, happy to have someone who could understand his mother language.

On Wednesdays, they had to study the night sky through the telescope at exactly midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of planets. Astria loved Astronomy and found herself really making an effort to draw the sky maps exactly as she saw them.

It was a big surprise when she discovered a hidden talent for drawing. Pansy Parkison, one of her Slytherin classmates, started pestering her to make drawings for her.