Astra

XL - The Lovegoods

Triwizard Tournament - new age line, information that Voldemort wanted? Reason why Bertha was killed? Why was it brought back now?

This last one was brought to her attention most recently. James had been overflowing with excitement when he found out from Mr. Crouch and Bagman (by eavesdropping on their conversation with Dumbledore) that the Triwizard Tournament was going to be held at Hogwarts. At first, she had been worried, mostly about Harry and Wormtail's involvement, but Lily came with the assuring news that there was going to be an age line and that there wouldn't be anyone under age 17 allowed in the tournament.

She quickly relayed this information to Sirius, knowing that he would want to be told about this, and she was correct. Of course, it took a while for one of the school owls to reach him, but she was constantly updated by Regulus, who continued his checkups even if his brother wasn't in Azkaban anymore.

Now that her new friends were gone, Astra once again spent most of her time with the dead, mainly Regulus, and sometimes Marlene and Dorcas. She made daily visits to Minnie and Hagrid now that there weren't dementors surrounding the castle. She also considered telling McGonagall about everything that had happened, but decided against it. It would only complicate things more.

Like McGonagall promised, she put a mandrake leaf under her tongue a week after summer started for her animagus potion, making Charades her new favorite game of the summer if she wasn't working on the mystery. She made visits to the kitchens, even though she couldn't eat much without risk of losing the leaf.

Even though she still hoped for a slightly boring summer, only watching the tasks of the tournament, Astra had large doubts about whether that was actually going to be the case.

***

Astra left on August 11, a week before the World Cup to meet Luna. McGonagall apparated her to Ottery St. Catchpole where she met Xenophilius Lovegood and took a portkey that was shaped as an old-fashioned handbag to the campsite.

The sensation was the same as before; feeling as though a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. Xenophilius stumbled a little as they landed, while the two girls landed gracefully, even though Luna had never used a portkey and Astra only once.

"Alright, ready girls?" came Xenophilius's voice.

The girls looked at each other and nodded, taking in the view. They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them was a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.

"Good morning," said Xenophilius, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it into a large box of used Portkeys beside him.

"Hello, coming early, eh?" said the man. "Lovegood, right? Let's see... About a half a mile walk that direction, third field. Site manager's called Mr. Carter."

"Thank you," said Xenophilius and Luna, while Astra gave a small nod. It seemed that every year, her appearance grew more similar to her relatives, making her easier to recognize. For the students at Hogwarts, she was the girl who spent a lot of time in the library with an odd group of friends, but to others, she was still the daughter of a mass-murderer and cousin of a psychopath.

They set off across the deserted moor, unable to make out much through the mist. After about twenty minutes, a small stone cottage next to a gate swam into view. Beyond it, there were ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, rising up the gentle slope of a large field toward a dark wood on the horizon. They turned to the left and walked a bit before seeing a man with short, grey hair and clothes that actually looked as if it were from a muggle, probably because he seemed like one of the only muggles there.