Astra

X - The Summer At Hogwarts

AFTER ONLY A WEEK Astra found herself into a simple routine for her first summer at Hogwarts. She would go to the kitchens for breakfast, usually reading a book or talking to one of the dead while eating. Then, she would find herself either in a conversation with one of the dead, reading at the astronomy tower or the Great Lake, or discovering different parts of the castle. Even with the Marauders' Map, there were still new places to find. 

On the third day of wandering around the castle, she found a room on the 7th floor when she wanted something interesting to do. Astra opened the doors to find the place filled with games, books, and bean bags. She immediately recognized this as one of the fables she had heard of while reading a book on Hogwarts' founders. It was called the 'Room of Requirement' or the 'Come and Go Room'. She showed James, who was astonished that they had never found it. She thought about possibly adding it to the map, but soon found that it was unplottable.

She would go back to the kitchens for lunch and make a visit to Minnie, Hagrid, or both. Finally, she would eat dinner in the Great hall with the other professors, who had all come around to liking the girl, even if she didn't take their classes yet. After a few dinners, she realized that during the summer, it got quite tiring to call them all professors. So, she created a few nicknames which the professors gladly took, except for Snape. He was still Professor Snivellus, and even though Minnie had told her several times that it was unacceptable, it was only half-heartedly and it truthfully reminded her so much of the Marauders, just like when she had started calling McGonagall 'Minnie'. 

In the hallways and at Dinner, she started calling Professor Sprout 'Pom Pom', because her first name was Pomona. The lady thought it was sweet and gave a warm smile to the girl. Even though Flitwick had, at first, been wary of the girl, he soon found that she was quite caring and sweet. He gave a happy squeak when Astra called him 'Filly' while asking for the salt. Astra wanted to create a nickname for Madame Hooch, but found that she really hated her first name, so she was just 'Hooch'. Silvanus Kettleborn, though Astra didn't take the class yet, was a kind person, even though he had lost a lot of limbs from his magical creatures. She soon started calling him 'Silver'. Though Madam Pince never left the library and was normally quite rude to the people there, Astra had gotten on her good side, always helping out with her books, though she still didn't get to call her by her first name. Professor Sinistra was also known as 'Rory', short for her first name, Aurora. Astra spent a lot of time in the Astronomy tower and always listened to the facts that Rory told her, even though Uncle Reg had already told her most of them. Professor Trelawney rarely left her tower and the one time Astra saw her, wasn't really a great impression. She was very dreamy, but not necessarily in a good way. Trelawney immediately pulled on her and stated that the girl had a 'very impressive aura'. Astra knew this, of course, as seeing powers were closely related to the ability to see the dead, but didn't say anything about it. Professor Burbage was very enthusiastic about her muggle objects and often asked Astra her opinion of them. Astra couldn't really say much, as she never did use a lot of technology in the orphanage, but Lily had told her about a few of them. There was also Madam Pomfrey, or 'Poppy'. Though Astra never got injured, so she didn't need to go to the hospital wing, she often helped Poppy with brewing extra Pepper-Up potions and restocking the cabinet. Lastly, there was Professor Vector, who taught Arithmancy. Astra was interested in the subject and promised that she would have to take it when she got to 3rd year. However, she wasn't quite sure, as she was also very interested in Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes, and she might have to take Divination if she wanted to understand her 'inner eye', but also felt like applying for a time turner would be too much.

On the second weekend of the summer, Minnie took Astra to go shopping at Hogsmeade and Astra was impressed. She took in the sights and bought quite a bit with the money that Minnie had gotten her from her vault in Gringotts. She bought almost every different kind of candy in Honeydukes, looked around the post office at all of the owls, bought some new color-changing quills from Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, looked at a few of the books in Tomes and Scrolls, and had a butterbeer with Minnie in the Three Broomsticks. Afterward, she looked at the Shrieking Shack with a sad expression on her face, remembering what James had told her about it and his friend, Remus Lupin, and sneaked into Zonko's where she got a few products that Minnie didn't need to know about.