Astra

XIX - The Attack

"Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts," Harry blurted out.

"Really?" said Lupin, looking only mildly interested as he took another gulp of potion.

"Some people reckon --" Harry hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, "some people reckon he'd do anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts job." Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face.

"Disgusting," he said. "Well, Harry, I'd better get back to work. See you at the feast later."

"Right," said Harry, putting down his empty teacup. Harry got up and so did Astra, but Lupin stopped her. "Actually, Astra, I was hoping that I could speak to you about your boggart, if you could stay for a moment."

Astra inwardly groaned and put her bag of food back down. Not only was she delayed in getting to the Shrieking Shack, but she was going to be questioned about the figures in her boggart. She hadn't necessarily thought about what she was going to say, but either she would have to make up lies that she had no idea who those people were, or she was going to have to tell the truth about her talking to the dead and probably about visiting her father.

Harry made his way out of the room, looking a bit confused at Astra.

"Well, I told Professor McGonagall about your boggart and I was hoping that she talked to you about it, yes?" he started.

"Yes, we talked two days ago. Thank you," Astra replied, a bit boredly.

"Alright, good to know. I was wondering whether you knew what the second part of your boggart was," he stated as he looked at Astra with a curious look.

"Oh, I think that there were three people at the end. I don't know who they were though," she lied.

Professor Lupin seemed to be able to tell that she was lying, but didn't push it any further and allowed her out of the classroom. She excitedly grabbed her bag of food and headed out, checking that no one was out in the hallways, and headed upstairs to see if she could get the invisibility cloak. Unfortunately, it seemed that it must have been with Harry, but now he was surrounded by Hermione and Ron. She sighed, it seemed that she would have to go check on him the next weekend or sometime during the week. 

***

Astra wished that she had a way to contact her father, but she couldn't send an owl; it would be too risky. She also couldn't walk over there without the invisibility cloak, everyone would see her, and it would be very suspicious. She had heard of a way that people could send messages using 

Patronuses, but she still hadn't been able to create a corporeal Patronus. Astra quickly realized that she hadn't tried since yesterday, and the happiness that she felt when meeting her father must be enough to create a corporeal Patronus. It seemed that James and Lily must have been with Harry, and she didn't really want to interrupt them, so she called Regulus. He had been a bit bored lately, seeing as there wasn't really a big mystery, and Sirius was safe in the shack.

"Regulus," she hissed as she made her way into an empty classroom.

"Hey, little star! Why aren't you with Sirius?"

"Well, I was heading there, but then Professor Lupin, or Remus, I really don't know what to call him, but he called me into his office to ask about my boggart. I just went back to look, but the invisibility cloak isn't in Harry's dorm. It must be with him for some reason. I can't really go there without it, it would be too risky. Anyway, I remembered reading something about how you could send messages through a corporeal Patronus, so I thought I would try it with the memory of yesterday. I was hoping you could help me?"