𝑬𝑼𝑷𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑨|| 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

~2~

Asteria woke up one late August morning to the songs of birds that had nested in the branches of the old oak tree by her window. She sat up in her bed and blew her curly hair out of her face. Asteria was now 11 years old and for the past month, she had been waking up early to see if her letter had arrived.

She jumped up from her bed and ran down the wooden stairs. "Morning Uncle Perseus." She greeted an old portrait of a past relative on the wall as ran down to the door. But in this process, she woke up father who was never in a good mood but was even worse in the morning. Over the years, she had learned to avoid him when he would leave his room for breakfast before locking himself up in his study.

"What are you doing at this time?" He hissed his question at the girl as he stood at the top of the stairs. "I was checking if my letter had come yet." She explained, lowering her voice, preparing herself to be yelled at.

"I thought your mother raised you better than that." He hissed which made her freeze and glare at her father. "Maybe if she was still here, you would be less of a brat." He added, looking in disgust at his daughter.

Just then they heard the call of an owl and a letter flew through the mail slot and onto the cold wooden floor. "Great, you got what you wanted," Cepheus said as she picked up the letter with a ruby red seal holding it shut. "Now we have to get school supplies." He added as if it was an inconvenience to his day.

"Now got clean yourself." He ordered which made her keep her head down as she passed him up the stairs again and head into her bathroom.

Although her mother wished for her to go to Beauxbatons, her father was sending her to Hogwarts. Asteria was surprised that he hadn't shipped her away to France and stay there as she would be less of a bother.

She turned on the hot tap and cupped the water in her hands before throwing it in her face. Then she looked back up at the mirror, looking at her eyes which were red and glassy as she was about to cry. Luckily, she could blame the red eyes on the water if her father pointed them out.

Then she dried her face and opened her wardrobe to find her some clothes. Her father was hardly ever involved with her life but her mother hated the idea of house-elves and had made Cepheus promise to never get on and, surprisingly, he kept that promise.

Therefore, Asteria had to do everything herself including making her own dinner. As a pureblood, all Asteria knew was dresses and her wardrobe was full of them.

She scanned through them before pulling a light blue dress off the hanger. The dress fell to her knees and was lined with lace trim. The sleeves were puffed and there was a blue ribbon around the waist.

After pulling it over her head, she ran her fingers through her curls, because she knew from experience not to use a hairbrush, and pulled a pair of wool tights on. Then she buckled up her black shoes and headed downstairs.

-☘︎︎-

The pair walked through Diagon Alley, a place she wasn't really told about because all her mother told her was how beautiful the dorms at Beauxbatons were.

Cepheus' cane tapped on the floor beside him as they went to each shop she needed. Asteria's eyes then fell upon a storefront with a bright red trim around the window. Behind the glass were several different brooms along with different coloured and shaped balls which she had never seen before. Then she glanced up to see the gold font.

"I'm going to get on the Quidditch team when I start!" A young boy exclaimed, his face pressed up against the glass. "Father, can we look in that shop?" She asked the man who swiftly turned to look at her then at the shop window she was intrigued by.

"Quidditch is nothing for a lady to do." He hissed before grabbing her hand and dragging her through the cobble path.

Asteria also noticed how differently dressed she was to everyone else and how many stares she was receiving. Finally, they found the robe shop and Cepheus pushed the door open, making a small bell ring.

This caught the shopkeeper's attention and look over at them. "Oh, first year?" He asked as he peered down at the small girl who nodded.
"Sorting robes then," He started as he walked away to grab a blank black robe. "No, a Slytherin robe," Cepheus replied.

"But she hasn't been sorted yet." The shopkeeper replied with a confused look. "But she will be in Slytherin. The entire Parkinson family was." He replied with a spit which made both Asteria and the shopkeeper jump before he grabbing a robe with a snake badge on it and handing it over.

The bell then rang again which made Asteria look over as her father handed the man some gold coins.

A couple and their son walked into the small, quaint store. The father had round glasses and a proud grin whilst the mother had dark hair and her hand was placed on her son's shoulder.

The young boy smiled at Asteria and she smiled back which was when her father turned around to see who she was looking at. Quickly, he dragged his daughter out of the shop and passed the couple by the shoulder of her dress.

"Don't ever speak to them." He hissed to Asteria. "They are filthy blood-traitors." He added. The girl then glanced back through the window of the shop, particularly at the mother who had the same warm smile her mother did. A smile she hadn't seen in years.