Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
DURING THE TIME RORY SPENT AT ANDROMEDA AND TED'S OVER THE SUMMER, SHE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL MORE ABOUT HER FAMILY. And the more she learned, the more she was impressed at how her father ended up relatively normal coming from his family. Yes, he was a drama queen, as Remus told her often, but considering all he endured at the hands of his parents, it was remarkable he was fairly cheerful as a teenager.
Rory knew enough about her family from reading thick volumes to know they were a... complicated group of people, but once Andromeda informed her of the more gruesome details, Rory looked at them in a different light. She had never fully looked at them in a good light, but now she never could.
All that to say that she spent a lot of time during the rest of her summer thoroughly examining the many photographs Andromeda had given her of her father during his time at Hogwarts. There were very few from his time at home and those that existed showed Sirius and Regulus looking incredibly uncomfortable.
Walburga Black, their mother, and Rory's grandmother had a stern look in her eye in any picture that she could find. Given that the photos move, she saw the way both brothers would flinch whenever they caught their mother's gaze, as though she was silently threatening them.
Orion Black, meanwhile, was clearly not the true head of the household, his wife was the one who controlled everything. His expressions were neutral yet also stern. They both gave a very clear impression of the type of parent they were to Sirius and Regulus.
Given everything he endured, Rory found it remarkable that her father didn't go mad. Remus always told her that his friends kept him grounded — and perhaps that was true — but Rory felt it was more than that. She saw it in almost all the photos she found of her father and Remus when they were young. His friends may have kept him grounded, but Remus was the one to keep him from becoming a raving lunatic.
Suffice to say, when the Gryffindors had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year, Rory had quite a few words of choice to describe her grandmother.
Rory and Neville were waiting outside the classroom with the rest of their house. Neville had been having a hard time to start the year. Somehow Professor Snape had become even worse than last year and when Neville accidentally melted his cauldron, he returned from his detention seeming to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Hermione comforted him while Rory called the potions master a name that made the bushy-haired girl scold her and Harry cheer in support.
Just as the bell rang for the start of class, everyone filed into the classroom. Neville and Rory sat beside the trio, Rory between him and Harry. Everyone took out their textbooks and waited for their professor to arrive.
"You can put those books away," Moody said once he had entered the classroom, his wooden leg clunking with every other step. "You won't need them."
The class followed his instructions and beside Harry, Ron looked excited. Moody pulled out a scroll and began calling out everyone's names. He paused momentarily at Rory's, his magical eye drifting over to her and she furrowed her brow. He quickly continued and Rory quirked an eyebrow.
