Nox || Tom Riddle

Chapter I

July 1942

Astrid was sitting in the big armchair focused on the book in her hands when she heard the front door open. Suddenly a mixture of her mother, father, and brother's voices could be heard along the ones that belonged to the expected friends of her brother, Andrew. They had just returned from Hogwarts, ending the fourth year of their education there. Despite Astrid's brother, attending Hogwarts, the girl's mother insisted for her to attend Durmstrang like every person from her mother's lineage. Her father was okay with the decision, although he considered the school to be a little too far away from home and their traditions.

"Good day, little sister." Andrew was leaning against the back of the armchair, looking down at her.

"Hello, Andrew," said the girl with a serious tone. "I am only with one year younger, Andrew, and probably with ten years more mature than you."

"I didn't know that they teach humor in Durmstrang. You are definitely failing this subject, aren't you?"

Astrid just scoffed and turned back to her book only to be interrupted again by his brother's friends coming into the room. Around four boys piled up next to Andrew, talking between them. One of them finally took notice of the sitting girl and exclaimed with a rather surprised face:

"Are you sure that this is really your sister, Rowle? You look nothing alike!"

"Mulciber, how many times do I have to tell you my family story for you to remember?"

It was true that Astrid looked nothing like her brother and father but that was because before her father married her mother, he was married to Andrew's mother, who died, giving birth to him. A few months later he met this gorgeous girl, who had just transferred from Norway to the British Ministry of Magic to work, and instantly fell in love, and they had a child, who they named Astrid after Cecilie's mother and Astrid's grandmother.

"Okay, this explains a lot!" The guy named Mulciber nodded his head, while thinking through what her brother had just told him, looking between the two of them.

Both Andrew and Rowle had dark hair and brownish eyes with straight noses and prominent bone structure. Astrid had gotten after her mother with eyes the color of a clear sky and nearly white hair and ghostly pale skin. While her brother and father were tall and bulky, she had a slender and delicate frame. Actually, in all of her aspects, Astrid could be considered a porcelain doll, if it wasn't for her being alive.

Suddenly a hand appeared in front of her, waiting to be shook. Astrid's eyes followed the hand to its owner, who appeared to be a guy with dark blond hair and charming smile.

"I'm pleased to finally meet you. Your brother talks too much about you, honestly," sighed the guy and looked at Andrew, who was still arguing with Mulciber over the fact that they looked nothing alike, despite being siblings. "You can call me Avery."

"It's nice to meet you." Astrid let go of her book and shook his hand.

After this interaction, Mr and Mrs Rowle came into the room, announcing that dinner was ready. The boys started walking towards the dining room with one catching her eye. He was rather handsome to say, with the brown curly hair and tall frame. Astrid wondered how she didn't notice him earlier.

"We have to talk about what happened at Durmstrang after dinner," said her mother with a stern look on her face and marched into the dining room. Her father just sighed disappointedly and went after his wife.

Astrid shook her head and followed them, taking a seat between her brother and Avery, right across from the handsome boy. Now she had more time to study him. From the way he was sitting and the way he was carrying himself, she could tell that he was quite confident, if not arrogant. Right now he was charming her mother with words about her home and cooking, while his dark eyes held nothing but ice.

"Oh, Astrid here will be transferring to Hogwarts this year!" Cecilie was all too excited talking to this stranger.

"That sounds fantastic. Closer to home, I suppose?" The boy nodded in her direction, acknowledging her.

"Something like that, yes," her father said before her mother could blab out under the influence of Andrew's friend's charm about Astrid. Cecilie just nodded along to her husband's words.

"We hope that she will be sorted into Slytherin like Andrew and Rasmus here, but seeing that all she does is to study and read, I suppose Ravenclaw is good as well." Right now her mother was plainly thinking out loud.

It was true that Astrid was always with her nose between the pages of a book. In Durmstrang everybody was really competitive, and the teachers encouraged it, so Astrid had to know more and be more than the others in order to shine. However, this was not the only reason she read. She read because she strived for knowledge, and as soon as she began learning, Astrid learned that knowledge was power, and power gave control over the others.

After dinner was over, the boys went upstairs to prepare for the night. Two of the house elves started cleaning up, while Astrid went to the living room, where she waited for her parents to express their disappointment. The door opened, and Cecilie and Rasmus entered, both with stern looks on their faces.

"Are you trying to sabotage your future?" Her father wasn't usually too hard on his kids, but this time you could feel the needles on your skin from the sharpness of his voice. "You are lucky that I'm good friends with Dippet, otherwise we should have shipped you to the States or some other school, where you would have learned anything but magic."

"I'm sorry, father. I did not know that my actions could have such a great impact on my future or my education in Durmstrang," said Astrid in with a calm tone, without making eye contact.

"Astrid, why in Merlin's name, did you search around about Grindelwald's symbol?" This time the question came from her mother, who had a rather distressed look now.

"Because people were talking about it. They were drawing it everywhere, talking about him and what happened, and I was curious! What was so special about that symbol? It certainly had to have a meaning, if one of the most dangerous dark wizards was using it."

The room fell in silence. None of her parents dared to look at her or talk. After a few excruciating minutes, her mother spoke:

"You should mind your own business, Astrid, if you want to stay at the top. This dead mudblood is none of your concern."

"How can it not be my business when one of my classmates was killed? During the night! In the castle!" Astrid raised her tone. Her pale face had gotten red from the anger boiling inside her. "If deciphering the symbol could mean stopping him, why can't I?"

"Stop it! You are only a fourteen years old girl! You don't have the skills to do that." If it was possible, Rasmus' ears would have been fuming. His whole face was scrunched and a nerve was playing on his forehead.

"We all know that I have the brains to do it!" The shouting match between Astrid and her father send chills down Cecilie's spine, so she decided that it was time to end it.

"This is it! I will not tolerate this petty quarrel, we have guests," hissed the woman. "What is done, is done. All we can do now is to not mess up further. After all, curiosity killed the cat, Astrid, keep your nose where it should be. Now off to bed."

With this the little girl stomped up the stairs and went into her room, shutting the door loudly.

"This girl ..." sighed Rasmus. "This girl will either be one of the greatest witches to ever live, or one of the most dangerous criminals in Azkaban."

"We can only hope for the best, darling."

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