Chapter Text
The sound of pages flipping and parchment being crumbled was the only sound that could be heard from the temporary office of Astoria Baldwin. She grumbled something under her breath as she scraped another piece of parchment, seamlessly throwing it into the flickering fireplace that was next to her right afterward. As the parchment burned, the light emanating from the fire gradually got brighter, illuminating the features on her face.
“This makes no sense,” She said with another grumble. She was studying a book on Magical Theory, something she had become very affiliated with over the years. Astoria had been rather close to her magical theory Professor once, soon before he had passed away. She had thought of him as a Mentor and a respectable figure to look up to and was terribly hurt when he passed.
Over the years she had been particularly drawn to the study of Magical theory, it explained how everything magic worked; Jinxes, Hexes, Curses, everything.
After she graduated from Hogwarts, Astoria pursued a career of exploration, seeking out answers to all the questions she had about the Wizarding World and she told herself she would never rest until they had been answered. And many nights, like the night prior, she didn’t rest, it was currently thirty past five in the morning and she hadn’t had an hour of sleep.
Astoria sighed, pushing her chair away from the table in her study, and stood up, figuring she should take a break before getting back to work. She was in a small town, visiting a fellow explorer whom she had worked with previously and who had asked her to join him in a few studies.
“Why can’t I figure this out?” She asked herself. “I’m usually never this stumped by curse studies.”
“Well, maybe it’s the lack of sleep Astoria, you really need to sort that out.” She thought to herself, although she would never admit that she did indeed need more sleep.
She made her way to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of tea. Using her wand, the pot lifted up into the air and poured right into the porcelain cup. She rested herself on the couch and the sunlight peaked onto her face, causing her to squint her eyes. She hadn’t realized just how early it had been since she kept telling herself “just a few more minutes” every time she checked the clock and eventually gave up on checking the time.
“Might as well get ready for my day.” She said and made her way upstairs. She discarded the Tan blouse and dark green skirt she had been wearing the day prior and picked out a White blouse that had bishop sleeves and a beige paneled skirt. She stood in front of the silver-lined mirror as she did her hair up in a braided bun, which did frustrate her to some extent as her tousled, light brown hair was being quite difficult to work with.
Grabbing her satchel which had an extension charm on it, she headed out the door going to visit her friend Michael, the fellow explorer who had invited her into town. His home was only a few minutes away from the Study where she had been staying, Michael owned the study and told her to stay there while she was visiting.
She knocked on his door, and it was opened a few moments later. Michael smiled when he saw his friend's face when he opened the door. “Astoria! Come on in!” He said, waving her in. “Thank you, Michael.” She smiled, walking into the house.
Michael’s house could be described as cozy, he had plants in multiple parts of his home, maps, and notes from his adventures strewn up on the walls, all the colors were solid but the decoration was very abstract in some places. The ambiance all around was very comforting, I found myself spending more time there just for the ambiance than the social interaction.
“It’s good to see you, I have a lot to tell you,” Michael remarked excitedly, leading Astoria into the parlor to chat. They both sat down, “By all means, start, please.” Astoria smiled, interested in what Michael had to say to her. Michael nodded and grabbed a small piece of parchment from his back pocket.
“Later this afternoon, I’m leaving for Norway.” He said, handing Astoria the parchment that had a small rune symbol on it. “A few colleagues of mine found runes that supposedly date all the way back to the time of the Four Founders! They sent this parchment with a drawing of one of the runes to me almost immediately after finding it, I can’t wait to decipher the rest.”
“Oh Michael, that's wonderful!” Astoria said with a smile. “I’m sure it will be wonderful!”
“I’m sure it will! I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Norway, I can hardly contain my excitement.” Michael said eagerly. “I’ve already packed up my things for my trip, I expect to be out there for quite some time. I sure do hope it will be worth it.”
“Oh, and you can stay at the study as long as you need. I haven’t been using it for the past few months so it's of very little value to me anyway. Stay as long as you’d like.” Michael said.
“Thank you, Michael. I’m sure I’ll be leaving town soon, especially upon hearing this news but the invitation is very welcome.” Astoria smiled. “Is anybody accompanying you on your journey?” She asked him, handing the piece of parchment back. Michael pocketed the parchment again and shook his head.
“It’s only me this time, but my colleagues will be waiting for me when I arrive.” He stated. Astoria nodded, “I’m glad you have people with you, I would hate for something to happen to you while you were up there.” She admitted. Michael had probably been one of her closest friends that she had seen in quite some time. She was so busy all the time it was hard to make time to see friends she had known in school.
Michael laughed, smiling greatly. “Oh Astoria, you don’t have to worry about me.” He gave a small grin. “You know I can hold my own.”
Astoria rolled her eyes with a small chuckle, “I know you can, but I am allowed to worry.” She said she crossed her arms exaggeratedly. Michael laughed again, shaking his head. “You know Astoria, it really has been a pleasure having you here in town. It was good to have someone to share all of my explorations finds with.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Astoria smiled. It was really nice to have someone around since Astoria often was alone in her adventures, working all alone. Sometimes it was better for her that way, with no interruptions or people to worry about but everyone needs a little bit of social interaction every once in a while.
Astoria was a successful explorer, had published seven books, created multiple charms, mapped out newly found lands and so much more all at only the age of twenty-four but there was almost nobody around to celebrate the milestones with, which made being proud of her accomplishments so much harder than if she had someone with her.
After a bit more chatting, Michael left to get everything done before his journey to Norway. Astoria decided to go to Meriam’s Family Potions to pick up the Potion supplies she ordered last week. She had taken a knack for potions, thanks to her good friend Garreth Weasley who she had met at Hogwarts. The two often sent letters to each other and she considered him to be one of her closest friends.
The bell jingled as Astoria pushed open the door, alerting those working at the counter that she was there. A woman popped up from below the surface of the counter, her tight black coils bobbing up with her. “Astoria! It’s good to see you!” She said with a smile on her face.
“Hello Zadie,” Astoria smiled. “I’m here to pick up my potions order I put in last week.”
“Oh, yes of course!” Zadie said. “I’ll go grab it for you, be right back.” She slipped through a door behind the counter, and within five minutes she was back with everything Astoria needed. “Here you are.” She said, handing Astoria the package.
“Thank you,” Astoria said, handing Zadie the correct amount of money for the package. Zadie put the money up before turning back to Astoria. “Boy do I have a story to tell you!” She said, placing her hands on her hips. “Absolutely crazy!”
“What happened?” Astoria inquired, raising a brow. Zadie took a deep breath, “You won’t believe this but while we were taking the supplies to different towns in the area, our caravan was attacked by looters!” She said, waving her hands around to exaggerate.
“Never in the past 30 years, long before I ever started working in the family business has there ever been a time where our caravan was attacked and looted! Barely gave us any time to pull out our wands!” She said, shaking her head. “This business has been in our family for over a hundred years and sure, it used to happen much more, but looters have stayed clear of this place and the trails we take for 30 years but all of a sudden want to come back!”
Astoria was almost shocked, looters had never come around the area, or any sort of threat really. “That’s horrible!” She said, “I wonder what they were doing so close to town.”
“I know! They took almost everything, even the Thestrals pulling the carriages, we all had to walk back on foot or apparate back, taking what we could.” Zadie said, “They didn’t even look like normal looters either, they seemed too organized for it.”
Astoria’s mind got to thinking immediately, who could it possibly be? “That’s odd, I hope they stay clear of town.” She said, shaking her head. “They’d better, otherwise they’re getting mobbed by the whole town itself.”
“I agree,” Astoria said. Zadie sighed once again, “Anyway, I’ll let you go now. I’m sure you have much better things to be doing than gossiping with the town Potions girl.” She chuckled. “Once again, thank you Zadie,” Astoria said with a smile before leaving the potions shop and heading back to the Study.