- Location
- some random college
Kinematics' plan and the half-lie are tied at second place with five each.
Astrid Ivanovich and The Spinner's Key [HP]
- Thread starter PutterMurr
- Start date
Vote Tally : Astrid Ivanovich and The Spinner's Key [HP] | Page 15 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.1.22
Task: Answer
[14][Answer] Answer truthfully. You really don't want to lie to the Head Auror, even if you do get in trouble.
[5][Answer] Tell him you heard a bit, but don't admit that you were eavesdropping. That's more believable than denying it outright.
[5][Answer] Tell him you were only trying to find Ron, and didn't hear anything at all. You don't want to think about what would happen if he knew you listened in on purpose.
-[4] Watch his reaction, but before he can respond, ask if the lie was good enough.
--[4] "I didn't really understand a lot of what you were talking about, but it feels like something I should be really good at not having heard."
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: Feelings
[20][Feelings] A bit of both. You're doing this for all the right reasons, and you want to see your plan play out, but the thought of things going wrong still puts you on edge.
[4][Feelings] Excitement. All this sneaking around is thrilling, and will make the payoff even better. You can hardly wait to see those bullies' faces.
Total No. of Voters: 24
(Note: Added 1 to the "A bit of both" answer because that was in TheArcanist's first vote, but he didn't answer the question in his second vote.)
Anyway, honesty is easily leading for the answer given. A bit of a shame, because I would have been quite interested to see how "honestly dishonest" would have played out.
It doesn't really matter. You'd need to get 5 people to change sides just for the sake of curiosity, and that seems extremely unlikely.
Dark Ness
Rises Where Silence Dies
- Location
- The Primordial Soup
Actually, I would just prefer honest didn't win. I am okay which way they switch, as long as we conslidate.
Corvus Black
The Inestimable
- Location
- England
Honesty actually is the best policy. If we hadn't of told dad what book we brought and he never confiscated it, imagine this scenario but with us carrying a Dark book in our bag.
Dark Ness
Rises Where Silence Dies
- Location
- The Primordial Soup
That likely wouldn't make any sort of difference at all. Unless the book has some sort of "Dark Arts aura," which I doubt, or Harry decides to randomly search our bag, which I also doubt, there would be no change.
I, for one, don't want to play a character incapable of lying. Being evasive isn't going to hurt us. Oh, Harry Potter might (probably will) find out, but so what? He isn't going to kill a little girl, and getting caught motivates us to be better.
Corvus Black
The Inestimable
- Location
- England
It changes the scene completely. Standing in front of the Head Auror, who is asking you how much of the conversation about Dark Wizards you heard. Carrying a Dark book. Doesn't matter if he searches Astrid or not, she's gonna be terrified.
You're gonna have to explain this one to me. How would it motivate Astrid to learn how to lie?
Dark Ness
Rises Where Silence Dies
- Location
- The Primordial Soup
When I was a child, I would get caught lying sometimes. Hiding things, staying up when I wasn't supposed to, ect. I don't know about anyone else, but getting caught just motivated me to hide things and lie better. I also learned to say nothing, when possible, but I don't think that applies here.
Kinda the same here, kinda. When I lie it is almost always on accident or the heat of the moment, but I've gotten very good at only saying what I want people to hear and dissembling. Everyone I know knows I do this too, but they almost never ask for clarification on questions they ask me because they usually see me as very honest and forthright, which I usually am.
What I'm trying to get at is Astrid needs to know how to conceal the truth.
Dark Ness
Rises Where Silence Dies
- Location
- The Primordial Soup
Completely agree. And if she never tries, she won't learn.
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
[X] A bit of both. You're doing this for all the right reasons, and you want to see your plan play out, but the thought of things going wrong still puts you on edge.
[X] Answer truthfully. You really don't want to lie to the Chief Auror, even if you do get in trouble.
I've found that being as honest as possible as often as possible is very good for concealing stuff. When you're telling them the truth they don't expect you to be hiding something else.
Either way, it's a very good habit to foster in a child.
[X] Answer truthfully. You really don't want to lie to the Chief Auror, even if you do get in trouble.
I've found that being as honest as possible as often as possible is very good for concealing stuff. When you're telling them the truth they don't expect you to be hiding something else.
Either way, it's a very good habit to foster in a child.
The Spinner's Key - A Promise
- Location
- some random college
[x] Answer truthfully.
They do say honesty is the best policy...
You stare up at Harry and swallow a lump in your throat, petrified. You have no idea how he found you out. You were so careful, and you thought your cover story would work just fine. Did you leave some clue behind that you didn't realize? Or were you just not convincing enough? You think you came across better than that blonde boy, at least, but you suppose you'll have to brush up a bit before you can fool an Auror. (That's part of the reason you're hardly even tempted to lie here. You're sure he'd be able to sniff you out, and then you'd be in even more trouble.)
Yes, honesty is the best policy when the alternative is getting caught in a lie by the Head Auror. But that doesn't make it any easier.
You take a slow, deep breath and meet the green eyes that peer down at you.
"I -- I did. I m-mean...I was--" you stammer, trying to string together something intelligent, but the accusation of that stern gaze bears down on you and you find the words slipping through your fingers. In the end, you have to look away before you can really speak. "...I was eavesdropping, sir. I stood at the doorway for a long time before I came in." Your hands shake so much you have to grip the sides of your robes to keep them steady. "I...I heard..." Fighting against your own anxiety and guilt, you have to push the incriminating words out of your mouth. "I heard everything."
Ron makes a sound of disgusted disbelief. You wince, your eyes fixated on a box of Puffskein Pops near your feet.
"Merlin's beard, Astrid. And here I was, praising you for your honesty," he says. You hadn't even thought about how he'd react, as focused as you were on Harry, and you find his disappointment hurts just as badly. You think that reward of free candy's probably off the table now.
"She is being honest, Ron," Harry says. "About something she really, really shouldn't have done. But telling us outright is better than trying to cover it up."
The lack of (noticeable) anger in his voice gives you a bit of hope, enough that you can find it in yourself to look up. Ron's looking at you with arms crossed, making a face that looks distinctly not pleased. Harry's just rubbing his forehead, eyes closed. Odd. When he pushes his bangs back, you think you can see a peculiar looking scar--
The bell clangs against the door, and you hear a familiar voice. One you had sincerely hoped would wait until after this was done to find you again.
"Sorry about the wait, Astrid," Dad says. "This Muggleborn girl came up to me. Got separated from her chaperone somehow, had no idea where anything was. I had to escort her to Flourish and Blotts, and then she and Maggie ganged up on me to buy them candy..." He looks up from dusting off his robes to see the three of you, and the last syllable trails off to nothing. This little scene must look as bad as it feels.
"Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley," he says, cautiously. "Is something happening that I should be aware of?"
"Damn right, there is." Ron barely waits for him to finish. "Your daughter just confessed to eavesdropping on top secret Auror business. On purpose, no less."
The room is silent as the grave. You can barely breathe as you see that eerie calm that comes with great anger settle over your father. Maggie sees it too, because she shrinks back, the lollipop in her hand falling listlessly to one side.
"Astrid Ivanovich," he says, fighting to keep his voice steady. "I turn my back...for ten minutes..." It seems he can't even think to finish his sentence, because he leaves the words hanging in favor of staring you down with all the parental fury you've ever seen.
You're not sure you've been in this much trouble your entire life.
"D'you think she's Imperio'd, Harry?" Ron says, barely loud enough for you to hear. "Or some kind of Polyjuice spy? They must know we'd never suspect a kid."
Harry shakes his head.
"Polyjuice agents run," he says. "And Imperio'd people almost always attack when they're found out. We're not dealing with--"
A strangled, gasping sound from behind you interrupts him. You whip your head around to see Dad staring at you with terrified eyes, his face white as a sheet.
"Imperio?" he mumbles, like it's some forbidden, dangerous word. "No...no, it can't be. There's no way."
"Sir?" Harry says, suddenly overcome with deadly seriousness. He steps past you toward Dad. "Is there something we need to know?"
A hand comes down on your shoulder -- you nearly leap through the ceiling, your nerves being what they are right now. Ron's standing behind you, and though he's not holding you especially tight, you know instinctively that he's preventing you from running, should you make the attempt. The tears you've been suppressing until now start to well up in your eyes.
"I -- I would say it was impossible. Unthinkable, even," Dad replies. All that anger and disappointment has vanished, leaving fear in its place. Fear that's so genuine it turns your heart to ice just looking at him. "But...she did something strange today. Something I would never expect from her. Alone, it is not so significant, but...with this..." His eyes widen as he looks at you. "Bozhe, pozhaluysta. Pust' eto ne budet pravdoy."
Dad never lapses into Russian unless he's very upset. Your already racing heart doubles its pace, awful thoughts racing through your mind. You don't know what Imperio is -- or what Polyjuice is -- but Ron's tightening his grip on your shoulder, Harry's turned around and is looking at you with a cold calculation that wasn't there before, and you can't help but wonder: is something really wrong with you? Have you committed some unforgivable sin?
"What exactly," Harry says, "did she do?"
Oh no, the book--
You burst into huge, heaving sobs, unable to bear it anymore. Dad was right. They're going to see the Dark Arts book and assume the worst. They're going to send you to Azkaban.
"I d-didn't mean," you say between breaths, hardly intelligible, "I didn't m-mean to hurt anyone. I didn't kn-know! I swear!" You look from your father to the Auror to Ron. It's hard to make out their faces through your tears, but this is the only thing you can do now. Bear your heart and soul, and hope they realize that you really, truly aren't an evil person. Stupid, stupid eavesdropping. "If...If I knew -- th-that it was top secret Auror business, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't have. I'm not a Polyjuice or...or an Imperio or a Death Eater or anything." You take a shuddering breath. "I was just..."
"Curious?" Harry finishes. And he sounds much kinder than before.
You wipe your eyes and look back up at the black-haired man, who looks a lot less like the Head Auror now and more like -- well, your father, but when he's being understanding. You nod at his answer, noting bitterly that your curiosity has been a lot more trouble than it's worth today.
"I believe you, Astrid," he says. "I don't think you're Imperio'd. And I certainly don't think you're a Death Eater." Across the room, Dad lets out a low hiss at that word, but Harry doesn't stop. "I think you're a kid with an honest heart and a head that's too nosy for her own good."
Your face contorts with tears again -- tears of relief, this time, not tears of terror. The Auror believes you. You're not going to go to prison after all.
"So -- then, you don't think..." Dad says. He's relaxing now; not looking happy by any stretch of the imagination, but the terror's largely gone now.
"It's highly unlikely she's under the Imperius Curse," Harry replies. "She confessed straightaway when asked, and Imperio victims don't usually have enough independent emotion to show remorse. She made a bad decision, nothing more." He quirks an eyebrow at his friend. "For goodness sake, Ron, let the poor girl go."
"Right. Sorry. Just being cautious."
The tight hand disappears from your shoulder, and the store falls into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by your sniffling as you get yourself back under control.
"What happens now?" Dad finally asks, moving to stand by your side. Harry pulls a reluctant face.
"The typical protocol for security leaks is a Memory Charm that covers the information overheard--"
Memory Charm?? Oh Merlin, that sounds horrible! You whirl around to protest, but Harry puts a finger up to interrupt you.
"--but I've never used those unless absolutely necessary. I've seen what one can do to a person if it goes wrong, and I'd hate to subject anyone to that. Especially a girl who's going off to Hogwarts in a few weeks," he says.
"Your understanding is remarkable. Truly remarkable," your dad says, bowing his head. "I could never tell you how grateful I am. I assure you, this will never happen again."
Harry says nothing in response. Instead, he kneels down so that he's eye to eye with you, close enough that you can see yourself reflected in his glasses.
"Astrid. I need you to promise me something," he says. "I can't let you go until you do."
You nod, not trusting yourself to say anything dignified right now.
"I'm going to trust you because you were honest with me, and I believe you realize now that what you did was a mistake. You must promise that you will tell absolutely no one what you heard me and Ron talking about," he says. "Not your parents, not your sister. Not anyone you meet at Hogwarts. And you absolutely -- absolutely -- must not try to do anything with the information you heard." He gets a faraway look in his eye, as if he's not quite seeing you anymore. "I remember what it was like. To feel young and invincible. To feel like you're the only person in the world who knows something's wrong. Like you're the only person who can fix it." With a shake of his head, he returns to reality. "Understand that that simply isn't true. Your job as an eleven-year-old isn't to save the world. Your job is to make friends in the common room, complain about Potions, and eat as much food at feasts as you can."
He smiles, and you can't help but return it. You think Harry Potter really is a nice man, whoever he is.
"Do you promise me, Astrid? Promise me you'll just be a kid?" he says.
"Yes," you reply. "I promise." You think about whether you really mean it later, but that's definitely the answer Harry wanted to hear, because he pats you gently on the shoulder and stands up again.
"Alright. I have to be off now. Tight schedule to keep if I want to eat supper with the family," Harry says, straightening his robes.
"Us as well," Dad says. "My -- and Astrid's -- sincerest apologies for all the trouble we caused you, Mr. Weasley." He turns to Harry. "And I shall never forget the kindness you showed my daughter today, Mr. Potter."
Harry smiles again politely.
"Think nothing of it." He looks to you and gives a small wave. "Have a good term, Astrid. And remember your promise."
With that, he walks out the door. You, Dad, and Maggie do the same a few minutes later, after you cleaned yourself up a bit with Dad's hankie. You're the last one to leave the store, but before you do, something blue and pentagonal floats in front of your face. A Chocolate Frog, with a tiny roll of parchment attached on a string. You break it off and unroll it.
Smiling wearily, you put the message and the Frog in your pocket and follow your father back down the street.
"Go to your room."
The Floo ashes are barely out of your eyes before you hear Dad's voice, all the anger about the book and the eavesdropping returning in full force. You suppose it was too much to ask that he be as forgiving as Harry.
"But Dad--" you start, stumbling out of the fireplace.
"I'm not going to hear it, Astrid. What you did today was absolutely unacceptable. You're unbelievably fortunate that you pulled that on Harry Potter. Any other Auror would have Obliviated you without a second thought," he says, pointing his finger in your face. Maggie withdraws immediately, running into the kitchen where you hear Mum and Tasha at work.
"I already said I'm sorry..." you mumble.
"And that's a good start, but it's simply not going to cut it. This isn't even taking into account the Dark Arts book that you bought behind my back, either," he continues. "Really, I don't know what got into you today. I thought you were more mature than this. If this is what you're going to do at Hogwarts--"
You're really, really not in the mood to put up with this right now.
"Look, I promised that Auror that I wouldn't do it again," you say, voice rising in volume involuntarily. "So you don't have to worry about me asking questions or being curious about things I don't know anything about. It's fine. I'm fine." Something bubbles within you -- the feeling you got at Ollivander's, but uncontrolled. "I'll just stay in the dark my whole life. Like everyone wants me to."
Your father frowns. "Astrid..."
A china plate goes flying off the wall and shatters on the floor in front of you, and you go running off, not stopping to greet your mother or meet Maggie's questioning gaze.
They don't call you down for supper. It's probably part of your punishment, but it's fine. You're not sure you would have gone down anyway. (Tasha does bring you up a plate of food, however. It's Mum's amazing tomato soup and grilled cheese, and you feel yourself cheering up as you eat, despite yourself.)
You have a lot of time on your own between getting home and going to sleep -- and unfortunately, there's not a lot to do in your room other than sulk. You read a few pages of your favorite novels before tossing them away, unable to concentrate. You twirl your wand around in your fingers, admiring how the polish shines in the light. You try to take a nap, but though your body is exhausted from the emotional gauntlet you ran in the last few hours, your mind won't cooperate. It keeps wanting you to think, to decide how you're really feeling about everything that happened. So, at last, you give in, hugging your knees to your chest and staring at the wall as you play through this afternoon's events again and again.
[ ] After thinking about it, you're no longer angry at your father. He may be strict, and he may overreact, but he's just trying to keep you safe. And, at the end of the day, he knows a lot more about the world than you do. Maybe he's right to keep so much from you and Maggie.
[ ] You're still angry at your father. You can't help it. He tries to keep half the stuff in the world away from you, and then acts all surprised when you want to find out more. It's his fault that you had to buy that book and eavesdrop in the first place, so it's hypocritical of him to punish you.
[ ] You plan on keeping your promise to Harry. Every bit of it. You absolutely don't want to get in trouble with the Aurors, so you should listen to his advice.
[ ] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
[ ] You don't plan on keeping your promise to Harry. You had to get out of that shop somehow without getting your memory wiped. Something is definitely going on, you want to find out more, and you'll need to be able to share what you know with your allies. That includes sharing the info you got.
...
There's a knock at your door.
Your head jerks up, and you snort in the middle of a snore. Oh, wow. You must have fallen asleep without realizing it, because it's pitch black outside, and you're still in your robes from earlier. What was it that woke you up, exactly?
Then you hear the light rapping of a little fist against your door again, this time followed by Maggie's voice.
"Hey, Astrid. It's me."
What's she doing, coming to your room in the middle of the night? You climb out of bed and tip-toe over to the door, opening it slowly so it doesn't creak.
"What're you doing, Maggie?" you ask. "Why aren't you asleep?"
She answers by holding up a book with black leather binding, a grim drawing of a human head on the front, and fancy script for the title. The Forbidden Arts.
You gasp, and she peeks out from behind the cover, looking immensely pleased with herself.
"I got your book," she whispers. "Dad was going on and on about it at dinner. He said that it was completely inappropriate for a first year, with some of the material he saw."
You grimace, but you can't say you're surprised. You wonder if it was the chapter on The War that set him off, or if some of the other stuff was unacceptable too.
"So he's not going to let me read it?"
"No -- he said he's going to give it back to you," Maggie replies. "He's just going to erase the chapters he thinks are bad."
"Erase them?" you say, almost forgetting to whisper. "But that's not fair! I bought that book myself!"
"That's why I got it for you." Maggie lowers the book, which must have been tiring out her arms to hold up. "I want to know what's in here too." She offers it, face up, to you. "Can we read it together?"
[ ] Of course. You have to learn what Dad doesn't want you to know before he erases it, and since Maggie went to the trouble of doing this for you, you're more than happy to read it with her.
[ ] You want to read the book, but you don't want to get Maggie involved. She really is too young, and some of the stuff in the book might scare her. That, or she'll slow you down with her lower reading level.
[ ] No, this is a bad idea. You've paid the price today for breaking the rules -- twice. If you get caught, there's no telling what Dad will think. You'll be lucky if he lets you do anything on your own ever again.
[ ] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
[ ] Write-in
They do say honesty is the best policy...
You stare up at Harry and swallow a lump in your throat, petrified. You have no idea how he found you out. You were so careful, and you thought your cover story would work just fine. Did you leave some clue behind that you didn't realize? Or were you just not convincing enough? You think you came across better than that blonde boy, at least, but you suppose you'll have to brush up a bit before you can fool an Auror. (That's part of the reason you're hardly even tempted to lie here. You're sure he'd be able to sniff you out, and then you'd be in even more trouble.)
Yes, honesty is the best policy when the alternative is getting caught in a lie by the Head Auror. But that doesn't make it any easier.
You take a slow, deep breath and meet the green eyes that peer down at you.
"I -- I did. I m-mean...I was--" you stammer, trying to string together something intelligent, but the accusation of that stern gaze bears down on you and you find the words slipping through your fingers. In the end, you have to look away before you can really speak. "...I was eavesdropping, sir. I stood at the doorway for a long time before I came in." Your hands shake so much you have to grip the sides of your robes to keep them steady. "I...I heard..." Fighting against your own anxiety and guilt, you have to push the incriminating words out of your mouth. "I heard everything."
Ron makes a sound of disgusted disbelief. You wince, your eyes fixated on a box of Puffskein Pops near your feet.
"Merlin's beard, Astrid. And here I was, praising you for your honesty," he says. You hadn't even thought about how he'd react, as focused as you were on Harry, and you find his disappointment hurts just as badly. You think that reward of free candy's probably off the table now.
"She is being honest, Ron," Harry says. "About something she really, really shouldn't have done. But telling us outright is better than trying to cover it up."
The lack of (noticeable) anger in his voice gives you a bit of hope, enough that you can find it in yourself to look up. Ron's looking at you with arms crossed, making a face that looks distinctly not pleased. Harry's just rubbing his forehead, eyes closed. Odd. When he pushes his bangs back, you think you can see a peculiar looking scar--
The bell clangs against the door, and you hear a familiar voice. One you had sincerely hoped would wait until after this was done to find you again.
"Sorry about the wait, Astrid," Dad says. "This Muggleborn girl came up to me. Got separated from her chaperone somehow, had no idea where anything was. I had to escort her to Flourish and Blotts, and then she and Maggie ganged up on me to buy them candy..." He looks up from dusting off his robes to see the three of you, and the last syllable trails off to nothing. This little scene must look as bad as it feels.
"Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley," he says, cautiously. "Is something happening that I should be aware of?"
"Damn right, there is." Ron barely waits for him to finish. "Your daughter just confessed to eavesdropping on top secret Auror business. On purpose, no less."
The room is silent as the grave. You can barely breathe as you see that eerie calm that comes with great anger settle over your father. Maggie sees it too, because she shrinks back, the lollipop in her hand falling listlessly to one side.
"Astrid Ivanovich," he says, fighting to keep his voice steady. "I turn my back...for ten minutes..." It seems he can't even think to finish his sentence, because he leaves the words hanging in favor of staring you down with all the parental fury you've ever seen.
You're not sure you've been in this much trouble your entire life.
"D'you think she's Imperio'd, Harry?" Ron says, barely loud enough for you to hear. "Or some kind of Polyjuice spy? They must know we'd never suspect a kid."
Harry shakes his head.
"Polyjuice agents run," he says. "And Imperio'd people almost always attack when they're found out. We're not dealing with--"
A strangled, gasping sound from behind you interrupts him. You whip your head around to see Dad staring at you with terrified eyes, his face white as a sheet.
"Imperio?" he mumbles, like it's some forbidden, dangerous word. "No...no, it can't be. There's no way."
"Sir?" Harry says, suddenly overcome with deadly seriousness. He steps past you toward Dad. "Is there something we need to know?"
A hand comes down on your shoulder -- you nearly leap through the ceiling, your nerves being what they are right now. Ron's standing behind you, and though he's not holding you especially tight, you know instinctively that he's preventing you from running, should you make the attempt. The tears you've been suppressing until now start to well up in your eyes.
"I -- I would say it was impossible. Unthinkable, even," Dad replies. All that anger and disappointment has vanished, leaving fear in its place. Fear that's so genuine it turns your heart to ice just looking at him. "But...she did something strange today. Something I would never expect from her. Alone, it is not so significant, but...with this..." His eyes widen as he looks at you. "Bozhe, pozhaluysta. Pust' eto ne budet pravdoy."
Dad never lapses into Russian unless he's very upset. Your already racing heart doubles its pace, awful thoughts racing through your mind. You don't know what Imperio is -- or what Polyjuice is -- but Ron's tightening his grip on your shoulder, Harry's turned around and is looking at you with a cold calculation that wasn't there before, and you can't help but wonder: is something really wrong with you? Have you committed some unforgivable sin?
"What exactly," Harry says, "did she do?"
Oh no, the book--
You burst into huge, heaving sobs, unable to bear it anymore. Dad was right. They're going to see the Dark Arts book and assume the worst. They're going to send you to Azkaban.
"I d-didn't mean," you say between breaths, hardly intelligible, "I didn't m-mean to hurt anyone. I didn't kn-know! I swear!" You look from your father to the Auror to Ron. It's hard to make out their faces through your tears, but this is the only thing you can do now. Bear your heart and soul, and hope they realize that you really, truly aren't an evil person. Stupid, stupid eavesdropping. "If...If I knew -- th-that it was top secret Auror business, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't have. I'm not a Polyjuice or...or an Imperio or a Death Eater or anything." You take a shuddering breath. "I was just..."
"Curious?" Harry finishes. And he sounds much kinder than before.
You wipe your eyes and look back up at the black-haired man, who looks a lot less like the Head Auror now and more like -- well, your father, but when he's being understanding. You nod at his answer, noting bitterly that your curiosity has been a lot more trouble than it's worth today.
"I believe you, Astrid," he says. "I don't think you're Imperio'd. And I certainly don't think you're a Death Eater." Across the room, Dad lets out a low hiss at that word, but Harry doesn't stop. "I think you're a kid with an honest heart and a head that's too nosy for her own good."
Your face contorts with tears again -- tears of relief, this time, not tears of terror. The Auror believes you. You're not going to go to prison after all.
"So -- then, you don't think..." Dad says. He's relaxing now; not looking happy by any stretch of the imagination, but the terror's largely gone now.
"It's highly unlikely she's under the Imperius Curse," Harry replies. "She confessed straightaway when asked, and Imperio victims don't usually have enough independent emotion to show remorse. She made a bad decision, nothing more." He quirks an eyebrow at his friend. "For goodness sake, Ron, let the poor girl go."
"Right. Sorry. Just being cautious."
The tight hand disappears from your shoulder, and the store falls into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by your sniffling as you get yourself back under control.
"What happens now?" Dad finally asks, moving to stand by your side. Harry pulls a reluctant face.
"The typical protocol for security leaks is a Memory Charm that covers the information overheard--"
Memory Charm?? Oh Merlin, that sounds horrible! You whirl around to protest, but Harry puts a finger up to interrupt you.
"--but I've never used those unless absolutely necessary. I've seen what one can do to a person if it goes wrong, and I'd hate to subject anyone to that. Especially a girl who's going off to Hogwarts in a few weeks," he says.
"Your understanding is remarkable. Truly remarkable," your dad says, bowing his head. "I could never tell you how grateful I am. I assure you, this will never happen again."
Harry says nothing in response. Instead, he kneels down so that he's eye to eye with you, close enough that you can see yourself reflected in his glasses.
"Astrid. I need you to promise me something," he says. "I can't let you go until you do."
You nod, not trusting yourself to say anything dignified right now.
"I'm going to trust you because you were honest with me, and I believe you realize now that what you did was a mistake. You must promise that you will tell absolutely no one what you heard me and Ron talking about," he says. "Not your parents, not your sister. Not anyone you meet at Hogwarts. And you absolutely -- absolutely -- must not try to do anything with the information you heard." He gets a faraway look in his eye, as if he's not quite seeing you anymore. "I remember what it was like. To feel young and invincible. To feel like you're the only person in the world who knows something's wrong. Like you're the only person who can fix it." With a shake of his head, he returns to reality. "Understand that that simply isn't true. Your job as an eleven-year-old isn't to save the world. Your job is to make friends in the common room, complain about Potions, and eat as much food at feasts as you can."
He smiles, and you can't help but return it. You think Harry Potter really is a nice man, whoever he is.
"Do you promise me, Astrid? Promise me you'll just be a kid?" he says.
"Yes," you reply. "I promise." You think about whether you really mean it later, but that's definitely the answer Harry wanted to hear, because he pats you gently on the shoulder and stands up again.
"Alright. I have to be off now. Tight schedule to keep if I want to eat supper with the family," Harry says, straightening his robes.
"Us as well," Dad says. "My -- and Astrid's -- sincerest apologies for all the trouble we caused you, Mr. Weasley." He turns to Harry. "And I shall never forget the kindness you showed my daughter today, Mr. Potter."
Harry smiles again politely.
"Think nothing of it." He looks to you and gives a small wave. "Have a good term, Astrid. And remember your promise."
With that, he walks out the door. You, Dad, and Maggie do the same a few minutes later, after you cleaned yourself up a bit with Dad's hankie. You're the last one to leave the store, but before you do, something blue and pentagonal floats in front of your face. A Chocolate Frog, with a tiny roll of parchment attached on a string. You break it off and unroll it.
'For taking down those bullies.
I'm still betting on Gryffindor for you.
--Ron Weasley'
I'm still betting on Gryffindor for you.
--Ron Weasley'
Smiling wearily, you put the message and the Frog in your pocket and follow your father back down the street.
"Go to your room."
The Floo ashes are barely out of your eyes before you hear Dad's voice, all the anger about the book and the eavesdropping returning in full force. You suppose it was too much to ask that he be as forgiving as Harry.
"But Dad--" you start, stumbling out of the fireplace.
"I'm not going to hear it, Astrid. What you did today was absolutely unacceptable. You're unbelievably fortunate that you pulled that on Harry Potter. Any other Auror would have Obliviated you without a second thought," he says, pointing his finger in your face. Maggie withdraws immediately, running into the kitchen where you hear Mum and Tasha at work.
"I already said I'm sorry..." you mumble.
"And that's a good start, but it's simply not going to cut it. This isn't even taking into account the Dark Arts book that you bought behind my back, either," he continues. "Really, I don't know what got into you today. I thought you were more mature than this. If this is what you're going to do at Hogwarts--"
You're really, really not in the mood to put up with this right now.
"Look, I promised that Auror that I wouldn't do it again," you say, voice rising in volume involuntarily. "So you don't have to worry about me asking questions or being curious about things I don't know anything about. It's fine. I'm fine." Something bubbles within you -- the feeling you got at Ollivander's, but uncontrolled. "I'll just stay in the dark my whole life. Like everyone wants me to."
Your father frowns. "Astrid..."
A china plate goes flying off the wall and shatters on the floor in front of you, and you go running off, not stopping to greet your mother or meet Maggie's questioning gaze.
They don't call you down for supper. It's probably part of your punishment, but it's fine. You're not sure you would have gone down anyway. (Tasha does bring you up a plate of food, however. It's Mum's amazing tomato soup and grilled cheese, and you feel yourself cheering up as you eat, despite yourself.)
You have a lot of time on your own between getting home and going to sleep -- and unfortunately, there's not a lot to do in your room other than sulk. You read a few pages of your favorite novels before tossing them away, unable to concentrate. You twirl your wand around in your fingers, admiring how the polish shines in the light. You try to take a nap, but though your body is exhausted from the emotional gauntlet you ran in the last few hours, your mind won't cooperate. It keeps wanting you to think, to decide how you're really feeling about everything that happened. So, at last, you give in, hugging your knees to your chest and staring at the wall as you play through this afternoon's events again and again.
[ ] After thinking about it, you're no longer angry at your father. He may be strict, and he may overreact, but he's just trying to keep you safe. And, at the end of the day, he knows a lot more about the world than you do. Maybe he's right to keep so much from you and Maggie.
[ ] You're still angry at your father. You can't help it. He tries to keep half the stuff in the world away from you, and then acts all surprised when you want to find out more. It's his fault that you had to buy that book and eavesdrop in the first place, so it's hypocritical of him to punish you.
[ ] You plan on keeping your promise to Harry. Every bit of it. You absolutely don't want to get in trouble with the Aurors, so you should listen to his advice.
[ ] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
[ ] You don't plan on keeping your promise to Harry. You had to get out of that shop somehow without getting your memory wiped. Something is definitely going on, you want to find out more, and you'll need to be able to share what you know with your allies. That includes sharing the info you got.
...
There's a knock at your door.
Your head jerks up, and you snort in the middle of a snore. Oh, wow. You must have fallen asleep without realizing it, because it's pitch black outside, and you're still in your robes from earlier. What was it that woke you up, exactly?
Then you hear the light rapping of a little fist against your door again, this time followed by Maggie's voice.
"Hey, Astrid. It's me."
What's she doing, coming to your room in the middle of the night? You climb out of bed and tip-toe over to the door, opening it slowly so it doesn't creak.
"What're you doing, Maggie?" you ask. "Why aren't you asleep?"
She answers by holding up a book with black leather binding, a grim drawing of a human head on the front, and fancy script for the title. The Forbidden Arts.
You gasp, and she peeks out from behind the cover, looking immensely pleased with herself.
"I got your book," she whispers. "Dad was going on and on about it at dinner. He said that it was completely inappropriate for a first year, with some of the material he saw."
You grimace, but you can't say you're surprised. You wonder if it was the chapter on The War that set him off, or if some of the other stuff was unacceptable too.
"So he's not going to let me read it?"
"No -- he said he's going to give it back to you," Maggie replies. "He's just going to erase the chapters he thinks are bad."
"Erase them?" you say, almost forgetting to whisper. "But that's not fair! I bought that book myself!"
"That's why I got it for you." Maggie lowers the book, which must have been tiring out her arms to hold up. "I want to know what's in here too." She offers it, face up, to you. "Can we read it together?"
[ ] Of course. You have to learn what Dad doesn't want you to know before he erases it, and since Maggie went to the trouble of doing this for you, you're more than happy to read it with her.
[ ] You want to read the book, but you don't want to get Maggie involved. She really is too young, and some of the stuff in the book might scare her. That, or she'll slow you down with her lower reading level.
[ ] No, this is a bad idea. You've paid the price today for breaking the rules -- twice. If you get caught, there's no telling what Dad will think. You'll be lucky if he lets you do anything on your own ever again.
[ ] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
[ ] Write-in
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Daecl
CURSED BY THE DICE
[X] After thinking about it, you're no longer angry at your father. He may be strict, and he may overreact, but he's just trying to keep you safe. And, at the end of the day, he knows a lot more about the world than you do. Maybe he's right to keep so much from you and Maggie.
Let's not go down that road, 'kay?
[X] You plan on keeping your promise to Harry. Every bit of it. You absolutely don't want to get in trouble with the Aurors, so you should listen to his advice.
I get the feeling that Astrid has had this incident practically engraved into her head. It's the most upset she's probably ever been. She's going to keep the promise.
Dunno what to do about the book though. I think a write-in would be appropriate.
Let's not go down that road, 'kay?
[X] You plan on keeping your promise to Harry. Every bit of it. You absolutely don't want to get in trouble with the Aurors, so you should listen to his advice.
I get the feeling that Astrid has had this incident practically engraved into her head. It's the most upset she's probably ever been. She's going to keep the promise.
Dunno what to do about the book though. I think a write-in would be appropriate.
[X] After thinking about it, you're no longer angry at your father. He may be strict, and he may overreact, but he's just trying to keep you safe. And, at the end of the day, he knows a lot more about the world than you do. Maybe he's right to keep so much from you and Maggie.
He's overprotective, but that's a father's job.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
No risking their lives...but I seriously doubt we can let shit go. Look for help, do it smart, yes, pretend we're blind, no.
[X] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
-[X] Go with the copying idea. Dad would probably notice if the erasing fails.
Reading the whole thing in one night isn't going to happen. Might as well copy it.
He's overprotective, but that's a father's job.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
No risking their lives...but I seriously doubt we can let shit go. Look for help, do it smart, yes, pretend we're blind, no.
[X] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
-[X] Go with the copying idea. Dad would probably notice if the erasing fails.
Reading the whole thing in one night isn't going to happen. Might as well copy it.
- Location
- USA
[X] You're still angry at your father. You can't help it. He tries to keep half the stuff in the world away from you, and then acts all surprised when you want to find out more. It's his fault that you had to buy that book and eavesdrop in the first place, so it's hypocritical of him to punish you.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
I'm abstaining from the last vote for now. I'm not so sure it's a good idea to hop on the Dark Arts train right now - we're upset at our father and we're probably just doing this out of a misguided notion of rebellion. I said curiosity isn't a sin, but when it's not tempered with even-headedness and common sense it can very, very easily lead to foolishness.
We don't *really* understand a lot about magic now, so even if we did learn something useful from this book we'd almost certainly end up doing something foolish with it without some context and experience to make sense of it all. Knowledge is power, but power can be very dangerous, particularly in the hands of an angry eleven-year-old girl.
That being said... this will likely be the only chance we have to actually learn some of the theory behind dark magic in a long, long time. I'll be honest, I'm tempted, even if I think it's a foolhardy decision.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
I'm abstaining from the last vote for now. I'm not so sure it's a good idea to hop on the Dark Arts train right now - we're upset at our father and we're probably just doing this out of a misguided notion of rebellion. I said curiosity isn't a sin, but when it's not tempered with even-headedness and common sense it can very, very easily lead to foolishness.
We don't *really* understand a lot about magic now, so even if we did learn something useful from this book we'd almost certainly end up doing something foolish with it without some context and experience to make sense of it all. Knowledge is power, but power can be very dangerous, particularly in the hands of an angry eleven-year-old girl.
That being said... this will likely be the only chance we have to actually learn some of the theory behind dark magic in a long, long time. I'll be honest, I'm tempted, even if I think it's a foolhardy decision.
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Artificing. There's quills that copy text automatically. IIRC not very complicated, though about as effective as a photocopier.
- Location
- 18th Century Victorian England duh
[X] You're still angry at your father. You can't help it. He tries to keep half the stuff in the world away from you, and then acts all surprised when you want to find out more. It's his fault that you had to buy that book and eavesdrop in the first place, so it's hypocritical of him to punish you.
Well, it's true. He shelters us way too much.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
I'm not planning on being paralyzed with fear when more plot hooks start coming.
[X] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
-[X] Go with the copying idea. Dad would probably notice if the erasing fails.
And then we can let our sweet, loyal little sister read it with us.
Well, it's true. He shelters us way too much.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
I'm not planning on being paralyzed with fear when more plot hooks start coming.
[X] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
-[X] Go with the copying idea. Dad would probably notice if the erasing fails.
And then we can let our sweet, loyal little sister read it with us.
Khaos
Baguette, wine and cheese
[X] You're still angry at your father. You can't help it. He tries to keep half the stuff in the world away from you, and then acts all surprised when you want to find out more. It's his fault that you had to buy that book and eavesdrop in the first place, so it's hypocritical of him to punish you.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
[X] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
-[X] Go with the copying idea. Dad would probably notice if the erasing fails.
[X] You plan on keeping part of your promise to Harry. You won't tell anybody what you heard about Death Eaters and Voldemort or whatever, but if there's something bad happening, you want to help stop it however you can.
[X] No, you'll never be able to read everything you need to in one night. You have to find some way to get the information instead. Enchant the book to resist erasing, maybe, or get a quill to write it all down instead.
-[X] Go with the copying idea. Dad would probably notice if the erasing fails.
Will that trigger some sort of under-age magic use warning like it did for Harry, or does that not kick in because we're in a wizard household? Regardless, that should probably be specified.
[X] After thinking about it, you're no longer angry at your father. He may be strict, and he may overreact, but he's just trying to keep you safe. And, at the end of the day, he knows a lot more about the world than you do. Maybe he's right to keep so much from you and Maggie.
[X] You plan on keeping your promise to Harry. Every bit of it. You absolutely don't want to get in trouble with the Aurors, so you should listen to his advice.
[X] If it's that bad, you don't want Maggie reading it. ... You guess that's how Dad feels about you. ... Anyway, it's better not to read the horrible bits now and be able to read all you want of the rest of the book later.
We are being coddled. But that doesn't mean that the parts that will be excised are actually informative or useful.
[X] You plan on keeping your promise to Harry. Every bit of it. You absolutely don't want to get in trouble with the Aurors, so you should listen to his advice.
[X] If it's that bad, you don't want Maggie reading it. ... You guess that's how Dad feels about you. ... Anyway, it's better not to read the horrible bits now and be able to read all you want of the rest of the book later.
We are being coddled. But that doesn't mean that the parts that will be excised are actually informative or useful.
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- Location
- USA
Normally I'd agree and say we should just trust Dad to censor particularly dangerous information for our safety(because, and let's not kid ourselves, the Dark Arts are dangerous at the best of times).
However, he's also behaved *really* strangely ever since we started showing perfectly understandable curiosity about things like the War. What he's doing strikes me as going well above simple paternal protectiveness. I think he's actively trying to hide something from us; something that'll be made easier to hide if we remain completely ignorant about the War. This book has a chapter on exactly that subject, so we can be absolutely sure Dad's going to censor that, regardless of whether it's actually dangerous or not.
The sensor apparently can't differentiate between magic performed in a household, which is why the wizarding kids can practice magic at home while the muggleborn can't.
He's certainly hiding something.
Its link to the war might be as tenuous as not liking the way the winning side's propaganda portrayed someone or something, so learning about the war is not likely to grant immediate enlightenment, though. Also, we're going to be at Hogwarts soon. We can easily ask someone about the war or look it up in the library.
It's the general Dark Arts theory that seems most useful/ interesting and hardest to get elsewhere. Dad seems unlikely to censor much of that.