The next day.
Aster woke before dawn, far too early for most. The sky was still dark, the sun not even a suggestion on the horizon.
Yet there he was, jogging across the Hogwarts grounds. The early chill nipped at his skin, but he didn't seem to notice. He couldn't go beyond the school's perimeter, of course, but the grounds themselves were vast enough to explore and stretch his legs.
From behind frosted windows, a few early risers spotted him.
"A first-year? Up already?"
"More importantly… is he running?"
Several bleary-eyed students watched in disbelief as Aster cut through the mist like a shadow in motion, quiet, focused, different.
When the sun finally crept up over the hills, Aster turned back toward the castle. He had memorized the path, or so he thought. The corridors had shifted again, staircases moved, and doorways that once opened now led to stone walls.
Still, after a bit of wandering and a few muttered curses, he found his way back to the Slytherin dormitory.
Draco was just waking when Aster entered, his hair a mess of pale straw.
"I thought your raven ate y—" Draco began with a smirk.
But Nyx flew in behind Aster at that very moment, landing silently beside her cage. She fixed Draco with a razor-sharp glare, her inky feathers bristling for the briefest second, just enough to make her point.
Draco blinked and quickly turned away, muttering, "Charming bird…"
Draco had dressed neatly, every button fastened, tie crisp, as if being tidy might impress someone. He eyed Aster, who had just returned from outside, cheeks flushed from the cold.
"What were you doing?" Draco asked, frowning slightly.
Aster didn't pause. "Running through the fields."
Draco blinked. 'Running? Isn't that a Muggle thing?' The thought hovered in his mind, but when he glanced at the raven perched near Aster, feathers sleek and eyes intelligent, he wisely decided not to pursue it.
Aster made his way to the Great Hall, Draco falling into step behind him. A groggy Crabbe and Goyle lumbered after like sluggish shadows.
At the Gryffindor table, Hermione was already seated, nose deep in a thick book, reading with intense concentration. She didn't notice Aster until he slid into the bench beside her, or, perhaps more accurately, she pretended not to.
Unbothered by the stares of others, Aster leaned in with a smirk. "What? Won't talk to a Slytherin?"
Without missing a beat, she jabbed him with her elbow and muttered, "You know I wouldn't do that."
"Still reading it," he said, nodding toward her book, "or just rereading out of obsession?"
She growled softly, an irritated little sound that only made his smile widen.
A moment later, Harry and Ron appeared, dropping into seats across from them. Ron looked bleary-eyed; Harry, curious.
Aster turned back to Hermione. "Want to write an mail to your parents?"
She nodded quickly and pulled out a sheet of parchment, jotting down her impressions of her first day. Harry was already halfway through his own letter to Lily, and Aster started one too.
At the end of the table, Nyx perched high in the rafters, watching them all with silent amusement, like a sentry or an old soul who had seen far too much already.
It wasn't yet time for the morning post. The owls hadn't begun their chaotic descent, and no letters were expected just yet. Still, Aster could hear the others scribbling on parchment, perhaps to get an answer by the next break.
Across the hall, a tall Slytherin prefect approached with narrowed eyes and a stiff posture.
"What are you doing?" he asked, voice sharp as he peered down at Aster.
Aster didn't even look up. Instead, he gave a subtle gesture, a small flick of his fingers.
A moment later, Nyx glided down silently from the rafters and landed behind him. But this time, she didn't shrink to her usual perch size. Her form shifted, stretching out until she stood nearly as tall as a grown human. Wings arched menacingly above her shoulders, casting long shadows over the table.
Gasps rippled through the Great Hall. Conversations faltered. Even Draco blinked in stunned silence.
The prefect froze. His lips parted like he meant to speak, but no words came.
Hermione, who had been watching with growing exasperation, grabbed Aster by the ear and tugged.
"Stop showing off," she hissed. "We still have to do the school tour."
Aster leaned slightly away from her grip, unfazed. "Okay, okay, fine," he muttered. "I'm just writing to my mum. And her's," he added with a nod to Harry and Hermione. "We live together. That's not against the rules, is it?"
Nyx loomed silently behind him, glowing eyes fixed on the prefect like a silent warning.
Clearly deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, the prefect stepped back, stiffly nodded, and muttered, "Come quickly," before turning on his heel.
Aster smirked and gently tapped Nyx's beak. "You're too dramatic," he whispered.
The raven tilted her head and let out a soft, derisive caw.
After the incident, Aster left Nyx with Hermione. He glanced back once as he walked away and froze.
'Were they... talking?'
He blinked. Hermione was murmuring softly, her eyes fixed on Nyx, and the raven tilted her head in response like she understood. Aster frowned, puzzled. 'No way...'
But there wasn't time to question it. The Slytherin prefect barked his name, and he jogged to catch up with the rest of his housemates.
They were led through twisting corridors and staircases that creaked and sighed with age. Some doors appeared where there hadn't been any, and others vanished altogether. The only areas they didn't pass were the restricted sections and those sealed off from student access.
By the time they returned to the Great Hall, the ceiling above was bright with late morning light, and owls were already swooping through the rafters, dropping letters and packages into waiting hands.
Aster returned to Hermione's side, dropped onto the bench beside her, and opened a book without a word.
She looked up from her own page and studied him. "You look exhausted," she noted.
"The stairs moved," he grumbled, not looking up. "While I was walking on them."
Hermione winced in sympathy.
Around them, low murmurs and whispering rose from both the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. Neither of them paid it any mind.
A gust of air swept down as Nyx returned, folding her wings neatly as she landed beside them. She stood still for a moment, then flitted up through the owl passage once more. Aster watched her shift, small enough to pass through the opening, then grow again once beyond it.
"She's cool," Hermione said with a small smile. "She told me how your first night in Slytherin went."
Aster blinked. "She told you?"
Hermione just raised an eyebrow.
"She said…" Hermione looked back at him, teasing, "...you didn't make any new friends."
She tilted her head toward the Slytherin table.
Aster looked down at his book. "Didn't try."
Hermione smirked. "Of course not."