I am Astoria, a fifth year at Hogwarts. My mother, a simple sort of woman, named me after her home town in America. We moved to England in the summer before I turned thirteen, just in time for me to begin my second year.

I remember when I first came to Hogwarts. It wasn't too bad. In fact, it was wonderful. My half-sister, Daphne, would ignore me, sometimes the Slytherins would taunt me, but it was all fine. I was too preoccupied with the wonders of magic and my best friend, Luna, to care.

Yet, it changed in my fifth year. A lot of students left Hogwarts, and I was the closest thing to a muggle-born left. They called me a mud-blood until I informed them that I was, in fact, descended from a wealthy wizard family. Instead they called me a mud-brain, which really made them sound like a bunch of children.

The worst of my assailants were Pansy Parkinson and Daphne. Having to share a common room with them made it even worse, but Luna made a good point of hiding me amongst the Ravenclaws.

That day at lunch, Luna and I were both staring blankly at nothing in particular. Her lack of animation was dreamy, mine was thoughtful. Our tendency to act like space cadets made us a particularly good match, since we spent more time simply relishing each other's presence then actually talking.

"Astoria. Astoria!" Nanette snapped.

"Hmm, what?" I asked, coming out of my daze.

"Pansy-alert," she said simply.

When I first starting spending time with the Ravenclaws, they avoided me and teased me some, but now they had accepted me as their Slytherin invader. We weren't exceptionally close, most Ravenclaws and I, but we had each other's back.

I rolled my eyes, turned in my seat, and met Parkinson's arrogant smirk. There were three other girls with her, most notably Daphne, who shared my fair skin and light-brown hair, as well as my curvaceous form.

"So, is it America today, or my mother?" I asked lazily. "Take your pick, Parkinsons."

"It's Parkinson, mud-brain," she corrected.

Being raised in the wizarding world, she didn't understand the Parkinsons was a nasty disease. It was a personal joke of mine. "Right," I replied, disinterested.

"Let's just go Pansy," said Daphne, her monotone voice remarkable similar to mine. "She's not worth anything anyways."

"Run along to potions, or something," Pansy snapped.

Daphne rolled her eyes, then turned and left the great hall.

"So, don't you have some insults to fling or something?" I pressed.

"Didn't that muggle mother of yours teach you any manners?" Pansy scoffed. "Oh, she wouldn't know any, being an American and all."

"Your words have cut me deep," I said sarcastically. "You're awfully brave today. It's not usually your style to attack someone when they've got friends around."

"You don't have any friends," she retorted.

"I think we have very different ideas of what qualifies a friend, sweetheart," I replied.

"How does it feel to know your father killed himself because of you?" she asked, her voice falsely sweet.

"You know what, I'm gonna go study," I sighed as I stood. "Come on Luna."

"Not so fast, mud-brain," Pansy interjected. "In the United States, is everyone a whore, or just your mother?"

I took a deep breath. My mother was a sensitive topic.

"Ooo, there's the spot," Pansy cooed.

"Leave her alone," Luna said suddenly.

"Or what loony?"

"Parkinsons, do you really want to know how we take care of things where I'm from?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it's fascinating," she said with a grin, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, totally," sneered one of her posse.

"Well, it goes something like this," I began.

I reeled my arm back, and with all the strength I could muster, slammed my fist into Pansy's harsh jaw. She fell backwards and stared at me with her mouth hanging open, hand pressed to her face. The sight of her on the ground gave me a sick sense of satisfaction. I hated to hurt people, but that punch had been building for a long time.

"That's how we settle things in the states," I said coolly, shaking my sleeve into place. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Feeling both guilty and successful, I picked up my bag and tossed it over my shoulder. Everyone in the great hall was now focused on me. The Gryffindors applauded and cheered, everyone else was staring at me with their mouths hanging open. Maybe I would be better off in Gryffindor.

"Mud-brain one, Parkinson zero," someone said as I stormed out.

"Hey, wait up Tori," Luna called, snatching her bag and running after me.

"I shouldn't have let her get to me," I sighed as we went down the hallway.

"Yeah, that was weird," Luna said. "You're usually just so… cool, about everything."

"Maybe I'm just stressed about the owls," I suggested, but that wasn't why.

"Oh well," she replied. "Well, I suppose I'll be going to potions."

"Alright, bye Luna," I said as she started up a nearby staircase.

"Oh, by the way," she said, stopping in her tracks and turned back to me. "What out for Nargles. There's been a particularly bad infestation."

"Okay Luna," I said tiredly, but with a smile.

"Maybe that's why you punched Pansy," she remarked as she turned back up the stairs.

"Yeah, maybe," I mused.