SERPENT HEART° TOM RIDDLE

046. VISIO DEI

CHAPTER FORTY SIX
— vision of a god

      ASTREA STOOD ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF, LOOKING DOWN AS THE WAVES CRASHED AGAINST THE JAGGED ROCKS BELOW. The salty smell of the sea hit her nose as a cool summer breeze ripped through the air and brushed against Astrea's bare arms, causing the hair on her skin to raise. The sea had always been something that called to her and Astrea had spent the past few weeks in the northern coast of Germany by the sea, searching for clues on the whereabouts of Ravenclaw's diadem to no avail. After coming across nothing but dead ends, Astrea devoted the rest of her holiday to trying to learn how to scry into the water. Her mother, Illyse Ravenswood, was able to look into water to see the future with ease, but Astrea didn't have much of a talent for that. Dreams were always the place where her visions were hidden, mostly shielded by messages and signs that took her far too long to try to figure out. 

Astrea could still recall the very first time she had been able to use her Inner Eye. She remembered being a child, dreaming that she had been sitting in an armchair in a wide, circular room with walls decorated in blue and bronze silks. She remembered looking around, observing and seeing the faces of older kids dressed in black and blue robes, each of them busy with whatever activity they were focusing on in front of them. Amongst the group were two girls giggling to one another; a boy with ash white hair in the center who was displaying some sort of contraption she had never seen before to a group of younger children who were dressed similarly; and a boy and girl with matching hair the color of honey and gold who spoke to each other as they played a game of wizard's chess. The girl playing chess had stood out to Astrea most out of everyone, because she was the only one dressed in green. 

It wasn't until years later that Astrea realized she had seen the Ravenclaw common room and the faces of other students she knew. Ignatia Ollivander and Lorelei Spencer-Moon had been the two girls speaking; Amphitheus Lovegood was showing a group of first years on his new inventions as they looked on in awe; and Pluto and Rhea Hel had been the ones playing wizard's chess. Her vision came to fruition at the beginning of fifth year, right after Tom found out about Rhea's Black Book and decided to enter her life.

Astrea hadn't realized it until recently, but Rhea Hel had appeared in more of her visions than she ever would have thought. As recently as the night before, Astrea had gone to sleep as she always did and the dreams came to her as they always did. She stood in a spectacular private library, with shelves upon shelves of books which towered so high towards the ceiling Astrea had to crane her neck back to see where they ended. Astrea remembered trying to read the titles on the spines of the books to no avail. All of the words appeared jumbled or indecipherable except for one — The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Without thinking, her hand began to reach out to take the book when the large double doors to the library swung open. Astrea spun around, startled, and saw Rhea Hel standing in the doorway, blinking in surprise as though she hadn't expected to find Astrea there. Astrea froze, surprised because the people in her dreams didn't normally notice or interact with her. Her visions would always be moments where she was the observer or there was no one else except for her and whatever she was being shown. 

Rhea's bright green gaze traveled to where Astrea's hand was reaching out towards. She walked forward to catch a glimpse of the title as Astrea eyed her warily, unsure of what to expect. Rhea had let out a chuckle and said,

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard, huh? Trying to do a bit of light reading during my party, Ravenswood?" Rhea asked, a friendly grin on her face that confused Astrea even further. Rhea looked to be the same age she was now, except there was something . . . sadder about her. She didn't look as strong as she always did. Astrea didn't respond to her comment and watched as Rhea took the book from the shelf. "This was my mother's copy, the one she would read to Pluto. Atlas insisted it on putting it in here "for the future"."