Chapter 1: Observation
Chapter Text
The Astral Plane*
Death was sitting on her throne, watching the lives of the multiverse flicker by like mayflies. ‘Universe’ after ‘universe’ scrambled before her in clusters of similar universes. Had someone told her billions of years ago that this is what goddesses did, she would have laughed at them and then probably killed them. But this didn’t make her life boring by any means. She occasionally sent an avatar to the Material Plane to see firsthand how people handle her. Sometimes, she played the good girl and actually gave people boons and extended their lives for doing something for her. If they thought they could rule over her with the gifts she gave, the price they paid was dire. One of the best boons she had ever given was to Nicholas Flamel. The Philosophers Stone was his masterpiece, but her guidance prevented him from killing himself or his wife in the process. Just thinking of the man brought what she herself had done to her mind.
Just thinking of that one action brought to mind another deed that she had done for another cluster of universes. Nicholas Flamel was in this ‘universal’ cluster as he was in many others, but unlike in most in this one, he gave up the Philosophers Stone on most occasions. That was a smart move on most occasions, considering his tendency to go crazy after a thousand years of living. However, it would be unnecessary for him to do this for the most part.
She shook her head. Death looked once more at Multiverse Cluster 9A. As she looked at flash of black cloud filled the zone driving most world insane. This part of the multiverse was in danger. This was not meant to happen. There were better times to reminisce; now was not one of them. She sorted through it star system by star system. A quicker scan would have told her the source, but not in the detail she would have liked. She started her search from just beyond the galactic core. Star by star went by like reels of film. Each was touched by the black energy, but not its source. Then she reached it. A planet not that much different from the one she grew up on. The only difference was the black energy. It was the negative energy of death but not being controlled by a cleric of any kind and not at the command of an anti-paladin*. In fact, of all the ones that were on the planet, none were responsible for this disturbance.
She called one of her pages. The young dhampir entered the room and asked what she needed. With a wave of her hand, she crafted a note out of nothingness. “Send a copy of this to the other council members.”
The young blonde woman bowed, taking the note and rushing out the door. Once she was gone, Kylie turned her gaze to Earth 9AHP720K once more. Everything was the same as all the other ones of its type. Magic existed within this universe. There was an ‘Earth’, on it were about six billion people lived, magic existed, but was concealed from those who did not have it, and there was a boy or girl by the name of Harry or Harriet Potter. His adversary was Tom Marvolo Riddle, and yes, he went by the alias Voldemort. Dumbledore was still alive, and the teachers were all the same as the universe that lay at the core of this cluster of ‘universes’. There were other similarities, but negative energy had wrapped itself around this planet Earth for some reason. She decided to look at this planet’s history, life by life, to determine what caused this.
With a snap of her fingers, a laptop appeared before her. It had been a while since she used one of these things, but it was still nice to have one lying around. She went through this planet's history, life form by life form. The dinosaurs and the life that occurred before them were the easiest to go through. Not much was different from her home planet. They evolved, and a meteorite caused their extinction the end. Then the slow crawl to sentient mammalian life. One by one, each life was crossed off the list of what could have caused this. The Bronze Age flew by quickly. For comical reasons, the Iron Age drew some interest but still did not really hold the answer. The Dark Ages were a cluster fuck of ideas as usual but still held no definitive answer. Then came the Renaissance, and with it, part of the answer.
During this world’s Renaissance, there was a wizard who developed a way to artificially crystalize magical energy by accident. He spent the next ten years learning how to do it, but even after mastering the art form, he could find no practical use for the crystal. The last one he made was filled with his bitterness and hatred. This turned the pinkish crystal black as pitch. In time the hatred the object radiated caused the man to fly into a blind rage that caused him to kill his wife and children. Then he went out and killed everyone in the village not far from his home. The negative energy that came with all these deaths flowed into this crystal.
With each brutal murderer near it, the crystal grew in power, wrapping the man’s mind in abhorrence and despair. When he had killed everyone in the village, his body could take no more of the strain his actions caused, and the crystal was putting upon it, and the man passed out. When he woke the following day, the memory of his actions flooded back into his mind, and the man wept. He apparated back to his home to find his wife lying before their children’s dead and mutilated bodies. He levitated their bodies outside and magically dug their graves. When they were buried, he crafted them a massive tombstone. Upon it, he carved their names and his own because he had died the moment he turned his wand on them. He apparated to the mountains he once visited as a child. The man spent the rest of the day looking for a place to put the crystal. A vertical cave caught his attention. He went into this cave to find it empty of any other form of life. He placed the crystal on the ground. He then sealed the entrance to the cave. He warded the cave from being entered magically. After that, he removed his work from his own memory and then killed himself. No one ever looked for Ricardo de Monforte, for they thought he was buried with his family.
The crystal remained concealed for the next four centuries, slowly gathering the ambient hatred of those who walked by the cave. As it grew in power, those who could use magic could feel its presence, but the wards were hard to break, given de Monforte’s magical strength. When the goblins finally entered the cave, they found nothing but de Monforte’s remains and the crystal radiating with hate and magic. They took the gem and left in frustration that there was nothing else there. This was in nineteen forty-seven. By this point, the gem was filled with so much hatred that it was reddish-black in colour.
The goblins studied the crystal for the next thirty years. At this point, the struggle against Voldemort came in contact with the crystal. One of the wizards that worked for the goblins was a young man named Peter Pettigrew. He took a job with the bank as a magical researcher. One of the jobs that fell in his lap was to help them research the crystal. He discovered that the object could project a beam of energy that vaporized anything it touched. Peter took the object from the bank with the permission of his supervising goblin. The following day he Obliviated the memory of his boss that the object even existed.
A mundane young girl was the first person to fall victim to the gem in Pettigrew's hands. She was seven years old. He violated the girl. Then as she lay there weeping on the floor, he reduced her to dust. Peter smiled to himself and hid the gem away. He knew Dumbledore would never approve of this thing's use, but he pledged to himself that he would use it for his special ‘projects’. Over the next three years, the war against Voldemort grew dire. In fear of his own life and his precious crystal, Peter went to Lucius Malfoy with the hope of joining the Death Eaters.
When he was before Voldemort, his mind was raided for information, and the secret of the crystal came out. Voldemort promised him safety so long as he handed over the crystal. In fear of his own life, Peter handed over the crystal. Voldemort’s test subject for the crystal was Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, parents of James Potter. The man did not use the crystal again until October thirty-first, a year and five months after the death of the eldest Potters. It broke down the door with ease and was intended to kill Potter, but the ward surrounding the girl was one of love, so the crystal turned on itself. The resulting explosion destroyed the child’s bedroom and injured Voldemort. In one final attempt to kill the young Potter, Voldemort used the killing curse. This, like in many other universes, rebounded off the girl and killed Voldemort instead.
The energy held within the crystal was starting to be scattered throughout the solar system by solar winds. Magic increased the speed tenfold with each passing day until the whole galaxy was covered in a dark black haze.
The sound of the door opening drew her attention. Another page stood before her. “Mistress, the other council members wish to enter this realm.”
“I grant them entry.” With those words, flashes of light scattered throughout the room. “So, what are your opinions?”
“Not even bothering with a ‘hello’, Kylie?” Time asked.
“Yes, where are my manners. Welcome, everyone. And sorry, Life, for not asking for a better place to hold this meeting, but this shall be brief, I swear.”
“We shall see. When did you discover this?” Life asked in irritation as the negative energy of death gnawed at her.
“Less than an hour ago, and we needn’t do anything about what caused the disturbance. The object is gone. As for the events that are to happen, they should play out the way they are intended.” Time spoke firmly. “You will be going to the planet, won’t you, Kylie?”
“While that was not my original intent, I shall now that you mention it.” She looked around the room. Every over deity, from air to magic, looked confused. “While everything looks normal, I want to make damn sure that the gem is truly destroyed. The last thing we need is for Voldemort or Dumbledore to use any piece that may remain as a key to alter their reality.”
“There is more, isn’t there,” Magic asked. The violet haired goddess brushed her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist.
“In many other worlds, other gods and goddess of death, magic, you name it, step in to help the male or the female version of the Potter child in many ways. I wish to teach this one. I will take over as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” Kylie said calmly.
“You want to teach that class?” War asked.
“Well, it is either that or History of Magic,” Kylie said coolly.
“You should teach history.” Chaos said with a smile across her lips.
“This is not why we are here,” said Time. “Let me get this straight you want to go and ‘teach’ ‘Harry Potter’, correct?” Kylie nodded. “And I am guessing you want to do more than teach Potter the required material?”
“Yes, that is correct, although I will be teaching that stuff to his friends and allies as well,” Kylie said calmly. “That is if you all agree with my plan. Sure Voldemort may not know how the crystal was made, but that will not stop him from trying to rediscover its creation. Dumbledore may start looking for others like the one lost. There are still two crystals that have remained untouched by anyone for four centuries. I would like to keep it that way…. for now.”
“Let us put it to a vote then.” Life said. “All of those in favour of this plan?” Kylie raised her hand. She looked around the room. Of the fourteen deities, only six did not raise their hands. “All of those against it?” Of the six that remained, only three raised their hands.
“You may do this, Kylie, but you must restrain your abilities with the artefacts we provide.” Time said before leaving in a flash of grey light.
“Of course,” with that, the other deities left for their realms. “Now it is time to plan. I will need to send one of my clerics back in time to take on the role of me as a student. They need to be as deceptively honest as possible. Perhaps I should use Akasa for this mission.” Kylie said as she called the elf into her chambers.
“You wanted to see me, my Lady?” Akasa asked while taking a knee.
“Yes, I would like you to take on a role for me. I want you to pretend to be a student in a school using my name.” Kylie said with a smile on her face.
“I am more than willing to do this, Mistress, but I would like to know what I will be doing while I am there?”
“Nothing more than going to school, but I will be putting you under some strong magic. You will have to pretend to be a child. You will be turned into an infant and raised by a family of my choosing. If anything happens to you, I will exact revenge upon them for that, you can be sure.”
“I will do as you ask, my Lady. When must I go?” Akasa asked, resolving to steel her veins.
“Tomorrow, I must make preparations for your stay in that world. The elves native to that world do not look like you, and while you are there, you will be under divine glamour to look human. I will explain more tomorrow. You are dismissed.” With that, Kylie made her way to her desk. “Now, to free up a spot on the staff.” Kylie waved her off, and as the young woman made her way to the door, something else crossed her mind. “One more thing.” The young cleric looked over her shoulder at her goddess. “I will be sending you backwards through time to accomplish this task.” The young elf nodded and walked out of the chamber.
-DGH-
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
History of Magic classroom
November 12, 1981
William Weasley was sitting there listening to Professor Binns ramble on about the goblin war of 1283 and was honestly amazed he hadn’t fallen asleep yet. One look around the classroom told him he was one of the unlucky ones. Most of his fellow classmates had already fallen victim to slumber. The old ghost could make the Apocalypse sound dull. How this… man was still teaching was a mystery to the young boy. Surely someone within the last hundred years would have thought to replace him. History was an important subject. Learning about the past was a good way to help shape the future. Well, he at least thought so. How would anyone react to another dark lord like He-who-must-not-be-named if they didn’t learn about him? They most certainly wouldn’t learn of him if Binns kept teaching here.
The only thing this class was good for was catching up on your sleep as it stood. Most students seemed to ignore him when he complained about this. He loved ancient history. He studied at home from the books his mum and dad had when they went to Hogwarts. When he was older, he would love to see the Coliseum, the Pyramids, the Parthenon, and loads of other historical places. Just to stand in front of such historical landmarks would be such an honour. The thought that such things still stood was amazing. He wanted to be a historian, but his mum wanted him to work in the Ministry like his dad, and he wanted none of it. Really the only job closest to a muggle historian the wizarding world had available was to work for Gringotts the Wizarding bank, and if that’s what he had to do, then so be it.
“And Higdnoll’s raid on London broke after two days of siege….” Binns pandered on. “When the… What is going on here? Why is it so cold?”
This caused Bill to look up from his notes and stare at the professor. The ghost was looking around the room. A look of confusion was clearly etched on his face. The ghost only stayed like this for a couple of seconds, though. As the ghost swung his hand down to strike the table before him, his hand passed through it. He looked confused for a couple of seconds and then, at the top of his ghostly lungs, screamed, “WAKE UP, YOU LOT!” With that, the sleeping students in the room jolted awake, staring in shock and awe at their very aware professor. The ghost ranted for about ten minutes about how disgraceful this was and how no student should fall asleep in class no matter how bored they get. After handing out some detentions, Binns dismissed the class and floated off to talk to the headmaster.
Bill gathered up his things and made for the door. He really didn’t want to get pulled into a conversation with Jacob McLean, a fifth-year Gryffindor, about what had happened, as this free time gave him the opportunity to do his potions homework.
Headmasters Office
Albus had been sitting there minding his own business when Binns came charging into his office screaming at the top of his ghostly lungs. Somehow the aged ghost had finally become aware of his status as a ghost. He seemed disturbed that no one had bothered to tell him he was dead in the last hundred years. Sure he didn’t mind teaching, but the audacity of it all seemed to bother the man. When he was done yelling, the man said he would be taking a sabbatical from teaching indefinitely.
“But who will teach History of Magic, Professor Binns?” Albus asked.
“That is not my problem; it is yours. The spell that would alert a ghost to its true nature should they be unaware of it is in the Hogwarts library. So I wish you the best of luck, and if you need me, I will be in the Great Hall chatting with the other ghosts.”
With that, the ghost slid down through the floor and presumably off to the Great Hall. Albus leaned back in his chair. This was not good. He already had to find a new teacher every year for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and now for the first time in years, Hogwarts was without a history teacher.
“Just when things were settling down, a new problem emerged to complicate things a little.” Albus looked to the devices he set up to monitor Rose Potter. “Well, at least she will not be bothered by this, and perhaps I can convince whoever is chosen to teach the class to stay away from Tom’s past.” He looked at a photo on his desk of his sister. “And mine.”
-DGH-
Hogwarts Entrance Hall
Three weeks later
Kylie looked at herself in the mirror. Her platinum blonde hair was longer than she’d like, and her grey eyes just looked weird behind glasses. The trip here was short and sweet. It still irritated her that you still end up miles off target when travelling between planes. The two hundred sixty-three miles she ended up off target was easy to overcome. The ‘hard’ part was matching the personality Akasa had worked up over the seven years she spent here. No one here would know that she was a different person, and she had to remember who Akasa’s friends were in school should any of them show up. Snape would be a pain, but thankfully Akasa had no friendly relation with the bastard. Faking the accent was the most ‘difficult’ thing for her to do. The only real annoying issue was the ghosts. Once she set foot into Hogwarts, they would all know who and what she was. With or without the necklace and bracelet that were now on her person. She would have to deal with that as soon as possible. She would have to hold a conversation with the ghost before seeing McGonagall about the History of Magic position. Focusing on Hogwarts, she teleported there within seconds. Turning her gaze to the gates that blocked the path to Hogwarts, she spoke firmly but quietly. “All ghosts come to me.”
The sound that followed was a massive high-pitched noise. The screams of the ghost could be heard from the school's entrance gate. She could see the cloud of ghosts heading her way. The horde of the undead would be hard for any mage to miss. A quick repulsion enchantment set for humans would ensure this conversation would not be interrupted. Once the ghost had arrived, the sound was almost deafening. Kylie spoke softly but firmly to them when the ghost had settled down.
“I will keep this brief and straight to the point. I know you all know what I am, but I am telling you this now: If any of you tell Dumbledore who and what I am, I will banish you to the afterlife quicker than you can count to one. Do you all understand?” Quick nods from the ghost settled her nerves a little. “Peeves, that includes you as well. Now in ten years, I will be personally teaching a few students some forgotten techniques. If Dumbledore tells you to monitor those students, you will not tell him a thing about what I am doing. Is that understood?”
“Yes, but perhaps the headmaster could help you?” asked Nicholas De Minsy-Porpington quietly.
“No. His version of ‘help’ is one I do not want. He will not be that helpful if he is anything like all other versions of himself. Yes, I just said ‘other versions of himself’. This is not the only Albus Dumbledore. Now am I understood?”
“Yes, my lady.” The ghost said as one.
As the ghost left, she opened a dimensional door that led to the front doors of Hogwarts. Walking through the portal to the castle's front doors brought a smile to her face. The spells that had been lost on this world made certain things a lot easier. She concealed her divine presence even further. She could feel the Elder Wand and Death Shroud sitting there in Dumbledore’s office. She hoped that the old man didn’t notice the pulse the Elder Wand was putting out right now.
Kylie shook her head to clear her mind of these thoughts. Deity or not, when your mind was distracted, it would show in a conversation. She decided to focus on the hallway and those within it to distract her from these thoughts. As they walked past her, the students were staring at her with eyes the size of saucers. She could have made herself look less attractive if she wanted to, but where’s the fun in that? The greyish violet silk following over the curves of her body was more than alluring. Her platinum blonde hair framed her heart-shaped face and gave her a sterner look than she wanted, but these were children, so being a touch more frightening was probably a good thing.
As she walked down the hallway, she spotted the greasy-haired potion professor. She gently probed his mind to see what he remembered of her time at the school from 1971 to 1977. After millennia of doing this, the delicate nature of mind magic was like breathing to her. The concerned look on his face did not last for long, and she was out of his mind before he even knew she was there. The man looked around for the person who had touched his mind, but given that she was the only one over the age of thirteen in the hall, his gaze settled on her.
As she finally walked past Snape, she could sense him turn around and look at her as she walked past. She smirked to herself as she sensed him look her up and down. Akasa, while pretty, was nowhere near supermodel material. Now that she resembled a professional model, the man stared for a while. As she rounded the corner, she glared at the man through the corner of her eye. There were times she wished she could move someone’s date of death up a few years, but sadly this was not possible unless you directly affected a deity’s sacred places… or people.
As she made her way to the Transfiguration professor’s office she noticed a few students whispering to themselves about the great Rose Potter. She was thankful that Dumbledore didn’t hide Potters identity. The fact that she was going to have to use mortal means of information while she was in the mortal world was beyond irritating. While being in the mortal world briefly she could be at full power, but it would have to be in one of her temples, and since she didn’t have one here that limited what she could do.
She shook these thoughts out of her head as she got to the Transfigurations classroom. McGonagall’s Office was next to it, and the line of people who were wanting to take the position that was now open were some of Voldemort’s followers. A simple flick of her wrist gave them the compulsion to go relieve themselves for the next couple of hours. So as to not draw too much attention to herself, she let the other two looking to get the job go ahead of herself. It would be unsportsmanlike if she didn’t have at least a couple of people go before her before she stole the job.
The waiting was the hard part. An hour and a half dragged by more slowly than Kylie had expected. When she finally got into the office, she steeled her resolve. Looking at the raven-haired woman to let her know that the other candidates were not looking that great.
“Good afternoon Professor McGonagall. It is so nice to see you again.” Kylie said smoothly.
“Good afternoon Ms Nightshade; you look well. What makes you want this job? I don’t remember you loving History of Magic this much.”
“I am trying to do something more than travel Professor,” Kylie said with a small smile. “I have learned a lot that is not taught in the current standards of the course. I have travelled to forgotten places and seen things that few witches have seen in recent years. I just want to pass this information on to the next generation so that someone doesn’t have to do what I have done to learn these things.”
“What have you learned, Ms Nightshade?”
“What do you think of when I say schools of magic?” Kylie leaned back and smiled.
-DGH-
June 23, 1991
11:00 PM
Little Whinging, Surry England
4 Privet Drive
Rose was rolling around on the ground in pain. She had been shut in her cupboard for four hours now. Her ‘relatives’ had not even asked her to make their dinner. It was kind of a relief, really. If she had been asked to make dinner, she would have been yelled at by Uncle Vernon some more. If she was lucky, she could endure the hunger Rose knew she would be feeling tonight and make it to breakfast without causing another scene. And perhaps the pains she was feeling since being thrown into Dudley’s elbow would go away. Given her luck, though, this was unlikely.
Rose’s attention was pulled off her own misery when she heard someone unlock the cupboard door. Rose backed into the left corner of the cupboard. She knew this really wouldn’t protect her from her Uncle’s rage, but it was better than just sitting there and taking it. When the door opened, what her eyes fell upon was not her uncle or her aunt. The woman was wearing what looked like a greyish violet set of robes, a cloak, and what must have been a dark purple long sleeve shirt underneath the robes. There was what appeared to be an oak stave in her right hand. The woman was looking down at her with what looked to be a concern in her eyes. As she kneeled down, Rose asked, “Who are you?”
“My name is Kylie Nightshade Rose, and I am just here to check in on you. There is no need to be scared. I will not hurt you. I need to make sure you’re not bleeding internally.” Kylie said this as she waved her left hand over her stomach. “Give me a couple of seconds so I can fix this.” The woman said as a white glow came to envelop her hand. Rose could feel something move within her stomach, relieving the dull pain she was trying to ignore.
“Thank you, but how did you know I was hurting, and….” Rose asked, her amazement evident in her voice, but she was cut off by the woman.
“I can’t tell you everything right now, but I will tell you everything in time. Now I must go, but I will not leave you starving. Here take this.” Kylie handed her a small bowl with a lid and a towel wrapped around it. “When you are done eating this, wrap it all back up in the towel, press your forefingers into the centre of the lid for three seconds, then lift it.”
“What is it?”
“Potpie, goodbye Ms Potter.” The woman closed the door, and Rose again heard the door lock.
Rose waited a few seconds to see if this was a cruel prank by the Dursleys. After about ten minutes, she decided to unwrap the bowl to reveal a pottery bowl. Rose looked to the door one last time. When it didn’t open, she opened the bowl. Inside was indeed a pot pie, but a fork was stuck inside the pie. She looked at the bottom of the lid to see if there was a special slot for the utensil, but what she saw was a bit unbelievable. The bottom part of the lid looked more profound than the outer perimeter looked. She stuck her hand in the lid and watched it disappear all the way up to the midpoint of her forearm. She blinked a couple of times before pulling her arm out of the lid. Setting the lid down, she decided to start eating the potpie. It was delicious. To be honest, this was a thousand times better than her own cooking. She tried to eat in a civilized manner, but she was just too hungry to maintain a decent eating speed. When she was finished, she gathered up the bits of food that had landed on the floor and put them in the bowl. When she put the lid back on the bowl, wrapped the bowl up, and pressed her fingers to the bowl, a flash of light blinded her. When she opened her eyes again, the bowl and the remaining bits of food were gone.
The sound of feet pounding on the stair alerted her to her Uncle heading downstairs. She quickly got under her meagre covers and closed her eyes quickly. When the slat in the door opened, she prayed that Vernon couldn’t see the smile she was trying to suppress. The slat closed after a few minutes, and her uncle went back up the stairs. When the thundering sound of elephant feet ended, Rose closed her eyes and went off to sleep.
Chapter 2: Face Down
Summary:
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or affiliated characters, places, and things. They all belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliated companies. This particular plot is mine, however. And to make it seem more cohesive with the original stories, I am using some of the lines from them, but they are not my material. They came for the excellent mind of their owner.
A/N: I have fixed the errors in chapter one. If you want to, you can go reread it. Not much has changed. Again, the OC Kylie is a Pathfinder character of mine. I am combining the rules for magic in that game with the world of Harry Potter. Will that break a few things? Absolutely, but that is what fanfiction is all about, right?
Chapter Text
Rose was sitting in the car as they drove down a long, winding road. Her uncle was driving them to a ‘fascinating’ new hotel they were going to be staying at to avoid the thousands of letters she had arriving for her from a place called Hogwarts. The letters had started arriving earlier this week, and if her relatives hadn’t been righteous pricks, she could have been able to read one of them. But no, that wasn’t possible. Her cousin was the first one to deny her the right to read the letter. Then it was her uncle, and when he was not home, her aunt took over letter destroying duty. Uncle Vernon even went so far as to place a board over the letter drop slot in the door. That, however, didn’t stop the letters from coming. The day they had left Privet Drive, the letters were pouring into the house from every conceivable opening to the house. Sadly, she couldn’t get one of the letters. Vernon dragged Rose out of the house. He then put her in the car. He instructed his wife to not let her out of the vehicle. They left the house an hour later after Vernon had burned most of the letters. The others were placed in the large garbage can.
The first hotel they stayed at had gotten ten of the letters, but those were confiscated by her uncle as well. The idea that the man could get away with stealing HER mail was outrageous, but given her lot in life, there probably was some law allowing him to do that very thing. ‘Probably passed the day I was born too.’ She thought.
She was pulled out of her thought when she felt the car stop. Looking out the window, she could see that they were parked by a dock with a rickety old boat attached to it. She groaned when her uncle said they would be staying at a home located on the rocky island located off the coast. What made this idea even worse was the fact that the sky looked terrible. If her luck held the way it always did, the storm would start the moment they got to the island, BUT after the Dursleys got into the house, she would be told to bring in all the luggage.
“This is just going to be a lovely day,” Rose said under her breath as they climbed out of the car.
-DGH-
Kylie sat there in her office going over this year's lesson plans. She wanted to make sure that she at least covered the basics of some of the things Kylie will be teaching Rose and the few friends she will have. Kylie was definitely going to run ruff shot over the plans Dumbledore had made for Rose Potter. She was not going to be relegated to having just a few friends from one house if Kylie could help it. There was strength in unity.
She took a break from planning out the year to see what day and time it was. She could have quickly closed her eyes and used her powers as death to do this, but she was relegated to how often she could do this on a given day due to the necklace. So casting a spell was the best option. It was 5:50 PM on July 30, 1991. She called on Akasa. When the young woman appeared, she told her to make sure no one came in to disturb these notes. The pale-skinned woman agreed to this, and Kylie departed to talk to Dumbledore.
She walked down the halls pondering how she would pitch this to Dumbledore. She could have easily put him under a mind-control spell (either the Imperious Curse or the older, more simply named Dominate Person). Both did the same thing, but the older one gave away no tells that one was under your control except for a strong enchantment aura. But both of these were axed simply because she had to give him the option of saying ‘no’, which was irritating to some degree. Appealing to his gentle nature would definitely help. She knew that he was aware that Rose was being mistreated, but he may already be dead set on a plan just to send Hagrid to retrieve her. To be honest, this was a horrible idea, in her opinion. A young girl seeing Hagrid alone to take her somewhere might freak her out a little bit.
Her thoughts were derailed for a couple of seconds when she saw Dumbledore talking to Snape. She stopped to listen to their conversation.
“I am telling you, Albus, I will not tolerate the girl after doing that. She is bound to be just like her father afterwards.” Snape said coldly.
“Severus, I am telling you now that your cover will not be blown if you don’t treat her like she is, James.” Albus said softly.
“I cannot do that, Albus. If it wasn’t for her hair, she would look like Lily!”
Kylie decided to say something now. “Yes, but she is not her father or her mother. Poor girl even has to wear a broken pair of glasses because her relatives think it is ok to abuse the poor girl.” That blow was low and aimed at Albus, but Kylie didn’t care.
“What?!” Screamed Severus.
“Now is not the time for this discussion Severus. What is it you want, Professor Nightshade?” Albus asked quickly.
“I will be going to give Ms Potter her letter Professor Dumbledore. I will talk with Hagrid about this, but I think this is the best option for the Greater Good of things.” Another cheap shot, but it was one that needed to happen. She was fairly certain that he knew what she was, given the look, he was giving her right now. Did she let a little of her true arcane power slip out? Maybe.
“Perhaps you could go with Hagrid,” Dumbledore said calmly.
“Good, glad we are on the same page.” Kylie turned around and left Dumbledore’s office. She only smiled when her back was to the two men.
-DGH-
Hut-on-the-Rock
Rose ley there on the floor of the hut they were staying in. A two-story hut on a large rock in the Atlantic was now her home, apparently. This apparently was her Uncle’s only hope of keeping the letters away from Rose. If she had only been smart about that damn letter, she would be a happy girl right now. Instead, she was here in a run-down two-story shack looking at her cousin’s watch tick down to midnight. Thanks to Dudley’s impeccable knowledge of useless teleshows, she knew that it would be her birthday in four minutes and thirty seconds. She had gone through the trouble of drawing a ‘birthday’ cake in the dirt on the floor. This was the first time she had anything close to a cake on her birthday.
Looking back at Dudley’s watch, she saw it was now a minute from midnight. In her mind, she started counting down to midnight at thirty seconds to midnight. As the time ticked down, she started to imagine one of those letters coming to this small cabin, hut, or whatever this building was; and that she was able to open it and finally read the precious thing. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Perhaps she might even be able to get away from the Dursleys with this letter’s content. Three. Two. One.
As she blew on the fake cake's candles, a loud banging sound came from behind the front door. She jumped to her feet at once. Looking up to the second-floor door. She was expecting her uncle to come downstairs screaming at her about ‘freakish’ things happening. While her uncle did emerge from the room, he didn’t scream at her. Instead, he was walking with a shotgun pointed not at her but at the door. Something slammed against the door again, causing the door to slip off its hinges. She thought she heard him mumble something, but his words were too jumbled to properly discern the meaning.
When the door fell, everyone in the room jumped. There appeared to be a giant man’s silhouette. The first person through the door was the woman who had brought her that potpie and healed her injuries after Dudley’s birthday ‘disaster’. What followed her through the door was best described as a giant. The man’s bushy beard and wild bushy hair would have made him look a bit intimidating had it not been for the smile on his face. Rose would have thought he was mad if the woman wasn’t with him. The look on the woman’s face was a touch murderous, though. The gem on the end of her staff was glowing a deep red colour. At first, Rose thought the woman was mad at her, but then she noticed the woman was not looking at her at all. The victim of her death glare was her aunt and uncle, who were at the moment walking down the stairs with the shotgun trembling in her uncle’s hands.
“You are breaking and entering, and if you two don’t leave, I will be forced to shoot you.” Her uncle said in a shaky voice.
“Go jump off a cliff, Vernon,” Kylie said coldly. The woman flicked the wrist of her free hand towards her uncle, and the next thing Rose saw was her uncle flying into the wall behind him. Rose thought the gun he had would have fallen to the ground as it was knocked out of her uncle’s hands, but it stayed there floating in mid-air. The large man looked around the room, and when he saw Rose, his smile grew bigger.
“Professor do you mind if I start a fire to cook some food?” the giant asked.
“No, Hagrid, I don’t mind. How are you doing, Rose?” Kylie asked in a soft, kind voice.
Before she could answer, the man called Hagrid pointed his pink umbrella at the fireplace, and flames shot out from the tip of his umbrella. The fire remained lit even though there was nothing there for it to burn. Looking back to Kylie, she saw the woman putting the shotgun into a gun cabinet that was not there before, and when she closed the door, Rose heard a locking sound even though the woman didn’t use a key to lock it. The woman walked over to Hagrid, pulled out a small bag from her robes, and handed it to Hagrid. The man set the bag on a table that wasn’t there before. He then pulled out of the bag a large box as well as a smaller box with what looked like sausages inside of it. Then he reached in again and pulled out an even bigger box from the small bag. “Got something for you, Rose.” The man said. He opened the box to reveal a chocolate cake with the words “Happy Birthday Rose” written on it. “I am so glad you gave me that bag, Professor; if you hadn’t, I might have sat on this, and I spent so much time on it.”
The sound of Ms Nightshade’s voice stopped her from telling Hagrid he shouldn’t have. “Where are the silverware and dishes, Rose?”
“I don’t know where they are because we didn’t use them. We got bags of crisps for dinner. If I had to guess, though, it would be in the closet over there,” Rose pointed to the closet in the far corner. “And Hagrid, you didn’t need to do this. I am fine, by the way, Professor Nightshade.” Rose said sheepishly.
“Nonsense, it’s your birthday, and it would be in bad taste not to bring ya something.” Hagrid said with a smile.
“These will have to do.” The woman said as she picked up nine stones and placed them on the table. She pulled out a small stick and waved it around. Rose’s mouth fell open as she watched the stones turn into plates, forks, and knives. When she looked back at Kylie, she was looking at Rose with a smile. “So Rose, would you like your letter now or after dinner?”
“Yes, please!” Rose said with excitement. She could feel herself bouncing on the balls of her feet. Kylie reached into her robes once more, and out of the greyish violet garment, Kylie pulled out another letter. She took the yellowish letter with green writing on it once more. The Letter said:
Rose Potter
The-Hut-on-the-Rock
The Sea
On the floor
She opened the letter with haste. Fearing that Uncle Vernon would rip the letter out of her hand again. She pulled out the letter. The secret she had been wanting to know was revealed to her eyes as she read out loud.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore
Order of Merlin First Class
Grand Sorcerer
Chief Warlock
Supreme Mugwomp International Confederation of Wizards
Dear Miss Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find the list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We accept your owl no later than by July 31st.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Rose looked at the letter for a little while longer. She could hear her uncle and the man named Hagrid yelling about something, but she didn’t really care enough to pay attention to it. She felt the paper that the letter was written on. Thinking this must all be a cruel joke. She knew the Dursleys hated any mention of the word ‘magic’, but for them to be doing this as a joke was just cruelty to the next level. “I am sorry, ma’am, but you must be mistaken. I mean, I can’t be a witch.”
“Not a witch, eh?” Said Hagrid. “Never done anything when you were upset or angry? Nothing weird never happened when you were under stress?”
She didn’t have to think too hard on that topic. She did set a python on her cousin in the zoo not too long ago. Then there was the time her aunt tried to give her a ‘decent’ haircut to tame her wild hair, only to have the bulk of her hair to grow back over one night’s rest. Then there was that one-time Aunt Petunia who tried to force her to wear a really bad winter dress covered in purple reindeer. The dress shrank down to such a size that it would have barely fit on a doll. Then there was the time when Dudley and his friends had dragged her up to the top of a really tall slide and pushed her over its side. Instead of breaking a bone or worse, she bounced a couple of times. Looking back up at the two people who had brought her the letter, Rose just smiled.
“Ah, now you get it,” Hagrid said with a smile. “I imagine you’ll be a good witch when your done training up a bit.”
It was at this point that her uncle completely lost his temper. He stormed over to the side of the couch Hagrid was sitting on. “She won’t be going, I tell you.”
“She will be going to one of the best schools of magic in the world. Seven years there and she won’t know herself. She will also be learning under one of the best headmasters Hogwarts has ever seen.” Hagrid said proudly.
“I will not let some crackpot old fool teach her magic tricks!” Uncle Vernon screamed.
This seemed to be the straw that broke Hagrid’s back. He stood up and was in front of her uncle before you could blink. He had the tip of his umbrella in her uncle’s face. “Never insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me,” Hagrid said in a deep, menacing voice, and with each word, he thrust his umbrella at Uncle Vernon.
The tension was broken by her aunt. “We will not let her go to that school. I refuse to let someone like my sister live in my house!”
“You knew about all of this?” Rose asked her aunt.
“Of course, we knew. My sister got a letter just like that, and then she went off to that school. She would come home with all of these weird things. Frogspawn was the worst of it. And then there were all these tales of what she did in school. Turning a napkin into a tea cosy or conjuring a tablecloth out of thin air. My mum and dad were so proud to have a witch in the family. I was the only one to see her for what she really was… a freak! Perhaps I should have let Vernon beat this out of you.” Aunt Petunia said sternly. Rose went pale at the thought of her uncle beating her every time something weird or abnormal happened. When Nightshade spoke next, it was like the temperature in the room dropped thirty degrees.
“That wouldn’t work,” Nightshade said coldly. “If you beat her too badly, her magic would have become unstable, and if you think she is a freak now….” She left the sentence unfinished, and this caused her Aunt and Uncle to go extremely pale. “If you are born with the gift of magic, there is nothing short of death that would get rid of it, and given that she survived a curse that would normally kill whoever it touched, I do not think that she will be dying anytime soon.”
“No one can know that for sure!” Uncle Vernon said that through gritted teeth. “Now, I am telling you this: She will not be going.”
“You will not be able to stop her, Muggle,” Kylie said with more than a touch of ice in her voice.
“What’s a muggle?” Rose asked, her courage rising just a little bit more.
“Non-magical folk,” Hagrid said, still glaring at her Uncle. “And these three are the worst muggles I have ever seen.”
The sound of a loud popping noise made Rose jump. Turning around, she saw a rather fat pig running around the cabin. The squealing was somewhat obnoxious, and the smell was beyond gross. Aunt Petunia screaming about Dudley made Rose look around the cabin for the human version of the animal that now ran around the place. She could not find him. Then it clicked in her head what had happened. It seemed that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon realized this as well. They started screaming at Hagrid and Professor Nightshade to turn Dudley back into a boy. Kylie refused, and she told Hagrid if he wanted to, he could. When the man pointed his umbrella at the pig, it suddenly turned back into Dudley. Well, Dudley plus one pig’s tail. The Dursleys kept screaming about it, but when Nightshade said she could turn him back into a pig again, they decided to go into the other room.
Looking back to Hagrid once her relatives had left, she saw him plating the food. Her stomach decided for her that there were better things to focus on than her relatives getting scared a little. She sat down opposite Hagrid. Rose waited for the others to sit down before she started eating. While she was eating, Rose thought about everything that she was told. How could her aunt keep all of this from her? Another thought that kept flowing through her mind while she ate was: is this really the reason they mistreat me?
“What is wrong, dear?” Nightshade asked.
“Is being a witch the reason they mistreated me?” Rose asked in a near whisper.
“Yes, but if I have anything to do with it, that behaviour will stop.” Nightshade said as she put her fork and knife down. “Later today, I will go talk to Dumbledore about your living condition and see if we can’t come up with a way to make it more… tolerable for you.”
“Could I… not stay with my relatives?” Rose asked hopefully.
“No, I don’t think so, Rose. I am sorry, but again I will talk with the headmaster and see what I can do about the situation.” Kylie said with what looked like a cruel smile on her face.
“Why can’t I leave my relatives?” Rose asked, a puzzled look plastered on her face. What followed was the painful explanation of how her parents died trying to protect her. This brought the memory/dream of a flash of green light and a cold high-pitched laugh to her mind. Hearing that she was the only known person to survive Voldemort's spell against her was unsettling. So, with the Dursleys, she was a nobody, but in truth, she was some sort of hero to the wizarding world. The thought that there were still people out there dedicated to a dead man’s cause was unsettling, to say the least. Just her luck, really. As she lay down on the cot Kylie conjured for her, along with a thick blanket, Rose thought of what this new life would bring. ‘Magic,’ she thought, ‘I can really use magic. If only I had known this a few months ago.’ With that thought, sleep came crawling over her mind.
Chapter 3: Shopping and Hidden Truths
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or affiliated characters, places, and things. They all belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliated companies. This particular plot is mine, however. And to make it seem more cohesive with the original stories, I am using some of the lines from them, but they are not my material. They came for the excellent mind of their owner.
A/N: I am using the school uniforms from the movies because I think they are cool.
Chapter Text
Kylie looked over at the sleeping Rose Potter. The girl was at peace with the world at this moment. Closing her eyes, Kylie cast a spell to look into Rose’s mind. The girl was dreaming peaceful dreams at the moment. The images were of her flying on the backs of dragons, seeing unicorns, and talking with mermaids. Kylie smiled at this series of images. If she could pull it off, Ms Potter would definitely be able to get to meet a few dragons and spend time in a world other than this Earth. She didn’t think she could do it for the upcoming summer, but it was something to plan for in the future.
The sound of loud snoring coming from upstairs brought her attention to the main problem in Rose’s life. The idea of ‘discussing’ with them the reality of their real problem was on her mind. Kylie stood up and walked to the stairs. As she looked up to the door, she stopped to listen to what they were discussing. Kylie decided to hold back her arcane presence lest it genuinely be needed. She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on listening. She could hear the heavy footsteps of Vernon Dursley meandering about. The sound of two whispered voices let her know that Petunia was also up. She cast a fly spell on herself and floated up to the door. Kylie had to move slowly, or the rustling of her robes might bring the attention of the two adults to her presence. She placed her head closer to the door. The couple were, at that moment, talking about their niece.
“I am telling you, Petunia, that I have ways of breaking the girl if you just let me do it.” Vernon said with a tone of hope in his voice.
“NO, Vernon! What if the worst possible situation happens after that? I know what you and your friends do at those parties, and I will not let you take her there.” Petunia said with fear and panic in her voice.
Kylie closed her eyes and let her arcane aura fall into the room. She could hear both adults squeak while the tub of fat on the floor snorted in his sleep. She could hear Vernon agreeing with his wife on the matter at this point. Satisfied, Kylie walked back downstairs. She looked once more at the sleeping girl and then at the cot she had conjured for herself. In truth, it had been centuries since Kylie had really slept, and if dead gods could still dream, then Kylie should be able to do her job while sleeping. Kylie pulled back the blankets and laid down in hopes of sleeping off the migraine she was now feeling. Honestly, for a person to drive a deity to the point of having a migraine was something to be noted. ‘Congratulation, Vernon, you are now number one on my shit list.’
-DGH-
Rose Potter woke from a rather wonderful dream. It was one of flying with dragons and casting spells and such. It wasn’t hard for her to figure out why she had those dreams. She heard a snoring sound coming from off to her right. It sounded like the typical noise coming from the Dursleys’ home. However, the idea that she was asleep in her cupboard didn’t last long. Looking to her left, she saw Nightshade sleeping peacefully. The gentle rise and fall of her chest brought a sense of peace. She didn’t know why, but Rose felt stronger, more resilient, and far braver than she had felt near this woman. Rose jumped at the sound of something tapping on the hut window. Looking at it, she saw an owl sitting on the window’s ledge. Rose got up and let the owl in. There was something tied to its leg. It looked like two rolls of paper were attached to the poor thing. She untied the rolls of paper from the owl’s leg. Then the owl flew over to Hagrid’s overcoat and started clawing at it. She tried to stop the owl from doing this. This, of course, woke Hagrid and Nightshade up. Hagrid told her to go through his pockets to find a small bag of money. After searching through what felt like fifty pockets, she finally found a small pouch that contained oddly shaped coins. She was then told to pay the owl ten knuts, and with a quizzical look at Nightshade, the woman told her the bronze-coloured ones. She counted out ten of them and then put them in a small pouch attached to the owl’s leg. The animal then flew out the window to parts unknown.
Turning her attention back to Nightshade, Rose’s jaw fell open. The woman was pulling a large box out of her robe’s pocket. The box looked to be about six feet tall and three feet wide. She set the box up on her side of the room. The side that had been facing Rose was rested against the wall. Rose was starting to wonder what magic could do this. As it stood, anything was possible. Professor Nightshade pulled open a door on the box, revealing a long bathroom with golden fixtures and a marble floor, sink, and a bathtub. The compartment’s inside looked massive compared to the box’s small size. She looked back at the older woman, who just had a smile on her face.
“I’m going to take a quick shower, Hagrid. I’ll be done in about fifteen minutes, and if you want to do the same, you can. If you want to, Rose, the same goes for you.” Nightshade said as she entered the doorway.
“Na, I’ll be good for now. You can go next if you want to, Rose.” Hagrid said as he opened his newspaper. Nightshade nodded and walked into the room, and closed the door. Rose sat in one of the chairs conjured by Nightshade the night before. Rose knew better than to interrupt people when they were reading the newspaper. A few thumps from Uncle Vernon had taught her this. Rose was wrenched from her thoughts by the sound of Hagrid’s voice. “Ministry of Magic is messing things up again.”
Rose then decided to ask about the Ministry of Magic despite all her ‘training’. Hagrid then went on to explain what the Ministry of Magic was. And how the Headmaster of Hogwarts was once asked to be the Minister for Magic. Dumbledore had turned it down. The current minister for magic seemed to be, according to Hagrid, utterly incompetent at his job. He wrote to Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, every morning, asking the man about his opinion on certain things. Just as things were getting interesting, Nightshade seemed to be done taking her bath. She told Rose where she could find towels and a fresh set of clothes.
“But aren’t they your clothes?” Rose asked.
“No, the drawers are refilled with clothes meant to fit the person entering the bath chamber. Now don’t worry about a thing, dear. I will be fine.” Nightshade said with a small smile.
Rose nodded and walked into the room. Upon closing the door, there was a flash of white light, and a loud sound of the drawers being slammed shut. Rose ran up to the drawers and opened the middle one. It was filled with socks and knickers. The drawer to the left of this was filled with skirts and shorts. The one to the left was filled with denim and khaki trousers. Looking at shelves just beyond the drawer to the right revealed loads of towels and washcloths. Rose went back to the drawers and pulled out a pair of socks, knickers, a black skirt, and what she was hoping were vanity shorts and a green shirt. She then ran the water. Once it reached the temperature, Rose liked, she disrobed and climbed into the shower. She bathed quickly, figuring these people were in a hurry, and she didn’t want to hold them up.
As she was drying off, there was a knock on the door. “It’s Professor Nightshade Rose. Is it safe for me to enter?”
“I still need to get dressed, Professor,” Rose said as she slipped on her socks. “I should be done shortly, though.”
“Ok. Just so you know, the drawers should contain clothes that can fit you.” Nightshade said with what sounded like a giggle in her voice. “Next time your aunt and uncle make you commit a crime of fashion, call me.”
Rose giggled as she slid the skirt over the vanity shorts. Not long after this, she was fully dressed and ready to go. She took one last look in the mirror. Once she was out of the portable bathroom, she was worried that her aunt and uncle would be there to tell her to get out of these clothes because they made them look bad. Thankfully the only people that were there were Hagrid and Professor Nightshade. They left once Nightshade had put away the portable bathroom. They used the boat that had brought her to this place to return to the mainland. Hagrid used a little bit of magic to help speed the trip along. As they made their way to the train station, people kept staring at Hagrid due to his rather large size and stature. He didn’t really help the situation because he would be saying things like ‘muggle’ and ‘interesting stuff’ in reference to simple things like a parking meter.
When they got into London, Rose wondered where exactly in this city they were going to buy her wand, spell books, cauldron, and assorted potion ingredients. Hagrid just laughed and said they could find all of these things if you knew where to look. They walked down to a street lined with retail stores selling everything from CDs to clothes. Between a music store and a store that sold burgers was what looked like a raggedy old bar. What was really odd about this bar was that no one seemed to know it was there. Hagrid was the first of them to enter the establishment. When Rose entered the bar, the barman asked Hagrid if he wanted the usual, to which he said no. He then said that he was going to help Nightshade buy school supplies for Rose. The man’s eyes travelled from her face to her forehead. Rose felt uncomfortable about this.
“Bless my soul, it’s Rose Potter,” Tom said as he walked around the bar to shake her hand.
He was followed by the rest of the people in the bar. The next person to shake her hand was a woman named Doris Crockford, who seemed overly excited about meeting her. Next was Dedalus Diggle, and she remembered him from a shop in Little Whinging. When she said this, the man almost jumped for joy that she remembered the incident. There was a string of well-wishers, Ms Crockford coming up more than once. After Ms Crockford’s third visit, a man in purple robes and a purple turban showed up.
“Hello, Quirrell.” Professor Nightshade said with a smile on her face.
“H-H-hello Professor Nightshade, Hagrid, and Ms P-P-P-Potter.” The man said, running his hands together in a nervous manner. The man looked like he wasn’t that far from a nervous breakdown.
“Good morning Professor Quirrell. Rose, this is Professor Quirrell.” Hagrid said with a smile.
Rose stuck out her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, sir. What course do you teach?”
The man looked down at her hand and rubbed his hands together. “D-D-Defence against the Dark Arts. Not that you need it, eh P-P-Potter?” The man laughs with a look of fear on his face. “You are off to get all her things, I suppose?”
“Yes, and on that note, I think we should go,” Hagrid said with a smile.
Just before they left, Ms Crockford came by for one last handshake. As they were leaving, Rose asked. “Was professor Quirrell always that jumpy?”
“No,” Nightshade said flatly.
“The man taught Muggle Studies before he went out in the field to study Defence Against the Dark Arts is more than just books. It is said he went foul with a vampire, and he hasn’t been the same since.” Hagrid said as if it was common knowledge.
A chill ran down Rose’s back when she thought of what the man must have gone through. If a real vampire could do any of the things they did in the books and movies, she felt pity for the man. Really she did.
“So where are we supposed to get my school supplies, and what are they exactly?” Rose asked.
“Well, we get them through ‘er.” Said Hagrid as he felt around in his pockets. “Where’s me umbrella? Ah ‘er it is.” Hagrid pulled his umbrella out of his pocket.
He tapped the wall three times, and the result was just awe-inspiring. The wall vibrated a little bit, and then it started to ‘peel’ open from the middle. Brick by brick moved aside. As each one moved, a street was revealed to her. Rose could see people walking up and down the street. She could see people wearing robes and pointy hats. There was a shop with an owl stationed out front. There seemed to be a clothing shop not that much further down the lane, and the idea of going into a shop where she wasn’t forced to buy the cheapest clothes brought a smile to her face. Then a thought hit her.
“Hagrid, Professor, how am I to buy anything. My uncle said he wouldn’t give me any money, and I really appreciate the school having a scholarship, but I don’t understand….”
“Your money will be in Gringotts bank, and I lied to your uncle.” Rose stared blankly at Nightshade when she said this. Apparently, it showed on her face. “Don’t worry, Rose, you have money. It’s just not from a scholarship. It was left to you by your parents.”
Rose was gobsmacked by this information. She had thought of her parents as the worst kind of people who did illegal things, and here she was being told that was a bald-faced lie once more. Somehow her mother and father were rich enough to leave her enough money to go to school. She didn’t know what kind of family she came from, but this little bit of information was yet another nail in the coffin of all the lies she’d been told her whole life. Well, at least the bit of her life that was dominated by her relatives.
“So, were they really rich?” Rose asked under her breath.
“I would say so. While you will only have access to your trust vault for the next five years, you will have access to the family vault when you reach the age of majority. I would not worry too much on this matter.” Kylie said with a smile on her face. “And if you’re wondering, it wasn’t due to anything illegal.”
“So, how did they gain their wealth?” Rose asked, looking between the two adults leading her to a great white building. It looked to be guarded by small men in armour and holding long spears.
“Well, as the History of Magic Professor, I could give you the long story, BUT I think it best to keep the story short.” She looked at Rose with a smile on her face. “Your family surname is old, but it does not start with a muggle like most people named Potter. The first member of your ancestry to bear that name was a man named Linfred of Stinchcombe, who was a wizard that was a touch eccentric. He was well-loved by his neighbours. His nickname ‘The Potterer’ got corrupted over time and became your family surname. Most of the potions that he invented led to some of the healing potions we use today.”
“Really?” Rose stopped just as they entered the bank.
“Yes, and I think it best that I finish this story later today.” Nightshade looked down at her with a sad-looking smile on her face.
Rose just nodded her head. One look around the room made her realise the bankers were not human. “Um, what are those creatures?”
“Goblins, Rose, and they aren’t a thing to be trifled with,” Hagrid said. Rose, on that note, inched closer to Hagrid and Nightshade. “This one is a shorter line,” Hagrid said as he pointed to the line on their left. When they got to the front of the line, the goblin asked what business the three of them had together. “Ms Potter is here to make a withdrawal.”
The goblin then looked at Professor Nightshade, and when she shook her head, the goblin looked at Rose. The cold stair the creature was giving her was a touch unnerving. “Does Ms Potter have her key?”
“Oh, that’s right….” Hagrid said as he started digging through his pockets. It took him a minute or two to find a small golden key. “Here it is.” He handed the key over to the goblin. He reached into another pocket. “There is something else I need to get. It’s you know what, in the vault, you know which.”
The goblin gave its acknowledgement. It gave Rose’s key to another goblin, and they were told to follow them. When they were led to a small corridor that led down. The corridor eventually opened up to a landing that looked like it led to a cliff. Once they got to the cliff’s edge, Rose finally noticed a cart. It looked like they could all fit into this cart. It took off like a rocket when they were all inside the cart. As they blazed down the tracks, Rose was incredibly excited.
The best way to describe the trip to her vault was as a really cool roller coaster ride. It zipped around corners really fast, and then it went into a couple of turns to the left and right. It was happening so fast that Rose didn’t even want to try and memorise how many turns they made and in what directions. She figured she would forget this information after she was done doing all her shopping. As they raced down the track, Rose noticed something that looked like a jet of flames out of one of the passageways. She also saw stalactites and stalagmites. She asked Hagrid about them, but he looked a touch too green to answer the question, so Nightshade answered the question. “Stalactites are the ones that point down, and stalagmites are the ones that point up. Also, I think we should refrain from talking to Hagrid until this awesome ride is over.” Nightshade said with a smile on her face. Rose nodded in agreement.
When the cart started slowing, Rose started bouncing in her seat. When the cart stopped, they were outside a vault numbered 687. The goblin took the oil lamp up to the vault door. He then asked for the key, and once he received it, the door was unlocked. When the door was opened, Rose almost fainted. Behind the door were columns of gold, heaps of silver, and mounds of bronze coins. There were some books off in one corner. Nightshade told Hagrid he could wait at the door to regain himself. To which he was grateful. Rose was told how the money system worked as Nightshade filled up a bag with money. Rose learned that there were 29 Knuts to a Sickle, 17 Sickles to a Galleon, and a staggering 493 Knuts to a Galleon. When she asked about the conversions to a pound, she was told one penny to a knut, 29 pence to a sickle, and 4.93 pounds to a Galleon. One look around the room told Rose she had more money than the Dursleys had in their lifetimes. Dudley would shite himself if he saw this room. This reminded her of where she had left off with Professor Nightshade.
“So, Professor, you were saying about my parents and those who came before them?” Rose asked timidly.
“That’s right, where did we leave off?” the professor asked as she was putting knuts into the small bag she was holding.
“We left off with the founder of my family. I think you called him the Potterer.” Rose says tentatively.
“That’s right. Well, Linfred was the one who built the foundation for your family’s wealth. He would grow magical plants and make remedies for his muggle neighbours out of those. All of these ‘remedies’ were really potions, and these potions would later evolve into some of the potions we use today. Potions like Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion would not exist without your ancestor’s hard work. After Linfred came his son named Hardwin. Hardwin married a young woman named Iolanthe Peverell. I could go on and on for days with what I know about your family, but what I think you want to know is the closest family relations.” Rose nodded her head. “Well, your grandparents were Fleamont and Euphemia. Fleamont took the family wealth and quadrupled it. His potion for hair care made him a bloody fortune. That is because his potion works with little effort, and then he sold his company for even more profit. He and his wife had your father late in life. They lived long enough to see their son marry your mum, but they died six months before your mother had you. Then there was your mother and father. James and Lily Potter, who fought valiantly and died heroes. Sadly, the magical world has forgotten that in order for you to become ‘The-Girl-Who-Lived’, your parents became They-Who-Sacrificed.”
As she finished her story, Nightshade tied the pouch shut. When the woman looked at her, Rose asked. “Why aren’t they remembered?”
“Because people are stupid and can’t see the damage this causes. They have a heroine to thank for the peace they now have, and most don’t care how she was able to give it to them. Now let’s go. I don’t think Hagrid and Griphook will like us taking too long.” Kylie said this with a smile. Kylie looked down at the pouch in her hand. “So, I guess there isn’t that much difference between the muggle world and the magical world. I mean, the money isn’t that different. All though, I don’t know if the exchange rate is knuts or nuts.” Nightshade looked off in thought for a moment. “No, it is just nuts.”
Rose giggled as they left the vault. Rose saw Hagrid smiling at the two of them. While the goblin looked a little angry. Hagrid asked if they could go slower when they climbed back into the cart, but the goblin said they only had one speed. They once again zipped down the tracks to vault 713. When they got out of the cart, Rose watched as the goblin ran his finger in a downward motion infront of the door. He said that if any of them had tried, they would have been stuck inside, but Rose had her doubts. Once the door was open, what Rose was expecting to see was not there. There were no pillars of gold or silver, no giant magical device, or a vault full of tomes. What was there was a small pedestal with a small pouch on it. Hagrid walked in, grabbed the pouch, and stuck it in one of his coat pockets. He asked her not to mention this to anyone.
They got back into the cart and headed back to the entrance. The return trip did not take the same route they used to get here. Rose thought this was rather smart of the goblins. This would actually prevent people from memorising the path it took to get to their vault. Once they were back at the landing area, Nightshade asked if she had taken a look at the list of things she would need for school. When she said no, the professor told her to look at the second piece of parchment in her letter. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the second part of the letter, and began reading.
Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Uniforms
First-Year students will require:
- Three sets of Plain School Uniforms (Black)
- One pointed hat (Black) for day wear
- One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
- One winter cloak (Black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all student clothes should carry name tags
Coursebooks
All students should have a copy of each of the following books:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Maranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herb and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Draft and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Tremble
Other Equipment
1 Wand
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 Set of glass or crystal vials
1 set of brass scales
It then went on to say that first-year students weren’t allowed to bring their own brooms. That shot down her idea of buying a broom to fly around on at home. Rose looked back up at Professor Nightshade. “So we can get all of this here?”
“Yes, you can, and no, your aunt and uncle cannot touch your school uniform. If they say anything about it, remind them of what I did to your cousin.” The evil smile on the woman’s face sent a chill down Rose’s spine. “Hagrid, if you want to get a drink at the Leaky Cauldron, it’s all right with me.”
“Thank you, professor and Rose. I think I will go and get you something as a birthday gift.” As she opened her mouth, Hagrid shook his head. “I won’t take no for an answer. I’ll go with you and get you your animal. I would recommend an owl. They are right useful, and the other two not that useful.” He looked down the road like he was longing for something. “But uh, I think I will have a drink before I do any of that. Those carts make me nervous.”
“Go on, Hagrid. I’m with her,” Nightshade said with a smile on her face. Professor Nightshade turned to look at Rose as Hagrid walked away. “So, where do you want to go first, Rose?”
“I’d really love to go get some clothes,” Rose said sheepishly.
“Clothes it is then,” Nightshade said with a smile. “Oh, before I forget, here is your money and the key to your vault. Don’t let this out of your sight. It cost a boatload to replace it.”
When Rose was given the bag, its weight alone let her know two things. One that she was now holding more money than Dudley had ever had in his lifetime, and two that she was going to have a really hard time controlling herself when it came to spending this money wisely.
They walked down the alley past all the shops she had passed earlier. She had not taken the time to look at them before. As they walked down the road, she actually noticed people were talking about things that sounded amazing. An elderly woman was complaining about the price of dragon heartstrings. For some reason, them being 2 sickles for a dozen was just too expensive. Then there was a shop selling brooms (sadly she could not buy), and a crowd of girls gathered around the window saying they really liked the new Nimbus 2000. One of them said they wanted to get one to improve her chances of getting onto the Hollyhead Harpies. Another young witch said that it was the fastest broom in the world. Rose pealed her eyes and ears off that conversation as they approached a store called Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions.
Once they entered the store, Rose was approached by a squat woman in a mauve robe. She asked if she was here to get her school uniform. When she confirmed this, the woman said a young man was also being fitted. Madam Malkin flicked her wrist, and a tape measure went around Rose’s waist, and madam Malkin jotted down the number on a piece of what looked like parchment. Rose was led to the back of the store, where she was handed a skirt, a long sleeve shirt, a pair of socks, and a cloak. She was asked to step into a small room off to the side where she would put on the uniform so it could be measured and fitted.
Once she was changed into the uniform, she was asked to stand on the footstool next to the boy who she now noticed had blonde hair, pale skin, and a pointed face on another footstool. When he heard Rose step on the footstool, he looked over at her, and the boy looked down at her feet, and then the boy moved his gaze up her figure as if he was trying to judge whether or not she was worth his time when he heard Rose step on the footstool.
“Going to Hogwarts as well?” he asked.
Rose honestly felt disgusted with his action but decided to be civil and say nothing about it. “Yes.”
“My father’s next door buying my books.” Said the boy with a drawling voice. “My mother’s down the street looking at wands for me. I am also thinking of bullying my father into buying me a racing broom.” Rose felt nauseated at this. Was this boy really trying to impress her with a talk of ‘bullying’ his father? If he could really do this, she didn’t know whether or not to feel pity or sorry for the boy’s father. “I still don’t understand why they won’t let us first years bring our own brooms. I say if I do not get one, I’ll smuggle it in somehow.”
Rose just nodded her head in agreement. Really she didn’t know how to handle this situation. The boy really sounded like the magical version of Dudley, and if he was anything like her porker of a cousin, she wanted nothing to do with the boy past today. Rose looked back to Professor Nightshade, who was just smiling and shaking her head at what the boy was saying. Though this smile didn’t last long. It seemed that she was angry about something, but the professor pointed at the boy when a worried look crossed Rose’s face. Rose was pulled from these thoughts when the boy asked.
“Have you got your own broom?”
“No.”
“I do, but it’s only a training one- Father says it will be a crime if I am not on my houses Quidditch team.”
“Really?” Rose asked in a noncommittal tone.
“Yes,” the boy said with more drawl in his voice. “I have been flying on my own since I was seven.” The pride in this statement made Rose doubt the truth that was implied in the statement. “I happen to agree with his assessment. Do you know what house you will be in?” The boy asked, looking over at her once more.
“No, not really. Why do you?” Rose asked.
“Yes,” the boy’s drawl faltered a little bit. “Well, not really, but I have a good feeling I will be in Slytherin. My family has been in that house for ages now. I can’t see myself in any other house. If I was sorted into Hufflepuff, I would go straight home the next day.”
“Mmm...” Rose said. It really was awkward having a one-sided conversation really, and this one was really one-sided. Rose felt terrible that she couldn’t add anything more to the conversation.
The boy looked over his shoulder at the front of the store. “I wonder who that woman is?” the boy asked. He was nodding at Professor Nightshade. She was glaring daggers at the boy. Rose didn’t know his name, but the woman clearly didn’t like him.
“That would be Professor Nightshade,” Rose said calmly. She was kind of pleased to know something he didn’t.
“Oh, I’ve heard of her. She is the history professor who teaches crazy ideas about magic. My father says she left school and went mad.” The boy said with an air of haughtiness that she had yet heard.
“I think she’s brilliant.” Rose stuck her nose in the air after saying this. It was really awkward dealing with this boy. She honestly didn’t think there was someone she would want to hang out less than him. She didn’t think she would be able to keep her temper in check if they were around each other longer than an hour.
“Really?” He looked at her, squinting at her. His eyes scrutinising her. The sneer he had was using made him look more revolting than before. “Why? Is she with you? Where are your parents?”
“They are dead.” Rose said bitterly.
“Sorry, but they were a witch and wizard?”
“Yes.” Before she could say more, the woman doing her measurements said she was done. Once she got her clothes, she and Professor Nightshade were joined by Hagrid outside the store. Hagrid had for all three of them some ice cream. Rose’s was strawberry and vanilla.
“Thank you, Hagrid.” Professor Nightshade said with a smile.
“You’re welcome. Something bothering you, Rose?” Hagrid asked.
“Nothing,” Rose hated lying to the man, but she didn’t really feel like telling him what was bothering her. Though ten minutes into eating really good strawberry and vanilla ice cream, she asked. “I really hate to bother the two of you with this, but what is Quidditch?”
“Blimey Rose, I keep forgetting how little you know of our world.” Hagrid said.
“It is a sport played on broomsticks, Rose, and yes, you will learn how to fly on a broomstick this year. And that is why you can’t bring your own broom this year.” Nightshade said with a smile. “So I am sorry if you were thinking of buying your own broom, Rose.”
“No, I’m not, but there was a boy in Madam Malkin’s who thinks he can sneak one in.” Rose looked back at the store and saw the boy leave with a woman who had long blonde hair. “Said he would bully his father into getting him a new racing broom.”
“Well, I don’t think we need to figure out whether he is a horrible example to follow or how weak of will the father is,” Nightshade said with a wicked smile. “Now that we’ve finished the ice cream, where would you like to go next?”
“The place where you buy potion ingredients, I guess,” Rose said as she wiped her hands clean with a napkin provided by Hagrid.
“Then let’s go.”
They went to the apothecary shop, and to be honest, Rose was kind of turned off by it. The idea that they would be using frog livers, bat eyeballs, and various other internal and external body parts of animals was kind of disturbing. The next stop they made was to buy her trunk. She was amazed that the trunk inside was expanded so that it could contain all her clothes, books, and other things that she would be buying today. What followed was a stop at Flourish and Blotts book store. She really wanted to get her school books. She was steered away from the curses section by Hagrid. His reasoning was that while she could use magic, she was not allowed to use it outside of school, and even though her cousin deserved it, he was not worth it. After the books, Hagrid insisted on getting her a birthday gift. She tried to convince him not to, but he was having none of this. He took her to the owl emporium, where he got her a snowy white owl. As they left the store, she sounded like Quirrell, stammering around like she had just got the pants scared off of her.
“So next would be your wand,” Hagrid said with a smile.
“Why don’t you two take care of that while I take care of something. I have a gift in mind for Rose, but I have to get it run through the proper channels at the Ministry first. I will see you in a few minutes.” She patted Rose on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, dear I won’t be gone long.” With that said, the woman disappeared with a slight popping sound.
“What happened to her?” She asked Hagrid, a bit stunned at what had just happened. She honestly thought that Professor Nightshade had been vaporised.
“She apparated, though I have no idea where in the Ministry. Knowing her, though, probably the Department of Mysteries. She goes there often with the information she has gained on her travels over the summer holidays.”
“Where does she go?” asked Rose. Her curiosity getting the better of her for an untold number of times this day.
“I dunno, but she knows a lot more about magic than most people I know aside from Dumbledore.” Hagrid said with undeterred conviction. “That’s not important, though. Why don’t we go and get your wand?”
“Absolutely!” Rose said with a beaming smile.
-DGH-
Kylie appeared in the Ministry of Magic Atrium with a loud snap. Honestly, she enjoyed teleporting from place to place in shadows, but appearing out of nowhere surrounded by a cloud of black smoke did tend to leave people with a different impression than the one she was going for right now. Fear works great on people like Lucius Malfoy, but on the general public, it tends to have the opposite effect than the one she wants. Instead of simple obedience, it instils mass panic and then abject fear.
‘Maybe I should do that to Snape at some point.’ Kylie thought with a wicked smile on her lips.
The clerk that she was now standing in front of had a worried look on his face. “May I help you, ma’am?”
“Yes, I need to see Mafalda Hopkirk in the Underage Wizardry Department.” She said this in a rather monotone voice. This seemed to further upset the man. Perhaps she could use this to her advantage. “I am sorry, sir, but I have found out some things about miss Potter’s living condition, and it has upset me so. Perhaps I should speak to my friend Amelia Bones instead.” She said this almost dismissively.
The look on the man’s face was one of stunned silence. When he finally found his voice, it was stammered. “D-D-Did you say, Ms Potter?” Kylie shook her head. “Has she done underage magic already?”
“No, but I want to give her things for protection that might set off a few alarms. I would actually love to alert the proper authorities about this and why I am doing it, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, ma’am, follow me.”
The young man lead her down the hallway to the left. As they walked down the corridor, Kylie thought back to what her cleric had done and the friendships she had formed. One of those friends was Madam Bones. Given what she was about to do, it would probably be prudent to make her aware of what was happening. The woman didn’t need to know everything she was planning to do, but it would be nice to have a willing partner in the Ministry of Magic versus forcing the woman to aid her. When she heard the door open, Kylie was taken out of her train of thought. The young man talked to Bones for a little bit, and then he let Kylie walk through the doorway. When the door closed, Bones walked up and hugged her old ‘friend’. Amelia asked her elf to bring them some tea. A moment later, the tea and unasked-for crumpets arrived. A general conversation about what they had been doing over the last fifteen years ensued. Kylie told her she had been doing some self-study of advanced magic, travelled to other magical places, and spent the last ten years as a teacher at Hogwarts.
“So, what magical places have you visited?” Amelia asked.
“Ones that are not on this planet,” Kylie said with a smile. “Before you ask, no, I cannot show you yet, but when I can you and Charity will be the first to know.” Kylie thought for a moment before a smile crossed her face.
“Oh God, if you are thinking about anything illegal, I want nothing to do with it. It took me a while to explain to my predecessor that I was not responsible for Professor Binns being trapped in a room. I nearly didn’t get my job because of you.”
Kylie waved her hands in a defensive posture. “No, no, it is not a violation of the law that I ask of you, but if you are free tomorrow afternoon, I would like to introduce you to someone, and no, it is not a girlfriend. Charity needn’t worry about that.”
“She talks about it because you seem to have forgotten your promise to her. Have you?” Bones asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No, but we will not talk about it here and now.” Kylie took another sip of tea. “What brings me here today is Ms Potter’s living situation.”
As expected, the tea Amelia had been drinking dropped to the desk. Amelia quickly repaired the cup and cleaned up the tea with a couple flicks of her wrist. “What has happened to the poor girl?”
“I can only assume physical and emotional abuse, and before you ask, I have checked, and she was not sexually abused. Though I would not put her uncle past such vial things. I view it as my job to inform you of such things.” A smile crept across her face. “I must also inform you that I turned her cousin into a pig, and I made a mistake turning him back into a person, so he now has a tail. NO, I do not recommend changing that problem because he is the pig I turned him into,” a smug smile crept across her face, “…and the muggles can fix that with a trip to the hospital.”
Amelia looked at her with a chastising glint in her eyes. “That is a bit harsh, Kylie. Why do you say such a thing?”
“Why don’t I show you? That is if you have a pensieve, of course.” Kylie said with a sly smile.
“I do.” Amelia walked over to a cabinet next to her desk. She then pulled out a steel rune cover and gem-encrusted basin. She then slowly walked back to her desk and gently placed the pensieve onto her desk. “I do hope you know how to use this.”
“I do.” Kylie then pulled out her wand and placed it on her temple. She thought back to when she and Hagrid went to deliver Ms Potter her letter and the events that followed it to help drive her point home. Once she was satisfied, she pulled her wand away from her head. The silver thread attached to it seemed to glow a little brighter than what was normal for this magic. She hoped it wasn’t too obvious that she was in no way human. She dropped the memory into the pensieve. “That should be it, and I must warn you, I do have a portable lavatory, and to be honest, I think I will be giving it to Ms Potter after what I have learned.” Amelia raised a questioning eyebrow. “I know they are illegal, but given what you will see, I think it is one of those rare exceptions.”
With that being said, Amelia lowered her head to the pensieve and Kylie followed shortly thereafter. The falling sensation was a bit off-putting, but she found herself staring at her and Hagrid’s backs when it was over. Amelia looked over at her. “Why are you two here and not at Ms Potter’s residence?”
“Her ‘relatives’ kept denying her the letters being sent, and when they did not stop coming, they took her across the country, trying to get away from them. Before you ask, they never sent a denial letter in response.” Kylie said swiftly.
When the door was knocked open, the four of them walked into the main room of the hut. Kylie then watched herself send Vernon into the wall behind him and what she had done with the shotgun. Amelia looked at her with a raised eyebrow; all Kylie could do was chuckle. She then watched Amelia look at the difference between Rose and her ‘relatives’. Amelia soon forgot about the magic Kylie had used when the conversations began. Amelia looked livid when she saw how the Dursley’s had been treating Rose, and when Petunia had said ‘beat it out of’ the head of the DMLE seemed to be forming plans of arrest and detainment in her mind. Then when she saw Rose’s cousin go to eat Rose’s cake, more than a few choice words left the woman’s mouth. Kylie was sure that it was because she was one of Amelia’s ‘best friends’ that was the reason she was being this candid.
When the Dursleys ran up to the second room, Amelia looked pleased with the caboose of the group being the vast mass of Dudley. Kylie wondered if fate had not intervened in a way to keep the old stairway from collapsing under the combined weight of father and son. She then watched as the conversation about Rose’s concerns made the former aura turn a Vernon Dursley shade of purple. The only thing that calmed the woman was the care and concern the Hagrid and herself had shown the girl. Then came the time when she and Rose used the portable bathroom. It was at this point that Amelia spoke.
“So this is what you were warning me about?” The woman asked with a coy smile on her face.
“Yes, but we will need to have it cleared, will we not?” Kylie said equally coy and with a similar smile on her face. “This won’t be as bad as when we turned McGonagall’s robes yerple.”
“Don’t remind me of that!” Amelia cringed. “And you really didn’t need to invent a new colour, you know?”
Kylie laughed. “I know, but it is so much fun.”
“Come on, we have to go to Arthur Weasley’s office, then to Hopkins, and then to Minister Fudge.” Amelia almost spat out the last name in disgust. “Then we need to contact Charity about all this, so we have someone watching over the girl there.”
Kylie knew at this point that she would inform both women what was really happening. “How ‘bout we do that tomorrow. I want to be with Ms Potter when she returns to her relatives. Because I am sure, Dumbledore put some kind of magic on that residence that would protect the girl so long as she lived there.”
“You are probably right. Alright, I will clear my schedule tomorrow, and then we as friends need to get together to protect this girl if no one else is doing it.” Amelia said with determination and conviction in her voice.
“Right you are. Now let’s go.” Kylie said with a touch of laughter in her voice. ‘Now I need to go get Akasa, so this secret can finally be revealed to her friends.’ Kylie thought as Amelia closed the door.
-DGH-
Rose started to get nervous about getting her wand when she entered Ollivanders. The musty air in the shop really didn’t help matters that much. When Hagrid entered the room, Rose stopped thinking about being scared, fearing that it would show on her face. Just as she thought there wouldn’t be anyone there to help them, an old man walked around the corner behind the counter. He was looking at them with these silvery eyes that better resembled the moon. He looked at both of them and started to smile. “Hello Hagrid, and you must be missus Potter?” Rose nodded. “Well, let’s get started then. Which is your wand arm?” The old man asked.
“Well, I am right-handed, sir.” She said with a bit of heat going to her cheeks. Why was she feeling embarrassed about this?
“Hold out your arm then.” When she did, the tape started measuring her arm. First from the tip of her fingers to her shoulder. Then from her wrist to her armpit. This made her blush even more profound. Then the distance around her wrist. The distance from her shoulder to her foot. “That should be enough.” At this point, Rose realised that the tape was measuring her on its own.
“Wow.”
As the man was going to the wands on the shelves, he started talking about something she didn’t ask about but didn’t mind hearing it. “I remember selling your parents their first wands. Your mother’s was a willow wand 10¾ inches, unicorn hair that was swishy and nice for charms. On the other hand, your father’s was made of mahogany 11 inches, pliable, and excellent for transfigurations. Now that I think about it, you look like your mother, but you have your father’s unruly hair.”
It was at that point the man walked out from behind the counter with a stack of boxes. He placed them on the counter and then handed Rose her first wand. Any hope that they would be done with this was dashed immediately. They went through all those wands and what felt like half of the store. At some point, Professor Nightshade entered the store with a smile on her face. Just as Rose thought they were about to run out of wands, Ollivander walked back from the deepest part of the store with a single wand. Sparks of gold and crimson light flew off the tip when she waved this wand. With that done, Mr Ollivander told her about this wand’s connection between her wand and Voldemort’s. It was this that made Rose’s mood drop to near depression.
Rose paid seven galleons for her wand and then left the store. After that, the group went to get a bite to eat in the Leaky Cauldron. Rose was still off in thought about the connection between her wand and the one that had killed her parents. It seemed as though her concern was showing as both Hagrid and Nightshade asked her what was wrong. It took a while before she told them what was bothering her. Nightshade was the first to say something between the two of them.
“Rose, that is something you needn’t worry about,” Nightshade said in a calming voice. “The core of your wand may have come from the same phoenix, but it is the user of the wand that is good or evil.”
“That’s right, lassie. This is nothing to worry about. I mean, that’s like you being related to those dupes that call themselves yer family. You can’t change that now can ya?” Hagrid said with a smile.
“No, I guess not.” Rose looked back up at her ‘chaperones’. “Do we need to get anything else?”
“Nope.” Said Hagrid with a smile. “I will see you and Professor Nightshade as far as I can go, but I need to get back to Hogwarts to get this back to Dumbledore.” Hagrid patted the pocket where he had stored that pouch from Gringotts. Hagrid looked over to Nightshade. “What about ya, professor?”
“I will see Ms Potter all the way home; Hagrid, my birthday gift would best be given there.” Nightshade looked over at her with a gentle smile. “That is, of course, if you don’t mind that, Ms Potter?”
“No, I don’t mind at all,” Rose said with a smile.
Once they were done eating, Hagrid paid for the meal, and they departed. From there, they went to the train stations. Nightshade got them two tickets to Little Whinging, and they waited for the train. Hagrid waited with them until the train arrived. He helped them load up Rose’s things; he also handed Rose the ticket she would need to get to Hogwarts on September first, and then he departed. She asked the professor about some things that she had forgotten about until now.
“Professor, the boy I saw in Malkin’s, said something about houses. What did he mean by that?”
Nightshade smiled a little at this. She looked around, and once she was sure they would not be overheard, she explained. “Well, Rose, there are four houses students get sorted into when they first go to Hogwarts. There are four: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.” The professor counted off the four with her left hand as she named the houses. “Most would say that Gryffindor is for the noble and courageous, but I beg to disagree. It is often those who truly seek adventure that goes into that house. Courage is the marker that the founder of the house valued above all others, but that alone does nothing for a person. Then there is Ravenclaw, the house of intellect. While intelligence is truly represented there, do not solely focus on that; if you are sorted there, intelligence alone should never define a person. Hufflepuff is for loyal and honest people, and while those are good things, never let those things blind you.” Rose nodded her head at this. “Then there is the house I was sorted into, Slytherin. It is for those who are cunning and quick-witted, and most would tell you that all the evil witches and wizards come from this house; they are sorely mistaken.”
“Really?” Rose asked, concerned that if she were sorted into Slytherin, she would turn into someone she didn’t want to be.
“Yes. Most think Slytherin is filled with people who value their ‘purely magical’ family lines above all other things, but that is a misconception. Most students try and forget that evil can come from anywhere, and most students don’t know that Merlin himself went to Hogwarts, and was in Slytherin.”
“Really?” Rose asked.
“Yes, and to be honest I really cannot see you in that house. I could be wrong, but to be honest I just can’t see it. Now while no one is watching we need to get your things into my bag.”
Rose nodded her head in agreement. The two of them started putting most of her things into what appeared to be a small bag. It didn’t take Rose long to figure out that there was more room in this bag then one would think just by looking at it. Once they were done her thoughts once again turned to what she had just learned. If the boy she met at Madam Malkin’s was anything to go by she didn’t want to be in his house.
It was late afternoon when they arrived in Little Whinging. The Professor walked with her all the way back to her house. When Rose saw her uncle’s car she knew they were home. Rose checked to see if the door was locked, and then knocked on the door. When the door opened it was Uncle Vernon glaring down at her. Before he could say anything Nightshade coughed to get his attention. Whatever he was going to say vanished the moment he saw her. He stepped aside to let Rose in, but said Nightshade had to go.
“Mr Dursley I am needing to talk with you and your wife about somethings concerning your status as Rose’s guardians, and I want to make sure she understands what she can and cannot do outside of school.” To say her voice was cold was an understatement. It was almost as if the woman’s very presence chilled the area. Even Rose’s glasses seemed to be fogging over.
“Well that can be done with you standing right there!” Vernon said curtly.
Rose heard fabric moving, and when she looked over at Professor Nightshade the woman was holding what looked like a six-foot-tall staff topped off with a giant ruby. The professor tapped it on the ground, and her uncle went flying backwards. She then tapped Rose’s shoulder with her right hand. Rose nodded and walked inside. “Go on up to your room Rose your uncle and I need to talk. I will check on you before I leave.”
Rose nodded, and as she made her way to the stairs Uncle Vernon moved away from her. Once she was satisfied with the distance between them she handed Rose the bag with all her things. Rose took the bag and the cage containing her owl up the stairs. She could hear Nightshade moving Uncle Vernon towards the kitchen. Even though she wanted to go back downstairs and listen to her aunt and uncle getting told off she decided to err on the side of caution. Nightshade was a fully trained witch, and could probably handle herself. That and she really didn’t want to see what kind of magic a History of Magic teacher would use if they were angry.
-DGH-
Kylie watched Rose take her things up the stairs. When she had rounded the corner Kylie shoved Vernon down the hall toward the kitchen. She noticed Rose peaking around the corner as she went upstairs, but decided to let it slide curiosity would come in handy later on for what she was planning to teach the young girl. Magic was a power best sought out by those with open minds.
Once they were in the kitchen Kylie once more tapped her staff to the ground silencing Vernon and Petunia. Had she not warned Amelia about what she intended to do this house might have been swarming with Magical Law Enforcement Patrol within minutes. She then looked around the room to make sure the pig was nowhere to be seen. Once she was sure of that she turned her gaze back to the other swine.
“I am going to keep this brief, and to the point Dursleys.” She let her arcane presence slip out just enough to cover the room. She smiled as the mortals inched further away from her. “Now I know you can feel just how powerful I really am, and to be honest I don’t care that you know. I will be a part of your life no matter where you go. There is no escape from me, and to be honest you will always try to escape, and you will fail.”
Kylie smiled as she watched the two try to move towards the door. She tightened her grip on her staff just a bit. She released some of its stored magical energy to activate two spells. She laughed as the shadows surrounding Vernon and Petunia turned into chains that held them in place. Vernon tried to run but the spell’s nature did not let him move more than five feet from where he had been standing. Petunia was trying to pull the chains off her wrist, but her hands kept sliding through the chains. She didn’t have the heart to tell them it was an illusion. Not that they were capable of willing themselves free anyway. When Vernon finally gave up he started ‘yelling’ in futility at her, and Kylie just laughed.
“Now that I have truly shown you there is no escape still yourselves. I want to tell you one thing Vernon. I heard you talking to your wife last night after you went upstairs, and I thought you should know that I will be checking up on her health and wellbeing in that regard when she arrives at Hogwarts.” It was at this point that Vernon’s face faded from its favourite puce to pale in blotches. “Now I will also inform you that starting next summer I will be checking in on her from time to time, and if I find anything foul has happened to her you will not like the consequences.” Petunia seemed to have yelped at that comment. “Now as much as I would love to stop the verbal abuse and physical beatings she endures I cannot. Things that can kill me say I cannot, so you are safe… for now.” She tapped her staff on the floor ending the spells, she once again concealed her arcane presence, and then left the room. Once on the other side of the door she found Rose descending the stairs. “Why don’t we go up to your room? I think it would be better to give you your gift there.” Kylie said in a chipper tone. One look over her shoulder told her just how disturbed the Dursleys were at this. She had one thought on the matter. ‘Good.’
“Okay.” Rose said with a beaming grin on her face. As the made their way to the stairs Dudley seemed to have come down the stairs in hopes of getting the food he could smell, but when he saw them he froze. “Hello Dudley,” Rose said with a slightly evil smile. Her cousin then yelped in a high pitched tone. He then put his hands over his buttocks and ran back up the stairs. Rose lead her up the stairs to her bed room. Once they were in the room Rose asked “So why does my gift need to be given to me here?”
“Well it is simple Rose. Do you remember that bathroom closet I used back at the hut?” Kylie waited for a response, and when the girl nodded in agreement she continued. “Well that and all the clothes within it are yours. That is of course except those that are mine.” She wanted to say more, but she couldn’t as a raven haired missile collided with her. She stood there stunned for a couple of seconds at what had just happened. Normally a person would have been thrown back from such an act, but even her divine aura which normally shielded her acknowledge that this girl meant her no harm.
Rose took a step back, and looked up at her. “Thank you Professor Nightshade, but how am I going to repay you for this?” Rose asked.
“This is a gift Rose, and one that ask for nothing in return, but if you are as strong as I think you are I will be asking for your aid in the future. That however is something to discuss at a later time right now you need to get some sleep. You’ve had a long day.”
Kylie walked over to the place between the bed and the door. She tapped the wall with her staff, and expanded the room by ten square feet. She then asked for her bag back, and then withdrew the portable closet. She levitated it into the space she had just created. Once she was sure the floor would hold the object she went in and retrieved the close she had put in there for herself. She asked Rose to go in to see if the clothes she had created for her were still there. Once this was confirmed she bid Rose farewell. She turned her staff back to its miniature form before she was outside, and placed it once more up her sleeve. Once she was sure no mundane was watching she teleported back to the Hogwarts gates. Once on Hogwarts grounds she opened a portal back to the Entrance Hall. She did not want to trigger too many alarms today. The Ministry might just try and break her wand! Kylie chuckled at this thought. Once she was in the Entrance Hall it seemed that Dumbledore had been waiting for her return.
Kylie looked around to see if they were alone. Once this was confirmed she smiled back at the man. “May I help you Albus?”
“Yes I was wondering if there might be something you might be able to do in guarding the object Hagrid has brought here. I know your skills are quite finite, but what they are capable of is more than enough for what needs to be done.”
Kylie smiled broadened. “I think I might be able to help you Albus, but it isn’t with a spell.”
“Oh, what might it be then?”
“I could let my familiar guard the object.”
“What might that be?” Dumbledore seemed more than a little bit curious at this comment.
“Well I know Hagrid will loan you one of his, but what do you know of my travels?” Kylie said keeping up the rouse she had built up over the years.
“Only that you have visited other worlds through ancient magic. Why do you ask?”
“Well I have… earned the trust of a dragon.” Kylie grinned in a mischievous manner.
“Would it be safe to use here?” the man seemed frightened at the notion of a dragon being here.
“Oh trust me Albus there would be no harm to those that are loyal to us. That I can assure you.”
“Then perhaps I should meet this dragon.”
“Yes perhaps you should…”
Chapter 4: Strange Gifts
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or affiliated characters, places, and things. They all belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliated companies. This particular plot is mine, however. And to make it seem more cohesive to the original stories I am using some of the lines from them, but they are not my material. Also, I will be referring to Dungeons and Dragons Core world, and using Pathfinder rules for magic and melee combat, so just to say the obvious I do not own either of these things as well. I play those games, but sadly they are not my property. Sigh. They came from the excellent mind of their owners.
A/N: I have fixed the problem with the previous chapter being from a different story. If you haven’t reread it, I recommend it. I am SO sorry for that mix-up.
A/N2: This is going to be a big break from canon Harry Potter. So hopefully I can keep writing this story and not break the universe using Pathfinder/Dungeons and Dragons Deity level character. Thank you for reading, and please review.
Chapter Text
Rose was sitting there reading her History of Magic textbook. It was fascinating to read really. The things ancient wizards did was both awe-inspiring and frightening at the same time. She had already read all of her other books at least once. It was rare that she got to show her true intelligence, but given that Dudley would not be going to this school she didn't have to worry about having to make him look better than herself. It made her feel happy, and that was a rare occurrence in the Dursley household.
Rose turned the page and put the book down in her lap. She lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes. When she reset her glasses, she looked around the room. Her cauldron and potion equipment was sitting on her desk. It had been a while since she looked at them. Her gaze then travelled to her new portable bathroom. It was really a good thing that Rose got this. She often felt creepy when she went to take a bath. There were often times she was thinking that someone was watching her. She just shivered at the thought.
Rose drove those thoughts out of her mind. She was aided in this by the screech of her other birthday gift, Hedwig. Rose had named her owl this after reading the name in History of Magic. Sitting next to Hedwig’s cage was her wand. This is what she would be using for most of the things she would be learning. It seemed all her classes except for potions would require her to flourish her wand to bring forth her magical power. Just thinking about the object brought to mind the subjects, aside from history, she was interested in learning. First was Defence Against the Dark Arts. If there was one thing, she learned from her relatives it was: be ready to defend yourself. This seemed to be the course that would teach her how to do that.
The second class was, of course, History of Magic. If a witch as strong as Professor Nightshade found it interesting, then you had to learn some pretty awesome spells in that class. After that was Transfigurations. The idea of turning an object into something else sounded awesome. Sadly, Charms came in last. While it taught all the general spells that one would need it didn’t seem that… cool.
The sound of something tapping on her window brought her out of her mental review of things. Looking out the window revealed another owl pecking at her window. It was midnight black in colour with bright silver eyes. Rose put her book on her bed and rushed to the window. She opened the window and the owl flew in and sat on the chair infront of her desk. It seemed to be carrying a letter attached to its left leg. Rose walked over to it and relieved it of its package. The owl took off shortly after the parcel was removed. Rose did want to give it an owl treat for the delivery, but it seemed the owl had other things to do.
Rose looked at the letter. Her name was written on it in a different handwriting than the letter from Hogwarts. It was more formal and elegant. It seemed that whoever wrote this letter had been practising their penmanship for ages. Rose opened the letter with haste. In part, she feared that this was an expulsion letter. Once the letter was opened however there was something that accompanied her letter. It was a small book about the size of a matchbox. Rose set the book on her desk and then started to read the letter.
Dear Rose,
I hope this letter finds you well. I just wanted to let you know that I have talked to the people I felt would be best for you to go with to Kings Cross. Their names are Jacob and Emma Granger. Their daughter is Hermione, and she is starting Hogwarts this year as well. So, all you should do is tell the things that you don’t need a ride to Kings Cross. They will be arriving sometime between nine and ten on September 1st. I told them only what they NEEDED to know about your situation, and sadly I think that would leave them with questions still. They are not mad at me or you, but if your Uncle opens his mouth it might cause problems. So, I hope for your sake he keeps that fat mouth of his shut. Anyway, I don’t want to ramble in a letter.
See you soon,
Professor Nightshade
P.S. Tap book with this letter twice with your wand.
Rose looked at the small book. She thought about it for about a minute before grabbing her wand and then tapped the book twice. It enlarged to the size of an old tome. It was slightly bigger than the Bible. She opened it up to the title page and was beyond confused by what she saw. There were ‘letters’ in the book that she had never seen before, but there were others that seemed like letters from the English alphabet, but they were configured in a way that didn’t make sense. She flipped back to the first page of the book and found a note. Written in the same handwriting as the letter that accompanied the book it read.
You will need this for the things that I will be teaching you separately from your History course. The language is called Draconic. I will tell you more during your first week of school.
Rose was just confused by this new information. None of the other books had talked about this. All the spells she had seen thus far were a type of Latin. Yet here was this entirely new language. Was she going to have to learn this new language at Hogwarts? Or was this something that Professor Nightshade wanted to teach her aside from what was in the curriculum?
Rose shook her head. Whatever it was the professor thought it was important. Maybe it was a portion of magical history that was recently discovered. If that was the case, then it seemed the professor saw something in her that she didn’t see in herself. Hopefully, she was smart enough to learn what she was being taught. Rose shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had to stop thinking like that. She didn’t have to compete with Dudley anymore, and the things her aunt and uncle said about her no longer mattered. They had lied to her about so many things, and it was about time that she stopped letting them ‘convince’ her that Dudley was ‘smart’. She had better grades in school than him for years. She had pulled back on doing better than Dudley when she was in the second year of primary school. She didn’t want to, but she had to. The beatings that had followed her final report card made sure she didn’t do it again.
Hedwig made a sound to get her attention. She walked over to her cage and petted Hedwig across her back. At that moment, she started thinking about the people she was going to meet. Were they nice? What did they look like? What would they think of her? Their daughter was a witch so that wouldn’t be an aversion. Yet there was this fear that they wouldn’t like her. She had to fight this feeling. She would give them a chance.
With that Rose went back to the bed, and returned to reading her history book. This was the start of her new life, and she was not going to let her relatives ruin it.
-DGH-
Three Hours Earlier
Granger Residence
Hermione was reading her school books for the third time in the last three months. It was fascinating that she was now going to a magical school. She hoped that this school would be better than her last school. The students she would be around should be as interested in learning as she was. Well, she hoped they would be. Wizards and witches always were depicted as seekers of knowledge in all the stories she read. Merlin, in particular, was so well described by the average folk that she could see him standing right infront of her studying an ancient tome.
“Muggles… I need to remember that. Non-magical people are called muggles in the magical world.” Hermione whispered to herself.
She returned to reading her copy of Hogwarts a History.
In 1792 the Triwizard Tournament was held once more. This time the competition went on flawlessly until the Second task. During this task, the three contestants were asked to gain control of a cockatrice. Yet when they released the beast it immediately turned on the spectators within the stands. It leapt up over the ramparts of the arena and injured twenty-six students. Sixteen non-student spectators were also injured. The heads of all three schools, staff from the Ministry of Magic, the reporter from the Daily Prophet, and the photographer that accompanied him were among the injured.
It was decided shortly thereafter that the competition would be cancelled, and all three competitors would be declared the champions for having survived the ordeal and being key in bringing the cockatrice under control. The names of the competitors were...
A knock on her door pulled her out of the world the book was painting for her. Her mum opened the door and stuck her head through the opening. “Hermione, there is another professor from Hogwarts here to see you. Before you ask yes you are still going. She is not here to tell you that they made a mistake.”
Hermione placed a bookmark on her current page and stood up from her bed. She walked out of the room. For the briefest of moments, she thought she might have been removed from the school due to a mistake in the enrollment process. If she was still going to the school, why was another teacher visiting her? Professor McGonagall was very informative, and Hermione thought she had asked all of the proper questions. She asked if there were some other languages she would need to learn and the like. Professor McGonagall told her that she didn’t really need to learn anything new before heading to Hogwarts aside from maybe learning Latin. Before she even asked the professor told her that most spells taught in European schools were Latin based. She had a basic Latin learning manual stored with the rest of her school supplies. Had McGonagall forgotten to tell her something?
Once she was on the ground floor Hermione could feel a definite drop in temperature in this part of the house. Upstairs it was nice and cool, but down here, it was almost arctic. She didn’t want to think things so cliché, but it felt like death itself was in the room. One look at the woman that was sitting in the recliner made Hermione feel more than a little uneasy. The woman had a pair of wings on her back, and this greyish smoke pouring off her feet. When the woman looked at her those soft grey eyes carried more than a look of curiosity. One look at her mum and dad told her real fast that they could not see the woman’s wings or the ‘smoke’ around her feet. When Hermione looked back at her the woman smiled. The wings on her back flexed as the woman stood up. It was as if she knew that Hermione could see the wings. Was this a final test to see if she really was magical, or was she just seeing things?
“Hello, Ms Granger it is nice to meet you.” The woman said as she walked towards Hermione. The wings moved in conjunction with her shoulders. When she stuck out her left hand to shake her hand the wing moved with it.
Once she got over the shock of it all Hermione shook the woman’s hand. “It is an honour to meet you, professor?”
"Nightshade, and to assuage some of your fears no I am not here to tell you anything bad relating to you." She then held up her hand to stop Hermione from speaking. "I am just here to ask your parents to help me with a little problem another student will be facing. You see she is in a bad situation, and due to factors outside of my control I had to leave her with people I do not trust." The hatred that filled the last three words was more than bone-chilling. It was almost like these people had really hurt the person Professor Nightshade was talking about. "You see I have a feeling that all they are going to do is drop her off at King's Cross station, and leave her there. You see she has some similarities to you Ms Granger, and like you, she is new to the magic world. I know a lot of students from muggle homes will be going to Hogwarts for the first time as well, but she is special.”
“Special how?” her father asked with a worried tone to his voice.
Professor Nightshade looked between her parents, and herself. “She is magically strong at a young age, Doctor Granger. That is not why I need your help. As I said, her caretakers I do not trust. They abuse her, and before you ask it is not that kind of abuse, but it is still abuse. Again, it is out of my control to remove her from the situation, but if I can work with some old schoolmates of mine well enough she will not be going back there next summer.”
“Why can’t you remove her from the situation?” Her mother asked rather sternly.
The professor sighed. “A wizarding official set out to use her blood relation to these people as a form of protection for the girl. This, of course, had merit seeing as her mother used ancient magic to protect the girl from harm. Unfortunately, it cost the woman her life.” Professor Nightshade held up her hand to stop her parents from saying anything. “Her mother died protecting the child. Literally telling a man she would rather die than let him take her child’s life. Since she wouldn’t stand aside he killed her.” Professor Nightshade looked between the three of them. Hermione knew she probably looked scared. She didn’t realise until just now that her hands were over her mouth. She looked over at her mum and dad. They both looked as stunned as she felt. Who was this girl? This would have been recorded in one of the history books she read. No one in recent history fit this description that she could think of off the top of her head. She wracked her brain for a couple of seconds to think of someone who had a past that would fit this story, and then it just clicked. If it was who she was thinking about it made sense, but tonnes of children were made orphans during that time, but there was only one story that fit this tale. The sound of Nightshade’s voice snapped her back to what was going on around her. “With that one act, she made it impossible for the man to kill or cause harm to her daughter. This sacrifice was used to power blood-based protections that keep people who want to kill the girl from being able to go near her, and the moment I take her away from there both protection fails, and I don't want to do that."
Hermione’s mind started going over some of the stuff she had learned to figure out who this person was just in case she was wrong. That the abuse had been overlooked worried her a great deal. She turned her gaze to her parents. Her mum and dad seemed overly concerned about what had just been revealed as well. Her father looked heartbroken, but that was only for a fraction of a second. The second look that crossed his face was one of rage. He beat her mum to be the next one to speak. “So what you are asking us to do is give this girl a helping hand. A friendly face in other words?”
Professor Nightshade smiled. “Exactly, but first I think it would be within your best interest to know who you are helping. Her name is Rose Lilly Potter…”
“But the records say she is in SAFE hands!” Hermione almost screamed at the top of her lungs. Her hands shot over her mouth immediately. While this confirmed what, she had been thinking it was still in bad taste to scream at the professor. She looked between all three of the adults. She felt herself starting to blush. As she moved her hands away from her face she could feel the embarrassed expression forming on her face. “Sorry, but I have read how she was living with people that were making sure she was safe, and that they were family.”
Professor Nightshade nodded her head in agreement. “From a certain point of view that is right. She was safe from the followers of the person who killed her parents. That, however, did not mean she was safe from members of her own family. Granted the problem could be a lot worse, and it is my intention to stop it from getting that bad.”
Her mother looked lost in thought for a couple of seconds before she asked: “So, both of her parents are dead? That leaves her grandparents, and extended family, right?”
“Yes, but sadly her grandparents are dead as well.” She held up her hand to stop the questions from coming. “I know you all have a lot of questions, but sadly I cannot answer them all at the moment. Right now, I think we should focus on the young lady’s trip to King’s Cross. I know you can’t go onto the platform, but given the simple fact that she will have no one to help her, I think it beneficial for a friendly face to be there to assure her that everything is okay. I will be there on the train as the school’s representative.”
“School’s representative?” Her father asked.
The professor then explained how there was always one teacher on the train to ensure that the students were safe, to inform the prefects about any new rules, and the passwords to the dorms. Given that she was one of the strongest teachers in the school the headmaster thought that she would be the only one that was needed this year. Her parents were curious about how this was considered a 'good thing'. The professor then explained how the Ministry gauged the strength of a witch or wizard. The Myrddin Emrys Index. She said the headmaster’s rating on this scale was 650. When they asked what, her score was the professor said that it was 624. She also said that she had not had herself tested since she had graduated Hogwarts and that the number was probably higher, but she didn’t what to know it.
“So, would you help our daughter and Ms Potter get on to the train?” Her mum asked. “I mean we would, but Professor McGonagall said that there was ancient magic that prevented us from getting onto the platform.”
“I would be more than happy to do so.” She stood up to leave. “I assume then that you will be willing to help Ms Potter?”
Her parents looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Before her mum looked at the other woman. “Yes, and I would like to know everything you do about this girl.”
“Your daughter knows most of the story, but I think it best if the rest of the story comes from the girl herself, as I only know so much of the story. I can tell you why I am concerned for her safety though.” The professor told them how she and another staff member had to take Rose her Hogwarts letter. What had happened when they got to her, and the physical description of her relatives. Hermione doubted though that a woman’s face could look that much like a horse’s head. The description of the uncle and her cousin was slightly humorous though. The professor looked like she wanted to say more, but when she looked at the clock she looked worried about something. “I am afraid I have other matters to attend to. I am meeting with some friends of mine. One of whom is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. I am hoping to put the fear of God into Rose’s uncle.” She reached into her robes and pulled out a piece of parchment, and handed it to her mother. “Here are the directions to the house.”
With that, the professor bid them adieu and left. Once her father closed the door he asked what she knew about the girl. Hermione bit her lip trying to think of a way to tell her parents about the-girl-who-lived without scaring them. Hermione sighed as she thought: ‘Honesty is the best policy.’
-DGH-
August 5, 1991
4:55 PM Ministry of Magic
Amelia Bone’s office
Charity Burbage was sitting there in Amelia’s office waiting for her old friend to show up. It had been ages since she had seen the woman. She had tried to write to her for the last twelve years, but the owls would not even take the message. Even when she knew the woman was safe and teaching at Hogwarts the owls refused to take the message. She thought for the longest time that the woman calling herself Kylie Nightshade was an imposter, but then she gets a letter from Amelia telling her that Kylie wanted to meet them both today, and she needed to meet with them.
Charity went to Amelia’s office expecting to see her old friend sitting there in some kind of trouble, but all she found Amelia was sitting there with a letter, an odd-looking staff, and a set of rings sitting on her desk. The letter had arrived just before Charity. She knew her friend was into some really esoteric magic, but this was odd even for her friend. Charity took one more look at the letter.
Charity I know this seems so odd after so many years of not talking to you, but I ask that you and Amelia come and meet with me it is about Ms Potter’s living conditions. I will explain why you haven’t been able to talk to me when we meet each other at 5:00 PM on August 5. Remember to put on the rings BEFORE taking the portkey!
With all my love,
Kylie Akasa Nightshade
After reading it once more Charity picked up the ring and ran it between her fingers. The handwriting was the same. Hell, she even used her middle name, and that is something she only shared with Charity. Amelia had pestered her about it for ages, but she never divulged it to her. Charity felt that was her special name, but now Amelia knew it as well. Charity was sure this was used to prove it really was Kylie.
She looked once more at the clock. It was 4:58:46. She looked over at Amelia. She already had the ring on and was holding the staff out for her. Charity put on the ring and grabbed the staff. She started counting down the seconds. It was odd counting down a full minute, but Charity felt it was necessary to do. She didn’t want to yell at her friend. She wanted to hear her reason before she tore into the woman.
Once she reached zero the familiar tug behind her navel signalled the activation of the portkey. What was unfamiliar was the colour surrounding her as they spun around and around. Instead of the usual greyish black, it was a violet-blue. Also, instead of a whirling vortex spinning around them, and a pull behind the navel; it felt as if they were being pulled apart. It felt like ages had passed before they started to slow down. When that happened, she let go of the staff. She made sure to start ‘walking’ as soon as she did this, so she didn’t fall on her face. Once the location became visible to her she was astonished at what she saw.
There was a castle that rivalled Hogwarts in size. It looked to be twelve stories tall. There was also what appeared to be a small city surrounding the castle. This alone told her that it was not Durmstrang or Beauxbaton. This castle had weird attachments to it as well. It looked as if Muggle Electricity was going to it, but that was impossible. Magic and muggle tech was nearly impossible to put together. Yet here they were working just fine with one another. So, somehow her friend managed to overcome this one problem and didn’t bother sharing this information with their world. She had to get some answers, and she wasn’t going to take ‘hard work’ as an excuse.
Another feature that bothered her was the constant gloom that surrounded the place. It was like this place was dedicated to death itself. There was a sombre full moon hanging high in the sky. Once she had shaken herself of these thoughts she and Amelia started walking towards the city. The closer they got to it this feeling of dread kept creeping into Charity’s mind. The people she was starting to see around the city didn’t help matters. They looked like vampires but lacked the trademark teeth of the species. The town square they were now standing in seemed more morose than normal. There were all of these people gathered there that fit descriptions of races she knew didn't exist. A woman was standing in the square who looked like she was the muggle definition of an elf, but this was not possible as that race, the aos sí, was a mere myth. Aside from them, there was this… person who looked like the definition of a half-demon laughing hysterically with what appeared to be an angel. She had horns and a tail. Her eyes were this burning red colour, and her bright white hair was more than a little unnerving. Off to this woman’s left was another ‘elf’ like creature, but this one had wings. Of course, this was all compounded by the fact that they seem to be standing in a line waiting for something. It was almost as if they were waiting in line for some important meeting, or perhaps a night club of sorts. Charity was wondering if Kylie was wanting to go to this ‘night club’. It would have been lovely to get this information in the letter!
It was at this point that Charity heard a long-awaited familiar voice.
“Charity, Amelia, over here!” Charity turned around to see her long lost friend. The same happy face, and cheerful smile on her face that had been missing these last few years. She walked up to them and gave them both a hug. Charity wanted to melt into her arms at that moment, but she had to resist the urge. When Kylie stepped back she looked worried. "I need you two to follow me. The answers you want I cannot give because they would fall flat without someone to back up what I am saying. Follow me."
“What do you mean Kylie? We would believe almost anything you have to say.” Amelia said with a hint of worry in her voice.
“It is the ‘almost anything’ part that I am worried about.” Kylie looked back at them. She was chewing her bottom lip at that moment. She then said, “What if I told you that I was actually a cleric of a goddess, and this place was her domain?”
Charity spoke before Amelia knowing full well what the other woman was going to say. “Kylie, if this is true how could you do all the magic you did in school? I mean, you were making people like Lucius Malfoy jealous with what you could do.”
Kylie looked down at the ground. “Yes and no. I was doing magic, but it was not my power that you saw at first. It was the power of a goddess doing that. I only learn the kind of magic taught at Hogwarts not too long ago. Although that part of my magic is still growing. I can still walk circles around Lucius. I have finally attained the level of magical prestige I wanted, but my divine magic still out ways my arcane. What arcane power I do have is a sixth-years at best.”
Before she could ask what Kylie was talking about they had arrived at the gates to the castle. The two guards standing there bowed to her and opened the doors. As they walked through the castle Charity noticed people practising magic next to muggle devices, and yet again not seeming to care about the bad side effects that this might cause. Some things seemed more magical than muggle though. There were these small devices they looked similar to muggle telephones, but they were not tethered to the walls. This was new to her. She was going to have to ask Kylie about this later. Now though was not the time. It was too public of a place, and she was not like most witches she had some small form of decency about such things.
They continued to walk through the antechamber, and into what looked like a great hall. Instead of a feasting room, it looked like a judgement hall. People were waiting in yet another line infront of a woman sitting on an intricate throne made of what appeared to be dark ebony granite-like stone with ruby accents. At this distance, Charity could not tell what the woman’s face looked like, but she could see the rest of her figure clearly.
The woman’s robes were the same greyish violet colour Kylie’s were, but these lean more towards the grey end than Kylie’s. She could also see the woman’s hair was the same platinum blonde Kylie’s hair was. Once she got close enough to see the woman’s face Charity’s breath was taken away. She looked at this woman and Kylie. They could pass as sisters they looked so much alike. Charity had met Kylie’s family, and she knew that Kylie didn’t have any sisters. When they were about ten feet up the stairs Charitie’s jaw fell open. It was like she was looking at Kylie’s clone, and she just prayed that her friend didn’t dabble in this kind of dark magic. Charity looked over at Amelia, and the look on her face let her know that she had met this woman at some point.
Before they could say anything, the woman sitting on the throne stood up and walked down to greet them. “Good to see you again Amelia, and it is nice to finally meet you Charity in, less professional setting.”
Charity was dumbfounded by this. Was this the woman that had been working with her? She looked between the woman she knew as Kylie, and this woman standing infront of her at this moment. It was in this moment that the ‘Kylie’ she knew took off the ring she had always worn, and the image she was so used to seeing faded away. What stood before her now was a beautiful elven girl with dark black hair, deep green eyes, and pale skin. What was odd about her was the whites of her eyes were also this really pale green colour. Charity looked over to Amelia to find that the other woman was looking just as dumbstruck as she felt. Before they could ask anything, the real Kylie asked them to follow her.
They were then led through the castle up several flights of stairs and through eight doors. When they finally got to where the woman was leading it was amazing, to say the least. There was what looked like large telly attached to the wall, it looked to be about a fifty-four-inch screen, a small computer screen on the long table against the wall beneath the big telly. Right next to the computer monitor was a rather large tome open to what appeared to be an intricate spell with a velvet red bookmarker between the two pages. Between these two things were two large containers of potions. One was in a large pare-shaped container, and the other is a deep blue coloured beaker. To the left of this table was a small bookshelf filled with books, and two lit candles atop it. Further left of this, and about two feet above the bookshelf was a pad of some sort with what looked like keys on it. To the right of all of this was a bed with violet grey bedding and trimmings. To the left of the bed were two doors one of which she was assuming led to a bathroom.
Charity looked back at the woman who led them here to find her walking over to a wall with what looked to be a numerical keypad on it. She pressed a few of the buttons, and shortly thereafter the woman spoke quietly into the keypad. Charity heard what sounded like the doors locking, and the window shades pulling themselves closed. It was at this point the woman turned back to them.
“Well, now that I have made sure this conversation would not be overheard I think we should start with reassurances. First, the young woman standing next to you Charity Amanda Burbage is the ‘Kylie Nightshade’ that went to school with you. However, she did this under my instruction. So, that I the deity of death could teach at Hogwarts.”
“Prove it.” Snapped Charity.
“I will my love. I will answer all the questions you have of me under the unbreakable vow, to tell the truth.” ‘Kylie’ said with this sad look on her face before she looked at the ground.
“That is illegal!” Screamed Amelia.
“Not here it isn’t. Why don’t you, cast a spell to find out where you are.” Kylie stated calmly.
"Mihi locus!" Amelia said rather loudly. A violet stream of energy left the tip of her wand and started forming words. What it said made Charity’s jaw drop.
Bereavements Passage (also known as The Endless Catacombs)
Ethereal Plane
Castle of Kylie Nightshade goddess of Death
Bedchambers
Charity did the same spell and it spat out the same answer. She looked over at Amelia who had done the same spell another time. Yet, the answer did not change. She then looked rather angrily at Nightshade and cast a different spell. “Sicto genus!” A bright reddish violet stream left Amelia’s wand and collided with Nightshade, and above her, bright golden letters formed the woman’s race.
Greater Deity
Charity heard a wand drop to the floor. She did not know whether it was her’s or Amelia’s, and to be honest she didn’t care. The fact that she was standing in the presence of a goddess was something that she was not expecting. She was expecting her girlfriend to come up with this crazy story about why they didn’t talk to each other. Not this. Who had she gone to school with? Was it the goddess or the young lady standing next to her. One look at the elf girl set her mind at ease. This had to be her friend. Amelia coughed to get her attention. Her friend was kneeling with her head bowed before the woman standing infront of her. Charity did the same. She was now feeling a little out of place here.
The goddess waved her left hand dismissively. “There is no need for that now. Though I do appreciate it. It is not needed. So, will you now place her under the unbreakable vow? I will hold her to it.”
Amelia shook her head violently. “No, I don’t think so.” Amelia looked at her. “Charity?”
Charity looked between the two women. “If you are who I think you are, know that I still love you, but I want to make sure you are the person I love with all my heart.”
The girl smiled and nodded her head. She stuck her hand out. Charity grabbed the girls forearm, and Amelia walked up to the two of them. She started doing the pattern of the unbreakable vow. “Do you swear to tell Charity Burbage the truth about who you are?”
“Yes.”
A white infinity symbol started to wrap itself around the conjoined arms. Charity could feel a warmth emanating from the symbol. It felt wrong to be doing this, but by doing this there was no doubt what the woman told her was true. She wanted to give this young woman a fair chance, but if she didn’t do that there would be doubt and regret. This would poison their love, and she didn’t want that. With this, there was only regret, and that could be overcome.
“Do you also swear that no matter the question for the next hour that you will answer them honestly?” Amelia asked in a shaky voice.
“Yes.”
A bright glow signified the end of the vow. The two looked at each other for so long Amelia started to dance around, and look around the room. Charity was having a troublesome time figuring out which question to ask first. She settled on the one that was the least painful. “You are the person I knew as Kylie Akasa Nightshade?”
“Yes, but my real name is Akasa Mistskulker.”
She waited, and when Akasa didn’t fall over dead Charity breathed a sigh of relief. She continued. “You could still die if you lied under this vow here in Death’s bedroom?”
“Yes, although I really, really, don’t want to die right now,” Akasa said looking more than a little sheepish.
“So have you found anyone else?” Charity asked with her hopes hanging high for an answer.
“No, and I don’t think I ever will.” She looked hopefully back at Charity. “Have you my love?”
"No, I have been waiting for you as I promised." Charity took Akasa's hands. "What have you been up to since we last saw each other?"
The conversation that took place lasted more than an hour. It turned out that Akasa and six other people were meant to restore an ancient school of sorts. Though she didn’t know how big of a role she would play in all of it. They were getting stronger with each passing month, and with any luck, they would finish clearing out the building sooner than they thought. She also spoke of friends that she had gained and lost over the years. The pain of these losses was written on her face. It pained Charity that she couldn’t be there for her friend. The young woman seemed to be part of some kind of prophecy. And stuff like that was out of Charity’s hands. She told Akasa that she would help her if she could, but didn’t know if that would be possible.
“Well, that is more doable than you think of Charity." Charity looked over at Nightshade. “There will be times shortly that will allow me to send you to her world, and I would encourage you to take them. Also, if there is a reason for me to send her to your world I will. She has earned this reward.” The proud but worn look on Akasa’s face showed that this was not easily earned.
“Really?” Charity asked with a hopeful tone to her voice.
“Yes.” Nightshade looked rather dismal for a minute. “One of those reasons will be your untimely death, but at that moment I will restore you to life, and move your body to her world. I am having to stack the deck in one direction. You see I am having to play a divine game of cards against something that just wants to destroy or enslave worlds. While I may be Death I don’t want to say, kill everything. I am only responsible for the end of life, but without it I mean nothing. It would also be a very, very, very boring existence.”
Charity looked over at her friends. Akasa was smiling at her and had this hopeful look in her eyes. The fact that she was once again near the person she loved made Charity happy. Yet, what she had just learned made her worried about her friend's safety. Charity took a slow and steady breath. She had promised Akasa that she would be there for her, and she meant it. Charity steeled her resolve as she looked back at Lady Death. If Death herself was giving her the chance to be with her love she’d take it. It seems that the threats in Akasa’s world were far more dangerous than the ones on her own. Though thinking about those ‘threats’ made Charity chuckle a little. Fighting your way through a castle filled with monsters made Lucius Malfoy seem tame. The only thing that Akasa needed to know was that if people were right then her life would be in danger.
“I will help you, but if she comes to my home and He-….”
“His name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. I know what he calls himself, but I refuse to deign him the glory of calling him by his self-given name. He is a misbehaving child, and I will be ensuring he does not do so well upon judgement. His foe will not be some scared child. She will be well trained, and uncaring about the bastard’s well-being.” Kylie said this with a cold tone and malice in her eyes. The air in the room was almost arctic cold. Nightshade sighed and shook her head. “There is something much bigger at play here than Riddle I’m afraid. That is why I am here, and why I need the two of you to help me.”
Charity stood there blinking in stunned silence for a couple of seconds. “But if Vol… I mean Riddle comes back can’t Dumbledore handle him. The headmaster scares him. Dumbledore would be a teacher for Ms Potter…”
“No Charity he wouldn’t.” Amelia let out a slow sombre sigh. “Lady Nightshade here just let me know the living condition of Ms Potter, and they are not nice. Because of this Ms Potter has clearance to use magic in her muggle home. Although she doesn’t know any spells yet. When she does she will be allowed to use them within reason. Any tomfoolery will get the case looked at.”
“WHAT?!” Charity screamed in disbelief. She like everyone else believed what Dumbledore had been saying about Rose Potter’s safety. ‘She is in the safest hands that can be provided, and those raising her are the only living family she has left.’ “Did Dumbledore know this?”
Nightshades answered with her cold sense of normalcy. “Yes, but to be fair he thinks that as bad as it is that it is better than living in the magical world. In some ways, he is right. In the magic world, she would have been spoiled to the point of ad nauseum. However, she would have still been safe from Death Eaters, and anyone bewitched to kill her. Anyone trying that would have had to go through an army.” The goddess’ laugh sent chills down Charity’s spine. “In the case of the protection laid down to protect her, it is solely based on intent. So, if someone was trying to kill her because she defeated Riddle then they would have failed. Whether they served the idiot or not.”
“So, it was, in the end, a good thing?” Charity asked.
“Yes, and no. Yes, it protected her and her shithead relatives, but it also destroyed who she could have been. Now all I am left to work with is a shattered girl who has a warped sense of loyalty. I don’t want her to blindly follow my doctrine, I have clergy for that.” Everyone looked at the blushing Akasa. “I want her to learn and be stronger for it.” Nightshade sighed. “I know this is asking a lot of you two, but if you agree to be my eyes and ears so I do not have to waste my power to do so I will reward you greatly.”
Charity stood there in the cold silence thinking about this. On the one hand, she was loyal to the headmaster he was the one who had given her a job, comforted her when Nightshade didn’t want to speak to her and defended her against some of the vilest students that went to Hogwarts. On the other hand, this was the request of a goddess. The things she could do might as well be limitless. She could change them into anything she wanted to. Make them immortal for all she knew, and given the stories of elves or aos sí that might not be a bad thing. She looked over at Amelia to gauge her choice. It seemed that Amelia had made the same choice she was leaning towards. When Amelia looked at her Charity nodded.
In a calm but stern voice, Amelia said. “We will do it your Grace, but we will be doing it because it is the right thing to do.” Charity nodded in agreement. She didn’t know if she could say anything more poignant than that.
“That is fine,” Nightshade said with a smile. She walked over to the table with the phials. She reached underneath it. She then opened a drawer that Charity could not see prior. From it, she pulled out two phials. One contained a liquid that was a brilliant silver colour, and the second was a bright violet colour. She walked over to Charity and gave her both phials. “This is my gift to you for your aid. Drink the silver liquid first, and then wait a minute before drinking the violet potion.”
“What will they do?” Charity asked timidly.
“The first comes from the Philosopher’s Stone, and the second one is a divine creation. The first reduces your age by thirteen years. If it were more your age would be reduced by twenty years. I doubt you want to be teaching as a thirteen year old.” They all chuckled at this. “The second will make you age at an elven rate of ageing.”
“What do you mean by that?” Charity asked looking quizzically at Lady Nightshade.
“It is true about elves, both house-elves and their non-servitor brethren, in that they do not age like humans. How old would you say Akasa is by looking at her?”
Charity looked at her girlfriend, and she chuckled a little bit. Akasa was blushing a bright red, and given her pale complexion this was a great contrast. She didn’t want to embarrass her, but she really didn’t look much older than a teenager. “I really don’t want to underestimate this, but she looks like she is fifteen or sixteen.”
“I am a hundred and fifteen years old,” Akasa said looking off to her left and down at the ground.
Charity’s jaw was hanging open in surprise. This was astounding, to say the least. Charity looked back at the potions being offered to her. She thought about it for a couple of seconds. If she took this second potion she would live as long as her beloved. This was too much of a good thing to pass up. Be damned the consequences. She drank the silver potion first. The taste was bittersweet and given how most potions tasted this was a blessing. Within moments of finishing the potion, she felt herself reduce in size. She waited until all the shifting of her body had stopped, and then she drank the second potion. If the first was a blessing this one could be considered a curse with how bad it tasted. Yet with the foulness of the potion, it was the pain that was the worst of it. It felt like someone was ripping her body apart, and putting it back together again and again. When it all subsided, she walked over to the mirror that Nightshade created with a flick of her wrist.
“Oh my god!” Charity was shocked at what she saw. Reflected at her was a much younger version of herself. She looked like she was eighteen. She also noticed her skin was a touch paler than normal. And even though she couldn’t feel it her ears were starting to resemble Akasa’s. “Is this normal?”
“Yes, for a ghost elf.” Charity stood there looking in the mirror. She was unsure of what to say. She didn’t think there was anything she could say. “I know this may seem cruel, but the benefits outweigh the risks. That leaves you, Amelia. For your gift, we should go to your home.” Lady Nightshade said as she tapped her staff on the ground. Within seconds of this, a gateway of sorts opened between this room and Amelia’s living room. “Follow me.”
Once they walked through the gateway Charity could smell something incredible being cooked. That was impossible though. Amelia didn’t have a house-elf, and the only one who cooked this good in her life was…
“Amelia is that you?” the deep baritone voice of Richard Mathews came from the direction of the kitchen. It didn’t take long for the dark-skinned man to come around the corner. “Welcome home darling. Am I also preparing a meal for Charity, Kylie, and this young lady?”
Charity barely noticed the blur of black robes that signified Amelia running past her. Richard was supposed to be dead. He was killed by a group of Death Eaters in 1980 while shopping in Diagon Alley. Amelia had cried herself to sleep for days after this. When Voldemort was defeated she had gone after Death Eaters with recklessness abandon. She almost had Lucius Malfoy, but that bastard had weaselled his way out of Azkaban with a slick tongue, and a deep coin purse. She played it civil with the bastard, but she had always held the belief that it was Lucius that had killed Richard.
“No Richard I don’t think I will be staying, but these two definitely will be. Akasa I will come and get you in three days to take you home. Charity I will be seeing you again in four days to go over what we will be working on this year.”
“Of course… Kylie.” It felt weird calling a deity by her first name, but if she didn’t do this it would tip Richard off that something was more than a bit off.
Nightshade nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Charity turned to face Akasa who was smiling mischievously at her. She returned the smile, and walked over to the love of her life and wrapped her in a tight embrace. Charity closed her eyes and rested her head on Akasa’s chest. There were no more secrets between them. There was nothing short of death that could separate them for long. It was kind of funny when she thought about it.
When Amelia finally let, her boyfriend go Richard said they were having spaghetti and meatballs tonight, and that it would take a little bit longer since he had two more mouths to feed. With that he left the room, and so did Amelia to inform him of her day, and ask him about his day.
“Come on Charity lets go sit on the couch, and just cuddle for a little while,” Akasa asked in a timid voice.
“Of course, love.” Charity said as she lead Akasa to the love couch. Akasa held on tightly to her hand as they walked across the living room. It was at this moment that Charity was in awe of her new body. With each step, Charity felt as if she was walking on air. When she reached the couch she turned around and she found Akasa looking up from her waistline. When their eyes met Akasa's cheeks began to turn a faint rosy colour. Charity just giggled as she sat down on the couch. She gently pulled Akasa towards her. The young woman spun around and sat down on her lap. Akasa put her legs off on the left side as she leant back into Charity. A very familiar position from their Hogwarts days. Things were looking up, but given what they have been through things could get worse.
-DGH-
4 Privet Drive
September 1st 7:45 AM
Smallest Bedroom
Rose was double-checking her trunk to make sure everything was there. She was hoping that she didn’t have to make too many trips up the stairs. She knew Uncle Vernon would not be helping her. It still upset her that he wouldn’t let someone else take her to King’s Cross. He said that he didn’t want any more ‘freaks’ coming to the house. She just hoped that Professor Nightshade would be here to help them out. Rose hoped that if she did show up that she would teach her that spell she used on her aunt and uncle in the cabin. Maybe if she knew that spell she could… encourage them to let her use magic freely next summer.
The thundering sound of feet hitting the ground in the hallway told her that Vernon was upset about something. Rose closed her trunk quickly and turned around to face the door. Uncle Vernon may be wanting to leave so they could get to the hospital early. When Vernon opened the door the look on his face was not a pleasant one. He grunted out “Get your things girl. There are people here to pick you up.”
Rose stood there dumbfounded for a couple of seconds before she asked. “I thought you weren’t going to let me go with them?”
Vernon growled as he glared at her. “That is what I’d like to do, but they are blocking my car, and some of the neighbours are watching. Now get your things, and go.” Vernon waddled around and started walking away.
Rose grabbed Hedwig’s cage and her trunk. She tried to balance the cage on top of the trunk and given the noise that she heard downstairs, there was some form of disagreement between Uncle Vernon, and someone else.
“So, you are telling me that you are going to let a little girl carry a heavy trunk down the stairs by herself!” A man screamed at Uncle Vernon. The man was standing in the doorway his left arm extended towards the stairs. The man looked over his shoulder at someone Rose couldn’t see. “Hermione go find the girl’s room, and ask her if she wants some help.”
This bushy-haired girl stepped out from behind the man. She looked worried and was looking for a way past Vernon. She was the first one of them to notice Rose. The girl smiled and looked back at her father. “Dad she is already here.”
The man looked past Uncle Vernon, and when he noticed that she was struggling the man growled at Uncle Vernon. He moved Vernon out of the way and made his way towards her. “I got this.” He said in a soft tone as he reached for her trunk. “Why don’t you go join my daughter.”
Rose nodded and started making her way outside. She smiled at her uncle as she walked past him. The man’s daughter had taken a few more steps away from her uncle and looked terrified about something. As the man passed Uncle Vernon he glared at the man as if he wished to invoke death itself to visit him. Vernon pressed himself against the wall as the man passed. It was rather funny to watch Vernon trying to turn himself into a sheet of paper. It took all of her will power not to laugh at that moment.
Once the door was closed the girl looked over and smiled at her. “Hi, I’m Hermione Granger.” She held out a hand.
Rose shook Hermione’s hand gently. “Pleasure to meet you, Hermione. I’m Rose Potter.”
The man shook his head. “You girls fail at this.” He set the case down behind the blue sedan and turned to face Rose. “Hi, there Rose my name is Granger. Richard Granger.”
“Daaaad,” Hermione said in a voice that clearly displayed the pain she felt.
Chapter 5: Signs
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or affiliated characters, places, and things. They all belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliated companies. This particular plot is mine, however. And to make it seem more cohesive to the original stories I am using some of the lines from them, but they are not my material. They came to the excellent mind of their owner.
A/N: Be forewarned I will be starting to add more Pathfinder 1e spells in this chapter. For those familiar with that game, and how it works, I will do my best to describe how I see those spells visually playing out. So, don’t kill me in reviews if what I type doesn’t match HP Book or Movie 'verse.
Chapter Text
Rose was standing next to Hermione and her mother looking at the pillar between nine and ten platforms. She was wondering how this all worked. Professor Nightshade had told her that the entrance was between platforms nine and ten, but not how to get on the train. Was she to walk through the barrier or press stones like they had done to get into Diagon Alley? It was really bothering her. It was Ms Granger that broke her train of thought.
"Okay, Professor McGonagall said all you have to do is walk into, run at, or lean into the barrier between platforms nine and ten." Ms Granger said in a soothing voice.
Hermione and Rose nodded to her and slowly started walking towards the barrier. They didn't want to draw too much attention to themselves. Rose thought it might be best to have a conversation with Hermione should this not work so it would look like they failed to notice the barrier. But she couldn’t think of anything to talk about. All she wanted to talk about was the school they were going to, and she couldn't think of anything else to talk about. She didn’t think that would be smart to talk about right now. As they got closer Rose wanted to close her eyes, but running into Hermione's cart made her open her eyes. Before they hit the barrier, Rose felt a wave of energy pass over her. The barrier infront of her turned into a tunnel for the briefest of moments. The next thing she saw took her breath away. “Wow.” Was all Hermione could say.
They were now standing in a train station with a crimson red engine, and a sign that read ‘Platform 9¾ Hogwarts Express’. There were loads of people moving around the station. There owls hooting, people talking, almost all the adults were wearing robes and pointy hats. Rose looked over at Hermione. She was just as awed as she was. Hermione looked over at her, and she had this smile on her face.
“Come on our history professor said she would be here to help us onto the train," Hermione said and the happiness in her voice was really hyperactive.
The two of them pushed their carts towards the mass of people. It didn’t take long to find Professor Nightshade. She was with a group of people and was laughing hysterically. Though the closer they got ‘laughing’ didn’t seem like the right word. Cackle seemed much more appropriate. It didn’t take Nightshade long to notice the two of them. She waved at the two of them, and there was a smile plastered across her face. The two people she was talking to looked over at them and smiled.
"Hello, you two. How are things going you two?” Nightshade asked with a soft smile on her face.
“Fine professor, how about you?” Rose asked.
"I'm fine as well Professor Nightshade," Hermione said with a smile.
The woman chuckled and gestured to the people to her left. “These are some old associates of mine. This is Richard and Elizabeth Greengrass, their daughters Daphne and Astoria, and Daphne’s friend Tracy Davis.”
Mr Greengrass was a tall man with snow-white blonde hair and grey eyes. His broad shoulders and muscular build made him an imposing figure. His wife was about a foot shorter than her husband, but still considerably taller than Rose. She had blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her heart-shaped face would have been inviting if she didn't have this judgemental look on her face. Two of the girls could only be the children of these two. The older of the two girls had her father’s hair, but her mother’s eyes. The other girl had platinum blonde hair, light blue eyes, and looked rather ill. Rose felt for the girl but didn't want to draw attention to her. She knew what that was like. The last person Tracey Davis had black hair, bright blue eyes, and light skin tan. She was standing slightly hunched over. Rose thought this odd. Maybe the girl had hurt herself somehow.
Just as Rose was starting to worry about what Mr and Mrs Greengrass thought of her a smile crawled across Mrs Greengrass' face. "It's good to meet you two."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Greengrass," Hermione said with more than a little joy laced in her voice.
"It's nice to meet you," Daphne said with a smile. "I'm Daphne this is my friend Tracey Davis." She gestured to the other girl. “The shorter girl is the bane of my existence Astoria.” Rose would have thought this true had it not been for the smile on Daphne’s face.
“Hey, that’s not funny smart arse," Astoria said weakly as she swatted her sister. “Hi there.”
Rose smiled at the young girl. “Hey there, Astoria. I’m Rose.” Rose looked over at Hermione, who was smiling. “And this is Hermione.”
“Hello," Hermione said in a chipper mood.
The soft chuckle from Nightshade grabbed their attention. “Sorry, but I remember some bits of my youth.” She looked over at Rose with a weird glow in her eyes. There seemed to be a light green glow over her grey eyes. "I met my oldest friends here, and seeing this brought back happy memories."
"I think everyone has that experience." Mrs Greengrass said with a smile. "Well as much fun as it is to remember I think we need to get these four on the train."
They all agreed and started getting the four girls things on to the train. They found a compartment in the middle of the train. Before Rose could even try to lift her trunk onto the rack, it floated onto the frame. She stared blankly at it for a few moments before she looked around. It seems Mr Greengrass and Professor Nightshade were using magic to place the trunks on the racks. When all the trunks were set in place, the Greengrass family said their goodbyes and departed from the train. Astoria was the one who took the longest to depart. She went into detail about what she wanted Daphne and Tracey to tell her about. It took Mrs Greengrass gently tugging on her robes to get her to leave the compartment.
Daphne and Tracey talked to Daphne’s family out the window about what they should do when they got to Hogwarts. Mr and Mrs Greengrass just smiled and said: "Don't be foolish." The four of them chuckled as if this was an inside joke. Rose looked over at Hermione who looked just as lost as Rose felt. It wasn’t long after this that the train blew its whistle for departure. With one final goodbye to the Greengrass family, Rose started to wonder where this new life would take her.
-DGH-
Pansy Parkinson was not a happy person. She was sitting with people she had to sit with because of their ‘social’ standing. Sure, the Malfoy; Crabbe; and Goyle heirs were old ‘friends’ of hers, but they were ‘friends’ of nicety rather than the actual thing. Just thinking about it made her sigh in despair.
"The only reason they are my ‘friends' is that mum insists that I hang around them," Pansy said under her breath.
Pansy looked around the compartment at the people she was required to hang around. Draco said something to Crabbe and Goyle, but she really didn’t care enough to listen in. She was thinking back to the task her mother had set her up with this morning.
-8:05 AM Parkinson Manor-
Pansy was sitting there eating her bacon rather slowly doing her best to ‘listen’ to her mother ramble on what she wanted her to do. She knew the woman wanted her to befriend Potter, and bring her closer to the family. Her mother said this would aid the Dark Lord, but how was that going to help her? Surely there were better, easier ways to gain the Dark Lords favour. Befriending Potter would take time, and frankly, she didn't have the heart to do so.
“Are you listening to me!?” Her mother screamed.
"I am to find Potter convince her to be my friend, and then give her to you so the Dark Lord will return to life," Pansy said rather flippantly.
CRACK!
The pain Pansy felt her mum's hand left on her cheek was sadly nothing new. The sound of her mum casting a healing charm meant nothing to her. She knew the only reason she was doing this was to keep the DMLE off her case. She had tried to report this once before. The man she had talked to had been an old ‘friend' of her mother's. She still hated Corban Yaxley not treating her parents as the abusive pricks they were. Instead, he was there laughing with her mother as she tortured Pansy with the Cruciatus Curse.
“Are you listening to me!?” her mum screamed.
"Yes, ma'am. I am to befriend Rose Potter, bring her home on Christmas break if possible, so you can kill her to bring back the Dark Lord."
“Not quite. We won’t be able to do that so quickly.” Her mother said in a disgusted tone. “You will need to build the ‘friendship’ over more than one year. The sacrifice must be made ONLY if we can find the Dark Lord.” Her mother said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Now finish your breakfast we don’t want to be late. Potter’s relatives may get her to the train early. Dumbledore always manages to pick the right people for the task.”
"Yes, ma'am," Pansy said as she went back to eating her bacon.
-Pansy’s train compartment-
Pansy just shook her head at the memory. She really didn’t want to do any of that. If Potter became her friend, she didn’t know if she could betray her. The idea of being like her mother made Pansy sick. Sure, the idea of bringing the Dark Lord back had its appeal, BUT what some of the women did for him made her ill. The idea she would be expected to kill someone just because the Dark Lord asked her to felt wrong somehow. It was like the man relished the chaos that he created. How could anyone enjoy that?
“Pansy, are you listening?” the loud drawl of Draco’s made her skin crawl.
“No, Draco sorry.” Pansy said ‘apologetically’.
The brat lifted an eyebrow. “Pansy I wonder if you’re not a bit off in the head.”
Pansy scoffed at that. “Dear Draco, I am not some mudblood.” Pansy cringed when she said this. She normally would have let this roll off the tip of her tongue with no problem, but as of late it just felt wrong. She didn’t know why, but ever since she got her wand, it just felt wrong to say things like that. It didn’t make any sense. Everything she had been told about wands had never mentioned anything like this. Was the wand trying to tell her something?
“What is wrong with you Parkinson?” Crabbe asked in a squeaky voice.
"Nothing," Pansy said sharply. She stood up and walked towards the door. “I am going to freshen up a bit. Don’t leave to find Potter without me.”
"Wouldn't dream of it," Draco said with a coy smile.
-DGH-
Nightshade was standing there infront of the gathered prefects listening to the new head boy and girl inform the other prefects of the passwords and the new rules at the school. If she were honest with herself, she wanted to kill Percy Weasley right now. The boy had been so smug with her during the past four years. Every time she was covering something in HoM that didn't match what he had been told in his childhood, the little bastard had the gall to challenge her on it. She really didn’t want to think balls because that would give him more credit than he deserved. The boy was a master of brown-nosing, though.
The sound of said annoyance’s voice drew her from the bliss of her own mind. “Why is Professor Nightshade here?”
"To make sure nothing goes wrong on the train." Mathew Brodemire said sternly. "Now pay attention, Weasley. We all know you hate the Professor, but she is still a staff member, so mind your tongue."
Percy scowled at Brodemire and then shifted around in his seat. They were told the passwords to get into the common rooms, and informed of the new rules set forward by the Headmaster and Filch. Then they were told when they were to make their patrols of the train. They were also told of the new rules set by Filch, and the new items he banned. This caused some of them to chuckle.
Once the meeting was dismissed, Kylie went to check on the seven students who might become Potter’s friends. She knew Granger would be a friend that was a near Multiversal thing. Sure, there had been some worlds where they were not friends, but they were not the majority. She was hoping Greengrass would be an ally at the very least, and Davis could be whatever she didn’t really care. She just wanted to twist things in such a way that Potter would have the most powerful witches and wizards of her year as her friends. Though finding them would be bordering on meddling lines, Kylie didn’t want to be like Dumbledore. The girl needed freedom more than she needed someone to shape her life. Without freedom, a person isn’t a heroine they are just a puppet.
“Focus Kylie…” she muttered to herself as she looked around the first compartment. She could feel a few powerful students in the compartment, but they were way too powerful to be first years. One look in each of the compartments confirmed this. The same was true for the next four carriages, but she finally found what she was looking for in the fifth carriage she entered. There were three girls in one compartment talking and laughing. Two of them were giving off magical strength equivalent to that of a second year. One of them was a girl who had an illusion laid over her hair, and she wondered why. It was a beautiful platinum blonde. Then as the girl leant back to laugh the end of her hair reached around and grabbed a chocolate frog box, and dropped it in her hand. Kylie smiled; this girl was a white-haired witch. She would be a must-have for one of Potter’s friends. The redhead to her left was just as strong as the other girl but didn’t seem to show any unique talents. She was still worthy of note.
She moved on. There would be more students that needed to be found. Kylie went through another three compartments before she found another two potential allies. One was unmistakably Neville Longbottom. The poor boy was tripping and stumbling down the train compartment. His magic was on par with Potter, but his clumsiness made him appear weaker. The second person that she noticed in this compartment fitting what she was looking for surprised her. Pansy Parkinson was standing next to him, and she seemed to be struggling with something mentally. Unlike all the other versions of her, this one was screaming with magic. The others barely registered as a level one caster, but this one was a solid third level caster. Kylie took this moment to read her surface thoughts.
“Should I help him? He looks so pathetic. If I befriend him my parents will kill me…”
Kylie walked past them, and as she did so, she threw a thought to the girl. “Do it. You are not ‘cunning’ if you are a puppet. Looks can be very deceiving.”
The poor girl jumped a few inches and looked around for the source of the ‘voice'. Her gaze stopped on Kylie as she walked past. Pansy then looked back at Neville. Kylie looked over her shoulder briefly to find Parkinson helping Longbottom up off the floor. She smiled a little. If Kylie could get them into the group that would be… interesting. She knew that getting Parkinson involved might cause more problems than it solved, but Slytherin would bend like a blade of grass if it worked.
-DGH-
Albus was sitting there in his office going over everything he had in place to protect the Philosopher’s Stone. He had tried to convince Nicholas to destroy the stone, but the aged man would have none of it. So, Dumbledore offered to protect the stone since Tom had tried to get the Stone back in May. He knew the man would not stop until he achieved his goal. If Tom got the stone, the world would fall into ruin. Even though he would have to continually use the Stone to stay alive, he wouldn’t care, and there would be none that could stop him if he got the Stone. After this year, he and Nicholas would have to find a permanent way of keeping the Stone safe if he and Penelope didn’t want to destroy it.
The sound of his Floo lighting up pulled him from his thoughts. Molly Weasley was walking out of the fireplace. Her skin looked a little paler than usual. She also seemed to be on edge. She was wringing her hands together as she walked towards him, and there was a thin bead of sweat on her brow. She seemed frantic. There was only one reason she would be here, and this worried him.
“Albus she was not there!” Molly said in a panicked voice that sounded more than a bit scratchy. "I did everything you said to do, and no one came up to see what we were doing. I think something horrible has happened to Ms Potter."
Albus moved quickly to check the things monitoring Rose's health, and location. Once he was at the device, his nerves relaxed a little. She was alive and well. She was on the Hogwarts Express, and her emotions seemed to be the happiest in years. So, his worst fears were not happening, but that did not answer the burning question in his mind. He knew Hagrid probably didn't tell the poor girl how to get to Platform 9¾. So, it had to be Nightshade that had done this. He didn't have the chance to ask the woman after the last three staff meetings she had to depart because of ‘family emergencies’.
Albus turned to face Molly. “Molly, my dear, I think Professor Nightshade has done something that neither of us expected.”
Molly huffed when he mentioned Nightshade’s name. “That woman has been giving Percy no end of grief since he started going to school. Why do you keep her Albus? Some of her teachings are…”
He cut Molly off. "Ancient magic. I have discovered the same things she has, but unlike her, I kept them to myself. Before you say anything Molly, she is the History of Magic teacher. I taught Transfigurations. It would be harder to squeeze those things into my class to cover Binns… inaccuracies.”
“According to Percy, that woman takes pride in being named after a…”
“Molly, her parents changed their names after they had her. They felt blessed since she was born on one of Death’s sacred day. Now if you wish to stay here, we can ask Nightshade when she arrives with the students.”
"Fine Albus, but I still don't trust that woman," Molly said sternly.
-DGH-
Rose was sitting there listening to the others talking about what they wanted to do in school. Daphne and Tracey were looking forward to being sorted into Slytherin. Hermione didn’t know if she wanted to be in Gryffindor like the headmaster, or Ravenclaw. Rose didn’t really know in what House she belonged. Sure, Rose was ‘cunning’, but that was only compared to her relatives. Rose didn’t know if that qualified for the Sorting. She was also ‘smart’, but that was also only compared to Dudley. She didn’t know if she was ‘loyal’, and she didn’t know if it counted as ‘courageous’ to continue living with her relatives for ten years.
"What's wrong Rose?" Daphne asked.
Rose sighed. “I don’t know where I would be sorted. I have some of the qualities for at least three of the houses. I don’t know if I will be sorted into any of them.”
Hermione smiled and chuckled a little. “Don’t worry about it, Rose. You wouldn’t have been chosen to be a Hogwarts student unless you were fit to be one.”
Rose nodded her head. “Your right, well I don’t know what house I’ll be in. I kind of have all the traits of each house.”
Tracey had this pensive look on her face. “I don’t know Rose I could see you in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. You seem pretty smart, and a sense of uncertainty means you are deathly loyal.”
“Oh, quite you,” Daphne said lightly tapping Tracey on the knee.
Everyone laughed a little at this. It wasn’t long after this that a plump lady pushing a cart came by. Everyone bought something. Rose got one of everything the woman had to offer. Hermione looked a little shocked at it but didn’t say anything. The sweets were fantastic. She was warned by Daphne that the Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans were precisely that. Rose decided to take her chances with it. She had eaten half the box before she ran into one she did not like. Rose didn’t really know if it was the taste of calf liver or the fact that the bean's magic told her it was calf liver that made it gross. She set the jelly beans down for the moment. The next thing that she tried was chocolate frogs.
“You need to be careful with those Rose,” Tracey said with a wicked smile on her face.
“Why?” Hermione asked a look of concern on her face.
“Well, every other one is made with a real frog…” Tracey said in a sheepish voice.
Daphne rolled her eyes at this. “Don’t listen to her.” There was a slight tone of frustration in her voice. “They are not made of frogs, but an enchantment does make them ACT like a frog for a brief moment after the box is open. Besides, she is just after the card that comes with it.”
“What you mean like a trading card?” Hermione asked with a look of interest.
“Yes,” Tracey said with a look of hope on her face. “I lack Circe, Merlin, Helen of Troy, and Casandra Vablatsky.”
Rose slowly opened the box. When it was open, a chocolate frog jumped out of the box and landed on Hermione’s lap, causing her to jump a bit. It was kind of funny seeing her jump like that. She complained a little about it, but Hermione was placated by Daphne saying that Rose had done the same thing. Which was right, but honestly, there was something funny when it was someone other than herself doing it.
Their laughter was stopped by the sound of their compartment door opening. Rose looked that way to see who it was. It was a red-headed boy about her age with a bit of dirt stuck to the left side of his nose. He was looking around the compartment at the girl’s foreheads. When Daphne asked what he wanted, the boy said: “I was told Rose Potter was in this compartment, is she really hear?”
Before Rose could say anything, a cold and bitter Daphne answered. “No, and before you ask, we don’t know where she is.”
The boy sneered at Daphne. There was this look of malice in his eyes. “Good I don’t think she would want to be around future Death Eaters anyway.” The boy said in haughty voice before he shut the door.
Rose looked over at Daphne rather shocked by the exchange of words. “What was that all about?”
“Nothing. That was Ronald Weasley,” Daphne said with more than a touch of annoyance in her voice. “I know him from a few times I have gone to the Ministry of Magic with my father. His father’s an alright fellow, but Ronald is… extremely judgemental. He thinks that EVERYONE in Slytherin sided with Voldemort.”
“And that makes him an idiot.” Tracey spat out. The look of anger on her face was a touch off-putting. “Does the idiot know that Merlin was in Slytherin?”
Daphne shook her head. “No, I don’t think so, but next time you see him you could inform him about it.” The slight smile on Daphne’s face gave away a hint that she was up to something. “Then again, you could always ask him out on a date.”
“Ewe gross!” Tracey said cringing at the idea. Hermione started chuckling a little at all of this. After her it was Rose, then Daphne, and after a couple of seconds Tracey joined in.
The conversation turned back to what they were going to be doing in school. Hermione seemed super excited about learning all of the courses, and Rose agreed with her on that. Daphne and Tracey seemed more interested in Charms. They debated for about an hour about why one focusing on one course was better than over-exerting yourself on all of them. Hermione thought that it was good to spend the first three years learning everything they could. Rose agreed with her to an extent, but she didn’t know if it was a promising idea to get worn-out in so doing.
This conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Nightshade, who stuck her head in. She asked how they were doing. They told her everything was fine. She said if they needed anything, she would be in the first compartment. When Nightshade left the compartment, Rose noticed that Hermione watched the professor’s back as she walked away. Tracey asked her what she was looking at, and Hermione sighed. She looked around the compartment with a worried look on her face before she answered. “This is going to sound crazy, but I swear Professor Nightshade has a pair of wings on her back.”
“No way,” Tracey said just above a whisper. She then looked over at Daphne. “Daph, what could this be?”
“Why are you asking me?” Daphne said, bringing her hand to her chest. “It’s not like I know anything about stuff like that.”
“Well, I thought since you spend so much time in your family library that you might know something about this sort of thing,” Tracey said with a small smile on her face.
Daphne rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t know anything about this kind of thing, but my mum might.” She looked over at Hermione, who looked worried. “Don’t worry Hermione maybe you have an ability that hasn’t been seen in centuries” Daphne looked puzzled for a few seconds. “I’m wondering if you might have some magical family in your ancestry.”
Hermione looked down at her feet with a pensive look on her face. Rose looked over at Daphne. “What kind of difference would that make?”
“It wouldn’t make any difference,” Daphne said a little heartbroken. “There are those that would think such things though.” At that moment, the door opened, and the boy that she had met at Madam Malkin’s was standing there looking around the room. Standing on either side of him were two boys that looked to be part troll. Daphne let out a small growl. When Rose turned her gaze to Daphne the look on her face was not a pleasant one. “Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear.”
The blonde boy chuckled a little as he looked to the boy to his left. “Greengrass thinks she’s funny.” The brutish looking boy laughed lightly. “I’ve heard Potter’s in this compartment. Have you seen her Greengrass?” The boy looked around the compartment. The way he was looking all of them up and down made Rose’s skin crawl. Rose tried to hide her scar behind her bangs. This seemed to draw his eyes to her forehead. Rose cursed herself when the boy started to smile. “Ah, here you are my lady.” The boy bowed low at the waist. “It is an honour to meet you. I would love to take you away from some of these… people.” The boy was looking at Tracey as he said this.
Rose looked over at Tracey to find the girl trying to squeeze further and further into the corner. Rose clenched a fist and glared at the boy. As she stood up, she could see Tracey look a little sour. Rose didn’t say anything as she turned to face the blonde boy. He had this triumphant look on his face. Rose squinted her eyes at the boy, and before he could say anything, she brought her right hand to the left side of his face. The resounding crack that was heard in the compartment brought forth a few gasps. The look on the boy’s face when he looked back at her was priceless. The two boys behind him looked at the blonde boy before they took a step forward. The blonde boy extended both his arms stopping their movement.
Rose heard movement behind her. One glance over her shoulder revealed Tracey and Daphne were now standing behind her. She looked back at the boy who was standing infront of her to find him looking a little worried. The one good thing the boy was doing was keeping idiot one and two from charging them. It felt as though they were staring at each other for hours before the boys walked away. Rose breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed. Rose shook her head as she walked back to her seat. It was rather disheartening to think that there was a form of bigotry and hatred even in the magical world.
Before she could say anything, a girl about her age knocked on the door before opening it. The young girl’s heart-shaped face was twisted into a look of concern and worry. She looked around the compartment before asking if anyone had seen a toad. Daphne asked if the girl had misplaced it. The girl told them no. “I’m trying to help Neville here look for his toad.” The girl gestured over her shoulder.
Daphne seemed to recognise the boy. “Oh, I didn’t know you were friends with Longbottom Parkinson?” Daphne was holding up this icy demeanour, but Rose detected a touch of surprise in her voice.
The girl looked pensive for a moment before responding. “I’m not opposed to finding new friends Greengrass.” Parkinson’s voice wasn’t cold, but it was definitely guarded. When Parkinson looked off to her left, Rose knew why. There was a small bruise on Parkinson’s left cheek. Given the size, it wasn’t something new. More than likely, it was an older bruise that had been agitated recently. This was something Rose was a little too familiar with. “What are you looking at?” Parkinson asked almost coldly.
Before anyone else could answer Rose said “Nothing.” Almost on impulse, she walked up to the girl and stuck out her hand. “I’m Rose Potter. It is nice to meet you…”
The girl's eyes went wide for a few seconds. She then took Rose’s hand and shook it vigorously. “It’s great to meet you, Rose. I’m Pansy Parkinson.” She looked dejected as she let go of Rose’s hand. “I may not come from the best family, but I’m hoping to change things.” She looked over her shoulder. “This here is Neville Longbottom.”
Pansy stepped aside, and that was when Rose noticed a portly sized boy with blonde hair and light green eyes. He had this bright red smile on his face. “’ello.”
“Hi there, Neville.” Rose smiled at him. “I know this is going to sound dumb, and I promise I’m not trying to be mean, but have you checked your pockets?”
The boy's eyes got wide for a moment before his hands dove into his trousers. He felt around for a few seconds. He then started searching through his cloak. It didn’t take long for his face to break into a smile. He pulled out this large toad from the left side of his cloak. “Thanks, Rose, I can’t believe I didn’t look there.” The blush on his face deepened at this point.
“You’re welcome, Neville.” Rose turned around and looked at the space in the compartment. There was enough room to squeeze in a few new people. She turned back to Pansy and Neville. “Why don’t you all come and join us. There is enough room for the two of you to fit in here.” She looked between the two of them. “That is if you want to join us?”
Pansy’s face lit up. “I’d love that! What about you, Neville?”
“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” Neville said with a smile.
“Well while you two do that we will go change into our uniforms,” Hermione said with a smile.
“I call dibs on the first round of changing!” Tracy said with a wide grin on her face. Everyone laughed as the girl jumped up and started going through her trunk.
-DGH-
Molly Weasley was pacing back and forth in the antechamber of the Great Hall. She was waiting for Nightshade to show up to get the answers she demanded. Rose would need some guidance if Albus was right on what happened she was going to let the woman know that she had no right to undermine Dumbledore like this. It was like the woman didn’t understand how the man had understood what he was doing, and he had thought of every possibility. The audacity of this woman was simply astounding.
The sound of feet hitting flagstone echoed through the chamber as the door opened. Molly turned around to see the baleful witch in question walking into the room along with Dumbledore. The slight smile on her face made her worried about what might have happened to the poor girl. The way the woman walked was also troubling Molly. The gentle swaying of her hips was a lousy example for such young children. It was almost as if the woman was trying to flirt with everyone’s imagination. Given how tightly her robes clung to her form. She was probably a low woman of character.
“What is wrong, Mrs Weasley?” The question was belied by the smirk on the woman’s face. There was no chance that this woman cared about Rose Potter.
“You are what’s wrong!” Molly said sternly as she thrust her right index finger at the woman. “I know you did something to Ms Potter. I want to know what you did!”
The woman closed her eyes and looked down at the ground. She let out a sigh as she shook her head. “I know you are concerned for the child Mrs Weasley, but I can assure you she is safe.” She looked back up at Molly. The glare Molly was giving the woman didn’t faze the woman. “I knew her relatives wouldn’t help her at all.” The woman held out her hand to stop Molly from talking. She decided to indulge the woman for another moment. “I heard some of the things her relatives were thinking of doing to ‘correct her freakishness’, and I was not about to let that happen.”
Molly shook her head in stunned silence. Her mind raced with what this could mean, and it drifted to the worst option possible in no time. “You don’t mean they were going to…”
The woman shook her head. “I don’t know for sure, but I wasn’t going to take the chance. I let my ‘presence’ be known, and the idea died off. I then went looking for a muggleborn who I would be able to convince to stop by her place to take her to King’s Cross.”
Molly didn’t like the situation, but given what she had just learned, it seemed that she was misplacing her trust. She was going to keep an eye on this as best she could. Hopefully, Ronald would become a good friend with Potter. The girl would need a good mother figure if her aunt was this bad.
-DGH-
Rose was looking in awe as the boats came around the side of a mountain. A beautiful castle was revealed. Its towers reaching into the sky seemed to be parting clouds. The moon hanging between the towers made this view even more awesome. It felt like she was literally sailing into another world. The gentle breeze flowing past her made it seem like everything was finally going her way. The sound of someone breathing in sharply made her look over her shoulder. Daphne and Tracey even though they had been in the magical world their whole lives seemed just as awestruck as Rose felt in this moment. A look to her left revealed that Hermione was just as speechless as the rest of them. Her mouth was slightly ajar in awe. Rose looked to the boat off to her right to see how Neville and Pansy were doing. Neville just had this nervous look on his face. Pansy was looking over at her with this sad look on her face. The two other girls that were with them looked stunned by what lay before them.
Rose felt someone tapping on her shoulder. When she looked over at Hermione, the girl was pointing to the castle. When Rose looked back at it, she could see a yellow coloured cloud move passed the school before dispersing. She looked back at Hermione, who had this confused look on her face. She looked at Daphne and Tracy to find them with these worried looks on their faces. When she asked them if everything was okay, they just shook their heads. It wasn’t long after this that they had pulled into a cave beneath the castle. There was a small port with a massive set of stairs behind it. As they made their way up the steps, Rose could feel this sense of foreboding crawl its way through her being. She wondered if everyone felt this way. When they got to the top of the stairs to a very tall set of doors, Hagrid knocked on them three times. Not long after this, the door was opened by a dark-haired woman in emerald green robes. Her blue eyes seemed to bore holes into Rose’s remaining resolve.
“I’ve brought the students, Professor McGonagall,” Hagrid said.
“Thank you, Hagrid.” The woman then looked back at the gathered mass of students. “Follow me.”
The woman led them into a room so massive that you could have fit the Dursley’s house into it. One of them being stacked on top of the other one. The ceiling in this room was so high that Rose couldn’t make out anything about it. She looked over at Hermione, who seemed in awe of the size of this place. Rose could see another set of doors that lead into another room that she could hear people talking behind it. With the doors being closed, she could only guess how big it was. Though all of the other students had to be in this room, it was more likely this was the Great Hall where the students were waiting for them. Rose never thought that Hogwarts a History would be so helpful.
Instead of being led into this room, they were taken off to a small antechamber off to the left side. Once the students were all inside the room, the woman closed the doors. She cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. Once the noise died down, she started talking.
“Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a few minutes, you will be sorted into your houses. In your houses, you will earn points for your house for your good deed, and you will lose points for any rule-breaking.” McGonagall’s gaze stopped on the red-headed boy who had come looking for her. She then went on to explain about the houses. What she said next made it seem like this whole house thing was done to make sure students behaved. “At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup. Now the Sorting Ceremony will begin in a few minutes when it begins you will be sorted into one of four houses. Each of them has its own noble history and traditions. Now the Sorting will happen in a few minutes, so I will leave you to smarten up.”
The professor left the antechamber. Once the door closed, the students started talking about the sorting. The Weasley boy said that they would have to fight a troll. Rose tried to put that out of her mind. There was no way that the professors would let many untrained witches and wizards fight a troll. She looked over at Hermione to see her mumbling about spells. “Don’t worry about it, Hermione. I doubt they would make us fight a troll. We haven’t even learned how to cast spells yet.”
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Before she could say anything, one of the girls behind them screamed. Turning around revealed why. Over a dozen people were floating through the wall into the room. These must be the ghost of the school she had read about in Hogwarts A History. They were having a discussion about someone called Peeves. In ancient robes with a silvery stain on the front, the man didn’t seem to have a very good opinion on the school poltergeist. This had to be the Slytherin house ghost the Bloody Baron. When the ghost realised they were not alone, they greeted the students. The ghost defending Peeves, The Fat Friar, told them he would be looking forward to welcoming the new Hufflepuffs into his House. Professor McGonagall returned and told the ghost to move along as the Sorting Ceremony was about to begin.
Chapter 6: The Start of Things
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its affiliated characters, places, or things. Those are owned by JK Rowling and affiliated companies. This plot is mine, however, and sadly for me, I can't/won't make money off this. Such is life.
A/N: Again if you you guys don't know a spell or something magical mentioned in this chapter it is from Pathfinder 1e. So, don't complain if these spells or description are non HP Cannon compliant. If anyone knows who Voldemort’s conversation was with PM your guess.
Chapter Text
Rose felt as if she was being poked with a thousand needles as she walked through the Great Hall. She knew they weren’t staring at her specifically, but it sure felt that way. She wondered how they would react when her name was called out. As it stood, they were only on 'B'. Susan Bones was up at the moment. The Hat seemed to be taking its time with placing her in Hufflepuff. One look at her friends showed they were just as nervous as she was. Though Daphne and Hermione looked a little stoic, their fear was held within their eyes. When she was placed in Hufflepuff, Susan took off the hat and made her way to the Hufflepuff table.
"Davis, Tracey," McGonagall called out.
Tracey looked over at Daphne, Rose, and Hermione before she walked up to the stool. As she sat down, she could see everyone looking at her. As the Hat came down over her head, she wondered if this was going to hurt. The sound of another voice in her own head didn't sit that well with her.
"Interesting situation you find yourself in Ms Davis." The chuckle to the voice made her think of her father. "You needn't worry Ms Davis, what I see stays with me unless it is dire. I am also bound by magic to say nothing unless you give me permission to do so."
"Thank you." Tracey thought. "So how does this work?"
"Well, I'm put on your head, and I look at your memories to see where you belong. I also talk with you a little to see if who you are is different than your past. As it stands, you belong in Gryffindor."
"No, put me in Slytherin." Tracy thought in a slight panic.
"It takes courage to want to go into a house that will challenge you." The Hat sounded like it was being sarcastic.
"I know where my best mate will be, and I don't want to leave her alone with Malfoy." Tracey 'said' sternly.
"Well if that is what you want." The hat 'said' before it shouted: "SLYTHERIN!"
Rose applauded for her friend as she walked to the house of snakes. As Tracey sat down, Rose looked up at the professors' table. It wasn't hard to find the headmaster. He was sitting in the centre of the table. His long grey beard, violet robes, and half-moon rimmed spectacles made him look more imposing than his Chocolate Frog Card hinted at. Professor Nightshade was sitting three seats to Dumbledore's left. The stoic look on her face was frightening. It was at this moment that Rose noticed that Nightshade was wearing more jewellery than other professors. Since she had met Nightshade, she wondered if as a witch she should wear that much jewellery, but given the way, Professor McGonagall looked this wasn't the case. Rose was pulled out of her thoughts when Hermione's name was called out.
Hermione looked incredibly nervous at this moment. Rose reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. She whispered to her friend: "I'll follow your lead."
"Thanks," Hermione said before walking up to the Sorting Hat.
It felt like the stool was made of a thousand needles as the Hat was placed on Hermione’s head. This was one of the most uncomfortable times in her life. "There is nothing to fear here, young lady." A soft voice said in the back of her head. "I do not judge you poorly for having a sharp mind. I know where you belong."
"Do you think she will think poorly of me if I am put in Ravenclaw?" Hermione asked more than a little nervous. "Her parents' were in Gryffindor."
"Her mother like you belonged in Ravenclaw."
Hermione thought on this for a moment. Before she could decide, a soft female voice spoke in the back of her mind. "Go with your heart. Think of your strengths, not your fears."
Hermione thought she recognised the voice. "Professor Nightshade?" Hermione asked in a bit of disbelief.
"Is it that obvious?" A soft chuckle that followed this was slightly unnerving. "Trust in yourself, not those who made your life miserable."
The Hat was laughing at this point. "The professor has a point. While it took great courage for you to trust Professor McGonagall is that what defines you?"
Hermione thought on this for a moment. "No," she breathed in deeply. "Send me to Ravenclaw."
"As you wish." The Hat said before it shouted: "RAVENCLAW!"
Rose and Daphne smiled at their friend as she walked toward the Ravenclaw table. Rose heard Weasley say something about Hermione being a 'weird one'. She wanted to tell the boy off, but Daphne had already hit him on the shoulder. Before the boy could say anything, Daphne's name was called. Rose watched Daphne walk up to the stool in this graceful manner.
Daphne was doing her best not to show how nervous she was. As the Hat was placed atop her head, she heard this small chuckle in the back of her mind. "So, you are the one Ms Davis was talking about."
"Hopefully she didn't say anything bad." Daphne thought with a touch of sarcasm.
"Nothing at all. Well, from what I can see there is only one house for you…" The voice fell silent for a few seconds before shouting out: "SLYTHERIN!"
The Slytherin table applauded lightly once more as Daphne made her way to their table. Rose heard Ronald Weasley talking about how Daphne was going to be the next Dark Lady. She remembered what Daphne said about the boy, and this statement only proved it. Rose didn't know Daphne that well, but Daphne wasn't an evil person. It also didn't help the boy's case that Professor Nightshade had been in Slytherin, and she didn't seem that evil. So, she didn't want to be in the same house as an idiot.
After Daphne sat down, Daniel Harper was sorted into Gryffindor. From there it went on through L and M. When it came to Draco Malfoy the Hat didn't even sit on the boy's head before it screamed out Slytherin. It was at this moment that Rose felt sorry for Davis and Greengrass. The boy seemed to have an agenda of some kind, but if she could avoid it, she would not be in that house unless it was required. When it got to the Ps Pansy was the first one called up. She was walking up to the Hat more nervous than Neville Longbottom.
As the Hat was placed on her head, Pansy was praying this would be quick. The soft humming sound in the back of her mind made her worried, though.
"This is interesting, Ms Parkinson." The Hat seemed worried about something. "You are not the first one today so torn about what to do, but your situation seems more dire. Should I tell the headmaster?"
"NO!" Pansy thought with a bit of fear flowing through her at this moment. "They would find a way out of all of this."
"I can keep this secret only so long, Ms Parkinson. Someone you know is not as fortunate. Now that aside I am torn with where to place you. On the one hand, it took courage to trust an unknown voice, but you are very cunning to avoid what you avoid. So, where to place you."
Pansy thought about this for a moment. If she was sorted into Gryffindor, she could be friends with whoever she wanted. That would upset her parents, though. Yet if she didn't become friends with Potter, then she was in just as much trouble. If she became friends with Potter, she didn't know if she was heartless enough to betray a friend.
The voice from this morning came floating into her mind once more. "You could always be yourself and deceive them. What your parents gain is not worth the price you will pay. Think about it for a moment. You bring them, Potter, they give her to their master, and they kill her or worse. What happens to you?"
"I will be forced to marry someone I hate," Pansy said with a second's hesitation.
"Is that worth the life of someone you have grown to trust? I may have done such things, but the reward has always outweighed the cost." There was a slight chuckle at this point. "What you need to think about is you."
"Then put me in Gryffindor. I don't know what house she will be in, but I think she will be more accepting of me if I'm in the house of Lions." Pansy thought with a moment of fear going through her mind at that moment.
"If you are sure." Pansy nodded her head. "Alright, then it is…" The booming voice made Pansy flinch. "GRYFFINDOR!"
Rose applauded along with the Gryffindor table. Pansy seemed alright, but the way she carried herself brought up some bad memories. As Pansy sat down, Rose felt like she was standing in the centre of a raging fire. As both Patils were sorted, one into Ravenclaw and the other into Gryffindor, time seemed to stand still for Rose. When McGonagall called out "Potter, Rose" the room went quiet. Rose stood there blushing for a couple of seconds before she started walking towards the stool. With each step, Rose felt like she was under a microscope. She could hear people whispering her name. Even some on the staff table seemed a little more than curious about what she looked like. The sallow-skinned man sitting off to Dumbledore's left looked both disgusted and worried. Nightshade and Hagrid were the only members of the staff that were smiling.
When Rose sat down on the stool, she became acutely aware of what a painting must feel like. Everyone was staring at her, and some were even leaning forward in their chairs as well. The students sitting at the Slytherin table seemed ambivalent to the whole thing. Then again, Nightshade generally looked the same way, so it must be a house trait or something. Everyone sitting at the Gryffindor table looked almost prideful at this moment. It was like they were expecting her to be sorted into their house without question. Ravenclaw was looking rather stoic even if most the house had inched forward in their seats. Hufflepuff looked just as hopeful as Gryffindor. It almost looked as if everyone at that table had their fingers crossed, but Rose thought that was silly. There was no way anyone relied on luck that much. Well, she did, but there was a valid reason for this.
The sound of the Hat's voice pulled her out of these thoughts. "Well, well, well, you are going to be a hard one to place. You could go to any of the houses, but you are very influenced by a dark witch." The Hat said this with a touch of sarcasm.
"I am not!" Rose thought rather forcefully.
"I beg to disagree Ms Potter. 'Professor' Nightshade is darker than you think, but that isn't really a bad thing. Slytherin would be ideal for you if you want to follow in her footsteps." The Hat said this in this almost appealing voice.
While this sounded enticing, Rose remembered what she had told Hermione. "No, put me in Ravenclaw with Hermione."
"Are you sure? Your loyalty to your friend is a dead ringer for Hufflepuff." The Hat asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. I would love to be in the same house as my parents, but I promised Hermione I would be in the same house she was in, and I am not changing that."
"This dear girl is loyalty at its finest." The Hat said this before shouting out: "RAVENCLAW!"
The table far left of the entrance erupted into applause. Some of the students at the table were chanting 'Potter's a Claw!'. Rose took the Hat off and set it back on the stool before running off to the Ravenclaw table. She sat down next to Hermione. The prefect sitting next to Hermione shook her hand and introduced herself. Penelope Clearwater was a pretty girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. Hermione kept looking over at the professors' table at Nightshade. Rose looked over at the professors' table as well. It was the headmaster, not Nightshade that drew her attention though. Dumbledore was smiling at her as he lifted his goblet. Though what drew her gaze away from him was subtle movement off to the man's left. It was in this moment Hermione's comment gained some validity. There was a small greyish feather falling to the ground just behind Nightshade's right shoulder.
Rose's gaze wandered down the professors' table to get a look at the rest of the teaching staff. The shortest member at the staff table was smiling brightly at her. He was sitting to the left of Hagrid, who looked a little bit sad. He probably wanted her in a different house, but a simple nod of the man's head showed that he was okay with how things turned out. When her gaze reached the far-left side of the table, her gaze fell on a man with sallow skin, greasy black hair, and what appeared to be pitch-black eyes. The dark black robes didn't make her feel at ease about the man. He was talking with Professor Quarrel at the moment. When the sallow-skinned man looked at her, this burning pain pulsed through the scar on her forehead. Rose reached up and touched it to see if it was bleeding or something. When she felt nothing, she looked at her fingers.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked softly.
"Nothing really, my head just started hurting is all," Rose said softly as Johnathan Roberts was sorted into Hufflepuff.
"Is this normal?" Hermione asked with this worried look on her face.
Rose shook her head. "No, this is the first time it has happened." Rose's gaze went back to the sallow-skinned man. "Penelope, who is the professor in all black?"
"That is Professor Snape. He is the potions professor, and if I were you, I'd study hard for his class; he is rather biased about anyone who isn't in Slytherin. He is the only head of house who shows favouritism towards his own house." Penelope looked back up at the staff table. "I would also be wary of Professor Nightshade. She can be a touch cold in her class. If she catches you sleeping during class, you have a good chance of being covered in ice-cold water."
"A professor can do that to a student?" Hermione asked with this shocked look on her face.
"Yes and no," Penelope said as she applauded as Lisa Turpin was sorted into Ravenclaw. Rose greeted her new housemate before returning her attention to Penelope. "Professors are obviously not allowed to abuse us, touch us inappropriately, or transfigure us. That being said, they can use spells to make loud sounds in our ears, douse us with water, or stun us if we are violent with another student or a member of staff."
"Well, that's good to know," Rose said as she looked back up at the staff's table. Snape was looking at her with this disgusted look on his face. "Wonder what made him so upset?"
"He's been after Professor Quarrell's job for years. He may be a potion master, but it is the Dark Arts he really fancies." Penelope said with this dark undertone to her voice as Ronald Weasley's name was called out. "How many more of them are there?"
"What?" Hermione and Rose asked at the same time.
Penelope sighed. "He isn't the only Weasley in the school. He has five older brothers. The oldest two are no longer here. That would-be William and Charlie. Then there is Percy, who is the Gryffindor Prefect there." Penelope pointed to the red-headed boy sitting next to Neville. The boy was sitting with his glasses slightly on his nose's bridge which made him look a little prideful. "Then there are the terror twins Fred and George. They are sitting somewhere at the Gryffindor table. What is taking him so long to be sorted?" Penelope asked as she looked back up at Ronald.
Rose turned her gaze back to the boy as well. The look on his face was one of pure rage. It looked like he was arguing with the sorting Hat. The backwards tilting of the Hat made it look like it was laughing. Just as someone shouted 'Hatstall' the Sorting Hat screamed out Gryffindor. Rose noticed as he walked to the Gryffindor table three people at the table were shaking their heads. Once Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin, the Sorting Hat and stool were taken out of the Great Hall to another room behind the professors' table. Once Professor McGonagall took her seat to the right of Dumbledore, the headmaster took a fork and tapped it three times against his goblet. The ringing was loud enough to grab everyone's attention. All conversations stopped as Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"Welcome!" Albus Dumbledore said with this jovial smile on his face. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" The man looked around the hall before slightly bowing. "Thank you!"
Rose just stared at the man as he sat down. Was he okay? These were odd things to say for a headmaster. Rose was expecting words of wisdom, or perhaps a few words of warning to new students about breaking the rules. Not something like this. She looked over at Penelope. "Is he okay?"
Penelope shook her head. "He's fine, Dumbledore always says something odd before the start of the feast." It was then that Rose noticed Penelope was putting something on the golden plate that sat infront of her. "Would you like a salad or potatoes Rose?"
At this moment, Rose felt as if she was in heaven. The table was now overloaded with food. There were plates of so many things that she'd always wanted to have more of. Dishes of roasted beef, roasted chicken, pork and lamb chops, steaks, bacon, peas, carrots, gravy, and the aforementioned salads were infront of her. There were also all sorts of condiments. Rose didn't know where to start. After a few seconds, she told Penelope she wanted the salad. Rose then got a steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a sausage.
As she ate, she listened to the others talk about their lives before receiving their Hogwarts letters. Lisa Turpin said that her mum was a muggle, and her dad was a wizard. She said that her dad revealed the truth to her mum on their third or fourth date. She said her mum panicked for about a week thinking her dad was dosing her with a love potion. That seemed funny at first, but the more she thought about it, she agreed with Mrs Turpin. It would be rather terrifying to find out that your husband was a real wizard. Not all the stories muggles told of witches and wizards were nice.
Rose was pulled away from her thoughts as Padma Patil started talking about her family. Her father was the owner of a jewellery shop in Diagon Alley, and her mum owned a small coffee shop next to the store owned by her father. They had met at Hogwarts, and like her and her sister (Pravati), they were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Hermione had told everyone that she was muggleborn and that her parents were dentists. Even though Rose knew this, she was astonished that some of those from purely wizarding families didn't know what a dentist was. When they were told that a dentist worked on a person's teeth, they looked disgusted. Hermione took this in stride though. It almost looked like she was expecting this reaction. Rose felt for the girl, she really did, but she didn't like guessing at things. She wanted to know what Hermione had endured at school and home before she talked to Hermione about it.
Rose told everyone what she felt comfortable telling them. They didn't need to know how she was treated by her relatives, and she didn't want the sympathy. What they did to her wasn't the worst, and it didn't seem to be heading in that direction. If the beatings came to a stop versus getting worse, there was only one direction things could go.
The arrival of dessert pulled her out of these dark thoughts. She wanted to try all of the desserts, but a slight sense of modesty stopped her from doing this. She wasn't the garbage disposal at the Gryffindor table. Just thinking about what was happening over there made her stomach turn a little. She looked over at Pansy and Neville once more to see the two of them inching away from Weasley. Though given the room available, this wasn't much of a movement. Like he had done with the main course of food, he was piling mountains of food onto his plate. Rose tore her gaze from this gluttonous behaviour to preserve her own appetite. One look over at Hermione revealed that she wasn't the only one doing this.
Once they were all done eating the tables were cleared. Shortly after this, Professor Dumbledore stood, and the room fell silent. "Ahem- I have a few start-of-term announcements to give out now that we are all fed and watered." What followed was the mentioning of a few things the letters didn't tell them. The forest on the school grounds was off-limits to all students. Dumbledore's eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table as he said this. As if it needed to be said, he reminded everyone that magic was not permitted in the hallways between classes. It was his comment after mentioning quidditch trials that really piqued her interest. "I would also like to inform you all that this year the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a horrible death."
The serious look on his face sent a chill down her spine. Rose looked over at Penelope. "He must be joking. Or so I hope."
Penelope shook her head. "No, he is serious. Though why he waited this long to tell the prefects is curious." Penelope looked as confused as Rose. "Though I am sure he has a good reason for it… I hope."
Hermione looked confused. "How's that?"
Penelope sighed. "Well since I've been here, we have had a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher every year. You would think that, if the job is really cursed the most powerful wizard of the age would fix it. Then again maybe whoever cursed it did something to make sure that couldn't be done."
Before Rose could ask any more questions, the headmaster asked them all to stand up and sing the school song. This, to her, felt odd because she was always one word behind everyone else. Rose had read Hogwarts a History and not once did it mention the school song. She looked over at Hermione during all of this, and she seemed just a little bit more knowledgeable about the song. This was something to talk to her about later. Thankfully towards the end, Rose realised that she wasn't the only one that was clueless. People kept ending the song at different times, and the last two left singing were a set of twins at the Gryffindor table. They were singing it like it was a solemn funeral march. Dumbledore was still moving his hand along with the boys, and when they stopped his smile seemed to broaden.
Dumbledore mentioned that music was "Magic beyond what they do here," before sending them off. Penelope led them up to the fifth floor. The Gryffindors were heading in the same direction, but they went off to the right, and the new Ravenclaws went off to the left. Rose gave one last look at this group to wave goodbye to Pansy and Neville. This revealed one angry-looking Ronald Weasley. It seemed that the boy really wanted to be in her house for some reason. This made Rose feel uncomfortable. Did this boy think he was her knight in shining armour or something? That thought alone made her feel uneasy. There was no telling what little boys were being told in the magical world as they grew up. This was something she should have asked Nightshade before they parted ways.
Rose tore her gaze away as they made there way up the moving stairs. They walked up to the fifth floor to a spiral staircase that led up to another door. Before ascending the stairs, Penelope turned to the group. "Okay before heading up the stairs there is something you all need to know. Most houses require a password to open the door to their dorm, but ours does not. You must answer a riddle to enter our dormitory. Once we are in there, I will explain more." Penelope turned around and walked up the spiral stairs.
Once at the top of the stairs, Rose could hear a woman's voice ask: "How can you physically stand behind your friend as she physically stands behind you?"
Penelope looked like she was off in thought for a few moments before saying: "By standing back to back."
At this point, Rose could hear stones moving like she was standing at the entrance to Diagon Alley. They all started walking up the stairs again. A part of Rose feared the 'door' would close, and she would have to answer a riddle. Thankfully this didn't happen. When she got into the room beyond the door, her breath was taken from her. They were now standing in a large circular room with four arched windows. They could see the stars in the night sky. The cloud cover was blocking most of them from view. Tearing her gaze away from the window, Rose looked around the room. Around the room's edges was a circular carpet with a motif of the stars above upon it. In the centre of the back wall was a large bookshelf. The space between two stairways was occupied by a ten-foot-tall statue of a beautiful woman. There were tables and chairs scattered around the room. Off to the entryway's right was a small fireplace with a loveseat and a chair infront of it. Everything from the drapes on the windows to the chairs' upholstery was either bronze or a variation of blue.
Rose was pulled away from staring at the room by Penelope's voice. "Okay everyone this is the common room. You can study here, do your homework, chat with your friends, or play games here. The girls' dorms are to the right, and boys yours are to the left. Just so you know, there is no way for a boy to enter the girl's dormitory." At this point, Penelope was staring daggers at the young man standing next to her. "So ladies if you will follow me I will show you to your room."
Rose and Hermione followed Penelope up the stairs to the third floor of the tower. The room on this floor was going to be their room. There were five four-poster beds in the room. Their luggage was sitting in front of each of the beds. Rose looked around for her’s and found it on the far right-hand side of the room. Hermione's bed was to the left of her’s. Lisa's bed was to the left of Hermione's. Padma's bed was to Lisa's left, and Mady Brocklehurst's was the last one in the room. Hermione was the first of them to go to the bathroom across the hall from there room. When she returned, she told them that there were two separate shower rooms beyond the door. Next to use the rooms were Mandy and Padma. While Rose waited for her turn, she talked to Hermione about what class she wanted to go to first.
-DGH-
Voldemort was savouring the blood of the unicorn that lay before him. Such worthless creatures didn't need the veneration they received. They were meant to keep men like him alive. Magic gave them this power for a reason, and it was foolish for pureblood witches and wizards to ignore this. Had his ancestor used his head, he would have been able to help him rid the world of the vile mudbloods. Alas, he was not cunning enough to think of such an action.
As the beast gave its last breath, Voldemort turned his thoughts to what had happened tonight. This was the first time in nearly ten years that he had seen the little wench that had caused his fall from glory. Really it was her mother sacrificing herself to save the little tramps life. Had the bitch just done what Snape wanted then he wouldn't have been stuck in this form. Perhaps the little pest was the reason for the odd cloud cover tonight.
"She only wishes she was that powerful." A gruff haggard voice said behind him.
Voldemort spun around with Quirrell's wand drawn. The figure behind him was nothing more than a yellow cloud in a humanoid form. There was this white mask on its face. This being was floating about twenty feet above the ground. The spectral parasite was glaring at the entity before him. If he were less of a man, he would be cowering at the malevolence coming off this being. Instead, he closed his eyes revelling in the chaos he could feel pouring off the being. He could hear whispers in the back of his mind. These voices sounded so familiar. As he opened his eyes, the spector before him seemed to be smiling. Though that was more of a feeling than something, he could see. The mask completely covered this entity's face.
Voldemort floated up to this being and stared it in the face. He could see nothing but a yellow glow coming from the eye slits on the mask. "Who are you?"
The being chuckled. "Names are too formal for a first meeting. You may call me the King in Yellow." Voldemort raised an eyebrow at this. "It is a better title than He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and besides it would get confusing if we operate on such terms. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Such titles are too wordy for beings such as us to use for each other."
Voldemort searched his brain for another wizard to draw his moniker in the past. Yet his mind was coming up short. "You will forgive me if I am failing to remember another wizard to draw such a title."
"That is assuming much to think of me as a simple wizard." The being just laughed. "I have been in the skies for aeons, and only recently have I been allowed to return. It is no surprise that the wizarding world has forgotten about me."
"So, you are older than I, but why are you here now?" Voldemort positioned Quirrell's wand into his hand. He was ready for this thing to attack him at any moment.
"I am here because I foresee us having the same foe, and if we work together…" the being said with a hint of madness in his voice.
"Are you saying you wish to rule this world instead of I?" Voldemort tightened his grip on the wand at this point.
The being cackled. "No, I wish to rule another world. Yet I fear Rose Potter will be there as well. I cannot say more than this at the moment. You need to feed, and my time here is limited." The being floated down to the ground, and placed its hand on the ground. Voldemort could see magic carving something into the ground. When the being's hand moved, a symbol was etched into the ground. It looked like a question mark missing the dot at the end. There was a diagonal line going off to the left, and what looked to be an over-exaggerated cane to the left of where the dot should be. "I do not require you to contact me, but when I am proven right, draw this into the ground, channel magic into it, and I will be able to speak to you again."
"If I need to, I will do so, but I doubt I will be stopped from regaining my natural form." Voldemort stored the image in his mind right next to the death of his filthy muggle father. When he looked back at where the being once was, he was looking at nothing. "I must stay warry of that… man."
zz34mual (Guest) on Chapter 6 Tue 27 Feb 2024 08:08PM UTC
Comment Actions
Coastalfirebird on Chapter 6 Tue 23 Apr 2024 09:18AM UTC
Comment Actions
heffronma5 on Chapter 6 Mon 20 May 2024 03:57PM UTC
Comment Actions