Chapter 3
Rhona jolted up in her bed on full alert, her heart racing loudly. Where was she? Then the day before came into her mind, like dandelion puffs drifting on in the summer winds. Packing her bag, the train platform, going on the train for the first time. Azalea, Theo, that girl Hermione... She got sorted into Gryffindor because she begged the hat, and only because she begged. That's right she was at Hogwarts now. She reluctantly got out of the surprisingly comfortable warm bed and stretched, feeling more than hearing the few cracks of her spine. She had not gotten her schedule yet for what classes she had at what times, so for now she just went to the foot of her bed where her trunk was located and lifted up the creaky lid. Today would be her first day of classes and she needed to dress accordingly. That meant for her, a mixture of second hand and new to her clothing that her mother and father had gotten for her. The standard first year uniform was a white long sleeve button down shirt with a grey sleeveless v-neck sweater with a tie tucked underneath the sweater in your house colors. Over top of that, you wore your standard black cloak with silver fastenings or your winter cloak, also black but in a much heavier fabric.
Rhona struggled at first with her tie before she took a deep breath and tried to remember what Percy had taught her when she asked him. You lined the tail end of the tie up around your stomach, and you took the larger end and wrapped it around the middle, like a bunny rabbit going around a tree, and you chased it up though the tree branches and down through the rabbit hole, tucking it though the created loop. It was simple enough but Rhona had trouble remembering things when she began to panic. She tucked the tail end of the tie back into behind the larger piece and smoothed everything out, before tucking down the collar of her white shirt. Over her head went her grey sweater and she pulled out her thick wooden comb to run it out through her wavy dark copper locks. A brush would do her no good; it would just make her frizzy and unmanageable.
She padded over to the communal bathroom that was conveniently located across the hall, and noted that it was mostly empty, with only a few people in the room. On one edge of the bathroom was a wall of shower stalls with various knobs along the wall that controlled temperature and pressure. She still didn't know what time it was, only that it was morning and she knew she wouldn't have time to shower, properly wash her hair, and have it dried and styled in time to make it to breakfast without running the risk of being very late for class to begin. She quickly ran the comb through her thick locks and winced as she hit a few knots. She wished she had the money to buy an enchanted comb, one that was imbued with an enchantment much like what Sleekeazy's Hair Potion but was much more untroublesome to work with as the potion had a habit of acting uniquely on redheads. Sometimes it would make her wavy hair straighter, but usually it just made it into even more of an untamed rat's nest. Rhona shuddered to think of what would happen to her if Fred or George discovered that effect and used it against her.
Once she was done fixing her hair, Rhona gave herself one more cursory glance and nodded at her reflection in the mirror in agreement. She exited the bathroom and headed back to her trunk to replace the comb next to her other toiletries she had brought from home. It was nothing much; it was just a couple little things she had collected here and there: a few bottles of this smelly potion muggles liked to put on their nails that came in different colors. Rhona best liked the light blue one with the sparkles in it; it made her feel pretty, not a common thing for a rather awkward eleven year old to feel. Her father had brought home a couple different shades, and Rhona had nicked a few when he was decidedly not using them anymore. At the current moment, he was trying to decipher the function and use of a small yellow rubber animal that for the life of him he could not figure out. Rhona had been amused at first but the novelty of it had worn off quickly, when she found the small objects everywhere strewn about the house. It crossed the line one day when she was out in the yard degnoming the vegetable garden when she found one being clutched by one of the gnomes in question. In there was also her favorite brand of shampoo and conditioner. They weren't the best of quality but they smelled like fresh cut roses from her mother's garden and reminded her of home somewhat fiercely.
She snapped her trunk shut, and checked to make sure she had her wand, well her grandmother's wand anyway, was holstered up on her right wrist securely. It wouldn't do to lose that, not in such a big castle. Rhona was not a fan of losing things, and her wand was no exception. She left the dormitory bedroom and made her way to the common room, but there were still not a lot of people. *Shit. Am I late or early?* She thought to herself as she hurried past the dwindling groups of students and exited through the portrait hole and into the stone hallway.
Rhona hoped and prayed she wouldn't be late and her prayers were partially answered when she skidded to a halt at the doors of the Great Halls and noted that there were the head teachers passing out laminated pieces of parchment that had to be the schedules for the first years like herself. She made herself as presentable as she could and squared her shoulders back, before she entered the hall. Percy was nowhere to be seen but if she was running late like her theory suggested, he would have gotten up and eaten and left for his first class already; he was a very punctual person after all. She looked around and didn't see much of anyone at first, but then she finally saw them. Azalea was seated over at the Slytherin table next to her other new friend Theo. Rhona saw an opening on the Gryffindor bench between the girl who lost her toad yesterday and a boy who she didn't catch the name of yet.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Rhona asked somewhat shyly. The girl and boy looked up from their conversation to her and nodded, scooting over to make room for Rhona.
"Thank you, my name is Rhona, Rhona Weasley."
"I'm Nelda Longbottom, it's a pleasure to meet you." The girl seemed to be just as nervous as Rhona felt. She smiled over at her and stuck out her hand.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you; have they handed out our time tables yet?" Rhona pondered as she helped herself to some of the breakfast items in front of her. Back at home, Mother always made the same foods. Scrambled eggs, porridge, toast and breakfast meats like sausage and lots of bacon. On a rare occasion, there would be fried ham but that was only in the late spring. Here though, the house elves cooked all different kinds of foods, like fresh fruit salad, pancakes, waffles and the sort. Of course, there were still the traditional bacon and sausages, but there was also haggis and whtie pudding. Rhona wrinkled her face at that, she'd stick to bacon thank you very much.
"First years! Pay attention!" Head of house teacher Minerva McGonagall called out to gather her new students' attention. "Here are your timesheets. On the back of every sheet is a rudimentary map of Hogwarts' corridors and the location of each class clearly marked down. Do not lose these as you will not be getting another copy. Do be careful." She said and then began to pass them out to the students. Rhona took the handed to her paper and glanced over it. Her very first class of her school career was Transfigurations with the Slytherin class and then they had Potions, also with slytherins3. Rhona was dreading that class; she was just awful at cooking, from the few times that she had tried to help her mother cook, and knew that going near a cauldron was just asking for trouble. Her first three classes were with Azalea though; Transfiguration, Potions, and then Charms. Some of the other first year students had noticed the time table, as they groaned in their own lament at sharing a classroom with 'those slimy snake gits' as some of her housemates were saying. Rhona was rather looking forward to it; she wanted to talk to her two new friends after all.
She hurried up and finished picking at the rest of her breakfast; she just had some bacon and fruit left on her plate but she was raised to always finish what was in front of her, it was rude to turn away perfectly good food. For all of her rushing though, she still somehow got lost. Even with the handily made map, she ended up getting lost on the massive moving staircase somewhere between the first and third floor, and ended up horribly lost. Just her rotten luck.. But at least she wasn't alone in this pursuit it seemed. Rhona noted that another girl, the one who had lost her toad the night before, was hastily running up one of the moving flights of stairs ahead of her, hoping to catch a landing before the moving staircase decided to begin to move yet again. Rhona was panting, but she got into the mindset that this was no different than outrunning one of Fred and George's pranks gone wrong, yet again.
"W-Wait up! You're in Gryffindor too! My name's Rhona Weasley." Rhona panted as she jogged up the stairs to catch up with the fellow first year gryffindor.
"N-nice to meet you. I'm Nelda, Nelda Longbottom." The other girl heaved out as they just made it to the second floor landing before the steps shifted behind them. Both girls looked at each other and let out a deep breath. They had made it this far. Now, they only had to find the classroom and get in before the Professor, who was also their head of house, noticed that they were in fact late. Both girls took off in a sprint, map clutched in hand, and dashed down the stone floored hallway before skidding to a halt at the still open double doors. Rhona and the other girl took a moment to smooth out the wrinkles in their still rather new uniforms, before entering the classroom.
"Woah, I think we made it." Nelda remarked excitedly as they entered the room. "I do hope so. Who knew those stairs would be able to actually move. It definitely made it harder to get here. Those staircases move way too often to actually be convenient to use." Nelda peered into the room. "Percy, my brother told me. Actually, he told all of the first years last night. Percy was made prefect this year! He's one of the six we have" Rhona beamed with pride for her older brother. "At least the professor isn't in the room yet. Maybe we actually made it on time." Rhona took this moment to look around the room and noted that there were only two empty desks, in the front of the classroom to the right, seated directly in front of the professor's desk.
The desk was quite thoroughly organized, with a neat stack of parchment and a single quill with an ink bottle corked next to it to be seen. The only unusual thing was a peculiar silver tabby cat perched quite literally, on the edge of the desk. It seemed to be observing the other students as if it was in charge. How strange. Rhona had heard of familiars, in fact, she rather hoped to have one, one day. Professor McGonagall must have asked her familiar to watch over the classroom full of first years until she got there. Rhona and Nelda began to make their way to the very front of the class where the only empty desks were when the cat leaped off the desk and broke out into a magnificent sprint, and began to morph as it changed shape from beast to human. That cat was their professor. They were screwed.
"That was brilliant." Rhona said, wonder written all over her face. "Thank you for that assessment, Miss Weasley. You're late."
"I apologize, professor. We got lost on the moving staircase." Nelda immediately apologized, her ears turning a bit pink on the edges from embarrassment.
"Do see that it does not happen again. Shall I transfigure one of you into a pocket watch so that you will be on time next time?"
"No professor, it won't happen again." She nodded to the two children and Rhona and Nelda went and took their seats. The class, and subsequent lesson moved on to what the class' syllabus would be for the next two semesters. It was rather straightforward and Rhona tried her best to pay attention and take notes. She wouldn't do well not to pay attention, especially to the first day of classes, especially when she was already late to the first one of the school year. Not a good way to start out the year. Next up was Potions with Professor Snape, the head of house for Slytherin. Rhona just knew this class wouldn't go over well but she had to at least try and put out effort. Who knew, maybe she'd actually be good at it.
As it turns out, she wasn't. But the class mainly went over what to expect. Professor Snape stormed in sweepingly like a bat out of the gates of hell, and flicked his wand at the high vaulted windows of the dungeon to shut the curtains.
"I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." Professor Snape's deep baritone voice rang out as he made his grand entrance into the awaiting classroom. "I can tell you how to bottle fame and brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." He bared his teeth in a sneer as he caught sight of Azalea writing now what he was saying in her notes, his eyes catching the silver and green gleam of her Slytherin house tie.
"It seems that some of you are not paying attention. Miss Potter. Our new celebrity... Tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" He taunted directly to Azalea. She looked over in confusion to her classmate Theo. Why would she know the answer to a question like that when they literally just started their very first class? Across the room, the know-it-all girl, Granger, had her hand raised and was visibly bouncing in her seat trying to get Professor Snape's attention, which he ignored. Azalea looked embarrassed and confused, and shook her head.
"You don't know? Pity. Well, let's try this again. Where, Miss Potter, would you look if I had asked you to locate me a bezoar?" He continued on as if he didn't see the other girl. Again, Azalea looked almost mortified. Why was her own head of house picking on her? Rhona had heard that Professor Snape was impossible, horrible even, but he was never downright cruel to his own student body. This did not bode well. Azalea stammered out, "I-I don't know sir."
"And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" He continued to drill on, ignoring all of the other students in the room. Rhona looked around in horror but Draco Malfoy looked on at the procession looking completely smug at the treatment of Azalea. "I-I don't know sir." She repeated, looking down completely ashamed. Rhona was growing furious at how he was treating her but she didn't know what to do. Yelling out at him wouldn't end well, he was a Professor after all, but she couldn't just sit there in horror.
"Pity. Clearly, fame is not everything. You would know these things if you had read ahead on the selected sections of your potions textbook, Magical Drafts and Potions. Ten points from Slytherin. Turn to page twelve and begin reading for the potion you will be making on wednesday." He snarled out to the rest of the class and flounced away. Theo looked over in shock at Azalea, as if in disbelief that their own head of house would take points off for something as trivial as that, especially on the first day of class. The rest of the class was not nearly as eventful, and soon enough they found themselves with the class finished, with about fifteen minutes to spare . Rhona took this time to prepare herself for the next upcoming class which was taught by a rather short professor who went by the name Professor Flitwick. Rumor had it that he was half goblin, which had credence seeing as he was as tall as a stack of books.
When she got to the charms classroom, located on the second floor, there he was at the front of the room behind the desk, standing on a haphazardly stacked pile of books. Rhona couldn't help but smile at it. He seemed to be a polite person, as he greeted the students as they made their way into the class and chose seats. Rhona rather hoped that Azalea and Theo were in this class as she hadn't had time or an opportunity to talk to either of them in potions. And especially now, she wanted to make sure Azalea was ok after how horrible professor Snape was to her. Her own teacher and head of house attacked her! The injustice of it made Rhona's blood boil and she could feel her temper rising. She didn't notice if anyone else had come into the classroom until the girl from before, the one with the missing toad, Nelda, sat beside her. It made sense to her that Nelda was in her class yet again. All Gryffindors, all twelve of them, had class together as a unit. Each house was put into a class with another house; there were always two houses per classroom, not that there were many students anyway. If Rhona had done the math right, there were forty five students total in their year, give or take. She couldn't account for any student from the last year being held back, but Rhona couldn't count for all of the variables.
"Rhona are you ok? You're turning very red.." she heard Nelda ask timidly. Rhona took a deep breath and sighed, forcefully making herself breathe in and out like how Percy taught her to do so she could calm down, and she repeated the steps. In and out, in and out. The thing was Rhona knew she had a quick temper. Her rage could be fire hot, like the inferno of the sun. Fred and George knew that too. In fact most of if not all of the Weasley family did. And their neighbors. By this time most of the class had filled in, and she noted that she shared the lesson with first year Hufflepuffs. Rhona tried to remember if she knew any of the Hufflepuffs personally. There were five girls and seven boys, compared to the nine girls and three boys of Gryffindor. A concerned hand on her shoulder drug Rhona out of her thoughts before Rhona replied.
"Y-yeah Nelda, I'm okay. Just worried about my friend Azalea. She's the girl that Professor Snape was laying into in Potions. She's a nice girl. We met on the train."
"B-but isn't she a s-slytherin?" Nelda stuttered out.
"Yeah but she's cool! She kind and generous and I'm not going to let a stupid house dictate who and who not I can be friends with. Not when I know Azalea wouldn't abandon me; I won't abandon her." Rhona said fiercely, passion filling her voice.
"I g-guess so. If you say she isn't that bad, then I want to meet her too!" Nelda agreed. Students around them shushed the two, as class had begun around them.
Professor Flitwick was walking around passing out pieces of parchment with the course syllabus and what the expectations of the class would be like. Rhona read it over and noted that most of the classes would be theory work, with one day a week, usually Thursdays, would be for practical application lessons and she was slightly put out about that. Charms seemed like it would be a lot of fun, but Rhona understood that she was just starting out and she had seven years to learn everything she could get her hands on. She decided she would just study and practice as much as she could. They would be starting out small, little things like charming a quill to dance in the air. But it was a building black she intended to learn.
After charms was lunch and Rhona was starving. Her stomach grumbled along with that thought in agreement. She and Nelda stuck together and made their way to the Great Hall again, the same place they would be eating lunch and having their study hall periods. Rhona stopped in the open doorway. Azalea and Theo again were already seated and talking quietly with each other. A pang of loneliness shot through her. Oh how badly she wanted to sit and talk with her new friends... With that thought, she made up her mind and grabbed Nelda, her newest friend's hand and quite literally drug the other girl over to the Slytherin table where she plopped down next to Azalea and across from Theo. From next to her she could hear Nelda sputtering at the fact of her sitting quite literally with the 'enemy'.
"Hullo Azalea, Theo. How's your day going? I hope it's going better for you than how Potions went." Rhona greeted the girl. Nelda seemed to be recovering, if only slightly.
"Hello, Rhona. Fancy meeting you here." Azalea grinned at the other girl before she glanced at the second Gryffindor beside her. "Hello? And who might you be?" Azalea asked Nelda politely. Rhona looked over to where the other girl was fastly turning red in the ears and decided to step in and introduce Nelda to Azalea and Theo.
"Azalea, Theo, meet Nelda Longbottom. Nelda, this is Azalea Potter and Theodore Nott. We met on the train and they're my friends now!" Rhona said, beaming with pride. She had friends now. Actual friends her own age. Of course growing up Rhona had talked to her neighbor, Luna Lovegood, but Luna was a year and a half younger and she wasn't in her year, so for an entire school year she wouldn't see or interact with Luna. Rhona had thought of writing to the girl, and made a mental note to check in with her ...friend.. and turned back to the conversation at hand.
"How have your classes been going? Ours has been ...eventful.. to say at the very least." Theo asked Rhona and subsequently, Nelda, as they all helped themselves to the freshly set out luncheon foods. Rhona saw sandwiches and tourines of soup, of which smelled devine. She decided to help herself to what looked and smelled to be a hearty beef stew of some sort. She could hear her mother's voice in the back of her mind, yelling about how she was a growing girl and she needed to eat healthy, so she also reached for a spoon or two of the fresh fruit salad and dished some onto her empty plate, along with what looked to be a ham sandwich and not roast beef, which she was glad for. Rhona wasn't a fan of roast beef, but her brothers' were so that's what her mother made the majority of the time because 'I don't have time to cater to everyone's fancy' as her mother had always shouted at her when she reminded her that Rhona didn't like roast beef. Rhona looked up at Theo and noted that Azalea had hardly filled her plate at all, and was nibbling on a banana, so she reached over and placed half of her sandwich onto Azalea's plate without a word. Azalea was too thin. She needed to eat more.
"It's going pretty interesting so f-far. We had our first class with the Ravenclaw house first period. R-rhona and I were really late; the class room was filled out and the only empty desks were in front of the professor's desk!" Nelda replied, as she herself dished out a small tin of what she hoped was either a chicken or lamb pot pie along with a serving of fruit salad for herself as well.
"You didn't tell him the best part!" Rhona said excitedly. "There was a cat sitting on the professor's desk right? Well it jumped off the desk and transformed into the PROFESSOR herself! AND! She even threatened us! We told her we were late because the staircase moves on it's own and it wouldn't stop taking us to the third floor where the corridor is off limits or we'll DIE like how Professor Dumbledore warned us last night and-" Rhona said in a single breath.
"R-Rhona! Rhona! BREATH!" Nelda called out, slightly panicked and worried about how fast the other girl was going on excitedly. "We can't actually understand you when you're talking that fast. Take a deep breath." She said patiently to the excited girl beside her. Rhona nodded and repeated the actions that Percy taught her to do for the second time that day. She took a deep breath. In and out, in and out. Once she was calm enough she turned back to Theo. "We were late because the stairs kept moving, A LOT. So when we finally got to the classroom, and the Professor transformed, she offered ever so politely, to transfigure one of us into a pocket watch to go along with our maps that were given to us. The rest of class didn't compare to that. It was mostly going over what is expected of us and what the lesson plan for the first semester will be like." Rhona said a lot more calmly this time.
Azalea and Theo nodded along, both with rapt attention at what the red headed girl was talking about. Rhona noticed and flushed with happiness. She wasn't used to anyone giving her attention really. Only Percy, and Charlie when he was home really, gave her the time of day. Fred and George were always out to get her with their latest cruel prank or practical joke, father was always away, working in the Ministry of Magic's Magical Misuse of Muggle Artifacts division as the Head of the department so he was always busy. And her mother had her younger sister to worry about; she didn't have time to give her eldest daughter much attention unless it was to tell her to degnome the garden or to go pick apples from their orchard out by the field. Rhona tried her best not to think about her home, not because of how she missed her home, but because if she was truthful with herself and she always tried to be... Rhona didn't miss her home at all. And her younger sister, Ginevera... Rhona couldn't... No. She wouldn't compete with her sister for her mother's attention. Rhona had only had it for exactly one year, three months, and ten days of her life. As soon as Ginevera was born into the Weasley family, Rhona knew even at the tender age of one, that things had changed in her little world. No, she tried her best not to think about her home because everyone important to her was in or on the Hogwarts grounds. She had always had Percy and, and he was here with her now. Well, maybe not in the Great Hall at this very moment, but he was here at Hogwarts. And Charlie had promised that she could always borrow an owl from the school's owlery and send him a letter and he would reply when he could. And now she had Azalea, and Theo, and she was quickly adding Nelda to that short mental list of special people.
"How was your first class? What did you have and which house was it with? We were in with the Ravenclaws so you had to be with the Hufflepuffs right?" Nelda asked Azalea, addressing her directly for the first time, and without stuttering either. Rhona was quite proud of the rather timid girl for that and was so lost in thought that she almost didn't hear her reply.
"You are correct... Nelda was it? We had herbology first, out in the closest of the four greenhouse. It was a pretty calm class, I think I'm going to enjoy having that first period on Mondays. The energy of the Hufflepuff was very relaxed." Azalea smiled at the memory of her very first magical lesson of her life. Azalea wasn't quite like the other two. They seemed to come from magical families... at least she thought they did anyway. Theo said something about coming from a long line of Nott's and Rhona had said something about having a lot of brothers and a sister on the train ride so she had a big family too.
"Especially compared to Potions class with how Professor Snape was treating you. It's infuriating. I've never heard of him actually attacking a student like that, at least not one of his own. You're a Slytherin. He's supposed to protect us and watch out for us. He last said last night at the introduction meeting in the common room, that us Slytherins have to stick together and watch out for each other because the other houses and professors would already have a bias against us simply for being sorted into the Slytherin house. Why would he go out of his way to attack his own students? And to take points off! It was only ten points but that's not the point! We're probably negative now and it's not even your fault. I didn't know it either and I'm betting everyone else in that class except maybe Malfoy or that muggle-born girl from Gryffindor knew the answer, judging by the looks of how many hands were actually raised."
"What are house points even for?" Azalea asked. She was unfamiliar with the term, it wasn't in what little of Hogwarts: A History that she could read before Uncle Vernon locked away all of her magical books and her wand in the cupboard under the stairs. It used to be her bedroom, if you could call it that, where Uncle would lock her away when she was done with her chores that they gave her. It wasn't all bad though. She got to use Dudley, her cousin's, old room. Sure it was full of broken furniture and discarded toys but she still was able to use some of them.. Her favorite were the broken crayons Dudley snapped in a fit of rage when he incorrectly colored in a page of a coloring book he had gotten for his sixth birthday. When he colored outside of the lines of the picture he was coloring for his mother, her aunt Petunia, he immediately threw one of his tantrums that could only be described as childish fits of rage and destroyed the page and the crayons. She could still use them though. They were broken, sure, but still useful.
"House points are points earned, that equate to gems inside of a giant magical hourglass, except instead of sand, it's actually jewels. We all start with zero points, and we can gain them or lose them by doing homework or answering questions. Do it well or answer them correctly, and you can usually sometimes earn points. A teacher calls out something like ten points to slytherin or you just lost your house five points. And it's magic. Somehow the Castle knows to add or subtract the right amount. Our house has emeralds, Hufflepuff house has topaz, Gryffindors have rubies, and the Ravenclaw house has sapphires. It's a complicated points system, basically." Theo explained patiently. He had learned on the train that Azalea was being raised by her muggle Aunt and Uncle.
He knew logically that her parents were dead. Every propper witch or wizard knew of, or at the very least, grew up with the story of the great Girl Who LIved. He-who-must-not-be-named attacked the Potters, Lily Potter and James Potter, her parents, in Godric's Hollow when she was a year old. They died and somehow she survived, and he-who-must-not-be-named was vanquished. Theo knew there had to be more to it than that, but that is all that every book, tabloid, and news article told about that fateful halloween night in nineteen eighty one, when he-who-should-not-be-named. He had never outright asked his father if he knew what happened, but Theo was old enough to know better than to ask him that question. The two of them had a very open relationship but Theo was aware of his family's long history of being darkly aligned. They always seemed to follow that era's up and coming powerful dark wizard. Theo didn't know how he felt about that, but thankfully, he didn't have to worry about that anymore. Huh, he really should thank her for that but how do you go about saying 'Sorry your parents are dead but thanks for killing he-who-should-not-be-named'?
"What are the house points for though? What is the point of them; do we win something at some point for them?" Azalea asked thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're pretty close on the mark actually. At the end of the year, one of the four houses is awarded something called the House Cup, a trophy of sorts that gets changed and put on display for the next school year in the Trophy Room. Rumor has it that it's located somewhere between the third and sixth floor, depending on where you look in the castle." He continued to answer her questions as they all ate. Rhona and Nelda just seemed happy to sit and let him talk, but he didn't mind one bit. He was quickly becoming rather fond of the raven haired girl, and if he wasn't so proud, he'd probably call her his little sister eventually. "Wait. Somewhere between the third and the sixth floor? But how is that possible?" She asked in complete wonder. "You tend to forget that magic exists sometimes... It's like you didn't grow up with it or something.." He said jokingly, and froze when a brief shock of pure panic flashed across her face before it smoothed over back into her patented smile. He would have to ask her later what that was about, when they were somewhere a bit more private than the Great Hall of all places, especially during lunch. He knew how rumors spread in Hogwarts. The rumor mill was fast paced and vicious, not caring about truth, but being fueled by hormones, jealousy, and teenage drama. He was aware that some of his fellow slytherin classmates didn't have a good, or happy home life but he was hoping he was wrong on the feeling he was continuing to get as he got to know Azalea Potter better. He would have to look into it more.
"Magic, dear Azalea, it's pure magic. Just like the staircases like to move, rooms in the castle move around, and the people in the paintings talk, and even sing. Everything here is magical, from the very stones of the castle to the ceilings, like in the Great Hall were the ceiling is enchanted to reflect the very skies outside. Vampires, ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, and even dragons. It's all magical.." Theo said with a fond smile. It really was like talking to a younger sister.
"So let me get this straight. There's a magical hourglass full of precious stones, that gives and takes away house points depending on what you do good or bad, that gives you a shiny trophy at the end of the year... and I already lost us house points on the second class on the first day of school? Great..." And Azalea's head thunked down onto the table as she slumped in apparent defeat. "Oh, cheer up mate! We have plenty of opportunities to earn points back. Quidditch hasn't even started on Quidditch. We'll earn points back. Hey, we even might have a shot at winning the house cup this year. Who knows, last year's slytherin team was so good they flattened the Gryffindor team, no offense to you Rhona and Nelda, like pancakes." Theo tried to give the forlorn girl a pep talk. At the mention of Rhona's favorite sport, she perked up like a man dying of thirst in the desert finding an oasis. She almost couldn't believe her ears at what Azalea said next.
"But what's quidditch?" Azalea asked, confused. She had read up a little more into Hogwarts: A History the night before, because she was nervous, rightfully so, for her new classes, or even worse, about people finding out about her living situation with her muggle family. But nowhere in the book so far that she had gotten to, had any mentions of something called quidditch.
Rhona looked slightly shocked at the question but rolled with it. Meanwhile, Theo's theory he was brewing in his head was firmly cemented into being true. No witch or wizard alive who had been raised even remotely in the wizarding world wouldn't know what quidditch was. Azalea was living with muggles, that much he already knew. But he really was starting to believe that she was raised away from the wizarding world. Yes, he knew logicly she went into hiding, just like her parents did before they were killed, but surely it was safe enough now. He-who-should-not-be-named was vanquished. Albus Dumbledore, their own headmaster and the strongest wizard alive, had confirmed it. He-who-should-not-be-named was well and truly gone. Surely Azalea could safely live in the wizarding world now. He was quickly picking up on things that he really wished he didn't. From how the girl reacted to things, they way she hardly ever ate more than five bites at meals, the way she had flinched when he put his hand on her shoulder as if she was expecting him to hit her... Theo knew he had to write to his father about this. Something had to be done about it. He tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Rhona quietly explaining about the sport. "-I don't even know where to begin." Rhona said, slightly perplexed. "How about explaining the basics first?" He suggested.
"Good idea. Okay so, basically quidditch is a sport played on broomsticks, up in the air on something called a quidditch pitch. A quidditch pitch is a large open field with a mounded pitch in the center, with stands on either side a little ways away for people to spectate. It's a major pastime that many enjoy watching. As for Hogwarts, winning a game here earns the winning house fifty points. Each house has their own team. Any questions yet?" Rhona asked patiently.
Azalea nodded, trying to follow along. She was hesitant to ask questions because she didn't want them to find out that she had no clue about almost anything in the wizarding world. Hell, up until her eleventh birthday, she had no clue she was even a wizard. She was just a freak, Uncle had made sure she knew that. "Um.. So you said there was a quidditch team for each house. How do people decide who's going to play?" She asked Rhona, who looked more than eager to answer any questions.
"Well, there are four teams, and you can try out for them starting second year here. There are seven players on each team. You have three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and one seeker. There are four balls: a golden snitch that flies on it's own, two bludgers which move on their own, and a quaffle which is thrown up into the air. Keepers guard the three guard posts on either side of the oval pitch, while the two beaters keep the bludgers away and hit them towards the other team's players. It's the seeker's job to catch the snitch and chasers score goals by tossing the quaffle into the goal posts. Are you following so far?" Azalea nodded and Rhona continued, "The game only ends when someone has caught the golden snitch, or the two team's captains have agreed to end the match. Do you want me to explain the rules?" Rhona was still eager to talk about it but Theo looked around the room and noticed that most of the other students had left to make their way to their next lesson of the day; lunch was basically over with. "I don't think we have enough time to properly explain anything else about the sport. Maybe we can continue this conversation over dinner? Do you want to sit with us again?" At this Rhona and Nelda looked at each other and made up their minds. "Sure." Nelda said politely. She pulled out her schedule and looked to see what her next class after lunch would be and saw that they had study hall which was good. While they didn't have an extraordinarily large amount of homework, Nelda really wanted to get it done and out of the way. "We have to go find the study hall, it was nice sitting with you, thank you." Nelda thanked Theo and Azalea. "Think nothing of it. What's sitting together amongst a group of friends." Theo smiled at her. "We have a study hall period too, I think it's a multi-house wide class. Want to walk there together?" Azalea asked. "Sure, we'd like that." Rhona agreed.
The four of them finished up and followed the map on the back of their schedules to find the large room already mostly full of other students, all either reading or doing their homework that would be due in the next few days. Some were in groups quietly chatting and others were on their own, preferring to work in peace. Theo led the group over to an empty part of the table and sat on the bench seats. While they did talk occasionally, he worked on his homework for a bit before pulling out spare parchment to write a letter to his father.
Dear Father,
I am enjoying Hogwarts so far, although I do miss home. I apologize for not writing last night but I was rather exhausted and decided to go to bed after dinner. The food here doesn't ever compare to Winxy's cooking. I was sorted into Slytherin, as we expected. So was Draco Malfoy, among other students. Students like my newest friend Azalea Potter. The Girl-Who-Lived was sorted into the Slytherin house, of all places. She's very nice and that is the main reason I am writing to you tonight. Things about this girl are not adding up and I am concerned about her home life. She doesn't know about quidditch and flinches when i raised my hand to put it on her shoulder. Please do your best to look into it please. I don't want harm to come to my newest friend if i can help it.
Sincerely,
Theodore
Satisfied with the letter, he put it to the side to let the fresh ink dry, and pulled out a book his father had approved for him to read while at school. It was a book on the history and theory behind practices of potion making, Practical Potion Theory. While he could follow along a little, it seemed to still be a bit above his level of skills, and he decided to take notes on the questions he had to either ask Professor Snape, or to write to his father about. Theo liked Potions, and was initially looking forward to the class, but with how Professor Snape treated his new friend... Theo didn't know if he liked the class, or even the man, anymore. Professor Snape was a right bastard for how he treated a first year student on their first day. Almost noeone in the class raised their hand and he bet that it was something that wasn't even in their first year potions textbook, although he hadn't got a chance to check yet.
After Study Hall was Transfigurations class for Theo and Azalea, and Herbology for Azalea and Nelda. Theo noted that it seemed to be shared with the Hufflepuff class.
Just like how Rhona has described, there was an empty class with no professor, but a single silver tabby cat sitting on the desk. Theo nodded to the cat and him and Azalea sat down at two of the empty desks and took out their things, not letting on that he and Azalea knew that the cat was actually the professor that would teach the class.
"So Azalea, what was the best part of the day so far?" He asked, making polite conversation to pass the time while the other students made their way into the class.
"The food by far. It's so much better than what I was eating at my Uncle's house.." Azalea trailed off as the cat leapt off the desk and transformed into the professor. Azalea watched in awe. She didn't know that it was even possible to turn into an animal like that. Azalea had so much to learn about the wizarding world; she never wanted to go back if it meant she learned stuff like that. She could only dream of things like that. Odd things had always happened to her in her life. Like when Aunt Petunia cut her long hair off and the next day, it was back to the length it was originally. And there was the time Dudley and his gang of friends had chased her at primary school and she appeared to teleport to the school's roof. She didn't know how it had happened. One minute she was cornered by Dudly about to be pummeled by his clumsy fists with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, and the next minute she was up on the roof, safe and sound. Now she knew how it had happened. She was doing magic. Azalea was a witch and she had parents that were magical too. They weren't drunks killed in a car wreck; they were murdered. Azalea knew better now. Hagrid had told her so. Meanwhile Nelda and Rhona were in herbology with the Ravenclaw house.
By the class was over and they all made their separate ways to the Great Hall for dinner, everyone was absolutely exhausted. The campus of Hogwarts was huge, larger than anything they had ever encountered. They ate dinner quietly, all sitting together again, as would become a habit for them over the weeks. Rhona didn't miss Percy as much as she thought she would, and she knew she could always talk to him during breakfast, lunch or dinner, or even in the common room. It was nice to have friends, she decided. When they all went their separate ways, Rhona made up her mind and settled into a nice plush chair by the fire in the common room. Sure she was tired, but Rhona wanted to stay up until Percy came in. She wanted to talk to her big brother. She grabbed a book off the shelf, Quidditch Through The Ages, and began to read it for the millionth time in her life. This one, like the copy she had at home, was well worn by the many hands before her that had also read that book. She was just beginning to nod off when the portrait hole opened and her brother entered with someone she would soon begin to know as Percy's most unlikely friend, Oliver Wood.
"Hey Percy! Wati up!" Rhona called out as he said goodbye to Wood and began to make his way to the staircase leading up to the boy's dormitory rooms. He turned to look at who was calling him, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He too was tired and worn out from the first full day back at school. "Oh, hullo Rhona. How did you like your first day of Hogwarts? I didn't see you at lunch or dinner. Did you make out okay?" He asked, slightly more awake with concern ligning his voice. He didn't want Rhona to not eat; maybe she had managed to get lost or just decided to stay in the common room or something.
"I was sitting with my new friends at the slytherin table." Rhona said quietly, suddenly shy at admitting out loud in the common room that she had sat with the slytherins, twice, willingly. But hey, she said she made new friends. Percy smiled at his little sister, who just three days ago was hiding in his room, away from the rest of their large family. Here, she would blossom, he just knew it. "New friends? Who did you meet?" He asked, amused.
"Azalea Potter, Theodore Nott, and Nelda Longbottom! I met Azalea and Theo on the train ride over here. We sat together, and now we're friends! And Nelda is a gryffindor, so we have all of our classes together. I sat with her when we both got stranded on the moving staircase and got lost trying to find the Transfigurations classroom. Did you know that Professor McGonagall can transform into a cat? She leapt off the desk in cat form, and turned back into a human right in front of us!" Rhona said rather excitedly, a sudden burst of energy flooding though her.
"Yes I did, she did the same thing when I was a first year too. It's a type of transfiguration, where you work really hard and you can become an animal. It's called becoming an animagus. You can look it up in the library, there should be books on it there at the very least but you can probably also talk to your professor when class isn't in session. Now, Azalea Potter, as in the Girl Who LIved?" Percy explained, knowing how information thirsty Rhona could become. She was very intelligent, and Percy was half surprised she wasn't actually sorted into Ravenclaw instead. "Congratulations on completing your first day of school by the way. Did you like it?" He smiled down at her, holding back a yawn. He glanced at the ornate grandfather clock on the far side of the room and noted it was nearing ten p.m.
"Yeah. She's pretty cool and smart as a whip. And she's a slytherin but she's my friend, so clearly anyone saying that all slytherins are slimy snakes is lying. Both Azalea and Theo are cool!" Rhona smiled, thinking about her new friends. She let out a huge yawn and covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Did you get a correspondence back from Great Aunt Murial yet?" A few weeks before, when the Weasley's all went to Diagon Alley in London, he and Rhona had snuck off while no one was paying any attention to them and sent her an owl from the post office. "No, she hasn't written back yet but hopefully she'll send one soon. I did instruct her to write to me after the first day of Hogwarts, which when you think about it was both yesterday and today, so hopefully she will reply soon." Rhona said thoughtfully. Percy nodded and pulled her into a tight hug. He missed her already; it would be nice to have his little sister with him here now. Rhona let out a huge yawn again and giggled. "I think it's time for bed, little sister." Percy teased her gently. "I think you're right Perc. Goodnight." And Rhona pulled away and made for the stairs to the girl's dormitories. She was exhausted and tomorrow would be a new day.