She had been desperately trying to keep it in- she knew accidental magic wasn't supposed to be like this. She'd seen Yang explode a couple of time but this? This was off the scale of weirdness- even for witches and wizards.
Her last thought before slipping into unconsciousness was pretty dumb in hindsight, but it was still sort of valid, even now.
What sort of accidental magic freezes a charging hippogriff?
It turned out that there was a limit to how powerful a spout of accidental magic could be before the Ministry had to get involved. Apparently, there were some things that couldn't be ignored or swept under the rug, even by the Ministry.
Although, judging by the contingent that had turned up at Taiyang Xiao Long's house it was a rare enough occurrence that it warranted an in person visit from both the new Head Auror, James Ironwood, and the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Ozpin. And he wasn't dumb enough to presume that Glynda was there to provide the caring, emotional support for Ruby- maybe that was Ironwood's job, he thought with a chuckle.
He led the trio of some of the most influential witches and wizards in the current Wizarding World into his livingroom, where Ruby sat fidgeting with her hands and guarded by her staunch protector Yang, standing at her shoulder. She had been the only witness to the event but even after the tremendous display of power from her younger sister she refused to let anyone near her. The letter from the Ministry had only solidified her position as Ruby's guard- a lack of a wand wouldn't stop her from at least attempting to get a good couple of punches in, Taiyang smirked- she was definitely his daughter. Purebloods never saw the right hooks coming, Muggles were amazing sometimes.
Ozpin was the first of the strangers to enter the room, thankfully he was also wearing the warmest expression- bending down a comfortable distance from the fidgety girl and subjected her to one of his intense stares.
No-one spoke while he observed her, the room silent until:
"Ruby Rose… you have silver eyes…" He took a small breath before continuing, "You have your mother's eyes."
The girl lost all her nervous energy as she channelled it into one of her favourite pastimes- gushing about her mum.
"Yeah, just like my mum! I wanna be just like her when I grow up!" She mimed firing off spells with a wand, "Catching the bad guys and saving the day!"
Despite the gravity of the situation, all of the adults in the room momentarily found that smiles had worked their way onto their faces, but the mood grew sombre once they remembered the fate- and what led her to it- of the woman the young girl wanted to emulate.
Ozpin moved passed his darker thoughts and gave a small chuckle at Ruby's enthusiasm, turning to Ironwood who leant against the wall.
"Well it looks like you have a future candidate James, I hope you'll save a space for her on your squad."
The Head Auror's steely face softened as he looked down at the now grinning child, desperately whispering please repeatedly under her breath. For once he decided to be gentle.
"If she's good enough I won't have to save a spot- she'll earn it," Ruby looked close to bursting at his statement, her excitement enough to encourage him further, "And if she's anything like her mother, she'll be more than good."
His final statement set Ruby off as she leapt into the air in a shower of rose petals, then proceeded to float back down as she continued to shed more. The blatant display of pure magical power manifesting itself in such a complex and unique way reminded the adults of their reason for being in the small home. Glynda cleared her throat.
"If you are through trying to recruit a 10-year-old-"
"10 and 2 months."
The Deputy Headmistress looked down at the girl, "- Excuse me?"
She was met by a toothy smile that was missing a couple of the pearly whites, "I'm 10 and 2 months."
"I see," Glynda did not look impressed, "May I remind you all that we are here to assess Miss Rose's aptitude for magic and her ability to control said magic?"
Both Ozpin and Ironwood looked cowed by the reminder from the stern professor.
"Ahem yes well, it is clear that this young witch is full of potential," The Headmaster said as he turned back to the waiting girl and knelt down to her level, staring into her silver eyes, big and inquisitive and so much like the ones he first saw all those years ago.
"Her accidental magic is proving to be more unmanageable than any other case we've seen in the past, hmmm," he sucked in a breath as he thought back over recent cases, "I'd say the past century." A sharp inhale from behind Ruby brought his attention to her sister, "Yes even more unmanageable than yours, Miss Xiao Long. Although burning down a small hut after being punched in the face is definitely a unique way for your magic to manifest." He finished with a chuckle and a nod of his head at the blonde girl, before turning back to the matter at hand.
"Since your magic is so strong, we feel there is only one option that will keep you safe: Miss Rose, would you like to come to Hogwarts?"
A sharp intake of breath came from the side as her father took in the news, however, Yang let out a breath, relaxing as she heard the offer- as if before she had thought that the three adults had come to take away her sister.
But the individual in front of him never lost her grin, in fact it only widened as she realised her dreams were coming true- a whole year early.
"More than anything Professor Ozpin."
The professor's glasses slid down his nose as he nodded again, revealing his twinkling eyes before pushing them- and himself- up and spinning around in a surprisingly fluid motion for a man with a cane to face the adults of the room. Despite knowing what Ozpin had said he was going to do, Ironwood and Goodwitch still looked shocked that he had actually gone through with it. And if they looked shocked then Taiyang was dumbfounded. Ozpin motioned to the shell-shocked father and gestured for him to follow him out of the room, leaving as he heard the shaking man tell his girls to stay put before moving out of the room himself.
"Taiyang I-" Ozpin was interrupted by a squeal of delight from inside the room.
"Oh, I can't believe my little sister is coming to Hogwarts with me! This is gonna be awesome!"
A muffled, "Yang I can't breathe", filtered through the doorway after the exclamation and the sounds of his daughters celebrating seemed to relax Taiyang. A lull in the noise allowed Ozpin to continue.
"Taiyang I know this will be difficult for you but I fear if we do not manage to control her magical powers somewhere safe, sometime soon, there could be catastrophic consequences. You have heard of some of the things that have happened to young children who cannot control their magic, yes?" His tone was sombre as he recalled some of the dreadful events caused by scared and emotional young witches and wizards. "At Hogwarts she'll be safe to channel her powers into her work, supervised by the best teachers available."
Taiyang nodded in agreement before finding his voice, "But she'll be going so young… how will she cope?" His eyes were weary as he looked at his old professor.
The Headmaster placed his hand on his shoulder, "Yes she's over a year and a half younger than Yang but remember that Yang will be one of the oldest in her year. Ruby will be only 8 months younger than the next youngest person in the year; she was due to come to Hogwarts next year anyway, this way we can keep her safe."
The sullen father nodded at the undeniable truth and sighed, accepting what had to happen.
"Okay, I'll get her prepared," there was some reluctance in his voice as he spoke, "It's just… I wasn't ready to let her go so soon."
This time it was Ironwood who stepped forward, half throwing his hand forward to pat the man awkwardly on the shoulder before hesitating halfway and settling for clasping his hands behind him.
"I know Tai, just know that this is the best option for Ruby. She'll be the youngest witch to enter Hogwarts in over a century- she's special."
Another sigh left Taiyang, "That's what I'm worried about."
None of the officials knew how to respond to that, each one caught up with memories of the last special witch in the troubled man's life. Summer Rose was gone far too soon for any of them to deal with properly- gone but never forgotten, the hole she left behind unfillable. And, although they would never dare say it aloud, some thoughts flickered back even further to the shadow of another woman from Taiyang's past, the only remnants of her manifesting in the other celebrating girl in the living room. Glynda could tell that their lingering presence was not going to help the man at all, so she pulled out the familiar and famous letter addressed to Ruby Rose.
"I'm sure you know the drill, I look forward to seeing both Ruby and Yang on the first of September- it was lovely to see you again Taiyang." With a final reassuring smile, she turned and ushered her two companions out the front door.
Closing the door behind them, Taiyang wished- not for the first time and most certainly not for the last time- that Summer or even Raven could be here- he was not cut out for raising two girls. Inside the living room, the aforementioned hyper girls babbled about Hogwarts as they pushed their father to tell them stories about his own time there. He relented with only a slightly forced grin as he began their favourite one; the one where Qrow got on the wrong side of the giant squid of course.
As the trio walked to the edge of the property to Apparate away Glynda smiled wryly at the Head Auror.
"I knew you had a heart in there somewhere James, I'm sure Miss Rose will live up to your expectations."
And with that she twisted into the night, leaving Ozpin to chuckle and Ironwood to grumble as they followed her lead, disappearing from the warm Patch air to somewhere undoubtedly cooler.