Chapter 3: Beginning of the day, beginning of trouble
When Rose awoke the next morning, her immediate thoughts went to Scorpius, as they seemed to do every single morning. However, her mind soon turned to her classes for the day. She was extremely excited about the new subjects she was able to take this year. Professor McGonagall had written her during the summer and offered to let her use a time-turner to take even more classes, but after hearing about the side-effects from her mother, who had also used one in her third year at Hogwarts, Rose had declined.
She dressed quickly, determined not to be late for breakfast. She wanted to get some reading done while she ate, and the more time she had, the better.
Rose grabbed her book bag and crossed the landing that led to the third-year boys' dormitories. There was a magical enchantment that prevented any male students from using the girls' stairway or from crossing the landing the other way, but girls, apparently being far more trustworthy, were allowed to. She banged on the same door she had led Scorpius to just six hours before, and said loudly, "Get a move on, you lot! Don't make me come in there and get you up myself."
She heard a muffled groan, and, from a voice she recognized to be Cameron Frye's, "Why does she always do that?"
"Don't ask me; she's Al's cousin." That was Scorpius. He didn't sound too cheery either.
"He's still asleep."
"I wish I was him, the lucky dog."
"I WILL come in there!" Rose repeated.
"Come on- she means it, and I don't fancy being caught in my knickers."
Rose laughed. "That's odd, Scor! I thought you said you went skiing in your boxers!"
"Oh, stuff it, Rose."
Rose turned on her heel and started down the stairs, but not before hearing Cameron ask Scorpius, "What's skiing?" She laughed again.
Rose skipped all the way to the Great Hall, her bag full of books, quills, parchment, and a brand-new bottle of ink her mum had given to her bumping comfortingly against her hip. For breakfast she had toast with butter, sausages, and a mug of tea. Hogwarts had nice tea, but it wasn't as good as her grandmum's, which was always a little different every time.
Scorpius joined her soon enough, practically dragging a sleepy, stumbling Albus behind him. "Morning, Sunshine," he said as he sat next to her.
"Ugh, finally." Rose pretended to be annoyed. "Good morning, Al."
He merely mumbled something incoherent and slumped onto the table in front of him.
Scorpius had toast with jam, bacon, two sunny-side-up eggs, and a rather large mug of thick, black coffee. Rose often wondered if he had gone down to the kitchens and had a talk with the elves so that he could have such an unusually-sized mug, because he'd been receiving the same one since the beginning of year two.
As he sipped on his coffee, he asked, "Did you get much studying done last night?"
She nodded. "I did. That reminds me..." She took out the textbook for their History of Magic class.
Scor groaned. "More studying, Rose? Do we even have that class today?"
"No, but I thought I'd have a look at it anyway."
"Did McGonagall give out the schedules already?"
"Yes, here are yours and Al's. Give his to him when he's finally risen from the dead."
Albus sat up at his name. "Wazzappening? Wossamattah?"
"Here," Scor said, giving him his class schedule.
Al simply stared at the parchment in his hands as if it was written in ancient runes.
Scorpius poured his friend a standard-sized mug of coffee. "Drink this. You'll perk up right away."
In an obedient stupor, Albus gulped down the black liquid. He choked on his second mouthful, and spat it back into the mug, spluttering. "What the bloody hell was that?! What're you trying to do, kill me?" He looked down into his cup for the first time. "This is as black as tar!"
Scorpius shrugged. "That's how I drink it."
Al shook his head. "You're mental. How can you drink that stuff?"
Scor simply shrugged again.
Rose took the mug from her cousin and sniffed it. "It smells nice, but I'm sure it tastes just awful."
"I need some tea, that's all," muttered Al.
Rose continued. "This can't be good for you, Scor. Drinking such strong coffee every single morning."
He laughed. "You don't understand, Sunshine. This is all that keeps me human throughout the day. This is my Wolfsbane Potion."
Rose was impressed with his knowledge of such an advanced potion, though she didn't understand the comparison. "What do you mean?"
Scor just smiled and said, "It's nothing."
She highly doubted that it was nothing, but she decided not to press him further. "I hope James gets his schedule alright. D'you see him anywhere?"
Scorpius looked around the crowded, noisy hall. "Not really…"
Rose slumped in her seat. "I suppose he can just copy off Fiona's."
The three of them had Transfiguration with Headmistress McGonagall first thing after breakfast. Although most professors, upon becoming Headmaster or Headmistress, found replacement professors for the subjects they previously taught, McGonagall preferred to keep her position as Transfiguration professor. She'd always taught the challenging class, and she planned on teaching it as long as she remained at Hogwarts.
Next was Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Rubeus Hagrid. The large hairy man greeted the trio with warmly as they trotted down to the paddock outside his hut. "'allo there, you lot! Had a good summer, eh?"
"Hello, Hagrid!" Rose reached him first, and was enveloped in a spine-cracking embrace. Her voice was muffled by his graying beard. "We had a lovely summer!"
Hagrid released her and turned his attention to the two boys. "Yeh've gone a bit brown there, young Scorpius! Yeh look a righ' outdoorsman, yeh do!"
Scorpius laughed. "Thanks."
"What sort of lesson have you got planned for us, Hagrid?" Albus asked.
Hagrid's eyes twinkled and he tapped the side of his nose. "I've got a nice surprise fer all o' yeh."
The three looked at each other worriedly. They already knew that Hagrid's definition of "nice" when it came to magical creatures could be very different from the definition used by everyone else, so this news wasn't necessarily good. Rose cautiously ventured to ask, "What sort of surprise?"
Hagrid chuckled. "Well, if I tol' yeh, then it wouldn' be a surprise, now would et?" This in no way abated their worries. They followed him to the paddock-fence, where the rest of the class had already gathered. Hagrid clapped for everyone's attention. "Alrigh' now, settle down there, settle down! Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures! My name is Rubeus 'agrid. I'll be yer professor, but yeh don't 'ave ter call me tha'. 'agrid will do jus' fine. Righ', fer our firs' lesson, we'll be lookin' at two different creatures. They 'ave something ter do with each other though. The firs' is a Horklump. Can anyone tell me what tha' is?"
Rose's hand shot in the air and Hagrid was reminded keenly of the girl's mother when she'd been a young witch. "Yes, Rose?"
Rose lowered her hand. "A Horklump is a mushroom-creature (usually pinkish in color with black bristles) that is native to Scandinavia. They use their tentacles to dig into the ground in search of earthworms. They are given to overrunning gardens within short amounts of time and attract gnomes."
Hagrid beamed. "Very good, ten points teh Gryffindor! And another ten, I s'ppose, since yeh've already answered my nex' question. The other creature we'll be learnin' about today is the Gnome, who, as Rose said, likes ter eat Horklumps." He pointed past his hut to a grassy area just in front of the Forbidden Forest. "Now, there's a patch o' Horklumps righ' o'er thataway. If yeh'll jus' follow me…" He started off in that direction.
A few students hung back. A sturdy Hufflepuff girl voiced her reluctance. "But that's right next to the Forbidden Forest."
Scorpius, who was walking with Rose and Al nearby, turned to walk backwards so that he was facing her. "And?"
The girl blinked and nervously moved her hair out of her face. "Professor McGonagall said it was forbidden." Some of the others nodded. One of the girl's fellow Hufflepuffs chimed in. "That's right. She's always said that."
Albus laughed, startling her. "But we're not going in the Forest. We're not allowed to go in, but we're allowed to stand near it."
Rose smiled kindly at the nervous Hufflepuffs. "And we've got Hagrid."
One boy with interestingly large ears and long hair nodded resolutely. "She's right." He looked Rose straight in the eye. "We've got Hagrid. Come on." He lengthened his stride to catch up with the professor. The rest of his housemates followed.
Scorpius stared after him. "What was that?"
Rose shrugged and gave Al, who was snickering, a look. "I've no idea…"
When everyone was finally gathered round Hagrid once again, Rose noticed the small, mushroom-like beings that dotted the grass. A stocky, blonde Gryffindor boy made as if to touch one of them, but was held back by a more cautious Gryffindor girl. "Don't," Rose heard her whisper. "We've no idea what they're like yet."
Hagrid cleared his throat and began to explain the attributes and properties of the Horklumps. Rose was acquainted with most of this information, however, and her mind took to drifting to more interesting subjects. How was she to focus on dull, boring pinkish things when she could occupy herself with such agreeable topics as—? She blinked. What was she thinking? She couldn't be thinking about Scorpius at a time like this. It was their very first Care of Magical Creatures class, and Hagrid had gone to such lengths to make it a relatively safe lesson too. Plus…
Rose glanced to her left, where Scor stood practically at her elbow, somehow engrossed in the discussion of Horklumps. She shook her head, as if to clear it of her earlier, impossibly girlish thoughts. This was no time to be daydreaming.
Rose suddenly discovered that Hagrid had ceased his lecture and was making shushing motions to his pupils, who all seemed to be gazing intently at the formidable border of the Dark Forest. Confused but a moment, she deduced that they were waiting for the appearance of their second subject of study: Gnomes. Not long after Rose came to this conclusion, a scruffy, greyish-brown head of hair rose above an oak tree's protruding root. This ratty crown was followed in suit by more knobby, hairy heads.
One of the students squeaked, but Rose couldn't discern whether it was a girl or a pre-pubescent male. She glanced at Scor to see his reaction. She stifled a surprised laugh when she found a look of real interest on his face. Hadn't he ever seen a gnome before? Perhaps not. Her mother told her that the Malfoy family had a large manor that had been in the family for generations. She hardly thought the Malfoys would stand to have any such pestilence running about their grand gardens.
The gnomes had trundled over to the Horklumps and were sniffing about for… whatever gnomes looked for in Horklumps (Personally, she couldn't understand the appeal). A small squabble broke out between two of the little grey men over a very pink Horklump. Hagrid looked as if he wanted to break up the fight, but thought better of it. "Righ'", he cleared his throat as softly as he could. "Now that we've got 'em 'ere, I'll teach you lot 'ow to get rid o' the little buggers. They can be righ' nasty fer the garden, and it's allus useful ter know 'ow ter get 'em out. Does anyone know 'ow we're goin' ter do tha'?"
Rose raised her hand immediately, though she knew Hagrid was probably going to call on someone else. Sure enough, he pointed to the Hufflepuff girl who had previously voiced her hesitation to approach the Forbidden Forest. "You pick them up by their legs and whirl them about your head. And then you fling them as far as you can."
Hagrid beamed. "Very good. Ten points to 'ufflepuff. Now we do this so tha' when they 'it the groun', the little fellers are too dizzy ter find their way back agin. Now I want er'yone ter give it a try, alrigh'?"
Rose and Al were practically professionals when it came to the removal of gnomes. Their mums had had them performing this household chore since they were large enough to lift a gnome. They spun and flung their assigned gnomes, then moved on to help Scor with his. He was having a spot of trouble nabbing his by the ankle. Every time his hand came close, the little pest would turn and bite at his fingers. His index finger was already bleeding from the savage little beast's teeth when they came to his rescue.
Scor straightened and ran his undamaged hand through his hair. "Merlin's knickers, I'm rubbish. I'm going to fail bloody gnome exterminating."
Al laughed. "Good luck explaining that one to your old patter."
Scorpius feigned a shiver. "Don't even joke about that."
Rose shooed away another gnome with her foot. "Let's give him a hand, Al, so he doesn't flunk out of Hogwarts all together."
It took them a try or two, but the two of them finally managed to teach Scorpius just the right way to come at the gnome and avoid being bitten, and at long last, he successfully flung his gnome deep into the forest. Rose noted that he seemed quite proud of such a small feat. She loved the way his eyes lit up like that— ahem. Or something.
Hagrid called the students back together and quickly reviewed the lesson, after which the students were dismissed, and Hagrid retreated into his hut for a nice, fresh-out-of-the-oven, kidney and vegetable bake. Rose checked her book bag and started back towards the castle, however, Scor and Albus hadn't moved an inch. She put her hands on her hips and gave them a quizzical look. "What's up?"
Scorpius was grinning broadly. "Opportunity."
"What are you on about?"
Albus smiled almost as widely. "A little extracurricular field trip."
Her eyes widened. "In the Forbidden Forest?"
The boys nodded eagerly. "It'll be wicked." Scorpius worried for a moment that she would refuse and run off to find a teacher.
Instead, Rose clapped in excitement. "Let's go!" She paused. "But we absolutely musn't be caught, alright? I can't afford a detention- unlike you two."