Rose was barely paying attention as a chattering prefect whose name she hadn't caught led the first-years to their new common room. By the time she realized she should be taking note of the twists and turns, they were descending a final set of stairs and passing the door to the kitchens. She made a begrudging mental note to stick close to Lorcan over the next few days, because he was watching the prefect with rapt attention and something like stars in his eyes.

"This is the entrance," the girl said, stopping by a large painting of a bowl of fruit. "Anyone want to hazard a guess as to how you can get in?"

"Ask nicely?" Jamie Applegate suggested.

"Not quite, but close." The prefect winked, and she pointed to the image of a fat, juicy-looking pear in the painting. "You just…"

She tickled it.

Rose's jaw dropped. The painting swung out, revealing a corridor. What kind of a password was that? It couldn't possibly keep out intruders… But, then again, she never would have thought to tickle a pear.

"Make sure it's the pear you tickle, or you'll get doused in vinegar," the prefect said cheerily, and she crawled into the corridor. They all followed, Rose lagging behind. Something about entering the common room felt so… final. She only gave in and hauled herself through when she realized Lorcan was standing by her and watching her expectantly.

She had to admit, it was wonderful. Logs cracked in a fireplace at the far end of the room. Enough patchwork couches and overstuffed armchairs were scattered about for every first-year and then some. Two perfectly round doors flanked the fireplace, and the prefect explained that the one on the left led to the girls' dormitories, and the right led to the boys'. Rose followed her through the door, down a tunnel of a hallway, and into a smaller room; this one was also perfectly round, pinwheeled with beds covered by black-and-yellow patchwork quilts.

Her trunk was placed neatly beside one of them, and she stumbled up to it. The weight of the day hit her all at once, and she collapsed, falling asleep immediately.


When she awoke, her head hurt, and her eyes wanted desperately to stay closed but she forced herself to open them anyway. Morning light filtered gently through three windows near the top of the wall across from her. Many of the beds were empty already, and about three-quarters of them were unmade. She attributed that to what house she was in.

The bed right next to her, though, still held Jamie Applegate. The girl leaned back on a pile of pillows, staring at her propped-up knees. Was she reading? Rose sat up to get a better look. She held a little black object that Rose recognized as a Muggle telephone; her mother had one but rarely used it. There was nothing on the glass bit. "Why'd you bring that?" she asked, yawning.

"It won't turn on," Jamie said, miserably clicking a button on the top of the device. "I thought service might be spotty, but it won't even turn on."

"Muggle technology doesn't work here." Rose stretched and swung her legs to the floor. Her bed was mostly made, as she hadn't pulled the covers down last night, and she was still wearing her uniform. It was a good thing she'd packed more than one set.

"I told my parents I would call them once I got settled." Her head lolled back on the pillows. "Why won't it turn on…?"

"Didn't they know it wouldn't work at Hogwarts?" Rose looked up from her trunk to stare at Jamie, confused.

"We didn't know I had magic until last month," she muttered. "Professor Onyango came to my house with my acceptance letter."

Rose's mouth turned into a perfect 'o.' How was it possible not to know? She had a assumed that even Muggle-borns would realize they had magic early on. "But… didn't strange things happen when you were little? Didn't you figure it out?"

"Stuff happened, yeah, but we always passed it off as nothing." She sighed and set the phone on her bedside table. "I didn't really believe it until I got here, you know? Even with all the stuff Professor Onyango did to prove she was telling the truth." She kicked off the blankets and reached into her trunk, pulling out a robe and a sweater. "I've never done magic knowingly before. I never thought it was possible. It's all just… too much to take in."

Rose nodded sympathetically, but she had no idea what words would comfort the girl.