Chapter 4
There will be Chinese characters in this chapter and probably the future chapters. You don't need to worry about copying and pasting it into Google Translate (or whatever you use to translate things), all of the meanings and translations will be at the end of the chapter as they always are. For the POV's from now I'll try to stick to 2-3 chapters in Ashling's POV then one in Hermione's POV and then Severus. And just if you were wondering: the whole Fae inheritance thing plays a bigger part in future chapters (when she finds out more about the Fae history) but most info will be made up. (sorry… I didn't have a lot of ideas for this chapter and kept rewriting it.)
Galaxystar of SolarClan
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Incantations
Thoughts
Text on Parchment
~Flashback/Dream~
–
I wake up just before the sun has fully risen and decide to expand on my plan a bit more. To make my "Rosita Huang" persona more believable and to avoid association with both Ashling Potter and the Black family – for I resemble Dorea and Iris Euphemia Black more than anybody has anticipated without the disgraceful mop every Potter's hair is – I could change only the distinctive features of my face (eye colour) to make it less obvious. The reason being many people would think I would change my appearance to the polar opposite of my current appearance if I were to run away and that a considerable amount of the Chinese wizarding population has black hair and brown eyes ranging from copper, a light hazel to a brown so dark you can't even make out the pupils. As for my wings, I know a transfiguration charm to transform them into a tattoo that I can move to any part of my body.
I decide on dark chocolate brown muggle contacts I will charm to merge with my cornea without harming it and after a little deliberation my spare purple glasses from a muggle brand store (How do I remember the incantation to summon them from a pocket of space and not my home life?). I use a glamour to make my eyes appear brown and make myself a little shorter as I would be too noticeable at my regular height and am slightly taken aback at how different I look. With the glasses no one will suspect and I will not have to have Molly place a charm on my eyes to see clearly (as I declined an eye drop to fix my vision instantly). The spare glasses I held onto all my life have transparent purple plastic for the rectangular frames and on the sides of the arms a darker purple with the words "Armani Exchange" printed repeatedly in silver as a pattern.
It's lucky that I seem to have decided to take up learning the Chinese language at a young age after hearing it was one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet. One of the first things that came to memory and stayed there was that I have knowledge of Chinese and basic Spanish. Maybe Rosita could slip up often and revert to her "first language" to make them buy the Chinese Muggleborn act. I look into the mirror with the purple glasses on my face and smile slightly. "你好,我的名字是黃隱藏!很高興見到你!"
–
Hermione comes an hour or so later and informs me that Molly is currently preparing breakfast. "Thank you, Hermione Granger. I shall accompany you to the kitchen, shall I?" As she has done numerous times last night, she seems saddened and a little put off by the formal tone I constantly adopt. Did I not always speak this way? It is the only way I remember the words roll off of my tongue.
Molly, Arthur Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks are present in the kitchen when Hermione and I walk in. As has become a habit of hers Molly piles copious amounts of food onto a plate and then hands it to me. I nibble on a piece of bacon and listen as Molly starts a rant about which parts of the house still need to be cleaned out. After a while Fred, George and Ronald amble in yawning. Or rather, Ronald is yawning and the twins are expertly stifling their laughter – they appear to have placed a substance in his pillow the night before to give their brother a ridiculously large afro with all the colours in the colour spectrum and little pink unicorns hopping through the curly disaster.
Upon seeing Ronald his parents shake their heads, exasperated while Hermione is pressing her lips together halfway through disapproval and amusement. Nymphadora grins and shoots Fred and George a thumbs up and it is like a dam has broken; everyone is bent over of rolling on the floor chortling all while the source of their amusement looks around bewildered. He finally glances over to a mirror which was placed there from the last clean up session ("You inept, filthy blood traitors will never look as beautiful as my true, pureblooded mistress!") and I swear I hear his jaw hit the ground. He then proceeds to draw his wand and chases the prankster duo all over the place waking up all the other occupants of the house.
When the twins have been hit with numerous stinging hexes and a Bat-Bogey hex from Ginevra for waking her up they finally calm down and make their way to the table panting and grinning. After breakfast the twins and Ronald are frog marched to a doxy infested room where they are given sprays to immobilise the little creatures. The girls are given the task of going through all the jewellery and testing them for hexes and jinxes. Meanwhile Molly pulls me aside "Sweetheart, I know you must still feel weak and at least a tad overwhelmed, so please don't exert yourself, alright? In two days we have arranged for you to meet a Healer for a check-up and a Mind Healer who specialises in wizards who have come into contact with those terrible Dementors." I simply nod, asking if I may assist the other girls and am released with the condition to not tire myself, to please, please be careful as I may hurt myself and to go to her as soon as I feel unwell. I feel myself grin a little as Molly's worried eyes follow me up the landing to the master bedroom. I should keep in mind that they probably mean well even if they are keeping things from me. Hell, even the Dark Lord everyone whispers about when I appear to be not listening probably has his motives. At least this Dark Lord fights and works for what he believes is right instead of complaining and pulling faces expecting the world to bend to his will.
It is quite comforting to make small talk with Ginevra and Hermione. Currently they are trying to convince me to call them "Ginny and 'Mione" Ronald rushed into the room to escape the madhouse that is the drawing room a while ago and has somehow managed to fall asleep. I really do not have any objections but it's amusing to watch the redhead complain that she feels like she is being scolded. I absently pick up two lockets that are almost identical. Both of them have a geometrical shape and an emerald green snake forming the letter "S" although one seems to give out a darker, more powerful aura and resists attempts to open it. I pocket both of them.
"How do I look?" I'm pulled out of my voice by Hermione's voice calling to me. I look over and giggle a bit. It's nice to see someone who obviously takes her job and studies seriously relaxing every once in a while; the bushy haired girl has ridiculously big gems around her neck, wrists and on her fingers, she has donned a gothic veil probably belonging to Walburga Black and adopted a stuck up, stuffy look. "Perfect, almost as repulsive as the portrait banshee." Is my reply. As if on cue, the portrait of said person starts shrieking right at that moment waking Ronald in the process.
"BLOOD TRAITORS, MUDBLOODS, SCUM OF THE EARTH! HOW DARE YOU INHABIT MY HOUSE, HOW DARE YOU WALK ON MY LAND, HOW DARE–" She is cut off by Sirius. We all look at each other in a silent agreement to sneak down and see what has happened and it is almost as if we have been doing this all our lives. Even if we are all of age Molly still thinks we are too young for some topics.
Just by the door, Sirius is grumbling about people ringing he doorbell and setting off his mother while Molly is ushering Professor Dumbledore in. Ginevra pulls out an invention made by her brothers for their joke shop called extendable ears and gives each of us one. When they have successfully snuck underneath the kitchen door we hear the Headmasters' voice loud and clear though he is whispering. "I am afraid only Ashling will be able to destroy him" Destroy who? That Dark Lord? Molly gasps. "But – Albus! Surely if You-Know-Who has done a ritual or something keeping him alive anyone could neutralise the effects!" "Be as that may if this ritual uses a part of Voldemort–" Sirius, who has been silent the entire time suddenly knocks over a chair probably while standing up and shouting about how I'm too young for this. Then he storm out muttering about how life isn't fair and we have to retract the extendable ears to avoid detection.
–
I escaped to my room saying that I needed a nap. Ronald simply resumed his nap in the master bedroom. Echoes of the conversation are still in my head. I shake my head. No time to think about that now. I summon a silver sickle from my trunk that was a gift from Nymphadora and whisper the incantation while holding the image of the leaky caldroun in my mind "Portus" with a flash the sickle gains a slight sheen to it. I grab it and close my eyes through the strange sensation. If the muggles notice anything change, they don't show it. I quickly open the entrance to Diagon Alley and slip into a fairly new shop called "Lucy's Lenses" where I purchase the tinted contact lenses I need. Then I create a Portkey to Hogsmeade. Nobody should recognise Vesna so getting to Hogwarts and perhaps the Gamekeepers hut will not be a problem.
–
Hagrid is a nice person, I decide. I overheard a few students calling him a barbarian probably out of fear but when he sighted me, first asked if I was lost and would I like to stay with him for a while. After dipping my beak in ink to write my name down, with a lot of hopping and charades I convinced him that I had an owner in the past. Hagrid is not the brightest bulb in the box (as Muggles say) but he is kind and will stand up for those he cares about.
When I flew by Hagrid told me that he had gathered a small group of students who were either interested in jobs concerning the handling of magical creatures or were first to second years who liked to listen to him talk and get a head start in the subject. Idly listening to Hagrid humouring the children with tales of the many magical creatures he has met, domesticated and raised I find myself drifting off until a blonde first year asks a question that nearly makes me fall off my perch.
"You taught the Ashling Potter, right? Can you please, please tell us about her?"
–
"你好,我的名字是黃隱藏!很高興見到你!"
– Hello, my name is Rosita Huang! It's very nice to meet you!
黃隱藏 – Huang is a common Chinese surname but is also the word used to say "yellow" 隱藏 translates to "hide"
