Rose, George, and Fred walked down to the Great Hall together the next day. Rose yawned as she settled into her spot between the twins and rubbed her face tiredly.
"Sleep well?" Fred asked sarcastically.
Rose rolled her eyes and huffed, "Yes, I slept brilliantly thank you."
McGonagall came up with their schedules and handed them to them.
"Miss Potter, would you mind giving these schedules to your twin and his friends when they finally decide to appear?" she asked primly.
Rose nodded, "Of course Minnie."
The tight-lipped glare that Rose received in returned was the stuff of legends, and McGonagall practically hissed, "It's Professor McGonagall."
As she turned and swept away Rose was struck by now Snapeish that was. She snorted and shook her head.
"What is it?" George asked.
"I think that Snape learned how to enter and exit a room from McGonagall."
Fred and George shared a look before bursting out laughing, "You're right!"
Harry walked in with Hermione and Ron just as Fred and George were calming down, and Harry plopped into the spot next to George.
"New third-year course schedules," said George, passing them over.
Rose felt eyes on her and looked up at Draco, who for once didn't look smug at all. If anything, he just looked sad. She attempted a small little wave, but he looked away without reciprocating.
"Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today," Hermione said happily while examining her new schedule.
"Hermione," said Ron, frowning as he looked over her shoulder, "They've messed up your schedule. Look- they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough time."
"I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."
"But look," said Ron, laughing, "see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And" - Ron leaned closer to the schedule, disbelieving - "look - underneath that, Arithmancy, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's that good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"
"Don't be silly," said Hermione shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once."
"Well, then -"
"Pass the marmalade," said Hermione.
"But -"
"Oh, Ron, what's it to you if my schedule's a bit full?" Hermione snapped. "I told you, I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."
Just then, Hagrid entered the Great Hall. He was wearing his long moleskin overcoat and was absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat from one enormous hand.
"All righ'?" he said eagerly, pausing on the way to the staff table. "Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five getting' everything' ready… Hope it's okay… Me a teacher… hones'ly…."
He grinned broadly at all of them and headed off to the staff table, still swinging the polecat.
Fred shook his head, "Oh, you're in for it now, Rose."
"Yeah, maybe we should break your leg at lunch-" George said.
"-You know, so you don't have to go to class!"
Rose shook her head and glared at both of them, "Look, if you can figure out a way without harming me to get me out of class like I was sick or something, then you could get me out of class."
Fred and George looked at each other then looked at her, "That's brilliant!"
"What is?" Rose asked with wide eyes.
"We could sell things at the shop!"
"What?"
"Yeah! We could just make things to give people nosebleeds-"
"-or to make them puke-"
"-or give them a fever-"
"-bloody hell, what if we made them faint?"
Rose groaned and hit her head on the table, "What have I done?"
Fred and George's eyes were glittering with mischief and they were smiling widely, "This is brilliant Rose! And we owe it all to you!"
The hall was starting to empty as people headed off toward their first lesson. Rose checked her course schedule.
"Look, I'd better go, Arithmancy is on the seventh floor!"
Fred and George groused as they shoved food into their mouths before standing with her, "Yeah, we suppose. Guess we better let you go to class."
Rose quickly hugged both of them, then hurried off to her class.
Septima Vector was a rather severe looking witch. She had a sharp, pointed face, dark brown hair, and almost black brown eyes. She hardly paid attention to anyone in the class as they all got into their seats, which they found were spaced so each person was by someone of a different house.
"You should know that Arithmancy is a very rigorous subject- in my opinion, the most rigorous taught at Hogwarts, and I expect a full effort from all of my students, regardless of their House," Professor Vector spoke up as soon as the whole class was present. "In this class, you will learn how to multiply matrices, how to do complex mathematical equations, and then on top of it, you will learn how to apply that to your spellcasting to make it more powerful, or how to apply it to potions making to make a new potion."
Professor Vector looked very serious all of a sudden, and her eyes landed heavily onto Rose.
"In order to succeed in this class, you will need to know a lot about magical theory, which I'm hopeful you already do. For instance, Miss Potter, why is wand movement so important to the casting of a spell?"
Rose's whole face turned red as everyone turned to stare at her. She was no Hermione, who would have simply blurted out the answer. She was Rose; the same Rose that was now terrified of getting the answer wrong.
It was an easy enough question, so Rose spoke just loud enough for the class to hear, "The movement of the wand aligns the magical energies with those embodied by the charm's intended effects. This alignment makes the charm easier to cast."
Professor Vector smiled briefly and nodded, "Very good. And tell me, what are the principle magical properties of the number seven?"
Rose's face grew even more heated, "Well, seven is the most magically powerful number. More spells include an arithmetic factor of seven than any other number, and in magical fields that includes instances of sevenfold symmetry, the resonant energies often cause the magical effects to be more powerful and more stable. Numerologically, arranging objects in groups of seven can-"
"That's enough, Miss Potter, thank you. It's clear you, at least, have read the course books very thoroughly," she turned back to the class at large. "The important thing is that you can apply what you learn. For example, the geometric structure that the Lumos Charm uses is a sphere. The reason why is that you produce light by confining the uncontrolled magical energies that produce sparks around the tip of the wand and the most efficient shape of the confining field is a sphere."
Everyone was muttering quietly and most were taking notes furiously. Soon enough, however, Professor Vector had to let them go so they could get to their next classes.
Rose made her way to Professor McGonagall's transfiguration class alone, and she looked around, having sworn she had seen Hermione in her class with her. Shrugging it off, Rose went into Professor McGonagall's classroom. Rose chose a seat near the back of the room, and she noticed that a lot of the class members kept casting furtive glances at her twin, as though he were about to drop dead any moment. Rose was so distracted she didn't even pay attention to the one lesson that she should not have missed, which was about Animagi, and she hardly even noticed when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes.
"Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself with a faint pop, and staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."
'Sure it doesn't matter,' Rose thought sarcastically, 'If it didn't matter she wouldn't have mentioned it.'
Everybody's heads turned toward Harry again, but nobody spoke. Rose was close to getting irate when Hermione's hand rose into the air.
"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and -"
"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"
We all stared at her.
"Me," Harry finally said.
"I see," said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with her beady eyes. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sibyll Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens in her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues-"
Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney-"
She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health to me, Mister Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."
Rose let out a giant guffaw and Hermione laughed, which seemed to make Harry feel better. Not everyone was convinced, however. Ron still looked worried, and Lavender whispered, "But what about Neville's cup?"
When the Transfiguration class had ended, Rose made her way into the crowd that thundered towards the Great Hall for lunch. Rose hummed quietly as she settled herself at the table, a little ways down from where the Golden Trio had decided to sit.
She was distracted away from the fact that Ron apparently wasn't eating for once by Fred and George slipping in across from her.
"Hiya, Rose!" Fred said happily.
"We were thinking-"
"-All for your benefit, you know-"
"-Yes, boys, thinking really is hard for the two of you," Rose said with a smirk.
Fred and George floundered about for a minute before George spoke up.
"Hey! You can't just interrupt twin speak! It's against the rules! Besides, it was my turn to talk," he said with a pout.
Rose giggled and waved her hand for them to continue, but they appeared to be totally put off of their game.
"We just want you to be careful at Care of Magical Creatures," Fred summarized.
"Awww, don't worry, I will be. Oh, I think Draco's in that class!" Rose's eyes lit up with determination as she thought about how she could possibly get Draco to acknowledge their friendship, perhaps even in public!
Fred and George shared an uneasy glance, but before they could say anything there was a loud bang further down the table and bits of meat and carrots were flying everywhere.
"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!"
She snatched up her bag and stalked away, causing Rose to frown.
"But she was in Divination, she didn't go to Arithmancy…"
Fred and George shrugged their shoulders helplessly, not knowing what was going on.
Rose was pleased to get out of the castle after lunch. Yesterday's rain had cleared; the sky was a clear, pale gray, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot as they set off for their first ever Care of Magical Creatures class.
Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other, so Rose had easily taken Hermione off of Harry's hands to discuss Arithmancy. This allowed Harry to try to convince Ron that he needed to apologize for something he had said to Hermione. As they walked down the sloping lawn to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Rose's heart threatened to burst out of her chest. She saw three only-too-familiar backs ahead of them that she recognized instantly as Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco.
Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start.
"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"
For one nasty moment, Rose thought that Hagrid was going to lead them into the forest; Rose had tried to refuse to go in there for years, even though she was sure with the map she wouldn't get into too much trouble. However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing in there.
"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "That's it- make sure yeh can see - now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books -"
"How?" grunted Crabbe.
"Eh?" said Hagrid.
Rose, struck by sudden brilliance, stroked the spine of her book, "You stroke the spine of your book, Crabbe. It'll flop right open."
Rose took the belt that had been binding the book off and as if to prove her point the book fell open.
Hagrid beamed at Rose and watched as everyone opened up their books.
"Righ' then," said Hagrid, "So yeh've got yer books an' now yeh need the Magical Creatures. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on…"
He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight.
"God, this place is going to the dogs," said Theodore Nott loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, whose heard of such a thing?"
"Be quiet, Nott," Draco muttered quietly, elbowing the boy roughly.
"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock.
Trotting toward them were a dozen beautiful creatures. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and head of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of them had large, thick leather collars around their necks, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.
"Gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone started to draw back but Rose was entranced as Hagrid tethered the creatures to the fence.
"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"
Rose knew exactly what Hagrid meant. Their coats were gleaming, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each one a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.
"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer-"
Rose was already practically pressed against the fence. Harry, Ron, and Hermione slowly started to approach with everyone else hiding behind them.
"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."
Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening; they were talking in an undertone and Rose had a nasty feeling they were plotting how best to disrupt the lesson.
"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.
"Right - who wants ter go first?"
Most of the class backed away but Rose's hand eagerly flung into the air, "I do Hagrid!"
There was an intake of breath from behind her, but she ignored them as she had Hagrid help her over the paddock fence.
"Good girl, Rose!" roared Hagrid. "Right then - let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."
He untied one of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath. Harry and Draco were pressed against the paddock, both seeming to be willing to jump in at a moment's notice.
"Easy, now, Rose," said Hagrid quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink…. Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much…"
Rose's eyes were wide and excited, so they were drying out rather quickly, but she didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Rose with one fierce orange eye.
"Tha's it," said Hagrid. "Tha's it, Rose… now, bow…"
Rose bowed down and then looked up.
The hippogriff was still staring at Rose. It didn't seem to want to move.
"Ah," said Hagrid, sounding worried. Before he could continue on speaking, though, the hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow.
"Well done, Rose!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right - yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"
Rose moved at what she deemed an acceptable speed and reached out toward the beak of the Hippogriff. She patted the beak several times and the hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as though enjoying it.
The class broke into applause, but Rose hardly noticed, "Oh, you're so beautiful!" she whispered in an overjoyed voice. Buckbeak preened under her kind words and Rose's face broke into the world's largest smile.
"Righ' then, Rose," said Hagrid. "I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him!"
Rose's heart swelled with excitement. She just hoped that riding the hippogriff was nothing to like riding a broomstick.
"Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," said Hagrid, "an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that…"
Rose put her foot on the top of Buckbeak's wing and hoisted herself onto it's back. Buckbeak stood up. Rose wasn't sure where to hold on; so she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Go on, then!" roared Hagrid, slapping the hippogriff's hindquarters.
Without warning, twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side of Rose; she just had enough time to tighten her grip around the hippogriff's neck before they were soaring upward. It was nothing like a broomstick, and Rose knew immediately which one she preferred; riding the hippogriff was like being in a very loud, but very comfortable car. She felt safe, almost as if she were on a muggle rollercoaster.
Buckbeak flew her once around the paddock with her laughing and telling him how brilliant it was all the while and then headed back to the ground. Rose leaned back as the smooth neck lowered, feeling almost as if she would slip over the beak but knowing she wouldn't then felt a heavy thud as the four ill-assorted feet hit the ground.
"Good work, Rose!" roared Hagrid as everyone besides Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. "Okay, who else wants a go?"
Emboldened by Rose's success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously, all over the paddock. Neville ran repeatedly backward from his, which didn't seem to want to bend its knees. Ron, Harry, and Hermione practiced on the chestnut while Rose watched.
Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle had taken over Buckbeak. He had bowed to Nott, who was now patting his beak, looking disdainful. Rose immediately walked over, knowing that there was trouble afoot.
"This is very easy," Nott drawled, loud enough for everyone to hear him. "I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it… I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" he said to the hippogriff. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"
Rose had seen this coming from a mile away and immediately pushed Nott away, trying to calm the enraged hippogriff. The flash of steely talons had barely missed Nott, and Rose was desperate to keep this hippogriff safe from all harm.
"Woah, Buckbeak!" Rose yelled as the Hippogriff made angry noises and tried to get by her to his prey. "Hagrid, some help, please!" Rose yelled over her shoulder. The next moment Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he strained to get at Nott who was cowering behind Rose.
"How dare you let that creature try to harm me?!" Nott yelled and Rose turned around and socked him across the face, hearing the distinct sound of his nose breaking.
"Shut up!" she screeched. "If you had listened to Hagrid you would've known not to insult hippogriffs! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
Nott was rolling on the ground whimpering, holding his nose.
Rose was about to go in to attack him again when two sets of arms pulled her back and Hagrid was suddenly standing over Nott, "Rose, I hav' ter take poin's for this. Two weeks o' detention with me, an' twen'y poin's from Gryffindor."
Rose hung her head and sighed, bringing her anger back inside herself. She had always been an avid protector of animals and those who were weaker than her, and sometimes she forgot that getting violent about it wasn't the right thing to do.
Hagrid sent Nott out of the Paddock with Crabbe and Goyle, and Rose's arms were released. She turned around fully expecting to see Harry and Hermione and was shocked to see it was actually Draco and Harry.
The class came to an abrupt end and Rose tried to walk with Draco on the way back up to the castle, but none of the other Slytherins would let her close, claiming that she was just going to hurt him too.
They all climbed the stone steps into the deserted entrance hall.
"I'm going to see if he's okay!" said Pansy, and they all watched her run up the marble staircase. The Slytherins, still muttering about Rose, headed away in the direction of their dungeon common room; Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Rose proceeded upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.
"D'you think he'll be alright?" said Hermione nervously.
"'Course he will. Madam Pomfrey can mend broken bones in like a minute," said Harry, who wrapped his arm proudly around his sister's shoulders.
"That was a really brilliant, Rose," said Ron with a giant smile. "Didn't know you had it in you."
Rose blushed at all the attention she was receiving, "Well, you know, Charlie did teach me how to throw a punch."
Ron and Harry laughed and chorused, "Of course it was Charlie!"
They were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinnertime, and Rose sat down with the twins.
"So, Care of Magical Creatures?" Fred pushed.
"Magical," Rose said with a smirk.
"Heard you punched someone," George said with a smirk.
"How did you hear that when I didn't?" Fred said with wide eyes.
"I have my ways," George said trying to be mysterious.
"Well, yeah, I punched Theodore Nott. He insulted a hippogriff. It was his own stupid mistake."
At this moment Hagrid walked up, trying his hardest to be stern and somber, "Rose, yeh'll have to repor' ter me cabin every nigh' at Eigh' o'clock startin' 'morrow."
Rose nodded and tried to hold in her smile, "Of course, Professor Hagrid. I really am sorry for disturbing your class."
Hagrid waved his giant hand, "Thin' nothin' o' it."
Hagrid walked away again and Fred and George whistled, "How long do you have detention for?"
"Two weeks."
Fred smirked, "Going after our record, dear heart?"
Rose rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "You're obnoxious."