The next few weeks passed quickly after Dumbledore left, Mrs Weasley soon warmed up to Rock, despite getting a cold chill every time the silent girl walked into the room. After the first few days it became apparent that there was no need to provide her with a bed to sleep in or even blankets to keep her warm, as every night after the others went to bed she would climb up to the roof and spend all night watching the stars.
Soon it was time for the teens to leave for Hogwarts for another year, Rock had been provided with a set of hand-me-down robes by the Weasleys, completely rejecting Harry's offer to buy her brand new ones.
Rock had accepted the robes with a low bow that let both parties know that she was thankful and putting to rest any fears that she might have been offended by either offer. Although any suggestion that her current clothing might not be suitable for school life was met with a stern glare.
The journey to platform 9 ¾ was thankfully less eventful than the previous year, only Rock's slight hesitation to run into what looked like a solid brick wall delayed them. But with Harry holding her as they passed through the barrier at the same time, they all made it onto the train with plenty of time to spare.
"Any idea who's going to be our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Hermione asked as they grabbed a train compartment. The only person inside was buried under a large, heavy travelling cloak and snoring loudly, they would have left but this was the only place left on the train where they would all fit. So they resigned themselves to talking a little quieter so as not to wake the person.
"How would we know?" Ron said blankly. "We've been with you most of the time."
"Yes, but not all the time. I just thought that one of you might have found something out." Hermione retorted.
"If anyone would know it would be Rock, she was the one who disappeared with Dumbledore, remember?" Harry reminded her.
They all looked over to Rock who was staring out at the window, watching the other students and their parents milling about. Every so often they noticed that her hand would twitch towards her katana that was resting across her lap, warily Harry coughed, causing Rock to turn towards him.
"Everything alright? You look tense." Harry asked.
Rock considered this for a moment before shaking her head slowly, while she was slightly uncomfortable near large groups, she was still in control of her actions. She knew this as at no point since arriving in this world had she summoned her rock cannon, not until she knew how useful it would be here.
"We were just wondering if you knew who was going to be our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Harry continued.
Again Rock shook her head, it had never come up in the conversation with the elderly wizard.
"Oh, okay." Harry setted back into his seat feeling slightly disappointed.
It was as that moment the Hogwarts Express started to depart.
"Have you heard? Someone has escaped from Azkaban!" Hermione cried as she entered the compartment, practically squealing.
"Azkaban? That's impossible, no one leaves unless the Ministry say so." Ron replied.
"Normally you would be right, but someone has, it's all in the news!" Hermione retorted.
"How the hell did we miss that?" Harry joined in.
"Well, we were a bit distracted to be fair mate." Ron answered, motioning to Rock.
"That's true, I wonder what else... Has it gotten really cold in here?" Harry said shivering.
A scream emanated from down the train and a dark shadow crept over the windows, thin lines of frost snaked their way across the door. A shadow seemed to swim in front of the door, it was in the shape of a large stooped figure with a hood covering its face. All light that touched the creature was absorbed, it was impossible to make out any defining feature. It opened the door to the compartment and raised its hand towards Harry who was closest to it.
Harry felt very cold, as though all the happiness in his life had disappeared. Before he could pass out from the mind-numbing cold and depression, he was suddenly thrown aside by Rock, who stepped over him and was now staring the creature down.
"Get down girl!" The large travel cloak shouted as the person beneath it rose to his feet, wand pointed at the shadow creature.
Rock didn't move, she stared at the dark beast with an intensity that caused Ron, who was sitting opposite Harry, to shudder and retreat from her.
The creature extended a hand towards Rock's face.
"Damn it girl! Get out of the way!" The man shouted as he attempted to push Rock aside. He was shocked when Rock shrugged him off so hard he staggered back, he was even more amazed when the creature shrank back and fled the train.
"What the hell was that?" He said to no one in particular.
"That." Said Harry as he was helped to him feet by Rock. "Was Black Rock Shooter." He grinned.
"What was that thing? I felt so cold, as though..." Ron trailed off.
"As though all the happiness was sucked out of the world." Hermione finished for him.
"That was a dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban. I don't know what it was doing here though." The man said, with a pause he continued. "My name's Remus Lupin, I'll be your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." He said with a sad smile.
The rest of the train journey continued with little interruption to their discussion, ranging from the escaped prisoner, Sirius Black, to Rock's presence in this world and what she actually was.
"It's incredible, I've never seen anyone or anything stand up to a dementor like that and to have it have no effect on them." Remus was saying, before he stopped. "We're going to be arriving soon, I'd better get in a position to help!" He smiled, then he folded his cloak over his arm and dragging his case behind him as he left the group behind.
Not long after, Draco Malfoy made an appearance much to everyone's irritation.
"Well then Potter! I hear you've got a girlfriend! Where is she? You too ashamed to be seen together?" Malfoy sneered. Then he looked over to Rock, her bright blue eyes bored into his.
"What the hell is up with her eyes?" Malfoy hissed. "I didn't know you were into beasts as well as mudbloods Potter." He said, pouring venom into every word. Behind him, his two heavy-set companions, Crabbe and Goyle, chuckled.
"Piss off Malfoy, no one here thinks you're funny." Ron snarled.
"Careful Weasley." Malfoy said threateningly. "I'd hate for your father to lose his job at the Ministry, then you wouldn't even be able to buy flea-market clothes!"
He looked at Rock who had redirected her attention to the view outside the window.
"Hey, you filthy beast girl! How dare you ignore me!" Malfoy shouted at her.
Rock continued to stare out the window, she had just caught sight of the enormous castle that was going to be her home until July.
"I guess she just doesn't find you important enough to bother with." Ron said with a smirk to Harry. "Why didn't we ever try that?" He asked.
"Dunno." Harry answered. "But we should definitely try it out." He grinned.
"You do know that's what I've been telling you two for a while now!" Hermione added with an exasperated voice.
"Yeah but it's different actually seeing it done." Ron replied.
"I've had enough of this crap!" Malfoy cried.
The three friends turned and saw that Malfoy was standing in the doorway, wand out and pointed at Rock.
Rock looked over at Malfoy and was on her feet in a blink of an eye, the movement startled him so much that he reacted by unintentionally sending a bolt of red light straight at Rock. It hit her in the chest and blasted her through the window.
"Rock!" Harry, Hermione and Ron shouted together as they scrambled to their feet and rushed to the broken window. There was a collective sigh of relief as just below them but several meters towards the rear of the train, they saw Rock with both hands on the katana that was now jammed through the side of the train carriage.
The three of them rushed out of the compartment to get to a window closer to the dangling girl so they could pull her in, as they passed Malfoy, who was still in shock. Harry leaned over and whispered.
"If I were you Malfoy, I'd start running, when she gets back in she is going to be pissed!" He said as sinisterly as he could muster.
Harry allowed himself a small chucked as the three Slytherins turned and ran down the corridor.
Rock couldn't help but stare as she entered the Great Hall, it wasn't the largest space she had seen, nor the most imposing. In fact it was quite plain, but the ceiling has something else. She could clearly see that she was indoors, but just below the stonework there was some kind of mist filled with bright, twinkling stars and dark clouds lazily drifting by.
"The ceiling's enchanted, it's not real." Hermione whispered from behind her. "Everyone has the same reaction the first time they see it." She added.
Rock nodded and was about to sit down between Hermione and Ron when an elderly woman with a stern face and glasses walked over to her.
"Black Rock Shooter?" She asked in a faint Scottish accent.
Rock nodded.
"Come with me please." The witch said, she turned on her heel and marched out of the hall.
Rock followed, but kept one hand on the katana hidden underneath her robes. They continued to walk through the dizzying and confusing corridors until they got to the woman's office.
"Sit down dear." The woman told Rock.
Rock complied and watched as the woman took a seat on the opposite side of the desk.
"Now then, Miss Shooter. My name is Professor McGonagall, I'm going to be your head of house here at Hogwarts. I understand that you don't appear to have any sort of magical ability, is that right?" McGonagall asked.
Rock nodded.
"You must understand that this is a very unusual situation for us, normally persons such as you wouldn't be admitted into Hogwarts. But as you have been sent here for a greater purpose we don't have a choice, it's nothing against you personally, it's just the position this school has." McGonagall paused. "However I have heard from Professor Lupin that you faced a dementor and caused it to retreat. Do you have any idea what might have caused it to act like that?" She asked.
Rock thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"That's unfortunate, but not altogether unexpected. They are dark, evil creatures at best." McGonagall said, shaking her head sadly. "Tomorrow will be your first day here, you will be with the third years for your first two lessons. Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures, then with the first and second years for the same again. Here is your timetable." She handed Rock a small slip of paper. "Now I'll show you to Griffindor tower, where you'll be staying."
Professor McGonagall got up and beckoned Rock to follow her. After another winding trek through the castle, they eventually reached a portrait of a large woman who was attempting to break a wine glass with her voice.
"Ah hem." McGonagall coughed sternly.
"Yes?" The woman in the portrait answered.
"This is Black Rock Shooter, you will allow her entrance into the tower at all times." McGonagall ordered.
"Without a password?" The portrait asked incredulously.
"Yes, she cannot speak you see?" McGonagall explained.
"How do I know if it's her and not an imposter?" The portrait argued.
McGonagall sighed. "Take a close look at her eyes." She stated.
The painted woman did as she was told and gasped, shocked and intrigued by the bright blue eyes with pure white rings in the iris and tiny pupils.
"How? What?" The portrait began.
"That's not important, what is important is that you let her into the tower." McGonagall said. "Now would be a good time." She added.
The portrait swung open, revealing a staircase leading upwards.
"I'll leave you here, the girls dormitories are on the left, boys on the right. Get settled in, the feast will be ending soon and I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions to answer." McGonagall said with a slight smile.
Rock nodded and made her way up the stairs into the common room, she briefly looked around before heading up to the dorms.
"What do you suppose Professor McGonagall wanted with her?" Ron asked.
"Probably just wanted to explain things, Rock's a pretty unique case here." Harry replied.
The feast had ended and most of Griffindor were in the common room, nearly all of them were talking about rumours they had heard about Sirius Black and the dementors. Harry, Hermione and Ron were discussing a certain blue-eyed, blue-haired mute girl who had been whisked away before the feast.
Before long, everyone parted ways, making their way to their dorms. Hermione noticed that Rock's trunk was lying on top of a bed next to hers but the owner was nowhere to be seen, instead the nearby window was wide open. Hermione shook her head but smiled at the same time as she realised she knew exactly where Rock was.
"So you think she was on top of the castle?" Ron asked with a thick slice of toast smothered in jam stuffed into his mouth.
Hermione tried not to look disgusted as Ron sprayed crumbs everywhere.
"Yes Ron, think about it, when did she ever stay inside at night? It's almost like she doesn't like being indoors at all." Hermione said.
"Maybe seeing the stars reminds her of home?" Harry suggested. "It's not the same as us, we leave home but always go home at the end of the year. She's in a different world altogether, she's the only one of her kind here and there's a very strong possibility that she might never get back."
"You say it like that, I'm amazed she agreed to come." Hermione said sadly. "Especially when the girl she's paired to doesn't have anyone to help take on her negative emotions any more, I can't imagine how hard that must be."
"Dunno, seems pretty easy to me." Ron muttered, now filling himself with eggs.
"That's because you're as emotional as a table." Hermione glared. Ron choked slightly and Harry snorted with laughter. "It's makes sense now though, every time I have bad thoughts or feelings, if I push them away they seem to disappear. I never thought they were being pushed onto another person." She sighed.
As they entered their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, they noticed that a familiar blue-haired girl was in a discussion with Professor Lupin.
Or rather Lupin was in the discussion, Rock was nodding or shaking her head in response to his questions. He looked up as everyone started pouring into the room.
"Good morning class, I thought we'd start the school year with a practical lesson." Lupin said cheerfully. He pointed to a large wardrobe. "Does anyone know what a boggart is?" He asked.
Hermione instantly shot her hand up.
"Yes Miss Granger." Lupin said.
"A boggart is a creature that lives in dark spaces, it always appears in the form most frightening to the person it confronts, therefore no one truly knows what a boggart looks like." Hermione explained, as though reading from a textbook.
What do I fear? Rock thought to herself. Chariot? No, Dead Master? Strength? Black Gold Saw? No, certainly none of those. Then what? Have I even felt fear?
"Excellent Neville." Lupin said laughing, along with the entire class, at the sight of Professor Snape dressed in Neville's grandmothers clothes.
The entire class practised using the Riddikulus charm against the boggart, eventually only Rock and Harry were left.
"Miss Shooter, you don't have a wand so I'm afraid you won't be able to take part." Lupin said sadly.
Rock shook her head and stepped towards the boggart, it shifted into darker twisted version of herself. It was holding a large and cruel Insane Black Claw, curved and hooked, red blood dripped from its edge. In her right arm was the Insane Cannon Lance, its sharp tip scraping along the ground. A ring of metal was mounted on her head, half crown, half helmet, instead of Rock's knee-high boots, she had black metal boots that came up to her thighs. The class, and Lupin stepped back in shock at this sight, a few even yelped as the mirror Rock's left eye burst into long purple flames that extended up past her head.
I've beaten you, you are no longer part of me. I do not fear you. Rock thought, so why was the boggart showing her this vision?
Suddenly the boggart changed into a simpler form, one that everyone in the room could understand, it was a girl with short pigtails. She looked Japanese and was wearing a school uniform with blue shoes with a white star on each side, on her wrist was a blue braided bracelet and she was holding a blue mobile phone with a charm in the shape of a bird with rainbow wings.
No, no this isn't real, this isn't real! No, no, no! NO! She screamed internally. Professor Lupin was about to intervene when Rock's left eye exploded into flame just like her twisted mirror's had, only this time the fire was blue and burned with a much higher intensity. Large angular pieces of metal formed out of nowhere and started clamping themselves around her right arm, they formed the shape of a massive cannon which she pointed at the body on the floor.
SHE IS NOT DEAD! With that she fired her Rock Cannon at full power, vaporising the boggart, the wardrobe and everything behind it. The blast threw everyone except Rock off their feet, when the dust had settled, Professor Lupin was first to his feet and hurried over to Rock.
Her Rock Cannon disintegrated and she fell to the floor eyes closed, the flame was still burning but small flecks of purple were starting to appear.
After a stunned silence from Lupin, he placed a hand upon her shoulder. She snapped her head up and the flames dissipated, she nodded once to the professor and stood up without a word.
"Alright, you're all dismissed." Lupin said to the class. "Leave us, I need to make sure Miss Shooter is okay." He waited until everyone had left before he spoke again. "Are you okay?" He asked with concern.
When she nodded, he let go a breath he didn't realise he was holding in.
"We should probably speak to the Headmaster about this." Lupin said grimly.