Hi guys! Again thank you to all of my lovely reviewers! Okay, so this chapter is where the story is going to pick up, so enjoy!
P.S Quick note for any artists out there below the question!
Dedicated to all the victims at the Boston Marathon bombing, God bless you.
Beta-ed by the awesome HogwartsDreamer113
Soon it was almost fourteenth of December - Albus' birthday. Roxy had bought me a book on Quidditch to give to him, and Val received a batch of her mum's infamous almond cookies. We then decided to band the presents together.
I wake up on Albus' birthday earlier than usual. I stretch underneath my sheets and turn my head to the right, the sunlight was spreading through the sky like paint on a canvas. I yawn and decide not to get up, as I have a few hours to spare before breakfast. I lie on bed looking up at the patterns in the wooden four-poster. This is probably a great time to reflect on my life so far, think about my goals for my future at Hogwarts and assess my attitude towards certain things...maybe not. I reach for my bag and blindly grope around in it. I eventually feel Molly's book, and I pull it out and begin to read. It's a book on dangerous creatures listed in alphabetical order. I scan through the "brief" introductory and find myself at:
MINISTRY OF MAGIC CLASSIFICATIONS
The Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures gives classifications to all known beasts, beings and spirits. These offer an at-a glance guide to the perceived dangerousness of a creature, the five categories are as follows:
Ministry of Magic (M.O.M) Classification
X Boring
XX Harmless / may be domesticated
XXX Competent wizard should cope
XXXX Dangerous / requires specialist knowledge / skilled wizard may handle
XXXXX Known wizard killer / impossible to train or domesticate
Known wizard killer? I didn't know wizards could be overpowered...
I turn to the next page, which starts of the A creatures.
ACROMANTULA
M.O.M Classification: XXXXX
It turns out this is a giant spider, I continue to read through the book:
Basilisk, Centaur, Chimaera, Dragon...I read through the list and their descriptions stopping at E, because that's when Vicky wakes up and I remember I need to ask her about the Charms essay, so I force myself out of the warm bed.
At breakfast Val and I give our present to Albus and join in on the Gryffindor's roaring rendition of Happy Birthday. We have a breakfast and it seems Carly has a cold. Luckily, since it is a Thursday, Gryffindor's and Ravenclaws have Defence Against The Dark Arts first period together. So Val and I trampled down with the Gryffindor. Val seems to find time to get into a quick argument with a boy called Joe about chocolate frog cards and I pull her back.
"Where's Professor Twitch?" I ask, looking around. Val frowns and looks around too.
"But she's always early!" Replies Val, a confused look on her face.
"Guys," Carly said and then sneezes "Apparently she and Silsbury are fighting again." That's when we hear shouting. Everyone takes one second to listen and runs towards the raised voices.
"YOU CAN'T TEACH FIRST YEARS ABOUT WEREWOLVES!" I hear Silsbury shout. Everyone looks round the corner, Silsbury and Twitch aren't hiding at all just in the middle of the corridor. Twitch murmurs again in her low voice, Silsbury opens her mouth again and then Carly sneezes. Both of them turn to their unexpected audience.
"...Hi," Twitch addresses, Silsbury stiffens at her words.
"Please go to your classroom, Madam Twitch will be with you in a few minutes," Silsbury says sharply, no one wanting to get on her bad side, we all turn on our heels and go to the classroom.
"Werewolves are real?!" Exclaims Val when we reach the classroom, and I nod.
"One of my uncle's got scratched by one."
"Is he a werewolf?"
"No, but he has some werewolf habits," I say thinking about his special shampoo that Fleur has to buy him to keep out fleas.
"Like?" Scorpius asks, and he and Albus joining us.
"Like he loves really rare meat," Albus says "Like, raw."
Val pulls a face.
"That's gross," She says.
"Better than being an actual werewolf," Scorpius debates "That'd be awful."
"I suppose."
"Alright, everybody sit down," Twitch says, at the doorway "Sorry about the argument outside, but Irina - I mean Professor Silsbury seems to think she has to poke her pointy nose into all of my lesson plans." She walks up the middle aisle, her purple cape billowing behind her.
I sit beside Scorpius, remembering the seating plan and Val and Albus sit behind us. We spend the lesson practicing the wand-lighting charm, lumos, which was Twitch's back-up plan. Luckily Twitch lets us talk in lessons.
"So how big is your family?" Asks Scorpius, looking up at me.
"Well, I have nineteen uncles and aunts, all from my dad's side - my mum's an only child," I reply and then recite my long, memorised list "They're Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur, Aunt Gabrielle, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Percy, Aunt Audrey and her two sister Martha and Mary, my late Uncle Fred, Uncle George, Aunt Angelina and her five brothers and sister Mark, John, Paul, Patrick and Mia, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Harry and then long-lost Uncle Dudley."
"That's the most I've ever heard you talk before!"
I laugh. I talk a lot in my head though!
"So what do you mean "long-lost"?"
"Well we never see him, but he's Uncle Harry's cousin, but dad likes to count him because nineteen is a very impressive number of aunts and uncles."
"But if you take out all the brothers and sisters - cousins, you have..." Scorpius looks up to ceiling, muttering under his breath "Ten! Ten uncles and aunts! Which is still a lot more than I have...I have one auntie and uncle! Which is nothing compared to yours."
I smile, I have to admit, I have a pretty wicked family. Then I hear Val and Al arguing behind us.
"No I don't!"
"Yes, you do!"
"I don't, I can read it fine!"
"You're squinting!"
"It's how I read!"
"Really? Can you read this?" I hear a shuffle of papers.
"Well, no. It's too far away!"
"It's only, like, half a foot!"
Scorpius and I turn, to see Val holding the book up and Albus squinting at it. Val turns to me.
"Albus is in denial."
"What's wrong?" Scorpius and I ask simultaneously.
"Val thinks still I need glasses."
"Because you do!"
"Nuh uh! Like I told you in the library, if I get glasses it means people will think of Harry Potter, then I'm expected to become some legend."
"What about contacts? Of a spell to fix your eye sight?" Val suggests "Surely there's a wizard optician or something?"
"What's an optikun?" Asks Scorpius curiously. Val raises her eyebrows.
"An eye doctor." Val replies slowly, she looks round at us "Oh, come on! Have you guys never heard of one?"
We shake our heads. I've had plenty experiences of the muggle world, but I've never been to an eye doctor. Same with Albus.
Val straightens herself, looking quite smug.
"Well, it looks like I'm the smart one when it comes to muggles."
After the morning, Val, the boys and I had a quick visit to Hagrid, who seems to have caught the cold that is going around the school. We had Herbology after break and Val and I trample up to the greenhouses. We're all just getting ready when Neville bursts in.
"I'M PREGNANT!"
"What the heck?!" Cries Val, pulling a disgusted yet almost curious face.
"Oh! No! I mean, my wife! She's pregnant! We're pregnant!"
There is a ripple of "Awww!"s from us and the Hufflepuffs.
"Congratulations, Neville!" I beam at him when he walks past.
"Thanks Rose! Thank you everyone," He says as he reaches the end of the table, grinning from ear to ear. For the rest of the Herbology lesson we spent with all of us chattering about Neville's news.
The rest of the day was uneventful and when we get back to the common room, I realise I still haven't replied to mother's letter.
Dear Mother and Father,
Sorry it's taken so long to write back. I've been very busy but luckily we got no homework today! Great news, Neville and his wife are pregnant. Well she's pregnant but Neville said the wrong thing today. I'm doing great at Hogwarts. I consider Val as my best friend now. Albus is doing great as well. He and Scorpius are best friends as well!
I pause, should I mention Scorpius? Probably not, they don't need to know about him. I scribble over my last sentence and start again.
Albus is doing great as well. He's good friends with everyone in his house. Val and I are convinced he needs glasses, but he doesn't want them. He really doesn't want to be like Harry, which I suppose is a good thing, but I just hope he doesn't get carried away with it. Oh, and Val and I also met Peeves. Just in the hallway. Nowhere special. And he's mean to us just like all the other students, because he isn't in our debt or anything.
I scribble over the last part, wow, even over paper I'm a terrible liar.
Love Rose xx
Yes, that's looks fine.
I look up from the desk and see Val on one of the armchairs asleep by the fire. I then turn to the window and see it's almost sunset. I just have enough time to go to the Owlry and back.
I grab my coat and head out. It's really cold outside as I parade down, my hands buried deep in my pockets. I keep my head down to shield my eyes from the growing swirls of snowflakes, that were beginning to fall from the sky. Like angels were having pillow fights and the feathers fell down and began to lightly cover the cold winters ground. I manage to get to the Owlry alive and give the letter to the Silsbury owl who actually glares at me as I tie the letter on his thin leg.
He nips my finger and quickly flies out of the window. I turn around and make my way back up to the castle.
I come to the greenhouses and stop there. The greenhouses are always warm to help the tropical plants. I go inside for a few moments to get the heat back into my body when I see something out of the corner of my eye. A black cloak. But there was something different about this cloak. And it was moving. Now my first instinct was to back away slowly and shut the door. So I did. My second instinct was to bolt. So I did. I bolt.
What is Hermione's pet half-kneazle called?
A) Princess Beatrice
B) Fluffy
C) Crookshanks
Okay, so I'm not happy with the cover of this story, I think it needs to include more characters like Val, Scorpius and Al. So if there are any artists out there who would be kind enough to draw me a cover that would be amazing! If you send me something, I'll give you a point on the questionnaire! It can be anything from cartoon to real people stuck together, I don't mind! Please consider, and if you do decide to did to do it, then please send me (via PM) a link to where I can find it. Thank you for reading! :)
