Dear Rose,

Here's that book I mentioned. Hopefully, it treats you well. Please be careful with it, and don't let others see you with it, besides perhaps those twins of yours. Triads are rare and dangerous, as you're about to find out.

Roma

All as one; The True Story of Triads

By Mary-Anne, Lars, and Dante

To whom it may concern;

No, those are not our real names, and no, you will not learn of our true identities. If you did - pardon the cliché -we would have to kill you. No ifs, ands, ors, or buts. For the purpose of this tale, our names are unnecessary, all that you need to know is that we are a true triad, and we are writing this book as a warning to those to find themselves in the same predicament as we have. Please; take heed of our warnings, and note that we do not write these words to scare you, dear reader. We are only trying to inform you of the danger you now find yourself in if you are indeed in a Triad.

I, Mary-Anne, will be the main author of this tale. Although not the center of the triad – that would be Lars – I am the best spoken, or in this case, best at writing. This book will update to the best-known vernacular of the holder, and will only be able to be read by those who do not want to use its secrets, of which there are many. This book will appear as A History of The Elements in Magic to anyone who is not reading it. That includes someone in your Triad, if you're in a Triad, so you may want to explain that to them.

All in all, dear reader, we warn you that these pages hold secrets but they also hold danger and a history the world would rather we forget. Please remember that not everyone you meet deserves to know these secrets, and to check just hand them the book. It'll be a good learning experience for everyone.

"Harry…. Harryyy…" Rose's voice was a whisper, and she was using some of her hair to tickle her twins face. "Harrrryyy…"

"G'way," was Harry's groaned response as he threw an arm up to block his face from her hairy assault. "'M sleepin' here."

"I'm aware, twin 'o mine," Rose would whisper her assurance, "but I think I've figured out a bit about your egg problem."

At that Harry's head shot up and they almost clashed but Rose dodged just in time. "You think you've figured out something about the egg?!"

"Shh!" Rose hushed, looking around his dorm at his snoring mates. "Yes, yes, I did. I want you to try to listen to it under water."

Harry looked disgruntled. "Like, take a bath with it?"

"Yeah, like take a bath with it. It'll likely tell you what you want to know then." Rose would shrug her shoulders. "I mean, if it doesn't work in the air water is the only other option. It doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard so I doubt it's an animal call or something like that, so maybe it's an aquatic thing I've never heard."

Harry would sigh and nod, "Yeah, I'll do that… What time is it."

Rose blushed a bit. "It's 3 in the morning."

"What are you doing in my dorm at 3 in the morning?" Harry hissed.

"Telling you about the egg. I just had the revelation," Rose lied. "So I figured I'd tell you now."

"Ahh… Well… Get out now."

Rose held a hand to her chest, "You wound me, brother," but at that moment Neville released a giant snore and she startled a bit, and looked at her twin. "You know what, actually… I'll totally just leave now."

Harry snorted and shook his head, laying back down, "Yeah, you do that."

"Miss Potter?" A genial voice called.

Rose stayed silent, holding onto the newest edition of her 'hoard'. She wasn't quite sure how long she had been avoiding everyone, but she had left her link to the twins up so they could assure everyone she was fine if completely necessary. She had been warned of this visitor, but she couldn't be bothered to care either. If he caused a disturbance it was his own fault and if he irritated any of her children, or dared raise a wand to them…

A flicker of rage, much like a flame on a candle wavered inside of her, before a feeling from the twins – not unlike her own – made it seem as if gasoline were poured over her candle and suddenly she was a bonfire. Who did he think he was to barge into her trunk? Who did he think he was to hire Professor Grubbly-Plank when Hagrid was a perfectly good professor? Who did he think he was to-

Wait, was he petting something?

She whipped around and sure enough, there squatted Dumbledore in his purple-robed glory. His beard was slung over his shoulder – much to the joy of Weiss the Kneazle, who was stretching her muscular body to bat at the beard, her white fur rustling with the force of her purr. It was also obvious why Dumbledore had bent down, as Weiss's most recent offspring, Celeste, was laying on the ground, her gray fur standing on end as she assessed whether Dumbledore was a threat or not. Dumbledore's posture was non-threatening, and his hand was held out upside down in case Celeste decided to sniff him, but he was struggling to balance a bit with Weiss's weight pressing against his back.

And just like that, Rose's anger flickered out and died; it was hard to be angry at someone when you were suddenly reminded they weren't omnipotent, simply human. She sighed as she looked at Rune mournfully. She knew the chances of Dumbledore taking him were slim, but with Dumbledore's presence that meant there was some sort of trouble and that she, likely, was either the cause or the solution.

"Her name is Celeste," Rose offered as she slowly approached to not spook the easily frightened kitten. "And the one on your back is her mother, Weiss."

"This really is an extraordinary piece of magic, Miss Potter," Dumbledore commented with his twinkling blue eyes looking up at Rose. "It seems that you have everything in here! I have passed through a rainforest, a cave, plains, and a tundra to get here, and this is a forest. I wonder how it's sustainable?"

"Well, honestly," Rose said, her cheeks a bit pink with the subtle praise. "At first it wasn't. I didn't have enough creatures in each area to create the idea of natural habitats, and some creatures rather like being on their own, not in groups. Then the issue of food and water came up… But with the help of my house-elf, Rover, I've been able to balance everything. They all have enough food, of the types they like, and they stay in their own habitats for the most part. That's, ironically, what the Kneazles and Kenelm are for. They make it so the creatures stay where they're meant to be."

"Amazing," Dumbledore said with a grin, finally retracting his offer for attention from Celeste and turning so he could pet Weiss. "And what exactly is a Kenelm?"

"Oh," Rose blushed. "Kenelm the Animal Sentinel. He's a half-breed. Half Crup half Pitbull." And just like that Rose's mood crashed again. Half-breed. That's what they were calling Hagrid now. Because people could definitely choose who their parents were, couldn't they? And they could certainly decide their parents were of the same race.

"Ahh," Dumbledore said, his voice taking a grim turn along with Rose's words. "Yes, about that…"

"How could you hire that… That woman when you already have a great Care of Magical Creatures teacher? She tied up a Unicorn!" Rose gestured wildly behind her to Rune who whinnied and tossed his head. "Hagrid is so much better!"

Dumbledore sighed, his hand stilling on Weiss's back; "I'm neither saying that she is better nor worse, Miss Potter, but I do agree that I would like Hagrid back doing his job. However, it is convincing him that he is good enough that is the issue. I believe it will still be a short time before he will allow himself to be seen again."

Rose's anger melted a bit and she paused, kneeling on the ground and motioning to Celest who waddled over and got her head scratched. "You mean… You mean you're not sacking Hagrid?"

"I'd never dream of it," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "I just needed someone to teach the class until that time he would return."

Rose sighed in relief and nodded her head, "Good. Okay. Is that… Is that the only reason you came in here?"

"Oh, no," Dumbledore's grin widened. "I wanted to see where the elusive Miss Potter and her band of Merry Animals hid away, and I am glad to say that I am not disappointed. However, I would like to see what other animals you have here?"

His words weren't a demand, more of an honest question as to whether he would be allowed or not, and Rose found herself grinning. "Of course I'll show you! I won't show you everything of course; I don't have time for that and neither do you, but I'll let you meet Eddie and Emery. You've already sort of met Emery, but he was still an egg."

"Your Hungarian Horntail?" Dumbledore inquired as he began attempting to extricate himself from Weiss's grip.

"The very same," Rose said with a nod, stopping petting Celest and standing up. After a few moments of Dumbledore wrestling with Weiss Rose would clap her hands and sigh, "Come on Weiss. Time for the Professor and I to go."

"Yes, well, I quite disagree Rose. However… If you scratch my chest later…" Was what Rose heard when Weiss meowed at her, so she nodded her head, letting the cat know that she agreed without outright letting her ability be known.

Weiss extricated herself from Dumbledore with a huff and floofed up her tail as if insulted, starting to saunter away, Celest following looking more like a dust mite who had gained sentience than an actual animal. Rose would then look at her elder and smile very slightly, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Wasn't this the man who had helped create the uses for Dragon's blood? But she waved the concern away, she wouldn't let him do anything to her baby.

"Alright, remember how you said you passed a cave? We're going to go near there. The cave system is mainly for Emery. Granted Eddie joins too, but that's not really where he's meant to be if you follow me. He is supposed to be more plains or desert." Rose would approach Dumbledore and smile up at the tall man before waving her hand, "But I'll be nice and take you on a shortcut. Rune, you stay safe," She'd call back to her Unicorn, who agreed to stay safe before she put her hand on a tree. A moment later a door appeared on the tree, large enough for both Dumbledore and Rose to fit through and she'd pull the door open, smiling at her elder. "Right this way sir."

"This really is amazing Magic," Dumbledore would say as he and Rose made their way out of a tree that was rather close to the cave they were approaching. "I don't believe tree travel has been implemented in many years, yet here I am witnessing it for myself!"

"And experiencing it," Rose would say with a roguish grin before she'd hold her hand out to Dumbledore to stop him from moving forward anymore, "I'm going to call him out here just to be safe. He's rather territorial, for obvious reasons."

"That's completely understandable, my girl," Dumbledore said with a grin, his beard still thrown over his shoulder, but somehow Rose doubted he even realized it, but she didn't feel like pointing it out to him either.

"Emery, come out here please!" She called, being careful to just sound like a regular human calling for a pet, like a dog. She braced herself for his grumbling, but none came. The only way she knew he was approaching was the ground had started to shake a bit, then the shaking got more and more prominent the closer to the entrance of the cave Emery got. Although only three months old he was big enough to at least shake pebbles loose from the ground, his steps not quite thundering, but almost there. For now, as Dumbledore would discover when Emery exited the cave, Emery was as big as Rose. It seemed that at this young age he doubled in size every month, and Rose had started to worry that the poor dear would be stuck in her trunk forever. That would be an issue she'd have to bring up with Remus, likely.

"My he is getting big," Dumbledore would remark, looking over Emery. Emery's golden eyes were very alert at the moment, both because he was leaving his hoard (Rose resisted rolling her eyes every time Zolsy gave him a new item to find) and because he didn't know Dumbledore. There was a pause as he stood there, smoke slowly billowing from his nostrils before Eddie sauntered out and nuzzled up against Rose.

"Mrowl?" Eddie said, having picked up on the fact that Rose couldn't understand him if he didn't actually speak.

"Boys, this is Professor Dumbledore. He's the reason I've been allowed to keep Emery and that I am allowed to be in here so often." Rose started absently braiding her hair as Eddie nuzzled her because he had a horrible habit of messing it up beyond repair.

Emery huffed and approached, stopping his steady stream of smoke. He stopped in front of Dumbledore and Rose before sighing and laying down, still looking regal but at least not as tall. Rose almost said 'good boy' but with a single glance Emery shut down her need to say that.

"So, have you encountered any issues raising these too? Emery and… Eddie, was it?" Dumbledore asked as he tilted his head to look at Emery closer without insulting the Dragon by approaching.

"Not too many," Rose admitted. "Small bouts of jealousy," at the word Eddie sent out a blast of Chocolate Chip cookies that he had been using to subdue Emery's and his own jealousy for awhile since their last fight. "and the occasional sibling argument, but nothing I haven't been able to handle. As long as I stay calm around this one," Rose's hand would rub against Eddie's cheek just how he liked it, "then there are no problems with his gas as he was mainly raised by me. For Emery, he just gets little trinkets and such for his hoard when he's a good boy."

"Fascinating," Dumbledore muttered, looking over Eddie now. "May I approach him?"

Rose looked at Eddie who mewed adorably and she grinned, "Well, I don't see why not. He's really rather personable."

Dumbledore slowly approached Eddie, his hand outstretched but not aggressive as he took short, small steps. Eddie glanced at Rose before slowly approaching Dumbledore with a hunched head to show he wouldn't attack, and a rumbling purr to appease everyone before his head gently bumped into the Professor's hand.

"He is very soft and…" Dumbledore took a deep sniff, "He smells wonderful too. Is that chocolate chip cookies?"

Rose nodded her head and laughed, "Yeah, since no one's ever really taken care of a Nundu we didn't know that they could do this, but with his mood, he'll change how he smells. Some of them are comforting, like the cookies, others invigorating like when he smells like oranges, and others of them make you lazy, like lavender."

"Simply fascinating," Dumbledore muttered, investigating the pouches on Eddie's neck now while being carefully scrutinized by both Rose and Emery. "And this is what expands when he roars, yes? It can both be filled with the gas, but also fill with sound to make him seem larger?"

"Indeed. Granted as he grows – did you know they get about as big as elephants? – he won't need to do it to sound bigger unless something happens to his vocal chords. Which, with a human watching over him, no offense Eddie, shouldn't happen. Granted it is still possible but I'll watch over him to make sure it doesn't happen."

"Amazing. Thank you, Miss Potter, for this wonderful experience. I'm very glad that I got to meet these two strapping young men, and that they are so very well behaved. Do you think, at some point, I could arrange with you a day that those who sign up can meet with some of your animals? Granted we may have to arrange it by year…" Dumbledore hummed to himself as he thought before snapping back into focus. "But regardless, I think you have a great future ahead of you, Rose Potter. A great future indeed. But for now, the real matter on hand. How do I get out of here?"

Rose had finally started showing her face around the school at the same time that the golden trio convinced Hagrid that he could show his face. And that is also when Harry finally came to speak to Rose about the egg after her advice. She had been sitting in Ravenclaw's study, savoring her moment of quiet when Harry appeared and looked around, his face splitting into a grin when he saw Rose.

"Rose, thank Merlin! I need help, and Hermione can only do so much." Harry's voice showed how frazzled he was, if his hair hadn't already, so Rose set her book down and looked at the purring Maple. She combed her fingers through her fur before motioning to her twin to sit down in the chair opposite of her.

"Come brother o' mine and allow me to wipe away your fears," Rose said as she continued to pet Maple.

Harry walked to the chair and sat, sighing heavily. "We cracked the egg, pun intended, and I don't know what to do about what's in it."

"Well, what's in it?"

"A riddle."

"Yeah, because that helps me help you."

"Sorry, it says; Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground, and while you're searching ponder this; we've taken what you'll sorely miss, an hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took, but past an hour, the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Rose blinked and sighed, "Do you have it written down?"

Harry nodded and put his paper on the desk so Rose could look it over, she'd hum and bite her lower lip. "So it's about mermaids, and they'll take something you'll sorely miss, perhaps your broom? So…. Oh! They want you to go underwater! Likely the black lake."

"Well, yes," Harry said thoughtfully. "But I can't breath under water."

"Then grow gills." Rose said easily, thinking strictly in the line of nature naturally before muttering, "Or I suppose a bubblehead charm would work, but you don't learn those until way later."

"Gills! Thanks, Rose, Hermione and I will work on that! At least you gave us something to look into!" Harry stood quickly to leave, and Rose called out after him.

"Ask Neville if there are any plants that can do it! You never know, after all."

Harry threw her a thumbs up and disappeared. Rowena chose that moment to speak up, "You do realize Gilly weed would do that for him perfectly well?"

"Oh, of course, I did. That's why I sent him to Neville; this isn't the Triwizard Tournament with Champion Harry Potter and Co-Champion Rose Potter, after all. This is his fight, I can't tell him everything."

"If only everyone was as moral as you, Miss Potter, the world would be a much better place."

"Much less exciting, but yes, a much better place." Rose would say with a laugh. "It'll take a long time for society to even get close to that point, however. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to reading."

"Of course. Enjoy your book, Rose."

"Always."