Rose's first week was fairly crazy.

First she had to focus on finding her way to classes which wasn't easy considering there were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts, some were wide and sweeping others were narrow and rickety, some lead different places on a Friday and others had vanishing steps that you had to remember to jump. Susan and Megan had to help a highly embarrassed Rose out after she got her leg trapped in one of these. Then there were the doors: Some wouldn't open unless you asked them politely or tickled them, others weren't doors at all but just solid walls pretending. It was also hard to remember where everything was because it all seemed to move around quite a bit. The people in the moving portraits kept going to visit one another and Rose was absolutely positive that the suits of armor that were set up around the school could walk.

There were times when ghosts could unhelpfully glide through a door you were trying to open and right through you. The first time this happened to Rose she felt as if she'd been dunked in a bucket of ice water. The ghost in the ruffles and tights, who, it turned out, was called Nearly-Headless Nick and the ghost of Gryffindor tower as well as the Fat Friar were always willing to point new students in the right direction but then there was Peeves: turns out that he was a poltergeist and loved to cause trouble. If you ran into him when you were late to class he'd dump waste paper baskets on your head, pull your hair, trip you up by pulling out the rug under your feet, throw chalk at you or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose and yell 'Got your conk!'

The caretaker, Argus Filtch, was even worse. He and his cat Mrs. Norris would skulk the halls looking for rule breakers. Rose overheard him shouting at a stammering Harry and Ron on the very first morning as she passed the third floor, and he was threatening to lock them up in the dungeons. Yikes. Note to self, avoid this guy. The students all hated him and most everyone would love to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

Once she managed to find them, the classes themselves were more interesting and yet far more difficult than anything Rose had ever studied before. Magic wasn't as easy as waving your wand and saying a few funny words like on television or in the movies. It was a lot more complicated than that.

Three lessons a week were spent in the Greenhouses behind the castle with a little witch called Professor Sprout who was also Rose's head-of-house, learning how to take care of strange plants and fungi and also what they were used for. Rose enjoyed this one although it involved a lot of hard work.

Another lesson she enjoyed was Astronomy. They went to the tallest tower of the castle at midnight on Wednesdays to study the movements of the stars and planets through their telescopes. Not only was this a fairly interesting lesson but it was also a double period with the Gryffindors so Rose got to see Hermione.

One lesson she didn't enjoy was History of Magic. She'd actually been excited for this one, maybe she'd learn plenty about her new world, it was an exciting prospect. She'd been sorely disappointed when their teacher had turned out to be a ghost called Professor Binns who did nothing but lecture then in a slow droning voice while they took notes or, in Rose's case, stared dazedly out the window until they ended up falling asleep.

There was Charms, which was taught by a tiny little wizard called Professor Flitwick who had to stand atop a pile of books to be able to see over his desk. The Hufflepuffs had this lesson in a double period with the Slytherins, who were an unfriendly lot who only seemed to want to talk to each other. Draco Malfoy would look at her coldly whenever she walked in, sometimes whispering to a few of his friends. Rose tried hard to ignore them.

Professor McGonagall taught Transfiguration which she explained as: "Some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." She then warned them that anyone who messed around in her lesson would leave and not come back before changing her desk into a pig and back again. Rose was impressed and everyone was excited to start but disappointed when they discovered they wouldn't change animals into furniture for a long time. Instead they took down a lot of complicated notes and then were given a match to try and turn into a needle. It was hard and Rose didn't manage to make any difference to hers. It was rather a blow to her morale.

Rose was also disappointed by Defense against the Dark Arts. She figured if someone like "You-Know-Who" ever turned up again she would need to be able to defend herself against him and his followers, but these lessons turned into a tad bit of a joke. Their teacher, Professor Quirrell, had a stutter worse than Rose's and wore an absurd turban which he said was a gift from a prince for helping get rid of a zombie but when Rose excitedly asked him how he did it he just turned pink and started discussing the weather so she wasn't sure she believed his story. She even overheard the ginger-haired Gryffindor twins, who she had learned were Ron's brothers Fred and George, telling Ron and Harry that it was full of garlic to ward off a vampire he'd met while he was abroad and was worried was coming back to get him one day.

Rose found that she had a bit of interest in potions but the teacher, Professor Snape, really didn't seem to like her all that much. As a matter-of-fact he didn't seem to like any of the students really. She was told by a third year student called Cedric Diggory that Snape always seemed to play favorites with his own students (The ones from Slytherin house). How unfair was that? Rose made a mental note to try and impress him, just out of sheer spite.

On Friday Rose was pleased to see, when she checked her schedule at breakfast (which she'd managed to find her way to without getting lost for once) that she had the afternoon off. Great, she needed a break. Her first week had been tiring and it was nice to see that she would get to start her weekend early.

Phantom brought her a letter from mum and dad- a reply to one she'd sent a few days before. She rewarded the owl with a share of her toast and then opened the letter which told her that they were happy she was settling in well and to make sure she did her best in class (note to self, try and stop sleeping in History of Magic) and to make sure to write once a week to tell them how she was doing. Rose smiled and tucked the letter away before returning to her breakfast. She'd write back on Monday.

After classes that day Rose decided that she'd use her free afternoon to do a bit of exploring. She climbed a few sets of stairs, instinctively jumping the vanishing step, (she'd learned her lesson about that,) and started wandering around a corridor, turning her head left and right to examine the paintings around her. She still wasn't used to the fact that the pictures could move. She loved to watch them.

She then decided to try a few doors. One was a solid wall playing tricks, the other was abandoned, empty except for Peeves who giggled with glee at the sight of someone to bother. He swooped down on her and tugged at her hair.

"Ouch! Knock it off Peeves!" Rose hissed.

"Fuzzy, fuzzy, fuzzy," Peeves teased, continuing to tug.

"QUIT IT!"

Rose spun around and took a swipe at him, which was of course useless, before stalking out of the room.

The next door she opened was far more satisfactory. It was like a dream lounge for someone like her. The room seemed too big to be allowed in this space but honestly Rose didn't think anything could surprise her anymore. There was a couch stretched out against one wall and on the other side of the room was a lovely looking piano. Rose let out a squeal of delight and ran over to sit down on the bench. She ran her fingers over the keys which felt wonderfully familiar. She then settled on a tempo and began to play. It wasn't an actual piece, she much preferred to make up her own music and just play however she was feeling at the moment. The tune she was creating now was up-beat and happy. A quick, bouncy sort of thing. It made her smile.

Rose stayed in the piano room, enjoying herself until she figured it must be close to time for dinner. She left the room and closed the door behind her, wondering if anyone else knew it was there. The odds were slim. It would be her little secret, a sanctuary just in case she needed an escape or just wanted to play.