Chapter 3

Rose stood up and moved to the table that had green and silver sashes above it. She didn't really mind which house she was in, but she had wanted to be near to Lily.

Lily had told her that when people were sorted they were applauded by their new house and sometime the other houses, but as she walked no-one seemed to be clapping for her, although she got a few looks, and the table that Lily was at the three boys she talked with on the train were, it seemed, in conversation about her as they kept looking at her and nodding. She tuned her ears into what they were saying, a trick a German witch taught her.

It turned out they were not talking about her, they were talking about someone called Snivellus, who was in Slytherin, and were plotting against him. Something about an unused classroom in the dungeons.

Before Rose noticed, she had sat down next to a skinny Slytherin her own age with silky black hair. He was trying to ignore her, while her other house mates were doing the opposite, they were staring at her. looking at her with hate.

She ignored them and focused on the other new students, which were all first years. After awhile she looked around the table and saw that the Slytherins had deemed the first years more interesting than her, for a while anyway, Rose would make sure that by the end of the year they would remember her.

***

After all the first years had been sorted into houses Dumbledore stood up, said a few nonsense words, clapped and sat down. The feast began, food materialised on every plate, and chatter sprang up everywhere. Not as grand a feast as what Rose was used to, but she would adapt to it, as she must everything else.

Life in Russia to start with was not as easy as it seemed. After she met Ivan things were hard for a time while she learned to use her magic. Ivan taught her to project an air of confidence that would stop most minor enemies who thought her weaker than them, she knew she'd need this tonight at some point.

***

The great hall was a din of noise, people congratulating the new members of each house, discussing their subjects and teachers, who they liked who they didn't.

Rose tried to listen to what Lily was saying to her friends over at the Gryffindor table but was interrupted by a blond Slytherin girl seated opposite her at the table.

"What are you doing in our house?" asked the blond, "Only purebloods who have family members in Slytherin can get in here and you are a Mudblood, and have no claim to this house.

Rose looked up from her plate and stared down her nose at the girl, who seemed to be confused as to why the lesser being that was Rose hadn't answered her yet, in a bored voice rose replied "I went where the sorting hat put me, if you can find a problem with that then I suggest you go and either talk to the headmaster or meet me in the room of requirement 20 minutes after dinner ends and we'll sort it out there." The nasty glint in Rose's eyes and the smirk on her face mad the girl back down slightly.

Normally Rose wouldn't have to put on such a face but the people here did not fear her and so may not have believed that she wouldn't back down the minute the girl replied.

Getting that respect back was very high on Rose's to do list. The school had to know had she was capable of, the sorting hat knew – but then it had looked inside of her head which many had not had the privilege of doing, and some who tried and then regretted it. People only crossed Rose once; either they didn't survive to cross her again, or they had the sense not to.

Rose was hoping that the girl would agree to meet her in the room of requirement, James had asked her 'Lily' to meet him in there so she already knew about it and how to get in there. Rose had been at Hogwarts less than an hour and she was already bored, no adventures.

Ivan had warned her not to show her complete power unless it was absolutely necessary, and Rose figured that she'd be able to beat any of the Slytherins, as long as they fought in groups no larger that 6, without showing them too much power, just enough to have them fear her would have to do.

The Slytherins weren't expecting the new girl to know so much about Hogwarts, they assumed that the 'mudblood' who knew nothing of magic wouldn't be… well, so prepared for a fight.

From what Lily had said on the train the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws tended to stay out of the way of the Slytherins, but the Gryffindors would never back down from the Slytherins. Rose had expected, when she sat down, that she would have to face the Gryffindors first but it seemed she'd have to win her own house over with her power first.

Rose glanced down at her plate(she hadn't started eating yet) while the other girl was trying to come up with something to say. She saw her mid length black hair in the gold plate, she'd had it black for a couple of months and was rapidly becoming bored of it. Blue. She though, closing her eyes, blue. She opened her eyes when she heard gasps all around her, looking into her plate again she saw her jet-black hair but now it had numerous blue streaks all over.

Rose listened to the busy thoughts of the Slytherins that were nearest to her and saw her hair change colour, they all thought that she was a metamorphagus.

The Slytherins seemed to think that this show of power and guts were not to be messed with and decided that an alliance would suit them better than a spy in their house.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" were the next words Rose heard, she smirked the hair trick had obviously worked.

"Russia" was her answer, plain and simple.

This is my 3rd or 4th attempt at this chapter, I have the ideas but the words seem to escape me. KrazyKate