A/N Hey y'all. I am so sorry it's taken me so long to post this chapter. I've actually had it ready for about a week now, and I may or may not have forgotten to post it on . I am now on AO3, and any future works will most likely be posted there instead of here.

This chapter was beta-read by the wonderful ZriptideZ. They are an amazing author, and you should definely check out their stories. The cover art for this fic and my profile pic was made by my awesome friend Milkshake and Cookies, who is an amazing writer with several works on this site.

Chapter 6: The First Week

Whispers followed Rose as soon as she left her dormitory. Purebloods and half-bloods told their muggleborn friends tales of how The-Girl-Who-Lived had 'defeated' You-Know-Who ten years prior. Students craned their necks and walked in circles around the halls just to get a glimpse of their so-called Saviour.

It really was quite irritating to Rose, especially since it almost made her late to her first class - Transfiguration. Luckily, there was a sixth year more than happy to show her a shortcut.

In fact, Rose discovered several secret passages going from class to class that day. Some she stumbled upon by accident, and others she just remembered from her father's descriptions.

And so, this led Rose to thinking about the Marauder's Map. She'd heard from her uncles that it had been confiscated by Filch in their seventh year (how they had let that happen, Rose had no idea). She assumed that in a decade, someone had to have stolen it back.

The Map showed all of Hogwarts' 142 staircases, as well as the hundreds of passages and hidden rooms located throughout the castle. It was also extremely useful if someone was - ahem - up to no good. Well, with the pranking books Rose bought in Diagon Alley, it was only fair that she carried on the torch.


Rose made it through the first week fairly well; though being away from magic for so long had made her forget just how complex it was. In their first Transfiguration class, she had only been able to turn her match silver and shiny, unlike the perfect needle transformed by Hermione Granger, one of Rose's roommates.

Their Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, was also their Head of House and the Deputy Headmistress. The Head of Hufflepuff, Professor Sprout, was their Herbology teacher, and there was also Professor Snape - Head of Slytherin and Potions teacher.

Rose had an interesting interaction with Professor Snape that Friday during potions. Gryffindors also took this class with the Slytherins, known enemies of their house. All the older students had told the first years that Snape always favored his own House, and often deducted House points from everyone else for no reason whatsoever.

Rose, too, was expecting this treatment, yet it never came. Even when Neville accidentally added the wrong ingredient to their cauldron, causing it to explode, he did not scorn her. Instead, he merely yelled at Neville and had another boy help him to the infirmary. After class, the two friends were amazed by the fact that they had both gotten away with blowing up a cauldron with no severe consequences.

When all her classes were finished on Friday, Rose trekked down past the Greenhouses to Hagrid's Cabin, which was on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She had received a note from him earlier today, asking if she would be okay to visit him and tell him about her first week.

Upon approaching the cabin, Rose could hear the commotion going on inside.

"Back, fang—back!"

Hagrid opened the wooden door and let Rose enter, all while keeping a tight grip on the collar of his boarhound. The small shack was simple; only a single room. In one corner sat a large bed topped with a colorful patchwork quilt, and right across from the door was a massive fireplace, above which a huge copper kettle hung. Hams and pheasants and herbs hung from the rafters, which were tall enough to accommodate Hagrid's height.

"Make yerself at home, Rosie," Hagrid welcomed, inclining his head towards the large handcrafted table in the center of the kitchen area.

The groundskeeper filled a mug with tea for his guest, and gave her a plate of rock cakes as well.

As a sign of courtesy towards her host, Rose dunked her cakes in the tea and pretended to enjoy them.

Hagrid talked with Rose, asking her about her first week of classes. When she came to talking about potions that day, he seemed the tiniest bit surprised when she described how Professor Snape had acted towards her in class.

"Yeh musta gotten lucky, Rose. Professor Snape's a good man, jus' not very partial ter those students outside 'is House. He musta taken a likin' ter yeh."

The young Gryffindor blushed slightly at this. "I have no idea why, Hagrid. I'm not very good at potions. I guess I didn't inherit that skill from my mum," she finished with a laugh.

Hagrid let out a hearty chuckle, and responded, "Oh, I remember. Yer mum, Lily, was a bright little witch. Talented at Potions an' Charms. Now, yer father on the other hand could barely go through a single Potions class without endin' up in the infirmary. Caught 'im and 'is friends skivin' off it too, several times. Always more interested in exploring the Forbidden Forest."

The gamekeeper chuckled again at the memory, and Rose smiled wistfully. She always enjoyed hearing about her parents from others. Yes, she had memories of them, but they were fewer in number.

Rose visited with Hagrid for another hour before seeing how late it was and trekking back to the castle. Her pockets were weighed down with extra rock cakes, the load wrapped in an old newspaper.


Saturday morning found Rose contemplating what to do with her free day. Most of the boys talked about sleeping in and spending the day playing wizard's chess, but Hermione Granger on the other hand was already down at the library, occupied by the pages of dusty tomes.

After completing her Transfiguration and Charms homework, Rose sat down to write a letter. She was very curious as to what had happened to her Uncle Sirius. All the time she was in the Muggle world, he had never tried to contact her. The last time she had even seen him was that fateful Hallow's Eve.

The young Gryffindor seriously hoped that nothing bad had happened to him. Especially since Rose could faintly remember him saying that he would go and finish off the traitor, Pettigrew. She was afraid that he had received retribution for that from a different Death Eater, or by some terrible chance was bested by the rat.

And so, the raven haired girl pulled out a sheet of parchment and began to write.

Dear Sirius Black,

Hello. My name is Rose Potter. You may not remember me well, but I am your goddaughter. I have not seen you since I was an infant, and am hoping to reconnect with you. I understand if you do not wish to do this, however. I know it can be hard since we both suffered that fateful Halloween when my parents were killed.

I hope that you are in good health, and that I am able to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Rosie

Finishing her letter, Rose slid it into an envelope and sealed it. She then left the Tower and walked to the Owlery to give it Hedwig. The drafty tower was filled to the brim with owls of all species sitting on their perches. Feathers, straw, droppings, and small vermin skeletons covered every inch of the floor.

The snowy owl immediately flew onto her mistress's shoulder and butted heads with her. Rose laughed at the owl's antics and stroked the top of her head.

"Oh, it's nice to see you, Hedwig. You're such a pretty owl, you know. So smart, too." The animal in reference puffed it's chest out importantly, showing off to its new friends.

"Do you think you could send a letter for me?"

Hedwig gave her owner a look, as if to say, 'what do you take me for, a human?'

"It's for Sirius Black. Do you know how to get to him?"

At this, the owl behaved slightly strangely; she tilted her head to one side and shook her wings a little bit. Then, without preamble, Hedwig grabbed the letter in her beak and soared out the opening in the stone wall. Rose watched her fly into the horizon for a moment, then made her way back to the Common Room.

Rose went up to her dormitory, noticing the pile of hard rock cakes sitting on her bedside table as she approached her things. The raven-haired girl simply picked them up and threw them in the trash can. She would've done the same with the newspaper they were wrapped in, but the headline caught her eye.

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

Rose quickly unballed the paper and continued to read the article.

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

July 31st, but that was when...that was when Hagrid took her to get her school supplies. The break-in could've happened when they were there!

Something else bothered her about the article though, too. The spokesgoblin had said that the vault had been emptied earlier that day. And the thieves would've been looking for something valuable, a treasure.

And so, Rose came to the conclusion that whatever Hagrid had picked up for Dumbledore that day had to be what the criminal was looking for.

Rose spent the rest of the weekend searching through the library, contemplating what could've been in the vault.