It was with a light heart that Harry reappeared on Rose's shoulder. He could immediately feel that she was relieved by his presence, which almost made him feel guilty for leaving.

'Dumbledore and Susan's aunt are taking care of it now.' Harry thought to her.

She decided to respond mentally as well. 'Will... will my godfather be nice?'

She sounded so hopeful, but prepared for disappointment. 'He loves you. He was your dad's best friend, and he spent a lot of time with you when you were born. He's a goofy guy, and a bit of a prankster, but he would do anything for you. Don't worry about him. He would have raised you as his own without hesitation if he hadn't gone to jail.'

She smiled, picked him up off of her shoulder, and hugged him. "Thank you." she whispered into his feathers.

'Anything for you. You just have to ask.'

Line BreakBreakfast finished, Professor Sprout, the Hufflepuff Head of House, came around and handed out schedules. It was mostly just so everyone had a copy, as until third year where they had electives everyone would have the same schedule.

Class was to start that very day, and Rose finally had a thought. "No one else is going to bring animals into the classroom, are they?" she asked sadly.

Susan shook her head. "No, not that I can think of."

"I don't want to leave Harry anywhere. He's one of my best friends." she explained.

Harry nudged her gently. 'No one except Snape would say anything.' he told her.

"Really?" Rose asked.

Harry nodded.

"You can come with me, then!" she cheered.

Harry nodded. 'I can probably work on Professor Snape as well, if you feel like playing a little prank.' he said mischeviously.

Rose agreed, and they started the day.

True to his word, er... thoughts, no one said anything. Their first class was Charms with Flitwick.

The very first class with Flitwick was little more than a primer, as always. He showed the collective Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students how to properly perform wand movements, and described the uses and purposes of charms in everyday life.

All in all, Harry ignored it. He had run through this class both in his head and through his "job" so many times that he could repeat it by memory. Not to mention that wand movements became meaningless with both familiarity of the spell, and when you stopped using a wand in the first place.

He felt a brush that sent shivers down his skin when Rose waved her wand. It had been a long time since he gave someone one of his feathers, and he had almost forgotten the feeling.

He idly wondered if Fawkes had felt the same way whenever he and Voldie had gone at it.

Rose waved her wand again, following Flitwick's instructions, and Harry shivered again.

Even still, he couldn't regret it. It's hard to say it in a way that didn't sound ridiculous, but who could understand someone better than yourself? Rose was him in a lot of ways, and he knew that he would have truly appreciated everything he did.

Giving her his feather was more than just a symbol of his friendship, or a connection to him. It was like giving himself to her. To Rose, it would say that he would always be with her, one way or another.

He settled in for a nap on her shoulder, and closed his eyes.

Line Break

As much as Flitwick was a great teacher, McGonagall was an exciting one. Transfiguration was a complicated and dangerous branch of magic, and she was stern and required absolute obedience.

Even so, she was charismatic in the classroom.

When the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff class entered, it was to an almost empty classroom. They sat respectfully, and Rose looked around for the teacher.

The second the clock struck time for class to cstart, the cat leaped from the desk and shifted to Professor Minerva McGonagall.

"Good. You are all present and accounted for. I do not tolerate tardiness or disobedience in my classroom. Transfiguration is a dangerous art, and I will be watching each and every single one of you very carefully."

The class was as enraptured as they were intimidated, and Professor McGonagall performed a few demonstrations of her craft. She turned her desk into a large pig, and then back, and conjured a small flock of birds.

"Today, you will learn to transform a matchstick into a needle." McGonagall directed, then showed them the wand movement and told them the incantation.

Rose carefully mimicked the movement and words, slowly moving her wand and pointing it at the match.

Harry hoped from her shoulder and to the desk.

'It's all about intent. You have to imagine the change, and want it to happen.' he explained.

Rose nodded, and performed the spell again, eyes closed in concentration.

"Very good, Miss Potter. An excellent transfiguration. 5 points to Hufflepuff." McGonagall complimented. You could hear the smile in her voice.

Rose opened her eyes to find a shiny needle in front of her.

"I did it?" she wondered.

"Can you tell us?" Susan asked. "I can't get mine to change much at all."

Rose agreed with a smile. "Sure, but Harry is the one who helped me."