Rose was having a whale of a time in Gryffindor house. She'd never been to school before, she'd been homeschooled by her mum. Hermione and Harry had homeschooled both her and Harry and Ginny's children in Muggle subjects since they were little children. Basic English, Maths, Science. Nobody really liked Maths and Science, and didn't see how'd it be useful in real life, but their parents didn't want them wasting their time till they were Hogwarts age. English was fun, though. But what was more fun was getting their Hogwarts letters, and being told by their parents that they no longer needed to study Muggle subjects, because they'd be learning magic. How Rose and Al had smirked, thinking of Lily and Hugo, with two more years of Muggle education ahead if them.
Since Professor McGonagall was the Headmistress, she was no longer the Head of Gryffindor House as she had been in their parents' time. The new Head of Gryffindor House was Neville Longbottom. He was probably the most fun Head Gryffindor House had seen since, well, Dumbledore. Quidditch victories, Prefect appointments, Head Boy and Girl appointments, and House Cup victories, according to James, were celebrated with an enormous homemade spread, courtesy Hannah Longbottom, neé Abbot. Her culinary skills as the new owner of the Leaky Cauldron were legendary. And Neville was also the unofficial Agony Aunt of all of Gryffindor House. Just the other day, Rose had seen him sitting in the common room, telling a tall, blond sixth-year to "Just ask her out, because that's how it worked with me and Hannah."
Everybody seemed to settle into routine and form cliques pretty quickly at Hogwarts. Rose had a little clique of her own, soon enough, consisting of herself, Al, and Ruby Macmillan. If Rose wasn't mistaken, Al had begun to develop a tiny crush on Ruby. The Potters and the Weasleys had known the Macmillans all their lives, and Ruby had been a regular playmate at Christmas and New Year parties, weddings, and birthdays. But after coming to Hogwarts, they'd gotten closer to her. Their association earlier had always been of the family friend variety, but now, they were getting to know her better for herself, not as Uncle Ernie's daughter. The very first Herbology lesson had brought them close.
Neville had wanted them to split into threes to work on some strange levitating plant that was supposed to be the staple diet of witches in South Korea, as it was very good for the skin. It vaguely resembled aloe vera, but the juice it squirted out of its thick leaves was purple. When added to milk, stirred, and drunk, the juice made your skin flawless. It tasted nasty, though. According to Neville, it was the most stolen plant at Hogwarts, and the perpetrators were usually girls from the third year to the seventh year, and some boys, too. Which was why the plant was kept under enchanted lock and key in the greenhouses, because it wasn't indigenous to Britain, and was hard to get a hold of. Neville had specially ordered a consignment from South Korea for the first years. Rose, Al, and Ruby had banded together to work on the levitating aloe vera because in the whole Gryffinfor-and-Hufflepuff first year Herbology batch, they knew each other the best. And Ruby had turned out to be quite sweet, and she also had a wicked sense of humour. She was instant friend material. The three had bonded together like glue, especially after Ruby accidentally squeezed the levitating aloe vera too hard, plastering the back of Scorpius "Snobbius" Malfoy's head with purple goop. Things like purple plant extract and enormous trolls in bathrooms seem to be key ingredients in cementing friendships.