Chapter Two Part 1: Her Hogwarts Year: 1994
"You two be safe, alright? I know that at Hogwarts you'll be tempted to use magic for your fun, but please, be reasonable," Father pleaded, "I don't want to send another howler about my children breaking a kid's nose."
Father was having his annual beginning of the school year pep talk. He did this every year without fail. Rosie commended him for that. Father would sit Rosie and Cameron down by platforms 9 and ¾ and talk about the school regulations. The school regulations were more like Father's rules laced into the school rules so that if you got in trouble with the school, you would have been in so much trouble with Father.
"Way to single me out," Cameron muttered under his breath, his arms crossed like a grade-schooler.
"I'm singling you out to make sure it doesn't happen again," Father said.
"They're the ones who started it," Cameron crossed his arms and huffed.
Father massaged his temples, "Why can't you be more like Rosie. She hardly causes any trouble."
"It's different when your rival house is constantly breathing down your neck," Cameron stated truthfully.
Father pursed his lips. He was thinking long and hard. Rosie had heard more than a fair share of Father's Slytherin escapades in his time at Hogwarts– the pranks he pulled and the atrocities he committed. He understood what it was like to have a house rivalry, especially with Gryffindor. Rosie assumed he was trying to do his best to set a good example. Father sighed. He gave in, "Fine. Just no bloody or broken noses."
"I guess," Cameron looked away.
"I guess?" I want you to promise me," Father said, "Rosie, you too."
"What! Why me? I did nothing wrong," Rosie exclaimed.
"Promise me, the both of you," Father said. His words were final.
"Okay, I promise-," Cameron said as if it was against his will.
"-No broken or bloody noses," Rosie declared.
"Good, now you two have a good school year," Father said. He grabbed the two into a tight hug, planting a kiss on each of their foreheads. "I'll see you two in the winter, and have fun, and learn new spells."
Rosie watched Father stick his hands into his pockets as she and Cameron, hopped onto the train at the last whistle. Father didn't need to wave them off. Rosie and Cameron weren't small, little first years anymore. They were past the 'I'll miss you's and the 'Send me letters' for a while now. The sappiness was way past its expiration date.
The train conductor had called out for last-minute passengers as he tooted the train whistle. The train engine was hot and ready, and the wheels were prepared for take-off. Time to return to Hogwarts.
To Rosie, the most annoying thing about her relationship with Cameron at Hogwarts was that everyone was very aware that they were siblings- at least in the Slytherin house. It was a pureblood wizard's responsibility to be knowledgeable about which families were 'good' and which families were 'bad'. They were the Anh family for goodness sakes! It was far from some tiny secret. Sometimes, Rosie wished she didn't exist, that she was not Cameron's little sister. At Hogwarts, your whole social life was surrounded by your housemates, and that meant Rosie saw Cameron constantly. Absolutely no privacy. Rosie would even go out of her way to avoid Cameron like the plague, a nearly impossible feat.
The first thing Rosie said to Cameron on the train was 'see ya later!'. She pushed him off to go find his friends. There was no need to dwell on it when she was going to see him around school all time. Rosie just wanted to find her friends. She had spent the entire summer with her family with absolutely no contact outside of that per Father's wishes. Rosie walked down each train cart to find her friends. One compartment, had a very nervous group of first years, judging by their lack of uniform house colors and the fact that they had put on their Hogwarts uniform when the train had yet to arrive, screamed new students. The journey to Hogwarts was long, and this trip was the last time to wear whatever clothes you wanted. Afterward, it was itchy, tweed skirts, and stiff ties all day... Well, almost every day...
In the next compartment, Rosie could sense an intense air coming from it. She passed by the compartment and inside, were three pairs of couples having a full-on makeout session. They didn't even bother to draw the curtains on the sliding glass door. They were out in the open for everyone to see, and Rosie could not have felt more second-hand embarrassment as she quickly ran past the compartment. The people inside were clearly not bothered. Even though Rosie's glimpse took no less than a second, the image was forever engraved into her memory, and not in a good way. Watching them had made her body grow hot.
By the third or fourth compartment, Rosie spotted that iconic flare of blond hair with green and silver streaks running through it. Very Slytherin appropriate. It was Rosie's friend, Daphne Greengrass, perhaps an even closer friend compared to Pansy. Rosie and Pansy were childhood friends, but throughout the year, Pansy stuck to Draco like glue, so Rosie tended to spend time with just her and Daphne.
"Hey, you," Rosie said as she slid the glass door open, "Nice hair, as always."
"My parents have no idea, but it's about time!" Daphne said, wrapping Rosie in a hug, "Pansy went over to woo Draco, you know, the usual, and Tiffany wanted to hang out with her Gryffindor friends, Brown and the Patil twins. So, she left me here all by myself." Daphne gagged at the slight mention of the Gryffindor name. She pretended to collapse onto the worn-out, fabric-seating.
As a Slytherin, there was this silent rule about which house you could be friends with. Ravenclaws, yes. Hufflepuffs, hell no, and Gryffindors were out of the question.
Daphne was a firm believer in a person's loyalty to their own house. It was like that for a lot of Slytherins, so Daphne knew it was okay to be friends with Tiffany. Not with the Patil twins or Lavender.
"C'mon, the twins and Lavender are nice. Annoying, I must admit, but still nice," Rosie said.
"I guess," Daphne said as she fiddled with the hem of her Slytherin's cloak sleeve. She was wearing her house cloak over her normal attire. In this instance, one of the good things about being a Slytherin was that your mere presence scared everyone. The underclassmen specifically. It was a good and bad thing.
On the first day of Rosie's third year, Rosie went to the Great Halls for breakfast and sat at the edge of the Gryffindor table. It was the only table with the yogurt. She just so happened to sit by a group of second-year Hufflepuffs and they couldn't even look her in the eye.
"I hope you didn't walk around looking like that," Rosie said. She attempted to throw her trunk up to the shelf above the seats. She struggled to throw the heaviest one.
"I could give a rat's arse about those teeny-tiny freshmen," Daphne helped Rosie push up her largest trunk. She made it look like it was nothing.
Daphne tended to have foul language, which was a bit misleading since she came from one of the longest lines of pureblood families. You'd expect someone from a pureblood family to have top-notch manners and such, but Daphne reasoned that swore on a pretty regular basis– at school.
"How was your summer?" Rosie asked.
"It was alright. My family and I made the usual rounds to visit our family across Europe. The gelato in Italy was great. If you ever go, you have to eat the chocolate flavor," Daphne said.
"Just take me with you," Rosie begged.
"No, you wouldn't. You would have to put up with my family, and a lot of these boring, old buildings my parents forced me to see. Apparently, they're rich in history or something," Daphne said.
"That's still better than what I do every summer– the same road trip Father makes us go on. You know that cabin in the middle of the wood, in the middle of nowhere. Ughh! I wish Father let me go with you."
"Convince him for next summer. I overheard my parents talking about Egypt," Daphne mentioned.
Rosie wanted to pull out her hair. That was one rule Rosie hated. That summer was reserved for the cabin trip, which was tradition. The only people who went were Father, Cameron, and Rosie. Two measly people to spend your whole summer with? How unbelievable was that! They did the same activities every year anyways. Fishing at the lake, swimming, or eating s'mores by the fire.
"I'll try, but you know that's not going to happen," Rosie said.
Rosie and Daphne spent the train ride telling summer stories– mostly Daphne's stories– cracking jokes and pigging out on sweets from the trolley. Time went a lot faster than Rosie thought it would. Time goes faster when you're having fun.
The train screeched to a halt. Out the windows, Hagrid could be seen standing with his lamp in hand. He was calling out for first-years in his deep, bellowing voice. They ought to tell Hagrid to speak in a quieter tone. He's going to scare away the newcomers. Rosie thought. That was her problem on her first day. She was too scared to approach Hagrid. He towered over the students and his voice boomed like a screeching mandrake. If Daphne hadn't caught Rosie standing by herself, Rosie was afraid to admit that she might have been left behind and she would not have even started her first year at Hogwarts.
This time around, the fourth years traveled to the school by coach. Similar to last year, except this time around it wasn't pouring rain. Rosie and Daphne had to share their coach with a group of Gryffindors much to their dismay, but it was not just any group of Gryffindors. It was the Harry Potter, and his friends Granger and Ron Weasel. Rosie was not too bothered, meanwhile, Daphne was completely disturbed. Okay, disturbed was a strong word, but that was how Rosie would describe her face.
"We can't ride in the coach with a bunch of snakes-" Ron whisper-shouted. Rosie rolled her eyes. She begged to differ. Ron Weasel was making it ten times harder for Rosie to convince Daphne to get into the coach.
"-You guys feel free to pick whichever side you want," Hermione said to Rosie and Daphne.
"But Hermione-" Ron started but was stopped mid-sentence because Hermione had elbowed him in the gut.
"Thank you," Rosie said.
Rosie was hoping that at the last second, Pansy was going to magically appear to save the day. With Pansy, it meant that Draco and his goons were going along for the ride as well. Rosie knew Daphne did not like Draco and his goons, which was fair, they were annoying, but Daphne hated the Gryffindors even more. Rosie waited out a couple of more seconds. No dice. Pansy was not going to show up, so pushed a reluctant Daphne into the coach.
Each group sat on their perspective side. Gryffindors to the left, and Slytherins to the right. The carriage ride was extremely tense and quiet. Just sounds of the carriage wheels against the rocky terrain and midnight owls hooting. This was terribly awkward. It made Rosie's finger want to curl. It was extremely difficult to talk out in the open with the other kind around.
Harry Potter in particular seemed itching to get something out, although judging by the way he looked at Rosie and Daphne, he was hesitant to do so. He was whispering impossibly low to both Ron and Hermione. He was sitting in between the two, passing messages back in forth. He was relaying the messages between the trio. At some point in the conversation, Ron kept asking Harry to repeat himself over and over again. Clearly, it was getting on Hermione's nerves.
That was when Hermione lost it. "Ronald, are you deaf? He said You-know-who!" She blurted out-Hermione slapped her hands to her mouth immediately after.
Rosie's stomach dropped. You-know-who was back? How could that possibly be? The mere mention of the dark wizard's name made Rosie shrink. The cruelest wizard known to man-kind. Rosie made eye contact with Daphne, who mirrored the same furrowed brows and shocked eyes. Rosie glanced in the golden trio's direction. They were just as shocked as her.
Harry was sputtering, trying to get the right words out. "Hermione didn't mean that. Right, 'Mione?" Harry nudged his friend. Hermione nodded furiously, "Yup, totally didn't mean it! Why would I even talk about You-know-who?" Hermione shrugged dumfound.
Rosie couldn't even look the Gryffindors in the face. No wonder the golden trio was an accident waiting to happen. They attracted danger.
They arrived at the school grounds. The Gryffindors exited the coach first. Rosie could let her shoulders relax. On Rosie's way out, Harry offered his hand to help her down. She took his offer. Harry held out his hand for Daphne. His eyes were ogling at her, and apparently, Daphne noticed.
"No thanks, goo-goo eyes," Daphne rejected the help.
Daphne hopped off the carriage by herself. Harry's face was red. Rosie could not blame the boy. Daphne was very pretty, even though she did not enjoy the attention. That's why she dyed her blonde tips with green and silver to ruin her roots, or how she managed to always 'forget' to comb her hair. She was pretty no matter what she did.
"She doesn't really mean that," Rosie apologized.
"No, no, it's my fault," Harry scratched his head, "Hey, listen, about the ride here, about what Hermione was saying. She really didn't know what she was saying."
"It's fine," Rosie said, doubtful. In reality, she did not actually believe what Harry said. Hermione was the smartest witch of their age. That was a well-known fact throughout Hogwarts. The chances of Hermione getting something wrong were minimal. Very minimal. And if Hermione said something about You-know-who, something must have been up.
Professor McGonagall had placed the sorting hat on the last first years' head. The eleven-year-old girl was nervous. She had her fingers crossed, her eyes shut tight. They clasped their hands together and mouthed several words, until the sorting hat announced, "Ravenclaw!" The girl sighed in relief and ran down to the Ravenclaw table to join her new family. The other Ravenclaw first years patted her on the back, congratulating her.
Rosie sat beside Daphne at the Slytherin table. The feast had just magically appeared on the tables before them, and Rosie could not wait to dig in. She scooped a more than a healthy amount of mashed potatoes onto her platter and drenched her potatoes in gravy. She placed roasted vegetables on a separate plate to the side. It was for Father, who would faint instantly if he saw Rosie's dinner consisting of mash potatoes and gravy. Rosie would have been sent back to her etiquette lessons. The health professor in Rosie's etiquette lessons always stressed the importance of having a balanced diet in every food group, but when Rosie was at Hogwarts, she threw her manners out the window. Every meal: breakfast, lunch, and dinner- decadent and delicious. Rosie tried her best from stuffing herself full.
"Really, Rosie. That's all you're eating? Mashed potatoes and vegetables?" A girl said. She sat herself down next to Rosie. It was Tiffany.
"Just let her eat whatever she wants," Daphne said while she sipped orange juice from her goblet.
"You didn't have to come over here. What of your friends?" Rosie mentioned.
"I'll be living with my housemates the whole year. They could live without me for a few minutes, and I wanted to see my Slytherin sisters. You know I love you guys!" Tiffany shouted aloud. She wrapped her arms around Rosie and Daphne, which Daphne was not expecting, so she spilled the remaining orange juice in her goblet onto the student next to her.
Tiffany would not let the two go.
"You can let go already!" Daphne was flicking her hands clean of orange juice. "I am so sorry," Daphne said to the student next to her.
Professor Flitwick scolded Tiffany from the professor's table, "Ms. Young, please refrain from causing a ruckus!"
Tiffany proceeded to stand up on top of the bench, and shouted "You got it, professor!" That earned her another scolding.
Tiffany was a bit dense to be in Ravenclaw. Her personality was brash and forgetful. One time, when the Ravenclaws and Slytherins had a joint class in History of Magic, Tiffany was asked to answer one of the questions in class. The question was: Who were the founding witches and wizards of Hogwarts? Professor Binns' had asked Tiffany for the name of the founder of Hufflepuff. Tiffany had forgotten the founder's name, but she wasn't one to give up, thus, she spent the entire class guessing the founder's name because she wanted to get it right. Let's just say that by the end of that class, she still didn't know Helga Hufflepuff's name.
"Flitwick needs to chill out. I wasn't going to fall," Tiffany sat back in her seat, "How could I injure myself when the Gryffindors are having a mixer after the feast? I could never miss out on one of those."
"A party with the Gryffindors!" Rosie shouted.
"Shh! Not so loud. The professors aren't supposed to know!" Tiffany warned.
"Are you going or something?" Daphne said.
"Yeah, wanna come?" Tiffany asked.
"Uh… Pass," Daphne hesitated.
"Oh c'mon! You wanna go," Tiffany said, "You love parties, Daph. Just ignore the Gryffindors."
"Ugh, fine, but if those stupid Lions start bothering me, I'm leaving,"
"Great!" Tiffany said, "You're coming too right?" Tiffany directed toward Rosie.
"Hm. I don't think that's a good idea. Slytherins and Gryffindors don't mix," Rosie pointed out.
"Since when did you care about that?" Tiffany stated.
Rosie shrugged, "I don't know."
"Rosie, it's supposed to be a mixer! We're supposed to– you know, mix," Tiffany said.
"Alright, I'll go," Rosie gave in.
"There we go!" Tiffany said. "You two meet me an hour after dinner. Oh! And dress nice. It's supposed to be semi-casual."
"Semi-casual? Wasn't this supposed to be a house party?" Daphne asked.
"Clearly, you've never been to the lion's den before." Tiffany was joking around. Daphne faked a gag to Tiffany, making her laugh.
Rosie had only heard rumors about the Gryffindor parties. According to Tiffany, they got pretty crazy. Gryffindor party rule number one was that it was mandatory to put a silencing spell over the room, and every room within close vicinity of that room as well. Rule two, no matter what event, the Gryffindors would have to go all out in decorations. Rule three, the music of choice would have to blast your eardrums out, and rule four, there should always be an endless flow of food and snacks. Those four rules were pretty strict guidelines to follow, and it was as if each party after the next would top the previous one.
One year, Tiffany had told Rosie that they were playing truth or dare, and one of the boys was dared to run outside around the Gryffindor tower for an entire minute in his underwear! Guess what. He actually did it.
"How are we supposed to sneak out, anyway?" Rosie asked. "You know how Professor Snape is."
"I can't believe you still address him as 'professor'," Tiffany said.
"Seriously, that doesn't make any sense. How are we not going to be caught on the way out?" Daphne said, her voice rising.
Tiffany shushed her, "You'll just have to be careful."
"Settle down all! Settle down!" Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall. The students' chatter turned into whispers. The professors had placed a large golden box right in front of Dumbledore's speaking podium. It was in a hexagon or some sort of geometric shape. Like one of those Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans packages.
"As I'm sure you students are excited for your return to Hogwarts, there are several thrilling additions to be discovered– and with new things, the old must be replaced, and thus, this year, Hogwarts will not be holding the quidditch games this year–"
The students broke out into a collective roar of dismay and anger. No quidditch for the entire year? That ruined almost everyone's plans. The poor seniors would no longer get a chance at winning the Hogwarts quidditch games for their last and final year, and on top of that, no quidditch meant no beating up your rival house to a pulp, justifying it was for the sport. Slytherin quidditch players were especially sulky about that.
"No quidditch this year. See I told you," Malfoy said, "Pay up, Crabbes."
Crabbes grumbled as he slipped five galleons into the palm of Malfoy's pale hand.
Rosie whispered under her breath, "Malfoy was right– for once," she said, making Daphne snort in the process.
The students were growing from restless to rowdy. Things were getting a bit out of hand once the students had begun yelling about not canceling quidditch. Two Gryffindor students even stepped onto their table in protest. McGonagal had taken away fifteen points each from both, and lessons had not even begun.
Dumbledore clinked his fork onto his glass to get everyone's attention, "Don't fret students," he said, "As much as I love the quidditch event, this new spectacle replacing it will only be temporary. Quidditch will be back next year."
The students were still disappointed, but at least their beloved sport was not going to disappear for good. Dumbledore continued, "Now, with all of that said and finished, I would like to make an announcement. Today marks a very special celebration as our school brings back an old, beloved wizarding tradition. It celebrates the coming together of our fellow wizarding schools around the globe- something very much needed in these times. Dear students, I would like to announce that after relentless deliberation, the ministry of magic has decided to let Hogwarts host the Triwizard Tournament!"
From the box, Dumbledore had unveiled a golden goblet. It must have been ten times the size of a standard drinking goblet. This goblet was glowing, energy radiating off of it. Then a bright, sapphire-blue flame had ignited above the goblet.
Dumbledore explained the instructions very clearly. The Triwizard Tournament was a chance at winning fame and glory, to show off your best spells and skills. The trials of this competition were treacherous and far too dangerous for the non-experienced witches or wizards, which was why Dumbledore had set a strict rule in place in agreement with the ministry. No student under the age of seventeen was allowed to participate in the tournament. Their lack of experience was a flaw. Something that could lead to a fatal accident that the ministry probably did not want to be held accountable for.
A/N: I swear I have nothing against Hufflepuffs. Ha, ha!