Chapter 2 - "The Girl Who Lived."

The next few days, the air in the house was tense. Rose and Dudley were often told to leave the room whenever Vernon and Petunia talked about the letter Rose received and what it meant to them.

Of course, the two children just decided to listen from behind the closed doors.

Vernon didn't want anything to do with those unnatural things and was even about to make the family leave the house and go live on an island until he made Rose forget about attending Hogwarts. It was only Petunia that made him desist, warning him about how they would not let them go now that they knew Rose was one of them, but he wasn't happy about it.

The other thing to note was that whatever relationship Rose had with her aunt had withered after they had sent the letter, for good or bad. Aunt Petunia didn't seem to care about what Rose did anymore, wasn't hovering over her about her eating, didn't demand she keep up with her exercises "Why bother, when you are not going to dance anymore?"

Rose wasn't sure how to feel, she felt freer than ever, but her aunt didn't seem to care about her anymore. She felt lonely.

In the end, although her aunt didn't demand her to train anymore, she kept with her practice.

Even if she wasn't going to go to the studio anymore, she wanted to keep dancing. She made sure to follow the exercise routine Missus Cawthorne had given her, and kept practising her ballet when she finished doing her chores. Whenever she did it in the garden, she could feel Aunt Petunia's eyes on her from the window of the kitchen. Rose couldn't really tell but she thought her aunt looked sad.

The worst part was that her aunt ignored her whenever she asked questions about her mum and dad. She had mentioned something about them being killed by one of their kind but after that day, she refused to talk about them. Rose decided to ask whoever came to explain about the school to tell her about her parents.

It was them, after all, who enrolled her at Hogwarts, so someone from there might know what actually happened to them.


July 30th 1991.

It was almost a week after they sent the letter when they got their answer.

Someone knocked on their door in the morning of the day before her birthday when they were finishing eating breakfast. Uncle Vernon had already left for work and it was only Rose, Petunia and Dudley on the table.

"Girl, go see who it is at the door." Aunt Petunia said from her place at the table, not looking at her for even a second.

Rose pursed her lips, I'm still eating, why don't you send Dudley?, she thought, glancing at her cousin who was watching the cartoons on the telly, absorbed. She decided not to complain, though. She knew she was on thin ice already. No need to make it worse.

"Coming!" She said, approaching the door. She was supposed to look through the peephole, but she was too short to reach it, so she just shrugged and opened the door a smidgen to peep from the side. "Yes, can I...?"

Her voice trailed off, green eyes widened a fraction.

Santa's elf was her first thought.

Magic was her second.

In front of her was a small man, short enough that Rose was almost a head taller than him. White hair that was more of a mess than hers, tiny beady eyes that were hidden behind small glasses, a long nose and pointy ears - too long to be natural-. He was wearing a long green robe, and a small pinstriped suit under it. He looked adorable.

The short man gasped and put a hand tipped on long nails in front of his chest.

"With my ancestors as my witnesses, might that be you, Miss Potter?" The man - the wizard- said to her, nostalgia and fondness filling his squeaky voice.

Rose's eyes widened behind her glasses. No one had ever talked that way to her, with such care, not even her aunt. Did this small man know her?

"A-ah, Yes. I am. Rose Potter, I mean." She stuttered. She had been waiting for a wizard or witch to come to her house, but now that he was here, she felt like the dog that caught the car. She didn't know how to act.

"Of course you are. You are the splitting image of your mother." The short man talked, and Rose felt like he was seeing her mother besides her and was comparing them. "Except your hair, of course. That mess could only be a Potter's." He chuckled fondly and Rose wanted to ask about everything the man knew of her parents. "But where are my manners? I am Filius Flitwick, I'm the teacher in charge of Charms at Hogwarts."

Rose gasped, He is a teacher. A magic teacher.

"What are Charms? Are they hard to learn?" She asked, eager to get to know the same things her mum and dad had learnt about magic. "Did you teach my parents, too?"

Mister Flitwick chuckled even more, and raised one hand. "Miss Potter, I will answer any question you may have, but maybe it would be better to speak inside with your family? The knowledge of magic is to be kept secret. It's not something we should discuss on the open like this."

Rose's eyes widened, and suddenly she realised she had been talking to the man through the gap on the door. With her face feeling warm, she opened the door fully, letting the diminutive professor in.

"Mum! Rose is letting a strange man into the house!" Yelled Dudley, who seemed to have followed her to the door, not caring that the strange man could hear his words. "MUM!"

"DUDLEY! Go to your room! NOW!" Aunt Petunia came rushing from the dining room and Dudley just rushed upstairs, not wanting to upset his mum. She looked at Mr Flitwick, disdain obvious on her face. "Did they have to send someone like…you? Didn't they have someone more normal?".

Rose froze at her aunt's question. She fearfully looked at the charms teacher, expecting him to be angry at her words. Of course Aunt Petunia would try to ruin everything before I could even ask him about Dad and Mum.

The teacher's actions surprised her, though. He just smiled, only the smallest twinge of resignation showing on his face against the rude words. A short bark of laugh from the diminutive man made Aunt Petunia almost jump.

"Ha! You don't have to worry about that, Mrs Dursley. I wouldn't be a proper wizard if I could not evade the attention of muggles. Just a quick spell and their eyes slide off my person." Her aunt had a full-body shudder run through her.

Rose felt a little bad but a little amused smile wanted to appear on her face. Aunt Petunia's reaction had been a little funny.

By the wink that Mr Flitwick sent her, he agreed. "Now, as I have told Miss Potter here, my name is Filius Flitwick, I am a teacher at Hogwarts and I have been presented with the honour of accompanying her on her trip to Diagon Alley."

"Ah.. we might have a problem… Take a seat, Mr Flitwick." Rose's aunt said, her lips pursed - a rare expression of embarrassment that Rose hardly ever saw on her face. "My husband… He is quite short on money this time of the month, how much will these… school supplies cost? Is it possible to get them second-hand?"

That was a lie, Rose knew. According to what she heard -eavesdropped-, Uncle Vernon didn't want to pay a single penny for her school items. Petunia had to remind him that he would have spent money regardless of where Rose went to school. He still wasn't happy about it, mind you, but he agreed.

As long as it wasn't too much.

"Of course! How could I forget?"

The Charms professor perked up, getting up from the couch he had sat on, and hit his forehead with his tiny hand. He started to rummage inside his pockets, clearly looking for something. They must've been magic pockets, because Rose could see he was putting his whole arm inside of them like they were bottomless.

Mr Flitwick finally found what he was looking for and took it from his pocket with a victorious 'Aha!' An immaculate golden key was held in his grasp, a stylized G carved on the head. With a flourish, he presented the key to Rose.

"This, Miss Potter, is the key to the vault your parents left for you in the Gringotts Bank." The girl took the key with shaking hands, her heart thumping inside her chest. She finally, after almost ten years, had gotten something from her parents.

"You will not have full access yet, I've been told. Only a small stipend until you are of age, but one that will more than cover whatever you may need during your education." The man explained and Rose could hear her aunt sigh in relief. Uncle Vernon will be happy, at least.

"Now, if you don't mind, I will explain the classes you will be taking in Hogwarts and what you can expect of the school during your seven years in it." Flitwick clapped his hands and took a seat back on the couch. Rose finally tore her eyes from the golden key, her attention now fully back on the Charms teacher.

"Wait." She said, the suddenness and volume of her voice stopping the teacher cold. "My parents, I... I don't know anything about what happened to them. Could you tell me how…" Rose's voice wavered and she couldn't finish her sentence.

Flitwick's smile faded from his face. "...how they passed away?" He finished her question, his voice soft.

Rose nodded, feeling a knot in her throat.

The teacher sighed forlornly. He glanced at Aunt Petunia, a question in his eyes, and her aunt just shook her head and looked away. Flitwick then met Rose's eyes and made to start talking, but he hesitated. After a moment, though, he seemed to come to a decision.

"The years before your birth, Miss Potter, were some of the darkest Magical Britain had ever experienced." he began "A group emerged, led by a man who was so terrible, many fear, even to this day, to say his name. A dark lord." Flitwick shuddered and his expression darkened, looking like he wanted nothing more than to forget those days.

"These men and women followed the idea that only those born from a pure witch and wizard deserved to be free in this country. The fact that people like me, who have magical creature blood, or like your mother, Lily ,who came from Muggle- that is to say, non magical- background, lived amongst them wasn't something this group would accept. Many people got hurt, and more disappeared."

Rose's hands were shaking, she knew the teacher was not telling the whole story. She had seen enough news on the television about tragedies around the world to tell that the people Flitwick mentioned weren't just hurt.

"Your father, James Potter, was a wizard from an old, rich family. The leader of this group personally asked him to join his side, but James, pureblood though he was, refused. He wasn't someone who cared about blood or backgrounds and he had loved your mother since he had first met her, so of course he didn't join." Mr Flitwick told her, a small smile on his face.

"And Lily… Your mum was the kind of witch this group hated, a muggleborn who showed more talent and magic ability than every other wizard and witch of her generation. The purebloods hated that a girl from her background outclassed them, but would not do anything to her while she was in school, some in fear of James' reprisals, but most because of her skills with a wand."

She could picture them. Her mother, her eyes as green as Rose's, the envy of every classmate for her ability in casting magic, like Rose could tell the girls from the studio envied her when she danced. Her father, a noble who didn't care about lineage, his hair as messy as hers, smitten with her mum, like the prince who fell in love with Cinderella. Rose almost smiled, but then she remembered the story wasn't over.

"It was no wonder that they were targeted." The man said, his voice filled with anguish. "A year or so after you were born they received a warning. The dark lord wanted them gone and was going to attack them personally. Your parents were skilled, but this man… " Flitwick trembled.

"He might have been a monster, but the things he could do with his magic, I have only seen one other who compared. James and Lily went into hiding, and only a few knew where. Unfortunately, they trusted the wrong person and, not even a week later, on October the 31st the dark lord found them… and killed them."

Rose took a deep, shuddering breath, her eyes dropped to her lap where she was gripping the hem of her dress tightly. She was barely aware that her aunt had stood up and left the room. It seemed that the story had been too much for her.

And at this point she was wondering if she really wanted to hear this.

"No one truly knows what happened that night. Only that, after killing James and Lily, the dark lord attempted to kill you too."

"What? He attacked me too? Then how…?" How am I not dead like them?

"That's something no one knows." He admitted, shaking his head. "He used what is known as the killing curse on you. Painless, unstoppable death in the form of a spell. No one had ever lived after receiving it, until you." Flitwick's voice was soft, but Rose noticed the amazement in it. "And the only thing you had to show after being hit by it was just that small scar on your forehead."

Her hands flew to her forehead, like she was making sure that the lightning bolt-shaped scar was still there. Aunt Petunia had told her that she got it in the same accident that killed her parents, and Rose hadn't thought much about it, even after being told the real way her parents had died.

"The Girl Who Lived, they call you. Your name is legendary in our world. Not only for surviving the unsurvivable, but because that, after that night, the dark lord was never seen again." Rose looked up and met the teacher's beady eyes. He looked back at her with a smile on his face. "Whatever happened that night destroyed him. The only thing left of him was a tattered robe. Most of Wizarding Britain consider you the one who vanquished him."

"But- but I was just a baby! How could I? I didn't even know I was a witch until I received that letter!" Rose protested.

"Oh, I agree with your doubts, Miss Potter. It is entirely possible- and some people believe, even- that it was one of your parents' actions the reason for his demise. But that's not what the majority of the witches and wizards of this country think. For them, you are the hero who brought an end to his reign of terror."

Rose was shocked, this was too much. Too much information. Too many expectations. How was she supposed to react when knowing what awaited her in this new, strange world?

She wasn't the hero everyone thought her to be.

She was… Rose. Just Rose.

She didn't- She couldn't–

Her thoughts halted to a stop when a tiny hand held her own shaking one.

"Please, breathe, Miss Potter. I know that it's a lot to take in, and maybe I shouldn't have told it to you all at once. However, you needed to know." The man said, "I apologise, but I know I would not forgive myself if I had let you go into the world ignorant of what you mean to us. You will need to be ready for the attention. For the good and the bad. "

Rose breathed deeply, in and out, trying to do everything she could to calm down.

"No, it's okay. You don't need to apologise, Mr Flitwick. You're right, I wanted to know. I just… I just panicked a little." She smiled tremulously, a little ashamed at having lost her cool in front of the man that had taught her parents.

How disappointed must he be, so much for a hero.

The man smiled back, patted her hand once more and took back his seat.

"Maybe we should change subjects? We can always talk about James and Lily, and their lives, whenever you want when you are at Hogwarts. But how about we focus for now on the reason I'm here, the school and what you will be learning there?" Rose nodded, eager to change the subject. She will think about her supposed fame later.

Much later.

The next half an hour Filius Flitwick explained every core discipline of magic that Hogwarts taught and answered any question Rose had about the subjects.

Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Astrology and History of Magic.

Mr Flitwick explained every subject lightly, telling her what each entailed and a little about the teachers in charge of them, but he focused his explanation on his subject the most, explaining the nature of charms and the kind of activities the students worked in his class.

As Rose understood it, charms was a type of magic that focused on making stuff act in a different way that it would normally act. You could make furniture dance, make objects fly or summon them to you.

You could even charm people! There were charms to calm someone, or make them happy.

When Rose asked if there were charms to make one fly, Flitwick chuckled and told her all about flying brooms. She decided just then that she would save money and buy one for herself as soon as she could.

Rose was imagining herself flying through the air like a witch from a storybook when her aunt appeared again.

She stood as tall and proud as ever, but Aunt Petunia's eyes were red and her blotchy cheeks stood up on her pale skin.

Rose realised that her aunt had been crying.

She sobered instantly, feeling bad that she had been having fun talking about magic while her aunt had been suffering.

"Rose, it will not be long before your uncle comes home. Maybe you and your… teacher should go on with your trip to this alley?"

Right, today Uncle Vernon only worked half a shift and he would be home at around twelve, and between the introductions, the story and the explanations on magic, it was near eleven. They still had some time but Rose didn't want to think about what her uncle would do if he found someone like Mr Flitwick in his house. Better to go and not provoke him.

"Right, it'll be better to go now and evade the midday crowd in the bank, we'd be there the whole day otherwise. Thank you for your hospitality Mrs Dursley." The man said, even though he hadn't been offered anything more than a seat. He must be feeling parched after all that talking. "Shall we go, Miss Potter? We can continue our talk while shopping."

Rose nodded and, after waving goodbye to her aunt, she followed the charms teacher to the door.

Standing on their porch, the small man offered his arm to Rose and she grabbed it. "Just hold tightly onto my arm, Miss Potter. It will just be a moment."

Suddenly, she could feel the arm almost escaping her grasp, twisting on its place, and then Rose found herself in darkness, feeling like the air itself was pressing on her, crushing her legs and arms and chest.

An instant of pure discomfort and then she was suddenly somewhere else.

She heaved, feeling her breakfast rising from her stomach. She covered her mouth, not wanting to vomit in front of the teacher, who she could feel now rubbing circles on her back.

"Easy, now, you will feel queasy for just a moment. I figured it was easier to just get it over with instead of warning you and making you tense before your first apparition." Flitwick consoled her, but his tone was amused. "I promise it will feel better the more you experience it."

She shook her head, already feeling her nausea fade away. "Apparition? Is that how wizards travel? Will I have to do that too?" Rose could feel herself get nauseous all over again at the thought.

"Well, not until you are sixteen, at least, you need to get a licence first. And it feels much less sickening when you do it yourself." The man explained and Rose wasn't really comforted by the words less sickening.

"I don't think I will be using that a lot… I like my meals where they belong: my stomach, not the floor." She shuddered, still feeling the taste of her toast in the back of her mouth. Mr Flitwick chuckled.

"Still, you can't argue against the results. We are here." Rose looked up at his words and found herself in front of the entrance of a… dingy pub?

The building, which some really kind people would call rustic, might have looked nice once upon a time, but now it just looked dilapidated. The words 'The Leaky Cauldron' written on a wooden sign hung over the entrance. The girl looked at the teacher strangely and Flitwick just chuckled.

"Now, I will impart you a lesson on the magic of charms." Rose perked up, interested again in the words the tiny man said. "I said that it was possible to make objects act in ways they are not supposed to, but it is much easier when the enchantment itself is in tune with the object it is put on."

Rose crossed her arms and pondered upon the words, trying to understand what Flitwick was telling her.

"So…a charm that helps in cleaning is better to be put in a rag or a broom, rather than something like a… spoon?" The girl said, her head tilting in thought.

She looked at the pub again, wondering why the teacher decided to teach her that in front of it.

"Exactly! If the charm and item work in similar ways, it's easier for the enchantment to work and it lasts longer. It's not really something exact or truly defined but if the object was made for the action the charm wants to do, it will work better. A cutting charm on a knife, a space expansion charm on a trunk, and so on and on."

The teacher explained, lifting a finger with each example. He then looked at the pub in front of them.

"So what enchantment would one put on a building like this, which due to its rundown state the majority of people would pretend it's not there?" Filius Flitwick asked, his expression bright. Rose's own expression mirrored him, the cheerines contagious.

The man seemed to look the happiest while teaching.

She looked around trying to get any clue from the place around her.

Rose could see a lot of men and women walking nearby, even under the midday sun of July, yet none of them were looking at the almost-eleven-year old girl and tiny old man standing in front of a pub, their eyes sliding off them and the building like they were not there.

She knew that the building looked dingy enough to not want to approach it– Aunt Petunia would have a fit if she knew she came to a place like this- but to ignore to such an extent…

"A hiding charm!" She exclaimed. "Something to make normal people not look at it and the people who enter it! Is it like the charm you used to make eyes slide off you?" Rose was amazed, she hadn't even noticed until the man hinted at it!

"That's right! If we were in Hogwarts you would have earned ten points, Miss Potter!" Rose almost preened under the words, she remembered the House Points that Mr Flitwick explained earlier that day. Ten whole points already!

"So, is this the entrance to the magical alley?" She wondered and Flitwick nodded.

"Now, I could have apparated us to the alley itself, but I wanted to show you the entrance you would use if you came here on your own. We need to go through the pub, and to the back where the entrance to Diagon Alley is." The man offered his hand and the girl took it, only to stop before they entered the building. He seemed to think for a moment and then took a wand from his billowing sleeve.

A magic wand! Is he going to cast magic?

Rose's green eyes widened behind her glasses when, after Flitwick muttered some words and moved his wand to and fro, a blue and bronze coloured baseball cap appeared from thin air. It had a drawing of a cartoony bird on the front.

"Put this on, Miss Potter. Better to not draw attention, we have a lot of purchases to make and if we get stopped every two steps by people wanting to greet you, we will be here the whole day." Flitwick said with a mischievous smile on his face. His words sounded joking, but Rose grabbed the cap and pulled down until the brim almost covered her eyes.

Getting mobbed by people wanting to meet me for doing something I don't remember? No thanks!

She took back Professor Flitwick's hand again, ignoring the amused glint in his eyes and they both entered the pub.

The place was filled with people to the brim, the noise of their entrance covered by the loud buzz of chatter present. Between the people, and the heavy smoke covering the place, she could not really see how they would find their way to the back. Rose covered her nose, a little disgusted by the stench that hung around the place. Sweat, smoke and the sharp pungent smell of– what she guessed was– alcohol.

Why are all these people here? Don't they have to work, or something? It's not even eleven o'clock! And it's a tuesday!

Uncle Vernon only ever drank after dinner and only on weekends when he didn't have work the next day. To think that people would get drunk during the day!

She didn't get to ask Mr Flitwick, as he was too focused on guiding them through the full pub.

It was only a few minutes later that they were standing in front of a brick wall, after passing through the back door of the building.

Mr Flitwick swiped his brow, and gave out a relieved sigh.

"Huh, I forgot what date it was! It seems the celebration started early!" The man said, looking out of breath.

"Celebration?"

"For your birthday, of course! Witches and wizards use any excuse to celebrate, and the day you were born is as good as any!"

"But my birthday is tomorrow!" Rose retorted, a little weirded out that other people were using her as an excuse to drink.

"Well, it seems like they started early, like I said. Your eleventh birthday might be more important for them. It is, after all, the year you are meant to return to us. Luckily we decided to hide you a little bit before we entered." Rose just nodded, not really knowing how to react. "But enough about that! We have some shopping to do."

Flitwick turned around and took out his wand. "Three up, Two across. Drag your wand like this on the wall from any brick and then press it three times on the final one and it will open." The man did as he said, while he explained. Then the final brick shuddered and faded away.

After a moment the whole wall opened up one brick at a time until an archway remained, revealing a cobbled street. Rose looked around in amazement.

The street was filled with men and women wearing robes - Wizards and Witches, all of them, just like me, she thought, revelling in the sight- coming and going from a multitude of shops, all crumpled together in a disarrayed way that Rose knew would get Petunia foaming from the mouth.

Eeylops Owl Emporium, Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Swill and Swirl's Apothecary.

She looked all over, trying to read the signs over the stores and guessing what each of them sold. It was easy for some, but most of them contained either a word she didn't know or what seemed to be a pun that escaped her. Or both.

There were shops selling robes, others selling telescopes or cauldrons. A shop for pets, magical pets! Or for spell books and parchments. Every way she looked there was something magical, something interesting and new.

She even saw a store that sold flying broomsticks! Rose could see a group of children standing in front of it, faces to the window watching what she heard was a nimbus two thousand, the fastest in the market. She knew that she would be right alongside them if it wasn't for the teacher accompanying her.

Professor Flitwick had to pull her hand every five minutes as she kept standing still, watching the new world around her. "Come on, Miss Potter, we can look around all you want later." he'd say "We need to get to Gringotts first before we do anything else."

The building they got to, finally, was bigger than every other building around it. White marble walls and bronze doors, under a sign that read Gringotts Bank. Rose noticed the letters were written in the same style as the G on her golden key.

Flitwick guided her through the opened door, Rose staring more than she should have at the short guard beside the door. She wondered if her teacher was the same race as this short person.

The professor noticed and smiled.

"Goblins. My father was one, and that's why I possess the same prodigious stature as them. Amongst other things." Rose snorted a little, her laughter escaping her mouth, and blushed mortified at the piggy sound she had made.

They entered the bank and approached one of the hundreds of goblins that were sitting behind a long counter.

The one they approached was looking at a red jewel through a magnifying glass. Flitwick cleared his throat and the goblin looked at them with a frown on its face, his lips twisted into a terrifying snarl. When he -it was a he, right?- noticed who had interrupted him, the goblin seemed to relax a little, though the frown stayed on his face.

"Flitwick. I hope that whatever you decided to interrupt my work for is something important." The small creature said, a growl in its voice. Rose stood up straighter when the goblin glanced at her with an unimpressed frown, only for him to dismiss her and look back at the teacher.

"Rockfall, good day to you too." Mr Flitwick said with a sarcastic tone. The goblin only huffed and tapped his clawed finger on its desk, the message obvious, Hurry up and tell me what you want. "This young girl right here has a vault and wishes to make an extraction for her Hogwarts shopping."

"Name and key?" Rockfall asked, suddenly looking at her. Rose shuffled in place, more than a little intimidated by the tiny creature. She took her key from her pocket and gingerly placed it on the desk. The goblin quickly snatched it, almost making her jump.

"Rose Potter," She felt the goblin's eyes on her again,this time zeroing on her forehead, like he could see through the cap and her hair and see her scar. "My parents left me a vault…?" Her voice trailed into a question. That was what Flitwick said, but she still found it hard to believe.

"Ah yes, Potter. We were expecting you." The goblin turned around and pulled a ledger from behind him. He opened it almost randomly and trailed his finger down the page until he stopped. "Account number 687. As you are not of age, you will not be allowed access to it. Wait here." Rockfall stood up and went through a door behind the desk.

Rose looked at Flitwick, concern written on her eyes. He took my key.

"Don't worry, Miss Potter, the goblins would sooner fall onto their spears than steal from a customer." The man said, and Rose nodded at the– somewhat morbid- words of her teacher, a little mollified.

Soon after, Rockfall came back to the desk carrying a leather suitcase.

"Dragon leather, charmed to be durable and light. Goblin-forged metal for its hinges and lock. The only way to open it is by using the key for your vault."

The goblin put the suitcase on the desk and opened it using her key. He then took several bulging cloth sacks from under his desk and started to put them in the suitcase. "One hundred Galleons, three hundred Sickles and six hundred Knuts. To be refilled each year until your seventeenth birthday." Rockfall closed the suitcase with a thump and locked it before offering it and her key to her. "Don't lose it, you will not get a second one. If that is all…?"

"Yes, that will be all. Thank you for your services, Rockfall." And just like that, Fliwick nodded at the goblin and turned around. "Come along, Miss Potter, we shouldn't dally."

Rose grabbed the suitcase, almost stumbling when she used a lot more strength than necessary to lift it. Right, charmed to be light, she thought, still reeling at the quick exchange.

"That was… fast." She noted– they hadn't been in the building for even five minutes and they were leaving already. "Are they all that nice?" Rose asked, sarcasm evident in her voice.

"Well, for goblins time is money. There is nothing that they hate more than customers that waste time with pleasantries. You are lucky that you were with me, Rockfall wouldn't have been so accommodating otherwise."

"That was accommodating? It felt like he wanted to bite my face off." She muttered, still feeling a little afraid at the snarls the creature had made.

"Oh no, Goblins wouldn't bite you. They prefer fish in their diets." Flitwick answered, a bright smile on his face. Rose had to cover her mouth to keep her laughter in, though she could not hide the merriment in her eyes.

"So…" Rose began when they were approaching the door, after calming down a little. "Galleons, Sickles and Knuts? How does that work?" She only knew that she had hundreds of them in the suitcase. Was that a lot?

Flitwick guided her to a side of the bank where there was a bench and signalled Rose to take a seat. "You should take some money out of the case before we leave, it will be safer here than between the crowds of the alley." Rose nodded and put the case on the bench, the key entered smoothly in the lock and with a soft click! the upper lid opened, revealing its contents.

Eleven bulging bags filled the case: Two big bags with a weird G printed on them, three smaller ones with a stylized S and the last six, the smallest ones, with a K. "Galleons are the more valuable ones," Flitwick explained, pointing at the bigger bags. "They are worth seventeen Sickles, which in turn are worth 29 Knuts." He continued, pointing at a different bag each time. "You will not have problems with money it seems, a standard family of three can live for a year or so with a hundred Galleons."

Rose's eyes widened, she had that much money? And Rockfall said that she would get the same amount every year! Flitwick had said that her father was from a rich family, but to have that much?

"Take one of the bags of Galleons, it should cover your supplies and leave a lot left over. If you are careful with your purchases you may not need to open the case again this year." The man said, and his eyes grew stern when she met them. "I'm not going to tell you how to spend your money, but the more you save now, the more leeway you will have after you finish school."

Rose grimaced, feeling a little guilty that she had been thinking of how many clothes and sweets she would be able to buy after getting her school stuff.

"Right, Dad and Mum left this for me. I will not disappoint them, wasting it on silly dresses." She declared -though she couldn't hide the regret in her tone- and grabbed the sack Flitwick had pointed at.

Mr Flitwick sighed at seeing her expression, and, to her shame, she noticed him looking at her second-hand light blue dress. The man then smiled ruefully, "I'm not saying you can't buy nice things for yourself, just…be conscious of it." He patted the hand holding the bag a couple of times. His smile turned wistful. "I know James and Lily would have spoiled you rotten by buying you all the pretty dresses you'd want."

Rose smiled, ignoring the little twinge of sadness in her heart.

Maybe a dress or two will be fine. And some treacle tart.

It was her birthday tomorrow, after all, she could get herself a treat.


Author's note

And here is the second chapter!

Thanks a lot for the follows and favourites! And the reviews!

This one was a little heavy on exposition that most likely a lot of you know by heart, so i hope I didn't bore you too much. This was made to set the tone to how I wanted Rose to behave and the kind of person she wants to become.

I will not disappoint them will be the core to a lot of Rose's future actions.

I was a little torn between Flitwick and McGonagall to be the guide. I settled for Flitwick because I think he would give Rose the most unbiased account of what happened. He was fond of James and Lily but a lot less than Minerva. There was a little of fantastic racism in me when I decided that his inhuman part made him more inclined to tell a child how her parents died, if it was for her sake. Minerva, I think, would have held back some info to protect her.

Also, goblins. No one likes them, but there is always a Gringotts vault visit scene. I decided to cut it a little short. Time is money, and my goblins would have some gold prepared if they knew a client would come get it, like Rose came for her stipend. The scene was there mostly to show that Rose will not have money problems and can reasonably buy stuff for her and her friends. That's all.

So, to answer some of the questions and to explain some stuff for the future: SPOILERS AHEAD.

About Rose: I want to write her as a combination of James and Lily. A kind person with a little mischief on the side. A little shy and insecure in the inside, but also bold enough to act like she is not. Loyal to a fault and with some of canon Harry's saving people thing. Loves her sleep and being lazy, but is used to working hard. A little vain in the way that she wishes to be pretty so she puts some focus on her appearance, but she thinks she is not. And most importantly, a deep curiosity for magic. Those are some of the points I want to be able to show.

Writing my thoughts about her character makes me notice that there a lot of dichotomies. Shy but bold, lazy but hardworker, mischievous but kind, modest but vain. What she is vs. what she acts like/What she wants to be.

I hope I will be able to write a character that shows that she is a female Harry Potter, but is different enough to be someone else.

House: Rose will be a Hufflepuff. Didn't think to mention it because I thought the Hannah and Susan character tag might have answered that question, but it's better to have it in the open.

Sorry if I disappointed some people with expectations of Slytherin. Should I put it in the description?

About pairings: I am torn, to be honest. I started writing the story with one in mind, but the more I start to plan it in my head, the more my mind goes in another direction. Rose will have some romantic relationships (more like dates to Hogsmeade and stuff) with some characters before the One. But I'm still undecided. I'm leaning into Fem-slash, for now at least.

The One will not be Tom Riddle, nor Severus Snape, nor Draco Malfoy. Sorry, not sorry.

About canon: Things will remain samey during first year, aside from the changes made because of Rose. There has been some changes already, what with Flitwick being the one who introduced the world to Rose, but we will stay a little on the rails for a while. After second year? Off road, baby. Mostly. Probably.

Mostly because it will be boring for me to write the same story as everyone else. Unfortunately, until we get to Hogwarts, there is not much I can do.

To finish this long ass author's note. This story will be a little slow paced. I don't want to rush through events to get to the stations of canon, like some do. I want you to be able to, pardon the pun, slow down and smell the roses.

So, I hope you have some patience with me.

This should be the last time I write so much on an author's note, so forgive my rambling this one time.

That's all! See you on chapter 3: "The Hogwarts Express".