Time to Unwind
"Good morning, Professor Babbling," Sally-Anne said.
"Good morning, Sally-Anne. Please, have a seat."
Sally-Anne sat up straight in the provided chair.
"I just wanted to say again," Professor Babbling said, "I'm proud of how well you did yesterday in your duel. I've seen few people as skilled with the Shield Rune as you are."
Not that there are that many people out there with them… Sally-Anne heard Professor Babbling think.
"Thank you," Sally-Anne replied.
She found it interesting that Professor Babbling hadn't mentioned how new the Shield Rune was. Why hadn't she? Was Professor Babbling concerned that it was new? Was it unstable? Most importantly, how had Ron read about them if they were only invented recently? Wait, since when did Ron read anything that wasn't related to class?
"How's your arm?" Professor Babbling asked, snapping Sally-Anne out of her thoughts.
"Good enough that I'd completely forgotten about it," Sally-Anne replied, laughing. "Rose fixed it up right away, so I was alright." Her smile faded. "I was trying so hard to prove that I could take care of myself without Rose, but in the end, I found myself thinking that I'd be fine once Rose fixed my arm. I didn't really know what else to do about it at the time, so I just brushed it off thinking 'Rose will fix it.'"
"Why didn't you want to rely on Ms. Peta-Lorrum?"
"She said she won't always be here," Sally-Anne said. "I don't know what she meant by it, but she told me it was a bad idea to count on her all the time. Also that life is cruel and unfair."
"You children are too young to be that cynical," Professor Babbling replied.
"She lost her parents," Sally-Anne snapped.
"I didn't mean to offend you or her."
Sally-Anne blushed, realizing that she'd overreacted.
"Sorry, professor."
"Not to worry," Professor Babbling said, smiling. "Is she the one that taught you how to use it like that?"
"Mhm," Sally-Anne said, nodding. "She's been helping me practice since I was attacked by the Basilisk."
"You learned all that in a week?" Professor Babbling asked, her eyes wide.
"She worked me pretty hard, but I guess it was worth it in the end."
"Just don't push yourself," Professor Babbling said. "Have I told you about the woman who invented the Shield Rune?"
"No," Sally-Anne said. "Ron found a paper that was published by her describing the Shield Rune, but that's all I've got about her. Her name was Pandora… Something. Sorry, I only remembered Pandora because of the story of Pandora's Box."
"Kapisa. She always used her maiden name when publishing her work due to the… reputation her married name carries with it. Pandora was astounding, to say the least."
Sally-Anne smiled. "Where is she now?"
Sally-Anne could tell that the answer wasn't good when she saw the look on her professor's face.
"She died a few years ago while experimenting."
"I'm so sorry," Sally-Anne said.
"As I said, don't get carried away."
"I won't, I just want to keep my friends safe," Sally-Anne said.
Professor Babbling nodded, and Sally-Anne smiled, glad to know that her mentor agreed with her goal.
"Only one more thing," Professor Babbling said. She smiled apologetically. "I promise this is the last thing I need to talk to you about."
Sally-Anne smiled. "It's alright. I don't mind talking to you, and I'm sure my friends aren't getting into too much trouble while I'm gone."
No one was certain how they had gotten into this mess. The last thing Harry remembered was following Rose when she said they were going on an adventure. In hindsight, that was probably a bad idea.
"Leave them alone, Malfoy!"
Strangely enough, it wasn't any of the four of them talking. Harry and Rose had heard shouting from somewhere down the corridor, and Rose insisted that they should go see who was causing it. Again, probably not the best idea any of them had ever had.
Walking towards the source of the noise, the group found Malfoy and his two goons threatening a group of Hufflepuffs. At the front of the group of Hufflepuffs were Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry was certain it had been one of those two that had shouted earlier. Behind them, backed against the wall, were Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Ellie Langley.
"What are you gonna do, mudblood?" Malfoy sneered back at Justin.
They knew the Hufflepuffs were nice people, so when the group saw who was being threatened by Malfoy this time, they decided to help. Which was, once again, probably not a good idea. Sure, they had him outnumbered, but Malfoy was stubborn. Even being outnumbered nine to three, he wasn't about to give up without a fight. Even when one of those nine was Rose Peta-Lorrum.
"I wouldn't worry about him, Butterhead, I'd worry about me."
The Hufflepuffs jumped when they saw Rose Peta-Lorrum appear out of nowhere. She leaned on Malfoy's shoulder, while the blond Slytherin gritted his teeth.
"This doesn't involve you, Freak," he said.
"If I had to take a guess, I'd say you're taking your frustrations with not being able to beat Sally-Anne yesterday out on these innocent Hufflepuff students," Rose said. "But that's just me. Oh! And my imaginary friend! He thinks so too."
"What are you doing here?" Malfoy snapped.
"We were walking through the castle," Peta-Lorrum replied. "We weren't expecting to find you here, though. We heard shouting, and I thought 'Let's check it out!'"
"Probably not our brightest idea," Ron muttered.
"I hear you," Harry agreed.
"Now that we've established why we're all here," Rose said. "Why don't you stop picking on innocent Hufflepuffs? I think we all know we're the people with whom you take issue."
"Is that so?!" Malfoy spat.
"Of course," Rose said. She stuck her thumb out at Harry. "You've had it in for Harry since he got here." She pointed at Ron. "You despise Ron because your dad hates his dad, you don't like Hermione because she's smarter than you." Rose pointed down the corridor. "You're angry at Sally-Anne for beating you yesterday." Finally, she indicated herself. "And of course, me."
"What's going on here?"
Everyone except Rose jumped when they heard Professor McGonagall's voice coming from behind the Gryffindors.
"Justin, Ernie, Ellie, Susan, and Hannah got turned around," Rose said, indicating each of the Hufflepuffs in turn. "We stumbled upon them, but even Hermione and I haven't got the castle layout memorized yet. So we couldn't help them find their way. But luckily for all of us, Draco and his pals came along, and knew exactly where to go!"
Professor McGonagall looked from one student to another.
Harry and Ron exchanged looks when she wasn't looking directly at them. What was Rose doing?
"Alright, then," Professor McGonagall said. "Why don't you all continue on your way? No need to stand around loitering."
"Sounds like a plan!" Rose exclaimed. She began to skip away from a confused looking Malfoy, skipping right past Professor McGonagall.
"Ms. Peta-Lorrum," Professor McGonagall whispered as the girl skipped past. "Don't think for a second that I believed you."
"I didn't," the girl replied. "But I didn't need you to believe me, I just needed Draco to think that he hadn't lost."
"Why?" asked the Transfiguration Professor.
"Like my friend Carolina says: 'If you fight Evocation with Evocation, you just end up destroying everything. If you fight it with Abjuration, then you save everyone.'"
"I'm sorry?"
"What?" Harry whispered to Hermione.
"No idea."
"She used to say 'If you fight fire with fire, you end up with a bigger fire', but she stopped after she realized how much I liked fire."
"I'm glad you've decided to try a different tactic," Professor McGonagall whispered. "But Ms. Peta-Lorrum?"
"Yes?"
"In the future, do not lie to me."
"I'll do my best!"
"What was that about?" Hermione asked once Professor McGonagall left them alone.
"Something else Carolina said," Rose said. "I'll tell you later."
"All students begin their careers with the Trace active on them," Professor Babbling explained. "The Trace does not extend beyond Great Britain, as it is a system established by the Ministry of Magic. Although, I have heard that America uses a similar system."
"How does it work?" asked Sally-Anne.
"Beneath the entire country is a runic network, carved into the very bedrock upon which the island sits. This network listens for magic, so to speak. When you cast a spell through a wand, the Trace catches it, and isolates the approximate area in which the spell was cast, and the spell itself. Once you reach adulthood, the Trace is automatically removed. Once again, this is a part of the runic network. Not even the Ministry of Magic can alter this system."
"When is the Trace placed on a person?" Sally-Anne asked.
"From the moment any witch or wizard is born, they have the Trace on them," Professor Babbling explained. "This network is part of how we identify potential students. Typically, all it does is spit out a name to the Ministry, who passes it off to us. When the child is of age, they receive an acceptance letter, as you did."
"And Professor McGonagall came to my house and explained everything to us," Sally-Anne said, remembering the Transfiguration Professor's visit and how excited she herself had been. "My parents and I, I mean."
"Precisely. When you use your wand, the runic network detects it, and if you're outside of Hogwarts, then the Ministry is notified immediately. I've done a lot of research on the network, so there is one thing I know which you should be aware of."
"What is that?"
"The Shield Rune won't be detected by the runic network, and therefore the Trace."
"So… I would be able to use it outside of Hogwarts?"
"Just as you would be able to use any runic magic without being detected," Professor Babbling said. "But that doesn't mean you should, nor that you are allowed to. I don't think I need to inform your parents of this, but–"
"I don't have any reason to use the rune, Professor," Sally-Anne said quickly. "Well, I wanted to show my parents, but that was it. Is that alright?"
Professor Babbling smiled. "So long as you only do it the once."
"I will," Sally-Anne replied. "I promise."
"I know you will," Professor Babbling replied. "Now, I'm sure you want to get on with your day. Once again, I'm glad you're alright, Sally-Anne."
"Thanks, Professor," she said. "And thanks again for teaching me the Shield Rune."
"It was my pleasure, Sally-Anne." Bathsheda smiled. "Don't think I'm finished teaching you about it yet. You've hardly scratched the surface of the rune's capabilities."
Sally-Anne smiled back at Professor Babbling, then left her office. She wanted to learn everything she could about the rune, but for now, she was just tired. Sally-Anne decided that she needed rest before venturing further into the unknown.
As always, her friends were waiting outside the office for her.
"Did you have fun?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, I did," Sally-Anne replied. "Did you?"
"Define 'fun'," Harry muttered.
"We played with Draco!" Rose exclaimed.
"'Played'?" asked Sally-Anne.
"He was taking his frustrations out on some Hufflepuffs," Hermione said.
"Has he fallen off the ceiling yet?" Sally-Anne asked.
"He didn't make it up there," Ron said.
"Professor McGonagall stepped in before things got bad," Harry added. "Rose actually stood up for Malfoy."
Sally-Anne smiled. "That was nice of you, Rose."
"Thanks!" Rose replied.
That night, as with most nights, Rose was roaming the castle by herself. Despite a few paintings telling her to return to her room before she got hurt, she was pleasantly skipping through the hallways.
Unlike most nights, Rose wasn't doing it to explore, but instead to find someone. She had never seen him during the day, except for once a few weeks ago, so she didn't know where his office was. Sure, she could've asked, or used discern location, but that took all the fun out of it.
So instead, she was skipping through the hallways, enjoying the peace and quiet. Not the lack of other students, but the lack of an annoying voice hissing to itself the whole time.
"You!"
"I got you this time!" Filch grumbled. "When I'm through with you, you'll be wishing you was never born!"
Rose simply smiled. "I can fix Mrs. Norris."
Argus ignored the girl. Obviously, it was a lie to trick him into dropping his guard.
"No, it's not," the girl said. "You've seen me before, Mr. Filch. If I wanted to get away, I'd be gone by now. You've spent the past year believing that I wasn't real. And you've spent the past few weeks without your cat. I promise I can fix her, just like I fixed Sally-Anne last Sunday. The staff must've told you."
Argus glared at the girl, his mouth in its usual snarl. She had a point; she had always disappeared when he caught her, so why hadn't she already done that? If it were some cruel trick, he could just take her to the Headmaster. With proof that the girl was out after curfew, justice would be served.
He grabbed her by her arm. "Come with me, you little wretch! If you're lying, it's straight to the 'eadmaster!"
"Deal!" the girl whispered loudly, easily sliding out of his grasp.
What surprised Argus was how calm the girl was. No, not calm, happy. Of course she was happy. These kids didn't know the meaning of misery! They had it so easy, running around, using their magic to destroy his castle, making his job difficult.
"No offense, Mr. Filch," the girl said. "But I do know what misery is like. I'm sorry that you have to suffer, though. But it's like my best friend Shadow says: 'Whatever you can do with magic, I can do without magic!'"
Argus muttered something under his breath that he was glad none of the other staff could hear.
"I've been through bad things too," the girl said. "Not bad like 'Oh no, that cute girl doesn't notice me', or 'I haven't studied for my exams'. Bad like people died. Bad like I understand that there are worse things than dying."
They arrived at his office, where Mrs. Norris was waiting, frozen forever. Argus had given up hope that she would be alright, despite what the other staff members had told him. Pompous wizards with their stupid magic. What did they know? Now there was this girl, pretending like she understood his pain.
"I was going to make a deal with you, Mr. Filch, but I changed my mind," she said, her wand in her hand. When had she drawn that? "I'll fix Mrs. Norris, then you can turn me in to Professor Dumbledore if you'd like."
The girl waved her wand over Mrs. Norris, and sure enough, within a few seconds, the cat began to move again. She hissed and shrieked, spasming a little as she regained control of her petrified body.
Argus shoved the girl out of his way and scooped up his precious cat. He held her tightly as she calmed down and began to purr.
Rose smiled. She knew there was no convincing Mr. Filch that she understood him, but this was the next best thing.
"Get outta 'ere!" Mr. Filch barked. "Get out– What's you name?"
"Rose," she replied. "Rose Peta-Lorrum." She curtsied.
"Get outta 'ere, Peta-Lorrum, before I change my mind and take you to the 'eadmaster!"
"Right away, Mr. Filch," Rose said, slipping out of the Caretaker's office.
After a few seconds, Rose heard a voice in her head.
Rose realized after talking to Hermione about her parents that she missed them. It wasn't always a conscious thought, but when it popped to the surface, it made her miserable. So she did what she always did when it happened: she asked Carolina for help.
Carolina's response was to help people, just like Rose's parents did.
Rose replied.
Rose didn't need to hear Carolina sigh to know she was.
As November slowly turned into December, nearly every student continued to worry about the Basilisk. As several of the Gryffindors believed that Sally-Anne would be able to stop the Basilisk, they had started traveling around in packs, with her at the head. At her insistence, Rose traveled in the center, to which most people agreed after they stopped believing she was the Heir of Slytherin, or stopped caring about it.
The only person that was more concerned about school than the Basilisk was Neville. Neville was becoming paranoid, thinking that some bully was around every corner, waiting to humiliate him. His gran wasn't as worried as he thought she would be when he told her about the Basilisk in the school. The Basilisk had already attacked Sally-Anne, whom Neville thought was really nice, and he was terrified that it would go after him next, for no reason other than that his luck was just that bad.
All Neville wanted to do was to go home, but his gran insisted that he stay at Hogwarts. She said it was alright, to get over it, and that Professor Dumbledore would keep him safe.
The worst part of Hogwarts came every Thursday in the form of Potions class with Professor Snape. Neville was certain that the Potions Master was singling him out in class. Professor Snape glided around the room like a wraith, waiting for Neville to make a mistake. Never mind the Basilisk in the school, Neville was terrified of Professor Snape.
There was only one Potions class during which he had felt comfortable, and that was when he had Rose as his partner. Usually she partnered with Hermione or Sally-Anne, but today Neville intercepted her before she got to class, hoping that she could help him and make class bearable.
"Rose, would–"
"Salutations, Neville!"
"Ah!" Neville exclaimed, startled by the crimson-haired girl's sudden outburst.
"I'm sorry if I startled you," Rose said. "Would you like to work together today?"
Neville wasn't sure how she knew he was going to ask that, but he wasn't going to wait around for someone else to grab her.
"Yeah, how'd you know I was going to ask that?" Neville asked.
"My imaginary friend can read minds," Rose replied as if it were obvious.
"Okay," Neville said, familiar with the girl's odd ramblings.
Neville knew Rose was strange, but he didn't care about that. She wasn't afraid of anything. It wasn't just him that was afraid of Professor Snape, even if it were only he that was terrified of the Potions Master, but Rose wasn't afraid of Professor Snape. In fact, she always smiled at him. Neville couldn't think of why anyone would smile at Professor Snape, but she did.
Neville was certain that he'd do better in Potions if he could concentrate on the assignments. Outside of class he understood well enough what he had to do. Inside of class, he was so terrified of Professor Snape that he couldn't concentrate on his work.
"Today, class, you will be brewing the Swelling Solution," Professor Snape said in his dark, monotone voice. "I'm sure you can all handle it without inflating your heads to the size of watermelons."
Neville started leafing through his book for the right page. Had Professor Snape said the page yet? Neville hadn't been paying attention.
"Two scoops of dried nettles, three puffer-fish eyes, and a bat spleen," Rose recited. "Page 104."
Neville glanced at her, then flipped to page 104. Sure enough, there were the instructions to make the Swelling Solution. He propped open his book and the pair got to work making the potion.
"Check the mortar to make sure it's clean," Rose said. "I'll look over our scoop. Remember, if you don't know what it is, it could ruin the potion."
"Right," Neville said. He checked the ceramic mortar, then once more just to be sure. He saw Professor Snape glaring at the pair from across the room and froze up with fear.
"Neville, focus," Rose said. "Remember, he only has power over you while you're in this room. Outside, he's only allowed to take points from you if you do something wrong, and you're a good kid."
Neville snapped out of his state and returned to work. Sure enough, there was something on their mortar that, had it not been for Rose, he would've missed.
"What's that?" Neville asked.
Rose looked at it, then carefully took the mortar out of his hands. The objects in question were a few black specks, but those black specks could destroy the potion before it was started.
Rose mumbled something, then held the mortar up to her ear.
"Dried nettles," she replied. "Someone didn't clean this very well after their assignment." She turned to Professor Snape. "Professor Snape!"
Neville nearly went pale. This was the other reason that he was failing Potions. They weren't allowed to use their wands in class, so whenever he needed to clean something, Neville needed to tell Professor Snape so he could get permission for a new one. This lead to Neville typically ignoring the problem and hoping everything worked out for the best.
It never did.
"What, Peta-Lorrum?" Professor Snape growled.
"Someone didn't clean this well after the last class," Rose said, holding up the mortar.
"And?"
"We need a new one," Rose said. "You don't let us use our wands, and all equipment should be cleaned thoroughly or–"
BANG!
Professor Snape and Neville both looked towards the source of the sound, only to find that Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had nearly blown themselves up.
"Or that will happen," Rose said. "Good timing."
"You know where the sink is, Peta-Lorrum," Professor Snape replied, then turned to go clean up the mess his students had made.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he forgot that he told us to ask him before using the sink," Rose said. She shrugged. "Oh well!"
The pair continued to brew their potion, which Neville thought was easy with Rose guiding him. They crushed the nettles and puffer-fish eyes into a powder and added it to their cauldron. As always, Rose double-checked everything they did, catching mistakes before they could happen.
"Alright, now wave your wand over the brew," Neville read from the book.
"Go for it," Rose replied.
"What?"
"It's easy," Rose said. "You should give it a shot."
"Okay," Neville said. He hesitantly drew his wand, expecting Professor Snape to jump on him at any second. When nothing happened, he shakily moved his hand over to their cauldron. Before he could start, Rose's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.
"Fluid motions," she said. "Like this." She carefully moved his hand over the cauldron, keeping his wand steady as she did.
The potion began to simmer in the cauldron, gently bubbling and turning from green, to purple, back to green.
"Perfect!" Rose said, releasing Neville's wrist. "Excellent work, Neville!"
"Thanks," Neville said, turning to the book. "Now what?"
"Now we let it sit for about an hour," Rose said. "It'll oscillate between bright green and purple, but when it starts to quickly move back and forth between them, that's when we add the bat spleen." During her explanation, Rose patted herself on the head. "Now we clean up and go to lunch."
"Did you just pat yourself on the head?" Neville asked.
"Yup!"
"Why?"
"I do that when I use big words!" Rose said. "I started patting myself on the back, but I like to pat my head more!"
Neville blinked. As much as he admired Rose's courage, he still found her to be strange. "Okay."
Together they cleaned up their work space while the potion continued to simmer.
After they returned from lunch, Neville asked, "How are you so brave all the time, Rose?"
"Practice," Rose replied. "Professor Snape isn't nearly as scary as some people out of school. Out there, people aren't going to be nice to you. Actually, this is good practice. Remember, the worst thing Professor Snape can do is yell at you. He can't hurt you."
"It seems like he will sometimes," Neville said.
"Nah, he can't. He'd be sacked, and he knows it." Rose noticed the glum look on her new friend's face. "Don't worry. I had the same feeling when I left Arcrel."
"What's Arcrel?"
"My old school," Rose replied. "I was so scared that I wouldn't leave my big sister's side. After a few weeks, she told me that I needed to find my own way. So, we parted ways for a while. That was one of the scariest nights of my life, but I woke up the next morning, and carried on. You've just got to take it one step at a time."
Neville nodded. He still didn't think he would ever be as brave as Rose, no matter how many steps he took.
"Neville, let me ask you something that my sister asks me," Rose said. "Worse things have happened, right?"
Neville nodded again. Worse things had certainly happened to him. He wasn't an orphan, but he might as well be.
"That's what Alice told me. She reminded me that the worst was over, and that I would be just fine."
Rose glanced over and noticed that their potion was beginning to flicker back and forth between green and purple.
"Life's a lot less scary when you remember that you've survived worse," Rose said, tossing the bat spleen into their cauldron. "Just take a deep breath, put one foot in front of the other, and do what you've got to do."
She stirred their cauldron four times, as per their instructions, then turned down the heat on their cauldron.
"Alright, you're up," Rose said. "Wave your wand like I showed you, and we're finished."
Neville took a deep breath, relaxed, and waved his wand over the cauldron.
The potion stopped changing color, and faded to a dull green.
"See?" Rose said, smiling. "Nothing to it."
"Thanks," Neville said, smiling.
"No problem," Rose replied. "Just remember that Professor Snape isn't that scary, and you'll keep doing well. Besides, he and I are best friends!"
"Really?" Neville asked.
"In Rose's mind, yes," Hermione said, walking by them with the potion she and Sally-Anne made. "In the real world, Professor Snape may have a different opinion."
Rose scooped up some of the potion with a vial and brought it up to Professor Snape.
He narrowed his eyes as he inspected it.
"I'm in shock that Longbottom didn't get you two blown up," he said.
"Nah, he did well!" Rose exclaimed. "Besides, I've been blown up before. It's not that bad."
"Mhm," Professor Snape said as the last of the students finished their potions.
To everyone's relief, Professor Snape let them out early, once their potions were complete. As Rose returned with the rest of the Gryffindors to Gryffindor Tower, she let her mind wander back to her days at Arcrel. She remembered leaving, and Alice telling her not to worry.
The worst is over, Rosie, Alice had said.
Being careful not to let her smile falter, Rose let a wave of sadness wash over her. The worst hadn't been over; it had yet to begin. She just hoped her friends didn't have to suffer the same fate she did.
The worst is never over, because worse things can always happen. The only good bad things do is remind you how unprepared you are. Figure out what went wrong and fix it so it doesn't happen again.
Rose grinned, happy to know that Shadow always knew just what to say to cheer her up.
Late that night, after everyone except Rose had gone to bed, Hermione pulled out a letter she had received at the end of November. She wasn't sure why she kept rereading it. It wasn't as if there were some hidden message in it that changed her fate. It was as clear as day what was going to happen to her.
Dear Hermione,
We're sorry that it's taken us so long to reach this decision, but we've come to an agreement. We'll let you stay at Hogwarts until Christmas, but after you come home, we want you to stay here for the remainder of the school year. If you want, we can set up a transfer to Beauxbatons for the start of next term after we've all had some time to recover.
We don't think it's safe at Hogwarts anymore. Between the psychotic professor last year and the monster this year, we'd feel better if you were away from that place. We're sorry, Sweety, but we just don't want to worry about whether we're going to see you again. Every time an owl flies into our house, we're afraid it's coming to tell us that something's happened to you. We can't take it anymore.
We know you've made friends, and you and Rose have both informed us that Rose can handle the Basilisk. Even though this may be true, it's still too dangerous at Hogwarts. You'll still be able to write to your friends, and we're sure they can come visit us. But we don't want you to stay at Hogwarts any longer.
Love,
Mum and Dad
Hermione looked around the room. She couldn't see well in the dark, but she didn't see Rose, and was pretty sure everyone else was asleep. She lied down in her bed, and when she was certain no one could hear, she softly cried. Hermione didn't want to leave Hogwarts, but she had no choice. Her friends didn't know yet, because she didn't know how to tell them.
She didn't care that she could make new friends; she liked these friends. Sally-Anne and Harry understood her, even though Ron was stubborn, he was actually clever, and while Rose was probably a lunatic, Rose was her lunatic! Hermione didn't want to leave all of them behind, but there was no convincing her parents that she should be allowed to stay.
"What do I do?" she whispered. "What do I do?"