章 28: Extracurricular Activities
Petunia Dursley walked over to the door when she heard a knocking the next morning. Who could that be at this hour?
She opened the door to find an elderly looking woman that looked sort of familiar, although she wasn't sure why. The woman certainly was dressed strangely, garbed in green robes, although the young girl next to her beat her by a mile in the fancy dress department.
The freakishly pale girl was dressed in a red cloak and black dress, with goggles on her forehead. She also wore what Petunia thought were welding gloves and large boots.
Oh no, Petunia thought. They're some of them, aren't they?
"Good morning, Mrs. Dursley," the older woman greeted her pleasantly. "My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, from Hogwarts School of–"
"Get out," Petunia hissed, her face turning pale.
"Who is it, Petunia, love?" asked Vernon, joining her at the door. His face turned red the moment he saw who it was. No normal person dressed like either of these freaks, which meant that they were from that wretched school that they sent the boy off to in September.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, I'm here to talk about your nephew," Minerva tried again.
"Get off of my property!" shouted Vernon. "Neither of you are welcome here!"
Minerva had anticipated this. She knew how these two were; she had heard about them from Harry's parents. It was going to be difficult to get their feet in the door, which was precisely why Peta-Lorrum was here with her.
"It has come to my attention that your treatment of Harry is less than ideal," Minerva said sternly. "I have come here to verify this."
"You are not welcome–"
"You said that already," the little girl said in a Scottish accent. "If we can't come inside, then we'll have to wait here until you let us. How many people do you think will pass by this house in that time? Won't it seem odd when we start shouting your names?"
Vernon's face started turning violet as he realized that the girl had a point. He needed to maintain his reputation, and he couldn't be seen talking to these freaks!
"Leave, or I'll call the police!"
<Ref, what are 'police'?>
<Law enforcement, I think. Their purpose will be to remove you from the premises.>
<Yeah, that's gonna happen.>
"Law enforcement has already been notified, Mr. Dursley," Professor McGonagall informed him. "They have been informed that a child is being abused in this household. Which would you prefer? Us to search for Harry, whom you know to keep things quiet, or the police, which will surely draw more attention to themselves than we will."
Vernon looked like he was going to explode. His reputation would be history if people saw the police searching his house, and it would be irreparable if people found out about that boy.
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth.
He moved aside to allow the freaks access to his private property.
"Rose? Professor?"
They looked up the stairs that were next to the door and saw Harry looking down at them. Minerva was horrified by what she saw. It had been nearly a month since she had last seen Potter, but the boy was awful. He was pale, thin, and wearing clothes that fit him worse than the ones he usually wore.
She turned to face Harry's "caretakers".
"How often do you feed him?" she asked calmly, working hard to control her rage.
"That's none of your business!" shouted Vernon.
"On the contrary, it is my business, Mr. Dursley," Minerva said, raising her voice. "How you care for that boy became my business last year when he began school at Hogwarts! If he is not well-cared for, then I am well within my rights according to your laws to remove him from the premises and place him in the care of individuals that will actually care for him!"
Rose walked up the stairs to join Harry while Professor McGonagall chewed out his aunt and uncle with what must have been a Natural Twenty on her Intimidation Check.
"We're here to bust you out of this joint," Rose whispered. "Where are your things?"
"Locked in the cupboard under the basement," Harry replied. "Can you get them out?"
"Easily," Rose said, grinning.
She walked back down the stairs, arriving at the cupboard while the shouting match continued near her.
"Get away from there!" Harry's uncle shouted at her, grabbing her arm.
Rose calmly looked down at the fist closed around her arm, then up at the face that owned the fist. She grinned, and her goggles turned red.
"You're in my personal space," she said, grabbing his wrist.
Vernon Dursley began to shout at the girl, but stopped when he saw her hand glowing orange. The next thing he knew, he was lifted off his feet and hurled through the air. He sailed through his living room, landing with a THUD! on the floor.
Petunia stared in shock as her husband was thrown across the room by the little girl. She could hardly believe her eyes. Petunia was almost certain that those freaks needed wands for their tricks, but she hadn't seen the girl use one.
Rose turned back to the cupboard door. She spread her feet apart as she had seen Carolina do many times, closed her eyes, and inhaled. Her eyes snapped open, and she exhaled, throwing herself at the door, her fist outstretched.
A cloud of dust and debris rose up around what used to be a door. As it settled, Minerva and Petunia saw Rose standing in the ruins, shoveling Harry's belongings into a large black hole that appeared on her person.
"Who is that?" Petunia asked.
Vernon climbed to his feet, his head reeling as he attempted to comprehend what had just happened. A four foot girl that couldn't weigh more than 50 pounds had just launched him across his living room, and then proceeded to break down the cupboard door with her bare fist. What sort of freak was she?
"That?" Minerva replied. "That's Rose Peta-Lorrum." Rose curtsied instinctively. "She's a friend of Harry's who can come and go as she pleases. Even I can't stop her. Rose uses her magic to appear anywhere she likes and find people wherever they are in the world. She was quite worried about Harry, so she asked to come along to help him. I think she said something about coming by every day from now until the start of term to make sure he was being treated well."
Vernon and Petunia looked at the woman in horror, then turned to the little girl, who gave them a grin that fit a villain in a film, or someone who had just escaped the madhouse.
"So is there a problem with us taking the young Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked, a hint of smugness in her voice.
"Take him," Vernon growled. "Suits us better, anyway."
Rose beamed and skipped toward the door, while Minerva waved her wand to repair to broken cupboard.
Together, Harry and Rose packed up the rest of his things, including his owl Hedwig, and they all left Number Four Privet Drive.
Sally-Anne was pacing around nervously, accompanied by Mrs. Weasley.
"I think everyone needs to calm down," Mr. Weasley said, noticing that Ron and Hermione were also looking a tad antsy. "They'll be back any minute now with Harry. You'll see."
"They're taking an awful long time," Sally-Anne said. "What if there was a problem? What if–"
"We're home!"
Rose, Harry, and Professor McGonagall were greeted by the entire Weasley clan, Sally-Anne, and Hermione.
"I'm so glad you're alright," Sally-Anne said, her face lighting up to see her friend.
"Are you hungry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, seeing that he was almost as pale as the girl whose heart apparently didn't beat.
"A little, actually," he said. "I wouldn't want to–"
Just like she had done with Rose the previous day, Molly whisked the boy away to the table, depositing a stack of sandwiches in front of him. After realizing that Harry was gone, everyone else relocated themselves to the table.
"Will you be joining us for lunch, Minerva?" Molly asked, distributing plates around the table.
"I would rather return to my holiday, but thank you for the invitation, Molly." Minerva turned to Rose. "Ms. Peta-Lorrum, seeing as how it was your plan that got me here, I would ask that you bring me back."
"Are you ready to go now?" the girl asked.
"Yes," Minerva replied, picking up the bag she had left at the Burrow. "I'm–"
The next thing Minerva knew, she was back on the porch, looking out at the field.
"Minerva!" her friend Milly gasped. "You startled me!"
"I'm a little surprised to be back so soon as well," Minerva said, looking around. She filed away under "important" that not only could Peta-Lorrum move herself nearly at will, but other people as well.
"How'd you get back?" Milly asked. "Portkey?"
"I'm honestly not sure," Minerva replied.
Minerva sat down and mentally cataloged what she knew about the strange girl. She could find people anywhere in the world after having met them once; it was how she had known where to find Harry at first, or so she had told Minerva that morning. Peta-Lorrum could move herself and other people around seemingly at will, unhindered by an anti-apparition ward.
What was the extent of the girl's unique magic? Were there limits to her abilities? There must be something. The only weakness in the girl that Minerva had observed was her apparent sensitivity to sound.
The pale girl was immune to poison at least, and breezed through Transfigurations class. Who was she? What was she?
Whoever or whatever she was, she had earned the trust of Albus, so she couldn't be too bad.
Minerva decided that Peta-Lorrum wasn't her problem until September. Having decided this, Minerva slumped back into a chair, and she and Milly enjoyed the morning air.
That evening, Sally-Anne's parents were the first to arrive. Her mum had a tendency to show up early to any event, although 15 minutes this time wasn't so bad. Normally it was 30 minutes minimum.
"Sorry, we're late," Sarah said to Mrs. Weasley.
"Not at all! In fact, you're early!" Molly replied to her guest.
"But by her clock, we're late," said Wilfred. "Thank you for inviting us." He extended his hand. "Wilfred Perks. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Molly Weasley," she replied, then motioned to her husband, who was approaching them. "And this is my husband, Arthur."
"Wonderful to meet you both," Arthur said, shaking both of their hands.
"Sarah Perks," Sarah added. "Nice to meet you."
"Come inside, come inside," Molly said, ushering the pair into her house. "Please, make yourselves at home. The children are all out back playing."
Neither of them had been sure what to expect at the home of magic users, but it didn't look that different from any other house. Sure, there were strange odds and ends, but most houses had some. What interested Sarah the most was the clock on the wall. It didn't have the time, but instead had different conditions, such as "traveling", "mortal danger", and "home". At that moment, most of the hands were pointing at home, because each hand had a different name on it.
"Wonderful, isn't it?" asked Molly, noticing her guest eyeing the clock. "It's been in the family for generations. Arthur and I can't figure out how to add conditions to it, just names."
"That's the important part, isn't it?" Sarah asked.
"Of course," replied Molly. She glanced over at one of the many pictures of her children that were on the wall, and noticed that it had been tilted.
"Third one today," she huffed, fixing the picture. "Someone keeps tilting them. Probably one or both of the Twins."
"You said the children are out back?" Wilfred asked.
"Last I checked," Arthur replied. "I think the boys were playing a few rounds of Quidditch."
"Isn't that the game Harry was playing when he almost got thrown off his broom?" Wilfred asked.
"WHAT?!" shrieked Molly.
"Your children didn't tell you?" Sarah asked. "Last November, Sally-Anne said someone jinxed his broom to try to throw him off. It turned out to be Professor Quirrell. Sally-Anne told us Hermione and Rose stopped him."
"No one tells me anything anymore," grumbled Molly, leading them through the house to the back door.
In the air were Harry, Ron, Fred, and George. The boys were throwing around a Quaffle and using trees as goal posts. An irritable looking Ginny was pouting on the sidelines, not being allowed to play with them again. Hermione and Sally-Anne were talking, and Rose was wandering around the yard.
"Rose isn't so bad," Hermione said. "It was better at Hogwarts, though, since she had the entire castle to wander about in when she got bored. Now all she's got is my house, and I'm worried that she's going to start trying to redecorate it or something."
"I'm sure it'll be alright," Sally-Anne said. "If you need, my parents and I might be able to take her for a few days."
"That's alright," Hermione replied. "She's–"
"BOYS!"
Everyone looked up when they heard Mrs. Weasley shouting.
"Uh oh," Ron said. He knew that tone of voice. It meant someone was in a lot of trouble. He just prayed that it wasn't him.
The boys landed their brooms and all dismounted. They realized that it might be a mistake when Mrs. Weasley rushed over to them and hugged Harry.
"Why didn't anyone tell me that Harry nearly died playing Quidditch?!" she exclaimed, still hugging Harry tightly enough that no danger would come to him. "What else haven't you told me?!"
"Erm," Ron began. "Let's see, the troll, the dragon–"
"Dragon?!" exclaimed the Twins and Mrs. Weasley.
"When was that?" Fred asked.
"Hallowe'en," replied Ron. "It was with the troll."
"Why didn't you say anything?!" gasped Mrs. Weasley as Sally-Anne's parents snuck around them to get to their daughter.
"You told us all about the troll," George said.
"You left out the dragon," Fred added.
"No, Rose left out the dragon," Harry said, still getting crushed by Mrs. Weasley. "Remember?"
The Twins turned to Rose, who was apparently conversing with the grass.
"Which reminds me," Ron said, "I've been meaning to ask Charlie about it. I tried looking it up in the Library, but I couldn't find anything that looked like it."
"Please tell me you at least told her about the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione said, coming up behind them.
"Everyone told us about the Philosopher's Stone," Mr. Weasley said. "It was all anyone talked about for weeks at the Ministry. Word had spread that five Gryffindors had fought off He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but accounts varied. Of course, Fudge won't admit that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named could ever come back."
"Of course not," Mrs. Perks said. "No sane politician wants it to be known that the world ended on their watch."
"Where are my manners," Molly said, releasing her honorary son. "I believe introductions are in order." She nudged her boys.
"Ron."
"Fred."
"George."
"They're lying!" Rose called. "He's Fred, and he's George."
"It makes no difference," Wilfred said, smiling. "I'm not going to be able to tell them apart regardless." He turned to the boy with the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. "And you must be Harry. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
"Why don't we all go inside?" Mrs. Weasley suggested. "We can all get ready for supper. I'm sure Hermione's parents will be here soon."
As they all walked inside, Rose glanced over and noticed a girl with pale blond hair standing at the edge of the yard. She was staring up at the sky, transfixed on something. After glancing up and not seeing anything, Rose made a note to find out who she was later.
Half an hour later, fifteen people had gathered around the dinner table. An impressive feat, since Sally-Anne was pretty sure that the table wasn't big enough for everyone earlier.
"Molly, Arthur, what do you two do for a living?" Dan Granger asked as he was filling his plate.
"Professional housewife," replied Molly. "I've nearly perfected the art."
"I work at the Ministry, in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office," he replied.
"What's that mean?" Emma asked.
"It's my job to keep any items that have been bewitched out of Muggle hands," Arthur said.
"He doesn't just work at the office," said Ron. "He's in charge of it."
"How's that legislation going, Dad?" asked Percy, who, for what might have been the first time in days, was out of his room.
"Quite well, Percy."
"Is that the Muggle Protection Act?" asked Rose.
Arthur turned to look at her. "How do you know that?"
"Her imaginary friend told her," Hermione said, beating Rose to the punch.
"He can read minds," Sally-Anne added.
Arthur gave a confused look to his children, hoping one of them would explain.
"She's like the Lovegoods, Dad," Ron said.
"Oh, she's one of them," Arthur said.
"Who are the Lovegoods?" Harry whispered to Ron.
"I'll tell you later."
"Anyway, it's looking like the legislation will get passed without problems, despite the fit Lucius has been throwing."
"Malfoy would," Ron muttered.
"Is Lucius related to Draco?" asked Rose. Unlike the other fourteen people at the dinner table, she was free to speak, unhindered by food.
"Lucius Malfoy is Draco Malfoy's father," Molly Weasley said with thinly veiled contempt.
"Isn't that the boy that nearly got you girls killed last year?" Dan asked, his anger apparent in his voice.
"No, that was the troll," Rose said. "But I can understand how you could confuse the two. They do look awfully similar."
Fred and George, who had placed themselves on either side of Rose, snickered.
"No surprise, Drakey's father is a politician," Rose said. "Let me guess: Lucy is the Emperor's Chief Vizier."
Everyone stared at Rose.
"What?" Arthur asked.
"Rose, there isn't an 'Emperor'," Hermione said.
"Does she mean the Minister of Magic?" Arthur asked. "Because Malfoy does have a strong pull in the Ministry."
"Has he got a goatee?" Rose asked, narrowing her eyes.
"No, he's just got long, straight, blonde hair," Arthur said.
"Interesting," muttered Rose as she wrote down something in her notebook.
"Enough about politics," Arthur said. "What about all of you? What do you do?"
"Dan and I are dentists," Emma said. After receiving confused looks from the Weasleys, she added, "That's a doctor that works on teeth."
"Interesting," Arthur said. "How exactly can you work on teeth without magic?"
"It's very delicate work," Dan said. Eyeing the boys at the table, he added, "And painful."
Hermione's face turned a faint shade of red. Her dad was overly protective of her, and he got worse after she went off to Hogwarts last year. While it didn't matter to her now, she was sure that she was going to start caring soon that her dad was frightening off any potential boyfriends. Although, thinking about it, Rose would probably do the same without even trying.
Rose grinned and began snickering.
"Something funny, Rose?" Emma asked her.
"Carolina's dad gave Sk'lar that exact same look the first time they met."
"Who are all these people you keep mentioning?" Wilfred asked her.
Hermione exchanged glances with Rose. She figured Rose would know better than to go on about her family with people that might actually take her seriously.
"It's a long story," Rose said.
Hermione caught Sally-Anne's attention.
"Help," she mouthed.
"Speaking of stories, Dad, any news from the front?" Sally-Anne asked.
"All the bad drama is over," her dad said. "We've got our Macduff back, and the show can go on."
Hermione smiled at Sally-Anne, and mouthed "Thank you." Sally-Anne replied with a subtle "You're welcome."
"So you do theatre work?" asked Dan.
"Technical Director," Wilfred said, nodding. "We've been pretty busy lately, since the annual Shakespeare Festival is coming up soon. Our Macduff got into a fight with one of the other actors, and we nearly lost him."
"I saw one of the fliers for that the other day," Emma said. "Macbeth, right?"
"Right. They've been practicing almost non-stop for the past few weeks. Fortunately for me, I don't need to be at every rehearsal."
"When are they performing it?" Dan asked Wilfred.
"The first of August," he replied. "Just a few weeks from now."
"Oh, alright," Dan said. "Would you mind if we went to see the show?"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea!"
"If it's not for another two weeks, then we should be able to go," Dan said. "We're going camping next weekend, so I was just worried it might conflict."
Rose, whom Hermione guessed had been spacing out, immediately picked up her head and began to pay attention. "Wait, what? Camping? Camping when? Camping where?"
Not for the first time during the meal, the adults in the group turned to look at Rose.
"Don't look at me like that, you heard what he said," Rose said. "Camping!"
"I don't know why you're all looking like that," Hermione said, ignoring her friend. "This isn't remotely the strangest thing she's done."
"Not even the strangest thing she's done today," muttered Harry, thinking back to earlier that day when Rose had thrown Uncle Vernon across the room with one hand.
"Seriously, what was that about camping?" Rose asked.
"Well, in that case," Molly Weasley said, putting them back on topic. "Why don't we all go see the show? Then afterwards, the children can all come back here and spend the night? I'll make up some spare beds for the girls in Ginny's room."
"That sounds like a good idea," Emma said, thankful to have the strange crimson-haired girl off their hands for a few days. She was grateful to Rose for everything she'd done for Hermione, but Dan and Emma had agreed that the girl was beginning to be a bit much for the both of them.
"That sounds exciting," Arthur said. "I've never been to a Muggle play before. What are they like?"
"There goes Dad again," Ron sighed.
This was nothing new. Arthur Weasley was passionate about his job, and like any person who loved their job, he rambled on about it a lot. For the Weasleys, this was just another rambling, so they all tuned him out, including his wife.
To the non-Weasleys in the room, this was something new to them, so many of them listened intently. Or, in Rose's case, she listened to the highlights from Reflectesalon, as she had spaced out once again.
Hermione awoke Monday morning to find Rose staring at her from approximately three inches in front of her face.
"Yes, Rose?" she asked. "You'd like something?"
"Camping?"
"Not until Saturday. Sat-ur-day. That means not today. Do you understand what Saturday is?"
"67,172 rounds from now?"
Hermione did some quick mental math. A round was six seconds if she recalled correctly, which meant that 67,172 rounds was 403,032 seconds, which was 6,717 minutes and 12 seconds. That came out to 111 hours, 57 minutes, and 12 seconds, which was the exact amount of time from when Rose said that until midnight on Saturday.
"Yes, but please wait a few hours before waking everyone up."
"Fine." Rose began to walk out of Hermione's room, then poked her head back in the door. "How many hours?"
"Five o'clock," Hermione said. "We usually get ready around five o'clock."
Sure enough, 70,170 rounds later, or five o'clock on Saturday morning, Hermione was once again awoken from her sleep by Rose.
"Wake up!"
"Ah!" Hermione shouted, jumping in her bed. She instinctively threw a pillow towards the source of the sound. Her parents would sometimes startle her awake, and she had found that the best way to get them to stop was by throwing pillows at them.
"No, I don't need a pillow!" exclaimed a Scottish voice. "We need to get out of bed, not in it! It's time!"
"Time for what?" Hermione asked her friend groggily. "What time is it?"
"Camping Time!"
Rose proceeded to awaken both of Hermione's parents, who were just as enthusiastic about waking up as Hermione had been.
As the Grangers got ready, Rose continued to bounce excitedly. Hermione knew Rose was almost always excited about something, but this was new. Hermione had never seen Rose quite this excited before.
While it was true that they always got ready around five o'clock to go camping for their annual camping trip, they didn't actually leave until almost seven. This was intentional, designed to give them all time to wake up before getting on the road.
With Rose moving them along, they were out of the house by six. Dan and Emma did find it fascinating that Rose could clean all three of them with a simple wave of her hand. No wand needed, just a quick wave.
"Prestidigitation," Rose said. "It's great. Now come on!"
The car ride seemed significantly longer than in past years with Rose talking the entire time.
Hermione finally got Rose to be quiet by asking her to silently recite all the fifth-level spells she knew. Hermione had chosen five at random, but it seemed to be keeping Rose occupied.
An hour later, they pulled up to a valley, and Rose looked around wide-eyed.
"And now the hard part," Hermione said to Rose, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Hiking."
They all hiked uphill for another thirty minutes. It was a long way to their spot, but it was always worth it.
"Alright, we're just about there," Dan said. He looked back at his little girl and wife. They were starting to look tired, like normal people. Rose, on the other hand, was still as exuberant as she had been at five o'clock that morning when she had woken them all up.
When they got to the field, Rose looked up, and the biggest grin formed on her face. Without warning, she took off running.
"Rose, wait!" Hermione shouted, but the girl was already running out into the field.
Rose ran out into the field, spinning around as she ran, taking in the sight of the whole valley around her, no longer obscured from it by the tops of the trees.
They were in a field with perfectly green grass, surrounded by tall trees that cut off her view of the forest past a few feet. Beyond the trees that promised them protection from all the harm of the outside world were lush, beautiful hills covered in infinitely more trees. The trees turned the hills a beautiful spring green, and stretched far beyond the tops of the hills. Rose turned her head to the sky, and saw the bright, shining sun overhead, casting the shadows of the clouds on the hills as it smiled on them from the skies.
"Rose!" Hermione panted, catching up to her.
"Please don't run off like that," Mrs. Hermione's Mum said.
Rose was still grinning. "Makes you think, doesn't it?"
"I'm sorry?" Mr. Hermione's Dad asked.
"The hills, the way they stretch out around you," Rose said, gesturing outwards with her arms. "Makes you feel like you're part of something. Like with the world behind you, anything's possible."
"I've… I've never thought about it like that," Mr. Hermione's Dad said.
Once again without warning, Rose threw her head back, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted, "Sky above and earth below!"
"Rose–" Hermione began, but Rose held up her right index finger to Hermione's lips, with her left index finger to her own lips.
"Shh!" Rose said. She gazed off into the distance, her smile growing. "Hear that? That's the sound of the hills, reminding us that we're never alone." She turned back to Hermione and her family. "That's what Alice used to say."
"Which one's Alice again?" Emma whispered to her daughter.
"Her sister," Hermione replied.
"And Carolina says she's got the biggest family in all of De'rok, because she lives in a forest. She says the trees are her brothers and sisters, and all the animals are her friends."
Hermione stared at her friend. She had never seen Rose quite like this. She had seen the pale girl excited, but this was different.
"I never realized you liked camping so much," Hermione said.
"My parents used to take me camping when I was younger," Rose said, still grinning. "Then my sister started taking me when I was at Arcrel. We even got my brother to come with us once, although he didn't care for it like we did. At least, not until Carolina joined us. I don't think I've been to a forest or mountain in which she didn't feel like she was at home." She glanced at Hermione. "That's why I call her Saint Nature sometimes. When she came with us, she taught us a prayer from the Guardians of the Green. It was about Father Sky Above and Mother Earth Below, but that doesn't echo so well." Rose looked around at the clearing again. "Are we setting up camp here?"
"Yes," Dan said. "The entire area here is part of the camping grounds, but most people don't come up here, since few people want to walk so much just to get to a campsite."
"Alright, we can set up camp, then establish a watch once it gets dark," Rose said. "There are four of us, and no one's got rope trick prepared, so we'll watch in shifts of two hours each."
The Grangers stared at Rose.
"I'm sorry?" Emma asked.
"Silly me," Rose said. "I can just take watch."
"Alright," Hermione said. "Glad we've got that worked out."
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