Al glanced to Rose out of habit before turning back to Victor. "People aren't exactly sure, but Hogwarts is... a bit over a thousand years old. That's what people reckon. It was founded by these four wizards, really powerful, who thought that there should be somewhere to learn about magic." Al grew more animated as he got into it. "And now there's four houses there, one named after each of the wizards who founded it. That's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. And like the whole building is magical. It's supposed to be awesome!" Al looked up for a moment. "That's probably why electrical stuff doesn't work there. Magical resistance or... something."
Victor grinned. "Sounds cool. I hope we get into the same house then. I like you guys." He turned to Rose and smiled shyly. "Though, I don't think I ever got your name."
Rose grinned, "It's Rose. Rose Weasley. I can lend you my copy when we're at Hogwarts if you like. In any case, there should be one in the library at Hogwarts. Like Al said, Hogwarts is ancient. I'm not entirely sure but I reckon they put a charm on these books so they can hold more information."
Victor started to say something when a nearby clock chimed the quarter after.
“Ack! I have to go! Nice meeting all of you!" He turned to Erica. "Sorry I never got your name." He nodded at the others. "Rose, and…Severus, ha! You’ll have to remind me of your first name again later. “ He ran around the group and headed for the door only to turn ‘round again. “See you all at Hogwarts!”
And with that he was gone, running as fast as he could so as not to miss the 11:30 bus.
"Er, yeah, Bye!" Al was slightly surprised by the speed of Victor's departure, waving as got to the door. "It's Al, by the way..." He added redundantly as Victor was already out the door. "Al..." He turned back to Rose and shrugged.
Rose giggled slightly at Al's attempt to remind Vic what his name was. "Well," she said, "I've got all the stuff I need from here. I need to stock up on food for Tycho but I don't have to do that today. Do you need anything else?" Rose pushed her hair behind her ears, a habit she had been trying to break. Even when her hair was tied back, she tended to still do so automatically.
"No, that's everything I need now, I..." Al paused briefly, and quickly dashed along the shelves grabbing the books he'd come into the shop for. With a sheepish grin to Rose, he continued. "Yup, got everything I came here for. Want to go for ice-cream or something?"
"Sounds good," Rose agreed, "Florean Fortescue's then?" She walked up to the register to pay for her books and began the short walk down to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. The bag with all her books in it really was quite heavy. As well as all her textbooks for this year, she had Hogwarts, A History and her robes. Once they'd entered the shop, Rose looked at the array of icecreams. "I can't decide." She said, "Any suggestions?"
Al hefted his bags onto the counter after Rose, paid and followed her out. Crossing the street to the Ice Cream Parlour, he also studied the vast array of ice-cream on offer carefully. "Hmm, I think I'll go for... the fruit and nut sundae, please." He smiled at Florean, who nodded and began to assemble the sundae.
Rose was still undecided, when it came to things like ice cream she could be very fickle. To try and combat this problem (and also because a fruit and nut sundae did sound good) she said, "I'd like the same as Al, please." Taking the sundae, she made her way to a small table just outside the parlour. Rose liked people-watching, as odd as it may sound, and this was a good opportunity to do so. A group of young witches walked past, their periwinkle blue robes fluttering behind them as they moved. They looked like some sort of club, all wearing identical clothing. Rose muffled a giggle and tucked into her sundae.
Al took a seat and gave Florean a wide smile and a heartfelt "Thanks!" when he brought their sundaes over. Initially distracted by the mountain of ice-cream in front of him, Al eventually remembered himself and looked up to Rose again. He licked an errant trace of ice-cream from the corner of his mouth. "So, how's your summer been? Up to anything good?"
Rose had just taken a big mouthful of ice cream, before wishing she hadn't. She winced and grimaced, making all sorts of odd faces for a moment or two. As she swallowed, she seemed to regain control over her facial muscles. "Ouch," she muttered, "Brain freeze." Taking a smaller bite this time, she continued to eat her sundae. The corners of her mouth quirked slightly as she watched Al shovel the sundae in his mouth. In response to his question, she replied, "Nothing really, my parents had a little "get-together." Here she made a face, "So I escaped to the loft and stayed there until they left, at which point I was pretty much ordered down to go and play with Hugo. You?"
"Aww, Hugo's not that bad." Al hunted down a rogue walnut in his sundae. "But, yeah, been fairly quiet for me too. Mostly just been, y'know, hanging out and stuff." Al shrugged. "Went to the Science Museum with granddad the other day, which was cool."
"Well, you don't have to live with him," Rose remarked wryly, "Okay, he isn't that bad but still..." She picked the fruit bits out of her sundae with her spoon before shoveling them all into her mouth. "Sounds like a pretty good holiday, then." Rose said, "After all, the point of holidays is almost just that they are holidays, not what you do." She gave a small sigh, "Although I do wish my holidays had been a bit more interesting." Here she paused before contradicting herself, "Okay, fine. Getting my Hogwarts letter was exciting... more than exciting really, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Feels kind of like I've just been spending it waiting for school to start." Al sniggered. "Bet it'll be the other way round once we've started and are given homework and stuff." He swirled his spoon around in the half-melted ice-cream at the bottom of the dish. "Still, it's been a nice summer." Al looked out of the window. "It's weird, isn't it? We'll be going off to somewhere that most of the country doesn't know about. Can't know about, even. And, like, Michael and Victor we'd probably never of met if they hadn't been wizards."
"I know," Rose agreed. "It's kind of sad in a way, that it in the end it really just comes down to who your parents or grandparents are." She rolled her eyes, "I know, I know. In some cases it can go a lot further back than that, but you get my drift." She rested her spoon against the now empty bowl, "That would be strange wouldn't it?" mused Rose, "If we all had magic I mean. Not that it would necessarily be a bad thing or anything. Just... strange."
Reply
Reply
Reply
“Ack! I have to go! Nice meeting all of you!" He turned to Erica. "Sorry I never got your name." He nodded at the others. "Rose, and…Severus, ha! You’ll have to remind me of your first name again later. “ He ran around the group and headed for the door only to turn ‘round again. “See you all at Hogwarts!”
And with that he was gone, running as fast as he could so as not to miss the 11:30 bus.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Rose liked people-watching, as odd as it may sound, and this was a good opportunity to do so. A group of young witches walked past, their periwinkle blue robes fluttering behind them as they moved. They looked like some sort of club, all wearing identical clothing. Rose muffled a giggle and tucked into her sundae.
Reply
Reply
The corners of her mouth quirked slightly as she watched Al shovel the sundae in his mouth. In response to his question, she replied, "Nothing really, my parents had a little "get-together." Here she made a face, "So I escaped to the loft and stayed there until they left, at which point I was pretty much ordered down to go and play with Hugo. You?"
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment