the lost cousin (Roxanne Weasley)

Attacked

Vladimir Steifvalt shown above^^^

"Firs' years over 'ere," said a familiar voice as Roxanne stepped onto the platform. She turned to see Hagrid, The Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts waving over the frightened first years. She grinned up at the huge man. He was taller than any man Roxanne had ever seen. He had dustbin sized hands and feet the size of a small boat. He had wiry gray hair that was being buffeted around by the wind coming from off from the train.

Roxanne followed James and Scorpius into a horseless carriage, to find a boy already there. They all climbed in and sat down in the carriage. Lily sat down next to the boy and they were soon introduced to Hong Xou from China.

Roxanne, Hugo, James and some of James' friends discussed important school tactics. Such as ways of getting out of homework. Hugo seemed very interested in this conversation but as for Lily and Hong, they couldn't care less.

They neared the castle and Lily, Hugo, and Hong gasped. Roxanne grinned. They had obviously just seen the castle. Roxanne leaned over James' lap and peered through the window of the carriage and saw it. The lights of the castle glinted on the lake and the castle loomed up against the mountains in the background. The towers gleamed up against the starlight sky. Roxanne moved back to her seat and her smile widened. It was just the same as usual.

They came nearer and nearer to the castle and finally stopped. They all clambered out and dusted themselves off. As they straightened up, they could see the salute of a tall thin woman against the open front oak doors and Roxanne shivered at the sight of the very imposing figure of Minerva McGonagall. James shot her a glance and then he followed Professor McGonagall up the front steps and through the thick front oak doors. A silence settled over the group. Finally the people in the front whispered as they started up through the doors, through the entrance hall, and into the Great Hall.

The ceiling in the Great Hall, enchanted to show the night sky, shimmered above them. She sat down at the Gryffindor table and looked up expectantly at the head table where the teachers sat. Finally a stocky, dark haired person stood up at the table. It was Professor Longbottom, head of Gryffindor house and the Herbology teacher.

"Welcome to all students. I am sorry to inform you that we will not be having the traditional sorting tonight. It has been rescheduled to the Halloween feast," he said to them, with no further explanation. James looked over at her, his eyebrow raised. A student yelled something over the clammer that broke out over the students after Professor Longbottom had given his speech.

Roxanne craned her head around to look up at the teachers table. Starting at one end there was the ancient custodian, Argus Filch, who had been at the school since her father's days. Then there was Hagrid, large and massive. He was the Care of Magical Creatures Teacher. Next to him sat the potions teacher and head of Slytherin house, Professor Ludwig. She was a curvy attractive blonde with a nose the size of a large hummingbird. Then Professor Tuttlewingardumian. He was the Charms teacher. But everyone just called him Professor Tuttle. Then there was the large head chair. It was made of gold and velvet and sat taller than the rest of the teachers. It was empty, but normally that was where the headmistress sat, Professor McGonagall. But she was gone. Next to her chair was Professor Longbottom. He sat staring into the distance with a faraway look on his face. Then there was the Divination teacher. Firenze. He was a centaur who used to live in the Forbidden Forest, (Which was banned by all students.) but was kicked out by his herd. Roxanne would have him for the first time this year. Then there was the Hufflepuff head. She was very kind and had a round figure and rosy cheeks. Her name was Professor Peasintanam. She was also the Transfigurations Teacher. Then there was Professor Families. He was a dark haired teacher that was always styled to match his neatly trimmed moustache. He was head of Ravenclaw house and the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Something caught her eye and looked around to see a boy staring at her. He had a gold rim around his black Hogwarts robes and had a fur trim around his hood. Roxanne gaped. This was clearly a new foreign exchange student. Hogwarts had gotten more and more of them in the past year, just this year they had gotten about 50 new ones. Many of them were first years that she had met on the train.

"Vat are you looking at?" he asked. Roxanne gaped some more. "My name is Vladimir Steifvalt. Yours?" He was clearly Russian. Probably a student from Durmstrang. Durmstrang was a school in the far north of Russia. Part of their uniform was a fur cape. Roxanne shook her head vigorously and replied.

"Roxanne. What year are you in?" she asked.

"Fifth. You?"

Roxanne grinned.

"Fifth." There was silence in which Roxanne found a chance to look at the boy more closely. He had a shock of black hair and dark, almost black eyes. He had a hard look on his face, but a kind look in his eyes, as though he had been through a lot but was glad that he had survived.

Roxanne looked over at the Slytherin table to see Scorpious talking loudly to his friends. Then she saw Professor McGonagall come in through a door behind the teachers table and gathered everyone's attention then said in a very monotone voice,

"Students, Torkers have attacked Harry Potter, his wife Ginny, Ron Weasley and his wife Hermione. We ask you to step forward if you have any knowledge of this dilemma."