Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

5: Rose's POV

"We have Transfiguration next with...ugh, the Slytherins," Violet, Rose's new friend informed her, looking at her class schedule.

Oh, no. Rose had to see Albus and...Scorpius again. She knew why she didn't really want to see Albus; after their fight, and then him becoming a Slytherin, things were awkward between them.

But Scorpius...she didn't know why she hated seeing him. Well, not exactly hated. More like...he gave her a weird, uneasy feeling. Just as she blocked Scorpius from her thoughts, they entered the Transfiguration classroom.

Albus was already there, sitting alone. Rose pitied him for a moment, but then turned around and sat with Violet. After all, she didn't remember him apologizing to her. Then she realized something was different.

In every other class she had entered today, there was a teacher standing at their desk. But in this class, McGonagall wasn't there. Instead, on her desk, sat a cat. She had a pretty brown and black pattern on her coat and dark circles around her eyes.

"Is that cat creeping you out?" Rose whispered to Violet.

"Never mind that! Why is there a cat in the first place?"

Rose narrowed her eyes at the cat. There was something strange about it. It seemed to gaze at the class in a stern manner. Just as the thought slipped her mind, the cat leaped towards the class and, mid-leap, transformed into McGonagall.

"That, students, is what an Animagus is!" she said after the class quieted down (they had been shouting in surprise).

"When will we learn that?" someone shouted out.

"Certainly not in your first year!" McGonagall responded. "Today, I will teach you the basic formula of Transfiguration."

The class groaned as McGonagall turned and wrote an equation on the blackboard: t=(w•c)/(v•a) •Z.

"Now...who knows what this means?"

Rose's hand shot straight up. " 'T' is the intended transformation, 'w' is wand power, 'c' is concentration, 'v' is viscousness, 'a' is bodyweight, and 'Z' is an unknown variable," she recited directly from A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

McGonagall looked impressed. "Very well, Miss Weasley. You remind me so much of your mother. So, class, that is how I expect you to know this formula by the end of this week."

And so, the class partnered up and practiced reciting the formula and its variables. Rose couldn't help giving Albus a sympathetic look as he was forced to work with someone else who also didn't have a partner.

"Oh! Violet, I just remembered. Hagrid invited me to visit him after class and tell him how my first day was. D'you want to come?"

"I want to, but, he, you know, invited you, not me. I can come some other time if you want," Violet replied, twirling a lock of her black hair.

Finally, when McGonagall dismissed the class, Rose waved good-bye to Violet and started walking to Hagrid's hut. She passed Scorpius on her way. He raised his hand as if to wave, but then seemed to remember himself and turned away.

What was that about? Rose wondered as she raised a hand to knock on Hagrid's door. A series of barking answered her.

"Fang, calm down! Down, boy!" Hagrid shouted from inside as he opened the door. "Rose, dear, how're you?" he asked, pulling her into a rib-crushing hug.

"Good!" she said, sighing in relief as he let her go.

Hagrid smiled. "Well, glad yee stopped by. Albus 'n' I were just havin' cookies–"

"Albus?" Rose interrupted. Her eyes wandered behind Hagrid and at the table inside sat Albus.

He glanced at her and then quickly looked away. Rose hoped Hagrid hadn't noticed, but he had.

"Is there somethin' goin' on between yee two?" he asked.

Albus glanced at Rose. "Well..."

She interrupted him. "Yes, there is. I'm angry at Albus and he must apologize to me. I won't forgive him any other way. Albus can tell you why I'm angry," she added.