sweet talk ↯ draco malfoy

THREE

THREE | dumbledore knows all

ROSALIE STARED UP at the castle in front of her as she stepped off of the train, Orion's cage in hand. It was massive and undeniably impressive, something she'd never seen before.

Hogwarts had to have been double, if not triple, the size of her old school back in Africa. Hogwarts easily could be six or seven stories high, sitting inside a valley area with mountains on one side with a large lake on another, and a large forest on another side.

Rosalie was about to make her way towards the carriages that were taking students to the castle when a man with hunched shoulders and back hurried up to her side. She glanced up at his face to see pasty skin and pale, bulging eyes.

"What are you looking at me for?" Rosalie snapped, taking a step away from the strange man that held an old cat to his chest.

"I'm assuming you're Rosalie Grimmett, then," the man said. "I'm Filch, caretaker of Hogwarts, and this is Mrs. Norris."

"Are you looking for something?" Rosalie ask, shifting her feet as she looks Filch up and down, Orion hooting loudly in his cage.

"Dumbledore would like to see you in his office," Filch said, nodding towards the castle. "If you'd follow me, Miss. Grimmett."

"Firstly, my name is Rose," she says. "And secondly, why would Dumbledore want to see me, of all people?"

Filch looks over his shoulder as he stumbles towards the castle, Rosalie reluctantly following after him.

"He said he wants to get you sorted and speak to you before the feast," Filch says before elapsing into silence as the two - three if you count the cat - during their short walk towards the castle.

Once they were inside, Rosalie gawked at the intricate designs along the masonry of the castle. She could hear the hustle and bustle of the students as she followed Filch up a few floors of moving staircases before they came to a stop in front of a gargoyle statue.

"Dolly beads," Filch whispers to the statue which, in hand, begins to spin. As it spins, a staircase appears.

Rosalie steps into one of the first few stairs, waiting for the gargoyle to spin all the way to the top. When it comes to a stop, she steps off and glancing around the room filled with all sorts of objects.

A door in front of her opens, nearly startling her, and the headmaster himself pokes his head out.

"Merlin's beard, if it isn't Rosalie Grimmett," Dumbledore says, stepping aside to open the door more so Rosalie could slip into his room.

"In the flesh, professor." Rosalie smirks, stepping inside of the headmaster's office. She notices this room is even more cluttered with objects than the first room. Dumbledore even had a Phoenix sitting upon his perch, staring at Rosalie with great intensity.

"How ironic," Rosalie mumbles as she looks at the Phoenix.

"And why's that, Rose?" Dumbledore asks, motioning to the seat in front of his desk as he takes the one behind it.

"You have a Phoenix, the only reason I'm here is because my parents are in the Order of the Phoenix - ironic." Rosalie explains quickly, sitting in the chair that Dumbledore offered her.

"I suppose it is rather ironic," Dumbledore says, leaning his chin into his hand as he watches Rosalie in her seat.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Rosalie asks, fidgeting in her seat. Dumbledore was the only man that could make the girl falter, even if it was just a bit.

"Yes - I wanted to see how you were doing with the big move," Dumbledore says.

Rosalie shrugs her shoulders, glancing down a her fingers. "I much rather be back in Africa than here, if that's what you're asking."