Rosabella Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

III: Family Matters

The next day, another letter for Harry comes, but Uncle just rips it up and throws it away. 

Auntie gives me a beautiful locket after breakfast. It is silver with an 'S' made of emeralds on the front. Inside is a picture of Lily and James on one side and another couple on the other.

"That is Tom and Cecilia. A friend of your father found and gave it to me. Said it was an heirloom of your father's family." Auntie says.

"Thank you," I reply, giving her a hug.

"Now go get ready to visit your uncle."

I quickly head to my room and change out of my jeans and tee shirt into another skirt, blouse, flats, and knitted beanie. This time my blouse and beanie are a light pastel yellow, and my skirt and flats are black. I make my hair a dark chestnut colour.

"Ready dear?" Auntie asks.

"Yes." And with that, we leave. Auntie called a cab for us as Uncle is at work. We drive into downtown London and stop in front of a closed phone booth. Once the cab leaves, Auntie and I step into the booth.

"Did you bring any wizard money with you?" Asks Auntie. I hand her the sickles I brought on her request. She inserts a few into the phone and types in a number. Suddenly, we descend into what looks like a busy office. People are everywhere; talking,  rushing. Desks are randomly placed around. Above us, paper, books, and even some people are flying around. We walk up to a desk that surprisingly has no people standing around it.

"We're here to see Mr Corneileus Fudge," Auntie states to the young man behind the desk.

"Names?" He asks in response, not looking up from some paperwork.

"Petunia Dursley and Rosabella Riddle." The man looks up at my name.

"Of course. Right, this way." He leads us past his desk to another office.  This one only has one very large desk.  A few people stand in front of it talking to someone sitting behind it. Whoever is there, I can't see their face.

"Um. Sir, your nice is here." The front desk man says. Everyone turns to look at us. The person behind the desk stands and walks around the desk and people. I finally see an older man, not as old as Ollivander, wearing a well-tailored suit. He's not fit, but not fat either. He has brown hair with bits of silver in it showing his age.

"Rosabella! How nice to finally see you again!" The man calls. He sticks out his hand for me to shake. "I am your Uncle Corneileus." I shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir," I say.

"No need to call me sir, no need.  We're family after all. Come I'll introduce you to some colleagues of mine."

"I'll come to pick you up in two hours," Auntie says. I wave goodbye and she leaves. Mr Fudge, Uncle Corneileus, brings me over to the group of people at his desk. Most are sharply dressed adults, but there one boy about my age there too.

"Rose, can I call you that?" I nod. "Well Rose, this is Lucius Malfoy and his son Draco. I believe Draco is also 11, correct Lucius?" The man with long platinum blond hair nods. I now notice the boy looks like a younger version of the man, Lucius, but with short, slicked-back hair. I hold out my hand for them to shake, which they did.

"Pleasure to meet you," I say. Uncle Cornelius continues to introduce the others in the room. Each one holding an impressive title. After about an hour, everyone but the Malfoys has left.

"Uncle Neil?" I ask, "What exactly is your position?"

"As of last year, I happen to be the Minister of Magic. It's the highest position in our government." Uncle Neil, as I've taken to call him, replies. He then continues to talk to Lucius, so I turn to Draco.