The Hufflepuff Princess

Chapter three: Hogwarts

The train ride was quite interesting, Cedric had happily explained all about Quidditch. A sport where seven players flew on brooms to catch multiple things. Rose was soaking up every word about the wizarding world, and when Cedric had asked her if it was alright for him to find his friends and chat with them for a while. Rose happily nodded as he left telling her he'd be back to help her find her way off the train. 

"Excuse me?" Rose looked away from the window that had been showing horses, "Sorry, Hope you weren't waiting long." It was a round faced boy, who looked terribly worried, which upsetted Rose. She quickly stood up, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" The boy quickly shook his head, blushing brightly, "N-No… I'm missing m-my toad. Could you help me find him?" Rose nodded as she tucked her wand back in her pocket, she had taken it out because it had poked her. The boy looked surprised before he thanked her, "R-Really? Thank you so much!" Rose smiled towards him trying to stop his stuttering, "It's alright, I'll go up the train and then back down okay? I'm Rose by the way, Rose Park." She held out her hand as the boy smiled gratefully as he muttered shaking her hand, "Neville, Neville Longbottom. Thank you, Rose." Rose nodded before she happily walked towards the front of the train asking some people that walked past her about the toad, no one had seen it. So Rose continued her search, from compartment to compartment, no one had seen it. She sighed softly at first feeling discouraged, but she pressed on, walking to the next compartment. 

This compartment was full of three people, one with platinum blonde hair slicked back, and two rather large boys sitting on the other side. Rose looked towards the two before the group looked towards her, the blonde looked at her confused, "What?" Rose gave him a usual friendly smile, ignoring the two boys who were staring so rudely to her, "Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering if you have seen a toad? A boy has lost one. I'm trying to help him find it." The blonde boy shook his head lightly and partially boldly stated, "No, there has not been a toad." Rose nodded and softly apologized before smiling towards him, "Thank you." She shut the door, giving a friendly wave before walking away from the three boys. She continued to ask people, but stopped feeling nervous upon the sight of two tall redheads and an african boy leaning over a box with mischievous smiles. Still she knocked and opened the door, they had shut the box quickly and looked towards her, "Hello." Rose smiled towards the three, "Hello, Have you seen-" All three had instantly told her they hadn't seen a toad, leaving Rose to sigh, "Then I guess it is lost. Poor boy." The twins smiled at her before asking, "Do you want to see something?" Rose looked slightly nervous, "What exactly is that something?" Suddenly the box was opened in front of her revealing a massive tarantula causing her to scream and leap back, bumping into someone. The person suddenly began to fuss at the three, "George! Fred! Lee! You know you shouldn't have that!" All three culprits looked annoyed as they sighed, "Only showing her Percy. Keep your trousers on." Percy had looked towards Rose, who seemed embarrassed to have gotten the boys in trouble. 

"Are you alright?" Rose nodded her head as she turned pink, "Y-Yes. Just surprised is all." The boy nodded before walking her away from the three, "Understandable, I'm Percy Weasley. I'm a prefect for Gryffendor." Rose gave a small smile, "I'm Rose Park. I'm a first year." Percy looked happy to have met her, happily explaining some rules about Hogwarts before she was led back into her compartment and parted ways with Percy. Rose looked out the window again, already missing home, by now she would have been welcoming her mom back from the clinic and her dad would be discussing with Vernon Dursley about their business deal. Rose took out her wand as she decided to cast a spell for fun. As she pulled out her wand the door opened, "Hello there Rose, hope you weren't waiting long." Rose smiled towards Cedric as she shook her head, "Not long at all. I learned all the books by heart, want to see me do a spell?" Cedric smiled before nodding his head, "Sure, let's see whatcha got." Rose smiled before pointing her wand towards the candy Cedeic had brought, "Wingardium leviosa." The candy floated in the air as Cedric laughed loudly, "That's pretty good!" Rose smiled as she pointed her wand down away from the candy and Cedric caught it. Rose happily tucked her wand away feeling much happier as she saw the sky growing dark. Cedric spoke to her about what Hogwarts is like, making her laugh softly as he explained the prank that the twins had done. He even spoke about peeves, a poltergeist that was always pulling pranks. All her homesickness had slowly crept away as she spoke with Cedric so long.