THE ROWLING STONES

The sun was setting on Stoatshead Hill from a cloudless sky in Ottery, St. Catchpole. A whirlwind appeared out of nowhere, above a flat shelf of the hill. Rabbits, who had been enjoying a late afternoon snack on the crops, scattered and hid in their holes. First, a large bicycle wheel emerged in its pith, high in the air, and then fingers, hands and entire bodies appeared. Over twenty people manifested, and let go of the portkey gradually, gliding comfortably onto the crest of Stoatshead Hill.

The travelers included the Weasley family- Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, George, Ron and Ginny. One member was tragically missing- Fred Weasley, freshly interred. Some from the reconstituted Order of the Phoenix had also arrived- Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Fleur Delacour, Hestia Jones, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, among others. Then there were the Diggories and the Fawcetts, who were also residents of Ottery, St Catchpole, and lived not very far from the Burrow.

There had been at least fifty funerals over the past few days, all casualties of the Battle of Hogwarts. It had been a massacre, "with the death toll rising to several hundreds" (according to the Daily Prophet), although this news was not confirmed from any Ministry sources. The Ministry of Magic had been mum on the figures.

"This has to be the largest portkey transport I have ever been in," said Amos, father of the late triwizard champion, Cedric Diggory. "Of course, we had permission from the portkey office. Still, it is likely we might have set some sort of record with twenty seven travelers. Eh, Percy?"

"The most in a group transported via portkey, reported to the portkey office is 32," Percy clarified. He had been offered a position in the Department of Magical Transportation by owl post.

None of the others spoke. There were a few uncomfortable coughs and sniffles.

Rest of the journey home was mostly in silence. Ginny led the group in climbing down the hill. She wanted desperately to get home first, and lock herself in her bedroom. She did not want to see any faces, depressed or otherwise. Especially not those of her family members. And particularly not of George, the identical twin of her late brother Fred, who she had buried a few hours ago. George had likely realized this, and was trailing behind, along with some of the grown adults. Ginny hadn't shed a tear since the funeral; she felt hollow inside, unable to well up any emotion, almost in a trance.

They had almost arrived home. The Burrow was so well-hidden that Molly thought that the postman did not know of its existence. The party had taken the longer path around the house, as a precaution against stray death eaters waiting to ambush them. Most of the death eaters had surrendered, but there were some who were too far-gone; in whom evil had taken deep roots; and also there were some- too bitter to accept the death of their Dark Lord. The caution turned out to be unnecessary, as no such danger was encountered. They did have the benefit of taking the scenic route- the gnome patch and the frog pond, which seemed untouched.

Molly and Arthur quickly removed protection charms and anti break-in spells placed on their modest house. The party entered through the kitchen door. Ginny was the first to enter. She took the stairs to her bedroom on the first floor, and locked herself in. Percy made to follow her but Molly dissuaded him.

"Let her be," she asserted, while wiping some of her stray tears, "She needs some time alone."

Ginny lay on her back, a pillow stuffed against her face. She could hear vague conversations from the kitchen.

-is going to be the next Minister of magic-

-Kingsley-

-Molly, some tea-

-famishing-

-hurt myself when landing-

-Ministry, interrogate Harry-

-Percy, Head of-

The group below had not hesitated to break the ice and had already moved on to the meatier topics.

Ginny's room was small, but bright, and overlooked the orchard. Several posters of the Weird Sisters were plastered across the walls- most of them had the entire band posing, while there was one of Myron Wagtail (lead singer), and another one of Kirley Duke (lead guitar). One entire wall was dedicated to the Holyhead Harpies captain, Gwenog Jones.

Her room was in a state of disorder- clothes scattered across the floor, drawers and cupboards were crooked, books on almost every piece of furniture. And her posters had started peeling. But Ginny did not even have the self-possession to use magic, to set things in order. The mess reminded her of the times Fred had offered to clean her room.

"Let me help clean your room, and in exchange you will help me and George, prank Ron-"

The pain rushed in, the realization, first in waves, and then it turned into a storm. Ginny screamed into the pillow, biting hard into it, to muffle the sound.

She was similar to the twins in temperament, and they pampered her sometimes. The twins had also let on the fact to her that both of them had a crush on a muggle paper shop girl, in the village. The girl was resistant to all their charms. Even after George allowed Fred to make the first move, the latter was too shy to ask her out.

There was a knock on the door.

Ginny removed the pillow from her face, to find it sodden with tears. She had been crying incessantly for at least half an hour. She went to the door, prepared to blow her lid if it was one of her brothers. But the door opened to reveal a breathtakingly beautiful witch instead. Fleur Delacour.

Minerva McGonagall stood sentry in the hallway of the crowded Hogwarts dungeons. It was a rush hour for students- who moved quickly between class rooms and their dormitories, except for James potter and Sirius Black, who were tagged behind by Peter Pettigrew.

James towered over the passing queue of first year students, teasing and sniggering at their innocent looks. Sirius and Peter, almost joined at the hip, were heading to nowhere.

"Mr. Black that is the girls' lavatories!" yelled McGonagall.

She shuffled closer to James and glared at him, reminded of his and Sirius' dismal performances in the OWLs.

"Potter! Enjoying ourselves are we? Did you already lose interest in becoming an Auror?"

James yielded his mischief, wiped the grin from his face and fixed his glasses.

"P-pardon me, Professor, we had a free period in the morning; and we wandered off a bit on our way to Professor Slughorn's class."

Their former teacher sighed with disappointment, and ruminated on how to keep the clueless student out of trouble.

"Why don't you entreat Professor Slughorn to let you into his Slug Club? I hear he uses his popular contacts to help meritorious students make good wizarding careers."

"Yes, Professor, I will speak to him today," James answered, while distracted by a student who was walking against the crowd. He barely kept his laughter in.

"And take Sirius and Peter with you. They look far too happy over there," she added, gesturing towards the duo, who seemed to be in the middle of a carnival fair. She cast one stern glance at the group and left.

James, Sirius and Peter crossed their ways as they made way to the potion class. Once the crowd thinned, Sirius removed a blank fold of parchment from his robe, tapped it, and uttered a spell.

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good

The following words appeared on the folds-

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

Peter stalked behind them trying to get a hold on the map. Remus elbowed him away.

James sniggered and asked, "Keeping an eye on Snivellus, Padfoot?"

But Sirius did not look as if he was in the mood for fun.

"I think Snape has a secret," Sirius declared. "I did not find him anywhere on the map, twice this week."

Peter jumped in. "Perhaps, he has found a way out of Hogwarts. He looked suspicious and secretive last time I saw him."

James laughed and pointed out: "Snivellus looks nervous and uptight all the time. But that is because he has no friends. Why should it be our concern, fellow wizards? Perhaps the map's magic is weaning?"

"He hangs around with Mulciber, Rodolphus and Evan Rosier. And listen to us James that is not all-

A crowd of students were approaching from the other side.

Sirius tapped the map and uttered a spell.

Mischief Managed

The Marauders' Map folded itself up neatly, and the ink disappeared into the parchment.

Sirius and Peter looked at their jolly friend with troubled expressions.

"There is more?" James enquired.

Peter spoke for the duo: "We-uh, we think he is a death-eater-

James was speechless for a few moments. He raised a finger, trying to find the right words.

"That is utterly ridiculous!" he blurted out finally. "Snivellus might have a morbid interest in the dark arts, but to even imagine that he is a death eater? He has as much courage as a dung-beetle."

"Have you ever seen his forearms, James?" Sirius posed. "He always hides them. He has the-

"-dark mark!" Peter completed.

They had reached the Potions classroom and James, who was leading, pushed the door open. As the trio entered, they put their heads together and lowered their voices.

Sirius whispered: "He always covers his wrists with oversized sweaters. Because he has it. The Dark Mark. I am sure of it."

They walked past the rows to the back of the class, which was their usual station. On their way, they passed Severus Snape. A pale teenager with sallow skin, and yellow, uneven teeth. He had shoulder-length, greasy black hair and cold, black eyes. His clothes were oversized and so ill-fitting, that it seemed almost deliberate.

Meanwhile, Professor Horace Slughorn had welcomed James and Sirius with flourishing words, while ignoring Peter, but they had overlooked him, and had proceeded to the back-benches. Slughorn had gone back to explaining the validity of Golpalott's Third Law.

"- therefore, a true antidote to a blended poison is more-often-than-not superior to the sum of its parts."

The Potions classroom did not cheer up the new-comers. Pickled animals in glass jars, adorned the walls. There was a stone gargoyle in a corner; out of its mouth issued ice-cold water into a basin, where students washed their hands and ladles. At another corner stood the student supply cupboards. The sounds of concoctions bubbling, and the smell of burning herbs were prevalent.

The task for the class was to prepare an antidote to the Garish pink blended poison. The steps were simple, but the students continued making mistakes, as Slughorn focused more on his favourite students while explaining very little to the others. Mistakes in potion-making had dangerous consequences- in this case, profuse smell of bad eggs and emission of putrid fumes.

Prof. Slughorn did patrol the rows, but only for showering his 'high-flyers' with praise.

The Marauders were going through unique struggles with potion-making. Peter was stuck in Scarpin's Revelaspell. James had brought only eight phials out of ten and had some leftover ingredients, which he quietly poured into Peter's cauldron. And Sirius had added a bunch of hair to his brew (instead of one).

"You are making an antidote to the Garish pink blended poison, Mr. Potter, not the Hair-raising potion!" Slughorn chided him.

The trio sniggered under their breath after their teacher moved on.

Slughorn approached Severus Snape. The latter had an old copy of Advanced Potion-making open by his side; it had margin notes and corrections scribbled over. His table was well-organized and his half-brew was almost complete, bubbling sluggishly.

"We have a winner!" announced Slughorn.

Tap tap tap

The sudden sounds woke me up. It came from the bay window which faced the door. I was taken by surprise, since my bedroom was on the second floor. Perhaps, it was a tree branch leaning into the building? But there seemed to be no wind.

Tap tap tap

I slipped out from under the sheets and went to the window. It was past 5 o'clock but the day had not dissipated. It is my predilection to sleep during the day and stay awake at night. I squinted into the dusty glass panes. A bird seemed to be sitting on the window-sill, tapping at intervals. Touched with curiosity, I opened the window. The creature, as if on cue, flew in and perched on my study-table. It was a brown, tawny owl, with unruffled, polished feathers. It looked proud, and full of purpose. But what was most peculiar about it, was that it was carrying a letter in its beak. It flew past me again, dropping the letter on my bed and then perching on the headboard. Its head bobbed round, looking for things unknown to me. Part of me wanted to shoo it out, and I raised an arm to do so.

"Twit-tawoo!" the bird hooted with impatience. Almost obediently, I extended my raised arm and picked up the letter. With its task fulfilled, the tawny owl flapped its wings wide and escaped the window.

The envelope had a purple seal with a large H in the middle; four animals surrounded it- they resembled a bird, a lion, a serpent, and a badger. On the fore, my name and address were written-

Ms. A Wilson

The Bedroom

5, Barnberry Road

Sparrow Residential Area

I broke the seal and opened the envelope; the contents looked like an acceptance letter and a list of items. The letter read as follows:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Wilson,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

The list of items turned out mostly to be gibberish and my pocket Merriam-Webster dictionary did not help much.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)

by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic

by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory

by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration

by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi

by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions

by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection

by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

I collapsed on my bed, with the letter held high above my face. Perhaps I fell asleep, because I thought I was in a lucid dream, in which the bird(an eagle), the lion, the serpent, and the badger sat in a circle and spoke like friends. I woke up later in the morning, thinking about the letter and my lucid dream. It was a sunny day and I closed the shades hurriedly; sat upright on my bed, with my face in my hands. The owl and the letter were not the first strange things to happen to me. There is a very significant part of the story that I almost forgot to mention- I am a vampire.