Harry Potter and the Girl in Red

Professor Albus Dumbledore had seen many strange things in his time. He was considered one of the most powerful wizards of all time, and he could cast spells of which most people would never dream. He had fought dark wizards and monsters and could perform just about any feat, with the glaring exception of bringing people back from the dead. So, while the little girl dressed as Little Red Riding Hood wandering the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry surprised him, he didn't categorize the event as "strange"; although, the fact that she appeared to be talking to the walls was a little unsettling. Not the talking portraits on the walls, those she was ignoring, but the actual walls themselves.

"Hello?"

The girl whirled around, her red cloak fanning out around her. She had her hood pulled up over her head, but Albus could see traces of crimson hair peeking out from around it.

"Salutations!" the girl exclaimed.

"My dear, it's a little early for Hallowe'en."

"What's a 'Hallowe'en'?" she asked, cocking her head.

Strange, Albus thought. Even Muggles celebrate Hallowe'en.

The girl lowered her hood. Her hair was definitely crimson, not just the normal orange of a red-head. It looked thoroughly done, which most likely meant that it was her natural hair color, or she was a Metamorphmagus.

"It's… Are you lost, little girl?"

"Yup!" she replied, still cheerful. "I stumbled upon this place on accident. Is this your castle?"

"It is," Albus replied. "I think you had better come with me, Ms…"

"Peta-Lorrum!" she replied, jumping a little as she answered him. "Rose Peta-Lorrum, Sir!"

The girl curtsied politely. Whoever she was, she made a good first impression.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, my name is Professor Dumbledore," Albus said. "Would you please follow me?"

"Certainly!"

Albus led the way to the Hospital Wing, as the girl skipped alongside him. He could've brought the girl anywhere, but he wanted to make sure she was tended to before she was interrogated by any other members of the staff. Also, the Hospital Wing was the only place in the castle with beds, apart from the flats of the professors and the common rooms, all of which were out of bounds at the time. The Hospital Wing also had a direct line to the kitchen, and as it was late afternoon, she would probably be getting hungry soon.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, that accent sounds Scottish," Albus said. "Are you from around here?"

Rose hesitated, then replied "Yes!"

"How did you find your way here?"

"I don't know. I just sort of wandered in. I was plane shifting and wound up outside on accident."

Well, she couldn't have found Hogwarts if she weren't magical, Albus reasoned. Perhaps a Muggle-born? What's plane shifting?

"Do your parents know where you are?"

Rose shook her head. "No. They died when I was nine."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Albus replied kindly.

The girl's grin disappeared, and she stopped skipping and started walking normally.

"How old are you now?" Albus asked, hoping to take the girl's mind off of what must've been a recent tragedy.

She paused for a moment, then began to count on her fingers.

"Ten!" she exclaimed, her cheerful demeanor returning. "Wait, maybe eleven. Or maybe 3,007. I don't remember anymore."

"Are you Muggle-born?"

"What's a Muggle?" she asked, tilting her head. The girl had resumed skipping alongside the Headmaster. She was awfully cheerful for a girl who apparently had nothing but the clothing on her back. "Also, where am I?"

"You are in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Albus replied.

"Oh," she replied. "So you're a teacher here?"

"I am the Headmaster, although I do occasionally hold seminars on alchemy."

The girl's eyes grew wide, and she stared at him in awe. He wasn't sure if that was from him being headmaster, or the mention of alchemy. Either way, he was certain that the look she was giving him was one of respect.

They arrived in a large room lined with beds on the wall to their left. The room was well lit thanks to the large windows above the beds, and on the wall to their right were a few beds, then a door to the office of the Mediwitch Poppy Pomfrey. Said mediwitch was walking around the room, keeping it neat and tidy, making sure it was prepared for the students that arrived in a few days.

Poppy looked up as they entered, smiling when she saw Albus. Her smile was quickly replaced with a look of confusion when she saw Rose.

Out of the corner of his eye, Albus noticed that Rose pulled the goggles resting on her eyes off for just a moment.

"Poppy, this is Rose Peta-Lorrum," Albus informed her. "A Muggle-born orphan who has wandered in here by accident. Rose, this is Madame Pomfrey, Matron of Hogwarts."

Rose curtsied as she was introduced.

Poppy immediately took note of several details about the girl, but the one on which she focused was how thin the girl was. She couldn't have been more than four and a half feet tall, and probably didn't weigh 60 pounds soaking wet. If Poppy remembered her weight and height charts correctly (she did), the girl was underweight for her height, and was approaching the point at which it became unhealthy.

"Are you alright, dear?" asked Poppy, hurrying over to them. "When was the last time you ate? Are you hungry?"

"I'm okay, Ma'am!" exclaimed Rose. "I don't eat much! I've got a ring of greater sustenance!"

"Well, you just lie down and get some rest," Pomfrey said, moving Rose towards one of the beds. Albus noticed that Rose almost jumped when Poppy touched her. "You must be exhausted, traveling around all by yourself."

"Really, Ma'am, I'm fine!" Rose protested as she was placed on one of the beds.

The crimson-haired girl bounced a little in the bed as she sat down, and immediately looked down at the bed. She looked from side to side as she pushed herself up an inch and fell back down, bouncing again. She began to repeat this, a broad grin forming on her face. The young girl became completely distracted by how bouncy the bed was.

"Rose, are you enrolled in school at the moment?" Albus asked.

"Nope!" Rose replied, still bouncing up and down a little in the bed. "I used to go to a school called Arcrel."

"What's Arcrel?" Poppy asked. She turned to Albus. "Have you heard of that?"

"I'm afraid not," Albus replied. "Rose, where is that?"

"Near Kor'el."

"And where is that?"

"Continent of Faera."

"I see," Albus said. "Well, you are about the age to be enrolled in school, and we should have the room here."

Albus wasn't sure about taking in a stray, although he didn't like the idea of sending an orphan out on the streets, so to speak, nor the idea of someone potentially misusing their magic, accidental or otherwise.

"I'll of course have to discuss this with the other professors."

Rose's face lit up, and she began to bounce even more on the bed.

"Will you be alright here in the mean time?"

Rose silently nodded, her bobbed hair flying everywhere.

"She seems troubled," Albus explained to his house heads. He had gathered the four of them in his office to discuss the matter of the little orphan girl that had literally turned up on their doorstep. "She claims her name is 'Rose Peta-Lorrum', which sounds remarkably close to 'rose petal', and she has already referenced places I'm quite certain don't exist. I suspect that she has created an imaginary world for herself to make up for her parents' absence."

"Could she be dangerous?" Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House, asked.

While he wasn't the best teacher, he was the best potions master Albus could convince to be a teacher, and he always maintained a good amount of scepticism towards every situation.

"It sounds like the girl simply requires the presence of a parental figure," Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff House, suggested.

Albus could always count on Pomona to argue for the underdog, or in this case, the orphan girl.

"She was talking to the walls," Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House, countered. As always, he was pointing out the hard evidence, rather than rely on paranoia like Severus.

"So she's a little disturbed," Pomona argued. "She lost her parents. At that age, it can have a devastating effect on anyone."

"And she certainly wouldn't be the first damaged orphan to attend Hogwarts," Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, added.

Minerva was the one that kept Hogwarts running. Albus held the title of "Headmaster", but Minerva was the one that managed the paperwork, spoke with prospective students and their families, and made sure the students didn't burn down the castle.

"She could be lying," Severus reasoned in his typical, monotone voice.

"So could any student!" Pomona shot back.

"Every year we risk letting in a student who would try to do the others harm," Minerva said. "We've got Lucius's son, another Weasley, and Harry Potter all starting this year. And those are just the ones we know are going to cause trouble."

"What if she's after the Package?" Severus asked.

"Then why didn't she go after it already?" Albus asked. "She's had plenty of opportunities. I found her on the ground floor, and she was stopping to talk to the castle."

"Which probably means she wasn't in a hurry," Filius said.

"Are we allowed to use veritaserum on students yet?" Severus asked.

"It's just as illegal as it was the last time you asked," Minerva said. "Are we supposed to use it on every student that displays problems, or just every student?"

"If there's anyone to be watched, it's Quirrell," Filius said. "Everyone knows our turnover rate for Defence Against the Dark Arts professors has been high. It would be easier to move about the castle than as a professor than as a student."

"It seems it's three against one in favor of the girl attending," Albus said. "We've got one opening left, and I don't see it likely that it will be filled before term starts in a few days. Does anyone else see any other reason why this girl should not attend Hogwarts?"

Albus looked at his house heads.

Severus and Minerva had their reservations about taking in a stray, but neither able to devise a valid reason not to allow her to stay.

Pomona wanted to ensure that all children were well cared for, and Filius wanted to ensure that they were well educated.

"I believe that settles it then," Albus concluded. "Minerva, as Deputy Headmistress, you will escort the girl to Diagon Alley in the morning to pick up supplies. I suspect that Ms. Peta-Lorrum has no money to her name, so we will have to dip into our orphan funds. Luckily, we don't need it as much this year as other years, so we should be able to get her most of her supplies."

"Unless you have any reservations, Albus," Minerva said. "I'd like to meet this girl before we go any further."

"That sounds reasonable," Albus said, nodding. "I suppose this meeting is adjourned, then."

Delighted with the turnout, Albus popped a celebratory lemon drop in his mouth.

Rose glanced around the room. No one was tripping her greater blindsight, and she couldn't see anyone else in the room. Grinning, she pulled off her boots and began to jump on the bed.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum!"

"Wasn't me!" she exclaimed, landing on the bed. She slipped her boots back on her feet, and turned to see Madame Pomfrey running back into the room. How did she do that? Did she have a spell to notify her when people jumped on the beds?

"Do not jump on those beds!" the matron scolded her, as the older woman approached Rose's bed.

"That wasn't me," Rose replied simply. "That was my evil twin." She leaned in closer to Madame Pomfrey, and whispered, "She's crazy."

"Then tell your evil twin that I don't want to see either of you jumping on those beds again," Madame Pomfrey replied sternly.

"I'll let her know!" exclaimed Rose, grinning. Madame Pomfrey eyed the girl suspiciously, then eased up a little. The poor girl must be traumatized from the loss of her parents, seeking any comfort she could find.

Rose made a note that the "evil twin" excuse didn't work as well in practice as in theory.

Madame Pomfrey returned to her duties as another woman entered the Hospital Wing. This woman wore robes of green, and had a stern expression on her face that betrayed no emotion. Rose figured this woman had to have glibness on her to be able to bluff that well.

"Salutations!" Rose greeted the woman as she strode in.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, I presume?" the woman asked.

"Yup!" Rose replied, then gasped. "You talk like a Dwarf!"

"I… What?" the woman asked.

"Did you grow up on Rontus too?"

The woman paused for a moment, eyeing Rose.

"No," the woman replied flatly. "I am Professor McGonagall, Professor of Transfiguration, and Deputy Headmistress."

"Nice to meet you!" Rose said, jumping up out of the bed. She curtsied, as her parents had taught her to always do when meeting new people. Also, her sister said that it was good to give people the best possible impression. That way they'd never suspect that she was up to something.

"Likewise, I'm sure," Professor McGonagall replied. "Tomorrow, I will accompany you to collect school supplies for you."

"So I get to go to school here?"

"For the time being."

The girl grinned, apparently pleased with this decision.

"What sort of supplies?" the girl asked.

"We'll need to get you some robes, although they may not fit well," Minerva told her as the girl raised her hand.

"Yes?" Minerva asked, a little confused as to why the girl was raising her hand.

"Can I make them?"

"I admit no student has ever asked me that before," Minerva replied. She still kept her face carefully neutral. "So long as you follow the same pattern as everyone else, I don't see that it should be a problem. Aren't you concerned about how long it will take?"

"Not really," Rose replied. "Using standard crafting rules, it should only take me a few hours, depending on the price. A few seconds, if I use fabricate."

"I see," Minerva said. "As long as you can complete it in time."

Albus was right about her being delusional, Minerva thought.

"Thank you!" Rose replied, beaming.

"You will also need potions supplies–"

"Got 'em."

"–Textbooks–"

"Oooh! I love books!"

"–and a wand."

"Got a bunch of those."

Minerva narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean by 'a bunch of those'?" Minerva asked.

"Like Serendipity?" Peta-Lorrum asked, flicking her left hand. A finely made, dark red wand appeared in her hand.

"Yes," Minerva said slowly.

How did this girl have a wand already? For that matter, how did she get it to appear in her hand like that?

"Well, then, I guess we just need some text books for you. Also, a pet is allowed."

"No, thank you," replied Rose, still beaming, as her wand vanished just as quickly as it appeared. "I've already got Ref!"

"Ref?" asked Minerva, fearing she would regret asking.

"Reflectesalon!" the young girl exclaimed. "He's my imaginary friend!"

"I see," Minerva replied.

At least she admits something is imaginary.

"Well, in that case, tomorrow we should only need to acquire textbooks for you."

Rose's hand went in the air again.

"Yes?"

"Have you got a library here?"

"Yes, we have," Minerva replied, thankful for a normal question from the girl. "If you'd like, I could escort you there."

"Yes, please!" Rose asked.

Rose followed Professor McGonagall to the library. She skipped alongside the older woman, looking all around her at all the sights the castle had. She was particularly interested in the moving staircases, and found herself wondering if they always ended up somewhere safe, or just randomly moved from place to place. What if they stopped midway? Rose had other means of travel than just walking, so it didn't matter much to her, but it might be useful to know.

They arrived at the library after a few minutes, where Professor McGonagall told Rose not to make too much noise, and not to go in something called the "Restricted Section". Naturally, Rose made a mental note to visit it as soon as possible. How else would she find out why it was restricted?

After she finished explaining the rules to the new girl, Minerva took a seat at a nearby table.

This didn't surprise Rose, as she had been expecting that they wouldn't leave her unattended. She looked at the massive library in front of her, and sighed. This was going to take a while. She wandered along one of the aisles, looking at the books.

She pulled off the quiver charm from her bracelet, which expanded into her efficient quiver. She pulled out her Staff of Grand Divination, which she had crafted due to the lack of discern location in the standard staff of divination. Grinning, she whispered, "Who said prying eyes was a bad idea for the Staff of Grand Divination?"

She twirled the staff, careful to avoid hitting the surrounding books.

"Prying Eyes."

As she whispered the spell, 19 magical orbs appeared around her. Each one was dark orange, with a single black dot on one end.

"Spread out, scan the shelves, and report back when finished," she ordered the eyes, which spiraled out and began to follow her orders.

Luckily, the Defiant Misinterpreter was kind enough to allow the orbs to check different sections of the library, rather than all of them looking in the same section. Rose grinned as she watched the orbs fly to the rest of the library, then deposited the staff back in her quiver, replaced the quiver on her bracelet, and began to check her own section of the library.

Irma Pince was enjoying the peace and quiet. The calm before the storm, so to speak, as the new term started in just a few days. That meant that in a few days, there would be hundreds of students flooding the castle, which meant a lot of noise. She had charms on the library that kept all the books in their proper place, so she never had to worry about students rearranging them without her knowing, but she still hated the thought of hundreds of dirty students getting fingerprints all over her precious books.

As she was surveying her dominion, a small orange orb flew past her. She blinked a few times, and rubbed her eyes. Had she just imagined that? No, another one flew past her, dashing any hopes she had of it just being a trick of the light. She thought she had heard someone enter the library, but wasn't sure who would bother. The professors occasionally dropped by to look up something, but not often, and certainly not when they were all preparing for students to arrive.

Grumbling to herself, she decided to postpone concerning herself with it until she saw another one.

About twenty minutes later, the two orange orbs flew past her again in the opposite direction. Irma got up and began to follow them. They led her straight back to a young girl dressed in a lot of red and black, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Orbiting the girl were more than a dozen of the orange orbs, and next to her was a notebook, on which she had scribbled several numbers.

After a moment, Irma realized that they were calling codes for several of the books. It looked like the girl was interested in history, both of Hogwarts and the Wizarding World. She had also written down some codes for reference books on magic and the Great Wizarding War.

Spotting Minerva, Irma walked briskly over to the Transfiguration Professor.

"Minerva, what's going on?" she hissed, trying hard to control her voice and temper.

"I'm just as confused as you are, Irma," Minerva replied.

"I highly doubt that!"

"We found an orphan girl wandering the grounds."

"What are those?"

"Prying eyes."

Both women turned towards the young girl, who was holding one of the orbs in her hand.

"I don't like searching for books by hand," the girl continued, "so I sent them out to do it for me!"

The orb in her hand vanished, and another one floated over to take its place.

"Is that a spell?" asked Minerva, curious about the orbs.

"Yup!" squeaked the little girl.

"Where did you learn it?"

"I don't remember. It's in my Staff of Grand Divination!"

The new orb vanished, and another took its place. The girl scribbled down another number in her notebook.

"I don't care how she's doing it!" hissed Irma through gritted teeth. "She needs to stop!"

"Why?" the girl asked. "They're not hurting any of the books." She scribbled down another few numbers and moved onto the next orb. "They're just helping me find books I should read first!"

"Minerva, why is this girl even in the castle?!" Irma asked, raising her voice.

"Irma, this is Rose Peta-Lorrum," Minerva explained calmly. Upon being introduced, Rose stood up, curtsied, and sat back down. "She will be attending Hogwarts starting this year, however she had nowhere to go in the mean time."

"So you let her come in and disrupt my library?!"

"As far as I can tell," Minerva replied. "Ms. Peta-Lorrum hasn't so much as laid a finger on the books."

The girl beamed as the last orb vanished from her hand. She picked up her notebook and stood up.

"May I please stay here for just a few more minutes?" she asked.

Rose looked from the Librarian to Professor McGonagall.

"Five minutes," hissed the Librarian.

"Thank you!" squeaked Rose, trying hard to keep her voice down. She looked at the first of the numbers in her notebook, then vanished in a burst of rose petals.

The two women stared at the space where the little girl had once been. A few rose petals floated down to the ground, vanishing when they hit the stone floor.

"What… What was that?" Irma asked.

"I honestly don't know," Minerva replied.

She heard the skipping of large boots on hard stone not too far from them, so she knew that the girl hadn't gone far. The part that troubled her was the fact that the girl apparated inside Hogwarts, a feat that should be impossible.

True to her word, in almost exactly five minutes, the girl came skipping over to the two women.

"All done," she whispered. "Nice meeting you, Madame Pince."

She curtsied again, and she and Professor McGonagall began the return trip to the Hospital Wing.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Irma realized that she had never given the girl her name.

Minerva must've told her, she thought dismissively, eager to return to the peace and quiet of her library.

"Please do not wander off at night," Professor McGonagall told Rose as they reached the Hospital Wing. "The castle is vast, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to get lost."

"Of course not," Rose replied. "Getting lost isn't usually fun at all!" She tilted her head. "Except when it is."

Minerva blinked.

I'm done with this, she thought.

"Good night, Ms. Peta-Lorrum."

"Good night, Professor!"

Rose watched Professor McGonagall leave, then returned to her bed. She kicked off her boots and flopped down on the bed. Staring at the ceiling gave her an excuse to talk to her item familiar, Reflectesalon, with whom she communicated telepathically.

<Well?> Rose asked Reflectesalon. <Get anything from her?>

<Everything,> Reflectesalon replied. <Curiously, her mind was not as well defended as Professor Dumbledore's was.>

As an item familiar, Reflectesalon received several special abilities. One ability that Rose has chosen for him was detect thoughts, which allowed Reflectesalon to read the minds of anyone within 60 feet of him, so long as Rose faced the person in question. Considering Reflectesalon was comparatively weak, the ability was usually only useful on lower level adventurers. Rose hadn't chosen it to be useful on stronger enemies, but instead on weaker adventurers who were in need of equipment to buy.

<Interesting,> Rose replied. <You'd think as a primary caster she'd be able to ward off a simple detect thoughts spell. No offense.>

<None taken. Professor McGonagall is concerned about your presence here. Specifically, she is confused as to how you have a wand, and how you managed to apparate within the castle grounds.>

<Right, apparition,> Rose pathed. <That's what they call teleportation here.>

One of the many spells that Rose kept persisted on herself was scholar's touch, which allowed the caster to touch a book and read it instantly. Rose had used this to read through several books in the library, including Hogwarts: A History, which seemed to be the definitive book about the castle. She had found a history book for this plane, learning where she was and about the people of this plane.

<She also thinks that you are, and I quote, 'mad'.>

"Woo!" Rose shouted. "Victory!"

Of course, this earned her a concerned look from Madame Pomfrey.

"Is everything alright, Dear?" Pomfrey asked.

"Professor McGonagall thinks I'm crazy!" Rose exclaimed, beaming.

Madame Pomfrey opened her mouth, but slowly closed it when she couldn't think of anything to say to that. She opened her mouth again, and found the words she needed.

"That's nice, Dear," she said, hesitantly smiling. "Good night."

"Good night, Madame Pomfrey!"

The torches that illuminated the room all went out, leaving Rose in darkness.