Spring Equinox
Saturday morning came far too soon for Rowan. As promised, Holi was a great deal of fun for most of the students, especially for the younger students. It was not as much fun being one of the Hogwarts Prefects and being tasked to aid the professor in cleaning up. Really, it was basically child exploitation!
That and Rowan hadn't been in the mood to enjoy the festivities. She wore such a dower look that no one accidentally threw powder paint at her. The dark look promised that she would not only assign detention but physical bodily harm all the while making it look like an accident.
The rest of the week was spent giving out detentions like candy. Dozens of students had the same idea to save some of the painted power for later to paint a friend or unsuspecting student with. To make things worse, Peeves had joined in the fun until Rowan finally trapped the poltergeist in a bathtub and made him bathe. After that Rowan and Peeves had come to a watery agreement, but not before Rowan nearly drowned Peeves in a tubful of soapy water. She regretted nothing!
Still, despite being overworked, Rowan had been researching long past midnight only getting a few hours of sleep each day. She clearly felt tired all the time, but she had been up researching her initial proposed project for her mastery. Not only had she finished the entire project proposal and submitted it to Dumbledore, but she had even been granted permission to commence portions of the Spargyrics project, (plant alchemy) for her mastery.
Normally, Rowan wouldn't have pushed herself so hard, but the mention of a seed blessing was something that she had not encountered in her research. With the Spring Equinox only coming once a year, she would have to wait an entire year to attempt again under the light of the full moon of the Eostar. She frankly didn't how she wasn't going to fall asleep through the Quidditch Match later that morning, but she might just take a trip to the infirmary to take a much-needed nap in order to stay up until late into the night.
Rowan suppressed a yawn and somehow managed to crawl out of bed to take an icy shower to wake her up. Dressed warmly, she headed down the stairs out of the female dormitories. There were already a group of 7th years already up and studying for their N.E.W.T.'s. She nodded her head at them and headed over to the snack table to pour herself a piping hot cup of tea and grab a small platter of a light snack.
Retreating with her precious loot to a corner of the common room, Rowan tranquilly sips her tea gathering precious energy to face the long day. A soft meow causes her to glance to the side to see the white fluffy form of Brahms descend from the cat tower, (the altar of worship) by the (cultists), of the Whispers of the Meow. Brahm's blue round eyes blink lazily at Rowan before he leaps onto the settee to curl contently onto her lap purring.
A smile appears on Rowan's face as she pets the white fluffy cat that belongs to Regulus. "Does Regulus know that you are out sneaking about this early?" She teased the cat.
"Meow," Brahms confidently meowed back as if that answered the question.
After finishing most of her tea, Rowan sets the lukewarm tea down to enjoy a tasty pastry. Brahms lets out an indignant meow of protest as crumbs fall dirty his perfect fur. Affronted at the lack of manners, he jumped off Rowan's lap with his tail high in the air, before returning to his cushy throne. Humans should mind their manners! It simply wasn't done!
A smirk crept on Rowan's face as she may have intentionally done so. With ease, she wiped the crumbs off herself and finished the last of the pasty. She washed her mouth clean with the last of the lukewarm team. She cleaned her area, before placing the dirtied dishes inside a small cabinet that automatically transported dirtied dishes directly to the Hogwarts kitchens.
(The small cabinet had various small drawers for dishes, cups, and silverware to be put in. It had been intentionally so lest a curious 1st-year attempt to fit inside the cabinet and be transported elsewhere. Gryffindors weren't the only curious ones…. Slytherins just tended to go about it more slyly. Well, most of the time…)
Already suppressing a yawn, Rowan lumbers out of the common room and shivers at the frigid dungeon air. At least, it was warmer now that she didn't see puffs of smoke every time she breathed. She made her way up the dungeons to the main floor. She pauses to peek into the Great Hall, but it is still empty of any early risers. She hurries on further down the main hall into a corridor.
Down winding frisky corridors, Rowan makes her way until she arrives at the renovated office of Caretaker Argus Filch and the twin Caretakers, the Peterson brothers. The door is already open filled with two deep identical voices and the scratchy voice of Filch. She paused at the open doorway and politely knocked to garner their attention.
The muscular, identical Caretakaer's Peterson intently turns towards the door. The elder twin, Trevor folds his arms over his chest, while the younger, Gary nods his head at Rowan causing his long, braided hair to sway in the air. The elder of the two, Trevor rumbles (with a slight Trinidad accent), "It is far too early, Prefect Prince to be roaming about."
"I have plenty of studying to get in before the Quidditch match," Rowan truthfully replied.
Gary stifled a snort only to receive a stern glare from Trevor. This caused Rowan's own lips to twitch into a smile. The two of them acted as she and Severus did. The smile on Rowan's face wilts at the mere thought of Severus.
Composing herself, Rowan says, "I am here just to deliver a letter to Caretaker Filch."
Argus Filch eagerly moves out from behind his daily polished desk. "Is that from Rodrigo?" He keenly asked his pasty face filled with color. He looked a far cry better neatly dressed in properly fitted clothing. His thin, gray hair was neatly combed back and he no longer is hunched over but walked with newfound confidence. (Although his bulbous nose was still the same.)
"Yes," Rowan plainly answered reaching into her schoolbag to hand Argus Filch. The package contained a polite letter from Georgine with updates on Rodrigo and several magical pictures recently taken. And a colorful scribbly picture was drawn by the little boy with crayons.
(Crayons are a rather new introduction to wizarding society but one loved by countless children and parents. It certainly kept intrepid little ones occupied long enough to permit their parents peace and quiet. It was one of the many wonderful effects of the Quattor Academies. Crayons and other muggle implements are now sold at specialty shops typically run by muggleborns, squibs, or muquibs. Naturally, the purebloods attend only the best shops paying for overpriced crayons…)
Argus Filch eagerly ripped the package open to see a letter, several magical moving images, and a colorful child's picture drawn with crayons. Immediately his gaze lingers on the childish drawing, before glancing down at the smiling toddler in the moving images. "He's grown," Filch said with a wistful sigh.
Uncomfortable, Rowan moves over to Mrs. Norris's warm cat bed. She reaches down to pet the scrawny cat with dust-colored fur. Mrs. Norris's bulging yellow lamp eyes close and begins to purr. After a moment of silence, Rowan scratches Mrs. Norris one last time, before straightening up. "I'm sure that you have plenty of things to do," she politely said, before excusing herself from the men.
"Thank you," Caretaker Filch croaked clutching the contents of the letter in his hand.
Rowan merely nods her head and darts out of the door heading towards the library.
The two Peterson brothers share a glance, before Gary says, "We best get a move on, Argus. We won't have time for breakfast if we don't."
"That's right," Argus Filch said hastily putting the precious treasures away inside his desk. "I'll show these to Irma later." He glanced down at his beloved cat. "Come along, Mrs. Norris, I am sure the house elves have something tasty for you to eat."
"Meow," Mrs. Norris agreed with her tail swishing behind her.
The three humans and one cat set off to the kitchens with Mrs. Norris leading the way. You never know when one might sniff out a sneaky rascal. Mrs. Norris took her job very seriously of keeping Hogwarts safe from mice and overly eager miscreants. It was a solemn job that could only be done by a cat.