Rosabella Black|Daughter of Sirius Black|(Book 2)

Gilderoy Lockhart

Rosabella's Point of View:

The next day wasn't nearly as fun as the day before.

Things started to go downhill from breakfast in the Great Hall. The four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the enchanted ceiling (today, a dull, cloudy gray). Harry and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione and I. Hermione had her copy of Voyages with Vampires propped open against a milk jug.

There was a slight stiffness in the way she said "Morning," which told me that she was still disapproving of the way they had arrived. Neville Longbottom, on the other hand, greeted me cheerfully. Neville was a round - faced and accident - prone boy with the worst memory of anyone I had ever met, and I grew up with Jason and Jacob. They'd forget their own heads if they weren't attached to their shoulders.
  
"Mail's due any minute - I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot." Neville said.

I had only just started my porridge when there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville's head and, a second later, something large and gray fell into Hermione's jug, spraying us all with milk and feathers.
  
"Errol!" Ron said, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet.

Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table. His legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak.
  
"Oh, no -" Ron gasped.
  
"It's all right, he's still alive." I said, prodding Errol gently with the tip of my finger.
  
"It's not that - it's that." Ron said and he was pointing at the red envelope.

My eyes widened at the red howler.
   
"Uh oh." I said nervously.

Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode, which it will if its not open quick enough.
  
"What's the matter?" Harry said.
  
"She's - she's sent me a Howler." Ron said faintly.
  
"You'd better open it, Ron. It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and" - he gulped - "it was horrible." Neville said on a timid whisper.

Harry looked from oir petrified faces to the red envelope.
  
"What's a Howler?" he said.
  
"You'll find out." I said as I glared at the envelope as if it had insulted me.

Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners.
  
"Open it. It'll all be over in a few minutes." Michael urged.

Michael had seen Errol land and he was close enough to see the Howler. My twin brothers had come with him.
Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak, and slit it open.

I covered my ears as Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Harry knew why. A roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the ceiling.

   "- STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE -"

Mrs. Weasleys yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.

   "- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU, ROSABELLA AND HARRY COULD ALL HAVE DIED -"

I had been wondering when my name was going to crop up. Covering my ears did nothing at all and my eardrums still throbbed.

    "- ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED - YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."