The Criminal Mind

Chapter 4: A Reckless Evening

"Gryffindor first-years!" Rose called over the hubbub which filled the hall.

"And W-SWAP students," Oliver added helpfully. Rose thought he just liked using the acronym, but it was nice to have him fulfilling his role as the second-oldest male Gryffindor prefect. It was funny to think that there was now only one set of prefects older than them - their time at Hogwarts really had flown. Though it wasn't over yet, she reminded herself.

"Please follow us to the Gryffindor common room and your dorms." When the group had eventually congregated in a messy lump in front of Oliver and Rose, with the seventh-year prefects Darcy Snowcatcher and Emmeline Yasnovic herding the stragglers into a semblance of a line, she turned and began walking up the staircase to the common room. Over the other side of the room she saw Scorpius rolling his eyes at the young students following behind her.

They're so small! He demonstrated by holding his fingers a few inches apart.
She shook her head disdainfully, though couldn't help smiling slightly.

Exactly the same size as we were.
He huffed.

Well, I'm sure you were. I was never that short. Rose laughed, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face as she shook it free, and continued leading the pack up the stairs. After all, the faster she got there, the sooner she'd find out which international students would be in her dorm.

**********

"Phew, those first-years are sure tiring! I could - Petra!" Rose exclaimed as she stepped into her dorm, which she noticed had been magically enlarged to accommodate for two new beds. One of them sat the tall, elegant greek sixth-year girl and Rose rushed to greet her.

"I'm so glad to be in your home!" Rose could hear the grin in the girl's voice as they embraced.

"... You mean my house? Gryffindor?" She asked after a second, trying to decode Petra's statement.

"Yes, your house! I must remember this," the other girl said as she sat back to look at Rose.

"And Rose, this is Jade Lewis," Rhea tapped Rose's shoulder and motioned to the other new girl in their dorm. She was about Rose's height, had medium-length light brown hair and large green eyes. Her skin was so much more tanned than Rose's own pale complexion that she had a hard time believing what she knew from the girl's other features - that Jade and herself were likely of extremely similar ethnicity.

"Hey, Rose," she waved, grinning. "I'm from Australia."

"Oh! I met your Minister for Magic at the World Cup," Rose recalled the outgoing ministry official.

"Alana Scratchfield? I have to admit, she's pretty cool," Jade winked.

"You know her?"

"Not personally, but I've met her - she visits Yingarna sometimes," the Australian explained.

"That's your school right?" Maddie asked as she slid down to a sitting position on the floor, leaning against her grand four-poster bed.

"Yeah."

"You guys have to tell us about your schools!" Annie cheered. "I mean, you've seen ours and we can tell you about it, but yours sound so cool," she looked expectantly between Petra and Jade.

"I have to admit, I'd hardly heard of any of the schools in this program," Rose added.

"Well, Yingarna is a name for the Rainbow Serpent - or Opaleye dragon - in our local Indigenous people's language," Jade started. "It's pretty funny, though - your school motto, Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus, right?" The others nodded and Rose marvelled at her new roommate's high observation skills. Just her type of girl. "Well, I'm not entirely sure but I think it means 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' - is that right?" Everyone looked to Rose and she nodded. Why was it that no one else in this school knew latin? "Our school motto is Mela digulum da Yingarna, which means 'We tickle the dragon' in one of the Indigenous languages." The room was silent for a second, and then everyone started laughing.