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The large group stood together at Kings Cross station, readying to enter the platform and send the kids off to school. As of this year, all 9 of the youngest Weasleys were of school age, now that Rowen and Louis were 11, so it was more hectic than ever. The matriarch and patriarch, as always, came to see off their grandchildren, while Dudley fretted around while being reassured by Fleur and Bill (they'd sent off a new kid every year for the past 2, and along with Charlie, were getting through to him the best). While Molly and Fred were sitting somewhere else, due to being Prefect and Head Boy respectively, all of the others were splitting between 2-3 compartments, and it didn't seem that Rowen was letting Louis, Artura, or Teddy out of her sights anytime soon.
She felt extremely jittery on the car ride, moreso than nerves even as it seemed every cell in her was charged up and needed to move. Luckily, Teddy was an observant fucker, and ended up steering the three onto the topic of one place their special interests intersected: veela. They certainly didn't know as much as their cousins did, but the three younger kids seemed quite content with them just adopting features widely seen among the creatures (and eventually, just completely into their aunt Fleur and her kids). It wasn't long, however, before Rowen and Artura tired themselves out.
Surprisingly, the two girls slept for nearly two hours, while Louis and Teddy went to minorly antagonize their other cousins (including morphing into various prefects to be able to bother Molly and Fred), and when they all woke up again they proceeded to share various stories of their summers (or, in Rowen's case, some old stories of her dad and uncle, which Louis and Artura had never heard before). With all four of them being fairly time blind, along with the elder's lack of attention to the surroundings outside the train, they didn't change their robes until Rose and Lucy came to remind them.
All four of them had minor modifications to their robes for their comfort (well, it was more a necessity than comfort). Artura had thicker clothes, and wore leggings with a shirt that fell at her mid thigh and robes that covered her hands, more similar to what she wore in Romania, and also meaning she didn't have to bother with most discomfort when she was hypersensitive. Teddy had a few different options, though today they decided to wear a long skirt (as opposed to the short ones that are part of the standard girls uniform), though their shirt had a lower necked color, as was seen with the boy's. Similar to Artura's, Rowen had leggings and a longer shirt, though she had a miniskirt with it as well. Louis' was fairly standard, save for the custom made trousers and the thinner material that allowed him to layer his clothes.
Rowen saw just the man Uncle Harry described, and he apparently recognized her on the spot as he greeted her and Louis warmly. "Rubeus Hagrid, I am. Yer the two youngest Weasleys, yeh? 'Arry's niece and the oldest... let's see, what's his name... Bill? With the French Triwizard Champion?"
"Yes sir!" Hugo exclaimed.
"Pleasure to meet ya'. Feel free to come visit my hut anytime, I'm sure ev'ryone else'll show ya where it is. Now, to the boats you get! Four to a boat!"
It seemed Louis didn't know what to think about the mode of travel, considering how his eyes flickered from normal to black, which they turned when distressed. Rowen, however, quite enjoyed it; she'd never done it much, her grandparents threw a fit (not that her dad much cared, but sometimes it was easier to passively follow their will than risk an argument), but the few times she had had been memorable, calming and she very much enjoyed the rocking on the water. She reached out to drag her fingers along it, bringing Louis to grab her hand and make sure she didn't fall, while the other two inhabitants of their boat watched warily, shifting a bit to counter their weight.
Once they made it into the Entrance Hall, they were greeted by Professor Longbottom (Rowen was sure she'd seen him at Harry and Draco's wedding, and Louis, along with the man's warm smile and wave toward them, affirmed it; Herbology teacher, Deputy Headmaster, Head of Gryffindor House). She was excited as he explained what was to happen, and while she entered the hall and heard the hat sing, and all until the first sorting, and the applause and oh.
That was... a lot.
She was near the beginning of the alphabet, as D, while Louis was at the end as W, so she was left alone to try and fend off the noise. She brought her hands to her ears and chewed a bit on her robe sleeves.
Luckily, it wasn't long before she heard "Dursley, Rowen." She carefully lowered her arms, walked and sat on the stool. Professor Longbottom gave a reassuring smile, and put the hat on her. She knew it talked, and she was worried it'd make her more overwhelmed as she saw students whispering, but as soon as it was on her head the noise dimmed.
"Well, hello there." If she had more energy, she'd probably have jumped, but instead she just twitched her hand in an attempt to wave. "Ah, overwhelming, isn't it? Not to worry, not to worry, it'll be done soon, just as I place you. A brilliant mind, yes, but also a creative one you are. Ambitious, yes, but mostly to learn, when it suits you. Not afraid to work for knowledge you seek, either. You are a shoe in for-" She braced herself for the shout that the other students got, but to her it was just a muffled "ravenclaw," as the students began clapping. The noise rushed back as the hat was taken off her head, an apologetic look from the Professor as she rushed to the correct table.
Once she reached it (sat on the edge next to Artura, luckily, with Rose behind and Lucy across, Teddy and Hugo behind her), she hunched down and leaned into the older girl when she began to rub her back. After a few moments, though, the brown skinned girl nudged her, and she looked up to see someone kneeling by her at the end of the table.
Professor Lovegood, she recalled. Co-taught Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Grubbly-Plank, to take over when the older woman retired next year. Head of Ravenclaw House, and old friend of Uncle Harry and the Weasley family. "Hello, Rowen, correct?" Her voice was soft enough that it didn't hurt as much as the First Year was expecting. She nodded slightly, hands still clamped over her ears. "Would you like these?"
From her bag she pulled out a pair of ear defenders, similar to her headphones at home (which she'd left because of how she'd heard of the lack of working technology at Hogwarts), and she reached out for them. Professor Lovegood handed them over with a smile, and Rowen practically went boneless once they were on. They muffled the noise much more than hers (must be magical), letting through only enough that the silence wasn't oppressive (in fact, what let through was more musical, albeit old and classical sounding), and, as she soon learned when Lucy asked how she was feeling, things that were directed toward her.
The sorting didn't last long; the class size was a bit bigger than the previous years', but still small, much smaller than Hogwarts had the ability to hold. Once it finished, Professor McGonagall (Headmistress of Hogwarts, Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration Professor when Harry came here) stood up for a speech, information still filtering through to allow Rowen to hear it (though in her overloaded state she didn't really absorb it, she trusted the others to tell her if she broke a rule). Once she finished, food filled the tables, but her stomach was churning and there were too many options, causing her to get overwhelmed again. It was only then that her attention was brought back to Professor Lovegood, who was still there instead of at the Staff Table where the other Heads of Houses, Grubbly-Plank of Hufflepuff and Sinistra of Slytherin, had already moved.
"Don't worry about eating now, dear. I understand that it's plenty overwhelming, and you can find snacks and such scattered throughout the Common Room for when you're feeling up to it. Many do," she said, nodding to Artura who, now that Rowen looked, was running her fingers along the stitching of her dragon hide gloves (from dragons who died naturally, as she explained on the train, and sewn by someone from the Sanctuary) instead of eating.
"Artura? Lucy?" She caught the Second Years' attention. "Just letting you know so we can be sure to get it, make sure you show your cousin to my office so we can set up an accessibility plan! I'd like to see if yours need any updates as well, I've owled your fathers already. Anyways, that's enough info thrown at you for one evening! Goodnight, everyone!"
"Goodnight Professor!" Most of the Ravenclaw table mumbled, though livelier than how they'd been talking before.
She was quite content in listening to her cousins' conversations around her, seemingly already knowing the trick in addressing her enough that she didn't have to take off the ear defenders without making her feel obligated to reply, or be fully invested.
The rest of the dinner was calm enough that she could contribute to the conversation by the time they left, nodding in thanks to Professor Lovegood as she followed the Ravenclaw prefect with Molly and Artura. Once they were back, it seemed no one much cared whether the students got back to their rooms for the night, since they had no school the next morning, so Rowen didn't need to worry about meeting new people in a shared room and instead quickly fell asleep to Lucy running a hand through her hair, Artura's low voice like a lullaby.