Magic of the SOUL

Rosa Potter was many things. Rash. Brave. Quick to anger. Short (HISSS). Ignorant of social cues. Willing to do anything for the people she cares about. And many more things. But if anyone called her out on it, she'd protest that she's a Gryffindor, so of course she's rash, brave, etc. But one of the many things Rosa Potter isn't is stupid.

So, shortly after her trial at the Ministry, back at Grimmauld Place, when she returned to the room she was sharing with Hermione and Ginny (listening to said girl, along with Fred and George, shouting 'SHE GOT OFF' over and over downstairs), and saw an identical, undecorated book with a black cover lying on their beds, well... Being both curious and suspicious was an understatement.

She looked around, grabbed one of the shoes Ginny had lying around (she liked walking around barefoot, for some reason), before carefully poking the book resting on her pillow and hopping back like it might grow teeth and snap at her. However, nothing happened.

It was just an ordinary book.

Right?

Still holding the shoe like a weapon in front of her (not her wand, because she didn't want to get into another fiasco with the Ministry of Magic), she slowly stepped back towards her bed, peering down at the book. As she'd seen, its cover was completely black, no fancy moving pictures, no author name, only the title in silver script:

The Mysteries of Magic.

She tossed the shoe back to where it was, and picked the book up, content that it wouldn't bite her, flipping it over. There wasn't any text on the back, no price, nothing. She frowned. She was about to open it, when she heard a shout:

"What the bloody hell is this?!"

Ron.

Her ginger-haired, bad-tempered, kind-of-a-git friend. She dropped the book, running out of the room. Now, she wouldn't run like this anywhere else, except...well, they're staying in Grimmauld Place and, considering its history and past occupants, it was well within the span of imagination that one of them could encounter some cursed object.

In the hall, Rosa ran into both the twins and Mrs. Weasley and nearly got tangled up before they made it to the room in which Ron, Fred, and George were staying. "What is it, dear?" Mrs. Weasley fretted, looking worried. Ron, in 'response', spun around, brandishing something at them all. "Is this a joke?! Who put this here?!"

It was a book. Not just any book, but an identical copy of The Mysteries of Magic that lay on Rosa, Hermione, and Ginny's beds.

Fred and George cracked up, with the twin on the left saying, "Aww, are you afraid of a wittle bookie boo, Ickle Ronnykins~?"

Before Ron could shout at his brothers (as his red face suggested he might), Rosa sighed, walked over, and smacked the back of Ron's head.

"OW! Gewoff! Why in the name of Merlin's crusty beard did you do that for, Rosa?!"

She glared at him. "It's a bloody book, Ron! We thought you might have been attacked by some cursed candelabra or something!"

Ron huffed at her, tossing the book onto his bed, as Mrs. Weasley breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's all...as for the book, I think it's one of your new school books!" Rosa, Ron, Fred, and George all blinked at her. Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat.

"I overheard Dumbledore saying something about bringing on an interesting new member of staff who would be providing a book needed for their subject," Mrs. Weasley gestured to the book on Ron's (as well as Fred and George's) beds ", and I'm guessing these the book, though I'm not sure how, and a little worried about them suddenly appearing out of nowhere..."

Fred scoffed, leaning back against the door frame, giving Mrs. Weasley a skeptical look. "Oh, come off it, Mum! What do we have to be afraid of a book fo-" Fred didn't get to finish his sentence before Mrs. Weasley rounded on him: "Do I need to remind you what happened to your sister because we didn't think to check something that seemed mundane?!"

Fred (in a surprising display of survival instinct), clamped his mouth shut, while George grinned, giving his twin a mock pitying look. Mrs. Weasley sighed and collected the three books. "I'll go down and ask Remus to check these and make sure there aren't any nasty enchantments or curses on them." She flicked her wand, and the books from Rosa, Ginny, and Hermione's shared room came flying into the room, stacking themselves in the pile Mrs. Weasley was holding. With that, she swept from the room.

But as she left, Rosa looked at the books and couldn't help wondering to herself: new teacher? Books getting past the Fidelius Charm? Combined with the Dementor attack barely a few days prior, including the trial Rosa was forced to go to, she concluded then and there:

This year is going to be a long and crazy one...

If only she knew how right she was.