Chapter 786 - First Day of December

The start of December brought fierce wind and sleet to Hogwarts. The castle was as drafty as usual with fires roaring to keep the chill at bay. The snowstorm that had arrived late Sunday night had dumped about at least a foot of snow onto the grounds turning them white. The snowstorm had ceased to blow but with the fierce wind fallen snow was constantly thrown into the air. The heavy-laden clouds threatened another snowfall by late afternoon.

A loud caused Rowan to awaken and find herself staring at a pulled screen curtain around her. Letting out a loud yawn she slowly stretches and reorients herself. Glancing around she quickly recognized her present location thanks to the white linen bedsheets. She was in the infirmary and had rested there to sleep off the effects of the powerful legilimency intrusion from Murtagh Burke, one of Hydra's vessels.​​

Rowan loudly snorts as her fingers clenched the white linen sheets into a ball. Charlus Potter's list had one fatal flaw the assumption that only one of the candidates on the list was a vessel of Hydra. Unfortunately, she had made the same mistake with the only life-saving grace being that she had barely noticed in time. She would immediately send Owny out once the storm had passed baring a letter to desist looking further into the names that she had given. She had already completed the task she set out to complete and that was to confirm at least one of Hydra's many identities. For now, she would put the topic out of her mind as she needed to concentrate on the task at hand later in the month. She and Severus needed to successfully be presented into wizarding society to ensure their future survival.

Rising from the hospital bed, Rowan casts a cleaning charm over herself, before quietly pulling the white screen curtains open. She peeks her head out and glances around the infirmary. By the looks of it, it was still early as she seemed to be the only one awake. Sticking her head out further, she failed to see the infirmary matron out and about. The light from outside is dim, but there are piles of white snowdrifts out on the grounds.

Rowan craned her ears one last time for the sound of Madam Pomfrey's skirts or loud footsteps, but she did not hear anything. Certain that Madam Pomfrey was away, she quietly tiptoed out of the infirmary. No doubt, Madam Pomfrey would be VERY displeased by Rowan's escape, but she wasn't the first patient nor student to do so. And besides, she really did feel much better.

The corridors of the castle are rather drafty as the torches flicker and cast moving shadows against the grounds. The dungeons are even more freezing causing Rowan's teeth to chatter from the cold as she hurried towards the unobtrusive Slytherin entrance, a b.a.r.e stone wall with a tiny serpent engraved on the floor.

"Soiree," Rowan said before the inconspicuous serpent that marked the entrance of the Slytherin house common room. Professor Slughorn had changed the Slytherin common room password the week before as if announcing his newfound freedom… Even though the password had been changed a week early, the password would without a doubt stick around until after they depart from Hogwarts and head home for the duration of the winter holidays.

The wall silently creaks open to reveal an inner passageway as Rowan hurried inside. She let out a soft sigh of relief and stomps her feet loudly warming herself in front of the warm fire that crackles beneath an elaborately carved mantelpiece. Her lips twitch as she eyes one of the skulls on the hearth. The skulls in the Slytherin common room had a variety of names, but this one happened to be named, "Dragon," because of where the skull was located at.

Nodding at Dragon, Rowan turns away and makes her way through the elegant common room that is filled with luxury leather chairs, sofas, carved tables with marble gob stone boards, and marble wizarding chess sets. Against the wall, there are stylish cupboards that house items for common use such as quills, and now house many muggle boards games. Grand tapestries hang as decorations demonstrating valiant Medieval Slytherins, while the window-like areas that reveal the lake are covered by thick velvet curtains to keep the chill of the lake at bay. Even then, there is an underwater feeling emitted in the common room as on the rough stone walls and ceiling hang glowing elegant green lanterns that eerily glow with a bit of a sea green light.

Up the staircase leading up to the girl dorms, Rowan arrives in time to find her dorm mates rising. Tiffany pulls the emerald curtains from around her bed to reveal her blond bobbed hair stick out like bird feathers. Tiffany yawns prettily before pointing at Rowan and lets out a loud exclamation. "What happened at Slughorn's party? Professor Mortimer came by to say that you feel ill and were in the infirmary."

The other two curtains fall open to reveal the sleepy tousled hair form of Sylvia, while Bethanie looks fresh with her auburn hair fallen smoothly down her front and back as if she had not just risen from bed. The three girls all expectantly look at Rowan, who half-lied with a straight face. "I must have eaten something bad because I felt rather sickly afterward. Professor Mortimer was thankfully accompanying me, but we had to stop thrice on our route to the infirmary lest I spew publicly in the halls."

All three girls scrunch up their faces as Sylvia lets out another loud yawn. "Well, we best get ready and head up for breakfast." Tiffany lets out a m.o.a.n and grumbles about how she hated Mondays, while Rowan grunts in agreement. Bethanie, on the other hand, though it was a lovely morning, but she knew better than to voice her positive thoughts lest her friends pointedly ignore her for the rest of the morning.