Rowena Potter

Before the year: Birthdays and Explanations

    The next month flew by fast.  The acceptance letters came in and the kids could go to Young Magix during the week.  I had talked to Venessa and told her I would only be able to watch Jasmine on weekends and during break.  I told her that I was accepted into an academy for dying arts.  She was happy for me and even excited when I informed her I would be sending gifts via Hedwig, as my school would only be using carrier pigeons.  The only thing I had left to worry about was birthday presents and the party.  The children all had August birthdays so we celebrate all of ours on the twelfth of August.
    I worried about how the kids would adjust to magic life but the just seemed excited.  I spent almost the whole month trying to figure out how to keep my kids a secret.  My head hurt from over thinking it, later I decided on a simple solution, hire a house elf.  Being the heir to hogwarts didn't give me much, but it gave me access to the founder quarters, which had five bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a master bedroom, and a large sitting room.  Or at least according to a letter the goblins sent to me when asked about how to hide my kids.  The kids could go to daycare and come back home via house elf, who could watch them if I had to leave.
    After I stopped worrying about that, I went out to buy the kids presents and a house elf.  I got them all a wide assortment of books, children's potions kits, and wizarding toys. I went to a small shop near the end of diagonally and found that they sold house elves.  My eyes flickered across the group before I found exactly what I wanted,  a small family of five house elves, with the mother, father, two teenaged-ish daughters, and a baby girl.  Knowing how they would be treated by others and that others wouldn't want the baby, I bought them all.  I planned on giving the parents a large bedroom and the kids a smaller one. 
    Soon it was our birthday celebration.  Jasmine, Venessa, Neville, and gran were all coming over.  Eve, the mother elf, set up the whole party, including the cake.  Amazingly, when the elves joined the family, they all grew to be real elves, and they were tall.  I then discovered the the appearance a house elf has is really a curse that is broken once the elf is considered kin.  It would be easier for them to be amongst people because after a glamour on their ears and a tanning glamour, they looked just like normal people, and they could shrink themselves down to house elf size, which would keep them hidden.
    The guests started showing up soon after the cake was done.  Neville and Gran arrived first with presents and dressed richly.  The kids and I were all dressed nicely as well.  My dress was blue, the twins wore identical baby blue dresses, Maddie wore a royal blue dress, and Austin wore a blue top with black slacks.  We were always dressed nicely, even when we weren't. 

                        (Rowena's Dress)

                           (Twins Dress)

                      (Maddie's Dress)

                          (Austin's Outfit)
    Venessa and Jasmine arrived soon after and the kids all ran outside to play.  Deciding to be childish for a little bit, I grabbed Neville's hands and went outside to play.  It felt good to have my 'brother' back and with me.  We all played ball and forgot about the adults inside.  I hit the ball with a quick blast of magic and soon the kids followed.  After a few minutes, even Neville was hitting the ball with magic.  It was a game I had designed a few years back to help the kids control their magic.  We were so concentrated on the game that we didn't notice when Venessa came out of the house.  We jerked around when we heard glass shatter and she was standing there wide-eyed and open mouthed. I meekly said "hi" before her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted.
    It took about ten minutes to wake her up and get her settled down.  Once she was settled, I got her a hot tea and Gran and I sat down with her.  We explained everything to her, including Jasmine's powers and prospective schooling at hogwarts.  She was upset about me lying about my age but understood that I needed to keep food and clothes in the house.  We decide that after cake and presents, we would go to diagon alley with Venessa.  And we did.  We all got new books and clothes.  I got Maddie a children's quidditch set because she was getting good on a broom.  The rest of the kids got training brooms and jumped up and down excitedly at the sight of them.  The kids had used a catalogue to buy me a nimbus 2000 with their money all together.
    We traveled to diagon alley and showed Venessa around.  While we were there, I got her some simple books on wizarding history and culture.  She got fitted for some robes to look like she belonged there, and I made sure to get Jasmine fitted for some as well.  We looked around and even traveled some of the offshoot alleys.  I informed Venessa to stay clear of Nocturn alley, and we ended buying all sorts of knickknacks.  I talked a few store owners and they informed me of quite a few games that they used to play to exercise their magic.  Most of them didn't have enough money to go to hogwarts, so they rarely learned more than a few simple household charms.
    When I heard this, I told them about different exercises I would have the kids do and said I would send books and assignments to them and I started to think about what I could do with all my money.  I could start businesses to help the poor and even start a scholarship for those who couldn't afford hogwarts.  I ended up starting that scholarship just before we left, Gran even pitched in about three thousand galleons, not even making a dent in her fortune.   I decided that the rest would take some careful thought and diligent planning to pull together, so I left that for another time.  I would definitely be doing it though, to make life better for others.
Later that night, after the guests had left, I got the kids tucked into bed and went up to my room.  I read other chapter of my book before showering and snuggling under my blankets, thought 'Next up, Hogwarts.' and drifting off to sleep.