Fortune of Fate (A female Harry Potter fanfiction)

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  The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Rose her longest-ever punishment. By the time she was allowed out of her cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Pivet Drive on her crutches.

  Rose was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcom, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and the stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Rose hunting.

  This was why Rose spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where she could see a tiny ray of hope.

   Whne September came she would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in her life, she wouldn't be with Dudley, Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. 

  Rose, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny. ''They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall,'' he told Rose. ''Want to come upstairs and practice?''

  ''No thanks,'' said Rose. ''The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick.'' Then she ran, before Dudley could work out what she said.

  One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Rose at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Rose watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.

    That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobby sticks, used for hitting each other when the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be a good training for later life.

  As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her, as she called him, her 'Ickle Dudleykins', he looked so handsome and grown-up. Rose didn't trust herself to speak. She thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh. 

  There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Rose went for breakfast. It seemed to had been coming from a large metal tub in the sink. She went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.

  "What's this?" Rose asked her aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if Rose dared to ask a question. "Your new school uniform." She said. Rose looked in the bowl again. "Oh,'' he said, ''I didn't realize it had to be so wet."

   "Don't be stupid,'' Snapped Aunt Petunia, ''I'm dying one of Dudley's old sweaters gray for you, it'll look good as new and just like anybody else's when I've finished." Aunt Petunia snarled.

   Rose seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. She sat down at the table and tried not to think about how how she was going to look on her first day at Stonewall High - like she was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably. 

  Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Rose's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.