Have You Heard the News?

[Rose Holland]

The Hogwarts year was slowly coming to an end, but they weren't there yet. First were always the dreaded exams, which Rose never did in as well as she hoped. This morning she was eating breakfast with her friends at the Gryffindor table, trying harder than usual to be fun and entertaining for the sake of Rory, who still seemed very quiet and upset after the encounter with the Boggart. She didn't think it was working very well, though. She looked up in surprise when she noticed a familiar owl circling overhead. The one she and her sisters bad bought over the Christmas holidays. They still had yet to settle on a name, but Rose privately called him "Hooward", the name she had also used to win the contest with the baby owls. She was sure he didn't mind sharing a name with a baby owl, people shared names all the time in real life. There was at least one other Rose at Hogwarts, and all that meant was that her parents had great taste in names like Rose's own.

Hooward fluttered down in front of her with a letter, and she patted his head before taking the letter from him. It was a little strange, she had just gotten her usual weekly letter from her mother parents. She unfolded it and started to read. About halfway through, she gasped and dropped the letter on her plate, immediately staining it with jam. Her gaze shot up and she looked at the Ravenclaw table, then at Slytherin. Both her sisters were here, but they needed to come here so she could share this. Rose got to her feet, cupped her hands around her mouth and called. "Phoebe, Diana! Come over here!" She gestured wildly, then sent an apologetic look at the staff table. Surely they wouldn't appreciate this yelling, but this was too important to waste time with.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley was trying really hard not to think about how close the school year was to ending. Going home meant seeing her parents, meant being stuck away from her friends, meant... well, at least Odette would be nearby. It was strange, seeing that as a comfort now, but it could be fun to revisit some of their childhood haunts as... whatever they were now. She pondered the thought as she picked at her breakfast, trying to eat as slowly as possible to prolong the time before class started.

Harley's reverie was interrupted quite loudly, as Rose caused a sudden commotion. Startled, Harley looked over at her friend. She didn't think she had ever seen Rose quite this excited about anything, and it drove her curiosity through the roof. Harley was sitting right next to Rose, so it wasn't difficult to lean over and sneak a peek at the jam-stained letter. As soon as Harley saw what it said, her eyes shot wide. "No way!" She exclaimed, staring up at Rose. "Since when is your mum running for minister?!"

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe was studying during breakfast, though nothing that would appear on her exams. That was the problem she frequently had during the weeks leading up to exams, she found too many interesting other books she wanted to read. Right now she was reading a book on potions ingredients, despite the fact that she didn't even have potions this semester. She knew she would do well on the exams too, though. She was lucky to have a good memory, if she studied once she remembered most of it and the rest she could make up in a reasonably believable manner. She turned the page, only to be interrupted by the familiar voice of her older sister sounding through the hall. With a small sigh, she got to her feet. She knew it was better to come right away, it might stop her from shouting more.

As she headed over, she noticed that one of her sister's annoying friends grabbed a letter off Rose's plate and read it. She frowned slightly as she approached. "I don't think that's for you." She said as she came closer. "What is this about?" She asked Rose, who was beaming.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose looked over at the Slytherin table to see Diana still sitting there, acting like she hadn't heard Rose call her. Fine, she would deal with Phoebe first. It might be smarter to talk to them separately anyway. She turned to Harley with a grin. "Well, she told us not to tell yet, she said it was unlikely that she would be-" But the her sister approached and acted unsurprisingly hostile towards her friends. Rose decided to brush that off now, too excited. "Mum just wrote." She said eagerly, gesturing to the letter. "She's officially a candidate for minister! How cool is that?" When Rose was excited, she often forgot to think about the volume of her voice. This was no exception, as in her excitement she spoke more loudly than was necessary for either Phoebe or Harley to hear her. Once again, she looked over at Slytherin and this time caught Diana's eye. Hopefully the girl's curiosity would win out. Rose gestured for her to come over, then pointed at the letter.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana winced visibly when she heard her older sister Rose call her name through the Great Hall. What was wrong with her? Didn't she realize how embarrassing that was? Stubbornly, she pretended she hadn't heard a thing, ignoring any stares from people around her. Rose couldn't prove that she had heard her, she could just say she hadn't been listening. But as she watched from the corner of her eye, Phoebe walked over and talked to Rose and a friend of hers. Rose looked very excited, more than usual. Maybe something interesting was going on? She hesitated for a moment before getting to her feet and slowly making her way over to the Gryffindor table. Once there, she crossed her arms. "You shouldn't shout like that." She said pointedly to Rose. "What is it?" She looked over at the letter curiously, but pulled a face at the jam stains on it. Rose was such a mess sometimes. Rose explained what she had just said to Phoebe, making Diana blink and lower her arms again. "Wait, seriously?" Their mother had told them she wanted to go for it, but had also told them it probably wasn't very likely because she was relatively new at the Ministry. Diana hadn't gotten her hopes up. But now... A smirk spread over her face. Now they would be celebrities.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James was lived when he got the news about his uncle Alex. His family had gone through a lot in the last few months, his uncles weren't talking, Jess still didn't leave the common room despite intervention from Professor Kingsley and his mother was pretending like nothing had happened. Now, Alexander Cade had decided to stand for Minister for magic and it was quite clear he hadn't consulted any of his family. The worst thing, James had found out from his cousin Luna. The Gryffindor was in a foul mood as he made his way into the Great hall and took his seat at the house table.

There was a bit of commotion further down the table as James heard Rose Holland talking about some exciting news. Once she got around to announcing what it was to her siblings and her friends that were gathered around her. So Claudia Holland was her mother, he had wondered if the woman was any relation to Rose and her sisters but since he wasn't close to his fellow Gryffindor the curiosity soon faded. "One of your family is running for Minister too? How do you feel about it?" James asked sliding down the table though he suspected he already knew the answer.

 

[Aleksandra Kaster]

Aleksandra loved meal times. It was her favourite time of the day to be entirely honest. She had been paying attention to her food when someone a little further down the table got a letter, but she looked up curiously when the girl seemed to scream out for someone else's attention. She picked up her bowl of food and headed over, curious about what seemed to be happening. As she got closer, she could over hear the commotion. Minister? But her cousin was running for Minister too! That was so cool! She rushed a little closer and looked at the group. "My cousin is running too! This is so cool. I didn't realise so many of us knew someone in the political sphere!" She heard the boy she recognised as a perfect mention he also had family running. She turned to him. "Who is running from your family. I think this is really cool. I mean I'm not into politics or whatever, but it would be a lot of fun." There was another girl she recognised from the revolution in the court yard some months back. She had wondered what had happened with them. "I wonder what will happen now." She knew that Cousin Carter was still having a hard time after Kiera died, her dad had said that they had to be careful with him now. She didn't know much about her cousin admittedly, but she liked to think he would make a good Minister.
​

 

[Sofia Rosenberg]

Sofia tried to enjoy her time at Hogwarts. With Lennon close to her that seemed it easier, but also not. Lennon was getting close to her and Sofia got scared. She figured she would push him away pretty soon as she did with every boy or girl. It was just a natural reaction, she didn't do it because she liked it. Sofia went to the Great Hall to get some food. When she arrived it seemed crowdy at the table. Some other houses joined them or something and Sofia saw Rose. Rose was one of the girls that she actually tried to like. Sofia didn't really liked hanging out with girls but Rory and Rose were fine. Rose had been kind of sweet to her. Sofia listened to the conversations and took a small piece of bread. She heard Rose saying that her mother was candidate to become Minister of Magic. That seemed cool and the girl seemed glad with it. '' Hey Rose. Congratulations. I hope she wins.'' Rose still had a mother and she should support her in any way she hoped. Sofia didn't had the chance to do that anymore.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose looked up from dealing with her sisters when James came up to her and told her he also had family running for minister. This was all going very fast, and she wondered if she hadn't spoken too loudly. But it was done now. "Excited!" She said with a big smile. "My mum's the best mum, so she'll be the best minister too." Then another girl spoke up about her own family member, which was a pretty big coincidence. Rose grinned at her. "Wow, we could start a club!" She had no real idea what would happen now, but Rose was never one to think ahead too much. She noticed that Phoebe had picked up the letter and was now reading it for herself. Sofia spoke up and Rose gave her a big grin. "Thanks Sofia! I hope so too!"

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe's eyes widened in surprise at Rose's words and she wondered if she could be right about that. Their mother had told them she might run, but she really hadn't thought she would really go through with it. It would be interesting, that was for sure. Even if she didn't care too much about politics, it was different when it involved your own mother. "Let me see." She said, taking the letter. She frowned at the jam stains but then quickly read it. As she did, some other people approached to say family members of theirs were running too. Clearly, they were competition. Rose of course didn't seem to see it that way, even suggesting they start a club. Phoebe's eye was caught by the girl that said her cousin was running too. Something about her made it hard to look away, but she tore her gaze away and looked back to the letter with a slight blush on her cheeks. This was stupid, she had to focus. As she read her mother's words, she could easily pinpoint the exact point where Rose had stopped reading. She cleared her throat. "Rose, see this? Mum asked not to make a big deal out of it yet." She said, pointing the sentence out to her sister. "In fact, she's telling you to keep it quiet for now so there's not too much attention on us immediately. You didn't read that, did you?" Her sister had been anything but quiet. Phoebe snorted. "Not that it matters, Diana probably wouldn't have kept her mouth shut for longer than a minute anyway." She said with a smirk at her sister. Then she folded the letter and placed it back on the table.

 

[Professor James Cade]

Rose clearly had a very different attitude to her mother running for Minister than he did about his relation. James smiled at her, she was enthusiastic and that was great for her. The last thing he wanted was to take the joy out of it for someone else. When another Gryffindor girl appeared to tell them her cousin was running James wondered how many of the candidates had relatives in the school. One of the candidates was named Finch so maybe he was related to Wyatt. "Oh its my 'Uncle'" He said placing uncle in air quotes. Alexander was descended from his grandfather's brother so he wasn't exactly sure what their official relation was. Uncle would have to do. "I wish your mum luck Rose, if she's anything like you she'll be an amazing candidate," He smiled at her. James had only ever heard good things about Rose so he was sure the woman who raised her would be solid. "So you're cousins running? Who's your cousin?" He asked not sure of the girls name. James had limited interaction with first names and had only remembered the names of students he had met multiple times.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

As had become her habit, Hayley was breakfasting with her friends at the Gryffindor table. She was pretty sure she wasn't strictly allowed, but since when had she ever cared about that? It sure beat having to deal with other Slytherins, even if things had been a bit weird between the girl gang this semester, with Rory unusually quiet, and Hayley not quite able to meet Harley's eye knowing what was going on between her and Odette. Nevertheless, she was enjoying her friends' company, and along with Harley her curiosity was piqued when Rose got a letter.

Hayley tried to peer over her shoulder with Harley, mostly because the attempt amused her, but she was too far away to see. That soon became irrelevant, though, as Rose announced the news loud enough for all the hall to hear. "Holy sh**! That's awesome!" she said, over the growing commotion. "Do we get to help with, like, minister-y campaign stuff?" Hayley didn't really know Rose's mum, but it had immediately occurred to her that being best friends with a politician's daughter could help further her own agenda. How she wasn't sure yet, but offering to help definitely sounded like a good start. Magical elections would probably include policies about stuff like prejudice. If she could get a real politician to listen to her - not about the revolution just yet, that was too big, but about the more general issue - that would be an amazing start.