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Letter
Author: Ella
Date: 02-10-10 17:36
Just minutes before all of the students except for those taking the apparition lesson were asked to leave the Great Hall, an owl flew in from the rafters high above and dropped off a letter for Ella. She carried it into the foyer of the castle, noting that it had come from her father. He'd written her off and on since she'd last seen him during the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately, he was still dating Delilah.
Ella knew that she shouldn't be angry with Delilah, especially when she had only met the woman once and didn't know her beyond the fact that she was dating Dunstan Harville. But that was precisely while Ella disliked her. It was bad enough that her parents had gotten divorced. It seemed all the worse that one of them had already moved on to someone new.
Ella used her finger to break through her father's seal and them removed the letter from its envelope. She unfolded it and read:
Dear Ella,
I hope everything is going well for you at Hogwarts. Have you started studying in earnest for the O.W.L. exams? Don't be like your dolt of a father and wait till the last minute! You'll truly wish you hadn't!
Now as to why I'm writing you. Delilah and I are planning on taking a trip to Capri for Easter, and I would like to know if you want to come with us. It would give you and Delilah a chance to get to know each other better. I know that once you give her a chance, you'll really grow to like her.
Give it some thought, and discuss it with your mother too. When you've reached a decision, let me know so that Delilah and I can be sure to include you in all of our plans.
Hopefully see you soon.
--Dad
Ella looked up from the letter and met the gaze of Francis, who'd been standing in front of her for a while now.
"Something wrong?" he asked her, taking in her expression.
"My dad wants me to go on holiday in Italy with him and his girlfriend."
"Ah, with the girlfriend."
"Yeah." Ella folded the letter and stuffed it back into its envelope. "I would go with my dad to Italy, but not with her too. Besides, I think my mum would rather spend time with me. Merlin knows she could use the company."
"So, will you write him back and say "thanks, but no thanks"?"
Ella and Francis moved for the marble staircase and began the climb to the top.
Ella nodded. "I will, but I think I'm going to write to my mum first."
Already, she started formulating the letter in her mind. Just what would her mother think when she saw the invitation that had been extended to her daughter?
Seeking Information
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 02-11-10 17:21
Ethan arrived at the Ministry of Magic and headed for the lifts. It being Saturday, the Atrium wasn't as crowded as it often was during the weekday morning rush, but it wasn't completely deserted either. A lift was waiting at Level 8, and its brass grill opened to admit Ethan and another gentleman who entered behind him. After the grill closed, the lift began to move.
Ethan and the other gentleman rode in companionable silence until the latter got off at Level 6. A single paper airplane entered at that level and hovered over Ethan's head the entire journey to Level 2. It darted out of the lift and set flight down the corridor. By coincidence, Ethan followed it all the way to the Records Division of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
It landed on the counter that separated unclassified personnel from the stacks. The archivist on duty, none other than Maverick Pilot, Ethan's former enemy turned friend, picked up the airplane and started to unfold it. He stopped when he saw Ethan enter the room.
"Ethan! What brings you to Records, or to the Ministry for that matter?"
"I was wondering if I could get some information on a person," Ethan said, shaking Maverick's offered hand. "How have you been?"
"Great. Life is normal again, which is hard to believe sometimes. Life hadn't been normal for so long, you know?"
"I know."
"So who do you need information on?" Maverick asked.
Ethan leaned on the counter. "My brother's ex-girlfriend. I have reason to believe that she's a witch, and she has in her possession a very dangerous book."
"What's her name?"
"Meadow O'Guinn."
"Meadow O'Guinn," Maverick repeated. "Can't say I've heard of her. Are you in a rush or can you stay a while?"
"I'm going to Hogwarts in the afternoon, but I can stick around until then."
Maverick nodded. "I'll see what I can dig up for you."
"Thanks."
Maverick ducked away from the counter with the paper airplane missive to search through his resources for any records on Meadow O'Guinn. Meanwhile, Ethan turned around and leaned against the counter. He hadn't acted upon his concerns when Callum had first told him about Meadow, but it had started to weigh on his mind. What possible reason could she have for wanting that book? Was she merely trying to keep it safe from the wrong hands, or were her hands the very ones Ethan should worry about?
Project Completed (Zuberi)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 02-12-10 16:34
Returning from the common commons where he'd stealthily loaded up his bookbag with snacks and drinks, Zuberi utters, "Buoyancy,' just loudly enough to be granted admission into Slytherin House. There are a few students in the common room but with the apparition lesson still going on, with it being relatively nice outside though in Zuberi's opinion Scotland's version of relatively nice is downright Arctic to him, and with many of the fifth and seventh years trying to be good and put in some Saturday OWL and NEWT studying, and with something going on in the Great Hall later, all in all Slytherin House is extremely quiet. Quiet is just how Zuberi needs it to be.
Zuberi reaches his room, pausing just inside the doorway while debating whether to fully shut the door or to leave it open a crack. Leaving it open slightly Zuberi moves over to his bed to put his bookbag down the moves to the picture hanging next to the bed. Zuberi stands with his back to the picture at an angle facing the door. Satisfied that the door would have to be open much wider for anyone to see him without his bed blocking the view, Zuberi turns his attention to other things for the moment.
After pulling a duffle bag out from where he'd shoved it under the bed, Zuberi next moves to his trunk. Working quickly he transfer clothes from the trunk to the duffle bag then does the same with some of the clothes in his armoire. Next, Zuberi transfers snacks and drinks from his trunk to the bookbag. He's been secretly stocking up for quite awhile now and thanks to the bookbag being magically enhanced, he can get everything in it and still has plenty of room for more, though at this point the opportunity to get some from the common commons or the Great Hall is rapidly dwindling if he carries out his plan today, which he is and very soon at that.
Both bags ready, Zuberi adds in his coat, cap, and gloves to the duffle so that he doesn't forget over the course of the next several minutes. He also listens with sharp ears for any sounds coming from the hallway that would indicate someone coming to this room or passing it to go to another. Basil, Ivan, and Angus had gone down to the pitch but they could return at any second. The other two fourth year boys, Jasper and Christopher, were also headed outside last Zuberi saw them but if one or both were to return, it wouldn't be unusual to come to this room looking for one of the other three. Then there's that first year pest Mason Jeffers.
Ever since that day just over a month ago when Mason heard an odd, repeated sound that he'd traced to this room and found Zuberi working on his little project but not able to get Zuberi to say what he was doing, the little pest has found reasons to drop by unexpectedly. Zuberi's even caught him in the room when no one else was and when he asked what Mason was doing there. Mason gave a pretty lame excuse about thinking he saw a mouse and was following it.
It was Mason walking in on him that one day that had Zuberi spending some time learning a muffling charm. He made up the time spend learning it instead of on his project by working in the dead of night. Between the muffling charm and a little sleeping draught slipped to his roommates in cups of hot cocoa, Zuberi more than made up for that lost time. Still, if another charm hadn't taken him so long to master, he would have started on his project long before he actually did and would be well away from Hogwarts by now.
Zuberi puts both his duffle and bookbag into a watertight sack, making sure he's got the sack sealed properly. Moving the sack to the wall just below the picture by his bed, Zuberi pulls on a waterproof outfit that would have been a snug fit if just going over swimming trunks. It takes some firm tugging and quite a bit of wiggling to get it on over his clothes. Next comes coverings over his shoes that well overlap the legs of the waterproof outfit. Gloves go over his hands so they don't freeze in the frigid lake water. The entire outfit was borrowed from one of his Okapi École de Sorcellerie friends whose goes diving nearly every holiday with some of those trips to colder climates. Zuberi had no idea why anyone would want to dive in freezing water when the tropics beckon.
Zuberi removes the picture from the wall then the covering over the hole he's painstakingly made over the course of several weeks. The covering was so that if anyone was snooping, like pesky Mason Jeffers, the hole wouldn't be readily noticeable. The hole is just the right size for Zuberi to shimmy through to the blue water on the other side. The charm that took Zuberi ages to master is one to hold the water at bay. He couldn't have it seeping in and have his plan discovered or have the school think the wall was leaking and patch it up and reinforce the spells already in place.
Tying a rope to the waterproof sack, he hoists it into the hole. He's so anxious to get going that Zuberi nearly forgets to eat some of the gillyweed he'd gotten through owl order. He hated to spend what little money he has on the gillyweed but he couldn't risk being caught knicking it from the Potions or Herbology stores. When he's far away from here, he does need to remember to write Viktor Krum a thank you for telling Zuberi about the Triwizarding Tournament challenge involving the lake and how each contestant handled the obstacle of having to be underwater for an extended period.
Zuberi stuffs a wad of the gillyweed in his mouth and puts the rest in a pouch that can be attached to the diving suit in case what he ate starts wearing off before he's clear of the lake. Pulling himself up into the hole, he can feel the gillyweed starting to work. He doubles checks that one end of the rope is firmly attacked to the waterproof sack and the other end to his wrist then pushes the sack ahead of him down the short length of the hole he'd blasted. Even with the waterproof diving suit on and his feet and hands protected, when he pushes through the magical barrier into the water, the cold comes as more of a shock then he'd expected.
Swimming away from the underground portion of Hogwarts castle, Zuberi makes for a spot of shoreline that will take him just past the Hogwarts grounds. As he swims through the numbingly cold water, he thinks of one curse after another for Dosie and Dumblefore for putting up charms around the grounds that ensured he could not leave the grounds by other means without their say so.
Sixth Apparition Lesson
Author: Griet
Date: 02-12-10 17:38
Finally, after nearly six lessons and a lot of failed attempts, Griet managed to apparate into the hoop situated in front of her. Now the question was if she could do it again. Today's lesson was nearly over, but there would be six more after that. Would she need all six to fully master apparating, or would she be bored after another lesson or two? Time would only tell.
Just when she set out to try her hand at apparating again, Professor Twycross asked everyone to stop and started lecturing about the three Ds. Griet fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she turned to Oberon, who stood next to her. He mimed sticking his fingers in his ears to tune out their instructor's incessant babble about the three Ds.
Griet grinned, but her smile faltered when she caught sight of Gervaise across the room. Oberon noted the fall in her expression and followed her gaze.
"Think he and Cornelia are really a couple now?" he whispered.
"I don't know. I've seen them together, but they weren't acting any differently than usual," Griet whispered back.
"They weren't holding hands or snogging, you mean?" Oberon asked.
"No, none of that." Griet shook her head. "I bet she was lying anyway."
"There's one way to find out," Oberon said, tilting his head in Gervaise's direction.
"Ms. Vanderbilt, Mr. Smith. Evidence suggests that neither of you are proficient in apparating, so I would suggest you cease talking and pay attention to Prfoessor Twycross," Professor Snape drawled, having slunk up behind the pair.
"Yes, sir," Griet and Oberon echoed together.
Professor Snape gave them each a long look and then moved away to harp on someone else. Griet and Oberon exchanged silent smiles and then, with a last look at Gervaise, Griet tried apparating one more time before the end of the lesson.