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I'm Up, I'm Up! (Zuberi)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 02-21-10 01:47
"Time for Zuberi to get up," a soft voice says in Zuberi's ear while insistently shaking him to which he groggily replies, "I'm up, Lundy."
"Zuberi is not up."
The shaking does not abate.
Zuberi is on the verge of shouting at Lundy to stop when the she very softly reminds, "You have roommates."
Uttering an oath under his breath, Zuberi forces himself to roll over. With great force of will he sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed. After a hestitation of several seconds, Zuberi stands, only then actually opening his eyes. Squinting through slits is more exact but it's enough to see. Covering his mouth against a huge yawn that's loud enough to have Zuberi checking to see if it disturbed Ivan, Basil, or Angus. Relieved to see that it hadn't, Zuberi very quietly gathers up what he needs, adjusts the curtains around his bed to make it look as though he's still asleep, and creeps from the bedroom, stumbling slightly as he goes from still being more asleep than awake.
After a quick shower that does little to wake him further, Zuberi dresses, brushes his teeth, and finger combs his hair. When done, Zuberi follows Lundy from Slytherin House, out of the Hogwarts dungeons, up several staircases, along a twisting corridor, down a short staircase, along another turn-filled hallway, then up one more set up stairs before moving along a long, narrow, straight hall. There are very few doors lining the hallway and what few they do pass are closed. If Zuberi were more awake he'd be curious what was behind each and every one of those doors. He'd also be worried about just how lost he is if Lundy decides to pop out suddenly. As it is, all he can do is follow her in a zombie-like state, eyes still open only to slits just wide enough to be able to see where the House Elf is going.
Approaching what to Zuberi looks to be the end of the corridor, Zuberi's surprised when Lundy turns to the right. The way the light barely filters into this hallway, even with wall sconces lit at regular intervals, and with the way the turn in the hallway is cut, Zuberi would never have guessed there was another section to the hallway. There is only one door, to the right, and it stands open. Lundy motions from the doorway for Zuberi to enter then without a word, vanishes from sight.
Standing on the threshhold, Zuberi looks in on a windowless room in which there is row upon row of to the ceiling tall file cabinets. There's a small table just inside the door and to the right. Professor Dumbledore sits there, his half-moon glasses perched on his nose as he reads over a file. On the table is a plate with biscuits, eggs, and a rasher of bacon. Next to the plate is a glass of milk.
Without looking up from his reading, Professor Dumbledore gestures Zuberi to come into the room and to sit at the table. "Scrambled eggs are always best when freshly hot. There is jam. Raspberry. My favorite. Butter. Honey if you prefer."
Zuberi slowly enters, each foot feeling heavily weighted, both because he's still not fully awake and because he's dreading having the headmaster tell him the task today has something to do with all these file cabinets and their contents. When he does reach the table, having not yet said a word, Zuberi sinks into the chair and studies the plate of food while reaching for the glass of milk. Dumbledore doesn't seem to be in any hurry so Zuberi takes his time eating breakfast, liking the raspberry jam enough that he wishes he had another biscuit to slather it on. It's only when a small plate with half a dozen biscuits appears on the table that he realizes he stated the desire aloud.
Looking directly at the professor for the first time since entering the room, Zuberi says, "Thank you."
Professor Dumbledore's response is to look up from the file to say, "I'm glad you like the jam. I made it myself. It is rather excellent in my opinion. In fact, I believe I will join you."
When all six biscuits have been polished off and the small jar of jam is nearly gone, Professor Dumbledore pulls out a vial with a very small amount of potion. "Drink this and then we will be on our way."
"I'm not working in this room?"
"You aren't doing anything at Hogwarts today."
"I don't understand. And what is the potion for?"
"The potion will stave off a number of tropical pests and maladies."
"Huh?"
"We wouldn't want you getting ill with something difficult to explain. Drink up and let us being going."
Extremely confused, Zuberi does as bid then gets yet another surprise when right in front of him Professor Dumbledor makes a portkey. "Make sure you have a firm, solid hold," he's instructed.
Experiencing a combination of confusion and curiousity, Zuberi tightly grasps the manila folder Professor Dumbledore had used to make the portkey, wondering where the hell he's being taken. As the odd sensations that go with traveling by portkey engulf Zuberi wakes up all the way and for the first time since his attempt at stealthily escaping Hogwarts, he thinks that maybe the known of Hogwarts isn't so bad compared to the unknown of where Dumbledore is taking him and why.
Eighth Apparition Lesson
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 02-21-10 10:06
After the remaining stragglers left the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall produced her wand and began moving the long house tables out of the way to make room for the apparition lesson, the eighth in a series of twelve. While she and some of the other professors set up the room and took down the anti-apparition charms in the area, Professor Twycross arrived and began conjuring hoops for the students to practice with. No sooner did they finish that the first eligible fifth, sixth and seventh year students trickled back into the room.
It wasn't long after the initial arrivals that everyone who'd signed up for the twelve-week course had come into the Great Hall and taken position behind a hoop. Professor Twycross greeted everyone with a cheery "good morning" and then got straight down to business. He made a few announcements, reiterated the three Ds (destination, determination and deliberation), and then asked the students to go ahead and give apparating another try.
By now, most had accomplished the difficult spell and were now just trying to perfect their skills. Professor McGonagall found that she rarely had to intervene, either for disciplinary reasons or to reverse a splinching. She spent most of the class period along the edges of the Great Hall.
She had a lot on her mind. Winter Term was nearing its end. During Easter Break, all eligible Hogwarts students would get the chance to select electives for next school year. Professor McGonagall was responsible with coordinating the efforts, and she also wanted to meet with all of her Gryffindors individually to offer up advice and give progress reports. Following Easter would be the start of Spring Term, which would be the final drive before the very important O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams, which fifth and seventh years took, respectively.
Professor McGonagall was pulled from her reverie, when a shriek pierced the air. A student nearest her had left behind her entire right arm from the shoulder down, and it hovered grotesquely in the air behind her. Minerva rushed over along with Professor Flitwick and quickly reattached the arm to the frightened girl.
Can't Sleep
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 02-21-10 10:32
Even though she had been up all night, Bronwyn found that she just couldn't fall asleep when she went to bed after coming home from work. She kept thinking about Arley, and how he had been missing for many more weeks now and there was still no clue as to his whereabouts. Desi had formally filed a missing persons report with the Ministry of Magic and had even gone so far as to file a Muggle police report, so that bases were covered in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds. Stateside, Desi's friend and former coworker Angela had done the same.
Unfortunately, nothing had come up yet to even point to where Arley was or may have been immediately following his disappearance. It didn't bode well for him, and it made everyone increasing worried about his well-being. Poor Sebastian was a nervous wreck. Bronwyn had extended an invitation to him to stay with her and Toby in Greenwich, so that he wouldn't have to spend time alone in the New York City loft he shared with Arley. Seb hadn't wanted to leave, though, on the off chance that Arley would miraculously come home.
Bronwyn had tossed around the idea that maybe Arley didn't want to be found, but she discarded the thought rather easily. She couldn't imagine at all that he would want to walk away from his life, not when it was pretty obvious that Seb was his soulmate. She wondered about Arley's father, knowing that he never appreciated the fact that his son was gay. Could he have finally had enough and separated the boys once and for all? Unfortunately, Mr. Montgomery was missing as well and no signs pointed to his whereabouts either. With Arley's sister missing too, it seemed that the entire Montgomery family had fallen off of the map.
Bronwyn hated that she had no resources and no possible clue how to help any of them. Even those with a foot in the law enforcement field didn't seem able to help. She knew Desi was especially frustrated, because finding people fell within the range of her job description. She'd done it before, so why couldn't she do it now when it really meant something to her?
Bronwyn punched at her pillows in an effort to make them more comfortable. If her thoughts weren't racing so much, maybe she could fall asleep. After all, she was tired. Instead, she found herself staring up at the ceilign with blood shot eyes, wondering if she would ever get to see Arley again.
Most Fortunate (Zuberi)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 02-21-10 13:30
"What is England like? Oh, but you said Scotland. What is Scotland like? Is there snow? I would very much like to play in snow."
Zuberi bends to drip the paint brush in the paint can, saying as he does. "Scotland is cold all the time."
"Even in summer?"
"What Scotland calls summer is hardly summery."
"Still, I should like to see it very much."
Zuberi pauses in painting to look at the extra shadow that recently attached itself to him. Karamoh is a head shorter than Zuberi and stick thin. He's certainly chatty, asking question after question and constantly commenting without giving Zuberi much time to respond. Now he's asking, "How old are you, Zuberi Batuti?"
"Fifteen. What about you?"
"I too am fifteen."
This takes Zuberi by surprise as he'd thought Karamoh to be no more than eleven or twelve.
Karamoh dips his own paintbrush in the can, pausing as he does to peer closely at the paint color before saying, "This is called aqua, is it not? I like it very much. The school house will be an even happier place to be with this color."
"You think school is a happy place?"
"Oh yes! I like school very much. I did not like that classes for today were cancelled but when I learned the cancelling was because the supplies to fix the school house had finally arrived, I was very happy again. Tell me of Hogwarts. Your Professor Dumbledore has told me some but I should like to know more. It must be wonderful to have textbooks for everyone; to always have pencils and paper."
Zuberi isn't exactly sure how much he can say about Hogwarts. When Professor Dumbledore and he arrived the professor was quick to let Zuberi know that specific place they were going is run by a Wizard but is in a Muggle location. As in sensing his thoughts Karamoh says, "You may speak of Hogwarts to me. I too am a Wizard."
"Why then is this place in a Muggle location?"
"What do you know of this country?"
Zuberi shrugs. "Sierra Leone had a really nasty civil war, but then so have other African countries. Where I lived, the Democratic Republic of Congo, had war among the Muggles for a long time too."
"In the strife there, was there also a power hungry Wizarding warlord?"
Zuberi shrugs again. "Not that I ever heard about."
"Sierra Leone had one. He used some of his magic to stir up the Muggles who were already fighting. As Wizarding people were killed in the fighting, Uncle gathered together Wizarding children who had been orphaned. When the war ended, Uncle had many to care for and this place was donated to him. Uncle realized he would be able to apply to Muggle aid agencies as well as to Wizarding ones. By doing so, he was able to more quickly repair the buildings and to get the school into operation."
"But what about learning magic? You can't do that here."
"We use the huts Uncle first had for us. Those are in a Wizarding location but the huts are not many and are small."
Zuberi has a ton more questions, such as why didn't Joseph Koroma, the man Karamoh refers to as Uncle, simply expand what he already had or make the huts bigger on the inside, but Karamoh is jabbering again with more questions to Zuberi.
"What is your family like? Do you have brothers? What about sisters?"
"My parents died a few years ago. I have two sisters. Marjani is a year younger than I am. Dosie, well, her name is Theodosia but Marjani and I call her Dosie, is older, in her twenties. Dosie works at Hogwarts and after she'd been there a little while she had Marjani and me transfer from Okapi École de Sorcellerie, which is in the DRC."
"I am sorry you also have lost your parents. I miss my mother and father very much. I have two sisters, both younger. I have not seen them in a long time but I until I know their fates I will always say I have sisters, never had. I had an older brother. During the war, after our parents died, even though a child, Malikie was made to become a solider. I later learned he was killed. It was after he was taken from us that I lost my sisters. I often think I am responsible for losing Zaria and Lambri."
"You were just a kid yourself so how can you blame yourself?"
"I was the man of the family. As their older brother and the head of the family, it was my duty to protect them. I failed. I fell ill and there is a time I remember nothing. When I was better, Zaria and Lambri were gone and no one claimed to have any knowledge of where they were."
"You can't blame yourself for getting sick."
"Yes, I know this but I still cannot help think otherwise. My heart hurts greatly for them. You are very lucky, Zuberi, to have both your sisters. You are also most fortunate to have had the very good school Okapi École de Sorcellerie and now the even more excellent Hogwarts. I am very glad to have met you, Zuberi Batitu. It is good you volunteered to your Professor Dumbledore to help us today."
Volunteering isn't exactly the word Zuberi would use but for the moment he says nothing to Karamoh about the events that led to him being here today. He just dips the brush into more paint and lets Karamoh ask a million more questions.
(Reading, Berkshire) That Stinking Feeling
Author: Melchior
Date: 02-21-10 16:29
The smell of the end of the school year was in the air. Sure, it was only March, but why would that stop anybody from being excited? I knew that I was; I wanted this year to be over faster than anybody else here, more then likely...
"Ready, mates?" Frank asked. Everyone nodded. I prepared for the worst. You see, the reason why I was ready for the end of the year, was that I wouldn't have to deal with Frank and his cohorts for a whole summer vacation. But in the meantime, I was being lifted into the air by Frank's teammates and was about to get tossed into a dumpster in the back of the school. They had done this multiple times before; that wasn't a problem. What was a problem, was that the trash had been taken out of it, so there was nothing to break my fall. "On my mark. One, two, three!"
My crash echoed throughout the dumpster. But I was too busy focusing on the fact that my back was now throbbing and that the dumpster smelled even worse from the inside. I could hear Frank and his friends laughing themselves to death at my pathetic display. I felt embarrassed, but I wasn't going to give them that much satisfaction. I calmly got up and, while withholding the urge to even grunt, jumped out of the dumpster. They were still laughing as I turned the corner and found my way to my first class.
"Melchior?" The arithmetic teacher, Mrs. Forehide, said upon my arrival. "You're late again." She gave me a look that I knew too well, the look that told me that she was going to give me detention for this. "See me after class." I made my way to my seat and couldn't help but notice how everyone held their noses as I walked by. I felt ashamed; how could I let them treat me like that every single day? I was sick of it! Mrs. Forehide continued with her lesson, but I paid no attention. I just sat there, staring blankly at the board. I thought of every bad thing that Frank and his friends had ever done to me. Each fiasco filled me with more and more anger. But what could I do about it? I wasn't what you would call "strong." Frank could easily overtake me alone, not to mention in a group.
So I decided just to live this day just like I had every other day before this. Take whatever Frank had to dish out at me, ignore everyone holding their nose as I passed, and them come home and read the last few sections of the newspaper before my younger brother Max's favorite show ended on the television and he looked at me as his main source of amusement. And this is exactly what I did. Max had wanted to play pirates today, which is why I was taking off an eyepatch before I got into bed. As I took it off, I caught a whiff of myself and recalled the incident from this morning. But I was too exhausted to what to do anything now. I concluded that I would go to sleep now and get up early to have a bath before heading off to school.
-:-
I woke up the next morning early and remembered why. But I found that I had done this for no reason. I found that I didn't smell like the dumpster anymore, I smelled like pineapples. Pure, freshly-cut pineapples. I smiled as I got dressed this morning and headed to school. I had awoken before my parents, so I fixed my own breakfast, scrambled eggs, and said goodbye to my folks as they headed down the stairway. I took the long way to school, walking at a nice relaxed pace. I approached the school just as calmly, and was even early to arithmetic. Mrs. Forehide even complimented me on my new "cologne." I stifled a grin. It wasn't until about halfway through the day that things got better. English was my first class with Frank, and I always loathed it. But I seriously considered making it my favorite when Frank walked in late and smelling just as bad as I had yesterday. He sat next to one of his friends who held his nose. "Wow! Frank, why do you stink so much?"
"I don't know! I took about twenty baths this morning and it seems like it doesn't want to go away!" Frank said in whispered desperation. A look of amazement appeared on my face as I heard Frank's response. How could this be? Did I have a guardian angel? Well, if I did, it was clear that he was invisible. So I said a silent prayer of thanks to him and continued through my day.
A lovely sunny day
Author: Linnea Rose
Date: 02-22-10 11:45
This week had floated away like nothing ever happened, which you could not have said about last week.
Linnea waked up with a smile on my face today and it was a lovely weather. Lying there she thought that nothing could actual go wrong today. When she had dressed herself and eat some breakfast she went out to paint some paintings in the park.
So Linnea run to the dormitory to get her pencils and the walked out of the castle to go and sit on one of the benches in the park. She took up her pencils and colouring book and started to colour things she saw. People walked by all the time and birds flying in the sky. This was a wonderful day for painting and Linnea sat there the whole day and painted.
When she felt tired with paining she walked in and head to the dormitory and walked up to her bed to put her bag in her trunk. After that I head to the Great Hall to have dinner as I was so hungry after not have eat any lunch, but only a fruit I took with me after breakfast.
Change Of Plans (Laura Reese-Emerson)
Author: Kody
Date: 02-22-10 23:07
Since the day not so long ago that Plum Lancaster and Anthony Beck came to the parents of their friend Kody and to Anthony's grandfather seeking guidence Laura Reese-Emerson has not acted on a burning desire to pay Anissa and William Weaver a visit and give them a piece of her mind. She's given the young couple her support without verbally trashing the Weavers to Anthony or Plum, much as she's wanted to. Today though she's done holding her tongue, at least to Anissa Weaver. Laura had seen Plum every day from that day until Wednesday. She'd known that Plum was feeling the stress and was looking tired.
This morning when Laura had Anthony, Plum, and Alex over for breakfast. With having gone only Thursday and Friday without seeing Plum, Laura was taken aback at how much weight Plum appears to have lost. Laura can't help but wonder how long it would have taken her to truly see the changes if she'd seen Plum both of those days. Laura had also noticed that Anthony was looking tired but doesn't how much of that is work.
Even Alex was cranky. No matter how well adults try to hide the stress and tension most children have a way of sensing something wrong.
When breakfast was over, Anthony left for work but only after Laura told him that she'd arranged a massage for him and that young lady he's been working with so much, Desi Diamond, and that she thought Anthony at least should go sometime today. After Anthony had gone to the Ministry, Laura sent Plum with Kordelia and Ophelia to the spa for a girls' day out then had sent Alex off with Kody and Drake. They are taking Alex to do a fun list of activities.
Laura had originally planned to go to the spa with the girls for awhile then go meet up with the boys to take over with Alex. Once she'd lain eyes on Plum and Anthony this morning, Laura's plans changed in less than a heartbeat.
She strides with intense determination down a tree lined, sun dappled lane, passing houses in a mix of styles ranging from what the Muggles refer to as Tudor to Georgian to Victorian. Reaching one that's more of an English Revival in style, also called by some Jacobethan, Laura stands on the bottom of the walk, looking at the house. She's not sure how long she stands there trying to gather her thoughts as to what she wants to say and how she should say it, Laura finally moves up the walk after seeing movement by one of the windows.
At the door, Laura takes a deep breath then lifts the knocker, reminding herself to be diplomatic and that starting off things by ripping into Anissa Weaver will not accomplish one damn thing no matter how good it would feel to do so.
End of the Lesson
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 02-23-10 19:22
With only minutes remaining to the eighth apparition lesson, Ronan attempted to apparate one final time into his hoop, which was now across the room and at an angle to where he stood. It was difficult not to think of the three Ds, since Professor Twycross had more or less ingrained the words into his head after all that repetition. Ronan envisioned his destination, and with determination and deliberation vanished from where he stood and appeared a moment later in his hoop.
"Well, that's all for this week. See you again on Saturday for the next lesson," Professor Twycross announced.
He began summoning the hoops to him, causing a few people to jump up and out of theirs rather quickly to avoid getting knocked over.
Ronan immediately made for the exit and proceeded to the marble staircase. Earlier that morning, an owl had arrived with a letter from Enid. She was still in Azkaban and would be for many more years. Enid didn't write on a weekly basis, since there was only so much one could say about spending day in and day out in a prison cell. Ronan knew he should probably write his mother more often, but he usually forgot in light of homework assignments and studying for the NEWTs.
He'd been in such a rush this morning that he'd not gotten the chance to read the letter before the apparition lesson began. It was stuffed into the pocket of his jeans, and he removed it now as he trekked up to Gryffindor Tower. It had gotten a bit wrinkled during the last hour, but Ronan was able to smooth it out, and besides, his mother's script was still perfectly legible.
What she wrote in her flowing hand was more of the same. She said very little of what went on everyday at Azkaban, probably because nothing ever changed. Mostly, she responded to what had been in Ronan's last letter, and she posed a few questions for him, such as how his preparation for the NEWTs was going.
Ronan expertly navigated the castle while simultaneously reading the letter, and when he got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, he said "Nimbus" without even looking up.
He came in just as Artemis was coming out.
"Hey, Ronan. What have you got there?"
Ronan looked up and lowered the letter. Even though it wasn't really a secret that his mother was in prison, sometimes Ronan felt ashamed that he didn't have a normal family. His mother was in Azkaban. His brother probably would have wound up there, had he not gotten killed. His father was long dead, too.
"Oh, this? It's just a letter," Ronan said, stuffing it back into his pocket. "Where are you headed?"
"To the commons. I'm craving something sweet. Want to join me?"
Ronan nodded. "Sure, but give me five minutes. I just want to drop something off in my room."
When she agreed to wait for him, Ronan hurried past him and took the steps up to his dorm room two at a time. He entered his room and went straight for the trunk at the foot of his bed. Towards the bottom was a leather case in which he kept all of the letters he'd gotten from his mum. He added the latest one to the stack and then went back downstairs to join Artemis for a snack.