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Career Day at Hogwarts
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 04-21-07 09:46
Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall strolled through the Great Hall after breakfast and oversaw the arrangement of tables and booths for the volunteers of the third annual Career Day at Hogwarts. The long tables that usual occupied the Great Hall were gone, replaced by smaller ones set up at intervals throughout the Great Hall. Representatives from various businesses and organizations busied themselves with setting up displays and arranging flyers on their tables.
"Can you believe that it is already the end of May, Minerva?" Dumbledore mused, looking around the Great Hall with a pleasant smile on his face.
"The year seems to go by more and more quickly each year," Minerva replied. She stopped to greet a few old students and then continued walking with Dumbledore, who steered them towards one of the snack booths.
"I believe the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament has been a great success," he said, accepting a glass of pumpkin juice from the witch running the booth. "I dare say it may happen again in the future. I've also heard rumor of the Triwizard Tournament returning someday."
"Really, Albus?" Minerva asked, flabbergasted. She didn't think the Triwizard Tournament would ever happen again after how the last one had ended.
"The supporting arguments I've heard state that we live in better times now. Voldemort is no longer among the living and therefore nothing bad can ever happen to anyone again."
"But that's rubbish, Albus!"
"Of course it is, Minerva. They are foolish to think that Voldemort's passing has brought us a "happily-ever-after" fairytale ending. You and both know that when one dark wizard falls, another rises."
Minerva pursed her lips together. The Great Hall was getting fuller, as most of the displays were set up by now and some of the students had already trickled into the dining chamber to check things out. The Great Hall was no longer the proper place to discuss such matters as dark lords and dark times, so Minerva didn't address the topic anymore and neither did Dumbledore. They continued to stroll around the room, occasionally stopping at a table to learn a little something themselves.
Ask Us About Prom
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 04-21-07 10:16
Mortimus Flister and Hecubia Nintwinty finish setting up their booth for the Hogwarts Career Day. This year Mortimus is nattily dressed in a tuxedo having a waiter's style jacket. His bow tie adds a daring dash of scarlet red to bhe black of the tuxedo and the crisp whiteness of the shirt. Hecubia is equally glammed up for the occassion. She's wearing an elegant evening gown of gauzy mauve with a fitted, beaded bodice of mauve and black. Mortimus has completed his outfit with a top hat and cane while Hecubia has on sparkly earrings and on top of her perfectly coiffed updo is a sparkling tiara.
If anyone asks they Mortimus and Hecubia are wearing evening clothes to the career day event, they will both answer that they were inspired on a recent trip to the United States by the proms held widely across America this time of year. Hecubia would simply love it if enough Hogwarts student were interested in hearing about proms. She could go on and on about the dresses the young women wear.
It would be so lovely if the students here asked to hold a prom with some interesting theme like the one school Hebubia got to visit with it's prom them of Paris in the Spring. Those decorating for the dance even had a miniature Eiffel Tower complete with lights that they set up in the middle of the dance floor. Just imagine what these wonderful young witches and wizards could accomplish with their magic if they were decorating for a themed prom!
Their sign up
Muggle Relations
Ministry of Magiic
Mortimus Flister & Hecubia Nintwinty
Muggle Experts
Mortimus and Hecubia get pamphlets put out along with freebies. This year they have a variety of interesting Muggle products to give away, such as Silly Putty, Pop Rocks, and Oscar Mayer weenie whistles. Stepping back to admire their handiwork, Mortimus shakes Hecubia's hand.
"Looks excellent as always," Mortimus proclaims.
Hecubia tugs on Mortimus's sleeve. "Students are coming this way. We should be at the table ready for them. I do hope they want to hear about proms."
"Don't forget then to put up your table sign Ask us about prom," Mortimus reminds as they retake their positions behind the booth table.
"Thank you for reminding me!"
Hecubia puts the sign on display then eagerly awaits the students.
Representing Librarianship
Author: Gigi Martini
Date: 04-21-07 10:25
Gigi spellotaped a banner that read British and Irish Public Library to the front of her table. Then she pulled out a number of flyers from the crate at her feet. One listed the library system's two locations (Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley) and the hours of operation. Several consisted of reading lists for children below and above Hogwarts age. There were flyers for the various services the library offered. There were calendars of events. There was even information on the summer reading program, which was scheduled to begin on July 1st. Gigi added various bookmarks to the table and then incentives to get the children to come over, such as quills that were sensitive to the heat of one's hand and would change colors when one touched them and a bowl of candy.
By the time she set everything up, the first few students came by the table to see what the library offered.
"Good morning," Gigi said pleasantly. "Do you have a library card?"
Those who didn't filled out a form and were issued a card right then and there. Gigi told them all about how they could request books via owl and that they could return them that way too. She also informed them of the summer internship that still hadn't been filled.
The morning passed in much the same way, with some students stopping by to inquire about the library itself and others asking about careers in librarianship. Gigi did her best to answer all questions and told ever student she saw that she hoped she'd see them this summer.
The Health Nut
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 04-21-07 10:44
Worthington Worthy, wearing workout clothing, moves with high energy around his booth getting it ready for the Hogwarts Career Day. He's so excited to be here for this third annual event! Worthington has information on many of the careers in the health and fitness industry. He's also got pamphlets with information on why staying fit is important for every witch and wizard young and old.
Worthington also brought some examples of the exercise equipment from his Diagon Alley gym, The Health Nut. A tall boy walks up and glances through the variety of pamphlets. "What does an fitness trainer do?" he asks.
Worthington answers that question then another. After he's answered the second worthingto has the young man step onto what looks like a treadmill. "This is charmed. Speak to this green dot with the command of, "Treadmill, setting 1."
The boy, whose name is Curtis Fiennes, does as directed. The treadmill under his feet begins moving slowly. Worthington explains, "Each higher setting makes the treadmill go faster. Additional commands will give you simulated settings, like walking uphill."
By this time other students are looking over The Health Nut booth. Several try the treadmill and other equipment Worthington brought. When students move on to the next booth they have handouts on health and fitness, protein bars, and small bottle of Worthington's own creation of a fruity health drink.
Paris, France: The Portkey
Author: Nymphadora Tonks
Date: 04-21-07 11:21
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Tonks slowly became conscious of the fact that something was dripping into a pool of water. Her head ached and she felt as if her eyes were swollen shut, but the fact was that she was simply extremely exhausted and a little bit drugged. She raised her head and managed to pry open her eyelids. Her vision was blurred at first and showed that she was in a dark room though a dull light flickered from somewhere behind her and reflected off the shiny surface of the floor. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't looking at a floor but at several inches of water. The entire ground was flooded.
As her vision cleared, she realized she was still in the catacombs. Skulls and other bones were all around her, but for a small corridor shooting off diagonally to her right. Water dripped from the ceiling and ran down the uneven walls and over the bones into the water at her feet.
Tonks was strapped to a simple but heavy-duty wooden chair. Her feet were under water. She hated it when her socks were wet.
The last thing Tonks remembered was grabbing the key yesterday. It had turned out to be a portkey that took her into another part of the catacombs. Tonks hadn't remembered there being water then but she hadn't really had much of a chance to look around. She'd been jumped almost immediately and then everything had gone black.
Tonks suddenly heard voices talking in French. She wished she'd have learned the language, but she'd never had a very good ear for anything but her own language. She saw two men approaching. Both were tall and skinny. One had a mustache, the other didn't. One wore a beret and the other had short-cropped hair.
"Neemphadora Tonks," the one in the beret said.
Tonks said nothing in reply.
"We 'ave been waiting for you."
"So it was a trap," Tonks finally said. "Ababwa warned you I would come."
The wizard in the beret smiled, revealing crooked, yellowing teeth. "Yes."
"Where's the rest of my team?" Tonks asked.
"Zey are dead," beret-man answered, "all but one, zat eez. We allowed one of ze French aurors to return to ze Ministére to eenform zem zat we are not a group with whom to be trifled. Unfortunately for zat weezard, 'e 'az been charmed een such a way zat should 'e try to tell ze Ministére anyzing, 'e will endure headaches of such proportion zat 'e'z 'ead will explode eef 'e tries too 'ard."
Tonks asked, "Why didn't you kill me too?"
"Ababwa told us zat you are acteevely lookeeng for ze ozzer offices of ze Resistance. You should die, of course, because you will onlee attempt to find out more eef you are to live."
"Then why keep me alive?"
"Eet eez onlee temporary."
For the first time, the other man spoke. "By ze time we are feenished with you, you will be beggeeng for death."
At Career Day (AJ)
Author: Furnella Hodfuffer
Date: 04-21-07 13:01
Aj had gotten from his publisher a selection of books, short stories, and magazines geared to younger readers. These were the freebies he's handing out as part of his career day booth. AJ had also worked with his publisher to put together some literature on careers in writing, including information on such jobs as literary agents, editors, and publishers. Another pamphlet has information on ways a person might go about becoming a better writer, which includes the suggestion of taking advantage of courses offered at St. Emrys.
The pamphlets and free items are on one table of the booth. This is wear AJ has been alternately standing and sitting as he talks to both students, professors, and others with career day booths. On another table in AJ's booth space are four boxes, one each with the crest of the four Hogwarts houses. In front of the boxes are registration lists. Each student may fill out up to five slips to put into the box corresponding to his or her house. If a student puts in more than five slips, the additional slips shoot right back out of the box.
The table with these boxes has had quite a lot of activity already. After career day ends, AJ will draw a single name from each house's box. The students whose names are drawn will each be the feature character in a new series aimed at the pre-teen and teen age groups. The four books will make up the student sleuth series AJ has recently contracted to write. He thought it would be great fun to have a contest to name the lead character in each of the books. If the series proves popular, it might even be extended beyond the initial four.
Cora Fields, the first year niece of Aaron Miller, has just put her name in the Ravenclaw box. She then comes over to ask AJ, "Professor Hodfuffer, why don't you use your real name for your books?"
"The name I use is called a pseudonym. Not all writers use one but there are a number of us who do. I can't speak for the rest of them but the reason I go by AJ Hundle is because when I wrote the first one I wasn't sure if it would do well. If it was widely criticized and disliked, other than a few people, no one would know that Asterjoylian Hodfuffer had written a real stinker. Further back in history, there was some women writers who used men's names on their books. That was because society sort of frowned on women who wrote anything that wasn't strictly fluff and even then most writers were male."
"How did you choose the, what did you call it? Pseydome?"
"Pseudonym. It's also called a pen name. The AJ comes from my first name Asterjoylian. The Hundle is from my middle name of Hundlemears."
"How did you know you wanted to write books?"
"I didn't at first. I was working as a newspaper reporter. I did some work for The Daily Prophet and I also did some work for a couple of small papers, one local to London and another local to the Dartmoor area. I mainly covered crimes. It was only after a really interesting, unusual case that was solved by a 106 year old witch that I got to thinking about writing books. That case was so very interesting and how it was solved was really extraordinary, I wanted to write it down and share it. I wrote a short story and to my surprise it was accepted for publishing straight away."
"Why?"
"Why was I surprised?"
Cora nods, eyes fixed on AJ for him to finish telling the story.
"It's not unusual for a first time author to be repeatedly rejected for publication."
"It is?"
AJ is the one nodding now as he explains more to Cora, answering additional questions from her and those posed by other students.
Good Reasons
Author: Bellatrix Lestrange
Date: 04-21-07 14:06
"Is this really necessary?" Bellatrix was referring to the darkened room she was standing in. A dark shadowy figure was seated at a desk, hands folded neatly on the blotting pad.
"For now," the figure replied in a clipped tone. "And I'd think twice before you decide to use a Lumos spell," the figure added.
Bellatrix planted both hands on the desk and stared the figure down. "Was that a threat? You are of course aware who you are talking to and intend to rescind that statement, don't you? Off the top of my head I can't remember the last person who actually held enough sway with me to stop me doing what I wanted."
"And yet you haven't removed your wand from your cloak, have you?"
Bella pushed back from the desk and laughed. "My brother in law obviously thought this was a good idea. Of course now I should have realized that Rabastan rarely does anything that merits worth, and this is just another in a long list."
The figure stirred slightly. "You intend to leave?"
"I do. Are you going to attempt to persuade me to stay? No, I thought not. I shall see myself out then."
"You'll come back, we both know it."
Bellatrix turned back to the shadows. "Only to wipe you off the face of the earth. Since I'm currently at a loss for a really good reason to ruin your perfect desk, I've decided to let you live for the foreseeable future."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Give me one good reason, Rabastan, why I don't just kill you for that debacle." Bella paced up and down her brother-in-law's study.
"Because you need me next week, that's why." Rabastan tried to supply Bellatrix with another one of his supposed devastatingly handsome grins. It fell flat. He decided to tell the truth – who knew what mood his sister-in-law might currently be in – although he had a pretty good idea. "I thought when I was contacted by these people that this could be a way forward for the family. I saw a way to further our goals and take us back to when we were great."
"So you think that just because the Dark Lord is dead, we are nothing?" she barked. "Well let me tell you something, Rabastan, all the great families are connected and we are far from ready to lie down and wait for the next leader to arise. You should get out more, socialize. If you did that small thing you'd know there is much going on underneath that pale surface of respectability we all put out." She paused for thought.
Rabastan took a step towards the drinks tray and poured Bellatrix a glass of Scotch. "So you intend to go through with the plan then?"
"Of course. I told you, I want Rodolphus where I can keep an eye on him. He tried to take the easy way last time, and that does not benefit anybody's goals. Who knows what secrets he's spilling to his cell mates at this very moment? I don't like it, and neither does Lucius. We've decided we want him here, in plain sight of the family."
"You sound like Voldemort," Rabastan said flatly.
"What are you talking about?"
"All this talk of the Family, like he used to. Exactly how many former death eaters do you have in this group of Family?"
It was the first time Bellatrix could ever recall the man having an almost serious thought in his head. It disturbed her. "You mean all those who haven't been killed by the Numbers Killer I assume?"
Rabastan blanched a bit and turned pale. "Yes well, hopefully I managed to keep clear of him," he muttered.
Bellatrix smiled inwardly. The man really was an idiot.