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Great News
Author: Ariella Beck
Date: 09-22-07 09:45
Ariella woke up early and dressed quickly. Although it was quite cozy in the pureblood dormitory room, Ariella was nonetheless a bit cold. She tended to feel cool whenever she was still sleepy. Unfortunately, she had to get up and get ready for her day. Ariella had three classes on Mondays: Ancient Runes, Herbology and History of Magic. There was also Quidditch practice in the late evening, which Ariella might not have made mandatory if the first match wasn't so near. And to top if all off, Ariella had NEWTs to start worrying about.
She brushed her hair into place and then slipped the necklace Lawrence had given her some time ago around her neck. She touched the pendant with her fingers and thought about how sweet he'd been lately. He'd really surprised Ariella by getting treats for her and Alanna for Halloween. One of the easiest ways to butter up a girlfriend was to extend one's kindness to her family.
Ariella smiled to herself and looked over at Alanna's bed. Alanna was still sound asleep, not having a class until later that morning. Ariella supposed the only good thing to come out of Snider's insane changes at Hogwarts was the fact that she could room with her sister, who was essentially her best friend.
Fully dressed and ready to start her day, Ariella grabbed her textbooks for Ancient Runes and Herbology and left her dorm room. She went through the common room, glancing at a few of the faces there. Many of the nons passing through looked extremely downtrodden, and Ariella wondered how they'd ever make it through the rest of the school year. She frowned and stepped through the portal, exiting the common room.
When she got to the Great Hall, she sat down at the Hufflepuff table in front of the purple line. She grabbed a piece of toast and spread strawberry jam over it. While she ate, the owls fluttered in from overhead, delivering letters and parcels to those receiving mail. An owl flew to Ariella and deposited a large envelope next to her plate. It was marked from the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Research.
Ariella put down her toast and picked up the envelope. She pulled her wand from her pocket and ran it under the seal to break it. She put her wand down next to her plate and then pulled out the paperwork in the envelope. The first page was a simple letter that congratulated her on getting her invention patented. The rest of the parchments were accompanying paperwork relating to her invention, the LinguoCube.
Ariella's jaw fell open and then she broke out into a smile. She looked searchingly at the staff table but didn't see Lawrence there. She wanted to tell him the good news. Her invention had finally gotten patented!
Artifact Accidents
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 09-22-07 14:52
A mediwizard rushed a gurney through the halls of St. Mungo's while briefing Aurelia Abbott and the interns that followed on the patient's condition. A girl not much older than fifteen thrashed around on the gurney as if she were having a seizure. She had a death grip on a crooked, splintery old wand that occasionally emitted red sparks.
"Eyewitnesses say the girl picked the wand up off the ground in Knockturn Alley. She tried to cast Scourgify on herself but the wand backfired. I'm fairly certain it's cursed," the mediwizard explained.
"She looks homeless," Aurelia remarked.
"Some of the gawkers in Knockturn Alley claim she roams there occasionally begging for change and food."
The girl was wheeled into the nearest ward on the ground floor with an available bed. The mediwizard used Mobilicorpus to levitate the girl from the gurney to the bed and then took his leave, while Aurelia took over and barked out orders to her interns.
"Black, give the patient 10 mg of infusion of chickweed."
While a nurse handed Caldonia a small stoppered bottle of the potion, Aurelia handed Hermione the girl's chart. "Granger, run her labwork. Rush, you're on patient workups. Black, try to get that wand out of her hand. The rest of you, follow me."
Aurelia filed out the door with the other interns behind her. A moment later, she poked her head back into the room and pointed at the three remaining interns, Black, Granger and Rush in turn. "She's in your hands."
Then she disappeared.
The girl stopped seizing and lay still, though her hand was still clutched around the cursed wand.
"That's a good sign, isn't it?" Orson asked.
Hermione jumped as a shower of red sparks shot out and nearly scorched the hem of her robes. "We better hurry and get that out of her hand."
"I'll notify the Ministry as well," Caldonia said, gently taking the girls wrist into her hand, turning it this way and that to see what the best mode for extraction might be without coming into contact with the wand itself.
"Good idea," Hermione said. She looked down at the chart in her hand, starting on the assignment given to her by her advisor.
Unwanted News
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 09-22-07 15:21
It was a slow day at Twice Told Tales. Lysander had already unpacked the newest shipments to the store and had set the feather duster tidying up the place a bit. He'd helped a few customers so far throughout the morning but otherwise it was incredibly quiet.
He pulled a stool to the counter and reached for quill and parchment. He'd been meaning to invite his aunt over for dinner ever since her release from Azkaban but it had always been one thing or another that had prevented him from getting into contact with her recently. He probably could have found the time to scrawl off a quick note but there was often something else on his mind that kept him from it.
Lysander decided to use the downtime in the shoppe to do just that––write his aunt a long overdue letter and extend an invitation for her to come to dinner. He'd just written the salutation when the doorbell chimed. Lysander lowered his quill, looked up, and immediately scowled.
"What? No 'Welcome to Twice Told Tales! How may I help you?' from you, Lysander?" Bill Weasley strolled up to the counter, grinning. "Perhaps you need some training in customer service."
"What do you want?" Lysander asked, guessing Bill hadn't come to purchase a book.
"I never thought I'd have cause to say this to you, but I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" Lysander questioned suspiciously. "What the hell for?"
"You don't know?" Bill asked, looking positively delighted at the fact.
Lysander stood up, ready to eject Bill from the store.
Bill went on, still all smiles, "I heard I have you in part to thank for my miraculous recovery."
Lysander didn't know what Bill meant, though he'd certainly known about Bill's long-term coma and had seen the red-haired wizard out and about the village the last few weeks to know that he wasn't sleeping anymore.
"I have no idea what you mean, Weasley," Lysander replied coolly.
"Let me clarify it for you then. That book Hermione Granger asked you to find, which you were so skillfully able to deliver, contained the antidote needed to revive me. Without your help I'd still be a vegetable at St. Mungo's, so I thank you whole-heartedly for what you've done." Bill was entirely serious about his thankfulness, but he couldn't help but annoy Lysander with the news that he'd unknowingly helped an enemy recover from a terrible illness.
Lysander started trembling with anger. He'd risked his life for Bill Weasley!? No. Effing. Way.
Bill sensed it was probably time to leave Lysander alone. He turned and walked away, pausing at the door to look over his shoulder at the other man. "I think we may share a common enemy now. Khalid Adallah means business, so watch your back."
Then he left Twice Told Tales.
Lysander eased himself onto his stool, still angry about Bill's revelation. They'd never been friends and never would be, but Bill was right one thing––Lysander was probably on Adallah's list now because he'd managed to survive Adallah's first attempt to kill him.
After Lysander calmed down, he started writing his letter to his aunt again.
Attack On The Humbatas Pitch
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 09-22-07 19:27
Py hovers on his broom, sweeping a hand across his sweaty brow. The action at the moment is at the opposite end of the pitch where Tilda Titchmarsh is goal tending. Scrimmage this morning has been an excellent back and forth, neither the team in cherry red nor the one in pale blue giving an inch. Tilda and Py have stopped every goal attempt.
Viktor's even scrimmaging today, at this very moment diligently searching for the Snitch. The team's other main Seeker, Keely Gairden is a distant cousin to the Fionna Gairden who was in Slytherin and a couple of years behind Py. Keely grew up in New Zealand, only joining the Humbatas over the summer after playing a few years on another team. Keely's been playing more during practice and in games than Viktor has but she's still nowhere near as good as Viktor.
In this scrimmage Brent Gorper is on Py's team. Py cheers on his friend,, loudly calling out, "Excellent hit, Brent!"
Morganna Flowers, on the other team today, slows down on her way past Py after the other Bludger, "Not cheering me on too? I might have to hit you with a Bludger for that."
Py laughs, "Isolde always is telling me love hurts."
Morganna slows even more, wheeling back around to give Py an arched eyebrow, "Is there some kinky reference in there that maybe I don't want to know about?" Not waiting for Py to reply, she laughs more as she does a sharp turn back around, darting after that Bludger.
Py looks back down the pitch, not wanting to be taken unawares by fast moving action coming his way. All the Chasers are still clustered around Tilda, whom Py can see has just stopped another goal attempt. The block she does sends the Quaffle bouncing off her broom back to the Chasers. A cherry red clad Chaser grabs it and starts in Py's direction. It's Marmaduke Flowers, brother of Morganna.
Marmaduke pulls ahead of two of those in light blue, Clarissa Greenhill and Flora Lynch. He's just reached mid-pitch when a bolt of light shoots up at an angle from the ground, hitting Marmaduke. Clarissa and Flora both go into dives after Marmaduke as he spirals out of control towards the pitch. His head lolls to the side and he falls off his broom, still falling. Others, including Py, are shouting and urging their brooms down to help, despite knowing they can't get their in time.
On the ground, Yuri Gregorovitch aims his wand and just in the nick of time cushions Marmaduke's fall. Marmaduke still hits hard but not the bone breaking hard he would have otherwise. Clarissa and Flora are first to his side with everyone else closely behind. Viktor and Yuri are ordering people back while the team trainer with knowledge of sports healing, hurries to assess Marmaduke.
After an unconscious Marmaduke has been taken to St. Mungo's and the initial shock and chaos has worn off, Py, Clarissa, Flora, and others start talking about the bolt of light that hit Marmaduke. Unfortunately, no one in the air or on the ground saw who did it. Viktor leaves temporarily to get someone from the Ministry, returning shortly with a law enforcement officer. While he's gone, Conner and Yuri organizea search of the stadium though everyone is certain the culprit is long gone.
Officer Latetia Lewiston arrives with Viktor, asking questions of everyone with most directed at Marmaduke's sister Morganna. Everyone's a little surprised when one of the first questions Morganna is asked is, "What is your brother's blood status?"
Morganna shrugs, "Even though both our parents are Wizarding, because our mother is Muggle born we're considered to be halfbloods."
Officer Lewiston finishes her questions but as she's putting her notepad away she tells them, "There doesn't seem to be much to go on and, unfortunately, with Mr. Flowers a halfblood, this case gets shunted well down the list."
This elicits an uproar from everyone gathered. The officer shrugs apologetically. "I'm sorry. An attack in broad daylight that's obviously meant to seriously harm if not kill would be something I'd focus on and maybe even bring in an Auror but with Ministry policy what it is now, the investigation is going to be stalled."
When Officer Lewiston has gone and Viktor has left with Morganna to check on Marmaduke, Py is seething right along with the rest of his teammates. He well remembers a point in time he would have applauded many of the new Ministry policies but he likes Marmaduke and Morganna. When they joined the Humbatas, Py took an instant liking to both, never once wondering if they were pureblooded or not. In fact, Morganna telling Officer Lewiston they're halfbloods is the first Py knew of that. Py's realizing just how different his thinking about certain things is when he doesn't know who's what and learning it now doesn't change the fact that he likes the Flowers and thinks they are great additions to the team.
With scrimmage effectively over, Py showers and puts his regular clothes back on, then rejoins his teammates to go en masse to St. Mungo's.
(Kate) Avoiding Trouble
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 09-23-07 10:11
Kate scooped up her Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks from where she had them stacked up on the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall and walked swiftly to the exit. Ever since Professor Yaxley humiliated her in front of the school by giving her detention for allegedly having her arm over the purple line, Kate didn't like to linger in the Great Hall for longer than necessary. She didn't feel like a mishandled baby anymore but she wanted to avoid trouble if at all possible.
Sometimes trouble was difficult to avoid, especially when it seemed like Yaxley and others like him were determined to find fault with all the nons, whether they did something wrong or not. Over the last two and a half months at Hogwarts, Kate had come to learn that life wasn't fair and that unless things changed in the wizarding world, life would never be fair for those like her who were unfortunate enough to have Muggle ancestry.
Kate took the stairs to the dungeons. She'd nearly come upon Professor Snape's classroom when she spotted Gus and Mark sitting in an alcove. Gus had a small rubber ball in his hand and kept throwing it up against the wall and catching it before it bounced away from him. Mark was leaning against the side of the alcove, with his shirt tails hanging out and his tie undone.
Kate made a point to ignore the both of them but Gus drawled, "Look Mark, there's a Mudblood in the corridor all alone. Whatever shall we do to her?"
Kate didn't look at either of them and continued on her way, but Gus swiftly stepped in front of her, his bulky girth making it hard for her to easily sidestep him.
"Move out of my way," Kate demanded. She held her head up high and tried to look firm, but she could feel herself trembling a little bit.
Gus started laughing and then took another step closer to her. "Make me," he said, his breath hot on her face.
"Gus, move out of her way," Mark drawled. "We have to get to Professor Spudmore's class anyway." He got up with his books tucked between his upper leg and his hand and reached out to gently take Gus by the collar of his shirt. "Come on. We don't want to be late."
The corridors were starting to fill up with other students going to Potions. Kate allowed herself to be carried away with the current of nons that filed into Professor Snape's small classroom. She sat down at her desk, hating Gus with all her might. He was fat and stupid and ugly... She rattled off in her mind a bunch of other unfavorable adjectives to describe him and immediately felt better.
History of Magic
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 09-23-07 10:38
Fritz listens to Professor Whitmen's lecture on goblin rebellions. He can't deny that she makes History of Magic a lot more interesting than Professor Binns ever did. She doesn't drone on and on in a monotonous voice. Plus, she's nice to look at. Fritz lets a smile cross his face at the thought and then shoots a glance at Coco, who's listening to Professor Whitmen with rapt attention and taking copious notes. Fritz would take notes too, except that his writing hand is extremely sore from the detention he had the last few nights with Professor Yaxley. Yaxley had caught him walking down the corridor with his shoelace untied and had reprimanded him for not respecting his school uniform. Fritz thinks the whole thing is bogus but knows he doesn't stand a chance if he tries to stand up for what he believes is right.
He doesn't even bother writing home to inform his parents of the injustices he faces each day at Hogwarts. For one thing, his hand hurts too much to write right now, but he also knows that if they knew the half of what was going on at Hogwarts, they'd probably pull him and put him in some Muggle school. As much as Hogwarts isn't Fritz's favorite place right now, he still doesn't want to leave. Deep down it's still his home away from home. It's just a little sick right now.
Maybe if Dumbledore comes back, things will get better.
Fritz looks down at the top of his hand where the words I will learn some respect are etched in pink. He doesn't have any more detention with Yaxley, at least not for his latest offense, so he's sure the scar will fade into nothingness by the end of the week.
Fritz realizes he's let his mind wander when Professor Whitmen asks him a question.
"I'm sorry," he says, "could you repeat the question?"
Professor Whitmen asks her question again and this time Fritz is ready with an answer.
Staying Inside
Author: Alice Cullen
Date: 09-23-07 15:50
The sound of rain could be heard as Alice poured herself a cup of warm English Breakfast Tea. It had been a slow day as she had expected it to be. After all, it was cold, wet and rainy outside. She wouldn’t be outside if she could help it. In fact, she had not gone outside at all that day. She had not left her store slash home. It was nice and warm inside the store. Alice shivered at the thought of going outside.
Alice plucked a warm scone from the display case and buttered it. She wandered over to her little fortune telling table with the tea and scone. Nibbling on the scone she casually gazed into her crystal ball. Alice saw nothing but cloud. It was going to be a very boring day indeed, she thought with a heavy sigh. Sitting back on her chair she sipped the tea and gazed outside.
She missed her Hogwarts days. At least at Hogwarts, there was always something to do and she could always hang with her friends. Here in Hogesmeade the only company she had was Maggie who at the moment, had the day off. Of course she also had Jasper. But even Jasper was away. Alice sighed again. She needed some friends. Maybe she would go into London sometime during the next week to make some friends and find something to do other then sit at home bored out of her mind.
Suddenly, Alice smiled while she finished her tea and scone. Why did she have to wait until later this week to go to London? She was certain her store wouldn’t make any money today. And it wasn’t like she actually had to take a train to go to London. She could use floo powder and go to Diagon Alley to enter London that way. It had been a long time since she was in Diagon Alley.
Then again, she could also just make her way down to The Three Broomsticks for something stronger to drink then tea and a bit of socializing. All of these ideas sounded good to Alice. The only question now was, what to do?
Alice sighed softly and looked out the window. It was awfully wet outside. And it was cold too. Maybe she should just stay inside and wait for another day to do her socializing? Yes, staying inside sounded like a good idea. After all, who knew what the day might bring her.
Early To Potions (Catriona)
Author: Fionna
Date: 09-23-07 17:49
Taking a bite of a large, red, juicy apple, Cat uses her other hand to open a letter she'd received this morning but hasn't yet read. Gryffindor first year Polly Potts sits down next to Cat, asking, "I know I'm in Potions early because I need to finish the reading assignment. Why are you?"
"Have had a bit of a headache so wanted somewhere quiet to lunch in a noisier than usual Great Hall to eat my apple and read this letter."
Polly's mouth turns down. "Have you taken anything for your head?"
"Once at breakfast and again between History and Transfiguration."
"You should go see Madam Pomfrey."
"I might do that here in a few."
"If you do and you're not back when class starts, I'll tell Professor Spudmore where you are." Polly's frown deepens. "Best get this reading done or for sure we'll have a surprise quiz first thing."
Cat wanly smiles, glad that Polly isn't going to want to chit chat further. Polly's become a good friend since Cat started Hogwarts but right now she just wants some quiet.
The letter is from Cat's sister Leslie. To everyone's shock, the twenty-one year old with an excellent job in Singapore up and quit, moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon the day before St. Emrys's Michaelmas turn began, and did a late enrollment to Merlin College where she's reading both Muggle Studies and Political Science.
One of the courses Leslie is taking is a 20th century Muggle history course. Using terms she's been learning in that course, Leslie tells Cat she thinks Hogwarts is a fascist regime under Snider and that Leslie is going to speak with Mum and Dad about getting Cat transferred. All this is in contrast to a letter just yesterday from cousin Fiona who continues to praise the segregation at Hogwarts and preferential treatment of purebloods, even bemoaning as she does in every letter that she wishes she'd been there to receive such excellent perks as the Pures Only commons.
Cat debates writing a reply to Leslie right then but with her head still throbbing she tucks Leslie's letter into her book bag and gets up. "I'm off to hospital to see Madam Pomfrey. Watch my things, please?"
Without looking up from her reading, Polly nods. "Thanks, Pol," Cat tells her as she walks out, hoping she's back in time for start of class in case Professor Spudmore does give a quiz like Polly suspects will happen.