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(Kate) Getting Informed
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 12-16-07 08:14
Kate stepped out of the library with a book she'd been waiting on for ages. She'd requested it sometime last fall, only to find herself bumped to the bottom of the list each time a pureblood asked for it. One of the library house elves had finally sent her a notice informing her that she could check out the book. Kate set off for the Hufflepuff common room, but found her path blocked by Mark and Gus.
Mark held a copy of this morning's Daily Prophet and had it folded so that one of the middle pages showed. He pointed to an article headlined PROTESTERS ARRESTED IN DIAGON ALLEY and asked, "There was a Dewhurst involved in this. Is he one of yours? Must be. Don't think there are too many Dewhursts in our world who aren't related."
Kate hadn't yet seen the newspaper and took a tentative step closer to look at the article in question. She gasped silently and frowned.
"So, he is," Mark replied, a hint of a grin on his face.
"Gloating, are you?" Kate answered crossly. "And what about you?" she asked, turning to Gus. He was strangely silent, which took Kate somewhat by surprise as he was generally more abusive than Mark.
Mark handed her the paper. "Your brother?"
Snatching the paper from Mark, she shook her head. "Cousin."
"Ah."
Kate hastily read the article, frowning deeper with every word. "What do you think will happen?" she asked in a small voice.
"Prison, I suspect," Mark replied indifferently.
Kate handed the newspaper back to Mark and said, "I have to go." She rushed past him and Gus, desperate to reach the common room so that she could send a letter home to her father for more news on Siegfried's arrest.
Notices For Apparition Lessons (Harriet Snider)
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 12-16-07 15:59
Notices for apparation lessons for the Pures had gone up the first week students were back at Hogwarts after their holiday. The notices were the usual seen each year except for large, bold faced line stating the lessons are for Pures only. The other change was another line stating that Pures could take advantage of additional practice, even one on one tutelage if needed, in Hogsmeade. Other than that the fee of 12 galleons, the dates (with the first this year on February 2nd), the location of the Great Hall, and who's eligible are on each notice just as they've always been.
The grumblings of the eligible Nons quickly reached Harriet's ears but she'd long ago tuned out the whinings of impure brats who should be grateful they're even allowed on the grounds of Hogwarts. They're lucky they have nice textbooks, decent professors, and aren't made to subsist on a single bowl of gruel each day. They're lucky Harriet doesn't start charging them daily fees for wand usage.
Harriet is now making the rounds putting up the apparition lesson notices for the Nons. She'd planned to do so all along but found no harm in putting the task off until last minute. She could have had a House Elf do it or that Waddle Dee creature but Harriet wants to see the expressions on the faces of eligible Nons when they see they're getting what the want.
The Nons' notice has the dates, which are the same as that of the Pures. There's the fee stated. A mere 36 galleons. The location of the grounds or, if the instructor chooses, the stables. No mention of extra practice is mentioned. Also not mentioned is the fact that the lessons for the Nons are a wee bit shorter than those for the Pures.
Harriet isn't sure yet who will be the instructor for the Nons. All she knows is the person will be a Pure and is employed by the Ministry just as Wilkie Twycross is. Harriet briefly wonders who would have replaced Twycross should he have proven to be a Non. Dismissing the thought from her head, Harriet walks in the direction of the Common Commons. She's placed the Nons notices in the four houses and has the Common Commons and the Great Hall left. Smiling at the thought of more reactions to the notices, Harriet walks a little faster, humming a merry tune.
WHOOOOSH
Author: Waddle Dee
Date: 12-17-07 02:53
Down the Transfiguration Corridor, Waddle Dee was merrily sweeping. He could hear various squeaky-voiced teens as they practiced chanting various spells.
Waddle Dee eventually finished,sweeping up the dust with a dustpan and putting it into the nearest bin.
He picked up the broom. He'd found it along with a load of other brooms in a very strange storage cupboard. Suddenly filled with inspiration, Waddle Dee swung his foot over the broom and made a kicking motion with his feet.
WHOOOOOSH!!
Waddle Dee shot through the air like a bullet. Knocking over vases, suits of armour...
He shot around a corner, down some stairs... narrowly avoiding Snider's head! He eventually shot off and slammed SPLAT! into a random wall, the broom snapping on impact.
Friday Morning
Author: Severus Snape
Date: 12-17-07 07:00
Professor Snape burst into his classroom and swept to the front, where his podium and desk stood. His third years stopped talking amongst themselves and sat ramrod straight, their faces forward, anticipating what the Potions master had for them today. Despite the sympathy Snape truly felt for his maltreated students, he remained as firm and unpleasant with them as ever.
"Remove everything from your desks except for one clean sheet of parchment and a quill," Snape demanded softly from the front of the room, where he leaned against his podium with hands clasped together.
The students made faces, realizing they were having a pop quiz. Some looked positively frightened, because they didn't really remember any details from the material discussed in the previous class. Others had done the reading for this class meeting, but hadn't read it so closely to be prepared for a pop quiz.
When the desks were clear save parchment and quill, Snape flicked his wand at the blackboard behind him. It flipped over, revealing five questions. Three focused on the last assignment, how to brew a Stain Removing Potion, while the last were about the reading for today.
He watched with an indifferent expression on his face while his students struggled with the quiz. Snape would give them no more than fifteen minutes to complete it, though that was a very generous amount of time. Several quills went down before the end of the allotted time. Exactly at fifteen after, Snape waved his wand and collected the quiz papers. They flew across the room and landed in a small, neat pile on his desk.
Snape flicked his wand at the blackboard again. It flipped back over, revealing instructions for a Water Purifying Potion that had previously not been there.
"If you did your reading, you should have no trouble at all following these instructions," Snape stated, looking from face to face. "You have from now until the end of the class to brew and bottle the potion. Begin."
He moved from the podium to his desk, where he sat and graded the dismal quiz papers.
Another Honoured Guest at the BOO
Author: Bellatrix Lestrange
Date: 12-17-07 18:03
Bellatrix stood in the quiet hall of the BOO, listening for any noises. Convinced that nothing terrible had happened since her last visit two days ago, she pulled off her gloves and undid the clasp holding her cloak shut. She placed them both on the chair by a rococo writing desk and moved into the reception room.
A fire burned merrily in the stone hearth, and despite the stone walls of the castle, the tapestries appeared to be keeping the heat in. There was a sudden burst of noise as Mortifer disapparated next to her, causing her to utter a swearword.
“Mistress has arrived!” The elf sketched a bow in his immaculate white tea towel, pointedly ignoring her bad language.
“How is our guest?” she asked.
“Installed as per your instructions in the main guest suite, Mistress. Would you like to see?”
Bellatrix nodded. She swept up the staircase, the house elf following in her wake. She turned left and then right, Mortifer dogging her heels enthusiastically; dropping back occasionally and then rushing to keep up. She pushed the door open and felt the house elf lean against her velvet skirts, peering around them with a breathless kind of wonder on his face.
Ignoring Mortifer, she walked quietly to the side of the bed and looked down on her guest. He appeared to all intents and purposes to be sleeping; his eyes were closed and his pale, lightly freckled skin looked sallow beneath his pajamas. His blond hair was tussled but clean.
“I have washed him as you requested and dressed him,” Mortifer stated. “And I had those rags burnt that he arrived in.” The elf wrinkled his nose in distaste.
“You’ve done a fine job,” Bellatrix said, finally drawing her eyes away from the man in the bed. “I knew I could trust you with this most important of tasks. Now leave me.”
The elf, flushed with joy at her praise, bowed until his nose almost connected with the Axminster rug on the floor. Somehow managing to keep his balance, Mortifer backed out from the room and shut the door quietly behind him.
She continued to stand next to the bed for some minutes, observing the body. Not a movement, nothing. She wasn’t usually squeamish, far from it, but she finally got up enough nerve to reach out and place her hand gently against his cheek. His skin was cool to the touch, like stone.
A cruel smile played across her lips. “How many times could I have ended up like you?” she whispered. “Yet for all your brilliance, your charm, your desire to please and return triumphant to the Dark Lord’s side, you made one fatal error. You stayed behind to make sure your grand scheme had worked.” She laughed out loud at that, then sat down on the bed. “Of course I should listen to my own advice more often than not.”
There was no response, and she didn’t expect one either. “Still, time to see a man about a book, and then we shall see what transpires. It can never hurt to have many allies around you, even in such pure times.”
With a final pat on his unresisting arm, she stood up. Shutting the door behind her, she found Mortifer in the corridor. “Make sure you look after him, Mortifer. I won’t brook failure on this, at any cost. Nobody is to enter the castle, not even Rodolphus. I don’t like people snooping on my projects. If any seek to gain entry you will apparate to the Manor and let me know at once, am I clear?”
“Even Master Lucius?” said the elf in a trembling voice.
“Even Lucius. I’m not ready to share yet. Am I clear?”
Mortifer bowed again, deeming it better to remain silent. With a satisfied nod, Bellatrix returned to collect her cloak and gloves and left for the Manor.
Rumors And Truths
Author: Brett Kingston
Date: 12-18-07 16:24
Brett exits the library, glad for a bookbag that can hold a mini-bookstore's worth of books yet not feel like it weighs a ton. This early into the term and he's already got two major papers and three huge projects, all due within the next two weeks. Brett needs to swing by the bookstore before it closes to pick up a text that was late in arriving. He picks up his pace, knowing he's cutting it close to arriving before closing.
Brett chooses the quickest route to the bookstore, passing more people along the way than he would have expected. Several wear purple ribbon at their robe hemlines. A few in regular clothes have small pins with the same purple ribbon. Most don't have either. Brett doesn't but he could if he wished. While still not a rule at St. Emrys, many of those who fit the Ministry's current definition of a pureblood are wearing the purple. The number is down from last term, from what Brett can tell, but then there are fewer who meet the standards for pureblood as set by the Ministry now that a person must be able to trace back five generations without any Muggle borns, Half-bloods, or mixed bloods.
Rumor is rampant that by mid-term the purple ribbon will be mandatory at St. Emrys for the so-called Pures. Until then, Brett won't be wearing one. Aussie and he traced back seven generations and found no Nons. They didn't go back any further so Brett's not sure exactly where the last person who's not a pureblood enters into the family line but he knows there are ancestors who don't meet the pureblood criteria. Hell, everyone has ancestors like that, some just further back than others. Brett would be shocked if even the most staunch pureblood supporter could do a thorough family tree trace and not find a single impure bloodline among those there.
There's the rumor about the purple ribbons and there are other rumors, like the one about how the Department of Half-blood, Muggleborn and Half-breed Registration and Regulation is going to be setting up booths for the Nons to check their wands in while on campus. They'd be allowed to have them for classes where wand use was necessary but other than that, they'd have to turn them in. First they have to pay a fee to have them and now, if the rumor is true, they'll have to register their wands and go without most of the time while on campus. Brett hopes the rumor isn't true.
One thing that has happened this week is that the cafeterias were segregated. Orange is for Pures only. The quality of the food and variety in Yellow has remained the same but Orange is now much better. The selection has increased, the quality has increased, the tables are nicer, the chairs are nicer, and even the utensils, plates, and glasses are nicers. Still, Brett thinks he'll take any meals on campus in Yellow as a show of support for those who aren't allowed into Orange.
Brett reaches the bookstore, gets the text he needs, and pays for it. His stomach grumbles, reminding Brett he's only had more of a brunch today and no snacks of any sort. He contemplates going to Yellow but decides against it. He's got sandwich fixings and soup at home. Besides, Brett is sort of tired of being at St. Emrys today and doesn't want to go out somewhere nearby off campus nor anywhere else for that matter. Home where he can put his feet up and get more research done for his paper sounds the most appealing.
Stepping into the Floo conduit closest to the bookstore, Brett heads home, glad it's Friday though not looking forward to a weekend filled with studying, writing, and projects.
What Does It Matter?
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 12-18-07 18:22
Viktor sits in one of the stands, watching Slytherin practice for their next game, which is on February 9th, offering advice and critique only when directly asked. He isn't, afterall, the head Quidditch coach anymore and since Theodosia hasn't asked him to observe tonight in any official capacity, Viktor thinks it's best he keep his mouth shut unless asked to comment on something.
Theodosia is there, out on the pitch, keeping mainly to the sidelines but occassionally flying into the thick of things ot offer words of advice. She's bundled up against the cold but still looks chilled as do the Slytherin players. They must want the win pretty badly since they could be inside, keeping warm on a Friday night, some of them getting ready to go to the regular Friday night concert in the Pures only common room. Theodosia doesn't have to be out here either. It's just that she has been as hands on as Viktor is. Or was. Was until Snider came along and changed everything.
Viktor has just about decided to go in himself and get something for a later than usual for him supper when Theodosia flies over. In her perfect, but accented English, she asks, "Why are you out here when you could be inside?"
Viktor points with his chin to the Slytherin team. "I vould haf thought it obvious."
"True. A stupid question I suppose when I know Quidditch is in your blood. It's just that it's so very cold out."
"It iz a little nippy," Viktor nods.
Theodosia chuckles. "You call this a little nippy? It's freezing!"
"I am not from the warmer climate of Africa," Viktor points out.
"Again, true. You have much more restraint than I would have."
Viktor furrows his brow in confusion. "Pardon?"
"You've not yet asked how the, what to call it? demotion to status I suppose is the best way to phrase it, affects the teams now."
"I know how it affects them. More of them are Nons now," Viktor says, a tinge of disgust at the whole Pures versus Non thing creeping into his voice.
"What I mean is you have not asked if there is to be another tryout." Theodosia pauses a beat, searching Viktor's face for a reaction before saying, "There will not be a new one. The teams stay as they are for this school year."
"Some excellent players were denied at the start of the year and more will be next term. It hardly matters now if there is a new tryout for this term or not," Viktor retorts.
He stands up suddenly. "I am tired. Good night."
Theodosia on her broom could easily have kept up with Viktor as he left the stand and walked back to the castle but she didn't. As far as Viktor knows she returned to watching and commenting on Slytherin's practice. She could have flown away, into a tree for all he cares at the moment. Walking more quickly even though his appetite is pretty much gone now, Viktor reaches the main building and goes inside, intent on going straight to his quarters without having to talk with anyone else tonight.