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Not The End Of Term Feast
Author: Charlie Weasley
Date: 07-07-10 18:20
From the backyard where she's trying to decide on which flower blossoms to cut to go in a vase for the dinner table Hendrika hears Charlie calling out from inside, "Hendrika, I'm home. Honey? Anyone here?"
"Outside!"
Charlie's partially opens the backdoor, "Mishap at work so I'm going to shower first then go get the wine and pick up the boys."
Hendrika stops what she's doing to give Charlie her full attention, concern etched on her face. "Anything serious?"
"It had the potential to be. A couple of students from a Peruvian school group decided it would be a lark to sneak off and steal eggs from a Hebridean that just happens to be more protective of her young than most. We got to them before they received overly many third degree burns. One lost a substantial amount of thigh muscle and the other lost most of his right foot but because we got to them so quickly, the healers are fairly certain that the one's thigh will be fully restored and that most, and possibly all, of the other's foot will be repaired. They'll both be in hospital tonight and the boy who lost the foot will be there longer since everything had to be regrown."
"Ouch." Hendrika makes a face, decides she's got enough flowers and starts for the door. Charlie holds the door for her, dropping a quick kiss on her lips then hurries to go shower. Hendrika fiddles with the flowers and the other greenery she has, getting everything trimmed and arranged just so in the vase she'd set out before going to the backyard. Although she can get the arrangement exactly how she'd pictured it in her mind, Hendrika steps back to survey it, saying aloud as she does, "That will have to do I suppose."
She uses her wand to whisks away the floral debris, carries the arrangement outside to a rectangular table covered with a tablecloth, then returns to the kitchen to wash her hands before finishing the appetizers she's serving once their guests arrive. Charlie's Dragon bandmates Ronan Japes, Blossom and Fred, Ron and Hermione, Bill and Fleur, as well as Raymond Washington who is the most recent addition to the McFusty dragon preserve, and Hendrika's friend Kufara Prosser. Fred and Majandra had been invited but it's End of Term Feast at Hogwarts, which Hendrika has been told is something of a big deal, so they are dining there this evening. Percy and the woman he's seeing were also invited by Percy said he needed to finish some reports. Before really getting to know Percy, such statements from him were eye rolling. Now, Hendrika takes it as a matter of form and doesn't dwell on how it seems Percy would live at the office if possible. He isn't as bad as before all that prison community business but compared to most people Percy still makes the majority of success driven workaholics seem like lazy bums.
The back door opens and shuts and the house is suddenly filled with the sounds of two boisterous boys calling out, "Mummy!"
Hendrika is enveloped in hugs as she talks over the boys heads to laughingly say to Charlie, "I never even heard you go out. You got the wine?"
Charlie holds up two bottles. "Ron did say he's bringing ale and butterbeer, right?"
"Yes, I'm going to throw these two into the bath if you'll get the grill started."
"But we're going to see James and Mirwa," Artie tells her.
"Yes, but you've been playing hard at school and are all sweaty and dirty now. I am not sending you to Auntie Drucilla's all icky."
"But we'll get icky there," Schuyler argues.
"True, but at least you'll start out the evening there clean."
"Aw, Mum," Schuyler grumbles.
"Yeah. Aw, Mum," Artie echoes.
Charlie and Hendrika exchange amused looks before Charlie goes out to get the grill going and Hendrika gets the boys washed up. The short time before everyone begins arriving flies by as far as Charlie and Hendrika are concerned. When Ron and Hermione, the first to arrive, get there, the boys haven't yet gone to the Eternal-Black household and Hendrika keeps thinking she should have gone with her blue blouse instead of this pink one.
It's such nice weather they're going to mainly be outside in the backyard so that's where Ron deposits the drinks he's brought before moving to join Charlie at the grill. Hermione offers to finish putting the touches on the antipasto salad Hendrika is working on so she can get the boys to Sirius's. When Hendrika returns Bill and Fleur are just arriving and on their heels is Ronan Japes. Playing the good hostess, Hendrika runs around offering appetizers to everyone before setting the plates on the serving table where she'd put the vase of flowers earlier.
This is the first largish dinner party Charlie and Hendrika have had that wasn't made up mainly of his family so she's a little nervous about having everything just right. Realizing she's feeling a little tense about it, Fred decides to tease by sidling up to her and saying with a wink, "It's no Hogwarts End of Term Feast but you put on a passable spread." Even though that's all he says and it's really not much in the way of teasing where Fred is concerned, it's enough to have Hendrika relaxing somewhat and able to grin at her brother-in-law. "Only passable? In that case, you get to do the washing up. By hand."
Pre-Feast Announcements
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 07-08-10 10:23
Fritz and Coco had walked hand-in-hand to the Great Hall for their last ever feast as Hogwarts students. Unless they both skip breakast in the morning, this isn't their last meal here as students but this being a feast to mark the end of the school year is the last meal that, in Coco's mind, counts the most. Coco had contemplated leaving Pea in Ravenclaw House. He's old now for any dog but especially for his breed. Pets in the magical community do seem to live longer than those in the Muggle world but Pea is still old and although recovered from falling ill while Coco was locked away at Happy Haven, he's never fully rebounded. Yet when it came time to walk down to the Great Hall, Coco couldn't imagine having her last feast without Pea when he was with her for the first.
Fritz and she decide to sit towards the front though before the feast begins they, like so many others, are up and down, moving all over, talking and joking with friends. Drinks are avialable on the tables as are starters such as gooey cheese dips and a variety of hummus and while just about everyone is partaking, most are trying to keep themselves in check for the massive amounts of food soon to be filling the tables and even then they'll try to show restraint to save room for the many desserts the kitchen has whipped up, though most will still be stuffed by the time the sweets appear on the tables. Coco knows that won't stop her from sampling a number of the sweets anyway!
Professor Dumbledore moves to the podium just in front of the head table. He stands without saying a word or making any sort of gesture yet very rapidly students move to settle in their seats and a hush falls over the Great Hall. When all eyes are on the headmaster he waits another two or three seconds before holding up his hands in a gesture of greeting.
"Welcome to the End of Term Feast for what, in my humble opinion, has been a most successful year. Let us all sing the Hogwarts school song."
Professor Dumbledore waves his wand and the first line of the song appears written in the air, in large letters, just above his head. As usual, everyone sings to their own tune and tempo but that only seems to bother a few.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
Lyrics are © J.K. Rowling.
As the strains of the song fade and the lyrics disappear above Professor Dumbledore's head, he waves his wand again. The Quidditch Cup appears on a stand next to him. Even before he makes the official announcement, the Ravenclaw table starts cheering though quickly settles down again so that the cup can be given.
"After a very close match against Gryffindor, Ravenclaw perservered to win this year's Quidditch Cup. The members of this term's Ravenclaw term were Daniel Gelson, Deacon Bennett, Jack Emerson, Hadrian Rabnott, Christopher Chant, and seventh years Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen and Coco Nutt. Ravenclaw is going to sorely miss Miss Nutt and Mr. Schnackenpfefferhausen next term. Miss Nutt, as team captain, please come forward to accept the Quidditch Cup for Ravenclaw House."
Coco bounds up from the Ravenclaw table, a huge grin on her face. Professor Dumbledore shakes her hand and hands over the cup, saying to Coco as he does, "I shall miss seeing your blue hair and barefoot feet, though you truly should consider wearing socks. Nothing beats a great pair of socks."
Coco just grins more broadly and turns to hold the large cup up for all to see. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and even a number of Slytherins applaud but the Ravenclaw table positively roars its delight. The huge trophy is heavy but Coco is strong and easily gets it back to the table where she puts it at the very head for all to see.
Professor Dumbledore holds both hands out, palms down in a hushing gesture. The Great Hall falls quiet again. "This year's house standings have Slytherin in fourth place with 250 points."
The headmaster pauses to allow for the smattering of applause before proceeding to announce, "In third place is Hufflepuff with 345 points." Again there is a pause to allow for applause. Taking second this term is Gryffindor with 470 points." After the applause for Gryffindor, he waves his wand once more and the decorations change to those of the Ravenclaw emblem in that house's blue and bronze colors, the Ravenclaw table erupts again. The even larger House Cup is now on the stand beside Professor Dumbledore as he motions for Ravenclaw to lower the volume.
"Ravenclaw House has distinguished itself off the Quidditch pitch this term as well, taking first place in the house standings with 610 points. It is my honor to award the 2003-2004 Hogwarts House Cup to Ravenclaw."
Coco and Fritz are the Ravenclaw seventh year prefects and because she'd been the one to accept the Quidditch Cup for the house, it's Fritz who gets up to accept the House Cup, their beaming head of house Professor Flitwick at his side. From the head table, their assistant head of house, Professor Kent, looks equally pleased and proud.
The applause and cheering is even louder now and Professor Dumbledore lets it go on for a minute before indicating it's time to let him continue. "Before leaving tomorrow, be sure to bid lower years Charms professor Analeigh Ivy goodbye. She will not, alas, be returning in the fall. We wish you luck in all your future endeavors, Professor Ivy. I believe that I have covered all the night's announcements so without straining you patience further to get on with the meal, let the feast begin!"
All the starters and drinks remain on the table as is but in a blink other spaces are filled with plates, platters, bowls, and tureens, all laden with mouth watering food. Coco reaches first for what she thinks is tender looking mutton, parsnips, and mashed potatos. That will get her started but already she's looking up and down the table to see what else there is, thinking she might take small portions of everything so that she can taste everything offered in what looks to be quite a sumptutious feast.
Ending on a High Note
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 07-08-10 17:47
According to Fritz, there is no better way to end his time at Hogwarts. Not only did his house, Ravenclaw, win the Quidditch Cup during last month's championship game against Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw also earned the House Cup. The two trophies stand tall at the head of the house table, beneath the blue and bronze banners that hang from the enchanted ceiling.
When Professor Dumbledore announces that the lower years' Charms professor, Professor Ivy, is leaving, Fritz wonders who will take her place next year. Then it dawns on him that it won't matter because he is leaving too. In a way, it saddens him, for all of his years at Hogwarts, with the exception of when Professor Snider was headmistress, were really good fun. Without Hogwarts, he wouldn't have met Coco, and for that he is very grateful.
He didn't know it when they first met and became friends that they would one day be something more. Perhaps it had been inevitable, or maybe they are so good a match that they can be both best friends as well boyfriend and girlfriend. Fritz can't help but wonder how their relationship might continue to progress after Hogwarts.
One of the first things Fritz will do after graduation is attend the Muggle Studies 7th year trip to Beijing. He didn't take Muggle Studies, having grown up in the Muggle World and already knowing a thing or two about Muggle life, but as the trip was open to any other 7th year interested in attending and cost free to boot, Fritz couldn't turn down the chance to go.
He's got other trips lined up as well. Professor Hodfuffer had arranged a one-week internship in Venice with a renowned potions mistress. It had been his present to Fritz for the Hogwarts Secret Santa gift exchange. In addition to the trip to Venice, Fritz plans on going to Germany to see his family and to find out if he can get out of his Muggle military service or community service. He's not positive he'll succeed, but maybe the German Ministry of Magic has some pull in that area.
That's all stuff for a bit later, though. Now all Fritz needs to think about is the meal in front of him. The appetizers are just a literal taste of what's to come!
End of Term
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 07-09-10 03:55
Isma, Blake, and Eric stared at the tables full of appetizers that were stretched along the length of the Great Hall in typical fashion for meals - however, this was not your average meal. This, was the end of term feast. A feast that the trio had been denied the year before. A feast that they had no inteniton of missing this year to make up for the one missed prior.
They all sat along the length of the table, listening to the opening remarks, surprised that they were all not deafened by the uproar from the Ravenclaw table as they not only were awarded the Quidditch cup, but the House Cup as well with a remarkable house point total of over six hundred points.
Soon enough, the opening remarks were done, and Professor Dumbledore informed them that the lower years Charms Professor, Professor Ivy, would not be returning in September to teach, Isma would make it a point tomorrow at breakfast to bid her farewell. Once that was done, Professor Dumbledore said the magic words..."Let the feast begin!" and the tables were soon thickly filled with a multitude of dishes. So much that several students didn't know exactly -where- to start first.
Everyone knew by now that the Feast days were so full of food that the word of the evening is "gluttony," even if it was in moderation that some indulged, it was very, very hard for one not to glutton themselves on the wonderous food at the feasts.
Blake had filled his plate with mashed potatoes, sausages, a bit of spinach, a few other vegetables, there was gravy thick on the mashed potatoes, and a fluffy yeast roll. Eric on the other hand had grilled chicken breast, some mixed vegetables, roast beef with gravy, a bit of dressing, and a roll. Isma, had yet to put anything on her plate, it was after she was prodded with an elbow to her side from Blake, that she came back to the real world.
"What's gotten into you?" He asked around a mouthful of buttered roll.
"Just thinkin, sorry." She said with a blush, and shifted in her seat and began piling food on her plate - a little bit of everything that was within immediate reach: sausages, mashed potatoes and gravy, a roll, bit of spinach, some beans, and pleanty of other things. Her goal was to save -some- room for dessert, but she'd probably eat it anyway full or not.
Everything is Roses
Author: Marzipan
Date: 07-09-10 17:52
Marzipan sat at the Head Table, sandwiched between her husband Weston and her friend and fellow professor, Illyria. All three had their plates piled high with a little of this and a little of that, unable to pass up any of the dishes that came their way. Hogwarts feasts really were something special, not just for the students but for the staff too!
Marzi already had big plans for the summer. When she resumed her old position last summer, she'd not had much time to revise any of her lesson plans to suit the change in her teaching schedule. Making the necessary alterations––tossing out what didn't work this year and adding in anything new she wanted to try out next year––took priority over much else.
Of course, Marzi didn't plan on working all summer long. She did want to spend time with her family, and she wanted to simply relax and enjoy her time away from the classroom and her students, not that she wouldn't miss them, or most of them anyway.
There was one other reason why Marzi didn't want to overdo it this summer, despite all her grand ideas for next term. She had only this morning found out something she had suspected for a short while now. She was pregnant! The discovery brought back to mind the fortune she had gotten at the last Hogsmeade trip in which it had been foretold that she would be a mother by year's end. Mathematically, it was unlikely, unless she went into premature labor.
No one yet knew about the pregnancy other than Weston. The happy couple would probably announce the news to their family soon, but it would more than likely be a while longer before they made it public, as it was still early in the pregnancy and anything could yet happen.
"So what was the best and worst part of this school year?" Weston posed the question to both his wife and Illyria, which whom he had briefly lived in Austin just last spring and summer.
"Are we limited to just school events or can we include personal matters in our answers?" Illyria asked, looking over Marzi's plate at Weston. "I can think of a couple of bad things that happened!"
"Just school stuff," Weston clarified, smiling knowingly at Illyria. She had gone through quite a lot this year, and while the worst of it was over, it wasn't completely out of her life yet. She was due in court on Monday to testify against the wizard who'd tried to kill her.
Marzi thought about it. "The best part was simply being back at Hogwarts," she soon said. "Last year had been... well, it had been a total nightmare. We all know that."
Illyria nodded. "I agree completely. Just being able to resume our lives––not that any of us have forgotten what we went through and witnessed, I don't think––but having a sense of normalcy again and being able to live without fear... well, for the most part," she added, again being reminded of her eventful year.
"And the worst?" Weston prompted.
Marzi and Illyria exchanged looks and then turned back to Weston. "There is no worst," Marzi said. "After last year, everything is roses."
And hopefully, everything would be coming up roses for a very long time!
Didn't You Get The Memo?
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 07-09-10 21:13
With being currently single and with no Saturday night date plans, Harry hadn't hesitated to volunteer to fill in on a shift for someone who had taken ill earlier in the day. He's been able to use the time to get paperwork completed and to go back over details in one of his open cases. For Harry, the evening has been quiet to the point that he wishes Muggle style hand held games worked within the confines of the Ministry. Tomorrow is a different story as Harry's got to be in Nova Scotia for an extradition hearing but for now Harry's having to be content with going over files yet one more time, looking for the ever elusive thread to follow.
Opening the file of a Witch believed to have murdered a Muggle family in Surrey before vanishing with the family's extremely valuable rare coin collection, Harry stares at the statement made by the only witness to the crime, a half-blind neighbor who'd been up on a ladder trying to unclog a gutter drain pipe. Hearing unsettling noises and a sound he thought might have been a cut off scream, he'd shifted on his ladder to peer owlishly at the next door neighbor's house. Because of his vantage point on the ladder, he'd seen something going on in an upstairs room. The half-blind part prevented him from being able to make out much though that also meant he couldn't truly see the magic used to kill the family. A decision had been made not to Obliviate him because of it.
Harry's read the statement countless times, but even before he read it the first time he knew what had been said because he's the one who'd done the questioning. With a frustrated sigh, Harry shoves the statement back into the file. No one else saw anything. No one else heard anything. Another person thinks she saw a woman going up to the front door shortly before the time of the murders. Or at least she thinks it's was a woman. The half-blind neighbor also identified a woman but he isn't 100% certain.
Harry's stomach gives an empty rumble, reminding Harry he'd had an early, somewhat light lunch and the only thing he's had since then is a can of a Muggle brand of soda. Now's as good a time as any to grab something in the canteen so Harry gets up to go that way but just as he's stepping from his cubicle an airplane memo smacks him in the face. It's flashing bright red so thinking it's urgent, Harry plucks it from where it now hovers in front of him to read right then.
Harry looks at what's written there, his face screwing up in puzzlement. He turns the piece of parchment over looking for writing on the back but finding none turns it back over to read once more. The text is in neat, plain, block letters.
STICKS AND STONES
MIGHT BREAK
ONE'S BONES,
BUT
AVADA KEDRAVA
WORKS MUCH BETTER
DON'T YOU THINK?
Harry returns to his desk to smooth the parchment out, making sure he's not missing something in the folds from where the parchment had been an airplane. As he's running his hands across the parchment, the fingers on his right hand suddenly start burning. Snatching them away from the parchment he sees red welts rising on his fingers and now the palm of his hand. The pain is becoming excrutiating so Harry moves quickly to get help, unsure at this point if he's got the focus needed to apparate on his own to St. Mungo's.
End of Term - Internal Retrospection
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 07-10-10 00:14
Lawrence sat at the head table, his wife sitting to his right, and Professor Ivy to his left. There were plates heavy with food, both Lawrence and Ariella remembered what it was like to be students and attend the feasts, and now they were doing it again - this time sitting at the head table with the staff. There was quite a bit that Lawrence intended on doing before the start of term in September, including organizing and revamping his lesson plans to make them a bit more coherant and flow a bit better throughout the term.
He was pondering adding an additional text to the coursework, one that focused on healing herbs and the like. Those particular lessons had gone over rather well, and he would keep them in and expand on them. He also was pondering a few other hands on activities for the herbs, and a few other little treats to spice up the normally drab routine of course work.
He reclined in his seat, looking over the students, now that everyone had settled and the screaming and cheering from Ravenclaw had settled into the dull roar that now filled the Great Hall, this was fantastic. A wonderful end to a year that was all about new beginnings. This time last year, he imagined that there hadn't been this many students at last year's end of term feast with the forced segregation of Wizarding Britain.
He slid a hand beneath the table and lightly squeezed Ariella's, eventually they would have a child, and they would be attending Hogwarts at age eleven. Eventually. He knew that neither of them were in a place to start a family yet, and he wanted to ensure that Ariella was enrolling as a full time student at St. Emry's in the fall - instead of redoing remedial courses, and having to retake her NEWTs at the end of the final term.