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End of 2010-2011 School Year
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 08-07-17 17:43
The Great Hall was decorated in black and yellow for the End of Term Feast, which was in full swing. Professor McGonagall sat at the High Table with Professor Flitwick on one side of her and Professor Snape on the other. All four house tables had every seat occupied. The Great Hall was noisy, but it took only a few tries from Professor Flitwick to quiet down the room. He lowered the fork and crystal goblet he used to gain attention from everyone and then looked up at Minerva, who had risen from her chair.
"Good evening," she greeted. "It is time once again for us to say goodbye to another school year. It was an exciting year, complete with exhilarating competition, world travel, and new friends. Congratulations to all who participated in the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament. I'm proud of you, and I thank you for representing Hogwarts so honorably."
She paused to clap her hands together and waited a beat until the mass applause that followed subsided.
"Let's also congratulate ourselves for once again earning first place in the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament," she said with a smile.
There was cheering and more applause. Hogwarts had not won nearly as many points as the school had ten years ago, but a win was still a win.
"Those of you who earned points for Hogwarts also earned points for your houses," Minerva went on. "These, added with those earned or lost during normal school pursuits, led to the following results: In fourth place with 35 points is Slytherin House. In third place with 37 points is Gryffindor House. In second place with 43 points is Ravenclaw House. Earning the House Cup this year is Hufflepuff House with 54 points."
There were whoops and hollers from the Hufflepuff table and some polite clapping from the other students.
"Finally, I would like to offer my congratulations to the seventh year students. We will miss you at Hogwarts. Good luck in your future endeavors." She looked pointedly at her great nephew Madoc, who was leaving soon for New Zealand.
"Thank you," Professor McGonagall concluded. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
(Azaelia) In Attendance with Robert
Author: Isolde
Date: 08-08-17 17:59
Azaelia and Robert sat at the High Table together. It was unusual to see them dining together at Hogwarts, since Azaelia tended to keep long hours in the library and Robert was always away from the castle. With it being the End of Term Feast, Azaelia thought it important that they attend the meal together, and Robert had not objected. In fact, he'd been surprisingly enthusiastic about attending the feast.
The Tweedmouth Rangers were currently on hiatus for the summer, which allowed Robert to devote more time to his special project. Although there was an upheaval among the dark wizards––something Robert knew little about because his status didn't warrant him knowing more––the man in the red hat insisted the plan to indoctrinate Ash Westwick continue without fail. Fortunately, Robert and the Jones twins were very nearly certain that Ash was ready to cross over to the other side.
What Robert didn't know was that his wife had gone to the authorities, concerned that he might be in business with the Death Eaters. He had no idea that he was under investigation and that the very wizard he was trying to recruit was actually working as a double agent.
So far, the authorities were not eager to move in on arresting him or Janus and Jupiter Jones. They believed that by waiting, more information about the Death Eaters and who might be running the group now that Adriana Fairchild was dead would be forthcoming.
Azaelia, in an attempt to appear as if nothing was amiss, reached out and placed her hand over her husband's. He flipped his hand around to clutch hers and smiled at her. "Happy?" he asked.
With a fake smile plastered on her face, Azaelia nodded and said, "Oh, yes. I can't believe it's the end of another school year already. I also can't believe I've been here as I long as I have. Longer, now, than I ever was as a student."
Robert squeezed her hand and said, "Time flies when you're having fun, and when you're getting on in years." He winked at her teasingly.
"I am turning thirty in less than a month," Azaelia conceded.
"I can tell you from experience that it's just terrible," Robert replied, feigning disappointment. His own thirtieth birthday had been a couple weeks ago. The couple had not really celebrated it, since it had taken place during OWLs & NEWTs. Robert hadn't seemed to mind, though.
"Would you pass me the roasted potatoes?" Azaelia asked. She decided to put some food in her mouth so that she could take a break from making small talk.
Robert let go of her hand to give her the dish. Azaelia put a generous amount of potatoes onto her plate and then shoveled a forkful into her mouth. Unsurprisingly, the potatoes were absolutely delicious, just like every other dish at the End of Term Feast.
(Willow) At the Feast
Author: Rowan Westwick
Date: 08-09-17 18:40
Willow and Amorica sat together at the Slytherin table. They were disappointed that their Hogwarts house had come in last in terms of number of points won all school year, but at least the gap between all four houses wasn't all that significant. Still, it was disappointing to be at the very bottom.
Despite Slytherin's loss, the girls were happy that the school year had ended. Summer was upon them, and they both had plans to meet up at some of the events taking place. If schedules allowed it, they might even visit each other. Willow knew that she would probably have loads of time to get together with friends, because her family wasn't going on holiday this summer.
Her father hadn't gotten any time off from work, though his boss had agreed to let him take some time without pay. Linden was too proud for that and also believed he needed every knut he could possibly earn. He decided he would rather have no holiday.
Linden was more than happy to see his three children go off on their own to a beach house or cabin in the woods, though. Perhaps they could even go on holiday with their former foster family, the Finches. That wasn't good enough for his children, however. They would much rather stay home than go on holiday without their father.
"I hope the summer feels long," Amorica remarked.
"That'd be nice," Willow agreed. "I don't want to blink and have it be time for school again."
"We have our NEWTs next year," Amorica added. "It's going to be rough."
"Don't remind me." Willow groaned. "And we'll have Quidditch."
"Are you going to commentate again?" Amorica asked.
"I think so, unless someone else wants to do it."
"So you're definitely not trying out?"
Willow shrugged. "I guess I'll decide when it's closer to time, but I'm thinking probably not. Will you?"
The girls talked about Quidditch until the dessert dishes started appearing on the house tables.
Book Discussion
Author: Marzipan
Date: 08-10-17 18:29
Marzi gave both of her boys a small slice of berry tart and then turned back to Illyria, who was listening enraptured to the Herbology professor's description of the 14-15-14 chapter in the book A Complete History of the Communities for Nons. Marzi had purchased it upon learning of its existence, not because she needed another reminder of her terrible time in a community but out of curiosity.
She was just a blip in the narrative. Illyria's mention wasn't any more significant, either. Some of the other prisoners had gotten a few sentences, like Abner, the wizard who'd led the rebellion against the guards. Marzi remembered some of the names listed, and she obviously knew those from the survivor's group, but others she could not put faces to in her memories. She would never forget Abner, of course.
The 14-15-14 staff had gotten various degrees of mention, too. Not surprisingly, the warden had gotten several paragraphs. The description and history of that particular community had also been lengthy.
What stood out the most about the chapter was the fact that one name was missing entirely. No where did it state that Heathcote Hamstead had been interned at 14-15-14. Marzi and Illyria guessed his name was omitted in error.
They discussed the new book a bit more, but Carter and Vallon were starting to get fidgety and baby Ian fussy. Illyria turned her attention to her baby, and Marzi turned back to her boys.
"Shall we go up to bed, then?" she asked them.
They both shook their heads vehemently. "No!" Carter exclaimed. "We aren't finished with dessert yet."
"Yeah," Vallon agreed. "There's still chocolate cake and pie and pudding…"
"You both look restless to me. Are you sure it's not time for us to say our good nights and leave the table?"
The boys understood that they needed to settle down, or their mother would most definitely not allow them to taste the other desserts. They behaved angelically thereafter.
Dinner Conversation
Author: Kissy Isuki
Date: 08-10-17 19:00
Accepting a bowl of roasted mixed vegetables from Coco Nutt, attending the End of Term Feast with Alchemy professor Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen, Cameron thinks to ask, "Did that dog make it? The one hit by a lorry."
"Murphy? Yes, he's made it so far. Long way to go. How do you know about him?"
"I was part of a small group from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes sent to the scene."
"She apparated away but I wouldn't have thought simply apparating would bring in an Obliviator or spell reversal specialist on its own."
"Ended up not having to Obliviate anyone and there was nothing to be reversed. When the lorry driver had pulled over and gotten out there was no dog to be seen. Other motorists had stopped as well. They concluded that the dog had not, in fact, been hit, and run off into the brush along the road. A few of them, lorry driver included, did check to make sure the dog hadn't been injured but managed to crawl off before anyone got to it."
Coco's brows knit together. "But how did you know the dog wasn't Muggle owned or a stray and was brought to MacFusty's?"
"Unauthorized magic in a heavily trafficked Muggle area sent up an immediate alert at the Ministry. We got there fairly quickly, ready to call for back-up if needed. Seeing the lorry driver and others beating the bushes we went to investigate and were told they were looking for a dog that the lorry might have hit. We joined in the search to learn more so we could determine if there was anything we needed to do. By chance I found a potions vial with an apothecary shoppe logo and a person's name. Got us to wondering if there had indeed been a dog and the magic registered had been performed by the dog's owner. As I found the vial I'm the one who went to the apothecary shoppe to see if there was a record of where the person named on the vial lived. From there I went to her home and was told by someone there that she was at MacFusty's with some sort of dog emergency. My next stop was there. MacFusty and you were in the operating theater with Murphy. His owner told me what had happened. Turns out that when Murphy got away from her she'd tried to use magic to stop him and bring him back but he was moving fast enough her aim was off. That's the magic that set off the Ministry alert. Her apparating could have been an issue but turned out not to have been and no one noticed her effort to stop him. Because everything happened so quickly those who saw anything beforehand only recalled a woman frantically calling after her dog."
Coco nods in understanding. "The adrenaline of the moment. Do you think that once any of them have time to absorb it, someone will recall seeing her with wand out casting a spell?"
Cameron shakes his head. "Even if someone does, by then they'll dismiss it as a quirk of memory from the chaos of the moment."
"No one got video of it?"
"There was a time if you'd asked that I would look blankly at you but we in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes have been forced to keep up with Muggle terminology, or most of us anyway," Cameron grins. "No cameras or mobiles."
"I don't envy you your job as Muggle technology improves."
"Going to be harder to ensure we do a total Obliviation of an incident or not having a magical accident recorded," Cameron agrees.
The talk a few minutes more about expanding Muggle technology before Kissy joins the conversation. "Do you and Fritz have any holiday plans, Coco? My family and Cameron's are all of us going away together for the first time to the Lake District. I can't decide whether to be excited about it or dreading it, " she laughs.
Good Night
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 08-11-17 17:07
Ethan pushed back his plate and patted his stomach with both hands. "I'm stuffed," he announced, turning to Lilly with a grin.
Lilly was just about full herself, but she really wanted to lick all the icing off of the fairy cake in her hand. Some of it was on her face. "Is it almost over, Daddy?" she asked. This was punctuated with a giant yawn.
"Yes. As soon as you finish with whatever you're doing to that fairy cake, we will call it an evening."
"Will we say goodbye to Oliver before we go?"
"Of course, but you know we'll see him tomorrow. We're going to meet him at the train station and spend the day in Hogsmeade."
"With Briar and Grace, too?"
"With them, too. Ready?"
Lilly licked the last of the icing off the top of the fairy cake and then set what she didn't want back onto her plate. She wiped her hands and face with a napkin at her father's request and then said good night to those around the table, including Professor Snape. Lilly found Snape a bit frightening in appearance, but her dad told her that Snape had been a big help to him and that he was forever grateful. If Snape helped her dad, then he couldn't be that bad, could he?
Father and daughter left the High Table and made way down one of the aisles along Gryffindor Table, where they stopped to say good night to Oliver. Oliver was sitting next to his friend Rand. Both of them had eaten their share of dessert and looked ready to pop.
"Good night, Oliver. Good night, Rand," Lilly said. She yawned again.
"Good night, Lilly," the boys said. "See you tomorrow," Oliver added.
Ethan took Lilly by the hand and said, "Night, boys. See you in the morning."
"Night," they echoed.
"Let's go home," Ethan said to Lilly. They walked out of the castle, into the darkening night, and once they reached Hogsmeade, they side-along apparated to Greenwich.