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Cat Charm
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 08-16-14 18:21
After ringing up the sale of a brooch to a woman around Christopher's mother's age, the Amber's clerk returns to ask, "Would you like a closer look at any of the charms?"
Christopher purses his lips in thought. "The three different cats, please. Thanks."
A female voice from over his shoulder says, "Buying something for your girlfriend?"
Giving a smile to Amalia Ricchetti Christopher replies, "Thinking about it."
"She is very lucky, your friend."
"I think I'm the lucky one. Cat's been my best friend since she was 11 and I was 12."
"Cat. The reason you pick these charms to see up close, no?"
"That's right. She's Catriona but most everyone usually calls her Cat. In my family, I also sometimes get called Cat. She and I both have cats as pets."
"Yes, I remember now. You have mentioned her name before," Amalia says as she bends for a closer look at the three cat charms.
When first getting the impression that Amalia might be interested in him, Christopher had made it clear to her that he has a girlfriend; but, she is correct. He can only think of one time that he gave Cat's name when talking with Amalia right before a shared class was to begin.
"What about you, Amalia? Are you seeing anyone?"
She taps a cat charm that looks like a tortoiseshell cat with green eyes. "I think this one. No, I have no special male friend at the moment, not since coming to England. I have gone out some but," she shrugs, making a face indicating that nothing came of those dates. "As you are taken, perhaps you have a friend equally as nice?"
Christopher freezes in the process of studying the cat charms trying to decide if he agrees in Amalia's assessment of the tortoiseshell one. She taps that one again then slides it nearer, a small giggle erupting. "I have put you on the spot, no? That is the saying?"
"That is the saying and, yes, maybe a little."
"My apology. That was not my intent."
"It's okay. I'll actually give that some thought."
Amalia giggles again. "Now I think I should be nervous. Blind dates... " She makes a show of shuddering, her nose krinkled as if smelling something foul.
"So I have heard," he grins. Motioning to the clerk Christopher hands over the tortoiseshell cat charm. "I'll have this one, thanks."
To Amalia he says, "Thank you for helping me choose. Maybe when Cat is home from Hogwarts, she and I, and one of my friends can get together with you for lunch or dinner."
"I would like to meet Cat. And possibly your friend."
Christopher pays for the charm then tells Amalia goodbye, leaving her to take care of whatever business brought her into Amber's in the first place.
The Exam Schedule Is Confusing (Devon)
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 08-16-14 19:10
Looking down at the final examinations schedule she's made for herself Devon frowns. "This isn't any less confusing than last year."
Emily Murray says, "At least we don't have anything until Wednesday."
Duncan Dippet says around leg of chicken, "I'd rather we had some today. I hate that we aren't done until Friday."
"Only until 12:15 so we'll have the whole afternoon Friday," Emily states.
Devon points out, "Maybe for you but Duncan and I aren't done until 2:25 Friday."
"Even noon would be too late," Duncan says, already working on a second chicken leg.
Emily is momentarily confused. "Why are you later than I am finishing?"
"Fitness & Athletics," Devon tells her.
"I always forget that for some reason. Pass that salad there, please."
Devon folds the exam schedule to finally start filling her own plate, saying as she does, "I'm studying in one of the library carrels after lunch. I thought I'd start with Charms. If I have the schedule correct, that's our first test. Wednesday at 10:45. Join me if you want."
"Make it the commons or the Hufflepuff common room where we can have snacks and drinks and I'll be there."
Devon rolls her eyes at Duncan but affirms, "The commons it is then. Emily?"
"Sure, maybe for a little while. I'm sick of studying so I don't know how long I'll last."
A few others around them also say they'll come though Devon wouldn't be surprised if a few skiv off for naps or to goof off playing Quidditch or something. She can't blame them and wants to do much the same but she also knows if she doesn't do well on her exams, her parents will not be pleased to the point of possibly grounding her from some of the planned holiday activities.
She starts to pull out some note cards to go over while eating but ends up deciding to wait. She spend the morning studying. It's fine to eat lunch and talk with friends and nothing but. The afternoon studying will be here soon enough.
(Kate) Finals Week
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 08-17-14 09:52
Kate sat in the first of eleven exams she had on her plate for finals week. The exam currently underway was Alchemy, definitely one of the more interesting classes in the curriculum at Hogwarts. Because exam time only lasted one and a half hours, not every aspect of the subject could appear on the test, but because anything could, Kate had studied everything from her notes dating back to September.
The rest of her finals were spread out over the week, with the bulk falling on Wednesday and Thursday. Kate was a little grateful to have the extra time to prepare, especially when classes had still been in session last week. She certainly looked forward to having it over with come Friday afternoon.
She couldn't believe her sixth year was nearly at its end, and what a year it had been! She'd started out heartbroken, after Mark had dumped her over the summer. She'd become even closer to her circle friends, thanks to their never-ending support. Then Hugo came into the picture. He'd made her laugh and proven to her that Mark was a thing of the past. She felt very happy now.
Like Kate, Hugo was sitting in the Alchemy exam. She glanced his way and saw him bent over his parchment, tongue slightly revealed between parted lips. He was deep in concentration, answering a question about Nicolas Flamel, a famous very alchemist. Kate turned back to her own exam and read the next question she had to answer:
What is the alchemical symbol for water?
Kate drew a downward-pointing triangle.
What is the fifth element? Please explain.
Kate wrote down Aether and started writing out a detailed description of the element.
After Arithmancy & Divination (Tamsin)
Author: Josie
Date: 08-17-14 15:17
"What did you write in question five? You had to mention that the Cross meant trials and suffering, right?"
"I think so. At least that's what I wrote," I told Penny.
Penny and I had just finished our first exam, Arithmancy and Divination. We were walking away from the classroom, comparing each other's answers. There had been a few divergences here and there, but for the majority we had written the same things, which was probably a good sign.
We had thought about taking a small break and then going back to study. I had Ancient Runes exam tomorrow and I was feeling a bit insecure with some of the runes because I kept swapping them. Penny was more preoccupied with Transfiguration even if she would only take that exam on Friday. We agreed to meet each other at the library. The place was probably filled with students, but at least it would be silent, compared to the noisy environment of the common commons.
We reached the top of the stairs and split, each one back to our house's common room, so we could go fetch the books and notes we needed. I found Alcmene at our dormitory and invited her to come to study with us to the library. She said she would meet us there later and she might bring her boyfriend Luke with her and some of his friends too. I just hoped we wouldn't turn out to be a loud group or we might be kicked out of the library by Mrs. Blackheart.
I went down the stairs and I almost bumped into Jake Neilson. He had a broomstick in his hand and he was ready to go outside to the grounds to play some Quidditch with his friends.
"Hey Tamsin…"
"Hi…"
"Do you play Quidditch?"
"Sometimes."
"I would ask you if you would like to join us but I see you're carrying all those books downstairs, so you're probably busy with your studies."
"Yes. The finals started today for us. You're lucky you're free."
Jake smiled. He had a pretty smile, I thought, holding myself tight to the stack of books I was carrying. I didn't want to make a fool of myself in front of him, but the truth was I found him very attractive.
"The last two weeks were hell. I think I have never studied so much in my life before as I did for the OWLs. I just hope I'll get good results."
"I'm sure you will," I smiled back.
Jake was a Gryffindor prefect and I knew he was a good student. But he was not that kind of person who was obsessed with being the top of his class. The conversation seemed to have died and we stood there looking at each other. Jake was looking at me with an expression on his face that I couldn't decipher. I felt a bit nervous and I looked away, not really sure what to say or do. He then spoke again, after clearing his throat.
"Tamsin, would you like to...?"
"Hey Jake, come on! We got to hurry or those Slytherins will reach to the pitch first!" It was Cody Sweet, one of Jake's friends. He too was holding a broomstick and had a quaffle under his arm. "You can talk to your girlfriend later, at dinner."
I felt my cheeks turning red. I was not Jake's girlfriend. But I didn't mind if that was so. Jake muttered an apology for Cody's behavior and he promised we would talk again soon. He then followed his friend away from the Gryffindor common room in a hurry. I also left the division, ignoring the Fat Lady's protests about the noise the boys were doing going down the stairs, and I went to the library to meet with Penny. I had to tell my best friend about my encounter with Jake. She kept saying I had a thing for him. I keep telling her she was wrong. But the more I denied it, the more I knew it was true: I did like Jake Neilson a lot.
I Got It!
Author: Capri Brycin
Date: 08-17-14 16:05
Capri was so glad that testing was over it was almost more than she could deal with. All the late nights studying and preparing for the tests there was no time for anything else; however, Capri had made time to do an interview with Little Red Book via owl. It wasn't the customary way of doing an interview but it was all she could do right now and she really wanted this job.
It had taken the better part of a week before Capri had heard anything about the job but now she had the letter in her hand and she was a bit scared to read it. She handed the letter to Mark, "will you read it?"
"Sure." He said taking the letter from Capri. The two sat in the Common Commons cuddled up together and Capri was almost shaking as she waited for him to read it. A slow smile played on his face and he wrapped his arms around Capri, "you got the job!"
Capri squealed and bounced in her seat, "really?" She took the letter from him and looked it over. "Oh…my…gods…I can't believe I got it. I was so worried because I couldn't do an in person interview that I would not get the job."
Mark laughed and smiled at her. "I think they knew you were serious about the position and that you wanted the job." Capri nodded her head.
Jumping up from where she was sitting she took Mark's hand, "come on let's go somewhere where we can be alone and celebrate." She smiled brightly her eyes twinkling.
Before the First Set of Final Exams
Author: Illyria
Date: 08-17-14 16:20
Illyria entered the Great Hall for supper and made her way over to the High Table, where Marzi and Weston were already sitting with the boys. Vallon had alfredo sauce all over his face and beamed a wide smile when Illyria looked his way. She couldn't help but smile back at him. He was a cutie.
She sat down on Marzi's other side and said, "How did it go today?"
"Oh, it went fine," Marzi replied, dabbing at Vallon's face with a napkin, but to no avail. He turned his head away from her, perfectly content to have food all over his face. Marzi sighed, dropped the napkin back onto the table and turned to her friend. "My exams aren't scheduled till Wednesday."
"Oh, that's right. You did say," Illyria replied, remembering the earlier discussion now.
"Are you ready for yours?" Marzi asked, knowing Illyria's first set were scheduled for that very night.
"Oh, yes," Illyria answered, nodding her head. "The content is the same from last year, so I didn't have to make any changes."
At 10:30 PM, the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years would be tested on everything they had learned since the start of Spring Term, which included constellations, comets, and meteor showers. The exam for the Ravenclaw and Slytherin third years would follow at midnight and include topics like superclusters, galaxies, and the atmosphere.
Illyria couldn't believe another school year was nearly behind her. She had seven years of teaching at Hogwarts under her belt. It would have been eight without the interruption courtesy of former Minister of Magic Euphemia Smythe-Jones. How quickly the time had passed!
She kept dinner brief, wanting to return to her classroom early in case a few students wanted her advice before exam time.
Showing A House
Author: Georgia Copperpot
Date: 08-17-14 17:00
Fortescue Fitzmorris returns to the kitchen from the backyard. "It's large enough to play some footie."
Stepping from inside the large fireplace where she's been doing an inspection Edith says, "The kitchen's nice."
From where I'm leaning against the door frame between the kitchen and dining area I give Edith a look. "I hear a but."
Edith glances to Fortescue then looks to me. "I do like the house overall. It's just what we're looking for but with Fortescue so tied to the Muggle world with school and footie, I keep thinking we should look for something non-Wizarding."
Fortescue walks over to take Edith by the hands. "I grew up in an entirely Wizarding home while attending Muggle schools. My parents managed and I think we can too if this is the house you want."
"Now you're in university it's been harder. And, you have professionals already scouting you."
"We can look around more if that's what you want but if this is the one you still want the most, we'll make it work."
I take a few steps into the kitchen. "The company has some Muggle places listed. A few are for rent if you want to see them."
Edith asks, "Why would Davies & Llewellyn have Muggle homes and flats?"
"Mum says they're ones that Muggle-borns and Half-bloods have had. A few purebloods too. Some even got permission to have fireplaces on the Floo Network."
"Edith?" Fortescue is giving his girlfriend another of those looks couples share.
I nearly sigh in fond remembrance of exchanging such looks with a certain sex god. Though I've been out with both Tangerine Dagger bassist Tommaso and Magical Match Miles several times over the past months, I've never had that sort of thing with either of them.
Edith's voice cuts into my thoughts. "Let's go then. If we can see them today that is."
I bob my head. "Yeah. Sure."
I pull out a reference sheet and tell them the address of the first Muggle place on the list just in case we get separated then take each by the hand to do a side-along to a safe spot not far from the small house. A short walk later and I'm leading them up the walk to a cheery looking pale blue cottage, still unsure how I feel about one of my best friends taking the plunge and moving in with a significant other.
The Letter
Author: Cate
Date: 08-17-14 17:50
Cate sat alone in the Common Room in the corner with a book in her lap and a letter in her hand. It was a scathing letter from Jordana's parents – it was all but a howler. Tears rolled down her face, the people she had once thought of as her second family now hated her – they blamed her for Jordana's death.
Roisin had come to her the other day saying that her Aunt had been arrested. She, too, was mad that Cate had opened her mouth. She didn't know what to do everyone now hated her – but that wasn't the truth, Preston, Amanda, Elliot and Darren didn't hate her, but she wasn't letting them in.
Preston wandered down the stairs and saw Cate sitting alone in the corner. "Hey, Sweetie."
Cate looked up with tears still in her eyes but didn't say anything to Preston.
"What's wrong?" He said sitting down across from her. He took her hand in his and leaned forward in the chair. "Talk to me."
"I got a letter from Jordana's parents. It wasn't exactly a nice letter either."
"What did it say?" Cate thrust the letter into his hand and pulled her other one back. Preston looked at her for a long moment and then turned his attention to the letter. She was right it wasn't nice but at the same time there were elements of the letter that he could understand; after all she had kept things back that could have helped the investigation in the first place.
"I'm sorry Sweetie. Is there anything I can do?"
"No." She said and then stood up and walked away.
"Cate don't walk away. I am just trying to help. Please…"
"Just leave me alone." She called over her shoulder and walked into her dorm room leaving Preston alone in the Common Room.
(Preston) The Problem That Was Cate
Author: Cate
Date: 08-17-14 18:10
Preston was left in the Common Room and he just sat there in stunned silence for a long moment then others started coming into the Common Room and he got up and left.
He didn't know where Amanda and Elliot were but he hoped he would find them in the Common Commons. He made his way down the marble staircase and found his way into the Common Commons and looked around. His eyes almost immediately fell to Amanda and the others, which consisted of Amanda, Elliot and Darren. Preston walked up to them and stood in front of them. "Can we talk?"
"Sure." Amanda said softly. "What's going on?"
"It's Cate. She got a letter from Jordana's parents – it was a pretty scathing letter and she is very upset but she is pushing me away. I don't know what to do to make her see that I am here for her."
"Welcome to the club, Buddy." Elliot said in a sarcastic tone of voice. He and Amanda had been friends with Cate since she had come to Hogwarts a year after they had.
"Elliot, be nice." Darren said as he rested his hand on his arm.
"I don't know what to tell you." Amanda said. "She won't talk to me. She hasn't spoken to me since that night when Jordana died. She blames me for what happened to her." Amanda sighed and closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair as tears escaped her eyes.
Elliot put an arm around his best friend and held her close. "It will be okay. We will work through this together like we always do."
Darren reached out to Amanda and she took his hand in hers and gave him a weak smile.
"I love her, I really do and I want to be with her but she is pushing me away and I don't know what to do."
"Well you can either stay with her and try and work through it or you can let her go and find someone else." Darren said. "I wish I could tell you something easier or a better way of getting through to her."
"It's all right. I'll just…" he paused feeling his heart breaking because he really did love Cate. "I'll just think on it." He finally said.
Amanda nodded at Preston and said, "you want to sit with us?"
"Sure." Preston said and sat down across from Amanda. The four friends sat and talked and tried to figure out the problem that was Cate.
Astronomy Final
Author: Finley
Date: 08-17-14 19:04
Finley and Phoebus climbed the winding steps in the Astronomy Tower. It was late, but neither one of them could go to sleep just yet. They had the first of their final exams in just a few minutes. The pair were nervous, despite the fact that both had written plenty of tests since the start of term last September. There was simply something very intimidating about finals week. What if they failed? Would they have to repeat their first year at Hogwarts all over again?
They reached the Astronomy classroom to find it half-filled with their classmates. They took their usual places, leaving their desks cleared, and waited for Professor Jones to get things started. Once the rest of their classmates filed into the classroom and took their seats, Professor Jones sent anti-cheating quills around followed by test parchments.
In the minute or so it took for Professor Jones to give instructions, Finley's mind wandered to how in less than a week, she'd be back in the orphanage. She looked forward to seeing Leroy again and hoped he had learned to stick up for himself since Easter when she last saw him. She kind of doubted it, but maybe he would surprise her.
The return to the orphanage would be her longest since starting school. She'd gone home both for Christmas and Easter, but those had been short breaks compared to the summer holidays. Finley could hardly imagine going without magic for so long, but she knew she didn't have a choice. Even if she lived in the wizarding world, as an underage witch, she couldn't perform magic outside of school.
She suddenly realized that Professor Jones had stopped talking and that everyone had begun writing. Finley looked down at the first question on the test and hoped that Professor Jones hadn't said anything that would impact the outcome of her exam. It seemed fairly straightforward, at least at first glance.
Her first question dealt with sungrazing comets. Finley gave her answer some thought and then committed it to parchment.