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(Brisbane, Australia) Bandicoot Stadium
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 08-05-08 07:04
Bronwyn, Lawrence, and Ariella climbed into the stands at Bandicoot Stadium. They wore light jackets, since it was late afternoon and the sun had already begun to set. Winter was gradually leaving Australia, but the air cooled considerably when night fell.
"This is nice," Ariella murmured, feeling somewhat normal for a change. Since the start of October, all she could think about was whether or not Katherine would get released from Azkaban. Her gut feeling said no, that Katherine would wind up snatched just like Bronwyn's brother had, but Ariella nevertheless hoped for the best. Attending Toby's Quidditch match against the Perth Potoroos certainly helped take her mind off of the graver things in life.
"I've never actually seen the Bandicoots play," Lawrence admitted, "and it's been years since I've seen Toby play."
"Not since our Hogwarts days, right?" Bronwyn asked, grinning. She filed down a row of seats and, after debating where to sit, lowered herself onto the magically cushioned bench. Ariella filed in behind her, with Lawrence following.
"Exactly, though Toby and I never played for Hufflepuff together. I joined the team after he graduated," he answered.
"Do you miss playing?" Ariella asked, taking Lawrence's hand. "Sometimes I do, but I think what I miss most is playing at Hogwarts for Hufflepuff and not so much the game itself, you know?"
"I know. I miss that too," Lawrence replied.
The stadium quickly filled. It wasn't long before the announcers magically enhanced their voices to greet the spectators and introduce the game and the players. Bronwyn, Ariella, and Lawrence cheered loudly when Toby's name was called. Grinning, he took his place around center field. Then the match started.
Lonely
Author: Alanna Beck
Date: 08-05-08 07:34
Alanna pulled a hooded cardigan over her long-sleeved T-shirt and exited her dorm room, still amazed that she currently resided in what essentially was a Slytherin dormitory and that she had a Slytherin roommate, Mary Black. Both seventh years mostly kept to themselves, though Alanna sensed that Mary was annoyed over the fact that Alanna had been named prefect and Mary hadn't. Alanna still didn't know what she'd done or hadn't done to win Snider's favor in that respect.
It had her wondering whether she could petition the Headmistress to visit Australia for Ariella's wedding, but Alanna knew better than to ask. In an effort to remain at Hogwarts towards the end of last school year, Alanna had effectively distanced herself from her family––at least that was what she'd implied to Snider during her unexpected interview after Ariella's expulsion. Alanna didn't want to miss Ariella's wedding, but she also didn't want to find herself expelled from Hogwarts for having loyalty to her questionable attachments.
She sighed quietly, climbing the steps to the entrance hall of the castle two at a time. The foyer had filled with students eager to go to Hogsmeade. Alanna spotted Jared headed for the door and shouted, "Jared! Wait up!"
Jared stopped and turned at the sound of his name and smiled when he caught sight of Alanna approaching.
"Hi, Alanna. Going to Hogsmeade?"
"Yeah. Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all. Have you eaten yet?"
"No," Alanna answered, falling into step next to Jared. They exited the castle and stated down the lawn towards the gates of Hogsmeade. "I thought I'd grab something at Briar's Bakery."
"I had the same thought," Jared replied. "So... how are you?"
Alanna sighed and hugged herself. She spoke quietly, "A little lonely. I haven't heard from my family in ages, mainly because I asked them not to write me since I don't want Snider on my case. Also, I've been thinking about my half-sister. She's supposed to get out of Azkaban sometime this month. I just worry she'll get stuck there or wind up wherever it is nons and blood traitors go."
She felt a hand fall lightly onto her shoulder and squeeze it gently. "I wish I had something comforting to say," Jared said softly, "but you and I both know things don't seem to be getting any better."
"Thanks anyway," Alanna replied, offering him a small smile.
"You're welcome."
They entered Hogsmeade and headed straight for Briar's Bakery to eat breakfast.
A Change In Transfiguration (Harriet Snider)
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 08-05-08 16:41
Wilhemina Grubbly-Plank exits Harriet's office, lesson plans for next week to prepare. Harriet's request to the woman is somewhat short notice but Grubbly-Plank is a veteran at filling in last minute, sometimes for a long term. Harriet's just glad there is someone capable of taking over a class without much advanced warning.
Through an open window, the sound of happy voices reaches Harriet's ears. It's the first Hogsmeade visit of the term and students are anxious to have a nice day out in the village. Wind whips through the opening, causing Harriet to shiver. She gives one hand a wave and the window snaps shut.
The sound the window makes when closing nearly drowns out the knock on the open door's frame. Looking to the doorway Harriet waves her hand again. "Right on time, Ms. Tabu. Sit."
Iris Tabu, after a month somewhat used to Harriet's sometimes abrupt style, enters the offfice and sits in the chair directly across from Harriet. The Transfiguration professor had thought she was being asked in for a status report on her first month at Hogwarts. Taking in Harriet's rather stern expression and the manner in which the headmistress invited her to sit just now, Iris Tabu starts to wonder if something more is going on. Frowning slightly she asks, "Is everything all right, Professor Snider?"
Harriet's fingernail taps a staccato beat on top of a file. "This is your file with your application. You tell me, Ms. Tabu."
"I'm not sure what you're getting at."
"Don't you?"
"Why would there be something wrong with my file?"
Harriet says nothing, her finger continuing its tap, tap, tap.
Iris Tabu's eyes shift once more to the file then back to Harriet. She starts to speak but Harriet cuts her off. "Please don't insult me - or the Ministry - by lying... Again."
Iris Tabu breathes in sharply before saying, "I haven't lied."
"You just did."
"Anything I omitted or changed is my business."
"Under the currrent Ministry administration, do you really belief that?"
"I'm not a Non if that's what you're thinking."
"You are also no longer employed at Hogwarts. You have one hour to remove yourself from the premises or be removed. We are done here. Dismissed."
Iris Tabu stammers out one protest after another, all of which Harriet ignores. After approximately fifteen minutes have elapsed, Harriet does look pointedly at the clock. "With forty-five minutes left, I do hope you have few possessions to pack."
With that, Harriet waves her wand to forcibly eject Iris Tabu from her office. The door slams shut in the woman's face. Only when the hour is up will Harriet see if the woman is still there or if she's left as ordered.
Weekends at Happy Haven
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 08-06-08 07:47
At Happy Heaven, weekends didn’t mean fun or free time. On the contrary they meant more tasks and hard work. It was the first weekend of October if Johanna’s calculations were right. At Happy Haven the notion of time was based on getting up, doing this or that task, go to classes, eat and go to bed.
There were no expectative or good emotions on Happy Haven. At Hogwarts it was different: or it was a day of learning a cool spell, or there was going to be a quidditch match, or even a study session with a group of friends (especially for the Ravenclaws). And of course the Hogsmead trips for those who had age to go. On the other hand here there was no time for playing, laughing and happiness. To students Happy Haven only meant work, sadness and again work.
Johanna is taking care of the chickens again and this time Felicia is there too. They talk in a low voice to don’t call anyone’s attention.
The topic of conversation is the same as always: how they miss their family, they life and how all this is unfair. They still aren’t conformed to their new life although 3 moths had passed. None of the students at Happy Haven were.
(Cornelia) Sweet Tooth
Author: Griet
Date: 08-06-08 17:11
Cornelia frowned at the boarded up windows of Honeydukes Sweetshop. The last time she'd been in Hogsmeade, sometime last spring, the candy store had still been open. Now a big CLOSED sign was nailed to the door.
Cornelia stepped forward so that her nose touched one of the boards covering the windows and peeked through one of the cracks. She could see the candy bins through the grimey glass. Some still had sweets inside of them, but she could also see a layer of dust across them and on the floor and other surfaces.
"Damn," she muttered to herself. She'd had a craving for Honeydukes' own fudge and chocolate.
She stepped away from the window and turned on her heel, debating where to go next. She'd already visited The Three Broomsticks, Windweaver's Completely Quidditch, and Blossom's to play wizarding laser tag. Since Honeydukes seemed out of the question, Cornelia went next door to Briar's Bakery. She figured she could find something to satisfy her fudge-cravng there.
Sometime later, she exited the bakery with a triple chocolate fudge brownie in hand and went a short distance to the park. Cornelia found an unoccupied bench and sat down to eat and people-watch. While she ate and looked around, she couldn't help but think about Griet, who should be visiting Hogsmeade today as well but whose whereabouts were a complete mystery. Deep down, Cornelia knew that her parents missed Griet, but they certainly didn't show it and they made no effort to find their lost daughter. Their pureblood superiority meant so much more to them than standing up for their eldest born.
Cornelia couldn't help but think about her cousin Sadie, too. If Sadie hadn't gone missing like Griet, she'd be eligible to go to Hogsmeade today too. There was no love lost between Cornelia and Sadie, but Cornelia could very-well remember what it was like going to Hogsmeade for the very first time and knew with absolute certainty that Sadie was missing out on a memorable moment.
She shoved the remainder of the triple chocolate fudge brownie into her mouth and wiped the crumbs from her face with the back of her hand. After she swallowed, Cornelia got up and debated whether to head back to The Three Broomsticks for another butterbear or to go to Madam Puddifoot's for a cup of tea. She let her feet make the decision and wound up at the pub, where she slid onto a stool at the bar and ordered herself a chilled bottle of butterbeer.
(Brisbane, Australia) Closing In
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 08-06-08 20:55
I made it to the stadium, a tad late. The game had already begun. I could hear the announcement of the players from across the street. Didn’t matter to me, I wasn’t here to watch the game. I was here to watch the stands. I knew this would be the end of my month long search. She had to be in there.
I came to the conclusion about a week ago. I picked up a new paper and read that the Brisbane quidditch team was going to play today. Well, I happen to know that Bronwyn’s boyfriend played on that team. Since she was with him, it only made sense that she would attend his games. So I finally had a place and time where I knew my friend would be. Newspapers were also a billion times more reliable then crystal balls.
I calmly made my way across the street and into the Stadium and got a ticket for the game. I was still trying to figure out how to get Bron’s attention when I came across a team store, or something like that. It had all the standard sports memorabilia, including souvenir quidditch balls. Standing there a moment, I realized, a quaffle would be perfect.
It’s large, so it’s not going to kill her when I hit her with it. It’s easy to grab, and throw. And if I hit her hard enough, she’ll feel it in the morning, so to speak. I walked inside and got two of the large red balls, of course with the Brisbane team logo. I got two, because one was a backup in case I didn’t hit the first time.
I was headed towards the stands when suddenly, Bronwyn walked around the corner and turned towards concessions. I quickly grabbed one of the quaffles from the bag and followed her a few steps. I took the quaffle with one hand and threw as hard as I could at her.
WHAM! The ball contacted her shoulder blade hard! The sound managed to echo slightly off the walls. She stumbled forward a few steps before regaining her balance. Her hair flared elegantly behind her as she whipped around to find who had thrown the ball.
Just as she saw me I yelled at her, “Hey! What happened to my invitation!?”
Paint Ball
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 08-07-08 17:01
Christopher slept in, enjoying not having a roommate who might be stirring around to go into Hogsmeade. When he finally did rise, he took a quick shower then made a dash across school grounds to the main gates. Once in Hogsmeade, Christopher made a beeline to the bakery where he enjoyed a thick slice of white cake with a whipped cream type frosting and a berry filling. Before leaving, Christopher bought half a dozen chocolate peanut butter biscuits to munch while making his way up and down High Street.
Inside Windweaver's, Christopher admired a new Cleansweep just on the market. He'd dearly love to replace the broom he's got but while his parents aren't hurting for money, neither are they so well off that they'd buy him a new broom simply because the perfectly serviceable one he's got now is no longer brand spanking new. Christopher settles for admiring the Cleansweep, mentally adding up how long it would take him to buy it on his own with his allowance if he gave up things like slabs of cake and sacks full of cookies.
Moving on to look at some of the Quidditch action figures, Christopher runs into classmates Hadrian Rabnott and Daniel Gelson, as well as Hadrian's younger brother Hunter. Daniel tells him, "We're going over to play Wizarding paint ball. Want to come with? We could do teams."
"Yeah, sounds great," Christopher nods.
The four go next door to Blossom's, around to the paint ball entrance. After getting equipped, Hunter and Christopher as one team with blue as their paint color and Hadrian and Daniel as the other with yellow as their color, they split into their teams and get into starting positions. Christopher's trying to see around one obstacle to time sprinting from where he's concealed to the protection offered by a large barrel when something stings his face.
Reaching up to touch the small portion of his right cheek that's exposed, Christopher's fingers come away wet with pale green paint. Looking around, he spots Basil Wynbourne. Yelling, "Basil, you clot, don't aim for faces!"
"Weren't aiming at you, Cat," Basil answers back, extremely unconcerned he's hit someone in the face.
"Doesn't matter. Still watch hitting people's faces," Christopher snaps.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your knicker's in a twist."
Christopher, his exact location now known to both Daniel and Hadrian, hisses hotly under his breath about blood idiots named Basil while his teammate Hunter lays down a firing cover so that Christopher can change positions without being hit by either of the yellow team.
(Brisbane, Australia) Blast from the Past
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 08-07-08 17:13
Not too long after sitting down in the stands, Bronwyn realized she was really thirsty, and both Ariella and Lawrence commented they had the munchies. Bronwyn offered to collect sustenance for herself and her friends and hastily exited the stands before Lawrence, being the gentleman he was, could protest. She figured she could give him and Ariella a moment alone... with hundreds of other Quidditch fans.
She descended the staircase swiftly, though carefully since she didn't want to take a tumble in front of everybody, and then disappeared beneath the stadium, where the concession stands and souvenir shops were located. A good number of spectactors were waiting in lines or walking around, either having just arrived or waiting to meet friends before heading upstairs to find their seats.
Bronwyn walked to the nearest concession stand with the shortest line but never reached it because something collided hard with her shoulder blade. She lost her balance for a moment but managed to stop herself from completely falling forward. Furious, she turned around abruptly to see who and what had hit her. That was when she saw someone she hadn't seen in years.
"Hey! What happened to my invitation!?" Desdemona Diamond yelled.
Bronwyn's mouth fell open.
"Oh.
"My.
"God."
And then she shrieked. "Desi! Ohmygodwhatareyoudoinghere?" all the while running forward with arms outstretched to hug her dear old friend. Desi allowed herself to be squeezed to death and hoped she would still have her hearing by the time Bronwyn finished her exclamations.
Bronwyn released Desi, stepped back, and said in a more normal tone, "I can't believe you're here! What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, of course," Desi replied. "Do you know how long I've been searching?"
"Um, a few days?"
"Not even close!" Desi crossed her arms over her chest and said, "I hope you get a bruise."
"I hope I don't. It's not quite bikini season yet, but still." She smiled. "So, tell me everything. How did you find out I was here?"
(Erigone) Reunion
Author: Illyria
Date: 08-07-08 17:50
Erigone held her breath. It had been half a year since she'd last seen her eldest sister Arsinoe. Upon learning of the disappearances of Olympia and Urania, the rest of the Jonses, excluding Illyria, had fled. Erigone and her parents, Atticus and Ione, had started new lives in Mumbai, India. Arsinoe, her husband Quinctilius, and for a long time their unborn child had traversed their home country until eventually finding safe passage abroad.
Only recently had Erigone heard anything from her eldest sister. A letter had arrived via owl a week ago. Arsinoe, Quin, and the baby Alexandra had moved from Calais in northern France to Marseilles along the Mediterranean coast and were desperately wondering if Erigone and the others were safe. After sharing the good news with Atticus and Ione, Erigone quickly wrote back, urging Arsinoe, Quin, and Alexandra to come to Mumbai.
Eager to leave France and be reunited with some of her family, Arsinoe wrote back affirming that she would join her sister and parents in Mumbai.
Erigone expected them at any moment.
Crack!
The sudden clamor startled her, even though she'd been waiting for the very same sound for what had seemed like ages. She pressed a hand to her heart and didn't flinch when the next loud crack sounded.
Arsinoe had arrived first, baby Alexandra tucked securely against her body in a beige sling. Quin had arrived next and immediately put his arm around his wife and kissed the top of his baby girl's head.
Up until that moment, Erigone had never seen her very first niece, but her eyes were mainly for Arsinoe. Her vision blurred quickly. It wasn't long before both women were crying and carefully hugging each other. Ergione hugged Quin and then allowed Arsinoe to set the now-unwrapped Alexandra in her arms.
Atticus and Ione were soon outside the house, embracing daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter too. It was a happy moment for the Jones family, though it would be happier still with Illyria, Olympia and Urania also there.