|
|
(Kate) Hogwarts Express
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 07-12-10 06:53
Kate got out of the horseless carriage she'd been sharing with a few other Hufflepuff students and pulled her trunk the short distance to the train station in Hogsmeade. The platform was quite full, mostly with students, but there were some teachers supervising the departing students too.
She got in line at one of the doors, said goodbye to Hagrid who'd helped her with her trunk, and then navigated the narrow corridor in search of an empty compartment. The ones nearest the door all seemed full, so she moved towards the back, hoping to find a place to sit there. She nearly reached the next car when someone called her name.
Kate turned and saw Johanna standing in the doorway of a compartment.
"There's room in here if you want to join us," Johanna said.
Kate smiled. "Thanks."
Felicia and Gus were already seated in the compartment and smiled in welcome to Kate when she joined them. Johanna helped her put her trunk on one of the shelves over the seats and then sat down next to Felicia. Kate sat down next to Gus.
"Glad to be going home?" he asked her.
"Yes, you?"
"Definitely. I'm going to sleep all day everyday until it's time to return to Hogwarts," he said.
"And miss all of summer?" Kate asked him jokingly.
"I think he just means he's going to be extraordinarily lazy this summer," Felicia said.
Gus shrugged.
Kate laughed. "Nothing wrong with that, I suppose."
Her laughter was cut short when someone else appeared in the doorway. It was Mark. He gave her a surprised glance and then turned to Gus.
"You're in my seat."
"You sat at the window on the way to school," Gus protested, but when he saw the look on Mark's face, he slid closer to Kate on the bench.
Mark crossed the compartment and sat at the window.
Kate frowned. It would be very, very a long journey home.
Homeward Bound - The Actual Journey
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 07-12-10 13:55
Isma, Blake, and Eric all stood on the platform for a moment or five remembering to this time last year when they'd been shipped from Hogwarts to Happy Haven where they'd spent the last miserable year that had required them to repeat second year once they returned to Hogwarts.
"You can get on the train, it is actually going to King's Cross, none of you will be getting lost along the way." Came the soothing voice of one of the Professors, Isma couldn't recall which one at the moment.
The trio climbed upon the coach and began hunting down a compartment that was empty, or at least had enough room for three more students to file into and settle for the trip to the station. They found one compartment that was empty and settled within. Animals settled and they would begin talking about their plans for the summer. Eric and Blake were going to be gonig on trips for most of the summer to St. Petersburg, Russia and Puerto Maldonado, Peru respectively. Isma didn't as of yet have any plans, but she had been told that she could take one grand trip this summer and the rest of her time would be spent at home. Her trip could be no longer than two weeks.
She hadn't yet decided if she would go visit her Aunt Evie in Lisbon, Portugal or if she would go see her cousin Cassiopia in Marsh Harbor, Bahamas on the island of Abaco. She was leaning toward the Bahamas because she hasn't seen her cousin Cassi in a couple of years and she'd just seen Aunt Evie during Yule.
A first year Gryffindor slipped into the compartment after peeking her head in. "Mind if I join you? All the other compartments are full..." Isma recalled the girl as being Calliope Quinn.
"Sure, there's room for one more and we don't mind sharing a compartment." Isma said with a smile, inviting the girl in as Blake got up to help her put her bag up on the shelf above the seat. "I'm Charisma, but you can call me Isma, this is Blake Halloway and Eric Ling."
"Calliope Quinn.." She said, introducing herself to Blake and Eric, she remembered Isma. "Thank you by the way, again, for helping me from beneath that pile of books in the library a couple of weeks ago." She said, blushing lightly.
"Most welcome, happens to the best of us. I'm just lucky I'd been passing buy, or it had been a few more hours before a house elf had found you." Isma said, shifting, curling herself in the seat, and peering out the window, watching, waiting for the bright red locomotive of the Hogwarts Express to begin its chugging, churning forward motion that would carry them from the Hogsmeade Village Station to King's Cross Station in London.
Once all the students were aboard, all the bags were loaded, trunks and the like properly stored, the all clear was given and the train began its lurch forward, and ultimately within the spanning of a few moments ease into its steady clickty, clack forward motion along the track.
Finishing Up A Few Things
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 07-12-10 14:05
Lawrence had spent the morning finalizing trip plans for he and Ariella while she was at a shift at the Bakery - which was what he intended because the details of their nearly month long trip would be kept a secret until they reached each destination. They would, if there was no problem on the return trips, be home in time for Emry's Fest at the end of the month.
He also, spent time packing up the rest of what they would need, and what would be sent to the flat in London until the school year started again. He had their bags packed already, and anything else that was not packed would be purchased when they reached each destination. The longest stays were going to be in the first and the last cities - with the remainder of the stays being a couple of days over the course of the remaining weeks.
He'd also met with Marzipan and ensured that things were well for next year, nothing was going to be changed as far as the texts with the exception of Lawrence adding two more to the upper years course work that focused on healing herbs and one that focused some on the differences between Muggle and Wizarding Herbs.
Now, all that was left was to wait for Ariella to return home from her shift at the bakery, and they can finish getting ready and depart for their first destination: Alexandria, Egypt.
Meeting About The Memo
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 07-12-10 15:41
Harry wasn't scheduled to work this morning but after what happened last night, he's come in for a meeting. Other Aurors and a good number of Hit Wizards and other law enforcement personnel are scattered around the room but not all are present. Some are on duty but not there at the Ministry. They and others not present will sit in on another meeting at some point later in the day.
Harry's bandaged hand and arm throb and though he's got some pain potion to take, it makes him groggy so until the meeting is over and he's home again, he's going to hold off taking any. Even though he'd gotten to St. Mungo's quickly, Harry's entire hand and wrist were one huge weeping, firey welt and welts were popping up all the way to his elbow. Healers were able to stop further advancement and once the memo had been brought safely for examination, determination was made that the parchment used for the memo was hexed with a curse, the ink laced with a poison, and the page of parchment itself had been coated with yet another poisonous potion.
Several spells were performed on his arm and Harry was given several potions to take. Harry's not going to lose the arm or even any fingers but it was close, especially the fingers. With the combination of curse and two poisons, growing back even part of a finger could not be guaranteed plus would have been even more painful than usual. Harry spent the night at St. Mungo's as a precaution and was allowed, with some relectance by his healer, to go home this morning. He'd been home barely a half hour when Kingsley Shacklebolt himself dropped by to see how Harry is today and to tell him of this meeting.
As time draws near for the meeting to start and more people fill the room, Harry's glad he's got a seat for the durection of the meeting. Even with a sling to support his injured hand and arm, he's not sure that he could handle standing for any length of time just yet.
Kingsley walks in holding the memo in a clear covering. The curse on it has been countered and both poisons neutralized but forensically, it's still best to have the parchment protectively sealed. Kingsley starts off with, "I'm sure by now that those of you here know what happened to Harry Potter or have at least heard rumors. Harry, don't get up, but please fill in everyone here on what happened."
Harry recouents, "The parchment Kingsley's got," Kingsley obligingly holds it up for all to see, "came as a memo to my cubicle. It was flashing red so I looked at it right away to read. At first nothing happened but as I smoothed the parchment out, mainly holding one corner with my left hand and smoothing out with my right, the fingers on my right hand started burning."
Kingsley interjects here, "The parchment contained two poisons and was cursed. All three were set to be triggered by a certain amount of body heat for a given period of time. That's why nothing happened when Harry was first holding the parchment."
Harry explains that once he'd unfolded the parchment, he could see it was't a regular memo, that all it had was plain block script. Kingsley reads aloud that script then pauses a moment before continuing. "To say the least, we are following safety protocols."
There is a quick run down of what those protocols before Kingsley says, "I've already got people interviewing everyone who was in the building yesterday. At least with yesterday having been Saturday, there are far fewer to interview than if it had been a weekday. Yes, Nancy?"
"Is it possible to determine whether the parchment was from Ministry inventory? Or the ink?"
"What about the poisons? Any special ingredients needed?"
"We're working on that, Nancy. Conner, we should have a full listing of the potion ingredients by mid-morning and will better know then."
"Do we know if Harry was the intended target or just the one unlucky enough to have first contact with the memo?"
"No idea yet, Mick."
The rest of the short meeting is filled with more questions, comments, and suggestions. By its end, Harry is finding it difficult to think about much beyond getting home and taking the pain potion. He'd really thought that all the pain he went through while in that island prison community and the pain of having experienced the Cruciatus Curse on several occassions would have meant his threshhold of pain would be higher. Or maybe it is and the pain he's feeling right now is simply just that horrendous.
By the time the meeting is over, Harry's pale and feels clammy yet at the same time is sweating. He steps gratefully into a fireplace to Floo home where he promptly takes a dose of the pain potion before deciding that the couch is a good place for a long nap.
On The Train (Deak)
Author: Kody
Date: 07-13-10 18:49
Sitting wedged between Jack and Etta, Deak munches on a bag of salt and vinegar chips, watching with interest the chess match between Jack and Wiggy. He winces as Jack's queen does in Wiggy's last piece that stands between Jack and checkmate. Hadrian and Etta are playing another set. Deak and Olive thought about pulling out a third set but decided they'd rather talk Quidditch. Alexa, Daniel, and others have been in and out of this compartment, with several of the crammed into the adjacent one, playing a lively game of exploding snap.
Neither Deak nor Wiggy really needs to ride the Hogwarts Express but Deak and Wiggy are both going to Jack's this evening. Besides that, riding the train means more time with Etta, even if lots of others are around. He'll see her again on Tuesday when a bunch of the group are meeting up in Diagon Alley and from there are going to see how well they can play at being Muggle tourists.
On Wednesday, Deak, Wiggy, and Jack will all go to Wiggy's for a couple of days. Thursday night the gang is all getting together again on some land one of the Hodfuffers own for a big campfire, cookout, and sleeping under the stars. Friday afternoon, Deak is meeting up with Payton Miller, Aaron's dad, who was born Alastor Wenlock. Deak just calls him Granddad. They're going out on a charter boat for an overnight deep sea fishing trip. Deak's never been so he's really excited about it. The only way the trip would be even more to look forward to is if they were doing it in America. The whole family is going to America later in the summer, with Granddad promising to take Deak, Drake, and Sage to a baseball game. Should be fun!
When they get in Saturday, Granddad has a surprise lined up. All Deak knows is that it's not in London. Sunday, it's back to London where Deak will once again meet up with Jack and his folks. Even though it will be Sunday, Peyton has a business meeting and more meetings on Monday. Sometime Tuesday, Deak will rejoin Granddad to take the Hogwarts magical RV to the airport to pick up the Muggle Studies group returning from Beijing.
Deak's attention is drawn to the chess match in which Etta is thoroughly trouncing Hadrian. His friend grins across at Deak, "I should have passed on the chess and talked Quidditch with Olive and you."
Olive nudges him, "Switch places, please. I want to take on Etta."
The two switch with Hadrian grinning again at Deak, "So, what do you think of the trade the Salisbury Snakes made with the Moose Jaw Meteorites?"
Surprise in the Quill Book
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 07-13-10 18:57
Professor McGonagall had been one of the Hogwarts staff members on the platform at Hogsmeade station, seeing the students off as they left the castle for the summer. She waited until the scarlet Hogwarts Express pushed on and out of sight before she made the journey back up to the castle.
For Minerva, summer didn't mean a complete break from her duties at Hogwarts. She had a lot on her plate, starting with sending out letters to the incoming first year students. Letters also had to go out to returning students so that they knew which books and supplies to purchase for next term. New prefects would also be receiving letters this summer.
She took a leisurely pace back up to the castle, basking in the full sun as it blazed against a solid blue sky. She was a little red-faced by the time she reached the castle steps, but a refreshening spell was all it took to make herself feel comfortable again. She went inside and made her way to the Quill Room.
The Quill Room was a small chamber with a simple podium on which sat a large, open book and a magic quill that recorded the names of all of the wizarding children born in Britain. Professor McGonagall approached the podium and gently moved the quill away so that she could obtain a list of all of the eleven year olds slated to attend Hogwarts in the fall. She turned back pages and pages until she found the correct list and used her wand to make a copy of all the names she needed. Then she carefully put everything back in order and left the Quill Room for her office on the first floor of the castle.
Minerva sat down at her desk and turned to one of the cabinets behind her to retrieve parchment and matching envelopes. She picked up a quill, dipped it into a well of green ink, and then looked over the list she'd gotten from the quill book. None of the names really jumped out at her, at least not at first. She saw a Melchior Dingum and a Penn Ellison as well as an Eden Jenkins and a Marlow MacDougal. The latter two were likely the younger siblings of the Jenkins and MacDougal already at Hogwarts.
It was the name after Barontaine Marchbanks that knocked the wind from her chest: Madoc McGonagall. She had always been rather solitary when it came to family, though she'd also always suspected that there were more McGonagalls out there. She wasn't familiar with this McGonagall, young Mr. Madoc, but she had an inkling she knew exactly who he was. If she wasn't mistaken, he was her great nephew.
Minerva debated sending this Madoc McGonagall a special letter to confirm his identity, but he probably didn't know she existed.
Reluctantly, she resumed perusing the list. When she got through it, she took a clean sheet of parchment from the stack she'd removed from the cabinet and flicked her wand at it, so that a form letter appeared on the page. She only had to fill in the name of each student:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Rabnott,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress*
A second page listed the uniform requirements, course books, other supplies needed, pet options if desired, and stated plainly that first years were not allowed to have their own broomsticks.
The pages were placed in an envelope and magically addressed. Each envelope was sealed with the Hogwarts crest. After Professor McGonagall finished the last one, she carried them all to the Owlery and mailed them off. As she watched a tawny owl carry off Madoc's, she wondered what he would think when he saw that the deputy-headmistress at his new school shared his name.
* JK Rowling's words, not mine!
It's More Than Just His Age (Wenlock Cousins)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 07-14-10 11:52
Jasper Jenkins leans heavily against his brother, Alastor. "I'm bored."
"Get off me!"
"But I'm bored."
"Go to another compartment. Where's Liannah? Or go find your friends Hydrangea and Glori. Don't you have any guy friends?"
"Sure I do. Max. Preston. Orville. Arthur. Mason sort of. Pablo. Boris. Humbert. Waldo. Lon."
"I did NOT ask for a list of all ickle little first year boys."
"You asked me if I have any guy friends."
"A yes or no question."
"I can't wait to go camping this week."
"You aren't invited."
"Am too."
"Are not."
"Wiggy, Glori, and Hydrangea all invited me."
"I'm uninviting you."
"You didn't used to be a bloddy arse."
"I never had to put up with pest bothering me constantly while at school, now did I?"
Alexa looks up from the current round of exploding snap. "Do you have to sound so hateful, Alastor?"
"What's it to you?"
"You've been just awful to everyone all day and I'm sick of it."
"Me too," Hunter chimes in.
Daniel adds his voice. "Jasper's right. It's been all year. You used to be fun to hang around with but not anymore. You're snotty, rude, arrogent "
"ENOUGH!" Alastor yells, cutting Daniel off as he jumps up. "MOVE!" he shouts at Hunter to get out of his way as he stomps to the compartment door. "All of you can just go to bloody fecking hell."
A hush falls over the compartment as they watch Alastor storm off before Alexa breaks the silence with a sarcastic, "That went well."
Jasper's face is scrunched up and it's obvious to the others he's trying not to cry. He sniffles, "I guess it's time to tell Mum and Dad just how Alastor's been. He got in trouble over Christmas holiday and then again at Easter but I heard Mum and Dad talking and they just think it's because of his age." Jasper makes a face and adds with a shrug, "Whatever that has to do with anything."
"Would if help if we all said something to Aunt Gillian and Uncle Samson?" Jill asks, speaking for the first time.
"Yeah, maybe so, but then again, that will only make Alastor even angrier with all of you."
"We don't mind. Not if it helps. There's definitely something going on with him and it's more than just his age," Alexa forcefully states.
"And you are invited camping. Don't let Alastor tell you otherwise," Daniel tells Jasper.
"Thanks," Jasper sniffles again. Then as if trying to get focus off himself he asks of the card game, "Who's winning?"
Loudly Whispering
Author: Ron Weasley
Date: 07-14-10 17:26
"You awake?"
The sleeping form on the sofa grunts and slightly shifts.
"Harry."
Ron stares down at his friend, taking note of the pain potion on the coffee table, then bending closer says more loudly, "HARRY!" For good measure, Ron accompanies this with a sharp poke with his fingers against Harry's ribs.
Harry's eyes fly open, a startled, "Wha..." escaping his lips as he half sits up, half rolls, ending up nearly off the sofa.
Ron watches almost dispaassionately, arms folded, head cocked to the side, not moving forward to help Harry get his balance. Harry has instinctively reached out with both hands to right himself and sit up properly, wincing at the jarring this does to his bandaged hand. Once he's fully upright, he blearily starts to make a backhanded swipe at his eyes with his right hand, pauses as the bandages hit his face and wincing again at the same time, then switches to his left hand to wipe his eyes. He blinks owlishly at Ron then reaches for his glasses on the table, having to stop yet again to switch hands.
"How long have you been here?"
"Several minutes. When neither you nor Pinky answered my knocking, I let myself in." Ron jerks a thumb over his shoulder at the sliding glass door that leads out to the patio, which is, like all the locks in Harry's home, charmed to allow Ron entry. The locks at Ron's are the same for Harry.
"Sorry. This pain potion really knocked me out."
"The pain potion you got at St. Mungo's last night?" Ron asks somewhat tersely.
"Yeeeah," Harry slowly replies, shooting Ron a quizzical look. For the first time Harry truly looks at Ron, taking in Ron's stiff, arm folded stance and hardened expression. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe being called in to work today for a special meeting, thinking it's got something to with a case like Lysander Stratford's, you know, something like there is a new lead and they needed extra hands to help with it, or some such case like that. But no. I get there and find out that my best friend - MY BEST FRIEND - spent the night at St. Mungo's and told those in the know not to bother me."
"You were at Charlie's for a party. I didn't want you to be bothered just for you to come rushing to the hospital when it wasn't much really."
"Not much really. YOU NEARLY LOST YOUR BLEEDIN' HAND! HOW IN MERLIN'S NAME IS THAT NOT BLOODY MUCH REALLY? YOU THOUGHT I WOULD FIND IT A BOTHER? BEST FRIENDS, HARRY, DO NOT FIND SERIOUS INJURIES A BOTHER!"
Ron practically flings something at Harry, who realizes as it smacks him upside the head that it's something soft covered with clingwrap. SAVED YOU A PIECE OF YOUR FAVORITE CAKE FROM LAST NIGHT. THAT WASN'T A BOTHER EITHER!"
"I'm sorry, Ron. Simmer down. Please." Harry picks up the now somewhat battered and smushed piece of cake. "Thank you for this."
Ron snorts before flopping down, arms still folded, into a chair from where he sits glaring at Harry. His silence lasts all of two seconds before he demands, "GOING TO BOTHER ME WITH A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OR DO I JUST HAVE TO MAKE DUE WITH THE BASIC LISTING OF FACTS GIVEN AT THE MEETING I JUST CAME FROM?"
Harry pulls his right arm in close, hand elevated as he reaches for a sling on the coffee table, nearly knocking over the pain potion in the process. He fumbles with it as he asks Ron, "What was said in the meeting you were in on?"
It takes all of a minute for Ron to answer, speaking for the moment at a lower volume but still more loudly than he normally does. When he's done, Harry is still fumbling with the sling. Ron rolls his eyes. "You could ask for help, you know."
"You're ticked off enough at me I wasn't sure it would be safe."
"Don't get me started again." Ron says getting up to untangle the sling so Harry can put it on properly. Once that's done he regains his seat, telling Harry, "Wait until Mum finds out. You'll think I've been positively calm and speaking in a loud whisper." Ron can't help but grin with enjoyment at seeing Harry pale at the thought of an irate Molly Weasley descending on him to badger about finding out so long after the fact. She will make up for the loud badgering by mothering Harry and fussing over him so at least it won't be all bad.
"Your mum, Pinky, I'm sure your dad, Hermione, and maybe even Ginny are all going to blast me for not saying anything. At least with Pinky it will be a few days still. He's with Janine and Rocko in Brighton."
"At least I'm such a bright, cheery spot in your day."
"Oh yeah. So bright. So cheery. You really want to hear all the details? Wait. Stupid question. Really not thinking clearly. I need tea with sugar and some food. I don't think I've had anything since yesterday."
"St. Mungo's didn't feed you?"
"I left fairly early. Came home but hadn't been home long when Kingsley came by about coming and doing a briefing. I had to dictate a statement then go over it again, answer questions, go over the statement again, sit in on the first meeting... you get the picture."
"I'll make tea and find you something to make due until Mum gets here because you know once she's here, she's going to have food and make sure you eat lots of it."
Ron, still angry somewhat but not as much now, goes to the kitchen to put the kettle on and to find Harry something to snack on. Shortly thereafter he's back seated again with Harry starting to tell what happened.
End Of The Journey
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 07-15-10 00:15
London came into view through the windows of the Hogwarts Express carriages with plenty of daylight left, this being early summer. Emerald looks up from her book to watch awhile as the city grows ever larger as the scarlet engine chugs in the direction of the city. The compartment she's in started out full, as did the ones on either side, taken up by all the prefects. Some, like Deak Bennett, stayed only a short time, while others, like Emerald, chose to remain for the entire trip, though of those who did, many visited other compartments for short periods to chat with friends or to join in one of the many games taking place. Emerald did get up a couple of times to go talk with others but more often, others came to the compartment she's in.
All the seventh years have been celebrating having graduated while at the same time already nostalgic for Hogwarts. Unfortunately for Emerald, coming late to Hogwarts meant that a huge chunk of her Hogwarts memories are tainted with the events of two years ago when Harriet Snider took over as Headmistress. Another year was lost at Happy Haven and then at City of Hope though she doubts that if allowed to be at Hogwarts instead that the year would have gone any better as long as Snider was in charge and Yaxley her second.
Thanks to working so much with the wizarding equivalent of a psychologist, and with plans to continue to do so for awhile yet, Emerald is dealing better with those two years and is able to think of her fifth year at Hogwarts as a good one. That year overall was awful, losing both her parents, finding out her father had lied to them, and to their mother as far as they could discern, leaving the US and friends to live in the UK with relatives only just met, and trying to cram four years of wizarding schooling into a summer and then in with learning what other fifth years were learning. Still, there was learning that such a thing as the wizarding world even existed and that she and her siblings were part of it; learning that not only were they part of it, but they can actually do magic too; meeting Aunt Blythe and Uncle Woody, and learning about the family they never knew existed and also getting to know some of Woody's relatives; making lots of new friends and learning how to stay in contact with the ones back in the States without giving away anything about the wizarding community; dating Phin and being accepted by his very large family; and so, so many other things that helped to balance that year out so that it wasn't so overwhelmingly bad.
Emerald closes her book and puts it into her purse. One thing she LOVES about being a witch is owning a purse that looks like a normal sized purse that would hold a billfold, make-up, small hairbrush, and that sort of thing but which actually can hold the hardbound novel she's reading - a historical fiction novel written by a friend of Phin's Uncle AJ, who gave Emerald the book - and not feel any heavier for it. Considering that all the wizarding money Emerald's come in contact with so far is coins, it's a really good thing not to have to be weighed down with a purse full of the darned things!
Emerald is going on the Muggle Studies trip to China on Monday and is so excited about it she's hardly been able to think properly for making out a list of what she needs to pack for it. She's also already promised a dozen times or more to bring something fabulous back for Olive, Jade, and Hunter. The week they group gets back from China, the Greene-Green family (Uncle Woody's name being Greene, which is sort of fitting for a man who raises herbs and other plants), is hitting the road, figuratively speaking as they are traveling wizarding style, to meet some of the Green relatives Aunt Blythe has told them about but as yet, what with all that's happened, haven't met in person, though Jade and Hunter have meet a couple of them. They will also pay a visits to Uncle Woody's parents. His father, Samuel, has a beach house in Penzance and his mother, Candace, lives in the Lake District, in Ambleside. By the time the Greene-Greens are done visiting everyone, it will be the end of July and time for Emry's Fest, which Emerald is not about to miss as the band Phin is in, Dynamic Duo is starting all the whole shebang.
Come fall, Emerald is starting at St. Emrys University, most likely enrolled in Merlin College, but that isn't certain yet. She'll not only be taking regular classes but she'll be doing the necessary work to get into a Muggle university. Emerald has long had her heart set on attending Duke Univeristy, which means doing things like taking the SAT. One option she's considering is doing both St. Emrys and a British Muggle school and then Duke for grad school. It's a lot to think about and she's going to try not to let any of it stress her while on vacation!
The Hogwarts Express slows considerably then comes to a complete stop. With a start, Emerald realizes she wasn't paying very close attention to the scenery outside or she would have noticed they were pulling into King's Cross Station. Rising, she gathers her things, feeling slightly sad that she didn't get to have the full Hogwarts experience from the time she was eleven but also overjoyed that she is, at last, a high school graduate. It's really too bad they didn't have a cap and gown ceremony. She would have loved to have the tassle off the mortar board to hang from the rear view mirror of the car she's planning on buying with the graduation funds her parents had set aside for just that purpose. She doesn't need a car really, but if she's going to also be attending a Muggle school, it will come in handy to have!
Grabbing her things, Emerald sets off to locate Olive and disembark the Hogwarts Express for what could most likely be the last time.