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Kazuo Pays A Visit
Author: Kissy Isuki
Date: 12-14-06 18:23
Leaving her office with the thought of going back to her residence for a snack, Kissy decides to first step outside for a couple of minutes of fresh air. As she's opening the door to walk out Kazuo Ito-Throckmorton is reaching for the door to enter. Kazuo steps back in startlement then nervously laughs.
Kissy smiles, something she once wouldn't have done at the sight of Kazuo. "Happy New Year, Kazuo. What brings you to Hogwarts?"
"Happy New Year to you as well. I came hoping to see you. With today being New Year's Day I wasn't sure if you'd even be here."
Stepping out of the doorway so that Kazuo can come inside, Kissy asks, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"I'm remembering a few things and I've been doing my own investigating on those parties and other things you told me about, including the restraining order you had against me through the Ministry. Would you let me buy you supper while I bend your ear?"
"Yes, of course. I want to get to the bottom of all this."
Kissy goes to her office to get the coat she keeps there then she and Kazuo walk into Hogsmeade for supper.
Oh!
Author: Charlie Weasley
Date: 12-14-06 20:32
"I'm fixing a sandwich, Hendrika. Would you like one as well?"
"Yes, thanks. Some of that roast beef your mum sent last night, or this morning rather."
Knowing by now that Hendrika loves tomatoes and crunchy pickle slices with a little bit of spicy mustard on a roast beef sandwich, Charlie only has to ask, "Toasted bread or no?"
"Toasted I think. Oh, and a thin slice of cheese too. The Swiss."
A few minutes later Charlie walks into the living room where Hendrika is curled on the coach listening to the WWN. Schuyler is playing on a blanket spread over the rug. Charlie hands Hendrika a plate with the roast beef sandwich, some fruit salad, and some corn chips. He also hands her a glass of lemonade then returns to the kitchen to get his own plate and drink.
The program they're listening to ends so Hendrika locates something else entertaining, settling on a day after New Year's Quidditch match tradition between two teams in a part of the world where it's already January 2nd. Things are getting quite interesting with two of the opposing chasers playing chicken but since neither swerves there's a massive mid-air head-on collision when Hendrika suddenly sits up straighter with an exclaimed, "Oh!"
At first, Charlie thinks she's reacting to the commentator's vivid decription of the collision but when she does it again after things in the match have moved on, Charlie asks, "What's the matter?"
"Stick your head in the Floo and ask either Molly or Ginny to come watch Schuyler."
"What's wrong, Hendrika?" Charlie asks already at the fireplace to do as she'd bidden.
"My water just broke," she replies trying to sound as calm as she can given that the baby isn't due for a good six weeks.
Charlie gets Molly then half a minute later is thanking his mum for coming so quickly and hustling Hendrika into the Floo.
Back to Inventing
Author: Illyria
Date: 12-15-06 10:12
Illyria spent much of New Year's Day sleeping and when she wasn't doing that, she was working on the telescope she'd more or less set aside since the day she'd been told that the Ministry of Magic was cutting the funding for her invention. She'd made herself a New Year's resolution last night: she would complete her invention and submit it to the World Astronomical Society by New Year's Day of 2002. She'd almost forgotten how much she loved tinkering with new things, how much she loved creating, how much she loved working with her hands and her mind.
Once the Astronomy Event for the SAT was over, then she'd have more time to play with her invention. The Astronomy Event was scheduled for the end of the month, on January 27. Ilyria rather looked forward to it. She'd never been to Beauxbatons before, though she had visited France a few times in her life. She'd also heard good things about the SAT from the professors who'd already had their sponsored events occur.
Before Fall Term ended, Illyria had always had her door open for all students interested in getting a little extra tutoring, but especially for those 14 students participating in the Astronomy Event SAT. Once Winter Term began, she intended on holding some review sessions for the SAT participants to get them even more ready for the rapidly approaching trip to Beauxbatons.
All the Astronomy Event sponsors were due to meet one more time before the actual event to discuss last minute business, though all the major parts had long been agreed upon.
All seven judges had been decided on: Fa Cheng, an astronomer from Hong Kong; Albina Galaska, former professor of Astronomy at a Scandanavian school of magic; Dervila O'Toole, an author of many books on astrology; Ophelos Galanopoulos, former professor of Astronomy at the Greek school of magic; Eugen Kurtz, former professor of Astronomy at the German school of magic; Fabrizio Lancione, an astronomer with the Italian Ministry of Magic; and Janet Smith, an American author of highly lauded astronomy textbooks.
Illyria had met only a few of the selected judges but had heard excellent things about all of them.
An owl tapping at her window drew her attention away from her thoughts and the telescope with which she fiddled. She got up and opened the window, exclaiming loudly when cold air rushed into the room with the owl. She quickly shut the window and grabbed a shawl from the back of her chair.
She recognized the owl as her sister Arsinoe's.
The note it carried had only a few words:
Bridesmaid dress fittings. Tomorrow. 10 AM. Narcissa's, Diagon Alley.
Illyria flipped the note over and picked up a quill. She wrote:
I'll be there. - IJ
And she sent the owl back on its way.
(Caden) The Prophecy
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 12-15-06 11:39
Ronan played basketball outside, despite the chilly weather. He'd layered up and carried a set of hot rocks in his pocket, but really didn't seem to mind the cold. Caden watched his younger brother from the window and shook his head. He'd not have been out there, not for anything in the world.
Caden turned away from the window and stared down the dark hallway that led to his bedroom. The urge to smash open the orb he'd stolen from the Ministry of Magic overcame him often, but so far he'd managed to stave off the actual act of doing it. Why not? he often told himself. Why steal the thing if all he'd do was put it on his mantle and never find out what the prophecy said about himself?
He walked down the hallway almost blindly, for there weren't any windows and he hadn't turned on the light. When he entered his bedroom, it was still dark though not nearly as much. He'd left his curtains drawn shut.
The orb was in a shoebox under his bed. He went to his bedside and knelt down, reaching underneath the mattress to pull out the shoebox. He set it down on his bed and sat down next to it. Caden pulled off the lid and picked up the orb in one hand, turning it over gently in his palm.
Should l? he asked himself.
Why not leave it in the Hall of Prophecy if you aren't going to do anything with it? he answered. That's why you took it, isn't it? You want to know what the prophecy says.
Caden nonetheless felt torn. He started to put the orb back in the shoebox when something hit the window behind him, causing him to jump. The orb fell from his hand and crashed open on the hardwood floor.
A ghostly white figure of a young woman appeared from the orb. Caden recognized her immediately as his stepmother.
"Darkness devours the one born of the fair witch and the rising auror. A taste for blood, a quest for vengeance, and a thirst for power will take hold and never release him."
She melted away, leaving only glass shards on the floor.
For a moment, Caden was stunned by both what he saw and heard. But then the words sank in. His father wasn't an auror and his mother, judging by the only photograph he had of her, wasn't fair. The prophecy couldn't possibly be about him.
Except, it was impossible for someone to touch an orb belonging to someone else without going insane. Anytime Caden handled the orbs at the Ministry for his cataloguing project, he didn't actual touch them. It was a delicate process and a dangerous one. If he hadn't been so desperate for work, he might not have taken the risks he did everyday on the job.
Caden heard the back door slam. Ronan had come in from playing basketball outside.
Caden quickly dropped to his knees and brushed the glass under his bed. He cut his hands on some of the shards and cursed aloud.
"Caden? Is everything all right?" Ronan called.
"Everything's fine," Caden shouted. He rose to his feet and kicked the remaining shards under his bed. Then he went to the bathroom adjoining his bedroom and stuck his hands under running water.
Just what did the prophecy mean? And what did Caden's stepmother have to do with it?
New Family Member
Author: Anthony Beck
Date: 12-15-06 11:57
Anthony came home from spending part of the day with Plum to find his entire family seated around the dining table. Ariella and Alanna looked like they weren't sure what to make of the news they'd been given. Gramps had a blank expression on his face, while Nana seemed as if she could hardly contain the mix of emotions that welled up inside of her.
"What's wrong?" Anthony asked, looking grave. He feared that someone had died.
Alanna was the one to speak up first. "Your friend's mum stopped by around lunchtime. Margaret Spinnet."
"Is Katherine all right?"
"She's fine," Nana said.
"Then what's the matter?" Anthony asked. He sat down next to Ariella and looked imploringly at his grandparents. He couldn't take the suspense any longer and could have shouted at them for drawing it out for so long.
"She made a claim I don't want to believe, yet I know I must because there simply is no denying it," Nana said. "She said..." She choked on her words, as if they were some of the most difficult she ever had to say, and aside from the time when she had to tell the children their parents had died and again that Kendra had died, it was perhaps exceedingly hard to tell them that Tobias Beck, Jr. hadn't been all they'd thought he'd been.
"She said," Nana continued, "that she had an affair with your father before Kendra's birth. Kendra and Katherine are nearly the same age and they look so alike. Katherine is your half-sister, Anthony."
Anthony could hardly remember his father, so he didn't feel particularly hurt to learn such scandalous news about him. Ariella and Alanna had known their father even less, but seemed torn about what they'd learned because they both had the romantic notion that a husband should stay faithful to his wife forever. Anthony certainly felt the same way, but was somehow thrilled by the news. He could tell that his grandparents were torn themselves, but they both liked Katherine very much and had found Margaret a very pleasant woman before learning the truth about her and her connection to Tobias.
"Hey, why so glum?" came a new voice. It was Toby, having just come in from being out all night with Bronwyn.
Anthony beckoned for Toby to have a seat at the table. "You're going to want to hear this." He turned back to his grandparents. "Does Katherine know the truth?"
"Her mother said she would tell her today," Nana said.
"The truth about what?" Toby asked.
Anthony looked to his grandmother again so that she could tell the story all over again for Toby's benefit.
A Very Big Oops
Author: Kissy Isuki
Date: 12-15-06 19:10
"I killed Finnegan Fudge."
Kissy states this to Forest Woods after having already said it to one of the Aurors on duty when she'd first shown up at the Ministry. Kissy had calmly related the very basics telling the Auror that Forest Woods and Alix Gauthier are familiar with her and her connection to Finnegan Fudge. It was only after Woods had been summoned that the Auror put Kissy's name to the incident that put her family in Azkaban.
Kissy waited in a room that is fairly spartan with only one round table and a couple of metal framed chairs. Fortunately Woods got there pretty quickly and escorted Kissy into his office asking as they walked in, "What happened?"
"I killed Finnegan Fudge."
Woods quirks an eyebrow and asks, "Details?"
Kissy starts with when Kazuo came to Hogwarts looking for her, leaving out nothing that was said from that time until they parted after having supper in Hogsmeade.
Woods holds up a finger to indicate he wants to say something. "You parted ways at the restaurant?"
"Yes, just outside the Imperial Crown & Cauldron. Kazuo offered to walk me back up to the school but I declined."
"So you started back to the school alone and then what?"
"I was almost at the halfway point between the village and the school when I heard someone approaching from behind. I thought it was Kazuo remembering something else to tell me so I turned and called out his name. That's when I saw it was Finnegan Fudge.
He was scowling at me. When I asked what he wanted Fudge snarled It's not enough you sent your parents, your brother and his wife to prison, now you're trying to get Kazuo away from Traditions. Stay away from him!
I replied that Kazuo came to me, not the other way around. I reminded him my family got themselves put in prison by their illegal actions and then I turned to walk away. Fudge grabbed my arm and said my parents should have taken care of me when he first told them to. I shoved him away and reached for my wand when I saw he was pulling out his own. When I shoved, Fudge took a step back and seemed to stumble. Then he fell and didn't get back up.
When several more seconds went by and Fudge hadn't gotten up or even so much as twitched I knelt down beside him. I lit the end of my wand and saw the blood as I felt for a pulse. When it was clear to me he was dead I came straight here."
Woods nods at Kissy then stands. "I'm going to have you write out a statement. While you're doing that I'm going to go join those already at the scene."
Woods leave Kissy in his office working on getting the statement written. She takes her time to make sure she's leaving nothing out and besides, it's going to be a long night.