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In Need Of A Hobby
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 07-23-16 20:31
Ginny rejoins Molly in the Burrow's kitchen. "Finally asleep."
Jamie has been miserable with a stomach bug that so far Albus, Harry, and Ginny have avoided catching. With the Harpies not currently holding practice as the World Cup tournament continues Ginny's been able to be home with Jamie the last few days. For a change of scenery they came to the Burrow and though he's feeling a little better he's still been fussy and not sleeping well. Albus is at the day care, enjoying a petting zoo this morning that Jamie has thankfully forgotten about, at least for the moment. He'll be even crankier once he knows he's missed out.
"Poor dear. I wish the potions you've had for him were more effective."
"Me too! Though, his healer did say that they believe this particular virus has mutated, or drifted as he called it at one point, that the most effective potion for it in the past now needs tweaking."
Molly makes a face then hands Ginny a spoon of some of the sauce she's been simmering. "Try this. I've been doing some tweaking myself. This is a variation of my pesto."
Ginny tentatively tastes the pesto, testing for how hot it might be. She lets it cool slightly then finishes what's on the spoon. "Excellent, but your cooking always is."
"One of the biggest changes with that one is buttermilk instead of cream." Molly hands her another spoon. "This one has toast pumpkin seeds, which some call pepitas."
"Also excellent," Ginny tells her, rising to put both spoons in the sink. "What's with all the experimenting with your recipes?"
"Just wanting to try something different."
"But all at the same time?"
"It can all be canned," Molly says with a sweep of one hand to indicate a number of stacked glass jars. "Do you want to take any home?"
"Well that's a silly question," Ginny grins at her mother.
When Jamie and she leave a short time later Ginny has some of the buttermilk based pesto to go with pasta for dinner. She'll put together a salad as well and she'd tried her hand at a French baguette recipe yesterday. Once home, Jamie curls up on the couch with the dog and the kitten that appeared in the backyard with the dog three days ago. He's soon asleep again while Ginny folds some laundry she'd hung out to dry this morning then settles into a chair with a book. Her thoughts, however, keep wandering from the story. She needs a hobby other than taking photographs for the twins' catalogs for those days both boys are well and are at Blossom's instead of home and she's not busy with Quidditch. Or, more appealing at the moment, finding some way to be, or at least feel, useful with the Order of the Phoenix.
Next thing she knows Jamie is patting her on the arm and the leg repeatedly telling her he's hungry. As he hasn't been wanting much food with this stomach virus, she takes his statement as a positive sign and gets up to fix him a light lunch of soup and toast with jam.
Almost Free
Author: Mildred
Date: 07-24-16 03:25
Mildred left the Great Hall after being dismissed by Professor Elgin. Amelia was waiting at the door. Since her surname was Acker, she had been one of the first ones to take the practical Potions OWL. Mildred, whose surname started with a 'C' was the second from her group of friends to be done.
"How did it go?" Amelia asked.
"All right, I guess. I was asked to brew a Strengthening Solution. I was so nervous at first because Professor Elgin was staring right at me, my hands were shaking they spilled part of the salamander blood into my robes and his shoes when I was opening the jar. But then I just ignored him, like we do with Snape during classes, and things went better. At least the potion got turquoise like it was supposed to be. How about you?"
Amelia made a grimace.
"I got confused and added something I shouldn't to my potion," she shrugged her shoulders. "This sort of thing wouldn't happen if I had been able to get my hands on those Smart Crystals."
"Amelia!" Mildred exclaimed.
The two girls went to the nearest bathroom so Mildred could wash up. Like so many others they had heard about the Smart Crystals circulating around the school. Desperate to get better grades than her older sister Alcmene, Amelia had tried to buy them during the last visit to Hogsmeade. However, the transaction went wrong and she had been caught in the act by Professor McGonagall. She had been very lucky she hadn't received any sort of detention. Beatrix Vanderbilt on the other hand had made her house lose 50 points.
Mildred noticed she had a few drops of dry salamander blood in her face as well. She washed her face and cleaned it with a towel. Now that the Potions OWL was over her mind was on the Care with Magical Creatures one. Although she had decided not to take that class next year since it did not combine with her plans of becoming a midwife, she still wanted to have a decent grade in her OWL. But Amelia still had her mind on the Smart Crystals.
"Achilles still has some with him. I know he does. But he refuses to share."
"He told me he got rid of them," Mildred said, surprised.
Achilles had acquired some crystals himself, long before the scheme had been discovered by Professor McGonagall. Mildred was shocked when he admitted during one of their patrols around the school corridors together, that he had been taking them to study for the OWLs.
"That's what he says, but I don't believe him." Amelia argued.
"It would be very risky of him to have kept them. Achilles isn't that stupid."
Amelia was still in doubt, but she did not insist on the topic. When the girls left the bathroom they found Melpomene at the corridor who had just left the Great Hall. She was smiling, so Mildred concluded she had done well in the exam. From the entire group she was the one who had the greatest marks.
"Only a few more to go and we are free!" she said in a loud tone. A portrait on the wall of an old wizard order her to lower her voice because there were still exams going on, as well as other classes. The girls just laughed and they went to the Gryffindor tower in order to wait for Queenie, Achilles and Wesley there.
Verkhoyansk, Russia
Author: Lee Sickleby
Date: 07-24-16 09:18
The temperature in Verkhoyansk, Russia averaged between -49 degrees and 61 degrees, depending on the time of year. Lee was glad to be assigned to a mission there in June, where it was a balmy 56 degrees. He'd been very reluctant to leave Alaia's bedside, though. She was home again from the hospital, but it probably wouldn't last. The healers at St. Mungo's still didn't know what was wrong with her, and she wasn't getting any better.
Lee almost turned down the mission, even though it related to the case he and Newell had been investigating since January. What if Alaia took a turn for the worse while he was away? What if… Merlin forbid… she died? At least the healers didn't say she was on death's door, or she probably wouldn't have been released from St. Mungo's. Also, Lee took comfort in knowing that Divina would keep an eye on Alaia while he was out of the country. Despite all that, it took Rowle to convince him to go on the mission, and Rowle was very hard to say no to.
As far as Alaia was concerned, Lee's business trip had something to do with the fast approaching Quidditch World Cup in Greenland in July. Lee didn't feel good about the lie, but at least he was in a northern country where it wasn't exactly warm––just not the country she thought.
He and Newell exchanged looks from the barren hillside behind which they were crouched. With it being summer, the snow and blizzard conditions were a non-issue, but it was still on the cold side with thick clouds overhead and hard, cold earth beneath their feet. Both wore light jackets and gloves.
Ahead of them was a small cabin. It looked like the sort of place one might stay on a camping trip. It wasn't anything special, with a single door and window facing the hillside. The roof was made of tin and looked as if it had recently been replaced. Lee wondered how it managed to carry the weight of a lot of snow.
Their job was to enter the cabin and from there drop into an underground tunnel that led to a bunker supposedly underneath the very hill they were perched on. The bunker allegedly housed maps that would be of interest to the Ministry of Magic and probably other foreign governments, too.
It would be no easy feat getting to the maps, as the area was swarming with hostile wizards. A silent agreement made, the two covert operatives crept out from behind the hill and stealthily moved towards the cabin.
Desperate Plea
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 07-24-16 13:19
"Knock, knock."
Lysander looked up from the spreadsheet he was studying in the office at the bookshoppe and saw Astrid standing in the doorway. She was alone.
"Please, come in. Have a seat," Lysander said, rising slightly to indicate to the available chair opposite the desk.
He waited for Astrid to get settled before he admitted, "I wasn't sure you would come." When Astrid didn't respond, he went on. "When you didn't reply to my letter… I thought you might be angry with me for presuming, or perhaps Axel had read it and there'd been trouble. I thought perhaps less likely the latter, since he never turned up here to punch me in the face like what happened with Varus that one time."
If he thought Astrid would crack a smile at the old memory, he was wrong. Instead she smoothed out the hemline of the summer dress she wore and asked, "Do you really think I would abandon my baby?" She fixed him with a stare he could only liken to a mother scolding her child.
"Well, no… but…"
"Lysander, we weren't even together when Dylan would have been conceived. He was born in, what? October 2008?"
"Yes. Something like that."
"We only got reacquainted the summer before, remember? And even then, we didn't sleep together till after my wedding. In other words, unless I had some sort of miracle one-month pregnancy, Dylan can't be my son."
Lysander chewed his bottom lip. He'd already known it to be true, but he'd rather hoped that Astrid would prove him wrong.
She leaned forward then and asked, "So, do you have any idea who his mother could be?"
The answer was written all over Lysander's face.
Astrid's eyes lit up. "Oooh, it's juicy, isn't it? Tell me! Is it someone Julian was or is dating? Is it Grace's mother?"
"No!" Lysander exclaimed. "It's no one like that. It's…" He felt incredibly desperate to shield the truth and leaned across the desk, seizing one of Astrid's hands. "You've got to help me!"
Astrid didn't pull her hand away. "What? Why?"
"Please pretend to be Dylan's mother."
"Lysander, no." Astrid pulled her hand free and shook her head. "I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because I love my husband and I don't want to hurt him, especially with a lie."
"You can tell him we were together before you met him."
"We were together before Dylan could have been conceived, Lysander. That won't work at all."
"Why won't you help me?"
"Because Axel is my soulmate, Lysander. I can't hurt him, and I won't."
"If he's your soulmate and you're his, then he'll love you unconditionally, no matter what you tell him. Your relationship would survive this. And besides…" his expression turned a bit smug, "were you thinking about his welfare when you and I were together after your marriage?"
Astrid's whole expression darkened. "How dare you."
"What? How is it any different? It's not!"
"Can't you see that I'm trying here?" Astrid exclaimed. "I don't want to be that person anymore. I want to be good for my family."
"So do I."
They sat in silence after that, staring at each other from across the desk.
Finally Astrid questioned, "Isn't there someone else you can ask?"
Lysander shook his head no. "There's no one else I trust who would understand and who wouldn't judge me for my actions."
Astrid sighed. "I don't want to agree to this, but I will think about it."
Lysander dropped his head to the surface of his desk and moaned, "Oh, you don't know how relieved I am to hear that."
"I'm not making any promises, Lysander."
He raised his head again and said, "I know. I'm just glad you're considering it."
If Astrid agreed to the ruse, then no one would ever have to know the truth about who Dylan's mother really was. Lysander just hoped that she would never come looking for him.
After The Potions OWLs
Author: Saffron
Date: 07-24-16 15:16
Callie sips a fizzy lemon drink. "I just know I botched the last step of that acne potion."
Katheryn asks, "Did it turn pale purple?"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I got it exactly right," Callie says with a sigh.
Marion, plucking a cherry from her drink by its stem, points out, "If it was the right color then odds are you were closer to right than to wrong."
Returning from getting a drink of her own Savannah looks around, "What happened to Hope?"
"She went that direction to ask someone a question." Callie uses her straw to point.
"More like flirt," Marion says, checking to see if there's another cherry in her glass.
Savannah grins at the comment then switches gears entirely. "I wish I were taking OWLs too. Get them over with."
"Lilith said the same thing after breakfast." Katheryn picks some sprinkles off a fairy cake, nibbling on them before picking up the fairy cake itself to eat.
"I wish I had tomorrow off. My hand is practically permanently clawed from gripping a quill non-stop for days." Marion bends her fingers in an exaggerated claw.
Callie smirks. "I have tomorrow off. I'm going to sleep and sleep."
Tuesday is the Care of Magical Creatures OWL. Savannah and Lilith, who is currently at her Arithmancy & Divination class, have their regular course schedules. Marion and Katheryn will be sitting the theory portion of the OWL just after breakfast while Callie is sleeping in and Hope is probably doing that as well. Of the four of the friends who are fifth years, all four have the Astronomy OWL this week. Marion and Katheryn have Care of Magical Creatures. Katheryn, Callie, and Hope also have Arithmancy & Divination to go and Hope has Muggle Studies as well. They will spend the last days of the term relaxing and recuperating from all the exams while Lilith and Savannah will be writing regular finals.
It goes without saying that all the friends are eager for the exams to be over and the summer holiday begun.
Potions Proctor
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 07-24-16 19:29
The few seventh years awaiting their NEWT Potions practical stand and sit in a loose queue. Sirius looks into the Great Hall then taps the first in line on the arm. "You've got Professor Huntingdon."
Another minute goes by and he's sending a student to Professor Audley then only a few seconds more and he's telling Preston Travers, "You'll see Professor Stow."
Suddenly sleepy though he doesn't know why Sirius stifles a yawn. Perhaps when he's done here he'll take a short nap in his office and cross his fingers that none of the sixth years will drop by to ask questions about the last two class meetings or the major examination next week or about the practical portion, for which each sixth year is scheduled at some point in the week starting tomorrow.
Today, Monday, is a good day for Sirius to be proctoring the OWLs and NEWTs. His Monday classes are the fifth and seventh years, which means he did not have to engage a substitute to cover for him today. He has had to miss regular office hours but as he's staying later this evening he'll make them up then for anyone needing to see him. Dru and the children are coming soon to have dinner here. Mira always loves to eat meals in the Great Hall with the students and he wonders how she'll feel about that when she's a student, something that will happen all too soon. A year from now Jame and Mira will have turned eleven, gotten their Hogwarts letters, and probably have been shopping for their wands, at Ollivander's of course.
Down to two seventh years now. Sirius sends Whitney Widowmaker to Professor Elgin then Kida Young to see Professor Audley. He steps into the Great Hall behind Kida, ready to signal each professor that they are finished for the day as each wraps up with their current students.
He stays long enough to assist in returning the Great Hall to its usual state, ready for the influx of students and staff for the evening meal. As he walks back to the doors to go to his office for that quick nap, and to see any students who drop by, Sirius thinks about how quickly this school year has gone by and about the family vacation the Eternal-Black family will be taking in another month. Dru and Sirius are also going as chaperones on this year's Muggle Studies sponsored trip for seventh years though Dru has been having second thoughts.
It's not that she no longer wants to go. It's that Dru and her cousin Ivaylo Rakovski are in the middle of getting a business started. They've got shoppe space in Hogsmeade next to Burger Wizard and across from MacFusty's. They have at least one other working with them but Dru's been mum about it so far.
Outside the Great Hall Sirius is stopped by a student. Five minutes later he's on his way again, reaching his office where he puts a note on the door to knock loudly. His office isn't large but it's cozy and he's got a small sofa, more like a loveseat, on which he can stretch out. Within minutes he's not only stretched out but already starting to doze off.
Theory of Care of Magical Creatures
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 07-25-16 11:00
It's been a whole year of weird for Fritz. Now he's proctoring for the OWLs and NEWTs, something he never imagined himself doing when he was a student at Hogwarts only a short time ago. He's been assigned to proctor the Care of Magical Creatures exams. Care of Magical Creatures was one of his electives when he attended Hogwarts himself, so it's a subject that holds his interest. He can also sympathize with the fifth and seventh year students currently writing their Theory of Care of Magical Creatures exams, because he's already been there and done that.
In the afternoon, Fritz will be out by the stables, monitoring the students waiting to take their practical examinations. Unfortunately, it's still on the rainy side. Fritz wonders if there will be a marquee set up to keep the waiting students (and himself) dry, or if getting damp or soaked will be part of the test-taking experience. Maybe he should carry an umbrella and bring extras.
Fritz is glad his proctoring duties fell this week and not last week. He had finals at St. Emrys to worry about and though he probably could have gotten some studying in while sitting at the High Table, he probably wouldn't have concentrated very much. After all, he's supposed to be making sure the examinees don't need him to replace broken quills or received his permission to visit the loo.
Fritz thinks he did fine on his two exams and the final project for the Potions Research Colloquia he took last term. He's just waiting for the results to get posted so that he knows for sure. Assuming all went well like he suspected, Fritz will have only one year left in his Primary Order of Potions program. It's exciting to know that he's almost finished, but he's not sure what he'll do afterwards. The Alchemy position at Hogwarts isn't full-time, so he'll most certainly have to find something else. He doesn't have to think about that just yet, though. First things first.
A panicked-looking student raises her hand and beckons Fritz over. He leans in and whispers, "What do you need?"
"My quill stopped writing!" she frantically whispers. "I think it's out of ink!"
Fritz had grabbed a few quills before leaving the High Table and exchanges the one that's not writing for a fresh one. He looks around to see if anyone else needs anything before heading back up to the HIgh Table.
"Two hours remaining!" he calls out, before sitting back down in his seat.
It's a Deal
Author: Gerry
Date: 07-25-16 15:01
Gerry and Will dragged their feet on the way to Potions class. Neither was particularly excited at the prospect of what would probably amount to a review session, since finals took place next week. They were tired of studying and just wanted the school year to be over with already.
Gerry was especially done with homework and studying ever since learning that there would be no Quidditch next school year. Somehow he hadn't heard that fact till late in the game, or maybe he'd just been in denial about it. Either way, had he truly known that there wouldn't be a Quidditch season at Hogwarts next year, then he probably wouldn't have tried to improve his marks so much. He also wouldn't have wasted his money on Smart Crystals. After all, his parents couldn't remove him from the Quidditch team if there wasn't going to be one.
"I heard someone say that Smart Crystals are more in demand now that they aren't being made anymore," Will told Gerry, who had just complained about the fact that he'd spent his allowance on something it turned out he never needed.
"How do you know they aren't being made anymore?" Gerry asked.
"Well, that one girl got caught, didn't she?" Will said. "Besides, you know Professor McGonagall and the other teachers probably already searched the castle high and low for the production site."
"Assuming it was actually in the castle to begin with," Gerry commented. "Okay, so there's a demand for Smart Crystals. It'd be risky for someone who's still got some to sell, don't you think?"
"For sure," Will agreed, "but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done. You just have to be one step ahead of the teachers." He looked around to make sure no one in the corridor was listening and lowered his voice to ask, "So… have you got any leftover?"
Gerry didn't immediately answer. The truth was that he did have one unopened tin stashed away in his school trunk. Since there really wasn't any point in using it himself, he could try to sell it and make back some of the money he spent in the first place.
"Yeah…" he finally admitted.
Will grinned. "There's three days of OWLs and NEWTs left after today, and then all next week is finals. Surely we'll find someone desperate enough to pay top galleon for your stash."
"How would we advertise?"
"We won't. We'll just have to be attentive to the needs of our classmates. As your sales partner, I'll expect a cut."
Gerry chuckled. "Fine. We'll split it 80/20."
"60/40."
"70/30. They're my Smart Crystals."
"Fine. 70/30."
The boys shook hands and then continued to Potions class.
Practical Exam (Mason)
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 07-26-16 19:38
For the practical portion of the Care of Magical Creatures NEWT Mason has Professor Huntingdon. To Mason it feels as though he's been standing there at least an hour, maybe two, being grilled. The time he's been answering questions is more like ten minutes and definitely not above fifteen.
Professor Huntingdon arranges four crustacean shells on the table. "Which belongs to the Mackled Malaclaw?"
Mason touches a shell that's light gray with green spots. "This is from a Mackled Malaclaw."
Without indicating whether Mason is correct or not the examiner next asks, "What would happen if you were to eat a Mackled Malaclaw?"
"I'd have a high fever and a green rash."
"Thank you. Now, one last set of questions. Do you see those birds?"
Mason looks at the cages where Professor Huntingdon is pointing. "Yes, sir."
"Walk to the Augurey's cage and bring me a feather from the bottom of the cage."
Mason does as instructed. The Augurey itself is only just visible in its next of brambles and thorns. There are several of the greenish-black feathers along the bottom of the cage. Selecting one he turns to go back to where Professor Huntingdon sits and as he does, a odd cry emanates from the cage. Back at the table he holds out the feather only to have the older wizard say, "How fortuitous. What does the Augurey's cry tell you?"
"That we'll have rain sometime soon."
He earns a smile then the professor waves a hand over a variety of items. "Demonstrate which of these an Augurey's feather repels."
Reaching for the bottle of ink Mason attempts to put a drop onto the feather only to have the drop stay beaded and slide right off."
Another smile as Professor Huntingdon says, "Lastly, select from these items a food the Augurey would like and take it to the cage, please."
Augurey's eat insects and fairies. As there are no fairies but there are some insects along with berries, grubs, and straw, Mason selects the insects. He's sort of glad it's insects and not fairies. He's not sure he could feed a fairy, even a Doxy, to the Augurey.
After he's taken the insects to the cage and left them for the bird, he's dismissed. Walking from the testing area he spots Boris lazing on a bench under a tree. Joining his friend, who asks how the exam went, they walk toward the castle where Mason plans to get food asap. He's starving again.