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Bearer of Bad News
Author: Illyria
Date: 01-13-10 16:49
Finding herself in between families for a brief moment, Illyria turned to the ceiling above her head and flicked her wand. What looked like silver sparks and tiny twinkling stars flew from the tip of her wand and showered the enchanted ceiling's inky night sky, where moments before the solar system had been, with Saturn and its many rings very prominent. The stars twinkled as if they were the real thing, and occasionally shooting stars and comets raced across the ceiling.
Smiling in satisfaction at her handiwork, Illyria stowed her wand and turned back to the front door of her classroom to see if anyone else was coming up the stairs of the Astronomy Tower. Because it was still daylight outside and since it was quite cool still, Illyria had chosen to meet the parents and other family members of her students in her classroom, rather than up on the observation deck. The observation deck was certainly open to anyone interested in seeing it, though.
She hadn't checked it out for herself, but she felt sure that Professor Quigley was also hanging out in her classroom, rather than outside where the sun was still shining.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, heralding the arrival of another student with family, or so Illyria anticipated. Who she saw instead was someone she wasn't expecting in the least.
"Roland? What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
Roland rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and looked a bit sheepish. "I need to talk to you, and I'd heard that today is parents day and that the castle would more or less be open to visitors, so I thought I could get away stopping by, even if I'm not the parent of a Hogwarts student and have no family here to speak of."
Illyria looked doubtful but stepped out of the doorway to admit him to her classroom. She looked over her shoulder at the empty stairwell and then turned to him. "What now? Do you owe more money?"
"In a manner of speaking––"
"Roland!" Illyria hissed, trying not to raise her tone too much. "Why did you get yourself into this mess again? It's not fair of you to ask me to bail you out again."
"Illyria, I didn't do it again, at least not like before. This is... different, and it really was wrong of me but I was desperate to bail myself out..."
Illyria narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about, Roland? Just cut to the chase."
He looked away, down at the floor, at the walls, at the starry night over his head––anywhere but Illyria's face. "Remember when I repaid you your loan?"
Illyria felt her stomach drop. Why was it that she knew he was going to deliver her some very bad news. "Yes?" she managed, trying not to screech out of frustration.
"Well," he said, still looking anywhere but at his ex-girlfriend, "it wasn't exactly mine to give."
"What?" Illyria said, more confused than upset.
"I repaid your loan with someone else's money, and now that person wants his money back."
Before Illyria could start yelling, first year Eilonwy Barrett showed up with a man and woman in tow, who were probably her parents. Illyria clamped her mouth shut, quickly calmed herself and then smiled in greeting at the newcomers. It was a wonder she managed to have a coherent conversation with them because all she could think of was the fact that Roland was still in the classroom and that he had paid her back with stolen money.
Cloud Kiss Tour
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 01-13-10 18:13
I'd sent out notices to the parents of my students and posted the notice in several locations around Hogwarts, such as my castle classroom, office door, and the Great Hall, with times I'd be at the Floo to personally conduct tours of Cloud's Kiss. For Parents DAy, anyone at Hogwarts is welcome to come and go as they please but for the parents, and even some students, who want a guided tour of what amounts to the Muggle Studies lab, I thought it best to set specific times, both for those wanting such a tour and for my own sake. This way, I know where I need to be at certain times and am not having to constantly check to see who might be waiting on such a tour.
One such tour is just getting under way with three sets of parents of students I have and four sets of parents of students not in my classes. Of those four sets, three are of second years who are gathering information on the current courses and instructors at Hogwarts to better help with the decision on what electives their children should take next term as third years.
Part of the group waits at Cloud's Kiss for the rest of the group to step from the Floo. When everyone's there, I start for the doors to lead them to the first stop on the tour, the computer room, talking as I go when Cordelia Quincy's mother stops me to ask, "Would it be all right if I look at this switch up close? It IS the light switch, correct?"
"Yes, Mrs. Quincy. That is the switch for the big light overhead. That table lamp beside you has its own switch as does that table lamp there."
Jasper Hood's father bends to inspect one of the table lamps. "This nob here?"
"Yes, just give it a turn, and feel free to flip the main light switch there as much as you wish, Mrs. Quincy. It's a simply up and down switch. In another room I'll show you one for the main lights in that room that is a large knob, which adjusts the brightness of the lights as well as turning them on and off."
Mr. Hood experiments with the table lamp before moving out of the way to allow anyone else who's curious to do the same. "Interesting. I've seen such things before but none that actually worked."
Mrs. Quincy nods. "Same here. Back when I took Muggle Studies, we were in a classroom at Hogwarts. We were shown pictures and given switchs to play around with but of course those didn't actually do anything. It made it all very difficult to understand. I still don't grasp how moving this switch from down to up makes the light come on but at least I have seen for myself that the switch really does make the light turn on."
"When you have time for a lengthy discussion on electricity, I'll be happy to do my best to explain. Now, are we all ready to see the computer room?"
There are nods all around so I led them into the hallway to the computer room. The father of second year Anita Tuck falls into step with me to ask, "I'm very excited to see this computer room but what exactly is a computer?"
Gesturing to the open doorway I say, "A computer is a wonderful piece of Muggle technology. Have a seat right there and as soon as the others who wish to have a hands on lesson are seated, I'm going to walk you through some of the basics, including something called the internet."
Drake, who's on hand today to help me out with such things, grins at Mr. Tuck, "You're going to love this!"
Sure enough, within minutes, Mr. Tuck and the others new to computers, are oohing and aahing as Drake and I take them step by step through looking at typing a letter, playing Minesweeper, and looking up news and weather online as well as surfing a few interesting websites. By the time the computer room demonstration is over and we're heading for the room where I've got the bank of telephones the students practice on as well as a number of other gadgets and gizmos, I'm pretty sure Mr. Tuck is sold on Muggle Studies, though whether Anita will want to take it is another matter.
Parents Day
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 01-14-10 00:29
“Hum…dad?”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing down there?” Johanna asked to her father. Anthony Steele was in his knees, bellow one of the tables of the Slytherin common room. There were several students and their parents inside the common room, and Johanna sincerely hoped no one had noticed her father.
“Ha ha! It’s still here! Wait until I tell Albert.” Anthony said with enthusiasm.
“What are you talking about?”
“Go and see for yourself.” She did what she was told, but before she kneeled down the table she looked around making sure no one was watching her.
“Now what?” She asked.
“Look up.”
There were two identical initials marked on the dark wood of the table. A.S.
“Anthony Steele.” Johanna said standing up, with a smile.
“Yes. Your uncle and I wanted to leave a part of us at Hogwarts. We didn’t had trophies with our names, so we figured out it had to be this way. He had the idea but it was I who did the spell. Those initials will only disappear if the table disappears too.
“And no one found out?”
“I’m sure the house elves had noticed. But I was on my way home when they did so. I marked the table on my last day as a Hogwart’s student.”
“How about uncle Albert?”
“Well he went into vacations and only comeback next fall as a 7th year. They wouldn’t put him in detention for a thing he did during the other school year.”
Johanna was happy to be with her father today. She liked to hear his stories about some episodes that happened during his student life. Her mother, Grace, was a muggle and Anthony decided not to bring her to this new and confusing place. Plus she had to work that Saturday. Grace herself, wrote to Johanna explaining she couldn’t miss her work by justifying to her boss it was parent’s days at Hogwarts. It felt good to have her father’s full attention on her.
His father greeted all the members of the staffs, even the ones who didn’t give classes to Johanna. Knowing her daughter was very fond of History of Magic, Anthony even tried to shake hands with Professor Binns without success, although the ghost seemed happy with the gesture.
“I had just bought you a ticket to the third year of History of Magic.” Her father said, putting his right hand on his pocket. “I almost forgot what is like to touch a ghost. It’s like I had put my hand inside a bucket full of cold water.”
“I don’t need help to pass History of Magic. But I may need help in Charms…” It was Johanna’s worse subject. She had never been talented with that subject, although Professor Ivy was very patient with her. Johanna wondered if she should pass by her office someday and ask her for some extra classes. But she was too proud for that and so she was always delaying it.
“Oh Merlin…from all the things you had to inherit my incapacity of performing charms.”
“But can perform them well!” She said surprised.
They keep their way around the castle. At the beginning Anthony assumed the tour guide position but he ended up to lose himself. The moving stairs had confused him. So Johanna led the way, guiding her father and showing him everything. Lunch time was arriving. Together they walked to the Great Hall. Anthony’s eyes glowed with the perspective of sitting again at the Slytherin’s table. As for Johanna she wanted to end the meal quickly so she could show her father the greenhouses and the grounds before he had to return home.
(Anthony) Difficult Case
Author: Beck
Date: 01-14-10 12:08
Sheets of parchment covered Anthony's desk, all containing names and the occasional note about a particular wizard. He and Desi had gone through every name on the scrolls taken from Gringotts Bank and had managed to come up with persons of interest, though whether any of them truly had anything to do with Bill Weasley's disappearance still remained up in the air.
Some of the visitors to the bank during the time period in question had criminal records, though none had done anything more serious than commit burglarly. Anthony didn't necessarily believe that he could draw a connection between thievery and kidnapping, and who knew if the mystery visitor to Gringotts even had a criminal record himself? Who knew if he even had anything to do with Bill's odd disappearance?
Because of this doubt, just about every male who'd stepped into the bank went on the list. Some easily identified and not matching the description of the mystery wizard were immediately crossed off, but a great deal more warranted further investigation.
Between researching names, Anthony and Desi had also interviewed various family members, coworkers and other acquaintances of Bill's with the goal of ruling out other reasons than kidnapping for his disappearance. From the information they'd gathered, it seemed highly unlikely that he'd just up and walked away from everybody.
From his wife's account, Bill had left their home to walk to the bank, where he'd only intended on staying for an hour. As long as he hadn't detoured on the way––left Hogsmeade completely, that was––he should have been found somewhere along the route, if something had happened to him to prevent him from reaching his destination and returning home. Kidnapping, therefore, seemed a likely explanation for his disappearance.
Anthony just didn't feel too confident about it, not when there wasn't much to go on. It certainly didn't help that enough time had gone by since Bill's disappearance that he might not even be alive anymore. Narrowing down the possibilities sooner rather than later was just one reason why Anthony was spending all day Saturday working. The assignment given to him and Desi was huge, not to mention somebody's life could possibly be at stake.
Anthony grabbed one of the lists off of his desk and got up to make some house calls. At the very least, he could put faces to the names, and just maybe, he'd meet the mystery man who at the present time was the only real suspect they had.
(Mark) Go Home Already
Author: Isolde
Date: 01-14-10 12:51
Mark had spent the day showing his parents around Hogwarts. They'd met with his professors, seen demonstrations, and lounged in the Slytherin common room and the common common room, which hadn't existed when they'd both been students at Hogwarts. With the end of the evening rapidly arriving, they went to the Great Hall for a banquet.
By then, Mark was ready for his parents to go home. It wasn't that he didn't get along with them, but he was starting to feel as if they were cramping his style. It somehow didn't matter to him that all of his friends and acquaintances had their parents around too. He merely wanted Parents Day to end already. Besides, a perfectly good Saturday had been wasted! He could have slept until noon and spent the rest of the day hanging out with his friends. Instead, he'd been stuck with his parents and teachers!
At least he still had tomorrow, but with Sunday came the knowledge that another school week would be starting the very next day. Mark really could wait for Easter hols to start!
He led his folks over to the Slytherin table, where they'd eaten lunch together earlier that day. The Great Hall wasn't crowded yet, but families were starting to trickle in for the evening feast. Just as he happened to glance at the doorway, Kate Dewhurst entered with a man who could only be her dad. She didn't glance his way and led her father to the Hufflepuff table.
"She's a Hufflepuff," Eviene Farnon murmured chastisingly.
"What?" Mark asked, turning to her in surprise.
"That girl you were staring at," his mother replied. "Why would you have any interest in the likes of her?"
Mark's parents were definitely of the Slytherin superiority mindset.
Mark felt his cheeks go hot. "I don't––I'm not––" He couldn't believe his mother would insinuate that he liked Kate Dewhurst of all girls.
Mark's father looked up and down the Slytherin table. "There are plenty of cute girls in your own house, son, though I think you may be a little young for dating."
"He'll be 14 this year," Eviene told her husband. "He's at an age when boys begin showing an interest in girls. Don't you remember how old you were when you started dating me?"
Mark wished he could disappear under the table, but more than anything, he really wanted his parents to go home!
Studious
Author: Kody
Date: 01-14-10 17:36
"In the library studying on a Saturday evening. My, my, but you've become quite the dedicated student, Kody."
Looking up from the notes he's making, Kody puts his quill down, glad for an excuse to take a break. "Hi, Emma. A research paper due and a major exam due the same day next week for the same course on top of other assignments and Quidditch and the band hasn't given me much choice to be doing anything else tonight."
Emma Crusher pulls out the chair opposite Kody and sits down. "I still would have thought you'd be on a date or that the band would have a gig or both."
"We would have liked to have had something for Dynamic Duo tonight but it wasn't convenient for all of us."
"But no date either? Daria have something else going as well?"
"She and I broke up ages ago. We've just been friends since then, or were friends. I'm not sure what we are anymore."
"That's bollocks and everyone but you two knows it. You are far more than just friends."
"Doesn't matter now if we were. Daria's got angry with me about something and has kept her distance every since, which is for the best really until she can be reasonable and rational about it."
"What was it?"
Kody nearly blushes visibly, suddenly feeling very awkward at the way this conversation is going. He is not about to confess to Emma Crusher that she was the object of Daria's irrational tirade and continued peevishness. Kody looks down to fiddle with his quill as he shrugs and says, "It doesn't matter. Either she'll come around or she won't." Looking up again, Kody decides a change of subject is in order. "What brings you here on a Saturday night?"
"I'm doing a little research of my own and needed to check something in a library use only reference book. I wasn't doing anything else so now was as good a time as any. I'm all done now and was thinking of grabbing some dinner. Would you like to come with?"
Kody is well past the point of wanting a break and he is, as ever, hungry. Nodding as he starts grabbing for things to back into his bookbag, Kody says, "Dinner would be great. What are you in the mood for?"
"I was thinking either Thai or Indian, maybe even Vietnamese. I could go for some pho."
"Have you tried that place two blocks from the school's main entrace? It has the best pho I've ever had."
"Muggle or Wizarding?"
"Muggle."
"So we walk but if it's only two blocks, at least we won't have much time to feel the cold."
Shoving the last item into his bookbag, Kody stands up, following behind Emma to the set of doors they'll use to exit the library, asking as they go, "What are you researching?"
Emma launches into an explanation that starts out as a simple summary but with Kody continuing to ask questions and showing an interest turns into something longer. When they reach the restaurant she's still telling Kody all about it. That's just fine with him since it means not having to field more questions about Daria and him.