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Busy Saturday
Author: Araxie Loren
Date: 05-09-12 13:14
Saturday afternoon, and how am I spending it? Cleaning my room, no seriously, that's exactly what I'm doing. My Aunt and Uncle are out running errands and then going to dinner at a friend's house and I've got the house to myself until around ten pm or so because it is their usual Saturday routine and so I decided that I wanted to clean and rearrange my room. I've also got another small room that my Uncle had added on to the garage last year for me to write and draw in, today is the day that I am painting that – in traditional muggle style with paint buckets and drop cloths and the whole nine yards. Nichole is supposed to be coming over to help with that later, but for now I want to get my room done.
Laundry neatly folded and put in my drawers or hung in the spacious closet, shoes neatly tucked away and my books once more righted upon the bookshelf. Some for personal books, and others for the school books that I use for my lessons with my tutor, which will soon enough be replaced by ones from Hogwarts – because my letter is due eventually and I will have to get books for that. I also made sure that my magazine collection was tucked neatly away, and I'd even freshened up Charlotte's little cat bed and she'd immediately curled upon the thick cushion and was watching me as I worked.
While I was cleaning I was in a Punk/Metal mood today and currently the sound of Killed by a Curse was blaring through my room and I sang along with "Poison Arrow (Through the Heart)" while I finished making my bed and then turned my attention to the extensive poster collection that I had, as well as some old photos of my mum before I was born. I still needed to get a Dynamic Duo poster, maybe I could get one at Emrys Fest if they were going to be there this summer, because I needed more eye candy for my bedroom and the male portion of Dynamic Duo was for the most part on my want to snog list along with Kyle Martin the lead vocalist of Killed by a Curse.
Eventually I get my room cleaned and realize that I'd not eaten anything since this morning when my uncle had made a huge breakfast. Dusting my hands off I headed down to the kitchen and made myself a peanut butter and jam sandwich and tossed some cheesy crisps on the plate as well. Bottle of butterbeer from the fridge and I headed out to the room just off the patio that would be my little studio. There were drop cloths, plastic tarps, painters tape, and buckets of paint waiting for me. I sighed, knowing that this would be my little slice of heaven when I came home from school. I'd miss it while I was away, but it would be a delight to come home to.
I had spent most of last night sketching on the walls the scene that would take up two of the four walls. It was a meadow with a bubbling spring, something almost out of a Gaelic Faerie Story that I'd read some time ago. Rainbows and butterflies and things of that nature would fill the pair of walls. Smiling I could already see it in its completed stages, now I just had to get it there. The other two walls would be filled with a spacescape, complete with nebulas and planets and the constellations mapped out in the sky. My three passions in one room, my little haven, and I was thankful that my aunt and uncle had allowed me to install a lock on the door for when I was not home so that nothing could disturb any pending projects that I had.
I had refused to let my mind dwell on the melancholy that had threatened to overwhelm me at mum's gravesite. I was not going to give into the threat of tears, give into the threat of a childish tempertantrum because I did not have my mother any more. In the end, I'd decided on a small sculpture that I'd worked on over the past couple of weeks and had finished late last night. It was a pair of hearts twined, made of metal and shimmering gems. I'd left it at her grave site and then we'd gone for breakfast at my favorite little place in Cardiff – we went there each year on this day. It was almost immediately after we'd gotten home that my Aunt and Uncle had gotten ready for their Saturday routine and I'd thrown myself into cleaning my room, and deciding that I would start on the studio today as well as a way to distract myself.
I'd been so lost in thought that I'd not heard the door open behind me. "Hey, are we painting today or are you just going to sit there and stare into your butterbeer bottle?" Nichole asked as she plopped down beside me.
"Sorry, was just finishing up something to eat, am ready to start when you are, and I've got the sketches up already for guidelines to paint. So just follow those," I said, knowing that I didn't have to, but needed to anyway.
"Right, and Mum says for me to bring you home for dinner when she calls for me since I know your Aunt and Uncle won't be home til late. What we don't finish in here tonight we can do tomorrow," she says with a smile and after I change into my paint stained overalls and old faded Werewolf Code of Conduct shirt that I usually paint in, Nichole and I set into painting my little studio.
Don't Call Me Baby (Mason)
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 05-09-12 19:09
Bundled against the cold in a stylish maroon and navy plaid woolen swing coat, Felicia Randolph waves a gloved hand at Mason as Edmond Jeffers and she pass through the gates of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. "Hi, baby!"
Mason quickly looks around before arms go out for a hug and he offers his cheek for a kiss. "Mum!"
Felicia uses a thumb to smudge off the lipstick now staining her son's cheek. "I'm sorry. I forgot I'm not supposed to call my baby, my baby anymore."
Edmond opens his arms, "Am I allowed a hug or is that verboten now as well?"
Mason does another quick look around before consenting to his father's embrace. This is followed by another from Felicia.
"You're going to squeeze me to death, Mum."
"I hate not seeing you every day." She takes a step back, a hand on each shoulder. "You've grown again."
"A little."
"Do we need to let our your hems again?"
"Not yet, but probably soon. How was your trip here?"
Wrapping a hand around Mason's arm as they start walking up from the gates towards the massive castle Felicia admits, "I'm not sure I will ever get used to traveling the way your lot do."
On Mason's other side Edmond chuckles, "Your mum still shrieks a little when I bring her through the floo. If you'd just let me do a side along apparition, Felicia."
"That's the one where we just sort of disappear from one place and appear in another?" she asks with a shudder. "Thank you, but no. Traveling in that floo thingy is strange enough."
"How long are you staying?" Mason wants to know.
"At least through lunch. Your father and I want to have plenty of time to meet with all your teachers. Let's start with Potions. Midweek, Majandra sent me the nicest letter."
Mason looks sideways at his mum. "It's just my luck that my brother's sister is one of my professors."
Edmond chuckles, "Imagine how bad that might be if you didn't actually like Majandra."
"I keep trying to use the family connection to convince her to switch places with Professor Snape when I'm a fifth year."
"Snape? Which one is he again?"
Mason launches into a description of Severus Snape that carries the trio all the way down to the dungeons and Majandra Weasley's Potions classroom.
Nice Day
Author: Marzipan
Date: 05-09-12 19:13
It seemed that Hogwarts had lucked out weather-wise for Parents Weekend. Although it was still the middle of winter and quite chilly, the sun blazed brightly in the sky and made the temperature feel somewhat warmer. Prior to the start of what had become an annual event, Marzi had gotten together with Lawrence to determine which greenhouse they would use as their "classrooms" today.
Once that was settled, Marzi busied herself watering some plants and fertilizing a few of the others. She also pruned a couple to make them look a bit more presentable. The longer that time passed without any visitors, the more Marzi looked for other projects. She was elbow deep in a large bag of potting soil when her first guests arrived.
"Hi, Professor," greeted Alcmene Acker. Her younger sister, first year Gryffindor student Amelia Acker was there too, along with several other younger siblings and their parents.
Marzi smiled at them and pulled her arms from the potting soil. She started to brush her hands against her robes when she thought better of it and used her wand to clean them. Then she quickly shook Mr. and Mrs. Acker's hands and said, "Your daughters are a pleasure to teach."
"We're glad to hear it," Mr. Acker said.
"Professor Ravenscroft taught us about the Chinese lantern plant yesterday," Alcmene told her parents.
"Yes, and did you start on your homework yet?" Marzi asked Alcmene with a smile.
Alcmene look sheepish. "No, but I will tomorrow."
"What about you, Amelia?"
The younger of the sisters said, "Not yet." Then she turned to her parents and said, "Yesterday we learned about spikenard, which is used for its oil."
"Sounds like they are at least paying attention in class," Mrs. Acker remarked with a smile.
"Yes, and they always turn in their homework assignments on time and do good work as well."
The conversation continued for a bit longer, and then the Ackers departed the greenhouse to visit another part of the castle. With nobody else waiting to speak with her for the moment, Marzi turned back to the bag of potting soil and busied herself with work around the greenhouse.
The Fun Spells
Author: Mildred
Date: 05-10-12 03:17
Parents Weekend had arrived and Mildred could not hide her impatience and excitement as she waited for her aunt Helen to come. Mildred was even using the hairpin her aunt had offered to please her, even if this was not the way she used her hair most of the times. Seated at the main staircase, she watched a flow of parents invading the castle. Most of them had little children with them who could not wait for their chance to study at the school.
For the past two days Mildred tried to recall her aunt's face but for some reason she just couldn't picture it. She knew she had the same hair color as her mother and that she liked to wear blue robes, but that was all. The little witch twitched the tip of her shirt nervously. Would she be able to recognize her, when she came?
Time was passing and there was no sign of her aunt anywhere.
There had been other students waiting on the stairs for their relatives but almost all of them were gone by now. Maybe her aunt was late, Mildred thought as a couple entered the castle and apologized to their son for the delay. Almost an hour had passed when Mildred saw her: a witch with light brown hair, blue robes and a warm smile in her face. Mildred smiled back to her and stood up, ready to go to her aunt's encounter.
"Mom!" A first year Ravenclaw that had been seated a few steps above Mildred, run towards his mother encounter, hugging the witch. Mildred felt her cheeks burn with embarrass, once she realized this was not her aunt at all and that she had been smiling to her son and not to her.
Quickly she sat once again, pretending she did not stand up in the first place. Another half an hour and she was the only student there. Everyone else would be exploring the castle with their parents, talking to the teachers and even the ghosts. Disappointed, Mildred decided to go to the dorm and not leave it until all the parents were all gone and things would go back to normal. She was sure she was the only student who didn't receive a visit.
A voice called her name, as she was on her way to the Gryffindor tower.
"Mildred, over here!"
It was Achilles. He was accompanied by his parents and a little boy that Mildred knew it was Achilles' brother, Hercules.
"Mom, dad, this is my friend Mildred Campbell. She's the one who's in the chess club with me."
"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Sims," Mildred greeted politely.
"Campbell?" Mrs. Sims asked, exchanging an odd look with her husband. Mildred nodded in confirmation while Mr. Sims said in a low voice:
"She is Alexander's daughter. I thought she would only attend Hogwarts next year."
Mildred's eyes open wide and she was about to ask the couple how did they knew her father when Mrs. Sims grabbed Hercules hand and turned her back to Mildred.
"We haven't visited the Astronomy tower, yet. I used to love Astronomy when I attended Hogwarts."
Achilles stayed in his place puzzled, until his father put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him away.
"Come Achilles, show your mother where the Astronomy tower is."
Not having any choice the boy nodded and followed his parents. He turned his head back to Mildred, muttered an apologize and continued the tour with his parents.
The little witch stood there watching the Sims family walking away. The way they had looked at her, with disdain had hurt her. And she knew it was because of her father and the fact he was in prison. She found herself trembling and she started to feel the tears coming.
She ran to the nearest bathroom, not wanting to be seen in such a state. First her aunt didn't come to see her and then Achilles' parents had been rude to her. She sobbed, covering her face with her hands. If only she could disappear…
"Are you all right?"
She uncovered her face to find she was not alone in the bathroom. Phyllida, the seventh year Slytherin student who had saved her from Horace and Maurice, was staring at her preoccupied. Mildred ended up explaining to her, between tears and sobs, that no one come to visit her today.
"No one came to visit me either," Phyllida told her. "They never came, not even when I had your age. At first I would be sad like you but then I just…well I just found ways to have fun."
"Have fun? How?"
"Do you know any fun spell?"
"Well, we learned the dancing pineapples last term…"
"I can teach you some other spells. Like this one…"
Taking her wand from her pocket she said 'Orchideous' in a clear voice, doing a circular movement. A bouquet of flowers had been conjured from the end of her wand. Phyllida offered it to Mildred.
"This one is very handy for the boys when they want to be romantic."
Mildred giggled. The tears were starting to dry in her face. Phyllida then asked Mildred if she would like to have lunch with her and learn this and many other fun spells that would make all her friends jealous and wishing they didn't had to spend the day with their parents so they could have learned what she did.
Not Quite Parents But Still
Author: Kirley Mockridge
Date: 05-10-12 11:39
Kirley had gotten done quickly at the office. He spoke with Kingsley, who agreed that the contracts shouldn't be binding as they were done without his knowledge and only ensured he have a choice of the ladies in question. Kirley shared his suspicion that his mother was up to something but that he couldn't prove anything and the Minister had agreed that getting Nephele and Valeria away from her was probably a wise idea. So Kirley had headed back to the Dower to do just that.
They'd set out on their property tour, but luckily, the first one they'd chosen had been perfect. A townhouse in London, hidden among the Muggles was furnished and in good repair. Jibby, Ibby and Kibby had been moving things when they left them, Jibby would then stay with Cloris and keep an eye on things for Kirley while the other two would be joining them at the Townhouse.
Kirley looked at the two girls, both of whom were dressed far more to Cloris' tastes than their own. "Would you two like to change and we can go to Hogwarts? It's Parents' Weekend, I believe, and though we're not quite Parents, I would like to ask Professor Snape's opinion on the contracts situation and maybe see if I can meet with Miss Grimshaw-Spore. I'm not sure Mother is done, and it may be advisable to see if I can form an alliance with her as she seems to be Mother's preference."
Nephele smiled. "That sounds wonderful, I'm sure Valeria would love to see Hogwarts as well." The two went to change, coming back down looking far more modern. Nephele had chosen a pair of trousers that suited her long frame and a soft-looking green jumper with a silver stripe. Valeria had chosen a pair of trousers as well, with a Falmouth Falcons jumper that Kirley distinctly remembered slipping into her closet. He held their cloaks for them before swirling his own around him easily.
His niece wrapped herself around his arm and he waited to be sure Nephele had gone and not splinched herself before he turned on his own heel, appearing in Hogsmeade. "We'll see about some treats before we go back to London," he promised Valeria as he offered her his hand and his arm to Nephele and they walked up to the Castle. Both he and his twin kept stealing glances at Valeria, smiling at her wide-eyed enthusiasm for everything she was seeing. This trip would serve her well, in allowing her to keep herself more guarded on the train ride in September.
The three didn't attract much attention as they walked into the Great Hall, Kirley not quite sure who he was looking for as the Phyllida he remembered was always rather sullen and it had been some years since he'd seen her. Valeria tugged on his hand and he glanced down. "Uncle Kirley, there's Mildred! Can we go say hello?" she asked.
He remembered the name, and Nephele telling him about the girl who had come to visit with Valeria while her grandmother visited with Cloris. "Of course we can," he answered, wondering why the redhead with the girl looked familiar. He glanced at Nephele. "Let me know if you see Professor Snape, I really would like his opinion about that issue."
"Of course," Nephele answered as the trio approached the two students, Valeria practically bouncing in front of her aunt and uncle.
Enemy at the Gates
Author: Ella
Date: 05-10-12 13:05
Ella stood behind the gates at Hogwarts and waited for her dad to arrive for Parents Weekend. He had let her know that he would be late, so she hadn't bothered coming down for the official start of the festivities. Francis, however, had gone off with his parents, who had been quite prompt in their arrival. He'd invited Ella to come along while she waited for her dad, but she'd politely declined his offer. They would catch up later, she promised him.
It wasn't long before she saw Dunstan Harville apparate into Hogsmeade, not far from the two winged boars that guarded the school entrance. The village looked fully alive today, no doubt thanks to the influx of families and friends visiting the castle. Mr. Harville spotted Ella almost right away, as she was one of few waiting by the gates. He hurried over to her and wrapped her into a tight hug.
"Ella," he said by way of greeting.
"Dad," she replied. One year ago they'd been at odds with each other. Unfortunately, it had taken terrible circumstances to bring them close together again.
Ella squeezed her dad and then opened her eyes, catching a glimpse of a dark figure slipping through the crowd in the village. He had seen her, for he shot her a grin.
Ella backed out of her father's arms in a hurry.
"You okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she said, breathing hard. She glimpsed into the village but didn't see Zane anymore.
Dunstan looked over his shoulder to see what had drawn his daughter's attention.
She seized him by the hand to distract him and asked, "Do you want to have a picnic first or go meet my professors?"
Dunstan turned back to her, seemingly baffled by her erratic behavior, but before he could question her again she added, "I haven't eaten yet so I'm starving."
"Then I guess the decision is made," Dunstan replied. "Let's have ourselves a picnic and then go talk to your professors."
"Okay, I found us a nice spot on the grounds. It's in the sun, but far enough from the lake that we don't have to worry about a breeze." She led her dad to the designated picnic spot, but threw a look over her shoulder at the witches and wizards in the village just outside the school boundary. Zane wasn't among them, but she couldn't help but shiver at the thought of him watching her.
Alarming Situation
Author: Carys
Date: 05-10-12 15:41
Carys tumbled out of one of the fireplaces at St. Emrys University and hastily brushed the soot off her clothes as she swiftly moved through the corridor. She had been assigned to take pictures at Parents Weekend at Hogwarts but had quickly discovered a problem with the film she'd brought with her to the castle. Rather than waste time attempting to fix the problem herself or searching Hogsmeade for a shoppe that sold camera accessories, Carys decided to floo to the office of Emrys Everyday.
She rounded the corner in the corridor at a fast clip and nearly collided into a student carrying a towering pile of books. Apologizing, Carys sidestepped the student and continued on her way.
The university sometimes felt like a ghost town on Saturdays, though it was never empty by any stretch of the imagination. There were some Saturday classes, after all. Still, Carys didn't see anybody other than the one student en route to the office.
When she got there, she slipped in and made a beeline for the dark room. She got partway there when she realized she wasn't alone in the room. An unknown young man in dark jeans and a black jacket stood over one of the desks. He rifled through some of the parchments but stopped when he saw Carys.
Carys stopped in her tracks and looked at him. She almost asked him who he was, but something in his eyes suggested the best course of action would be to back out of the room and run away. She took one step back when he dropped the parchments he held and lunged at her.
Carys turned on her heel and ran, thinking belatedly that she should reach for her wand. She had barely managed to fling open the door and turn into the corridor when she felt a stunning spell whiz dangerously close to her ear. She knew that he probably wouldn't miss again if he continued to chase her down the hall and cursed the fact that nobody else seemed to be around.
She threw herself around the nearest corner and then spun around, holding her wand firmly in front of her.
"What's going on here?" shouted a stern voice from somewhere behind her.
Carys jumped and nearly dropped her wand.
She didn't dare turn around, knowing her pursuer had nearly been upon her, but did when she felt a heavy hand fall onto her shoulder.
"Ma'am?"
Carys shuddered violently under the wizard's grip. "S-someone was c-chasing m-me!" she stammered.
The wizard happened to work for the security office and was a burly, rather intimidating-looking man. He produced his wand and peered around the corner. Then he relaxed.
"There's no one there, Ma'am."
Carys felt her heart hammering in her chest.
The security wizard looked at her with concern. "Do you need to sit down?"
"No, I'll be okay," she said between heavy breaths. "Listen, I work for the newspaper, and I was just going to stop by the office when I walked in on this guy who wasn't supposed to be there." She went on to describe the young man she'd seen and what followed next.
"Come to the security office with me. You'll be safe there, and we'll go out and look for the wizard you described. I'll want to ask you some more questions when I get back. Can you stay?"
Carys thought about the photographs she was supposed to be taking at Hogwarts but nodded her head. "Yes, I can wait."
Maybe it wouldn't take too long and she could still make it before Parents Weekend ended. Otherwise, Emrys Everyday would just have to run the story without a picture to accompany it. The security wizard led her to his office, where she was given a cup of tea and asked to write down what she'd witnessed. While she wrote, security went out to search for the suspicious wizard. Carys wondered what he'd been doing in the office and why he'd given chase upon her interrupting him. Whatever the reasons, she hoped security would find him.