|
|
Befuddled In The First Wave
Author: Sage Porter
Date: 01-28-07 09:05
Still depressed over breaking up with Aubrey, Sage hasn't yet decided if he's glad he was chosen for the Cauldron Clash or not. He'd really like nothing more than to be holed up in his room, on his bed, the bedcurtains drawn. At the same time, being away from Hogwarts is good and an excellent opportunity to make more friends.
Friends like Elisa Soledad. Definately friends like her. Sage wouldn't mind seeing more of Elisa even if she doesn't speak much English and he doesn't speak much Spanish.
Yet anyway.
Sage applauds as the Wave One winners from the group that's just finished are announced. Estella Primrose earned Hogwarts another point by taking 3rd. Agnes Madden earned 1st and James Thomas is awarded 2nd place.
The Wave Two placements have Estella with 3rd again. A gorgeous but slightly snooty French girl Amélie Grenier gets 1st and a lively American with a good sense of humor, Agnes Madden, takes 2nd.
By that time Sage is pretty sure with her two 3rd place wins so far, Estella will get a placing in the overall standings. Before those are announced the Wave Three awards are given out. In 1st is James Thomas with Estella placing higher this time with 2nd. Rounding out the top three is Shaun McHenry, an Australian who last night was giving Agnes Madden a run for her money in the comedy department.
Finally the overall standings are announced. Estella looks extremely pleased when she ties for 2nd with Amélie Grenier, bringing Estella's point contribution for Cauldron Clash to 8. In 1st are Agnes Madden and James Thomas with 3rd going to Shaun McHenry.
It's not all that long afterwards, when the photograph taking of the previous group's winners is over, that Sage's group is called up. The other 5th year Hogwarts students in the group is Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen. They take their assigned spots and wait for judge Zelda Tellman to begin.
As always, the judge's words are conveyed in all four official languages of the SAT. Judge Tellman announced, "Your first potion is the first step of Bastian Browder's Befuddlement Draught." Turning the timer, the group is told, "Your time starts now."
The befuddlement draught assigned is a many stepped process. The first step takes only a few minutes, which fits in nicely with the time limit the competitors are under. If done correctly the potion is a bright magenta when that first stage is completed.
When the time limit is called, Sage breathes a sigh of relief. His potion is magenta though perhaps not as bright as it should be. He's better off than some though. Looking around Sage sees that one student has managed an awful pea green shade while another is holding a vial of something distinctly sky blue.
Making sure his vial is labeled correctly, Sage turns it in, cleans up his station, and waits for the second wave potion to be announced.
Job Opportunity
Author: Isolde
Date: 01-28-07 09:16
Isolde sat in one of the boxes reserved for the wealthy and the elite at Salisbury Stadium and watched her old team play the Tutshill Tornados. Joining her in the box were members of the British and Irish National Quidditch League, specifically a few of those wizards responsible for the formation of the new Little League set to debut next season.
Isolde had been offered a coaching position with the Plymouth Polliwogs. She had some time to consider the offer but needed to reach a decision soon.
The other nine teams in the opening year of the Little League were the London Lambs, the Cardiff Cubs, the Glasgow Goslings, the Dublin Ducklings, the Belfast Beetles, the Birmingham Billywigs, the Sheffield Spiderlings, the Newcastle Nymphs and the Iverness Imps. Geographically, Plymouth was the closest to Salisbury, where Isolde and Pyrrhus lived, not that location particularly mattered when one was a wizard.
Some coaches had already signed on to the teams but others were still considering their options. Isolde longed to get back in the saddle again, even if only in a coaching capacity, but wondered if she was any good with children. Isolde had been an only child and had never really been around kids, other than when she was at Hogwarts, and even those kids were older than the ones she'd be dealing with if she agreed to coach the Polliwogs.
It wasn't that she didn't like children. She wanted a family of her own someday. She just wasn't sure she liked other peoples' children.
She would giveit some thought and ask Pyrrhus for his opinion and advice. Perhaps coaching Little League was an opportunity that shouldn't be missed.
Feeling Good
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 01-28-07 09:35
Fritz feels pretty good about the Befuddlement Draught he just brewed. After putting some of his potion into a vial and labeling it properly, he cleans his cauldron and mentally prepares himself for Wave Two. Zelda Tellman picks up the next card in her set of three and reads aloud, "Strengthening Solution." She flips over the hourglass and says, "Begin."
Fritz quickly thinks of all the ingredients he'll need to successfully create the strengthening solution. He knows that it's one potion that actually takes several days to make, because the potion must have time to mature before it is ready for use, but the point of the exercise is to show what you know, and Fritz is pretty sure he can wow the judges with what he can do, even if the beginning stages of the potion's life.
He chooses what he needs: salamander blood, pomegranate juice, and a few other ingredients. Then he sets about measuring the ingredients into the proper amounts while theh water in his cauldron boils. At each stage of the assignment, Fritz carefully adds the necessary ingredient, stirring the correct number of times and in the right direction. By the time time is called, Fritz feels he's done an excellent job, even if the potion is no where near finished.
The judge accepts samples from everyone. Then the cauldrons are once again cleared. She reads the last potion on the final card, "Draught of Peace." The timer is once again flipped over, so that the last wave of Group Five's tournament can begin.
Fritz quickly selects the ingredients he'll need, which include powdered moonstone and syrup of hellebore, among others. He works hard, ignoring what the others around him are doing because he knows that can be distracting. Time is called all too quickly, but Fritz nonetheless feels great about the work he's done in the Cauldron Clash today. Now he's looking forward to learning the results.
St. Michael's Hospital
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 01-28-07 10:15
Ethan hadn't wanted to be the bearer of bad news again, especially when he seemed to be on thin ice with many of the Emerics, so he'd gone to Jon and Rob first regarding the news of their real brother Silas, who'd died of SIDS not long after his birth in 1970. They'd taken the news well, probably since they'd never really known their real brother, and it had been Ethan who'd been raised as an Emeric for approximately four years of his life. To Jon and Rob, Ethan still was their brother, even if he didn't share their blood.
Jon and Rob had passed the information to the rest of the family and since they were in the private investigator business, they opened up their own investigation to determine whether or not what Hattie Harsnip had said was, in fact, the entire truth. They promised to keep Ethan posted on what they discovered, and vice versa. Ethan wanted to know the truth about his real family, though after all that had happened in discovering the Emerics, Ethan feared he would just find disappointment all over again. Still, he wasn't going to give up yet.
It being the weekend, Ethan found the perfect opportunity to visit the hospital in which he'd been born. Surely, there were records onsite, and if not, in the Bristol courthouse, that would show the names of children born around the time of Ethan's birth. If he could find a death certificate for a child who died of SIDS, all the better.
Ethan had done some research in the Muggle world in the past, such as when he went to the library and looked up newspaper articles and phone directories. He wasn't exactly a novice in the matter, though many Muggle ways of doing things were still quite foreign to him. Funny, considering he's Muggle-born and had lived in a Muggle household in the beginning of his life.
Ethan apparated from his Greenwich home to Bristol, like he'd done many times when he used to visit Emilia at her nursing home. He had a map of the city and followed it to St. Michael's Hospital. Ethan stepped inside and approached the reception desk.
"Welcome to St. Michael's. How may I help you?" the Muggle woman behind the desk said, smiling pleasantly.
"I was born in this hospital and was wondering if you kept records open to the public regarding births from the same time?"
"Are you searching for your birth parents?" the woman asked kindly.
"I am, in fact."
The woman didn't say anything for a long moment and looked to be waging an internal battle with herself. "Technically, we're not supposed to allow it, but I can make an exception for a handsome face."
"That's very kind of you," Ethan said, smiling. "Would you pull the records for me or shall I do it myself?"
"You're in luck. We've recently digitized everything we have. Just tell me what you are looking for and I'll bring it up on my computer."
Ethan was thankful that she offered to help him. He had no idea how to use a computer himself.
They spent hours going through the database, looking at both birth and death records. Ethan found his own birth certificate, or at least the record of the real Silas Emeric who looked to be alive and well, though Ethan knew the truth. The receptionist printed a copy for him. She also printed a copy of the record of a child named Finn Towneley, who'd been born slightly before Silas and had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Ethan thanked the receptionist for all her help and went home. He sat on his sofa in the living room of his duplex and looked at the two records he'd printed. Was he really Finn Towneley, the child who'd been switched with the real Silas Emeric, who'd died of SIDS?
Cordial But Reserved
Author: Griffin Price
Date: 01-28-07 10:17
Last week when he was to gone to the Hanham's at Cardiff, Griff was so sick with a flu-like illness that Sinead ended up taking him to St. Mungo's. Griff had missed several days of work and couldn't go on the special assignment Mercutio Wolfsbane had for him.
By Friday Griff was still a little unsteady and more weak than he wanted to admit but he was not missing another opportunity to see Tristan and Carys. With another week off from work to fully recover, Griff had stepped into the Floo early Friday evening, not trusting his strength to apparate just from London to Cardiff.
Carys's grandparents greeted Griff cordially and welcomed them into their home. At the same time they were extremely reserved. Mairwen Hanham had shown Griff where he would be sleeping, saying without words she expected Griff to keep to his room at night. Given Carys current state of mind regarding Griff, Mrs. Hanham had no reason to worry in that quarter. Not that Griff would have been up to anything anyway as worn out as he is from being sick.
Griff spent the rest of the evening playing with Tristan while fielding the occassional question from Alun Hanham or his wife. Carys mainly stayed quiet, watching Tristan with Griff and every now and again taking pictures. After an excellent dinner, though Griff didn't eat as much as he normally might have, he'd been ready to fall into bed but stayed up long enough to help give Tristan a bath and put his son to bed.
Griff slept well, waking up Saturday morning only when hearing Tristan gurgling loudly down the hall. After another excellent meal, Carys and Griff bundled Tristan up in a new baby parka outfit Griff had brought and taken Tristan for a walk, joined by both Mr. and Mrs. Hanham.
Once again Carys stayed relatively quiet, letting her grandparents make conversation with Griff. As with the night before, each would ask a question here and there in between all of them talking to Tristan and enjoying the boy's delight in being outside.
Griff really can't blame the Hanhams for being reserved around him. He got their teenage granddaughter pregnant. Instead of being at Hogwarts where she could be a typical teen girl again, Carys is here in Wales raising a son. At least they don't act like they hate him. Griff really hopes not since he plans to be a very active part of his son's life. Better still is that Carys isn't so overtly angry with him longer - not that Griff would blame her if she was.
Tristan laughs watching some people in the park playing with their dogs. Carys comments, "It's almost time for Tristan to eat."
Mrs. Hanham suggests, "Why do we start back then? I'm sure we can all do with a spot of lunch and some tea or hot chocolate."
Griff turns Tristan's stroller around, reluctant for this outdoor time to end but also extremely tired from all the walking. It will be good to sit down once more, maybe get some more play time in with Tristan before the baby goes down for his nap.
What's This?
Author: Bambi Fandango
Date: 01-28-07 15:50
Bambi had worked the library last Saturday, giving both House Elves the time off. With last weekend being Hogsmeade weekend, Lars was needed at the restaurant. Last night Lars and she were to have gone to Waterford in Ireland to a quaint little bed and breakfast. Instead, Lars ending up filling in for Phlagmelina when she woke up Friday sick to her stomach. With a fever and still rampantly nauseous today, Bambi's sister-in-law wasn't up to work again so Lars went.
With time on her hands Bambi decided to spend at least part of the day going through a shelving unit that has extremely old volumes. Books that old, some of them actually no more than bound scrolls, vellum, and even papyrus are in constant need of repair. Even using magic for the conversation of the books only does so much when each is so very old.
Wearing special gloves, Bambi pulls one such book from the shelf thinking it's a good thing the shelf is in a section students have no access to without permission. She's fairly certain that she'd quickly move any of the books such as this to the restricted section if she were to find any in general circulation.
The particular book Bambi is starting to work on is well over two thousand years old. The binding is not quite that old but the Roman scrolls that make up the contents are. The book was the personal property of Helga Hufflepuff, donated to Hogwarts upon her death.
Keeping the gloves on so that any contact her fingers make with the scrolls won't leave oily residue, Bambi carefully opens the book to a page that's sticking up a little where it's coming loose from the binding. Intent on repairing the damaged spot where the old scroll had begun pulling away from the binding, Bambi doesn't notice for several minutes what's on the scroll. When she does, the drawings on the page come as a surprise.
"AJ will definately want to see this," Bambi says to herself. "First though, I need to finish the repairs."
A Trifling Matter To Attend To (Euphemia Smythe-Jones)
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 01-28-07 19:38
Euphemia had taken Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off to attend a swanky function in Athens. It was Thursday night but she went early on Wednesay morning and didn't leave Athens until last night because of political wheeling, dealing, and schmoozing all at her Ministry's expense. If not for that, Euphemia might have taken care of a little in-house business earlier in the week.
Things have been going along just as Euphemia had planned and hoped. She's been able to replace three more key members of the Wizengamot without having to resort to shady tactics. Each of the three chose on his or her own to retire. Their spots on the court are now held by Euphemia's people.
The task Euphemia wants to get taken care of today, however, has nothing to do with the Wizengamot. As the first anniversary of Voldemort's death approaches, Euphemia feels it's time to cut loose one of the Ministry employees known to have been involved in the vigilante action that led to Voldemort's downfall.
The knock comes on the door right on time. With her secretary not in today, Euphemia lets her visitor in. "Thank you for coming on short notice."
Arthur Weasley has an expectant expression on his face as he replies, "I was finishing up with an emergency indicident was so here today anyway."
A smirking smugness that Euphemia must repress from showing outwardly has her feeling a little giddy. Weasley is here thinking to get a long overdue promotion and pay raise. The fact that it's anything but makes getting to see the shock on his face all the more entertaining.
"I don't know how to say this to you, Arthur, so I'll just come out with it. It's necessary to let you go."
Arthur looks blank at first. Next comes the mixture of emotions on his face as the denial of what Euphemia's said tries to win out over knowing he's heard correctly. After a long pause the stupid fool finally says, "Pardon?"
"As March 4th approaches, there's more and more talk about your part in what took place last year. People wondering how it is you've still got your job."
All that is true to a certain extent. Euphemia simply leaves out that the talk she's aware of is mainly positive and those wondering about Arthur's job status think he should have been promoted long ago.
"I thought," Arthur's voice catches. He clears his throat and starts again. "I thought people were grateful for what happened that day."
Euphemia nods, empathy and regret at having to sack Arthur oozing from every pore. "Damn, I'm good," she thinks before saying aloud, "We are grateful, Arthur. An evil scourge is gone. It's just that," Euphemia sighs deeply, sadly, "well, it's how it all came about. Vigilante actions scare the general populace. Heroic actions at first can eventually cross the line. Where does it end? Who will the vigilantes target next? Having a family of your own, I'm sure you can appreciate such concerns."
Arthur's shoulder start to slump but then they straighten and stiffen with resolve not to let Euphemia know just how utterly crushed he is. He puts his hands out to shake with her. "Yes, I understand. I don't agree with the need to fire me but I do see your point. Thank you for speaking with me personally, Minister."
Euphemia tut tuts with a few words to express her sorrow over the situation then lets Arthur know he needn't come in on Monday and that his last pay will be sent to his home. Head still high Arthur Weasley leaves Euphemia's office. She has the restraint to not laugh until she certain he's long gone from the building.
16-17 Age Group (Daria)
Author: Blossom
Date: 01-29-07 15:39
Carrie Southam says almost under her breath, "I wish we didn't have to brew potions in front of everyone."
Daria smiles, agreeing, "I knoww hat you mean but really, it's not so bad."
On the other side of Carrie, who's from Sydney's, one of the American girls chuckles, "Maybe not for you, Daria."
Someone behind them shushes the three young women, trying to hear the overall winners from the 15-16 year group being announced. Daria doesn't mind being hushed since both Hogwarts 5th years placed very well for the whole event. By paying attention she's able to clap wildly and cheer loudly at the right spots.
Overall it's Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen and Sage Porter taking first and second. There's a three way tie for overall third between Jonas Fellows, Elisa Soledad, and Halima Galla.
Fritz had taken first place in Waves One and Two then placed second in Wave Three. In those first two waves Sage placed second, taking first in Wave Three. Third place in Wave One went to Jonas, in Wave Two to Elisa, and in Wave Three to Halima.
Of the three not from Hogwarts Daria is especially glad for Halima Galla. She'd gotten to know Halima a little and quites likes the Okapi École de Sorcellerie student.
Several minutes later Carrie stands and says, "Our turn, ladies."
"Good luck to you both," Daria says as they join others from their group to get their assigned potions stations. As those assignments are being given out, some of the judges are going from work station to work station waving wands to change out the ingredients there and to make sure each cauldron is acceptably clean for those about to compete.
When all stations are ready and competititors in their correct spots Habib Bhatti, the head judge for this group, gets things going. "Your first potion is... an everlasting elixer. Infinity Everlasting Elixer to be precise." Judge Bhatti starts the timer, instructing them, "Begin now."
At Durmstrang
Author: Fionna
Date: 01-29-07 18:18
Fionna has found Durmstrang to be interesting if somewhat cold. She had thought Hogwarts had some positively arctic areas but compared to Durmstrang, Hogwarts now seems on the tropical side. Fionna wonders if the Durmstrang castle itself, much smaller than Hogwarts, would be warmer if the fireplaces were all always going. Like many of the other students from all the visiting schools, Fionna was amazed to learn that fires at Durmstrang are lit very rarely.
Perhaps the thinking behind it is that the constant frigid conditions during cold months will help toughen up the students. What the reasoning, she thinks it's a load of bollocks and is extremely glad the Hogwarts RV is always warm and toasty. At least for the SAT events the dining hall has fire blazing in the fire places. Fionna's quite certain that if not, she'd be elsewhere, the RV probably.
Fionna's thinking again about how it's no wonder all the Durmstrang students go around in furry capes. She wouldn't be at all surprised if one of the students were to reveal they all also wear furry knickers. As she's thinking all this, the Wave 1 winners from the group that's just finished are being announced.
It's Arnóra Waechter for host school Durmstrang in 3rd, with that irritating twit Daria Matthews taking 2nd, and self-proclaimed Hispanic lady's man from South America Antonio Contreras in first.
Twitty Matthews from Hogwarts takes 2nd again in Wave 2 but Sydney's Tom Firebrace and Okapi's Peter Pweto in 1st and 3rd. For Wave 3 somehow that the Twit has earned 1st. Pweto takes 2nd and Jelani Bissett from the African school is awarded 3rd.
The overall winners are then announced. Peter Pweto gets himself a 3rd place win, Tom Firebrace and Antonio Contreras tie for 2nd, and, Fionna rolls her eyes at the announcement, Daria "Twit" Matthews gets 1st overall.
At her left Rolf Haaken stands and stretches. "I'm up," he says.
"Win us some points," Fionna says.
As Rolf and the other Hogwarts seventh year in the Cauldron Clash, Elenor Branstone, walk up to get their cauldron assignments, Fionna considers that it's too bad that a nice Slytherin like Rolf is so very chummy with some of the Ravenclods, even if one of them is his stepsister, and goes with the French Puffball.