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Relax, Have Fun
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 05-02-10 12:41
Emerald sits on one of the two blankets the Greene-Green family has spread out near enough to the bandstand to enjoy the music but not so close as to drown out any attempts at conversation. Woody Greene is over talking with a friend from back when he attended Hogwarts and who is now the father of a Hogwarts student himself. Aunt Blythe is near one of the tables on which people who've brought things like homemade ice cream to share are putting the goodies. Blythe had said something about exchanging recipes with a few of those people she's now standing talking to. Olive is with her usual group of friends who are doing their usual flirting with the usual cluster of boys. Jade and Hunter are off playing with friends they've met a number of ways, including time spent at Camp Lollipop.
Emerald has with her a couple of sets of the flashcards she's made to help prepare for the upcoming NEWTs but as yet she's not even glanced at them and isn't sure she will. She turned 19 last Saturday. The family had come to the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match and they'd given her birthday gifts but with the twins having a birthday Thursday, April 29th, and with the Spring Social set for today, they'd decided to have a proper celebration complete with cake today.
The thing is, Emerald isn't in much of a celebrating mood.
Emerald had never imagined herself to be 19 and still be in the equivalent of high school. Yes, there are extenuating circumstances but still, this is now how Emerald had pictured her life to this point. She should be in a college and if back in the States and her parents still alive, that college very likely would have been her mother's alma mater of Duke University. Emerald had always had good grades, was active with extracurriculars, and had been on track to go to Duke. If not Duke then Tulane in New Orleans or Columbia. Maybe even someplace like Stanford or Berkley.
Here she is though struggling to prepare for things officially named Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Levels. They sound much more innocuous when referred to as the NEWTs. Emerald is not feeling very confident about them at all. The Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the OWLs, were difficult and she'd been given a great deal of leeway on those because of not having attended a Wizarding school, much less even heard of the Wizarding World, prior to that school year. She'd crammed all that summer and worked extra with great diligence to be able to join those her own age entering their 5th year at Hogwarts. She'd put in hours upon hours of extra time once at Hogwarts. By the time the end of term came and OWLs were done, Emerald was so exhausted both physcially and mentally.
That had been nothing compared to now.
Adding to the mental exhaustion is the situation with Phin. He's apologized for making Emerald feel put on the spot and pressured but things haven't gone back to what they were. Then again, things haven't been what they were since being reunited with Phin after her experiences at Happy Haven and City of Hope.
Lately, the sessions with the psychiatric healer haven't helped that much. The stress of end of term with NEWTs is just so overwhelming. Emerald just wants it all to be over so she can finally feel like she's moving on and making progress with her life.
Picking up the flash cards, Emerald glares down at them then uses her wand to send them back to her dorm room in Hufflepuff House. She will NOT ruin this fun day by stressing over those stupid exams.
Shifting from her position on the blanket, Emerald turns her eyes in the direction of the tables the Crown & Cauldron are still in the process of filling with a variety of foods from lunch meats to breads to condiments to vegetables to salads to desserts. Phin is there helping but is joining her on the blankets soon. After awhile, they will all start eating, though Hunter has been snacking since the moment he arrived claiming he's always hungry because he's having a growth spurt. The music's already begun as have other forms of entertainment.
Emerald shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath and as she slowly lets it out, she repeats over and over a mantra of, "I WILL relax and have fun. I WILL relax and have fun."
Outbreak
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 05-02-10 14:45
"We've got another one," Imogene Li told Hermione as she passed her friend and colleague in the hallway. She carried in her arms a roll of bandages and several bottles of potions.
"Another one?" Hermione exclaimed as she followed Imogene down the hall. She entered the ward to find a girl no older than ten silently weeping on one of the metal-framed beds. The girl had already been dressed in a hospital gown, which had been pulled up to reveal angry, purple splotches all over her legs. The rash covered her arms, too, and in some areas had begun crusting.
She was the fifth person to come to St. Mungo's with the same rash that day.
"This can't be a coincidence," Hermione murmured. She approached the side of the bed and smiled kindly at the frightened girl. "My name is Hermione. What's yours?"
"Beatrice," the girl replied in so quiet a voice that Hermione hardly heard her.
"Where are you from, Beatrice?"
"Hever," she answered.
"That's where the first patient said she was from," Imogene remembered. She uncorked one of the potions she'd brought into the room and poured some of it onto a cloth, which she used to gently daub at the rash on Beatrice's legs.
"Does it hurt, Beatrice?" Imogene asked.
"A little. It itches, mostly."
Hermione moved through the ward where the other patients with the same rash rested in their beds. She found out that they were all from the small village of Hever, which had an exclusive, tight-knit community of wizards living there. The villagers had somehow been exposed to the rash and it had seemingly spread like wildfire among them.
"It's Confinement Contagion," Hermione later told Imogene, "or at least I'm pretty sure that's what it is. It's a disease spawned from wizards living in close quarters where there might be a doxy infestation or some other pestilence that leads to the home or homes being not as sanitary as they could be. It's not super common but it's not a rarity either. It is very contagious, though."
Imogene was already looking at her own arm, staring at it in disbelief. The faint outline of bruise-like marks had begun to appear and she had an uncontrollable urge to start scratching at them.
Hermione noticed, and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, no."
And Imogene wasn't the only one. A healer Hermione only knew as Tom was scratching frantically at his chest.
It looked like the outbreak in Hever had just spread to the Magical Bugs floor at St. Mungo's!
Ice Cream and Jealousy
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 05-02-10 16:01
"Could that ice cream cone be any bigger?"
Ronan looked down at the wafer cone in his hand and shrugged. "What? I asked for the jumbo cone so that it could hold the three giant scoops of ice cream I wanted. Chocolate, raspberry and lemon."
Artemis laughed and looked down at her considerably smaller cone of single flavor, coffee ice cream.
The two had attended the apparition lesson in the Great Hall, and promptly at its end had gone outside to enjoy the festivities and food the Spring Social had to offer. Titus was no where to be seen and had presumably gone off to find his girlfriend, whom he'd surely invited to attend the special Hogwarts event.
According to Artemis, the Fitzgerald parents wouldn't be coming. That suited Ronan just as well since there wasn't anyone for him to invite. He didn't mind hanging out with Artemis all day, if she didn't mind it either.
They walked past the volleyball court. Ronan had heard that there was also a baseball diamond somewhere. Too bad there wasn't a basketball court as well. It was by far his favorite Muggle sport, and he hadn't really played much since his brother's death. He and Caden used to shoot hoops together at their house in London.
Ronan found himself frowning. He didn't think about his brother very much, but when he did, it saddened him. Caden had died nearly three years ago, but it had been only a year and a half since his brief and very disturbing resurrection.
"Are you okay?" Artemis asked, noticing the look on Ronan's face.
Ronan blinked himself back to the present. "Yeah. I just––"
And then he caught sight of Illyria, as ever in the company of the law enforcement officer assigned to watch her back. Ronan's frown returned.
Artemis followed his gaze. "Are you sure there's nothing the matter?" she asked him.
Ice cream had started to run down the cone onto Ronan's hand. He licked his hand and the cone and worked his tongue through the rapidly melting lemon scoop on the top of the wafer cone.
"There is, but––"
Artemis noticed that he was still looking at Illyria.
"Do you like her?" she asked softly.
That question tore Ronan's gaze from his former guardian to the girl next to him. "What?"
"You keep staring at her, and I can't tell if you are jealous of that guy with her or what." Artemis' chin jutted out stubbornly.
Ronan finally started smiling and then he couldn't help but laugh. "I guess you don't remember but a few years ago Illyria––Professor Jones, that is––was my legal guardian. I like her, yes, but not like that.. She's family to me. And yes, I'm worried about her. That guy there is basically her bodyguard."
"What does she need a bodyguard for?"
Ronan wasn't sure how much he should say. He knew that people knew something about what was going on with her by now but some of it was also considered rumor.
He shook his head. "It's complicated. Anyway, I hope it all blows over soon and things can go back to normal for her."
He looked over to Illyria one last time before studying Artemis again. "You seemed disappointed when you thought I had a thing for her."
Artemis flushed and looked away. "I wasn't. I was just curious."
Ronan smiled into his ice cream.
"Let's go check out the band, shall we?"
Artemis nodded fervently, glad for the change in subject. "Sounds good to me."
Request For Professor Dumbledore (Zuberi)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 05-02-10 16:52
Zuberi is standing just off to the side of the main doors into Hogwarts castle, shifting constantly from one foot to the other, anxious to go get some ice cream, then lunch, then more ice cream, then to check out the games Professor Miller has arranged. Games and sports have already begun but Zuberi wants food first and all that will go on for the duration of the Spring Social so he's in no rush. Looking longingly in the directon of all that scrumtious ice cream he knows there is to choose from, Zuberi becomes even more antsy to get over there and to start eating. The only thing keeping him here is that he's waiting on Professor Dumbledore.
He hasn't any clue as to why the headmaster requested that Zuberi meet him here near the main castle doors. Right after receiving the request, Zuberi had the sinking heart thought that Professor Dumbledore was going to have Zuberi work off more punishment. Ater that initial depression thought though he'd realized if that were the case, Albus Dumbledore would have had Zuberi meet somewhere inside, like in the headmaster's office to portkey somewhere or at one of the Floo conduits or in some room where there was piles of something to be sorted or some such other tedious work to do. Zuberi had then spent the next two days wondering why on earth Professor Dumbledore asked him to wait in this spot at a certain time today.
One of the doors opens. Zuberi looks hopefully towards it but then frowns and lets his shoulders sag when a couple of titches come out. He thinks they are Ravenclaw first years but he's not sure and he doesn't care to find out.
Zuberi slumps down onto the grass, wondering if Professor Dumbledore is EVER going to show up. He doesn't stay there like that long because he doesn't want someone coming over and being nosy about why he's looking so dejected while lolling in the grass right by the castle doors. Right about the time Zuberi's pushing back up to stand he hears a throat clearing from the direction of those very doors. Looking over his shoulder he sees Professor Dumbledore standing there with someone to the side away from Zuberi.
Zuberi comes fully upright and spins around to face the professor all in one motion. Only then can he see that the person with Professor Dumbledore is that boy Karamoh from the Sierra Leone school and orphanage where Zuberi helps out as part of working off the punishment Dumbledore gave him. Karamoh has become something of a friend to Zuberi but has no idea of what Zuberi is really like or what led Albus Dumbledore to arrange for Zuberi to assist at that school-orphanage.
"Ah good. You are here just as I asked, Mr. Batuti," Professor Dumbledore says, sounding rather formal. "I invited some of our friends from Sierra Leone to attend the Spring Social and thought you might like to personally show Mr. Musa around."
It takes Zuberi a moment to figure out that Mr. Musa is Karamoh. Funny how until now he hadn't known Karamoh's surname. There's really no way to decline since both Dumbledore and he know it's not a real invitation to play tour guide and host. Plus, Zuberi might have a history of rudeness to others there at Hogwarts but he's not going to show that to Karamoh. Zuberi puts on a genuine smile and replies, "I'd like that, Professor Dumbledore." Gesturing for Karamoh to come with him, Zuberi says, "Good to see you. Are you hungry? I was wanting to get some ice cream but there's regular food too."
"Ice cream sounds very good, thank you, Zuberi," Karamoh says, falling into step with Zuberi, a broad smile lighting up his face.
Half a minute later, they are both mulling over the many ice cream choices with Zuberi silently wondering if having so many flavors of ice cream to pick from is overwhelming to Karamoh when having even a single flavor and getting one small scoop of it is a treat for Karamoh and the other children at the school-orphanage where Karamoh lives in Sierra Leone.
Spring Social
Author: Marzipan
Date: 05-03-10 09:10
It had been Weston's idea that Marzi try to come up with an ice cream recipe for the Spring Social. When she couldn't even think of a flavor to try out, Weston suggested the obvious: marzipan! Marzi had never made ice cream before, but she was usually good at following directions and thought she could definitely try her hand at it. She found a cookbook at the Hogsmeade Branch Library that had a recipe for marzipan-flavored ice cream.
The ingredients included 1 quart milk, 2 cups heavy cream, 2 vanilla beans, 1/2 cup sugar, 6 large egg yolks, and 14 ounces marzipan. The directions said to combine the milk, heavy cream, vanilla and sugar into a pan and simmer until the mixture began to steam. Marzipan had to mix the eggs with the milk mixture and then cook the whole thing until it formed a custard.
Then, she diced the marzipan and mixed it with the custard until it was smooth. The next step was to freeze the entire mixture, then mix it again to fluff it up, and then freeze it again. Marzi let Weston taste the finish product, which he seemed to approve of since he couldn't stop snacking on it.
She brought the remaining batch to one of the ice cream booths scattered on the Hogwarts grounds and left the printed recipe out for anyone to copy. Marzi was a little nervous about having other people try her ice cream, even if it had passed Weston's test. She didn't notice anyone puking after trying it, though, so maybe she had done a decent job after all.
Marzipan herself had a craving for rainbow sherbet, which she had piled onto a moderately sized ice cream cone.
It was the perfect day for ice cream. The sun was high and the weather was just warm enough for one not to get cold while eating ice cream under the shade of a tree. Weston had spread out a red and white checkered picnic blanket halfway in and out of the direct sunlight.
The atmosphere was perfect for relaxing, and Marzi allowed herself to do so, but she also kept her eyes peeled for any trouble making.
Enjoyable time
Author: Linnea Rose
Date: 05-03-10 11:39
Linnea was so glad now when she strolled around on the grounds and just was happy because the weather was lovely and it was Spring Social and her parents had come to see how she and Maria had it at school. She had showed her parents around inside the school during the morning when they had come to the school after sleeping in the look inn at Hogsmead.
But now it was the time for the Spring Social and her parents had brought with them a picnic basket with some of her mother’s delicious food and also a bottle of her grandmother’s famous elderberry juice. They had sat themselves on the blanket and Linnea was handing the plates to her parents. She started to hand out all the cutlery and the mugs to her dad.
Her mother looks after to see if she could see her older daughter. She looked as long as she saw and after a while she stopped looking and turned to Linnea.
- Linnea darling have you seen your sister? She said when she turned to Linnea.
- No, mum I have not seen her, I said when she asked me.
- Okay, darling, she might turn up sometimes.
She handed me a sandwich with cheese and ham on it and we all started to eat without Maria. Just when I was on my second sandwich Maria turned up a and she looked as she had been blushing a little bit earlier. I pointed at her and she understands what I was trying to say and she tried to cover her chin with her hair.
So when she came closer Mama notes her.
- Maria where have you been?
- I have been with some friends and looked at all the fun things that you can do, she said while she sat down next to our dad.
- Okay, that is good here you go and have yourself some elderberry juice, our mother said when handed my sister a sandwich.
We sat there eating and enjoying loving family time. After the picnic we went around looking at all the activities that was planed to do today. We went around until I decided to go to one of games that was looking like a game children in the city used to play at home. I had asked my parents when I was little what this kind of game was called and my parents had told me that it was a muggle game that was called baseball and I had always wanted to try it. So tried it and it was really fun and I mange to hit the ball very long which was really interesting since I heard it often to much practise to hit the ball as far as I hit it at first. So when I hit it I started to run as fast as I could and I rounded the first corner which they called the flat that was laying on the ground and which you need to round for getting to the next one. After a hour we stopped play and I went on to see if there was something interesting to do.
Watching Their Weight
Author: Fionna
Date: 05-04-10 15:26
Catriona's stepfather, Willem, reaches for a sandwich at the same time Cat's reaching for one. They bump knuckles with Cat saying, "Sorry," and Willem saying, "If you're going to have ice cream or other sweets, maybe you shouldn't have a second sandwich."
Cat's father, Hamish, counters, "Seeing as that's your fourth or fifth sandwich, Willem, I hardly think you should censure my daughter who has, unless I am mistaken, only had half a sandwich so far. Even if she had had a whole one, this is a special day and if she wants to eat more than usual, I see no harm in it."
Willem glares at Hamish over what is actually his sixth sandwich but says nothing. With so many people around, he isn't going to get into a petty argument about Catriona's eating habits with Hamish Amherst.
Hamish winks at Cat then takes a bite of the turkey leg he's been munching. She eyes the sandwich half she'd been about to get then changing her mind about it, stands back up, motioning to Bianca who's family has a blanket spread out next to those of the Amhersts and Changs. "Want to go see if we can get autographs?"
Bianca looks to the bandstand where one of their favorite bands is just wrapping up their set then glances at Cat's father and stepfather. "Yeah! Let's go!"
When out of earshot Bianca says, "Ever since I first met your stepfather I've been meaning to ask "
"About his name?" Cat says before Bianca can finish. "You were expecting someone who looks only half Asian or something like that."
"Yeah."
"He's named after a good friend of his father's. Look, there's Polly. I've looked for her several times but this is the first time I've seen her since we left the Great Hall after breakfast."
Cat is glad to have a reason to change the topic so abruptly. While she does like her stepfather for the most part, he does have the annoying habit of trying to control how much her mother, sister, and she weigh. If any of them were overweight she could sort of see being concerned with what they ate and how much but her mother Blair has always been curvy without being pudgy or looking like she's soft somewhere or with extra padding. Leslie, her sister, is very girly yet at the same time is very athletic and stays really active. She's got some of their mum's curves combined with a very trim form. At just barely 14, Cat has a few curves starting to show and is still developing. She's fit and even if not taking Fitness & Athletics she's sure she would be active enough to not look all soft and squishy. The way Willem acts though all three of them need to be on reducing diets and count every calorie and fat gram that crosses their lips. Given that Willem is the one that needs to watch his weight as he is sort of soft and squishy, and he really needs to get started on some sort of regular exercise regiman, his constant monitoring of how much Blair, Leslie, and Cat eat is doubly annoying.
After a quick exchange of greetings with Polly, the three girls reach the bandstand at the perfect moment to queue up for autographs. They even pose for a picture with one of the band for a roving photographer taking photos for a Hogwarts yearbook and for the newspaper the school has been putting out since school began term in September. After that, with a look back in the direction of her family's picnic blankets, Cat, with a perverse little grin, suggests to her friends, "Let's get tasting samples of all the ice cream flavors we can find."
Recipes & Volleyball
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 05-04-10 18:31
Erasmus Chant reclines in a portable chair his wife and he had brought to the Hogwarts Spring Social. Tapping a spoon on the side of the ice cream filled cup he's eating from he remarks, "This marzipan ice cream is excellent. This biscuits and cream isn't bad either. I think I prefer it to the first biscuits and cream one I tried."
Candice Chant nods in agreement, swallows her own bite of marzipan ice cream then says, "I rather like the marzipan as well. I'm going to go make a copy of the recipe as soon as I've finished this off. Would you like me to see if there's one for the biscuits and cream as well?"
"Yes, if you don't mind. It's at the same table as the marzipan. The biscuit bits are more of a cinnamony oatmeal and there's a ribbon of marshmallow fluff through it all."
A panting Christopher arrives back to where his parents are sitting just in time to hear the part about cinnamony oatmeal and ribbon of marshmallow fluff. Dropping onto the grass in front of them he asks, "Is that an ice cream flavor?"
"It is. You should try some if there's any left. What has you so out of breath and sweaty?"
Christopher rolls over onto his back, spreading his arms and legs out, the better to help cool down and because it affords him a skewed view of his parents. He tells his dad, "A sport call volleyball. Some of us were able to get a pretty good game of three-on-three going but it also meant we got a work out."
"I'm not familiar with that game," Erasmus says with a shake of his head before taking the last bite of the biscuits and cream, which he follows with the last bite of the marzipan ice cream.
"I know it somewhat," Candice tells them. "In Watford, just down from my grandparents was a girl with a Muggle father. Neeva played with some sort of league and I went to a few of the matches. There were more than three per team though."
"There's different kinds. Professor Miller says that in some places there's even a form for little kids. He said it could have different names in different areas but he knows it as Bounce Ball." Since his mother knows a little something about volleyball, Christopher directs this next comment to his father. "See, in volleyball, if the ball touches the ground, depending on the form being played, it could earn a point for the other team. At the very least it means the ball is in the other team's possession. I think. Anyway, in the little kids' version, they can let it bounce before hitting the ball."
"How is the ball hit? Do you have bats or something?"
"Hands. But you yourself can't hit it more than once at a time. You can hit it again but only after someone else has hit it and a team can't hit it more than three times before returning it to the other team to hit."
"How are the teams set up?"
"There's a court and a net and, oh, why don't you just come watch? I don't know all the terms yet or know all the rules but I've played enough now and watched enough to have the gist of it. I can explain it better if you're watching what's going on."
"Excellent idea. Let's swing by an ice cream table and get more flavors to try. Candice, are you going to come with or stay here?"
"I'll come shortly. I like this jazzy tune so I think I shall go around and get those recipes while enjoying it and then will stroll over to join you. Which way, Christopher?"
Pointing as he replies he tells his mum, "Straight down there then go right at the barbecue pit."
The Chants split up temporarily, Candice producing a quilled pencil from her purse along with parchment on which to write recipes, Christopher explaining more about volleyball to Erasmus as his father and he head to the area with the temporary volleyball courts.