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Uncertainty
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 07-17-07 11:31
Double checking his look in the mirror, Harry makes sure it's Harrison Flint again staring back and not Harry Potter. Harry's going out again with Tommy Harcourt. He's gone several times now with Tommy on this case involving Kenneth Chancellor.
Just as Harry suspected, there are aspects of this type of work that are dull, tedious, routine, boring... and all the other words that add up to one big yawn. Yet at the same time, even when things are dull, there is an excitement all the same. Harry's constantly on the watch, taking in every detail surrounding Chancellor, his people, and the clients Chancellor meets with.
One amusing indicent, for Harry at least, was two day before when he recognized a bodyguard for Chancellor's client that day. The man didn't of course recognize Harry and though it had been years, Harry had no trouble recognizing his cousin Dudley's good friend Piers. Since then, Harry's wondered if Piers is just a bodyguard hired to protect the client and has no care what that client does for a living or if Piers is well aware that of the client's illicit activities.
Even with going on this job with Tommy, even with all the training Harry's still getting, there are days when he still doesn't really understand how he's now a "spy" or "undercover operative" in the truest sense. How is this work like being an Auror only outside of the confines of the Ministry? How is keeping tabs on a Wizard making under the table deals with Muggles working against the Dark Arts? This so far seems like work for the regular Magical Law Enforcement folk. How come he can't work at the Ministry thanks to Minister Smythe-Jones but he can work for another government group?
"Ready to go, Harry?" Tommy asks.
Harry smooths down Harrison Flint's hair. "Yeah, ready to leave when you are, Tommy."
Getting Ready
Author: Alex Whitmen
Date: 07-17-07 17:25
Alex and Cailyn had enjoyed spending most of their day together, until Kordelia had pulled him away and Cailyn's father had come to find her. He had written her four times since and now summer was over. He was kind of excited to be starting the term with a friend and his cousin.
"Alex, are you all packed?" his mother yelled from the top of the stairs.
"Uh, yeah, I think so," he replied. He wondered when Kordelia and Skyler would show. Although Kordelia wasn't family, it sure felt like she was and he and Ivy both considered her so.
"Well, why don't you double check. The girls are going to stay here tonight and they should be here any moment," Ivy said walking down the stairs. He could tell his mother was nervous about teaching but she'd get over it.
"I'll go make sure. Oh and mom, stop freaking out, everything's cool," Alex told her. She smiled and nodded her head. He went upstairs to his room and made sure he had everything he needed. Just as he finished putting in a few more things he could hear his cousins downstairs.
"Auntie! Alex!" Skyler yelled. Alex walked back downstairs.
"Hey guys. Mom is outside, I think," he said warmly. They walked into the kitchen and got some lemonade before going to Alex's room to talk.
"Guess what I found out?" Skyler said as soon as he shut the door.
"What?" he asked. He didn't doubt Deely already knew so she rifled through some books and papers lying around.
"My mother and your father are only half siblings," she told him. Alex looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"What?" he said. She rolled her eyes and laid back on his bed.
"My mother and your father have different mothers. I guess grandpa had an affair with some muggle lady, your grandmother, and decided to take you with him or so says my mother's diary," Skyler clairfied. Alex was a little surprised but it made sense. Before Alex could reply his door opened and his mother was standing there smiling at all of them.
"Hey girls. When did you get here?" she asked and walked over to hug them both.
"Hi Auntie. We haven't been here too long," Sky answered.
"Ah, well, did you guys want me to cook or did you want to go out for dinner?" Ivy asked them. They all looked at each other.
"I vote here," Alex said first.
"Me too!" Skyler said smiling and Deely nodded.
"I have to go with the majority vote," Deely added. Ivy laughed.
"Alright, dinner at home it is!" Ivy said then started to head out.
"Skyler, you're all ready to go for tomorrow right?" she asked. Sky nodded.
"Yup, packed and ready to go," she replied. Satisfied, Ivy left them alone again.
A Visit From Snider
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 07-17-07 17:43
I've just finished arranging desks into an informal semi-circle. Muggle Studies meets more often at Cloud's Kiss but when it does meet here in the castle classroom, I prefer a more intimate arrangement for discussion and lecture. Over the course of the past half hour, I've experimented with how I wants the desks arranged, at least to start the term, pretty much deciding on the semi-circle arrangement.
From the door there's the sound of a throat clearing.
I look up as Headmistress Harriet Snider takes a hesitant step through the doorway. From what I've seen so far, the woman isn't hesitant about anything. She's what we with Muggle backgrounds would call someone who streamrolls over everthing. What she's being hesitant about now I've not a clue.
"Welcome to Muggle Studies, Professor Snider."
"Thank you, Professor Miller."
I steels myself to be told to move to another classroom. Some professor have been told, without being give a reason, to change classrooms. So far neither Saffron nor I have been booted from the classrooms we've used for awhile now but I can't think of a reason why Snider would be dropping by if not to tell me to pack up my things. Maybe she's here to get to know me better but if she is, it's the first time she's made any effort with one of the professors. Well, that I know of anyway.
I start working on a bulletin board, trying to act as though Snider's presence doesn't bother me. She walks slowly around the classroom, brow furrowed so much her unibrow looks even thicker.
"This is the fireplace you use to take the students to, I'm sorry, what is it called again?"
"Cloud's Kiss."
"Yes. Right."
"It's the fireplace we use. It's the only one connected to Cloud's Kiss and is closely monitored."
"Yes, good. You gain parental permission to take students off Hogwarts grounds?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"There have never been any complaints?"
"No, only positive feedback."
"I did not take Muggle Studies. My parents would not have allowed it even if I had been interested, which I was not."
I can literally see Snider's nose turning up with disdain. No wonder she was hesitant to enter the classroom. Doesn't want to sully herself.
Snider continues. "I must, as Headmistress, familiarize myself with all of the environments for learning."
"You want to see Cloud's Kiss and the areas of instruction there."
Snider's shoulders quiver slighty as if she's suppressed a shudder. "Yes. I have put this off too long."
Pointing to the fireplace I say, "Ladies first."
We return in just under an hour. If Snider's nose turns up any further she'd be the first mustached pig nose in history I think.
"Thank you for the tour, Professor Miller. Is it true you are related to the illustious Wenlock family?"
"Yes, my father is a Wenlock though he changed his name when he moved to America."
"Ah. Yes. Well, again, thank you for the tour. It was, ah, enlightening."
Snider makes a hasty exit. I wait a moment, expecting her to return and tell me she forgot to tell me I have to move classrooms or that I won't be allowed to use Cloud's Kiss as an instructional setting. When Snider doesn't return, I go back to putting the finishing touches on having my classroom ready for students come Tuesday afternoon when the new third years come at two in the afternoon.
Diagon Alley
Author: Ariella Beck
Date: 07-17-07 19:59
The Beck family, which included Ariella, Alanna and their grandparents, flooed from their Manchester home to the Leaky Cauldron in London, where they unloaded their trunks and then stepped through the bricked archway into Diagon Alley. The group decided to split up to make the shopping excursion go faster. Tobias and Josefine would handle the book lists and other school supplies, while the girls would tend to their robes and other necessities.
As the girls filed into Madam Malkim's, which was unbelievably crowded, Ariella confessed, "I'm meeting Lawrence at Florean's in an hour."
"I thought he was going to Switzerland and that your date was your goodbye," Alanna remarked. "Or did all that kissing you two did on our front porch make him decide that he could put off going out of the country for a few more days?" she teased, smiling at Ariella, who wouldn't help but blush a little.
"We didn't kiss all that much," Ariella pointed out, "and he merely suggested that he could see me one last time in Diagon Alley before I have to go to Hogwarts, if I wanted."
"Which you obviously do. You can hardly stand still for excitement." Alanna grinned impishly.
"Quiet you. Just wait until you find someone you like. Then you'll not like it when you get teased for acting goofy."
"I never said you were acting goofy. You're being very cute, really."
They teased each other while they waited in line to get fitted for robes, and with that taken care of, they headed for Florean's, where Ariella searched for Lawrence. She found him sitting on a stool, staring at the board over Florean Fortescue's head.
"I'll see you later," Alanna whispered in Ariella's ear, peeling away from her sister to give her and Lawrence some privacy on their last day together.
Two Years Later
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 07-17-07 20:16
Ethan strolled up and down Diagon Alley, working security just in case someone tried to do a repeat performance of the tragedy that had struck the same location exactly two years ago. He could hardly believe that two years had passed since the time Lord Voldemort had come charging through the archway with the members of Project 25. Sometimes it felt as if it had all happened yesterday. Other times, it felt like it had happened a lifetime ago.
Ethan was very sorry that everyone who had been victimized by Voldemort, the others from Project 25 who were just as reformed as Ethan now, were still stuck in Azkaban. If only Berwyck Oldridge could see eye to eye with Ethan and Amelia Bones, who had originally agreed to their release, pending everything Ethan himself had had to go through in order to find himself a free man. Ethan would petition again, but somehow he knew that his efforts would be useless. Oldridge was very much set in his ways and wouldn't budge for anything or anyone, least of all Ethan himself.
As Ethan walked up and down Diagon Alley, he often paused to imagine how some of the buildings had looked after the attack. Many had been damaged, some moreso than others, but all had long been repaired. Diagon Alley looked as if it had never, ever experienced anything as horrible as Voldemort's raid two years ago.
It was busy, as it usually was on the last day of summer holiday. Even last year had been busy, though many shoppers had been very cautious in lieu of what had happened the previous year. This year, people seemed a lot more relaxed, though some were still a bit anxious to get their business done and then go home, even though Voldemort was dead and the Project 25ers were all in prison.
Ethan sat down on a bench to rest his feet and legs for a bit and people-watched, though he was ever vigilant, just in case.
We Need To Talk
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 07-17-07 20:18
Julian looks up with extreme surprise when both his parents walk into Twice Told Tales and the first thing they say has nothing to do with their granddaughter. Every other time Tiberius and Lysette have arrived together, all the do is talk about Grace until they leave to actually go see Grace if she's not already with Julian.
Lysette imperiously informs Julian, "We need to talk. Not here."
Julian, his eyesight much better though it will never be back to normal, takes his new glasses off, checks the lens for lint and dust, then slides them back on.
Tiberius clears this thread. "Well?"
"A please would be nice," Julian casually replies.
"Really, Julian," Lysette says with a roll of her eyes.
"What? It's too much to expect my parents to ask politely instead of ordering?"
"This is important, son," Tiberius states. "We've only waited out of courtesy while you've healed."
"I can't just waltz out of here right now."
"Why not? You're one of the owners. You have minions." Lysette has that imperious tone again.
"Employees, Mum, not minions. I cannot leave right now because you might have noticed we have a great many customers. Hogwarts students return to school tomorrow. We offer a large selection of second hand textbooks at reasonable prices, many in practically new condition. In fact, excuse me while I ring up these nice people," Julian says, moving to stand in front of the register. "Find everything you need?"
The woman nods. "Yes, a very nice selection. We've saved enough with these used texts that a certain second year is getting a broom afterall."
The boy next to her lets out a whoop. "I'll be at Windweaver's, Mum!"
The boy dashes out of the shop, Julian rings up the mother and two more customers then returns his attention to his parents. "I can meet you this afternoon."
Tiberius sighs and Lysette looks mutinously resigned. "Fine. Where do you want Julian to meet us, Tiberius?"
"You still have that mountain cabin, Julian?"
"Yes. All right, at the cabin, this afternoon."
The Valentines fix a more firm time with Julian then make their exits, leaving Julian wondering what the hell is up with them now.
The End of Summer
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 07-17-07 21:20
Orei sat curled on the couch next to Brett in Aussie's house. They'd quite thankfully done her back to school shopping a day or so -after- she'd gotten back from Ireland. She was left to do it herself because her mom was still in Japan with her dad. "I don't know. I'm not ready to go back yet. It doesn't feel like the summer was anywhere near long enough."
He had his arm wrapped around her shoulder as she rested her head on his shoulder. "You'll be done soon enough Orei, it just seems like it will take forever."
"I know. Thank you for helping me with my shopping, and I'm glad that we got it done...well before the major crowds of back to schoolers hit and the street was bogged." She pressed a kiss to his cheek and grinned. "I'm looking forward to this year, because, I don't have History of Magic! No boring Professor Binns!" She chuckled and settled further against him.
"Well, that's always a positive thing." He said, chuckling.
"Aussie and Yuri should be home soon. Which means we need to get ready for dinner." She nudged him, and slid from the sofa. "I'm going to take a quick shower and change into my outfit." About ten minutes later she would emerge, hair left to hang about her features, still damp, she wore a simple halter top, flowing skirt both in a forest green color, matching low-heeled shoes were on her feet. She'd settle back on the sofa, grinning at Brett who had changed into a collared polo in a dark blue and a pair of khaki pants. Now, they simply had to wait for Yuri and Aussie to get home, as the four were going out before Orei started back at Hogwarts.
Ice Cream and Summer's End
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 07-17-07 21:41
Lawrence had arrived at Florean's about midway through the girl's robe fitting, knowing that that was the portion of the shopping that Ariella and Alanna would be handling. So, he'd agreed to meet Ariella at Florean's, so that they could spend some time together before he had to go off to Switzerland and she had to return Hogwarts. In truth, he really should be setting up his classroom in Switzerland, but he could do that right before the start of term. He had some time.
He turned when he heard Alanna and Ariella's voices coming from the doorway to Florean's. He watched as Ariella searched for him, not that he was hard to find, there was just way too many people in the shop. Including several dozen soon to be first years who were amazed by all the sights and sounds of Diagon Alley. Some obviously had been here before, namely those that were purebloods, others hadn't been here before...they were either transfer students or Muggleborn and hadn't experienced any part of their family history pertaining to witchcraft.
"Hey ladies. Robes all taken care of?" He questioned.
"Yeah. All done." Ariella said, before pausing to listen to what Ariella said. "Bye..." With that the pair was left alone. Lawrence stood and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"I'm going to miss you, you realize this right?" He said, keeping an arm around her waist as his gaze drifted back up to the board over Florean's head. "Let me know the days of the Hogsmeade trips and I will see if I can come over and spend them with you?"
"That sounds like a plan." She said, as her gaze too drifted up to the board, and they fell into a comfortable silence while debating on what flavor ice cream they wanted. "I know what I want."
Ariella ordered hers and Lawrence ordered a peppermint chocolate chip sundae. He paid for their ice cream and they quickly grabbed a table for two that had just been vacated by a first year and her father who still had text books to purchase. The first year was still rattling off titles as they faded from view.
They talked about their hopes for the school year, and began making possible plans for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, if Lawrence could come over for the trip. He didn't see why he couldn't?
Jasper and college talk
Author: Alice Cullen
Date: 07-18-07 08:08
It was the last day of summer, before school started. This was both good and bad for me. It was good, because that meant I would have costumers soon. The bad thing was that I was going to have to give Jasper up to St. Emrys in a month and I didn’t want too. I felt tiny tears in my eyes at the thought of not being around him twenty- four hours a day and then sighed. Well, I could still go see him. And he could come and see me. I thought as I sat a package on the counter were the cash register was. The store had really come along since I first stepped foot in it.
I was thankful that Jasper was a carpenter, and knew how to use a hammer. I supposed we could have magiced the whole building. But what fun was that? He had taken down one of the walls, and put up a glass wall instead and right next to that glass wall, there was another room, that Jasper had added on. This room would be my tiny tea café eventually. For now, it was just a vacant room. I was going to have to hire some help for the café or wait and see how the shop went before I opened the café up. I watched as Jasper pounded a nail into the wall, while I put the items in the package away.
“Jasper?” I asked.
“Yes?” He turned around and looked up at him, hammer in one hand and nail in the other.
“Do you have to go?”
“Oh Alice, you know I do.” He answered my question for the millionth time that day. I pouted, but nodded and turned back to my work. He sighed, with a soft sigh and put the hammer and nail down. “Alice, I can stay here if you want me too, I’ll just travel by floo to school.” He smiled gently.
This made my heart leap with joy. Jasper had planned on staying at the university but he was willing to change his mind? I smiled and knew my eyes must have light up by the way he looked at me. “Oh Jasper, I would like that.” I threw my arms around him and leaned my head on his shoulder. I had to stand on my tip toes in order to do this. He laughed and brushed the hair out of my face.
“Alice, if that was all you wanted, why didn’t you say so?”
“I don’t know.” I admitted looking up into his eyes. “I didn’t want to take away from your education. If this is what you want, then you should have it.” I said with a smile. I loved him so much and I would do anything for him. I’d even sacrifice my happiness for his. If he wanted to go to school and live there, I would let him. He knew this. He sighed softly and shook his head.
“I’ll stay here while I go to school.” He whispered softly and smiled. “In the meantime, I need to get this wall finished,” he added pointing to the glass wall as he walked over to it with the hammer and nail. I couldn’t help but smile. What would I do without him?