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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 7 June 2009 11 20 12 am    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks! Chapter 49: In the Hospital Wing I was at the library bright and early on Saturday morning. The place was pretty much deserted when I got there. The only person in the quiet room was the ancient librarian. She looked just like she had when we visited Hogwarts months ago. She looked up when I shut the door and glared at me as I walked over to a table. It looked to me like she was just itching to demand why I was there at such an early hour. I ignored her and found a secluded table in the back. I had no idea what time the library started to fill up and didn't really want anyone to see me. It didn't take me long to crank out Torro's werewolf essay. I didn't even bother to look up any facts in any books. I just used what I already knew. Before I even realized it, I had two and a half feet of parchment scrawled on with tiny printing. I wrapped up the essay with a three inch conclusion and set it aside. It would probably be the easiest assignment I would have the entire year. Then it was time to play catch up. After a week of classes, I had had at least one lesson in all my subjects and realized I was quite behind in a few of them. I wished that all the schools would just coordinate curricula; it would make life so much easier. I was behind in Charms and Transfiguration. I was really behind in History of Magic. I would have been behind in Astronomy if it hadn't been for the fact that I spent weeks researching the Northern night sky before we moved. I was actually ahead in Ancient Runes, Potions, and Herbology, although I had a feeling I was only ahead in Potions because I spent so much time outside of school brewing. I also would have been behind in Defense and Care of Magical Creatures if it weren't for Dad teaching me so much about them. I found text books for Charms and Transfiguration, as well as what might as well have been an entire set of encyclopedias' worth of History of Magic books. I grabbed my quill and a fresh roll of parchment and settled down to read my huge stack of books. "There you are, Eckerton," someone said. I jumped and I knocked my ink bottle onto my notes. Merlin! I groaned and started to siphon off the ink with my wand. Then I looked up to see who had found me. It was Monica. Monica Kramer. I had been avoiding her for the past two days. Whenever she was in the dormitory, I went to the common room, and vice versa. The only time we were together was at night and during classes, and I liked it that way. Victoire Weasley was standing behind her, looking slightly uncomfortable. "What do you want," I crossed my arms across my chest. "Your werewolf essay," she sat down across from me. She looked down at the table and picked it up. "Give that back!" I snatched it out of her hands. "You finished it," Monica gaped, "And it's longer than Torro wanted." "Yeah, so?" "So you have to let me copy it!" Monica replied, "It's your fault we have to do this stupid bloody essay!" "No way," I said, "Now could you please just leave me alone?" "I told you not to do this," Victoire muttered. Monica whipped her head around and looked at Victoire. "I'll do what I want. And this freak is the reason I have extra homework!" "Freak?" I seethed, "And what exactly makes me a freak, Kramer?" "Your love for werewolves, Eckerton," Monica turned back around. "Are you serious, Monica?" Victoire looked astonished, "Because if you are, then I must be a freak, too." "You're different," Monica sighed. "No, I don't really see that I am," Victoire said, "You know what? I'll see you later, Monica. And you can find someone else to help you with your essay." Victoire turned and left, with Monica gaping at the spot she used to stand. She then looked back at me. "Well, look at that, Eckerton. You got my best friend mad at me." "Just leave," I muttered. I had way too much studying to do to put up with her. I looked at my watch. It was just after noon and I hadn't even started on my actual homework. I was still on the first book I had to read, too. "No, I want you to help me with my essay since you're the werewolf expert," Monica said. "Go away!" I shouted a bit too loudly. "Quiet!" Madam Pince shouted, "This is a library!" "Fine!" Monica glared at me, "I'll leave. Everything you know about werewolves is probably wrong anyway." Monica got up and ran out of the library, slamming the door behind her. Madam Pince shouted after her, but she probably didn't even hear the scolding. I picked up my quill and resumed my reading, but I couldn't concentrate. I didn't understand how Victoire could put up with Monica. So far, Victoire seemed nice enough. I spent the rest of the day in the library and luckily had no more visits from Monica. I managed to read a good bit of the Charms book and put a dent in the History of Magic reading. I took a break before dinner and wandered around the castle for a bit, but went back to studying after dinner. The next few weeks dragged by and I got into a routine. Ignoring and avoiding Monica was my top priority, so I spent most of my free time in the library. For someone who claimed to be so smart, she didn't frequent the place too often. I went to class and studied well into the evening. But it did become apparent that catching up wasn't as easy as I originally thought. After two weeks I was somewhat caught up in Charms and Transfiguration, but learning hundreds of years' worth of British magical history in two weeks was pretty much impossible. With the exception of Monica, the dormitory situation was going well. It was crowded, but the rest of the girls were nice. I soon learned that Samantha, Seren, and Alyssa were avid Quidditch fans, although Samantha was the only one with any skill in the sport. Much of their conversations revolved around Quidditch. They pretty much left me alone, which was nice. I hardly saw Victoire since she made up with Monica and avoiding Monica soon became avoiding Victoire as well. There were three people who actually paid attention to me. The first being Teddy Lupin. He made it a routine to say hello to me and ask me how I was whenever we passed each other in the common room or in the Great Hall. He seemed to be a smart and somewhat mischievous bloke who preferred to spend all his time on the Quidditch pitch than studying. Laney Hall continued to partner with me in Herbology and try to talk to me, but I found her rather annoying. She was just too hyper, in my opinion. However, I did prefer her company to Quinton Willinson's. Willinson's brief alliance during Defense didn't last long. He went right back to trying to compete with me in Potions and grew steadily angrier as I continued to beat him in every contest Slughorn set to us. Besides Potions, the only class I really enjoyed was Astronomy. The Astronomy professor, Professor Polo was a kind man who clearly had a love for the stars. It was quite relaxing to look out one of the school telescopes while he gave commentary on what was happening with all the celestial bodies. My third Astronomy lesson of the year took place the night of the full moon, which left me really distracted. I only half listened to Polo's lecture, which was about the unique opportunity we had in having class the night of the full moon. All I could think about was what was happening to my brother. It was kind of strange. I hadn't been at school for a full moon in months and I had sort of gotten used to it. Even though I was never home during them, I had gotten used to going home shortly after and seeing how my brother was. I had also begun to realize what sort of affect the transformations had on him. Since I was at school in Australia for most of the full moons prior to finding out I'd have to move, I never really knew exactly what went on. I was surprised to find out that I was actually really worried about the full moon. I had sent my family a letter the previous night and was hoping they'd let me know how the transformation went as soon as possible. I knew Matt had gotten through many full moons, but I couldn't shake the worry. I pointed my telescope towards the moon and stared at it until my eyes glazed over. I lifted my head up and blinked. I looked at my watch and saw that class was only half over. It was going by much slower than usual, probably partly because of the headache I'd been steadily been developing all evening. I was beginning to think that my late night studying was catching up to me. I was constantly tired and just wanted to go to bed. "What did you get on that werewolf essay?" Monica, who had unfortunately picked the telescope next to me, asked. "100," I muttered. Torro had given the essays back earlier. It certainly had taken him long enough to grade them. "Figures," Monica muttered, "Guess what I got." "Don't know, don't care," I said and stuck my eye back in my telescope. "I only got a 95." I personally didn't think a 95 was that bad, but I chose not to say anything else. "So, tonight's a full moon," Monica went on. Why she continued to talk despite her obvious hatred, was beyond me. "It's the night all the werewolves come out and attack people." I turned my head in surprise and knocked my eye into the telescope in the process. I winced at the pain and then glared at her. Why was she bringing that up? The werewolf project was long over and we weren't learning about any dark creatures in Defense class. Monica was looking at me with the smuggest look I had ever seen on her. It just made my blood boil despite the autumn chill that was in the air. "Yep, it's the one night that proves that werewolves are monsters and not people with a horrible disease," Monica continued. That was it. My head felt like someone was driving a rod into it and as far as I could tell, Monica was the one doing the driving. Everything she said increased my headache tenfold. I was sick of it. Sick of her. She's the one that kept bringing up the werewolf stuff. Why couldn't she just leave it alone? "You," I seethed, "Have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." "I do too," Monica said, "At this moment, some werewolf is probably attacking an innocent child." It felt like she had hit a Bludger into my stomach. I froze and just looked at her. She seemed to have known that she hit a nerve and smirked at me. "Just. Shut. Up," I growled. I couldn't take it anymore. If I kept listening to her, I was afraid I'd let something slip. I grabbed my bag and ran to the door, wrenching it open. "Miss Eckerton?" Polo asked. I didn't say anything and slammed the door behind me. I ran as fast as I could down the stairs and began to run towards Gryffindor Tower. Then I stopped. I couldn't go to Gryffindor. In less than a half an hour, Monica would be there. I turned around and ran in the opposite direction. I had no idea where I was going, but I couldn't go to Gryffindor. Monica would just taunt me again. Why did she have to mention a werewolf attacking a kid? I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes shut. I vividly saw an image of the werewolf attacking Matt and snapped them open again. I somehow wound up in front of the hospital wing and guessed it was because I must have wanted something for my headache. And my eye, which still hurt from ramming it with a telescope. I quietly opened the door and walked into the darkened ward. There was a stream of moonlight coming in through one of the windows and it was illuminating one of the beds. The nurse was nowhere in sight. I collapsed onto the illuminated bed and buried my head in the pillow. I didn't really feel like looking for the nurse. I was too exhausted. I thought of what was happening to Matt and let the resulting tears leak out of my eyes and be absorbed in the pillow. The pillow muffled my sobbing. Maybe I could just sleep there and leave before the nurse woke up in the morning. No one would have to know. My hospital wing trips at Australia were limited. In fact, I could count the number of times I'd been there on one hand. The first time was because someone in my first potions class had exploded his potion and some had landed on my arm and burned it. After that, I had gotten sick once in first year and once in second. Then I had to go there again because of an exploded potion and then once because I'd been hexed. I was never one of the kids who would go see the nurse every other day and ask for a potion for every little thing. I didn't want to become one of those kids at Hogwarts either, but I had no place else to go. If I slept in the common room again, I'd probably get yelled at by a prefect. "Is someone out there?" someone said. I froze and stopped sobbing. I was caught. So much for slipping away before the nurse found me. I sat up and looked towards where the voice was coming from. The lights came on revealing Madam Pomfrey, whom I had met when we visited Hogwarts but hadn't seen since. She was a short and kind of chubby woman with a kind face that had a hint of sternness to it. She walked slowly over to my bed and paused at the foot of it. She gave me a curious look and waited for me to say something. "Er, hi," I sniffled and wiped my eyes. "Hello," she smiled, "You're Amy Eckerton, aren't you?" I nodded. "Uh-huh." Madam Pomfrey sat down on the end of the bed and looked at me like she was waiting for me to say something else. I really didn't know what else to say, except that I might like a headache potion. "What's wrong, dear?" she asked after a while. Everything, I thought. Nothing was going right. "I- I don't know," I said, afraid that if I elaborated, I'd start crying again. "Well, let me heal that bruise near your eye," she replied as she pulled out her wand, "What happened?" I guess my eye looked worse than I thought, if she noticed it without me saying anything. "Banged it on a telescope," I muttered as she tapped her wand to my eyebrow. It immediately felt better. "Were you in Astronomy?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she walked over to a cupboard. "Yeah," I said. She returned with a potion and told me to drink it. I recognized it as the pain potion Mum usually gave to Matt after full moons. I downed it in one gulp. "I always loved Astronomy," the nurse told me as she sat back down on the bed. "I do, too," I sighed, wishing the class hadn't been ruined by Monica. "I sense there's something else troubling you," she said quietly, "You look too miserable for someone who just got her head knocked into a telescope." I bit my lip and looked down at the blanket. I started messing with a loose thread and then looked back up at Madam Pomfrey. She was just sitting on the bed, waiting for me to say something. "I-" I began, not sure what I wanted to tell her, or even if I wanted to tell her anything. "It's just hard to catch up on everything. I mean, I know nothing about British history of magic and I've been trying to read about five books on the subject as fast as I can, so I've been getting no sleep. Plus, I'm trying to catch up in Charms and Transfiguration, too. I've had a headache since dinner and had to stay up for Astronomy, which I normally love, but just wanted to skip tonight. But I can't skip any classes." "Yes, that would be hard," the nurse sighed, "You might find it more productive to spread out your studying instead of trying to learn everything as soon as possible." "I guess," my voice cracked, "But I already failed the first History of Magic exam! There was so much stuff on it that I should have learned last year." "You'll do better on the next one," she assured me, "And you don't want to study so hard that you're too tired for Astronomy, especially if it's something you really enjoy." "It wouldn't matter," I said shortly, "Astronomy is not going to be any fun because there's this girl who has been driving me mad. She's in my dormitory so she's in all my classes. She's why I ran out of Astronomy tonight, not because of my eye. She just kept saying stuff that made me want to hex her. Not that I ever wood," I said quickly. Madam Pomfrey smiled, "I know you wouldn't. She's just one of those girls who knows how to get to you." I nodded. "She just doesn't understand anything!" I said as my eyes began to water. "I was just minding my own business and doing what Polo told us to and she just started talking to me. I was already tired and my head hurt and I was worried about," I paused and glanced out the window at the bright full moon, "Other things." Madam Pomfrey followed my gaze and then looked at me knowingly. "Ah. Now I understand." I stared at her. Then it hit me; she already knew about Matt. We had met her when we visited Hogwarts and Kendrick had told her. Going to school at Hogwarts was not going to be like Australia. I didn't have to hide everything from everyone. There was someone I could talk to about Matt. "You're worried about your brother," she continued. I nodded and silent tears began to stream down my cheeks. I hastily wiped them away. "It's ok to be worried," Madam Pomfrey assured me, "I'd think it strange if you weren't." "Sh-she hates werewolves," I said, not really sure why I was telling the nurse all of this, "The girl who I was talking about. In Astronomy, she was telling me that tonight was the night all the werewolves came out and attacked people. She s-said that a werewolf was attacking an innocent ch-child r-right now." "Oh, Amy," Madam Pomfrey got up and sat down right next to me. She put her arm around my shoulder and rubbed my back, "I'm so sorry she did that." "She doesn't understand," I wailed, "Matt was the innocent child who got attacked." "She doesn't know about that," Madam Pomfrey said quietly. "I know," I sobbed, "But I've almost told her. A few times. In Defense class and tonight. I don't want her to know, but I just wish she'd stop bringing up the topic of werewolves." "She won't find out," Madam Pomfrey assured me, "Now would you like to spend the night here?" I nodded, grateful that I wouldn't have to return to my dormitory that night. "Thanks." "Not a problem," she smiled, and got up to return to her room. I climbed under the covers, still in my robes, and curled up into a ball. I stared out the window and watched the moon. Despite my fatigue, it took me a long time to fall asleep. Madam Pomfrey made no mention of our talk in the morning, which I was grateful for. I didn't normally spill my guts like that, but I had just felt so awful. I felt somewhat better that morning, but was still anxious for a letter from my parents. I was very relieved to find that Monica had already left the dormitory when I went there to get my books before class. I wondered if there was any way I could switch dormitories. The letter from my parents arrived at dinner, which resulted in quite a few odd looks from the people sitting closest to me. Apparently it was customary to receive mail at brekkie at Hogwarts. I detached the letter from Jasper's leg, gave him a pat on the head, and watched as he soared out the nearest window. I shoveled a few more bites of dinner into my mouth and then ran all the way back to the common room to read it. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I read that Matt was ok. Sure, it was going to take a few days for him to recover, but his transformation hadn't been any worse than normal. Mum also told me that Dad was starting to get the hang of working the microwave. He had only exploded one thing that week. I laughed as I shoved the letter in my pocket, wishing I had been there to see the look on Dad's face when he had so much success with it.
Distortia Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 626 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Sunday 31 May 2009 09 18 26 pm    Post subject: Re: Where are they in the Half Blood Prince Movie posters? in topic:Where are they in the Half Blood Prince Movie posters? I have to admit I was excited too... and I just decided that's exactly what it's like and I'm proud just the same! LOL. i was all like, "There's hagrid.. omg! look at the Dobby costume! hee hee...." Didn't he play a great Weasley! And watching all the movies too. I'm hanging out now for the next movie, and it's going to land right in the middle of what is probably going to be the most stressful time of my life, but it will be a great distractor. I'm sure this website will get busy again when we want to talk about it.. so of course I'll be going to the opening! Bring on the posters, trailers and merchandise. I love love love it! I'm actually glad JK has dragged it out a bit. Yay!!! xx
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Thursday 28 May 2009 02 59 36 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks! Yeah, I can't sleep when people snore either. Chapter 48: Strange Acquaintances After dinner I returned to my dormitory and pulled the curtains around my bed. All of my roommates were in the common room, but I didn't feel like talking to them if they came up to the dormitory. I wanted to be alone. I pulled out a roll of parchment and leaned up against my headboard. I found a quill and thought about what I should tell my family about my first day. Dear Mum, Dad, Matt, and Ellie, I just finished my first day and it was kind of insane. It started off bad and just went down hill. Last night I couldn't sleep, so I went down to the common room. I fell asleep down there, but woke up late. A boy named Ted Lupin (who has blue hair) woke me up along with a prefect named Landon Comer. He told me I can't sleep in the common room. I was late to my first class, Potions. The professor didn't mind, though. He seems nice. He had a brewing contest for the first day's lesson, which I won. The bloke I was working next to was not happy. Apparently he thinks he's the best potion brewer in the school. After lunch I had History of Magic, which I am very behind in. The professor is a ghost and he's so boring! Half the class was asleep! I couldn't even take decent notes. I had Herbology after that and I had to work with a girl who is possibly the most hyper person in the entire world. She was practically bouncing up and down in her seat as she told me about Hogwarts. I'm just glad the day is over. It feels like it's dragged on forever. I can't say that I like it here. All my roommates are nice, but they all have friends. Everyone already has friends. The only person I've met who pays any attention to me and I actually like is Ted Lupin. I miss you guys. Write soon. Love, Amy I shoved the letter into an envelope and then wrote similar ones to Olivia and Kenzie. Well, Kenzie's was pretty different since I had to make it sound like I was at a Muggle school. I left the dormitory and squeezed my way through the crowded common room. All I had to do was find the owlery. The corridor was much emptier than the common room. I set off for the owlery and only saw a few people on my way there. It took me a while to find it, but I didn't really mind since I had nothing better to do. It was kind of nice to walk the deserted corridors alone. Once I'd mailed my letters, I returned to the dormitory and spent the remainder of the evening reading my History of Magic book. It only seemed to cover what we were going to learn in class, though. I needed to read about the history that the professor had been teaching the past three years. I'd have to go to the library for that. I had the curtains pulled shut around my bed before my roommates came in for the night. I huddled under my blankets and listened to their whispered conversations as I tried to go to sleep. Hearing their late night conversations made me miss Olivia even more. I remembered all the nights we stayed up giggling with each other. I had another very restless night of sleep. Someone was snoring again and I hadn't been able to research a good muffling charm yet. I wanted more than anything to just go sleep in the common room again, but I couldn't risk waking up late and getting yelled at by Landon Comer. I doubted he'd let me off a second time. Despite the fact that I stayed in my dormitory, I still woke up late. I rushed to the Great Hall and grabbed a couple pieces of toast before attempting to find the Charms classroom. The worst thing about waking up late was that I couldn't follow any of my fellow classmates to the room. I practically ran all over the entire castle before I finally found the correct room. The worst part was that I walked into a class of seventh years thinking it was the Charms classroom. It was actually the Arithmancy classroom. The professor told me where the Charms room was, but it was incredibly embarrassing. The Charms professor was a short man with thinning black hair and very bushy eyebrows. He turned away from the class when I walked in five minutes late. He glared at me with such menace that I was taken aback. "Who are you?" he barked. "Erm, Amy Eckerton," I muttered, wanting nothing more than to run from the room and skip Charms all together. "Oh, you're that new girl, right?" the professor glanced at his desk and then looked back at me. "Another Gryffindor. Brilliant," he said flatly, "Sit down. And five points from Gryffindor for being late." I nodded, knowing not to argue with him. Perfect, I had managed to lose points on my second day at Hogwarts. The only seat left was in the front row. I groaned inwardly and sat down in it. The professor, whose name I soon learned was Washburn, only got worse as the class progressed. He docked points for every little thing, including staring off into space and not addressing him as 'sir'. I no longer felt as bad about losing five points for being late. Gryffindor had lost nearly thirty points by the time the class was over. We shared that class with the Hufflepuffs and they had lost about twenty-five. I was the first one out the door when the bell finally rang. I walked with the rest of the Gryffindors (who were all complaining loudly about Washburn) to our next class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Defense has never been my strong suit. I'm rubbish at dueling and if I was ever in a fight, it would be better for me to just run than try and hex my attacker. I only hoped that Defense wasn't harder at Hogwarts than in Australia. Much to my dismay, Defense class was with the Slytherins. I didn't mind Slytherins in general. Most of them didn't seem nearly as bad as they were made out to be, but Quinton Willinson drove me mad. I purposely chose a seat as far away from him as possible, even though it meant sitting in the front row. A tall middle-aged man with rectangular shaped glasses walked in a few moments later. I was very happy to see that he was smiling. I could use with a nice teacher after having to sit through Washburn's class. "Hello, everyone," he greeted the class, "I hope you all had a pleasant holiday. I'll just run through the attendance. "All here," he said once he finished calling everyone's names. He had paused briefly on my name, but didn't say anything, "Now, as you all surely remember, last year's curriculum focused on dark creatures." Last year's curriculum was dark creatures? In Australia, they teach about dark creatures in fourth year. Another thing for me to be behind on. I knew what I'd be doing this weekend. Catching up. At least I already knew a fair bit about dark creatures because of Dad's job, but there was probably some stuff I still needed to learn. "I think it would be a good idea to review what you learned last year, so I have come up with a class project. I am going to split you up into five groups of four and each group will be assigned a creature we learned about last year. You will prepare a presentation and teach the class about your creature," the professor explained, "You will have today to prepare and the presentations will be on Thursday and next Tuesday if need be. "I've already chosen the groups and I will not switch them, so don't bother asking. I've chosen the more advanced creatures we learned about towards the end of the year. How you choose to teach is up to you. You may use visual aids and hand-outs, if you like. "The creatures I've chosen are the chimaera, lethifold, manticore, vampire, and werewolf." I had been writing the instructions on a piece of parchment, but my head snapped up at the word 'werewolf'. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing that I missed the main instruction about werewolves. I wouldn't have been able to keep my mouth shut if the professor had mentioned anything bad about them. Of course, now I was going to have to listen to my classmates talk about them. The professor began to read off the names of the groups, which resulted in a lot of groaning from the class. "The following people will be in the werewolf group. Charisse Kebby, Monica Kramer, Quinton Willinson, and Amy Eckerton." I stared at the professor. It hadn't even occurred to me that I could be in the werewolf group. The possibility hadn't even crossed my mind. Well, I did know more about werewolves than the other creatures, but it was still going to be very strange. I hoped my group members weren't people who disliked werewolves. It was just my luck that Quinton Willinson was in my group. Now I was going to have to cooperate with him. But if he said anything that was anti-werewolf, I wouldn't hesitate to yell at him for it. After the professor finished announcing the groups, everyone got up and sat with their group members. I got up and found Monica, who was sitting in the back. Quinton Willinson was near her and moved to the seat next to mine as soon as I sat down. A bored looking Slytherin girl slid into the chair next to Monica. "Are you new here or something?" the girl, who I presumed was Charisse Kebby, asked, "I don't think I've seen you before." "Very observant, Kebby," Monica rolled her eyes, "She moved here over the summer." "From Australia," Willinson added. That was odd. I didn't have to say a thing. Everyone else was telling my story for me. I wasn't sure if I liked that or not. "Now can we just get on with it?" Monica asked impatiently as she pulled out a roll of parchment. "Fine," Charisse muttered, "But you don't need to be so bossy." "I don't know about you, but I want a decent grade," Monica replied icily, "So can we cut the small talk and get started?" Bossy was certainly a good way of describing Monica. I got the feeling that she and Charisse hadn't gotten along very well in the past. "Werewolves," Monica went on, "Do you two remember anything about them? And Amy, do you know anything about them?" Did I know anything about werewolves? I could do the entire project myself and it would probably take less time than working together. "Yeah," I nodded. Willinson and Charisse nodded as well. "Good," Monica said, "Let's see, werewolves are classified as dangerous beasts by the Ministry of Magic because they pose a serious threat to witches and wizards. They thrive on biting people on every full moon in order to create more werewolves-" "Wait, what?" I interrupted. I stared at her. Was that what the professor had taught them last year? What a load of dung. "Is that seriously what this professor taught you lot last year?" "Well, not really," Monica replied, "But I've done a lot of research outside of class. Professor Torro doesn't really agree with all of the books I've read, though." "What you've read is a load of dung," I said flatly. Monica gaped at me. "Oh, really? Loads of books have been written about werewolves and a lot of them stress how dangerous werewolves are to wizards because they want to bite as many wizards as possible. Plenty of authors have written about how there needs to be tight restrictions on werewolves." I let out a loud sigh. I was absolutely disgusted. This girl was like a miniature version of Professor Killigan. "Again, that's completely untrue. Werewolves are just wizards who happen to have a disease that turns them into a raging wolf once a month. It's a disease, just like any other disease." Monica laughed. "A disease? Is that what they taught you down there? Maybe Australia is chummy with werewolves, but that's not how it works in Britain." I had to try hard to stifle my laugh at that one. The irony of it! Australia being 'chummy' with werewolves? "Werewolves are treated worse than animals in Australia," I glared at her, "And that's not what they taught us. I've done my own research as well." "So you think you're the resident werewolf expert?" Monica snapped. I groaned. I was going to have to be careful or I'd spill Matt's secret before he even entered Hogwarts. "I never said that. All I'm saying is that werewolves aren't as bad as books make them out to be." "How would you know?" Monica demanded. "I just do!" I shouted. "Will you two stop?" Charisse rolled her eyes, "I thought you wanted to do the project, Kramer, and here you are wasting time arguing with the new girl." "Well, I would do the project except the new girl is arguing with everything I say!" "Because what you're saying isn't true!" I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. This girl was mental. "Look, let's just get the project done," Charisse said, "Can't you just compromise? I mean, come on, Kramer. Werewolves are only dangerous on the full moon." "And isn't there a potion that makes them not dangerous on full moons?" Willinson asked. "Wolfsbane," I said immediately. "Right," Willinson said, "So if they take that, they're not as dangerous." "Wolfsbane causes the person to no longer be dangerous to themselves or others," I explained, "But they still turn into a wolf. They're just a calm, not dangerous wolf." "But they're still a werewolf!" Monica insisted, "And werewolves are dangerous! I am not going to do a presentation where we talk about how safe werewolves are!" "And I am not going to do one where all we talk about is how dangerous they are, because they aren't," I folded my arms across my chest. "Let's vote then," Monica glared at me, "Whoever agrees with me, raise your hand." Not a single hand went into the air. I smirked at Monica. "Ha. We're doing one about how werewolves are not raging lunatics." "Then I'm talking to Professor Torro," Monica huffed. "He won't listen," Charisse said, "He won't switch your group." "Then I'm doing a separate one," Monica replied. "Who cares," Charisse muttered. We spent the rest of the hour working on our project without Monica. I was surprised at how open Charisse and Willinson were to hearing what I had to say. Even Willinson was bearable, which truly shocked me. Both of them actually agreed that I should be the one to do most of the presenting on Thursday, which I was sort of nervous about. I was mostly nervous about what Monica was going to do. She was still in our group even though she refused to work with us, so she'd be presenting something at the same time we would be. ****** "It's just she comes in here thinking she knows everything!" someone said as they stomped loudly into the dormitory. I had just returned from dinner and was looking through my Charms book for a good muffling charm. I was sitting on my bed with the curtains drawn. Judging by the loud obnoxious voice, Monica had just entered the room. I held my breath and listened to her rant, because I figured it was about me. "She doesn't seem that bad," someone else with quieter footsteps said. She sounded like Victoire. "She just totally took over my group!" Monica shouted, "Even Willinson agreed with her!" "Willinson is a squirmy git and he's going to side with whoever he likes better," Victoire said, "I think he fancies Amy." I shuddered at the very idea of that. Willinson did not like me that way. He was an irritating git who just happened to side with me instead of Monica. "He fancies you, Victoire," Monica laughed. "He can fancy me all he likes, but I'm not going out with the git," Victoire muttered. "Back to the new girl," Monica groaned, "She just kept preaching to us about how lycanthropy is a disease. I mean, come on!" "You know what I think about that, Mon," Victoire said in a warning tone, "I think we agreed to disagree about it. You're not going to convince me that werewolves are evil. I'm the wrong person to convince of that. You know about Teddy's dad. Hell, you know about my own dad!" What did Victoire mean by that? My heart sped up and I strained my ears to hear Monica's response. "Your dad is not a werewolf, Victoire," Monica sighed, "I have nothing against your dad." "And what about Teddy's dad?" Victoire asked. Was Teddy's dad a werewolf? Victoire was certainly hinting at that. Why else would Monica have anything against him? "Teddy's dad is dead," Monica stated. "I know that!" Victoire groaned, "But what if he wasn't?" "Then I could be friends with Teddy without liking his dad," Monica muttered. Ted's dad was a werewolf. He had to be. I leaned back against my headboard and stared at the curtains. Ted's dad, even though he was dead, had been a werewolf. Ted might actually understand my situation. He wouldn't run screaming if I told him about Matt. But I couldn't. I shook the thought from my head. There was no way I could tell anyone, even if that person's own father had been a werewolf. Poor Ted, though. I wondered how his dad had died. Had it happened during a transformation? I couldn't imagine going through something like that. Well, I had come close twice, but Matt hadn't actually died. "Look, I don't want to get into this again," Victoire sighed, "We agreed to disagree last year and I don't want to row about it again." "I don't either," Monica said quietly, "But that new girl just drives me mad. She got both Willinson and Kebby to work with her instead of me." "Well, Kebby's always hated you," Victoire pointed out, "But how are you going to do your presentation while they do theirs?" "You'll find out," Monica said. "Oh, Merlin," Victoire muttered. "What?" Monica asked, "It won't be that bad." "No, not that," Victoire sighed, "Amy's curtains are shut. She's always hanging out in here. I bet she's in there and heard everything you just said." "I don't care," Monica said and I heard a bed creak. I held my breath as I heard her footsteps coming over to my bed. The curtains were yanked open and I saw Monica smirking down at me. Victoire was a few feet behind her, looking a bit nervous. "I'm sorry," Victoire said, "We didn't know you were here." "I'm not sorry," Monica huffed. "Good. I wouldn't accept your apology anyway," I glared at her, "And just to let you know, you drive me mad as well." Monica shot me a dirty look and then stomped away from the bed. Victoire watched her leave and then looked back at me. "Was Ted's dad a werewolf?" I asked quietly. "Yes," Victoire told me, "But Ted isn't." I nodded, even though I kind of figured that. Kendrick said there had only been one werewolf at Hogwarts and that was decades ago. "Erm, how did he die?" I asked. I had to know if it was from a transformation. I knew there was always the possibility of a werewolf dying during a transformation, but I had only heard of it happening once or twice. "He was killed in the Final Battle," Victoire told me, "Teddy was only a few months old." "Final Battle?" I asked curiously. I hadn't ever heard of that before. I had to admit that I was kind of relieved he hadn't died during a transformation. "You've never heard of the Final Battle?" Victoire looked shocked, "The war against Voldemort? Harry Potter?" Voldemort and Harry Potter sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't remember where I'd heard them before. I shook my head. "Nope." "Victoire!" Monica shouted from the doorway, "I thought you were going to help me with my Potions homework! Come on!" "I'll be right there!" Victoire shouted back and then turned to me, "Go to the library and get the book called 'The Rise and Fall of Lord Voldemort' by Minerva McGonagall. Look for the name Remus Lupin. That's Teddy's dad." I nodded and Victoire turned and ran out of the room. I sat there completely still for a few minutes. In the span of two days I had already figured out who the other werewolf who had attended Hogwarts was, and I knew his son. Not only that, but I already had one girl who hated me and I hated her. Then there was Laney Hall, who for some odd reason liked to talk to me constantly. Throw in Quinton Willinson and I had strange acquaintances at Hogwarts. But I hadn't made a single real friend yet. ****** I was extremely nervous by the time Defense class arrived on Thursday. I still had no idea what Monica was planning on doing, but she looked very smug when I walked into class, so I took that as a bad sign. I barely paid attention during the presentations on vampires, manticores, and lethifolds that were before mine. From what I did get, there was nothing presented that I didn't already know. "Now we will have the werewolf presentation by Amy Eckerton, Charisse Kebby, Monica Kramer, and Quinton Willinson," Torro announced after the lethifold group sat down. I swallowed hard and wiped my sweaty palms on my robes as I stood up. I grabbed my notes and walked up to the front of the room. Willinson and Charisse stood on either side of me but Monica stood a few meters away. "Um, hi," I began, "We're going to talk to you about lycanthropy. Werewolves are often portrayed as monsters, but in reality, they are just like us twenty-seven days out of twenty-eight-" "But that one day, they are raging monsters who would turn on their best friend," Monica interrupted. I stared at her and then shuffled through my notes. What was she doing? "Yes, that is true," I went on, "But they have no control over it. Most werewolves would choose not to transform if given the choice." "But they're not given the choice," Monica said, "So whether they'd choose to or not is not relevant." "Yes, it is," I said a little louder, "It proves that they are not monsters, but victims of a crippling disease. If they truly were monsters, they would enjoy attacking people." "If they weren't monsters, we wouldn't study them in this class," Monica smirked. A few people giggled. Suddenly it hit me. She was going to refute every single thing I said. Two people could play at that game, I thought. We could debate if she wanted. "We study them because they have the potential to be dangerous when transformed and we need to be careful," I countered. "Potential?" Monica gaped, "Potential? They've got more than just a potential!" "The point is, is that they should not be treated like rubbish for what happens one night out of twenty-eight," I said, "They don't choose to become werewolves. They're victims of a disease. Of a curse. Nobody is going to put restrictions on a wizard with dragon pox just because they could transmit it to another wizard. Lycanthropy is the same principle." Monica rolled her eyes. "Dragon pox is curable. Lycanthropy is not a disease. Lycanthropes are monsters." I glared at her. "So they should suffer just because nobody's found a cure? It's a chronic disease that can be controlled." I turned to Charisse, who was supposed to explain about Wolfsbane. "Wolfsbane is a potion that enables a werewolf to transform safely. A werewolf under the influence of Wolfsbane will transform into a calm wolf who will not attack anyone. It enables the person to keep their mind," Charisse explained. "But you said it doesn't work on all werewolves," Monica pointed out. I sighed. "Yes, that's true." "So why don't we just put more restrictions on those werewolves?" Monica smirked. I shot her a dirty look. I could feel my heart pounding harder in my chest. She was getting worse and worse. "That would be stupid," I seethed, "Werewolves whom Wolfsbane does not work for are suffering even more than other werewolves. They endure a painful, crippling transformation every single month. They get sick every month for a few days before the full moon. After it, it takes days for them to get their strength back up." "Yeah, it's such a shame that they suffer when they inflict their horrible curse on other people every month," Monica laughed. She laughed. She actually laughed. Although she didn't know it, she was indirectly laughing at what my brother had to go through every month. She reminded me of Lubar. It was awful. "You," I seethed, "Are one of the most close minded people I have ever met in my life." "All right!" Torro announced, "That's enough. Class dismissed. We'll continue with the next group at the beginning of next class. If the werewolf group could please see me before you leave." I sent the dirtiest look I could muster at Monica as I stomped towards Torro's desk. Willinson and Charisse stood on either side of me. Monica stood a few feet to my left. "I think you both made your points. That was certainly an unorthodox take on my assignment," Torro said, "However, you did miss the general point of my assignment. The purpose was to present the facts about werewolves. How to identify one, what happens during a transformation, and what the characteristics of an untransformed werewolf are, and perhaps a bit about the Wolfsbane potion. Nowhere in this assignment were you instructed to debate the ethics of how werewolves are to be treated in society. "Therefore, I am assigning a two foot essay on the characteristics of werewolves to all of you. You will hand it in at the beginning of class on Tuesday. It is not a group essay, either. You should complete it alone. Now you'd best be getting to your next class." "Thanks a lot, Eckerton," Monica muttered. "You were just a part of this as she was, Miss Kramer," Torro replied. I ignored her comment and stomped back to my desk. I threw my notes into my bag and stormed out of the room. I ran all the way to Gryffindor Tower. I didn't want lunch; I wasn't hungry. I didn't even care that Torro had assigned us an extra essay. It had been worth it. There was no way I could have stood there and let Monica insult werewolves like that. Plus, I could probably write that essay in a half hour. I climbed the stairs to my dormitory and pulled the curtains around my bed. I laid on my stomach and screamed into my pillow. There were very few people who had gotten me as angry as Monica had. Sure, a lot of people annoyed me and I'd be the first to admit it. Vivien's friends annoyed me. Cinda's rich friends annoyed me. The girls in my year at the Australian School of Sorcery (besides Olivia) annoyed me. Kenzie's sisters annoyed me. Monica had gone beyond the state of annoyance. She angered me in ways I didn't think possible. The only people who had ever done that were Clarence, Lubar, and Killigan and they were adults, so I didn't really argue with them. Monica just knew the exact ways to get to me. I doubted she knew it herself and she was definitely clueless as to why, but she seemed to push all of my buttons at once. The worst part was, was that she made me want to spill Matt's secret. I had been so close to just telling the class about him. I told them what went on during his transformations with such detail that everyone was bound to know why I knew so much. I was going to have to be more careful, that was for sure. No matter how hard it was to do, I was just going to have to ignore Monica.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 17 May 2009 01 05 25 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks! Chapter 47: First Day Five girls were already inside. Three of them were hanging up posters and giggling with each other. The other two were whispering with each other on one of the beds. I stepped inside and a floorboard creaked beneath my feet. All five girls looked up at me. "This would explain the sixth bed," a tall, skinny girl with waist-length dark brown hair said as she jumped off the bed she was standing on. "So, you're new here?" one of the other giggling girls, with short black hair, said. I nodded and walked over to the bed that had my trunk at the foot of it. I pulled back the curtains and sat down, not sure what to do. The other girls just stared at me. None of them went back to their conversations. "I'm Seren Frazier," the tall girl announced as she walked towards me. "Samantha Meyers," the girl with the short black hair said. "Yeah, and don't call her Sam or Sammy," Seren laughed, "Or she'll kill you." "Naw," Samantha smirked, "I'll just hex you." "Alyssa Brown," the third giggling girl hopped off her bed and walked over to me with her curly light brown hair bouncing behind her. "Victoire Weasley," one of the whispering girls, who had very long blonde hair and looked a lot like the blonde girl I shared a carriage with, smiled from her bed. Weasley, I thought. She must be related to the two first years who practically got a standing ovation when they were sorted. "Monica Kramer," the other whispering girl said. She had very curly dark brown hair and wore glasses. I nodded. Six people in one dormitory. I seriously hoped none of them snored or I would never get to sleep. "What's your name?" Seren asked. "Amy Eckerton," I muttered. "Why did you move here?" Samantha sat down on the bed next to mine and looked at me curiously, "I've never heard of anyone transferring schools for their fourth year." "Yeah, and where did you live before?" Alyssa asked. "When did you get sorted?" Monica asked. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them. Everyone was looking at me curiously. This was what I wasn't looking forward to. The demanding questions, curious stares. It was giving me a headache and I knew I'd have to do it all again tomorrow. "I moved here from Australia," I answered, "My dad changed jobs. I was sorted over the summer." I had decided earlier that I wouldn't tell anyone Dad got fired. That would raise more questions. People would ask why he was fired. "Australia?" Seren looked impressed, "Wow, you came a long ways." "What job does your dad have?" Samantha asked. "He works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry," I replied. "My dad works for the Ministry, too," Samantha said, "Muggle-Worthy Excuse Department." "So, what do you know about Hogwarts?" Alyssa asked, "We'll tell you all about the professors." "Yeah," Seren agreed, "You'll want to stay away from Washburn. He hates Gryffindors, but nobody knows why." "Slughorn's nice, but don't get into his Slug Club," Alyssa shook her head, "Bloody hell, I'll never go to one of those again." "They're not that bad," Victoire said. "Well, you actually like Potions," Alyssa laughed. "But I'm horrible at it," Victoire sighed. "No, you're not," Monica groaned, "You've got the best grade out of all of us." "So, do you play Quidditch?" Samantha asked eagerly. "No," I shook my head, "I hate flying." Samantha looked taken aback. "Oh, well, that's too bad. I'm a Chaser for Gryffindor." "What do you like?" Seren asked. "Er, Astronomy. And Potions," I said quietly. "Those are my two least favorite classes," Alyssa laughed, "Well, those and History of Magic." "Do you at least follow professional Quidditch?" Samantha asked, "What's your favorite team?" "Australia, I guess," I said, "Look, I think I just want to go to bed." The constant questions were driving me mad. I was already deprived of sleep and that wasn't helping my mood. I located my pajamas and headed into the bathroom. When I returned, the other girls had gone back to what they were doing before I entered the room. Seren and Samantha looked up at me as I walked back to my bed, but nobody said anything, which I was grateful for. I climbed into my new bed and buried myself under the covers. I stared up at the scarlet colored ceiling and listened to the quiet voices of my new roommates. Despite the tight quarters, I felt more alone than ever before. Eventually the chattering and giggling stopped and I heard beds creaking. Someone turned out the light. I turned over and stared at the bed hangings until my eyes adjusted to the dark. There was a small amount of moonlight streaming in through the window next to my bed and it shown through the curtains around my bed. The moon was the one constant thing in my life. No matter where I was, the moon always shown through my bedroom window. My house in Australia, my dormitory in Australia, my room at Richard and Cinda's, Uncle Jack's house, my house in England, and now Hogwarts. Despite my fatigue, I couldn't get to sleep. I kept thinking about classes the next day and I couldn't clear my mind. Then, somebody started snoring. I had no way of telling who it was, but it was so loud that even putting my pillow over my ears didn't help. I needed a muffling charm. I'd have to look one up in the library the next day. If I could find the library, that is. I groaned and sat up in bed. This was hopeless. I'd never get to sleep in my dormitory. I quietly slipped out of bed and out the door. The common room was cold and empty when I got there. It had already been cleaned, too. It must have been really late. I curled up on one of the scarlet couches and closed my eyes. The room was so quiet, just how I liked. Somehow it made me feel even more lonely, though. I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter and felt tears streaming down my cheeks. ****** "Hey, Aussie Eckerton," someone said. I snapped my eyes open and quickly closed them again as I was blinded by sunlight. I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes. Ted Lupin was standing next to the couch smirking to himself. There was another bloke next to him. He was a bit taller than Ted, with shaggy brown hair that my mum would say needed to be cut. Both of them were in their school robes and had bags over their shoulders. "Er, hi," I muttered. "Why are you sleeping down here?" Ted asked with an amused look on his face. "Um, couldn't sleep," I replied. "Oh, this is Landon Comer," Ted gestured to the other boy. "Nice to meet you," I said as I got up from the couch. "You too," Landon replied, "But since I'm a Prefect, I have to let you know that technically you're not supposed to sleep in the common room. Since you're new, I'll let it slide this once." "Thanks," I blushed. Figures, I broke a rule my first night there. "Classes start in fifteen minutes, Aussie," Ted told me. I groaned inwardly and muttered goodbye to Ted and Landon. I ran back up the stairs and to my dormitory. None of the other girls were there, but that didn't surprise me. I threw on robes and crammed all of my books into my bag. I then realized I had no idea which classes I had that day. I groaned out loud and ran back to the common room, hoping that Ted or Landon would still be there. They were just leaving as I entered. "Ted!" I shouted. Ted looked back at me. "What is it?" "Um, how do I know where my classes are?" I asked as my cheeks reddened again. "Longbottom, he's our head of house, has the schedules in the Great Hall. You'd better hurry, though." "Thanks," I muttered as I rushed past them and out into the hallway. I didn't really remember how to get to the Great Hall, but since it was on the first floor and Gryffindor Tower was on the top, I figured I should just run down all the flights of stairs I found. This method worked and I was soon in the deserted Great Hall. A few of the professors were still milling about, but I had no idea which one was Longbottom. I grabbed a piece of toast from the Gryffindor table and hoped that someone would see me there and give me a schedule. A man with blonde hair shaping his round face walked over to me. I hoped he was Longbottom. "Hello. I'm Professor Longbottom. You must be Amy?" he asked. "Yes, sir," I replied. "Welcome to Gryffindor," he smiled, "I'm your head of house and I teach Herbology. Here's your schedule." "Thanks," I said as I took the piece of parchment he handed me. "Well, I've got to get to class and you should, too. I'll see you soon," he said and then left the room. I shoved the rest of the toast into my mouth and glanced down at my new schedule. Potions was first, in the dungeons. Well, that was pretty straight forward. Dungeons were obviously underground, so all I had to do was find another set of stairs. I left the empty Great Hall and looked around for another staircase. I found a door that was labeled 'dungeons' and wrenched it open. I followed a dank staircase into an even danker stone corridor. Looked like dungeons to me. I ran down the corridor until I found the classroom. The door was shut. Great, I thought, the class had already started. I opened the door as quietly as I could, but I knew there would be no way to slip in unnoticed. "The directions are on the board-" the professor said and then turned to the door. He was a short, round man with no hair on his head and a very prominent grey mustache. "Are you Amy Eckerton?" he asked. I nodded, but didn't move from the doorway. The entire class was staring at me. From the looks of it, the class consisted of Gryffindors and Slytherins. To my dismay, I recognized Quinton Willinson. He was sitting in the front row and for some odd reason was smiling wryly at me. "Well, my name is Professor Slughorn and I will forgive your tardiness as this is your first day." The whole class erupted in whispers at 'first day'. "You can take a seat next to Mr. Willinson," Slughorn gestured to the vacant seat in the front row, "He can inform you about today's potion." I nodded and reluctantly walked over to Willinson's table. Why did that have to be the only empty place in the room? I made a mental note to get to Potions earlier the next time. I really didn't want my favorite class spoiled by a creepy bloke. "We're brewing Wit-Sharpening Potion," Willinson announced, "It's a very advanced potion for fourth years, not usually learned until later in the year, but Slughorn likes to give challenges on the first day. We're having a contest. Whoever brews the best potion gets chocolate. I usually win all the contests since I'm the best brewer in the fourth year." I raised my eyebrow at him. He was even more arrogant than I had originally thought. I didn't think so much arrogance could be put in one sentence, but apparently it could. He was in for a surprise, though. I had taught myself how to brew Wit-Sharpening Potion months ago. I set my cauldron down on the table and lit a fire underneath it. I avoided Willinson's gaze as I got up and joined the queue of students at what I assumed was the storage closet. Willinson followed me and collected his own ingredients. I returned to the table and began to prepare mine. "How do you like Gryffindor?" Willinson asked. "It's fine," I muttered as I tossed a few beetles into my cauldron and raised the flame. "You'd be happier in Slytherin," he drawled. "I doubt that," I told him. "You should chop those lacewing flies into smaller pieces," Willinson announced and pointed to his own, "Like mine." I glared at him. "Mine are perfectly fine," I said shortly. "Just thought you'd like some advice from a master potions brewer," he shrugged, "Australia might be behind Hogwarts in terms of potion brewing." "No fourth year could be considered a 'master potions brewer,'" I smirked, "And Australia is not behind Hogwarts in potion brewing." I stirred my lacewing flies into my cauldron and the potion turned the appropriate emerald green color. I glanced at Willinson's cauldron and saw that his potion was more of a forest green. I smirked and began to mince my anise. "Ah, wonderful, Miss Eckerton!" Slughorn grinned as he peered into my cauldron, "Your potion is the exact shade of green it should be at this point. You might want to take note of what Miss Eckerton is doing, Mr. Willinson." I grinned and turned to Willinson, who was turning a purplish color. He hastily added another few lacewing flies in an attempt to change the color, but his potion turned slightly yellow instead of emerald green. "Looks like another for the Slug Club," I heard someone whisper from behind me. If the Slug Club meant I was the best potion brewer in the class, I was fine with it. "Told you my lacewing flies were the appropriate size," I told Willinson. "But, but-" he stuttered, "Fine, your lacewing flies are the right size. But your anise is too finely chopped." "It is not," I groaned, "And I prefer not to talk while I brew." I ignored him from that moment on. I could feel his eyes on me, but figured he'd stop talking if I stopped responding. Slughorn walked around the room and looked at everyone's potion near the end of the double period. Willinson was looking very smug as he stood next to his potion, but I personally thought his potion was too thick. "Quinton, m'boy," Slughorn grinned and then peered into the cauldron, "Very nice. A bit too heavy on the anise. Put less in and your potion won't be so thick. It needs to be a tad thinner." I smirked as Slughorn moved onto my own potion. "Amy from Australia," Slughorn said as he looked in my cauldron, "Well, it seems that they do know their potions in the land down under! Excellent work. I believe you have won the chocolate." Slughorn produced a very large bar of chocolate and gave it to me. I said thank you and pocketed it. So far, potions was a great class at Hogwarts. I got to brew and I got chocolate for it. "So, you think you're better at Potions than me?" Willinson said as we left the room after cleaning up. "I never said that," I snapped. He was really getting on my nerves. "I learned how to brew that potion months ago, if you must know." "Don't bother," Victoire Weasley appeared next to me, "He's not worth arguing with." "Victoire!" Willinson grinned, "Will you go to Hogsmeade with me this year?" "Not a chance, Willinson," Victoire growled, "And give up already, I'm never going to." Victoire sped up and walked ahead of us with Monica. I tried to get away from Willinson, but he kept following me. Why was it that the only person in the entire school who seemed to want to be friends with me was mental? "What else do you know how to brew?" Willinson asked as we climbed the stairs to the Entrance Hall. I rattled off a few potions that I had brewed recently. Quite a few of them were ones in the fourth year curriculum at Hogwarts. "Oh, er, I can brew all of those as well," Willinson stuttered. I kind of doubted that, but nodded anyway. "Well, that's good." I managed to shake him when we got to the Great Hall and I went to the Gryffindor table and he went to the Slytherin table. I ate a quiet lunch and then glanced at my schedule and saw that I had History of Magic next. I waited until I saw Seren, Samantha, and Alyssa get up from the table to get up myself. I had no idea where the History of Magic classroom was, so I figured it would be a good idea to just follow them. I walked a few feet behind them and they didn't notice me. I sat down at one of the tables in the back and pulled out a roll of parchment, ink, and a quill. The classroom filled up quickly and two Gryffindor boys I didn't know sat down at my table. It looked like we shared that class with the Ravenclaws. The two boys at my table were goofing around with each other and weren't acting like they were ready to sit through a class. I edged away and tried to keep a healthy distance in between them and myself. A few moments later, a ghost floated through the blackboard. I gaped and nearly fell out of my chair. I looked around the room, but nobody else seemed at all surprised by this. The two boys at my table stopped messing around. I picked up my quill and continued to gawk at the well, ghostly, professor. All the professors at the Australian School of Sorcery were alive. I had never heard of a ghost professor before. "This year we'll be moving onto modern history of magic in Britain," the professor said in a very monotone voice, "We'll start with the late nineteenth century. At this time, witches and wizards all over Britain were dealing with the beginnings of what is now known as the Gringotts Strike of 1892...." I scrambled to write down everything he said. He didn't waver at all in the tone of his voice and he spoke at the same constant rate. He didn't pause at all for people to take notes, or even to breathe. Of course, he didn't really need to pause for breath. Nor did he write any of the notes on the board, but he probably couldn't pick up the chalk. This was one of the classes I had been worried about. I knew absolutely nothing about British history of magic. Everyone else in the room had grown up in England and probably heard about this stuff before. I hadn't. My hand was hurting before the class was even half over. I had already written a quarter of a roll of parchment, and the teacher had yet to take a break. I knew I was missing information and I probably wouldn't even be able to read my notes. I shook out my hand and glanced around the room. Hardly anyone else was taking notes. A few Ravenclaws were, but none of the Gryffindors were. A few were whispering to each other and passing notes. A quarter of the class had their heads down on their tables. "For three years, half the goblins at Gringotts refused to let people access their vaults resulting in a depression like state for hundreds of witches and wizards..." the ghost droned on. I looked at the clock and groaned. The class was only half over. The teacher's voice was so monotone that I wasn't surprised people were falling asleep. I could feel my own eyes beginning to droop. A half hour later I shoved my illegible notes into my bag and left the room as fast as I could. I knew it already. I was going to fail History of Magic. I bit my lip and sped up. It was hopeless. Potions had been the exception. It was the only class at Hogwarts I would do all right in. Everything else I was bound to be behind in, especially History of Magic. How was I supposed to pass that class when I couldn't even take decent notes? How did everyone else manage it? Nobody took notes. Nobody even paid attention. I pulled out my schedule again and saw that I had Herbology next. The last thing I felt like doing was finding the greenhouses and sitting through another class. I walked down flights of stairs until I finally got to the Entrance Hall. I left the castle and gazed about the grounds. I hadn't seen them in the daylight in months. I saw a few buildings that looked like greenhouses in the distance and started down a path I hoped would lead to them. I breathed a sigh of relief as they came into sight. Professor Longbottom was standing in front of the greenhouse on the right and waved to me. "Hello, Amy," he smiled, "How's the first day going?" I shrugged. "As expected." "Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," he said, "You can go on inside and find a seat." I nodded and walked into the greenhouse. It didn't look that different than the ones in Australia, although some of the plants were different. Of course, I thought, Britain probably had different magical plants. More stuff I'd be clueless about. There were a few other students in the greenhouse. I found an empty seat and slumped down in it. The greenhouse slowly filled up and a short Hufflepuff sat down next to me. Her hair was dirty blonde with purple streaks in it. She had put a few small ponytails throughout it and it was kind of messy. Her robes were askew and they revealed a tie-dye t-shirt underneath. "Hi!" she grinned at me, "I've never seen you before." "Hi," I replied, "Erm, I just moved here." "Really?" her eyes widened as she bounced in her seat, "That's brilliant! You'll love it here. Where did you move from?" "Australia," I told her. She was possibly the most hyper person I had met at Hogwarts so far. "I've always wanted to go there," she sighed, "Oh, I'm being rude. I'm Laney Hall." "Amy Eckerton," I replied. "Do you want to be my partner in class?" Laney asked excitedly, "We usually work in groups of two in Herbology, only there's an odd number of us so I usually work in a group of three. But since you're here now, there's an even number so you can work with me. Won't that be fun?" I nodded, although I wasn't sure about the 'fun' part. Laney ignored my lack of enthusiasm and began to rattle off a bunch of information about Hogwarts that I only partially paid attention to. Longbottom walked in a few minutes later and she shut up. By the end of the class I was feeling very happy that I had not wound up in Hufflepuff. Laney Hall was the most excitable person I had ever met and working with her for an hour was making me want to scream. She chattered on and on about anything and everything as we transplanted Flibbery Flowers from small single pots to large ones that housed five of the colorful flowers. Laney followed me back to the castle and continued talking about the importance of showing house spirit at Quidditch matches. I just nodded every once and a while, but didn't pay much attention. That's what I did the entire class as well. I breathed a sigh of relief when she bade me goodbye to go to the Hufflepuff common room while I continued up the stairs to Gryffindor tower.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 10 May 2009 08 57 02 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks, hprocks! This chapter is named after the song by Rascal Flatts, Here Comes Goodbye. Some of the lyrics go along with this chapter nicely, if you care to Google them. I don't own that song, nor do I own Harry Potter. Chapter 46: Here Comes Goodbye I woke up to Pollux nipping my hand. I groggily lifted my head off my book and groaned. This was it. September first. I fed Pollux and slowly changed into jeans and a t-shirt. My parents and Matt were already eating brekkie when I went downstairs. Mum and Dad gave me half-hearted smiles as I sat down with a bowl of Fruit Loops. I doubted they'd have those at Hogwarts, but I was too nervous to eat very much. "Are you all packed?" Mum asked. I nodded. "Yeah, I just have to shut Pollux in his cage." "Good. We'll leave in an hour or so," Mum replied. I nodded again and finished my cereal. Once I was done, I got up and went outside. It was a warm sunny day, but I really had no idea what the weather was supposed to be like in England in September. The weather seemed to be the opposite of my mood. It would have been more appropriate for it to be rainy and cold. I wandered around the property, not really wanting to settle in one spot. I watched the farmer's cows chewing grass in the nearby field and watched a few birds fly around. "Hi, Amy," someone said from behind me. I turned around and saw Matt walking towards me. I sighed. I couldn't really believe it, but I was actually going to miss him. This whole thing was his fault, but I just couldn't be as angry with him as I used to be. Not after he went through so much in the last few months. "Hi, Matt," I said quietly as I sat down on the low fence that surrounded the property. Matt started to climb up after me. "Be careful," I said as I helped him up. I put my arm around his back so he couldn't fall off. "I will," he said, "I don't want you to go." Neither do I, I thought. "I have to," I replied. "I'm going to miss you," he said. "Me, too," I swallowed hard. Why did this seem worse than when I went away to school in first year? "It's going to be boring without you here," Matt announced. I giggled. "It'll be like it was when I was at school in Australia." "It was boring then, too. There's nothing to do when you're not here." He really needed some friends. Mum and Dad should just let him go to Muggle school. That would never happen, though. "I'll be back over Christmas," I told him, trying to reassure myself as much as him. Matt nodded. "Yeah, but that's a long time away." "I know it is," I said quietly. "Amy! Matt! Are you out here?" Mum shouted from the window. "Yeah!" I shouted back. "It's time to go!" she told us. I took a deep breath and jumped off the fence. I looked at Matt and his eyes were tearing up. Just seeing that made me want to cry. He really was going to miss me. "Want me to carry you?" I asked. He nodded and held out his arms. I lifted him up and we walked slowly back to the house, neither of us saying a word. "Did he hurt himself again?" Mum asked as we entered the house. "No," I whispered, "We were just...saying goodbye...and stuff." Mum nodded as I set Matt down on the floor. I looked up and saw Dad standing a few yards away with my trunk propped up on its side. Pollux's cage was sitting on the table and he was hooting inside of it. "Ready?" Dad asked. I nodded as I grabbed Pollux. "I guess," I muttered. Mum grabbed Matt's hand and I followed them out the door. Dad followed with my trunk. We walked silently until we reached the end of the anti-Apparition wards. Dad wrapped me in a one-armed hug and the four of us Disapparated. We appeared in a back alley that I assumed was near the King's Cross station. We followed Dad down the street until we reached the station. Dad found a trolley and heaved my trunk onto it. I placed Pollux on top. The station was crowded. Muggles were bustling everywhere. A few glanced at Pollux, but none of them really paid much attention. Matt stepped closer to Mum as a few men brushed past us. "Nine and three-quarters, right?" Mum whispered to Dad. "Right," Dad muttered. I followed my parents through the crowded station until we got to the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. I figured we would have to run straight at the brick wall, since that's what we had to do in Australia, too. "I'll go first with the trolley," Dad said. He glanced around to make sure no Muggles were paying attention and slipped through the wall. Mum gestured for me to go next. I held my breath and closed my eyes even though I knew I wouldn't actually hit the wall. I opened my eyes a few seconds later and saw Platform 9 3/4. Students and families alike were running around. Students were reuniting with each other and shrieking about what they did over the holiday. Parents were loading trunks onto the train. Owls were hooting, cats were meowing, little kids were shouting. I felt horribly out of place. Everyone knew each other. Everyone except the first years, that is. I felt like a first year as I stood with my parents and Matt. Dad went to load my trunk and Pollux onto the train and returned a few minutes later. He grinned at me, but I didn't grin back. "Well, this is it," he said, "This feels like your first year all over again." "You have no idea," I muttered. "You'll do fine, Amy," Mum assured me, "We've been through so much this past nine months. You can get through anything." She gave me a hug. "I know, I know," I sighed and bit my lip. "You're bound to make new friends," Mum said. Yeah, friends I'd have to keep secrets from. I was dreading explaining to people why I transferred to Hogwarts for my fourth year. We stood there not saying anything for a few more minutes. I watched as students said goodbye to their parents and ran onto the train. A few first years were sharing tearful goodbyes. "I think you're going to have to get on the train," Dad said quietly. I nodded. "Yeah. I love you guys." "We love you, too," Dad squeezed me and kissed the top of my head. "We'll miss you," Mum gave me another hug. "I'll miss you, too," my voice cracked and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. What was wrong with me? I hardly cried when I left for my first year. "We'll owl all the time," Dad said. "Bye, Amy," Matt gave me a big hug. I picked him up. "Bye, Matt. I love you. I'm going to miss you." "Me, too," he sniffled. I set him down as the train whistled. I wiped my eyes and waved as I ran towards the train. I jumped on just as it was starting to move. I stood in the doorway and waved as my eyes filled up with more tears. I kept waving until the train turned a corner and I could no longer see my family. I wiped my eyes again and started down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment. The last thing I wanted was to meet anyone new right then. Eventually I found an empty one towards the back of the train. I ran right into it and shut the door behind me. I sat down next to the window and watched the scenery fly by. It was kind of mesmerizing. I just let my eyes glaze over and everything blurred together. The time sort of flew by faster then. I wasn't even thinking about anything in particular. I think I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, the compartment door creaked open. I jerked up and winced as my neck cracked. Falling asleep against a glass window wasn't the smartest of ideas. "Oh, sorry. Were you sleeping?" a girl asked. I looked up and saw two kids standing timidly in the doorway. The girl had a round face framed by messy long brown hair. She wore glasses and was already dressed in Hogwarts robes. A boy, who was a few inches taller than her, stood aside her. He was skinny with lighter brown hair and a few freckles on his pale face. They looked to be first or second years. "Er, I was," I muttered. "Can we sit here?" the boy asked, "There's no room anyplace else." "Go ahead," I gestured to the empty seat across from me. The two of them walked inside and the boy shut the door behind them. They both sat down on the bench across from me. The girl stared at me while the boy fidgeted next to her. "I'm Jessie Briggs," the girl announced, "What's your name?" "Amy Eckerton," I replied. "And I'm Timothy Porter," the boy said. I nodded. Well, now I knew a few Hogwarts students. Too bad they were probably closer to my brother's age than mine. "What house are you in?" Jessie asked. "Gryffindor," I told her, happier than ever that I had decided to be sorted over the summer. "I want to be in Ravenclaw," Jessie said. "Ravenclaw?" Timothy raised his eyebrows, "You must be smart. I don't want to be in Ravenclaw. All they do is study all the time." They were definitely first years. Although, when I thought about it, sitting with first years was a good thing. Neither of them had any idea this was my first year at Hogwarts, too. They wouldn't ask me why I moved here. "My mother was in Ravenclaw," Jessie huffed, "And she didn't study all the time." "What about your dad?" Timothy asked. "He's a Muggle," Jessie answered, "What about you? Where do you want to be?" "Slytherin," Timothy smirked, "Where all the best wizards go." "Slytherin?" Jessie looked taken aback, "Why would you want to be there?" "It's where my parents were. All of my family has been in Slytherin. I'm not going to break that tradition," Timothy boasted. Slytherin, I thought. That's where that Willinson bloke I had met in Diagon Alley was. "And it's where all the evil wizards came from," Jessie told him, "Voldemort was in Slytherin." "So was Severus Snape," Timothy countered. I just sat there listening to them. I had no idea who Voldemort or Severus Snape were. The names sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place them. I assumed they were famous wizards from Britain. They don't teach World History of Magic until fourth year in Australia. "True," Jessie nodded, "But no evil wizards came from Ravenclaw." "None that you know of," Timothy said. "I would know," Jessie replied, "I've been learning about magical history for years." "Well, aren't you Miss Smarty Pants," Timothy muttered. "Thank you," Jessie smirked. Jessie and Timothy argued about the houses for the next half an hour or so. It was actually kind of interesting since I didn't know a thing about most of the houses. Apparently Slytherins had the reputation of being evil, Ravenclaws of being annoyingly smart, Hufflepuffs of being kind of dense, and Gryffindors of being brave to the point of stupidity. I had to stifle a laugh at the last one. I didn't think I was brave to the point of stupidity. I got the idea that there was a lot of house rivalry going on at Hogwarts. From the sound of it, there was more there than in Australia. I was kind of grateful for everything I was learning from the two first years. I now knew to mainly stick with Gryffindors and definitely not mingle with too many Slytherins. Hopefully that would help me blend in better. The compartment door opened once again and an old witch popped her head in. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" The two first years jumped up and ran out the door. I followed more slowly as I dug a few Galleons out of my pocket. There were a few people standing around the trolley buying various sweets. "Amy?" someone shouted as I reached for a Cauldron Cake. I looked up and saw none other than turquoise-haired Ted Lupin grinning at me. He actually remembered my name? I hadn't seen him in months. "Hi, Ted," I replied. "So, your family decided to move here?" he asked, "Excellent choice." "Yeah," I said as I paid for my food. "You been sorted yet?" "Yup, Gryffindor," I smiled, remembering that he was a Gryffindor as well. "Brilliant," he grinned, "Guess I'll see you at the feast." I nodded. "Yeah, see you then." I followed Jessie and Timothy (who both had armfuls of sweets) back into the compartment. "So," Timothy began as he opened up a Chocolate Frog, "You just moved here?" I groaned inwardly. He had heard what Ted said. Oh, well, I sighed. Might as well practice my story on a few first years before telling it to people I would actually spend a lot of time with. "Yeah," I sighed. "Where from?" Jessie asked. "And you've never been to Hogwarts before?" Timothy asked at the same time. "Australia and I've visited Hogwarts," I answered. "Whoa, Australia?" Jessie looked impressed, "Why'd you move here?" "My dad's job," I told her. "Where does he work?" she asked. "How do you know you're in Gryffindor already?" Timothy asked. "The Ministry. And I got sorted over the summer," I said as I opened my Cauldron Cake. "I've never heard of anyone transferring to Hogwarts," Timothy announced. "Yeah, well..." my voice trailed off, "Stuff happens." "You sound Australian," Timothy mentioned. "Duh," Jessie rolled her eyes, "She's from Australia." "I was just saying..." he muttered. "Well, I wouldn't say to you, 'You sound British,'" Jessie groaned, "It's just kind of a stupid thing to say." "We can't all be Ravenclaws," Timothy sighed loudly. "Even Slytherins have to have some brains," Jessie told him. I breathed a sigh of relief as they resumed their bickering. That hadn't been too bad. Luckily they didn't ask for details about Dad's job. I just had to hope that no one else asked for details. The rest of the train ride passed relatively quickly. I fell asleep again and didn't wake up until Jessie prodded me. "We're almost there," she said, "You should change into your robes." I yawned and got up. I rummaged around in my trunk and pulled out a pair of new robes. I hastily put them on over my clothes and waited for the train to stop. I followed Jessie and Timothy into the corridor as the train began to slow. Once it stopped, I joined the sea of black-clad Hogwarts students onto the platform of Hogsmeade station. I actually recognized it from our trip to Hogwarts. I soon lost track of Jessie and Timothy. I heard someone shouting 'First years, over here!', so they must have been going some place different anyway. I had no idea where I was going, so I just followed the rest of the students. I ended up near a line of what appeared to be horseless carriages. I guessed they were just pulled by thestrals. Dad had mentioned that Hogwarts had a herd. Everyone was climbing into them, so I did the same. My carriage was empty when I got inside, but I was soon joined by three girls who looked a tad bit older than Timothy and Jessie. One had long, brilliant red hair, the second had curly pale blonde hair that rivaled my own, and the other had long, thick black hair. "The carriages must be pulled by magic," the black-haired girl said. "Yeah, I think they are," the red-haired girl agreed. "They're pulled by thestrals," I told them. "Told you," the blonde girl smirked, "Teddy said they were pulled by thestrals." "Yeah, well, Teddy likes a joke, doesn't he?" the red head pointed out. I wondered if they were talking about Ted Lupin. Maybe they were related or something. The three girls quickly started talking about their summers and I let my attention wander. I did find out that the red head and the blonde were cousins and all three were second year Gryffindors. The carriage lurched to a stop and I followed the younger students out into the warm air and into the castle. I had been in it before, but the size of it still amazed me. I looked around as people jostled me in their haste to get into the Great Hall. I stopped in the doorway and realized that I had no idea where to sit. There were four long tables and then the staff table at the opposite end of the room. Were we supposed to sit with our houses? Or wherever we wanted? I glanced around the room and spotted Ted's hair at the table to the right. It couldn't hurt to sit at his table. I made my way through the crowd and found an empty seat at the table. The golden plates were empty. Everyone around me was chatting happily. I leaned my head on my hand and stared down at my reflection in the shining plate. I felt so out of place. A few minutes later, everyone quieted down. I looked up and saw a tall witch leading a group of kids into the room. I assumed they were the first years. They all crowded around each other near the staff table. The witch reached around the staff table and came out with a three-legged stool and the Sorting Hat. She placed the stool on the ground and the hat on the stool. The rim of the hat opened and it burst out in song. My eyes widened in shock, but nobody else seemed fazed. A few of the first years looked taken aback, but that was about it. I guessed this was a normal occurrence. I don't know why it surprised me since I knew the hat could talk, but singing was just even stranger. The hat sung about the different houses and everyone clapped once it finished. "When I call your name, come sit on the stool and the hat will tell you which house you are in. Then go sit at the appropriate table," the witch announced. I guess we were supposed to sit with our houses. I was glad I wound up sitting at the Gryffindor table. Everyone was quiet during the sorting ceremony. I watched, but to be honest, I was kind of eager to just go to bed. I just wanted to be alone. Jessie was one of the first kids to be sorted and she was sorted into Ravenclaw. She grinned as she ran towards the Ravenclaw table. I smiled as she sat down amongst the other Ravenclaws. My attention wandered after that until I heard Timothy's name announced. I watched as he was sorted into Slytherin. I wondered if he and Jessie would ever really become friends, now that they were officially in other houses. The Gryffindor table clapped loudly for every new Gryffindor, but two of the last students sorted got the loudest applause of all. They were two red-heads named Fred and Heather Weasley. I didn't know if they were brother and sister or cousins. I think they were related to the red-head and blonde girls I shared a carriage with, though. The two of them were roaring with excitement when Fred and Heather were sorted. There were a few other red-heads who stood up and roared along with them. I guessed they were all related somehow. They must have a huge family. Professor Kendrick stood up once the sorting was finished. "I have a few announcements, but as usual, they can wait until after dinner." He waved his wand and huge amounts of food appeared on all the tables. I served myself some chicken, potatoes, and carrots and began to pick at it. Everyone around me began talking again and I tried to remain inconspicuous. I had been hoping to just blend in with everyone else. I happened to be sitting near a few of the new Gryffindor first years, so nobody really paid much attention to me. Desserts appeared once people stopped eating dinner. I wasn't that hungry, so I just waited for Kendrick to make the announcements he said he was going to make. After what seemed like forever, the dessert vanished and the golden plates returned to their clean state. I looked up at the staff table and saw Kendrick rise to his feet. "I hope everyone is feeling a bit better now that we've eaten," Kendrick smiled, "Please be aware that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, hence its name. Please stay away from the Whomping Willow as well." I could feel my cheeks reddening at the name 'Whomping Willow'. I was probably the only student in the room who knew what that tree concealed. "If you wish to try out for your house Quidditch team, please give your name to your head of house," Kendrick continued. That wasn't something I'd be doing, I thought. Come to think of it, I didn't even know who my head of house was. I guess I'd figure it out soon enough. "I suggest you all turn in early, as classes start tomorrow," Kendrick said, "Prefects, please lead the first years up to your common rooms. Everyone have a good night." Common room. It would help if I knew where the Gryffindor common room was. I sighed and got up from the table. I decided to just follow the first years at a distance. I couldn't help but gaze around as I followed the group of chattering first years to the common room. The walls were adorned with all sorts of portraits. There was hardly any wall space left. Every few feet there was a statue or suit of armor. We walked up flight after flight of stairs (which like to move, I soon discovered) until I didn't think we could get any higher. It was taking forever. The castle was even larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. The group of first years finally stopped in front of a portrait of a very large woman. "This is the Fat Lady," one of the Prefects announced, "The password is 'Niffler'." The portrait swung open and I followed everyone into the common room. I stopped as soon as I got in. The room was round and decorated almost exclusively in scarlet and gold. Various arm chairs, couches, tables, and chairs were scattered about the room. A fire was crackling in the large fireplace. Two doors were side by side in the back of the room. Every few seconds, someone would go through one of them. "Dormitories are through the doors," the prefect said, "Girls to the right, boys to the left." I swallowed and walked slowly towards the doors. This was it. Time to meet my new roommate. I hoped the doors were labeled, since nobody had shown me where my new dormitory was. The door to the girls' dormitories revealed a spiral staircase that I followed to the top. At the top of the staircase were seven doors. Only seven. How many roommates was I going to have? I walked down the short corridor until I reached the door labeled 'Fourth Years'. That must be it, I thought. I took a deep breath and entered the room.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 28 April 2009 12 02 00 pm    Post subject: Re: Life Is Good in topic:Life Is Good This is the last chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Chapter 6: I Start My Journey Today [i]I start my journey today And I make my claim to fame Everything around me has changed ~Rainy Labor Day[/i], Jared Campbell "James, if you don't get out of bed this minute, I swear, I'll-" Ginny shouted up the stairs. "I'm up, I'm up!" James shouted back. Albus sighed and sat down on his trunk. He had been up since six and ready to go since seven. His trunk had been packed since the previous night, whereas James had not taken their mother's advice about packing early and was probably running around his room trying to locate his robes. "Ready, Al?" Harry asked as he walked into the drawing room. Albus nodded. "I think so. I mean, I've got everything...." Harry sat down next to his son and put his arm around him. "You're going to be fine, Al." "I know," Albus sighed. He didn't want to admit that he was nervous, but he was. Albus hadn't been that nervous when he got his letter. He had been excited. But for the past few days, he had become steadily more nervous. "Think about it this way," Harry began, "Most of your cousins are already at Hogwarts. It'll be like staying at the Burrow with everybody, only none of us adults." Albus laughed. He hadn't really thought about that. It would be nice to be away from all his aunts and uncles and parents. The freedom would be nice. "There are teachers, you know," Albus pointed out. "Yes, Al, I do know that," Harry laughed, "But you'll have fun. You'll make new friends and have your cousins there. In fact, you'll probably get sick of them." Albus sort of doubted that. He never got sick of his large and boisterous family. There was never a dull moment. "I'm ready!" James shouted as he shoved his trunk into the room. It collided with a table and knocked a vase off, which promptly crashed onto the floor. "Oops. Sorry, Dad." "It's ok," Harry smirked and repaired the vase with a wave of his wand, "Ginny! Lily! Let's go!" A little while later, Albus was standing in front of King's Cross station. He took a deep breath and helped his dad load his trunk onto a trolley. After James had his own trolley, the five of them walked into the station. He could do this. Hogwarts was exciting. James and his cousins had fun there. Nothing to be worried about. Well, nothing besides winding up in Slytherin. If he could just get through the sorting, everything would be fine. "You first, James," Ginny said once they reached Platform 9 3/4. James casually pushed his trolley into the barrier between platforms nine and ten and then disappeared. Ginny and Lily followed him. "Together, Al?" Harry asked. Albus nodded and he and Harry walked towards the barrier. Albus closed his eyes and disappeared from the Muggle world. This was it. Hogwarts. His new home for the next seven years. ****** Matt opened his eyes stopped walking. He had gone through the barrier to Platform 9 3/4 a few times before, but the idea of walking through a brick wall still scared him a bit. The platform was already crowded. People were running all over the place, chasing loose cats and children alike. It seemed more chaotic than it had when just Amy had gone to Hogwarts the previous years. "This is it," Amy said from behind him. Matt turned around and saw his sister pushing her trolley away from the barrier. She had a huge grin on her face. "Is it always this crowded?" Matt asked. "Yeah," Amy laughed, "Nervous?" Matt nodded and Amy put her arm around him. "You're going to be fine." Matt wasn't so sure about that. He couldn't remember a time when he had been more nervous. Well, that wasn't true. There were some occasions that had been more nerve wracking. But this came close. He was not used to being around so many strangers. He was not used to being away from his parents. He was definitely not used to living away from home, where he only knew one person. What if he didn't even get Sorted into Gryffindor? Then he wouldn't even be near Amy. Amy said he would probably be in Gryffindor, but what if he wasn't? Not all siblings were put in the same houses. He didn't think he could handle not being in the same house as his sister. "Matt, honey, are you all right?" Julie put her hand on his shoulder. He jumped and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. He wished the first day wasn't so close to the full moon. Going to Hogwarts for the first time only a few days before the full moon wasn't exactly his idea of fun. But he knew he was going to have to get used to things happening around full moons. At home, everything revolved around when the moon became full, but that wouldn't be the case at Hogwarts. Better to just get used to it now. "Maybe they should just find an empty compartment," Walter suggested quietly, "Before they're all full." "Good idea," Julie agreed, "Amy, could you help your dad with the trunks and go find a compartment?" Walter and Amy took the two trolleys and disappeared into the crowd. Julie led Matt over to a somewhat quieter part of the platform and looked at him. "I know you're scared," she said, "But you can do this. You're strong." Matt nodded, although he hadn't ever thought of himself as strong before. He knew he had to do this and he wanted to, despite the nerves. "Remember, we're only an owl or a a Floo message away," Julie assured him, "If you ever need us, just go see Madam Pomfrey. She'll get us. Any time, day or night." "I know," Matt nodded. Julie wrapped him in a tight hug. "I just can't believe you're going to school. Time has gone so fast." "I'll miss you, Mum," Matt hugged her back. "I'll miss you, too," Julie sniffed, "I love you." "We've got a compartment," Amy said as she and Walter walked up to them, "We'd better go if we want to keep it, though." Matt walked alongside his mum as they made their way back to the train. They stopped right in front of one of the doors. "Bye, Matt. I love you," Walter gave him a hug, "We'll see you soon. Owl us and tell us what house you're in." "Bye, Dad," Matt bit his lip as he hugged him. Julie hugged Matt once more as soon as Walter let him go and went to say goodbye to Amy. Matt noticed she was crying as they broke apart, which made it harder for him to hold back his own tears. "Look after him, Amy," Julie said as she hugged her daughter, "I love you." "I will, Mum," Amy replied, "Love you, too." "Remember to go see Madam Pomfrey if you need anything," Julie said one last time, "And remember to go see her for your potions." "I will," Matt said. Both of his parents gave him one last hug and then waved as he followed Amy onto the train. "Well, this is it," Amy said quietly as they began to walk down the corridor. She put her arm around his shoulder. Matt nodded. This was what he had been waiting for for years. He could do it. Amy would help him. He wiped his eyes and let Amy lead him to their compartment. ****** "This is mental, completely mental," Henry Tagger muttered. "It's what Professor Longbottom said to do!" Sarah Tagger pointed out. Amanda sighed. Her parents had been whispering to each other about the process of getting to Platform 9 3/4 for the past ten minutes. Amanda thought it was pretty straightforward. You run straight into the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Not that complicated. A bit nerve wracking, but not complicated. She didn't understand why her parents had to talk about it for ten minutes. "Can we just go?" Amanda tapped her foot, "I'm going to miss the train." "I am not running into a solid brick wall," Jen said adamantly, "We'll all wind up in a mental institution." "I'll do it!" Max started running towards the wall. "No, you won't," Henry held him back. "Everyone's staring at us," Jen hissed, "Can't we just get out of here?" "No!" Amanda said a little too loudly, "Why don't you just trust him?" "Because I tend not listen when people tell me to run into walls, Amanda," Henry said. "Hi," someone said from behind Amanda. She turned around and saw a tall, dark haired boy with a huge grin on his face. He was pushing a trolley that had a trunk and an owl on it. Behind him were three little girls, a man, and a woman. "Hi," Amanda replied, "Are you, er, a," she whispered the last word, "Wizard?" John laughed. "Of course! You think a Muggle would have an owl on their trolley?" "Er, no, I guess," Amanda shrugged, "Listen, are you really supposed to run into the barrier? That's what Professor Longbottom told us, but my parents don't believe him." "Yes," John laughed even harder, "You must be Muggle-born." "Yeah," Amanda nodded. "Look, my parents and sisters can go first and then maybe your parents will believe it," John said. "It's easy," the woman, who must have been John's mother said as she herded two of the little girls towards the brick wall, "But take it at a run if you're afraid." They walked straight through the wall and disappeared. Amanda rubbed her eyes and then stared at where they used to be. She had believed Professor Longbottom, but it was still a bit shocking to see someone walk through a seemingly solid wall. "Now will you let me go?" Amanda asked. "I suppose," Henry sighed, "But I'm going first." Amanda watched as her dad cautiously approached the barrier. She thought he should just run through it like John's mum had suggested. Instead, he touched the brick, shook his head, and then slowly walked through. Then he was gone. Sarah let out a gasp and ran towards the barrier. She looked frantically back at John's dad, who was smirking and shaking his head. "He's fine," John's dad said. "Can I please go now?" Amanda said impatiently. "Fine," Sarah sighed, "We'll follow you." "I will not," Jen muttered. Amanda ignored her sister's bickering and maneuvered her trolley to face the barrier. She grinned at John, who had moved his own trolley next to hers, and began running. John ran next to her and the brick wall became closer and closer. Amanda's heart sped up, but she wasn't nervous. It was more of an excited nervous. With one last glance back at her white-faced mother, Amanda closed her eyes and ran through the barrier. ****** John burst through the barrier and slowed down once he realized he was through it. He turned and saw Amanda gawking at the wall and laughed at her pale face. "What do you think?" he asked. "That was brilliant," Amanda grinned. "Thank God," Amanda's father hugged her. Amanda rolled her eyes. John waited with Amanda as the rest of her family came through the wall. Her little brother looked even more excited than Amanda had as he came through. Her mother looked ready to pass out and her sister looked stunned. Next came John's dad with his youngest sister. He of course didn't look fazed in the slightest that he just came through a solid wall. "Is this normal for the wizarding world?" Amanda asked. "Sure is," John told her. "Whoa, that bloke has a snake!" Amanda's little brother shouted and ran off towards an older student who had a green snake wrapped around his neck. "Maxwell!" Amanda's mum shouted and ran after him. Henry gestured for John to help him with his trunk, and Amanda and her dad followed. They got the trunks loaded onto the train and then rejoined the rest of the group. The adults exchanged introductions and greetings while John's little sisters ran around the platform. "Have you ever been to Hogwarts?" Amanda asked. "Nope," John replied, "But my parents went there and it's absolutely brilliant." John couldn't wait to get on the train and go. He hadn't even been able to sleep that night out of excitement. The closer September first had gotten, the slower time had seemed to pass and it seemed like it had been an eternity since he had received his letter. Now that the day had finally arrived, all he wanted to do was get on the train. It's not like his parents were paying much attention to him anyway. They were talking with Amanda's parents while trying to keep an eye on his sisters. He and Amanda could probably get on the train without them even noticing. Well, maybe Amanda's parents would notice. They'd seemed pretty protective about her even getting on the platform. John glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes until the train leaves. We should probably get on." "I guess so," Amanda said quietly. John watched as she went to say goodbye to her family. She had been so excited before, but now she was quiet. Maybe she wasn't as excited about leaving her family as he was. "Have fun, John," Henry gave him a hug and then clapped him on the back, "Don't make too much trouble. Love you." "I won't, Dad," John grinned, "Love you, too." "Oh, Johnny!" Jan squeezed him tight, "I'm going to miss you. I love you and owl us as soon as you find out what house you're in." "I will," John said, "I love you, too." All three of John's sisters hugged him at once and Ashtyn and Alyssa demanded that he owl them presents within the week. Gemma giggled and said 'me too' and John rolled his eyes. "Ready?" John asked Amanda as soon as his sisters let him go. "Yeah," Amanda nodded. John practically ran to the train with Amanda following. He climbed on and turned around and waved to his family. He waited until Amanda was done waving to her own family and then with a grin, he and Amanda went to find a compartment. ****** "There's a bloke back there with a snake!" Hugo said excitedly. Rose rolled her eyes and ignored him. That bloke was going to get in trouble. Snakes weren't allowed as pets. She didn't really care for snakes. Hugo had this fascination with them, though. He liked all animals, actually. "We're going to miss you, Rosie," Ron gave her a hug, "I hope to get some owls soon about the trouble you cause." "Don't listen to him," Hermione kissed her on the cheek, "The house is going to be so empty without you." "Yeah, and I'm taking over your room!" Hugo announced. "You little prick!" Rose shouted, "You better not!" "Don't worry, we won't let him," Hermione assured her. "Especially if you miss the train," Hugo smirked, "It's leaving now." Rose whipped her head around and saw that the doors were being shut all along the train. She turned and saw that Albus was still talking with his dad. What was taking him so long? He was going to make them miss the train! "What's Al doing?" Rose asked. "He'll catch up with you on the train," Ron said as he hugged her, "We'll see you soon, Rose, I love you." "I'll miss you," Hermione joined the hug, "Love you, Rosie." "I love you, too," Rose hugged them both, "And I'll miss you. Even you, Hugo." "I'll miss you, too," Hugo said, "Except it'll be nice having the house to myself." Rose rolled her eyes. Her brother always had to make a joke. She didn't think he had ever been serious. He took after his uncle George. Rose gave her parents one last hug and then ran towards the train. Albus was still talking with his dad. She jumped on and waited for Albus to finish. "There you are," she muttered to Albus when he finally climbed onto the train, "What were you doing?" "Saying goodbye," Albus said quickly, "Ready for Hogwarts?" "Ready," Rose grinned.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 26 April 2009 10 03 01 am    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks! I haven't flown first class. I flew when I was 5, but haven't flown since. Chapter 44: The Sorting I heard the door open a minute or so later and Mum and I left the kitchen to see which one of my grandparents was arriving. I reached the door to find Cinda setting her bag down on a table and gazing around at the house. "Mum," Mum greeted Cinda. "Julie, darling," Cinda smiled and embraced her, "So, this is your new house." "Yes," Mum nodded, "What do you think?" Cinda paused. "Small," she said after a while, "And kind of quaint." "I'll take that as a complement," Mum said wryly. "It's just so different," Cinda went on, "Your old house was so much grander and fancy..." she trailed off. "Yes, but honestly, we didn't need all that space, Mum," Mum explained, "We lived there because Walter inherited it and it was his childhood home. Otherwise, we would have stayed at our first house. Remember that one?" Cinda nodded. "Yes, that one was even smaller than this." "But we like it," Mum sighed. "I know, I know," Cinda replied, "It'll just take some getting used to." We wandered back to the kitchen and Mum continued cooking while Cinda set the table. Richard and Dad arrived a few minutes later and Richard told my parents how much he liked the house. We took them on the grand tour (which didn't take long) and showed them the entire place with the exception of the basement, which was still in partial disrepair. When we finished showing my grandparents the house, Ellie announced that dinner was ready. "I'll go see if Matt's up to eating dinner with us," Mum said as we entered the kitchen. "Let me, Jule," Dad said, "I haven't seen him in a few hours." I sat down at the table next to Mum, with Matt's empty seat on the other side. Ellie started serving the food, but no one started eating until Dad returned. "He's sound asleep," Dad said as he sat down at the head of the table. Mum nodded, "I figured he would be. He's been asleep ever since we got home from St. Mungo's." "When will he be all recovered?" Richard asked quietly. "Probably late tomorrow or early Thursday, he'll be feeling back to normal," Dad told him. The rest of dinner was spent discussing England and what my parents liked and disliked about it. Richard and Cinda had dozens of questions about the house, Dad's job, and England in general. After dinner, Dad enlarged a bed that had not sold at the estate sale (which actually happened to be the bed my grandparents usually slept in when they stayed at my house)and set it up in the library for them. Everyone went to bed a few hours later, but I stayed up and looked out my telescope. I woke up late the next morning. Very late. But I figured I needed to in order to adjust to the different time zone. I stumbled down the stairs and to the living room only to find that I was one of the first ones up. Only Mum and Dad got up before I did and were talking quietly to themselves. Richard and Cinda woke up shortly after I had brekkie (or would lunch have been a more appropriate word?). It wound up being a very quiet day. Matt was in no shape to go anywhere. He spent the day lounging on the couch reading and playing his DS. Cinda gave Mum interior decorating advice about the house and the two of them wound up rearranging the kitchen yet again. Richard, after hearing about Dad's microwave incident, decided to teach Dad the finer points of cooking meals in a microwave. I thought this was rather funny since Richard was certainly not a cook. But, Richard and Dad seemed to enjoy it. They even went out and bought these Muggle things called 'microwave dinners', which are meals you stick in the microwave for a few minutes and then eat. We wound up having them for dinner. I spent the day wandering from room to room, just looking at what my family members were doing. I realized how very odd it was to have my grandparents in England with us. What was even stranger was that at that moment, no one in my family was in Australia. Well, except for Clarence and his family, but I didn't really consider them family anymore. I played a few rounds of Exploding Snap and Gobstones with Matt, but then he got bored with it and we both read for a while. Dad had to go back to work the next day, but Mum decided that we could go show Richard and Cinda Diagon Alley. That was fun, especially when we went to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Both Richard and Cinda were flabbergasted by the amount of magical pranking items they had. Dad met us for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron, which was nice. Richard and Cinda left a few days later. Their visit had been surprisingly fun. They said they'd visit again soon, but didn't give an exact date. ****** The weeks went by quickly after that. The time before I would go to Hogwarts was quickly decreasing and once August arrived, I realized how close it was. I started thinking about it all the time and it was making me nervous. Sure, I was getting used to our new house and living in England, but school would be a different story. I was going to know absolutely no one, except for the headmaster. Dad finished my potions room and I was very happy with it. It looked a lot like the one I had in Australia, except it had no windows. Dad put some sort of magical ventilation system in, though. "Amy!" Mum shouted down the stairs one Thursday afternoon. "What?" I shouted back as I increased the fire under my cauldron. "You've got a letter!" Mum answered. I turned off the flame and ran up the stairs. Maybe it was from Olivia. I had owled her the previous week, but she still hadn't gotten back to me. Mum handed me the letter once I entered the living room. I turned it over and saw that it was from Hogwarts. I slit it open, pulled the letter out, and read it silently. [i]Dear Miss Eckerton, Please note that the new term will begin on September first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4 at eleven o'clock in the morning. Also, since you are a new student this term, you need to arrange to meet with the headmaster prior to the start of term. Please owl him with a time that will work, the sooner the better. Sincerely, Professor Padma Patil Deputy Headmistress[/i] "What's that about?" Mum asked. "Telling me when school starts," I mumbled, "September first. But I have to go see the headmaster soon, since I'm new there." I handed her the letter. Mum's eyes moved along the page and then she set the letter down on the table. "I'll send an owl. I could take you tomorrow, after Matt's appointment with Norlam." Matt's sessions with Norlam were going well. So well in fact, that Norlam announced the next day that he was going to start the relaxation techniques he had mentioned months ago. Norlam actually had Mum and I do them as well, which was kind of odd. He had us take deep breaths with our eyes closed while we imagined ourselves in relaxed places. I thought about walking through the bush in Australia. It was actually really relaxing and the hour went by fast. Norlam talked briefly in private to Mum and then left. "Ready to go?" Mum asked a few minutes later. "Yeah," I replied. Kendrick had said he was going to meet us at the Three Broomsticks, so Mum, Matt, and I Apparated to Hogsmeade and walked into the pub. That afternoon it happened to be filled with gossipy old witches and there were a few wizards discussing politics at the bar. "Just give it a few years," one of them was saying, "And Percy Weasley will be Minister. I'd bet my Gringotts account on it." "Naw," the other one was saying, "He's softened with age. He's just not Minister material anymore." "Julie!" Professor Kendrick got up from the bar and greeted us. He had been sitting a few seats down from the politicking wizards. "Professor Kendrick," Mum smiled and shook his hand. "Please, call me Fabius." "All right," Mum said. "Well, let's go up to the castle," Kendrick replied. I followed him out of the pub and into Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade in the summer was a lot different than Hogsmeade in the winter. People were congregating outside and talking about anything and everything. Little kids ran around chasing each other and older kids goofed off. Eventually we made it to the school grounds and then into the castle. The castle was the opposite of Hogsmeade. It seemed completely deserted. In fact, I didn't see a single person on our way to Kendrick's study. "Is Walter working?" Kendrick asked as we entered his study. "Yes," Mum answered. "How is he liking it?" "Oh, he's enjoying it," Mum said. "Good," Kendrick smiled and gestured for us to sit down. I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of Kendrick's desk and Mum sat in the other. Matt sat down on her lap. "All right," Kendrick folded his hands together, "As you know, the term starts on the first and you will arrive here by train. How did you get to school in Australia?" "Train," I replied. Kendrick nodded, "And I'm assuming the platform the train arrived at was hidden from Muggles?" "Yeah," I said, "You had to run into the barrier separating two platforms." "Ah, well, it's the same here. You will run through the barrier in between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross to get to Platform 9 3/4." "Ok," I said. "And now onto slightly more exciting matters. We need to figure out what classes you're taking. At Hogwarts, there is a core curriculum of classes that everyone must take until the end of fifth year, when the O.W.L. exams are taken. Then, you choose which classes to continue at the N.E.W.T. level for sixth and seventh years. At the end of seventh year, you take your N.E.W.T. exams in those classes." I nodded. Classes and exams had been similar to that in Australia. "Therefore, you have to take Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, History of Magic, Charms, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Besides those, you can take two or three electives. The choices for electives are Muggle Studies, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Divination, and Ancient Runes. Which would you like to take?" "Well, I did Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes in Australia," I explained, "I guess I'll just take those." Kendrick nodded and jotted something down on a piece of parchment. "Very good," he turned to Mum, "At Hogwarts, anyone in third year and above can visit Hogsmeade a couple of times during the year. If you'll let Amy participate, I'll need you to sign this form." He handed Mum a piece of parchment. "Of course," Mum picked up a quill and quickly signed the parchment. "Well," Kendrick took the permission slip, "All that remains now is to Sort you into your house, unless you want to be sorted with the first years." My house. I had completely forgotten that I'd have to be sorted into a house at Hogwarts. "I'll do it now." No way was I going to be sorted in front of the entire school with a bunch of eleven-year-olds. "All right," Kendrick stood up and then paused, "It's sort of been a tradition at Hogwarts for the first years not to know how the sorting is done." He turned to Matt, "Could I ask you not to mention anything about the sorting when you're on your first train ride to Hogwarts?" Matt nodded but didn't say anything. I was now thoroughly curious about this sorting thing. Why was it so secretive? What was so special about it? "All you'll have to do is sit there," Kendrick told me as he pulled a very old looking hat off a shelf near his desk. He held it up in front of him. "This is the Sorting Hat. It will tell you where you will go." I stared at it. A hat? A hat was going to sort me? Even in the wizarding world, that was a little strange. "But it's a hat," I said. "A wise hat," Kendrick smiled. "And I will figure out where to put you," the hat's brim opened suddenly and began talking. I gaped at it and then turned to Mum and Matt. Both of them were staring at it as well. Not only was it a hat, but it was a talking hat. Kendrick walked over to me and put the hat on my head. Immediately, the hat's voice appeared in my head. I nearly jumped out of my seat from the shock of it. 'Hmm,' the hat began, 'you're older than most of the kids I sort.' 'Yeah, well, I moved here,' I thought. 'I see that,' the hat replied. I guess it knew everything about me. 'Hmm, you're loyal. Fiercely loyal. You'd do anything for your family,' the hat said more as a statement than a question, 'Good Hufflepuff material.' 'Loyal, that's good. I guess I'm loyal.' 'Very loyal. But that's not all. You've got courage. A rare courage that I don't see every year. The courage you need to remain loyal to your family, especially your brother, no matter what the circumstances are. Yes, indeed, very interesting combination. The loyalty of a Hufflepuff, but the courage of a Gryffindor...' 'Gryffindor! Someone told me that's the best house.' 'Everyone says that about their house. They all have their good qualities. And you happen to possess the qualities of two great houses. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. But which one. Which one indeed?' I didn't really care which one. I didn't know anything about either house, except that Ted Lupin and George Weasley said that Gryffindor was the best. "Gryffindor!" the hat finally shouted. I breathed a sigh of relief as Kendrick took the hat off my head. It as over. I hadn't even realized how nervous I was about the sorting until after it was over. "Congratulations," Kendrick said as he put the hat away, "Many great witches and wizards have been in Gryffindor." "That's where Dumbledore was," Matt announced suddenly. "Yes, he was," Kendrick replied and turned around to look at Dumbledore's portrait, but it was empty. "Well, I think that's it. Oh, here's a list of supplies you'll need before term starts," Kendrick handed me a piece of parchment, "Most should be the same as what you needed in Australia, but there are a bunch of books you'll need to get as well as robes. Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley sells Hogwarts robes." "Thanks," I said. Kendrick walked us back to the Three Broomsticks. He and Mum talked about Hogwarts the whole way there, but I didn't really pay attention. I just kept thinking about how in less than a month I would be a Hogwarts student. Well, I sort of already was. I had a house. Gryffindor. The house where the brave and courageous students went. The Sorting Hat had said I was courageous, but I didn't think I was. I couldn't think of anything courageous I'd ever done. Loyal, yes, I could see myself as loyal. But not courageous. What had the hat meant anyway? Courage to remain loyal to my family no matter what? Why would I need courage for that? I guess that hat knew more about myself than I did. ****** "Where do you want to go first?" Mum asked me the next day, as we walked down the steps of Gringotts. My parents had decided to take me shopping for my school stuff, and we had just finished another bumpy ride on a Gringotts cart. It had not been any better than the first one. "The book store," I said immediately. We set off to Flourish and Blotts and my stomach started to calm down. I had felt like I was going to chunder on that cart. Matt had actually sort of enjoyed it this time. I figured it was because he wasn't recovering from jet lag this time. Neither was I, but it still made me sick. Flourish and Blotts was extremely crowded when we arrived. It didn't surprise me since it was a Saturday and only a few weeks before the start of term. Kids were running around and parents were shouting at them not to leave the shop. Mum immediately grabbed Matt's hand as we entered. There were a few shop assistants scurrying around trying to locate books for people, but I decided to just find my own. I always liked looking around book shops and finding my own books. Dad helped me and it wasn't long before we had bought them all and found Mum and Matt in the children's book section. Mum was looking at a cookbook and Matt was reading a book about a bloke who had decided to fly his broom to the moon. After we left Flourish and Blotts, we walked to Madam Malkin's, a store I had walked past numerous times but never actually entered. We walked into the cramped shop and started looking through a pile of robes. "Hogwarts?" an old witch who was busy supervising measuring tapes on two different kids. I looked up. "Yeah." "Just give me a few minutes and I'll be right with you." I nodded and continued to rifle through the pile of robes. I wasn't really interested in any of them, but there was nothing else to do. "I'm bored," Matt announced after we'd waited two minutes. "Why don't I take him to the joke shop?" Dad suggested, "Then you can finish up here and go to the Apothecary. We'll meet up with you after that." "That's a good idea," Mum agreed and Dad and Matt left the shop. Matt hated going to the Apothecary in Australia because all the smells of the various potions ingredients wafted together to make an almost unbearable scent. It made him feel sick every time he went into the shop. It didn't help that the place had Wolfsbane (the ingredient, not the actual potion) out in the open and that stuff is really dangerous for werewolves when it's undiluted. I figured the Apothecary in Diagon Alley would be no different. A few minutes later the witch who I assumed was Madam Malkin called me forward to get measured for my robes. "What house are you in?" she asked as her measuring tape magically measured me. "Gryffindor," I told her. It was definitely odd saying that. A little while later, Mum and I left the shop with three sets of Gryffindor robes. Apparently the Gryffindor mascot was a lion, as the crest depicted a lion standing on its hind legs. The Apothecary was a few buildings down from Madam Malkin's. The Apothecary in Australia was always one of my favorite shops. I could spend hours browsing the different ingredients and cauldrons. We stepped into the dark shop and sure enough I smelled the familiar sent of Wolfsbane. But I ignored it since Matt wasn't there and made a beeline for a display of solid gold cauldrons. Someday I would own one. "Amy, you know you're not getting one of those," Mum said. "I know," I replied, "But I can dream, right?" Mum sighed, "Of course. Let's just find your ingredients." "I've got a solid gold cauldron," a voice drawled from behind me. I turned around and saw a tall and skinny bloke around my age walking towards me. His hair was a mousy brown and his face was plagued with a lot of acne. "Er, ok," I said, "Is it nice?" "'Course it's nice. It's solid gold," the boy laughed, "You don't look familiar. Do you go to Hogwarts?" "Yes," I said. "Huh," the boy muttered, "Like I said, I don't think I've seen you before. Is this your first year at Hogwarts?" "Er, yeah," I said quietly. "That's weird. You look too old to be a first year. What year are you in?" "Fourth," I answered, "And to answer your next question, I just moved to England." "From where?" the boy pressed, "And why?" "Australia, and it's not really any of your business," I said as I tried to move away from him. He was quite nosy and seemed like the kind of person who bragged a lot. "Well," he said as he followed me, "Hope for Slytherin. It's really the only good house." "I'm already in Gryffindor, thanks," I said as I picked up a bag of dried beetles. "Oh," he replied, "That's a shame." "Not really," I said briskly. If this bloke was in Slytherin, I was glad I wasn't there. "Maybe we'll share classes. I'm in fourth year, too. What's your name?" "Amy Eckerton," I answered, figuring he'd find that out soon enough anyway, "And you?" "Quinton Willinson." I nodded. "I'd better go get the rest of my ingredients." "All right. Good luck in Gryffindor," Quinton said snidely as he sauntered off towards the back of the shop. I avoided him as I continued collecting my ingredients. I seriously hoped the people in Gryffindor weren't like him. In the ten minutes I'd talked to him, I realized that I really didn't want to talk to him again. I just didn't like the way he demanded to know why I moved to England. I hadn't quite worked out my answer to that yet and didn't want to elaborate on it with anyone. Mum paid for my ingredients and then we left the shop, thankfully without seeing Quinton again. We meandered down Diagon Alley and found Dad and Matt loitering near the Magical Market. I noticed Mum give Dad a significant look and then the two of them smiled at me. "Amy," Mum began, "We've got a surprise for you." I looked at them quizzically. A surprise? For me and just me? Usually whenever they said they had a surprise, it was for both Matt and I. "What is it?" I asked curiously. "We've decided to get you an owl," Mum explained, "In order for you to keep in touch with Olivia better while you're in school." "Really?" I grinned, "Thanks!" I had wanted an owl when I first started school, but my parents said no since we had Jasper. I begged them for months and then gave up. "Yes, really," Dad said, "There's a shop down the road, Eyelops Owl Emporium. We'll go right now." I took off immediately for the shop. I couldn't believe I was actually getting an owl. It was the first good thing to happen since moving to England. I arrived at Eyelops before my parents did and walked inside to find numerous owls hooting in various cages. I started with the first cage I saw, which housed a snowy owl. However, when I tried to get its attention, the owl completely ignored me. Ok, I thought, not that one. My parents and Matt showed up when I was at the second owl cage. They began to look around and kept calling me to see different owls. I wanted to pick one, though. I continued looking at all the owls until I came upon one that was black with white speckles. He was in a cage with a few other owls, but they all seemed to be ignoring him. "Just got him in the other day," the shopkeeper gestured to the speckled owl, "But none of the other owls are accepting him. I think he's lonely." Like me, I thought. True, I hadn't actually gone to Hogwarts yet so I didn't know what the other students would think of me. But they had been going to school together for years and I was the new kid. I stuck my finger in the cage and the owl came over and nibbled at it as I petted him. "I'll take him," I announced a few minutes later. The owl was exactly like me. An outsider in a new place. The shopkeeper smiled and opened the cage. I found another cage and the shopkeeper put my new owl in it. Mum and Dad paid for him and I carried him out the door with a huge grin on my face. After nearly fifteen years, I finally had a pet. I never had childhood pets like most kids did. Only Jasper, and he was the family owl. I never had fish or rats or puffskeins. "I want an owl," Matt whined as we walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. "When you're older and are going to Hogwarts," Mum told him. "But that's not fair," he muttered. I smirked to myself. Finally I was getting something he wasn't. Mum and Dad were finally not giving into his whining. Most times, they gave him what he wanted as if it would somehow make up for the fact that he had to turn into a wolf once a month. Maybe they were finally realizing that it wasn't good to give him whatever he wanted.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 21 April 2009 11 01 28 am    Post subject: Re: Life Is Good in topic:Life Is Good Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Life has been busy. (Pretend the lyrics and the Hogwarts letter are in italics. I'll fix it once the bbcode is reinstated). Chapter 4: It's Only Getting Better [i]Days are different then they were before And we both exchange It's only getting better ~Only Getting Better[/i], Jared Campbell Eleven-year-old John Malcolm Brickston was running around in a large circle as fast as he possibly could. He, along with two other boys, was spinning the merry-go-round in the park across the street from his house as fast as he could. A fourth boy was on the merry-go-round shrieking in delight. It was a daily thing for John, playing with the other boys in his neighborhood at the park. They particularly liked spinning each other until they felt sick on the merry-go-round. Other activities included trying to push each other off the monkey bars and jumping off of the swings. They often spent all day doing this, until one of their mothers called them inside. John had fun playing with the other boys from his neighborhood even though he was quite different from them. John was a wizard and all of his neighborhood friends were Muggles. John's family was the only wizarding family living in a neighborhood of Muggles. He didn't mind, of course. He was actually glad he lived in a neighborhood full of people to play with, rather than in the middle of nowhere like so many other wizards did. Most of his cousins didn't have any close neighbors. Without the neighborhood boys around, the only people John would have had to play with were his sisters. John had three of them and while he loved them, they got on his nerves. They were all younger than him and drove him mental on a daily basis. Despite having so many Muggle friends, John could not wait to get to Hogwarts where he could meet other wizards his age. He knew a couple witches and wizards his age whose parents worked with his dad, but he didn't see them too often. Then there were his cousins, but they were all younger than him. John had been trying not to think about his Hogwarts letter, which he knew would be arriving soon. Thinking about it just made the time go by slower. So, he tried to get his mind off of it by goofing off at the playground. "Enough, enough!" the boy on the merry-go-round shouted. John and the other two boys stepped back and watched it slow down. Once it had almost stopped, the boy jumped off and stumbled around, falling on the ground. John and the others crowded around him. "My turn!" John shouted as the dizzy boy sat up. "Johnny!" someone shouted from the entrance to the park. John turned his head towards the voice and groaned. It was his mother. The previous day she had made him watch over his little sisters when they played at the park and he really didn't want to do that again. But his sisters weren't with his mum, so maybe she wanted something else. "What?" John shouted. "You need to come home now!" she shouted back. John groaned again and reluctantly said goodbye to his friends. He hated it when his mum called him home without explaining why. "Why do I have to go home now?" John asked as he reached his mum, "It's not dinner time." "Your letter arrived," she said and began to walk across the street. That was probably the only thing she could have said to make John no longer mind leaving his friends. He grinned and ran to catch up with his mum. Now it was official, he was going to Hogwarts! John's house was in its usual state of chaos when he entered it. Not two seconds after they stepped in the door, his second youngest sister, Alyssa, ran up them screaming about how Cassie had taken her toy. Alyssa was six and Cassie, one of their many cousins, was five. At any given moment there were probably five or six little kids at John's house. He had a lot of cousins who were all younger than him. His mother was a stay at home mum, but a few of his aunts worked outside the home. They often dropped their kids off at John's house while they were at work. Or when they had to go shopping. It was just another reason why John enjoyed spending his free time outside, away from the little kids. That day, all his little sisters were home, of course. Plus, Cassie and her older sister, Isabelle, who was ten, were there. "Your Aunt Pam is grocery shopping," his mother, Jan, replied as she picked up Alyssa. John nodded and stepped over a pile of Wendy Witch dolls that Ashtyn, his nine-year-old sister must have left in the doorway. "Ashtyn, pick up your toys!" Jan shouted as she carried Alyssa back into the den. Ashtyn and Isabelle came running through the house, scooped up the dolls, and ran back to wherever they came from. "Where's my letter?" John asked as Jan set Alyssa back down on the floor. "It's here somewhere," Jan said as she rifled through a stack of mail, "Merlin! I just had it a second ago. Hang on." John sighed as he leaned against the wall. He couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts. Then he wouldn't have to deal with all his little sisters and cousins anymore. He would be in a place where he was one of the youngest people. That rarely happened. John had always been the oldest, the one who was expected to be mature. "Mum!" Ashtyn shrieked from upstairs, "I think John put a dung bomb in the toilet again!" John grinned. He may be expected to be mature, but he wasn't. Pulling pranks was one of his favorite things to do and the dung bomb in the toilet never got old, especially when Ashtyn was on the receiving end of it. Jan sent him a withering look. "I cringe to think about the amount of owls I'll be getting from Professor Kendrick about the mischief you get into next year," she sighed, "Ashtyn, just flush it like usual!" "Mum, she won't give it back!" Alyssa whined. Jan groaned and walked over to the two girls, who were still fighting over a stuffed dragon. Jan wrenched it from Cassie's hands and stuck it up on a high shelf. She continued searching for John's letter while Alyssa and Cassie complained. "I think I found it," John said as he bent down. Three-year-old Gemma was holding a torn envelope in her hands and giggling playfully. John grabbed it from her and she burst out crying. Jan picked her up as John took off for his bedroom, the only toddler free place in the entire house. The letter wasn't completely destroyed, much to John's relief. He had caught Gemma before she was able to do a lot of damage. The envelope was completely illegible, but the letter inside was spared from tears and baby slobber. John tossed aside the damp envelope and unfolded the letter. He grinned widely as he read it, even though he already knew the gist of what it said. [i]Dear Mr. Brickston, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of books and materials you will need to purchase. Please note that first years are not allowed to bring their own broomsticks. Please reply to this letter as soon as possible to let us know if you are attending. The Hogwarts Express will leave at exactly 11 in the morning on September first from King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4. Sincerely, Padma Patil Deputy Headmistress[/i] He was in! John laid down on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. Of course he was in. There was never any doubt. Everyone in his entire family had gone to Hogwarts for as far back as anyone could remember. As far as he knew, his family didn't have any Squibs. John had been looking forward to Hogwarts for a very long time. His parents had all sorts of stories to tell of the place. Although, their education had been interrupted due to the final battle and Voldemort's defeat. They had only been first years at the time and Hogwarts had closed for a year in order for it to be rebuilt. But after that, his parents had had a somewhat normal education. There were all sorts of things that John was looking forward to. The Sorting (although his parents refused to tell him how it was done), the feasts, exploding potions, Peeves, Quidditch, Hogsmeade trips when he got older, the Gryffindor common room. John was sure he'd get into Gryffindor even though his mum had been a Hufflepuff. His dad was a Gryffindor and everyone said he took after his dad. John's dad, Jeff Brickston, had been the Hogwarts prankster when he was in school. John couldn't wait to pull some pranks of his own. His dad had promised to get him well supplied with stuff from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, although his mum wasn't too happy about it. John remained in his room for the rest of the afternoon. A glance out the window told him that his Muggle friends had left the park. It would have been boring for him to go back. Instead, he stayed in his room and pulled out his old but trusty Nimbus Two Thousand and One. The broom had been his dad's when he was at Hogwarts. John grabbed a bottle of polish and began to rub it into the worn wood. Jeff had given it to John when he was only five and John had been flying on it ever since. If John had to pick the one thing he was most looking forward to at Hogwarts, it would be Quidditch. John had been flying for as long as he could remember and he had hopes of making it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. If he was sorted into Gryffindor, that is. He just hoped that there was a beater position open at the right time. He doubted he'd get chosen as a beater in his second year due to the fact that beaters were generally quite a lot bigger than the rest of the players. But if a beater position opened when he was in fourth or fifth year, he just might make it. Isabelle and Cassie had left by the time John left his room. He wandered into the kitchen and found his mum preparing dinner. Ashtyn and Alyssa were 'helping'. "Can we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" John asked as he grabbed a carrot out of a bowl. "I don't know," Jan replied, "Your Aunt Jodie is working tomorrow and I have to watch Stephanie as well as the twins. I don't particularly want to drag three extra kids to Diagon Alley especially when two are babies. It may have to wait until the weekend. And please don't eat the carrots." John sighed and sat down at the table. He didn't want to wait until the weekend. He wished his mum didn't watch all of his little cousins all the time. "I'm home!" someone shouted from the den. John jumped up from his chair and ran into the den. He saw his dad brushing ash off of his bright green healer robes. John grinned as he saw his great-great grandpa standing just behind his dad. "Gramps!" John shouted, "What are you doing here?" "Went to Mungo's," he replied, "Had to get this dang hip checked out. Then Jeffrey here invited me to dinner." John's great-great grandpa, Zander Brickston, was over one hundred years old but was usually healthy as a hippogriff. He was a bit senile and forgetful at times, but it never bothered him. He was often the life of the party, too, despite his age. John loved him. "I got my Hogwarts letter!" John said excitedly as he pulled the letter out of his pocket. "Congratulations," Jeff grinned and gave John a one-armed hug as he set his bag down. "Well done, Johnny-Boy!" Zander gave him a surprisingly strong clap on the back, "Great place, Hogwarts. Best years of my life, except for the times I found myself in Professor Dippet's office. You'd best stay out of there." "Professor Dippet's been dead for years, Gramps," John laughed. "Then you stay out of trouble with whoever's the headmaster now," Zander said and lumbered off into the kitchen, "Where's my girls?" Dinner was lively that evening, as it always was when Zander was there. He dominated the conversation with stories of his own years at Hogwarts. John was sort of surprised he remembered them so well. He told of the time he and his friends went for a swim in the Black Lake at midnight during the full moon in January. The nurse had not been pleased when they showed up at the hospital wing with slight cases of hypothermia. She scolded them and told them if they were stupid enough to swim in the lake during January, they could at least use cold-repellent charms on themselves. "Where would the fun be in that?" Zander laughed as he finished the story. Other stories included the many pranks he pulled on the Slytherins. 'Pranking's a Brickston tradition,' he told John solemnly. The times he snuck out of the castle and into Hogsmeade. The time he fell asleep during his History of Magic O.W.L. ("What do they expect, when Binns makes you fall asleep during class?") Sneaking about the castle at night with whatever girlfriend he had at the time. Jan had to shut him up at that point and she and Jeff began to relay their own Hogwarts stories. John was, if it was possible, even more excited about Hogwarts after hearing all of the stories. He wanted to swim in the Black Lake in the middle of winter. He wanted to sneak out of school to go to Hogsmeade. He wanted to paint half his face red and the other half gold for the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match. John didn't know how he was going to be able to wait two days until Saturday to go to Diagon Alley, let alone wait the month and a half until he'd be able to actually go to Hogwarts. It seemed so far away. He had been waiting years to go to Hogwarts, but he had a feeling the last month and a half would drag by even slower than those years had.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2375 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 7 April 2009 04 22 57 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks and Obladi! Bit of a late update, but eh, life's been hectic. Chapter 41: The Only Bank in England The doors opened on yet another identical corridor, except this one was more lively. Various witches and wizards were running in and out of a large room labeled 'Auror Headquarters'. That room was bustling with commotion. Matt edged closer to Mum as we walked inside. Dad walked up to the first desk he came across, which I assumed belonged to some sort of secretary. This witch appeared to be a bit more sophisticated than the secretary in the Floo Network place. She had her hair in a bun and seemed to be concentrating on her work. "Excuse me," Dad said for what must have been the millionth time today. "Can I help you?" she asked without looking up from her work. "I need to register my house as a wizard's dwelling. We just bought it and the previous owners were Muggles." "All right," she replied and pulled a piece of parchment out of her desk, "Just fill this out." She handed it to Dad. Dad took it and a quill from a mug on her desk. He sat down in a nearby chair and quickly filled out the information. "There you go," Dad handed it back to her. The woman took it, looked it over, and waved her wand over it. "You're all set," she said. "Thanks," Dad replied. At least it hadn't taken very long. "Mummy, what are those?" a shrill voice shouted from the doorway. I turned around and saw a frazzled looking red-haired woman with three kids. Two of them were boys, one with red hair to match the woman, who I assumed was their mother, and the other with jet black hair. They were taller than Matt, although the red-haired boy was taller than the other. The girl, the one who the shrill voice belonged to, looked about Matt's height and had the same red hair her mother and brother had. She had one hand planted in her mother's and the other one was pointing at Matt. The woman blushed. "Those are crutches, Lily, and it's not nice to point." She took the little girl's hand and gently pushed it down. "What are they for?" the little girl asked, still staring at us. "I'll explain later," the woman said quickly, "Let's go find Daddy." The woman ushered her kids into the room and muttered an apology to Mum and Dad as she passed. Mum smiled to show it was no big deal, but the woman had already taken off to follow the two boys, who were chasing each other around the room. "Could you imagine having three kids around that age?" Mum muttered as we left the room, "She's got her hands full." "Looks like it," Dad agreed, "Makes me feel kind of happy we had ours six and a half years apart." "Well, there's a plus side to everything," Mum replied, "Are we done here yet?" "Yes," Dad grinned, "We're finally done. But now we've got to go to St. Mungo's." I groaned inwardly. I'd forgotten about that. After having spent two entire weeks at St. Mungo's, the last thing I wanted to do was visit again, but I had no choice. We went back into the lift and returned to the Atrium. We handed in our badges, me being the only one still wearing mine, and then Apparated directly to St. Mungo's. By this point, the Welcome Witch at the hospital knew all of us by name and merely waved as we walked towards the lifts. We entered one of them along with a wizard who emitted a loud quack every few seconds. The fourth floor was relatively empty. A nurse hurried past us and said a quick 'hello'. I vaguely recognized her but couldn't remember her name. I followed my parents to Sterling's office and we walked inside. Natalie Caberny looked up from her desk as we entered. "Oh, hello," she smiled, "Haven't seen you around in a while. Is everything ok?" "We need to see Healer Sterling," Dad answered, "But everything is ok for the most part. We just moved here earlier today." "Glad to hear it," Natalie grinned, "Sterling is seeing a patient right now, but I think I can squeeze you in once he's done." "Thanks," Dad replied. "Feel free to wait right here," Natalie gestured to a few chairs that were alongside the wall. Dad nodded and we sat down. I read the titles of the books that were sitting on a nearby bookcase as we waited. Nearly all of them were various books about healing, potions, werewolves, and other magical creatures. I didn't think anyone could possibly have as many books about werewolves as Dad, but Sterling did. I looked towards the door a little while later as I heard footsteps. Sterling came bustling through and stopped in front of Natalie's desk. "Hey, Natalie," he greeted her, "Who's next?" "Well, you don't have another scheduled appointment for a half hour, but the Eckertons showed up a little while ago." Sterling turned towards us. "Oh, didn't even see you there!" Dad stood up and shook Sterling's hand. "Afternoon, Morris. Any chance you could take a look at Matt's ankle?" "Of course," Sterling replied, "Is it still bothering him? Why don't we head down to the exam room and I'll see what I can do." I followed everyone into the corridor and to the exam room. Dad set Matt down on the exam table and I leaned against the wall, hoping it wouldn't take too long. "How did the last full moon go?" Sterling asked as he began to look at Matt's ankle. "Worse than usual," Dad sighed, "Probably due to the incident with Lubar." Sterling nodded. "How was his ankle before the full moon? Was it healing?" "It was mostly healed," Dad answered, "He re-injured it during the most recent full moon." Sterling pulled out his wand and muttered a spell as he pointed it at Matt's ankle. "What about the therapy with Healer Norlam? How is that going?" "Slowly," Dad sighed, "But Norlam thinks he's making progress." "The emotional pain always takes longer to heal than the physical pain," Sterling said quietly, "Even in the wizarding world." "That's for sure," Dad replied, "But I think things will get better now. We moved here earlier today." "Congratulations," Sterling grinned, "I'm happy to hear that. Now, I think a few spells and another round of potions will heal his ankle. I'd have him keep using the crutches for another two days or so, and then it should be fine to walk on it." He pointed his wand at Matt's ankle again and muttered a few more spells. "I'll just get the potions." Sterling left the room and returned a short while later with a large bottle of purplish potion. He handed it to Dad and sat back down. "I'd like to see him after the next full moon even if everything appears to be fine. I just want to make sure everything is fine," Sterling said, "Just show up anytime the day after and I'll make room in my schedule." Dad nodded. "Sounds good." "I'm also going to have to do the transformation observation at some point," Sterling began, "It has to be done before the study begins in January." "And what does that involve?" Mum asked. "We have a safe room located in the basement. There are charms on it to enable people to watch what is happening inside. He'll need to spend a full moon there. He'll have to come a few hours before moonrise in order for me to perform a few pre-transformation tests and then stay a few hours after sunrise the next morning for a few more tests." Mum and Dad glanced at each other. This time, I had a feeling I knew what they were thinking. The last time Matt transformed some place other than our basement, it was disastrous. This was obviously going to be different, but Matt would probably still be afraid of it. "When do you want it done?" Dad asked, "We'd like to get him used to transforming at our new house before he transforms here. Plus, I'd rather it be done after Amy starts school." I rolled my eyes. Of course. So they could keep me out of the loop again. I wasn't going to take it this time, though. I'd just owl them until they told me what went on. "That's fine," Sterling replied, "I'd like it done in November at the latest." "All right," Dad agreed, "October or November, then. I'll let you know which will work better when it gets closer." Sterling stood up. "That'll work. Well, good luck with all the moving in stuff." "Thanks," Dad said as he stood up, "It's been an insane day. We've been all over London." "Be sure to get some rest," Sterling said, "You all look exhausted." "We will, but we're not quite done yet," Dad replied. I followed my parents out of the exam room and into the corridor. I had no idea what other places Dad had to go to, but I hoped whatever it was, it wouldn't take long. I was ready to fall asleep on my feet and was kind of jealous that Matt got to sleep in Dad's arms. "Where are we going now?" I asked as we entered a lift. "Gringotts, the bank here," Dad replied, "Can't buy anything until our accounts are switched." I groaned. "How long will that take?" "No idea," Dad sighed. "Maybe I should take Amy and Matt home and you can switch the accounts," Mum suggested. Dad shook his head. "I've already owled with the bank. If you want access to the new account, you have to be there to sign some papers. It's very secure, this bank, so they're quite strict." "All right," Mum sighed, "And after that, I think we ought to get something to eat and call it a night." "Good idea," Dad agreed and turned to me, "Amy, I think we'll have to wait until tomorrow to get the stuff to design your room." I nodded. At that point, I didn't even care. I was so tired that I didn't mind at all having to wait. Normally I would have been incredibly angry that Dad told me we could decorate my room that day and then changed his mind. However, all I wanted was to sleep for two days or so. Portkey lag was even worse than jet lag. We meandered our way through the crowded waiting room and to the little Apparition room I was quite familiar with. I closed my eyes as Mum hugged me and all four of us disappeared. I had no idea where the Gringotts bank was, but I was surprised when we reappeared in the Leaky Cauldron. I was beginning to think that my parents were so tired that they couldn't Apparate properly when Dad gestured for us to follow him through a back door. The door led us to a small courtyard with a brick wall. Dad pulled out his wall and tapped on one of the bricks. They immediately moved aside to reveal a bustling shopping district. The quaint street reminded me a bit of the wizard shopping areas in Australia, yet it was vastly different at the same time. The stores on this street were all small and old and almost looked to be taken from a different time. The shopping areas in Australia were much larger and the stores matched that. I hadn't really been shopping recently. Well, shopping at a wizard store, that is. When I was little, I went shopping with Mum all the time. Sometimes we'd shop in Muggle stores and other times we'd go to wizard ones. No matter which, someone usually recognized us, which got rather annoying after a while. After Matt was bitten, people gradually stopped recognizing us until we disappeared completely into the throngs of everyone else. I didn't really go shopping with Mum much at that point, since I was in school most of the year. She'd take Matt, though, as long as he was feeling ok. Mum almost completely stopped shopping in wizard stores after Lubar announced that Matt was a werewolf. She went out once after that and an angry mob formed while she was in the apothecary. She returned home furious and never went shopping without some sort of appearance charm after that. Shopping in England was completely different. Nobody recognized us as I followed my parents down the street. No one so much as gave us a second glance. Everyone was just going about their shopping or talking to friends. I looked from side to side and at all the stores. There was a robe shop, a wand shop, a few pet stores, a couple restaurants, and a joke shop that looked almost exactly like the one Matt and I had gone to in Hogsmeade. It even had the same name. Must be owned by the same ear-less man, I thought as we passed it. Dad led us all the way down the street and up the steps of a very large white building. We walked through the door and into the foyer. There was a long desk along either side of the room and numerous goblins behind them. The bank in Australia was run by goblins as well. To be honest, goblins scare me a little. They're just so mysterious and you never really know what they're going to do. Plus, wizards have kind of given them the short end of the wand (or not, since they can't have wands) for ages. If they wanted to, they could surely take over with the magic they're capable of. Dad went up to the first available goblin. The goblin glanced up at him and then went back to counting the pile of sickles on his desk. A few minutes later, he finished and looked up at Dad. "What may I assist you with?" he asked. Dad reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to the goblin. "We just moved here from Australia and wish to transfer our account." The goblin took the parchment and nodded. He read it carefully and then set it down. "I presume you two are Walter and Julietta Eckerton?" "Yes," Dad replied. The goblin folded his hands and stared at us. I looked away as his eyes bore into mine. I really hated it when goblins did that, and people for that matter. "I will need to see some identification," the goblin said. Mum and Dad both reached into their robes and handed the goblin their identification cards. The goblin took them and studied them carefully, glancing up at us every once in a while. "Very well," he said after a few minutes, "Everything seems to be in order. If you'll just follow me." The goblin jumped off his stool and walked around to the other side of the desk. We followed him through a door and I stared curiously at what appeared to be railroad tracks in front of us. The bank in Australia did not have any railroad tracks in it. The goblin held out his arm and a cart sped up the track and stopped in front of us. "Get in," the goblin commanded. "Excuse me?" Mum raised her eyebrow. "Get in," the goblin repeated. "Er," Dad said to Mum, "I think this is how we get to the vaults." "That," Mum said, "Is bizarre." I agreed with Mum. The bank in Australia had an odd array of lifts to take people to their vaults, not carts on railroad tracks. I eyed the cart suspiciously, but Mum and Dad got in. I reluctantly climbed in behind them and squeezed myself in. The cart was not meant to hold four people and a goblin. No sooner had I put my second leg into the cart, it took off down the track. I let out a scream as we descended a steep hill at a speed I would not thought possible of such a rickety cart. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think about how much it reminded me of turbulence on an airplane. "What the hell is this?" Dad shouted. "Can you slow this thing down?" Mum asked. "One speed," the goblin cackled. I made the mistake of opening my eyes just as we were beginning to shoot down another hill. I accidentally looked down and saw that we were meters above the nearest ground. My stomach churned and I was suddenly very happy I hadn't eaten in hours. My heart pounded and I tried to focus on the back of Mum's head. Riding in a Gringotts cart was quickly becoming one of the things I despised doing. It was right up there with flying on airplanes and on broomsticks. Matt let out a loud shriek. "Mum!" "It'll be over soon," Mum said in a voice that contradicted her words. "I don't like this!" Matt wailed. "None of us do, honey," Mum replied. I closed my eyes until the cart came to a sudden halt. I slowly opened them and saw that the goblin was already standing outside the cart. I stumbled out of the cart and tried to get my bearings. Everything seemed to be spinning. I watched my parents climb out and they didn't seem to be doing much better. Mum practically tripped and Dad had to steady himself on the wall. "This is your vault," the goblin announced. He pulled two keys out of his pocket and handed one Dad. "You'll need one of the keys every time you wish to make a transaction." The goblin stuck the other key in the lock and opened the small room. We all walked inside and I saw that it was empty. The goblin motioned for us to stay in the doorway. I watched as he muttered something in what I assumed to be gobbledegook and move his arms around. A few seconds later, piles of gold, silver, and bronze appeared. I gaped at it and turned to look at my parents. They seemed to have recovered from the cart ride and Mum walked farther into the vault. She took a handful of gold and shoved it in her pocket. "So," Dad began, "We have to ride on of those ruddy carts every time we wish to get our gold?" "Yes," the goblin replied. "Are there any other banks in England?" Dad asked. "No, Gringotts is the only one," the goblin smirked. "I suppose there had to be something we didn't like about England," Mum muttered. "If the only thing I dislike about this country is the Gringotts carts, I think I'll survive," Dad said. The return cart trip was just as horrible as the previous one. The only difference was, I knew what to expect. I made a mental note never to eat before going to the bank. I was quite happy when we departed from the large white building and returned to the quaint street it was located on. "Any preference as to where we eat?" Dad asked. "Some place close by," Mum replied. I couldn't care less where we ate. My stomach was still churning from the cart ride. "Let's just go to the Leaky Cauldron," Dad suggested. A little while later we were seated at a booth in the crowded pub. Mum and Dad were looking at menus and Matt was leaning up against the wall. I would be willing to bet a few Galleons that he'd be asleep before the food arrived. I was looking at a menu as well, but not really reading it. I figured I'd just get a sandwich. "Evening," a blonde haired witch I recognized as the lady who owned the pub appeared by our table, "Can I get you something to drink?" "Just water," Dad replied. She returned a few minutes later with four glasses and set them down on the table. "You look familiar," she said, "But I can't place it. I've seen you here a few times, but you don't come often." Dad nodded. "We've stayed here a few times. But we actually just moved to England earlier today." "Oh!" the witch smiled, "Welcome, then. Where did you move from?" "Australia," Dad replied. "Wow, that's quite a move," she said, "My name is Hannah Longbottom, just ask if you need anything." "Walter Eckerton," Dad said, "And thank you." "Julie Eckerton," Mum smiled, "And our kids, Amy and Matt." "Ah, yes, now I remember you," Hannah said, "Are you ready to order?" We all ordered sandwiches and Hannah returned to the bar. Mum and Dad talked quietly with each other, but I was too tired to bother trying to hear what they were saying. As I predicted, Matt fell asleep five minutes after we ordered and after another five minutes, I was ready to join him. The only thing keeping me awake was my grumbling stomach, which had recovered from the cart ride. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the booth while listening to the conversations of the diners around us. "Incredible sale on beetle eyes! I bought about five months worth...." "Spent the day at St. Mungo's. My husband thought it would be a good idea to mix a sleeping potion with a sleeping charm...." "I'm already eager for the kids to return to Hogwarts. They're driving me up the wall...." I opened my eyes when I heard plates being set down on the table. "Exhausting day, huh?" Hannah asked. I nodded. "Thanks," Dad said as she set down his food. "Hope you enjoy," she smiled and left. Mum woke Matt up and we all dug into our food. Nobody talked much as we ate, which was fine with me. Mum paid once we finished eating and we said goodbye to Hannah. The pub was rather crowded to Disapparate from, so we returned to the street to do so. Dad hugged me and we Apparated home. Home. Could I really call the place home yet? I opened my eyes and we were back in the living room. My living room. It didn't really feel like home yet, but it was our house. I figured it would get better with time, but it was still odd to call the place home. I collapsed onto the couch and closed my eyes. I vaguely remembered that my bed wasn't even set up yet, but even if it was, I didn't want to move. "We'll set up the beds now, Amy," Dad said, "It won't take long." "Mmm-hmm," I muttered and cracked my eyes open. Mum set Matt down on the other couch and followed Dad upstairs. I closed my eyes again and drifted off to sleep. "Amy." Someone was jostling my arm. I groaned and tried to push them away. "Amy," they whispered a bit louder. I opened my eyes and saw Dad standing over me. "Wh-what is it?" I yawned. "I've got your bed set up," he told me. "Oh, ok," I mumbled and sat up. Mum picked Matt up and carried him upstairs. Dad and I followed. I said good night to them and wandered into my room. My bed was sitting in the middle of the room. The rest of my stuff was still packed and the furniture was still under shrinking charms. The place looked rather empty and drab. It didn't seem like my room at all. I sighed and sat down on the bed. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore. I got up and rummaged around in my overnight bag, which housed a few pairs of clothes and pajamas. I changed into pajamas and climbed into bed. I stared at the canopy and then turned to look out the window. I could see a few stars, but none of them were the familiar ones I had seen so many times in Australia. I felt the sting of tears in the corners of my eyes and squeezed them shut. I felt so alone, so isolated in my empty room. Most of the people I knew, and all of my friends, were on the other side of the world. I opened my eyes again and stared out the window as tears silently trickled down my face. Eventually, I fell into a restless sleep.