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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 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: 2495 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.
MoonDancer Joined: 10 September 2008 Posts: 6	Posted: Friday 28 November 2008 05 10 31 pm    Post subject: Re: Twilight Series in topic:Twilight Series Did someone say *tremble*[size=150] TWILIGHT[/size] *squee* I lurv Twilight, it absolutely captivates my heart and sends it fluttering to Edward Cullens house Aaron, get a grip, Twilight is the hottest trend going around. Just to annoy you, I bought a Twilight t-shirt and am going to wear it when I know you're going to be around I love RPatterson forever... *lovesick sigh*
Wanderful Joined: 12 July 2008 Posts: 171 Location: Hogwarts, watching Paul cast spells around the forum to protect it from bugs.	Posted: Friday 28 November 2008 05 04 33 pm    Post subject: Re: Twilight Series in topic:Twilight Series Eurgh. The Twilight Series is pure ickyness. I despise it, and the movie cast. They destroyed the movie, and Stephenie could've done so much better with the characters and the imagination she has. I am just extremly dissapointed, However, this doesn't matter because wherever I look. Someone has a Twilight t-shirt on, or there is a Twilight poster there. *Runs in circles screaming*
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Saturday 22 November 2008 08 56 04 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks Obladi! Lubar only gets worse as the story progresses. Chapter 21: Revealed I didn't move a muscle as I watched Dad pace around the room. He had a pained look on his face and it hadn't regained much color. He also didn't seem to notice that I was there. Mum came down a few minutes later with a concerned look on her face. Dad stopped pacing when he saw her and motioned for her to sit down. "He's gone?" Mum asked as she took a seat on the couch. Dad nodded. "Yeah. Is Matt asleep?" "Yes," Mum replied, "Took a little while for the potions to kick in, but when they did he went right to sleep." "Good," Dad said. "What did he want?" Mum asked quietly. Dad sighed and turned to Mum, not saying anything for a few moments. "The Minister signed one of the laws while we were gone. Well, he may have signed a few but we really didn't talk much about any others." "Which one?" "The one about the Ministry approved transformation centers," Dad told her, "Lubar stopped by to inspect the basement." "What?" Mum raised her eyebrow, "Why couldn't you just do the inspection?" "Conflict of interest, Lubar said, but I'm sure the underlying reason was to lord the new law over me, and the general pleasure of being the one to tell me I've failed the inspection-" "What?!" Mum shouted, "He failed you!? But that's impossible! If our basement couldn't pass, no place could!" "That's what I told him," Dad said, "I believe that was the general idea of the inspection part of the law. Make it so difficult that nobody would be able to pass, and every werewolf in the country would be required to transform at one of these centers." "But why didn't the basement pass?" Mum asked. "All places of transformation must be self contained buildings. No safe rooms maybe inside other buildings," Dad replied, "Absolutely ridiculous." "What is the reasoning behind that?" Mum asked. "There isn't any, really," Dad muttered, "Lubar says it's to protect people, but it's really just to make things more difficult." "What does this mean? For us," Mum asked quietly, staring at the floor. "There's not enough time to create a safe room outside of the house," Dad replied, "According to the law, Matt must transform in one of the centers." Mum's jaw dropped and she turned as white as Dad. "No way. Absolutely not. I will not have it! I cannot let my son be in a room full of strangers! Strange adults! That is the most irresponsible idea I have ever heard in my life! You have to fight this, Walter. I will not allow it." "It can't be fought," Dad said, "The Minister has signed it. Even if I brought it up with the Wizengamot as an unjust law, there's not enough time to get it rescinded. Not to mention the fact that the majority of the Wizengamot is sympathetic with the Minister's ideas..." Mum stood up. "I don't care! I won't take my son to one of those places, I just won't!" "Neither will I," Dad agreed, "We'll just break the law. Lubar says there will be consequences, but I don't care. He can do whatever he likes, but Matt will not be at one of those places this evening." Mum sat down. "All right. I can handle that. But what are the consequences?" "I didn't ask," Dad said darkly, "But I am sure they will not be pleasant." "We've got to get out of here," Mum said. "I know, Jule," Dad agreed, "We'll be gone soon enough." "I'm not really sure I want to think about what's going to happen in the mean time, though." "We have to face it, though, Julie. The fact is, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be working at the Ministry." ****** I went up to my room as soon as Mum and Dad left for the kitchen. They never noticed that I was in the room. Well, either that or they didn't really care that I was in the room. Once I was in my bedroom and the door was shut behind me, I wrote a carefully worded letter to Olivia. I told her all about visiting New York, including the school and house hunting. I also told her about Salem and the creepy headmaster and scary professor. I wanted to tell her about what was going on with Dad's job, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it without giving away my brother's secret. Despite the fact that it was nearly three o'clock in the morning, I wasn't tired at all. Instead of tossing and turning in my bed, I dragged a blanket out to my balcony and watched the stars. As I watched them, I thought about what I had heard only a few minutes ago. From what I could understand, this Lubar bloke was out to get Dad. I had no idea why, but he clearly wanted to hurt him in some way. Probably by hurting Matt, which I thought was awfully cruel. Why did this bloke hate Dad so much? The feud between the two of them seemed to be much deeper than just what had gone on in the basement. There was obviously something that transpired between the two of them that Dad had never mentioned. I wasn't really surprised at this. Dad had never elaborated much about what went on at work. I'm pretty sure that was because a lot of his work was kind of depressing. I wondered if he had ever told Mum about Lubar and whatever row the two of them had had before. Was Dad really going to lose his job over this? What would happen if he broke the law? He obviously was going to break it, of course, but what exactly would happen? I hoped he wouldn't get sent to jail, but I kind of doubted he would ever willingly go. Plus, it would probably look bad if Magical Law Enforcement arrested the Head of the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. Although I didn't really sound like Lubar cared about whether it looked bad or not. Would it even be a bad thing if Dad lost his job? I wasn't too sure. He would obviously have to quit it within a couple months anyway. I was far more concerned about what kind of punishment Lubar was talking about. Was it punishment that went through the Ministry? A fine or something? Or was he talking about something that would be off record that he himself would execute? I wasn't sure, but I thought that Magical Law Enforcement usually handled punishment. Therefore I was kind of thinking that Lubar would be doing something that was off the record. To be honest, the idea of that scared me. Based on what I'd heard and seen just then, there wasn't really anything that Lubar wouldn't do. I wasn't really aware of falling asleep on the balcony, but the next thing I knew, someone was prodding me and telling me to wake up. I opened my eyes and I squinted in the bright sunlight. "Wha-what is it?" I yawned. "You've got to get up," Mum said, "It's nearly four in the afternoon." I sat up and met Mum's gaze. She looked awfully worried, even more so than usual. "I'm taking you to Richard and Cinda's soon," Mum said, "Be downstairs in fifteen minutes." "Where's Dad?" I asked, dragging my blanket back into the room. Dad was always the one to take me to my grandparents' house on full moons. "At work," Mum sighed, "I'm not sure when he'll be back." "You're leaving Matt alone?" I asked. I was shocked. Mum never left Matt alone, even when it wasn't the full moon. Mum got a pained look on her face and I could see a few tears in her eyes. "I don't have a choice. I don't want to. But it will only be a couple minutes and Ellie's here...." I nodded and she left the room. I wasn't any happier about being shuttled to Richard and Cinda's this month than any other, but I decided I'd better just hold my tongue. This month was even more stressful than usual and I wasn't sure what Mum would do if I started refusing to go to Richard and Cinda's. Mum was waiting for me in the kitchen ten minutes later. "How's Matt?" I asked as I walked over to her. His door had been shut when I walked by. "He's sleeping. Ellie's in his room right now," Mum replied, her face still etched with worry. "Come on, we've got to do this quickly." I wordlessly stepped over to her and she wrapped me in a hug. With a crack, we Disapparated and a moment later, we were in Richard and Cinda's living room. Richard and Cinda were not in the room when we arrived. Mum said goodbye quickly and Disapparated before either of my grandparents made an appearance. Cinda walked into the room a minute later and looked around curiously. "Hi, Amy. Where's your father?" "At work. Mum took me, but she had to leave as soon as she could since she left Matt alone with Ellie." "Ah," Cinda replied, "Well, dinner will be ready in about an hour and a half. You're welcome to ask Kenzie to dine with us. But first you must tell me all about your trip!" I forced a smile onto my face and sat down with Cinda on the couch. I told her all about the trip, down to the last detail. She seemed very interested in the whole thing. "Oh, I've got to tell you about the party!" Cinda exclaimed after I'd finished telling her about the trip, "I've got the plans pretty much set and the invitations sent out! I groaned to myself. "Cinda, honestly, I don't think a party is the best idea," I said, thinking of the stress that my parents were now under. A party might put them over the edge. "Nonsense. A party is what they need. The two of them are always so tense. They ought to loosen up. Parties are the best way to do that," Cinda smiled, "Anyway, I've got it scheduled for Saturday, April sixth. That ought to be enough time for your brother to recover." Yes, that was plenty of time, but who knew what would be going on with the Ministry and Dad's job then. "Cinda, I'm begging you," I pleaded, "Cancel the party." "Oh, don't worry," Cinda said, "You'll have fun. Kenzie's family has already RSVP'd and said they'll come." Well, that was a plus, but I still didn't want a party. And I knew my parents wouldn't. But, I knew this was a lost cause. There was no way Cinda would ever cancel a party. "Fine," I muttered, "I'm going to call Kenzie." Kenzie came over as soon as I called her. She immediately wanted to know how the trip to New York was, and I told her as much as I could without giving away the magic parts. She still couldn't believe that we were actually going to move. Then I told her that my parents were going to sell the house and much of what was in it. "Really?" Kenzie stared at me open-mouthed, "But I thought you said that house has been in your family for generations!" "It has," I told her, "But my dad talked to my uncle and they both agreed the best thing to do was to sell it. Neither of them think they're ever coming back here, so it would just sit empty." "Never?" Kenzie whispered, "There's no chance of you moving back?" "Not one," I replied, thinking of what was going on at the Ministry. "Wow," Kenzie said, "I guess maybe I thought you'd come back, you know, after a few years or something." "I don't think we will." "But why are they selling the furniture and stuff?" Kenzie asked, "Won't you need that in your next house?" "Not all of it," I replied, "The next house is going to be much smaller." Kenzie laughed, "You serious? You won't be living in a mansion? You'll be in a normal house?" "Yeah," I couldn't help but grin. It was kind of a strange idea, since I couldn't really remember ever living in a normal sized house. "My parents didn't see the need to purchase a mansion wherever we move." "Any idea when you're leaving?" Kenzie asked after she'd stopped laughing. "Not really," I said, "I mean, my parents like New York, but I think they want to visit some other schools first. So probably a couple months or so." "Well, that's good," Kenzie said, "We'll get to see each other a couple more times. Plus there's your grandparents' party." "Don't remind me," I groaned, "My parents are going to be so upset about that. I don't even want to know what they're going to say to Cinda when they find out about it." "Your parents really hate parties, don't they?" "Yeah," I answered, "I can't blame them. Everyone who goes to my grandparents' parties are too stuck up for my liking." "Agreed," Kenzie replied, "But I'll be at this one." "Which will make it better for me, but my parents are still going to hate it." Kenzie stayed at my grandparents' house until late into the evening, when her mum called her home. I stayed up late again since I had slept until four in the afternoon. Who knew when I would actually get back on a normal sleeping schedule. I paced around my awful bedroom wondering about what was going on at my house. I wished more than ever that I was allowed to stay there over the full moon. Would Lubar wait until morning to hunt down my dad? Or would he show up as soon as Matt didn't show up at the Ministry center? Or maybe he would just find Dad at work the next day. I wondered if Lubar would have the nerve to start something with Dad while the two of them were at work. I tended to think he would, and it worried me that the Mister sided with Lubar. I mean, the chances were pretty high that the Minister would just ignore whatever Lubar did to Dad the next day. The only chance of Lubar getting in trouble would be if Magical Law Enforcement got involved. I wasn't really sure Dad would alert them to anything anyway, since he was breaking the law anyway. I wished I knew what the punishment for breaking this law would be. All the uncertainty was driving me mad. It was obvious the next morning that Mum and Dad hadn't told Richard and Cinda about the new law and everything that was going on as a result of it. The two of them seemed blissfully ignorant when I sleepily made my way downstairs for brekkie. Cinda was talking to Richard about all the party plans and Richard was nodding his head as he drank his coffee. "Good morning, darling!" Cinda grinned as I poured myself a bowl of cereal. "Did you sleep well?" "Not really," I said flatly. Of course I hadn't. I didn't get tired until about two in the morning, and then I couldn't sleep because I was so worried about Dad. Not to mention the fact that I don't usually get much sleep during full moons anyway. "Well, is there anything special you'd like to do today?" Cinda asked, "I've got to go into Sydney to pick up some party supplies. Want to come?" "Not really. But I would like to go home," I said as I sat down to eat my cereal. Cinda gave me a strange look. "But Amy, you know you can't go home yet." I nodded. I never asked my grandparents' to go home the morning after full moons. There wasn't any point, really, since Mum wouldn't let me. But this month was different. "I want to at least ask if I can go home now," I mumbled. Cinda put down her mug and looked at me. She took my chin in her hand and turned my head to face her. I glanced up and saw that there was actually concern in her eyes. Usually Cinda just focused on what she wanted and what was going on with herself and didn't pay much attention to others. I was a bit surprised that she seemed genuinely concerned. "Amy," she said quietly, "What's going on?" I put down my spoon and turned away from her. I could feel the tears starting to spring up in my eyes and I didn't want her to see. Mum and Dad hadn't told my grandparents' about what went on after we got home from New York, and they hadn't told me whether I should tell them or not. I had no idea what they wanted me to do. "Can I just talk to Mum?" I asked. Come to think of it, could I even talk to Mum? We didn't have a phone at home and I didn't have an owl here. Nor was my grandparents' fireplace connected to the floo network. "Can you talk to me?" Cinda asked, "Maybe I can help." "You can't," I replied, still not looking at her. Richard was looking at me strangely, but he didn't say anything. "Why?" Cinda asked, "Tell me what's going on." I shook my head and the tears started to fall out of my eyes. I didn't want to tell Richard and Cinda about Dad's job. Well, I kind of wanted to, but I wasn't sure if my parents would want me to. "Does this have to do with your brother?" Cinda asked. I nodded my head reluctantly, but didn't elaborate. "What is it?" Cinda asked, "Did your parents think something would happen last night?" Cinda gently turned my head to face her again when I didn't respond after a few moments. I didn't meet her gaze and just stared down at the table. "Amy," Cinda said gently, "If something horrible happened, your mother would have told us as soon as possible. It's ten o'clock in the morning. If something happened, she would have told us by now." I nodded, but this didn't ease my fears. It wasn't my brother I was worried about. It was Dad and what was going to happen when he went to work. I was worried about what Lubar would do. The creepy bloke couldn't do a thing to Matt with Mum and Dad protecting him, but I was worried about what he would do to Dad. "I-I just want to talk to Mum," I said again. "Do you know if there's anyway I can?" Cinda sighed. "Your mother does have a mobile phone for emergencies. She didn't want you to know about it because she didn't want you calling and demanding when you could go home. I have no idea what you're so worried about, but I will give her a call." I nodded and Cinda got up from the table. She picked up the phone and punched a few numbers into it. Someone answered a few moments later. Cinda talked in a hushed voice and I couldn't make out what she was saying. A few minutes later, she wordlessly handed me the phone. I took it and ran out of the kitchen and into the drawing room, shutting the door behind me. "Mum?" I whispered into the phone. "Amy, what on earth is wrong?" Mum asked in a tense voice. "I just want to know that everything is ok, you know, with Dad and that bloke he was arguing with." Mum paused for a moment before answering. "Everything is fine for now. Dad's at work and I haven't heard anything." "Mum," I said quietly, "I-I want to come home now. Please can I? I can't take it not knowing what's going on." Mum sighed. "Amy, I'm kind of busy right now. Your brother," Mum paused, "Well, it wasn't one of the better nights. I think it had to do with the time zone changes and loosing a day when we flew back home." I nodded and then remembered that she couldn't exactly see me. "All right," I croaked, "Well, just, call or come and tell me if anything bad happens or something." "I will, Amy," Mum replied, "I'd better go. I love you and I'll see you soon." "Love you, too, Mum," I said and turned off the phone. Cinda was waiting for me when I returned to the kitchen. I didn't meet her gaze as I put the phone back. "Everything ok?" she asked. I nodded, "Yeah. Well, Matt had a bad night. Mum thinks it's because of the time zone changes, but she's not sure." "He'll bounce back," Cinda replied, "He always does. Now, I'm taking you with me to Sydney to buy party supplies." "But-" "No buts. You're coming and that's that," Cinda said adamantly. "Now go get dressed. We're leaving in a half hour." I groaned and trudged up to my room. I knew there was no getting out of it. Cinda was trying to distract me from what was going on at home. I threw on an old t-shirt and pair of jeans that I knew Cinda wouldn't want me to wear. Cinda dragged me from store to store the entire morning. I didn't say much during the entire trip, but Cinda kept up a running commentary about the party. Then she took me out for sushi, despite my telling her I didn't want to. The idea of eating raw fish grosses me out. I got plain vegetable sushi, which was ok, but I wouldn't be itching to have it again. The afternoon was spent shopping as well. The only good part about it was that Cinda didn't make me get a new dress. I was completely knackered by the time we got home and all I wanted to do was go to bed. I was forcing myself to at least stay awake until nine o'clock, though, to try and get used to my usual time zone. Cinda had picked up take-out pasta on our way home and we ate that for dinner. Cinda told Richard about our day, but I kept quiet the entire meal. My mind was still reeling about Dad's job and his row with Lubar. Cinda's distraction shopping trip hadn't worked in the slightest. After dinner I went into the living room and tried to get lost in a new book, but even that wasn't having its usual effect. This stay at Richard and Cinda's was going to drag on forever, I just knew it. The words blurred on the pages as I let my mind wander to what was going on at home. I glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly seven o'clock. Dad probably wasn't home yet. A loud crack startled me out of my thoughts and I dropped my book in surprise as I saw Mum standing in the middle of the room. Her hair was disheveled and there were dark circles under her eyes. That was about the only color on her pale face. She looked more tense and worried than I had ever seen before, which was saying something. "Amy." Mum's voice sounded strained and almost like she was trying to hold back tears. "You're coming home now. Get your stuff quickly. I haven't got time to explain right now." I stared at her and then jumped up, running all the way to my room. What was going on? Did something happen to Dad? I was thinking up the worst possible scenarios as I threw all my stuff into my bag and ran from my room. Did he and Lubar duel each other? Or did Lubar do something sneaky and underhanded? "Mum!" Mum shouted as I ran back into the room, "Dad! I'm taking Amy home now!" Cinda ran into the room a few moments later, with Richard close behind. Both of them wore looks of confusion. "What's going on?" Cinda asked. "Is Matt ok?" "Yes, he's fine, for now," Mum replied, "I really haven't got time to explain anything. I'll talk to you soon, I promise." "Julie," Richard began, "What's wrong? I've never seen you look this worried. What's happened?" "I really can't talk about it right now," Mum's voice cracked, "We've got to get back home. I'll contact you soon." "But, Julie-" "Dad, listen to me, I can't talk right now," Mum pleaded, "I will tell you soon, I promise you that." Richard sighed and then nodded. Cinda was still staring curiously at Mum. I muttered goodbyes to both of them and then went over to Mum to Apparate. We Apparated directly into the kitchen and once we were there, Mum immediately released me and started crying. I dropped my bag and went over to the table, where she had collapsed onto one of the chairs. "Mum," I said, "What's happened?" Mum cried for another minute before wiping her eyes and looking at me. "L-Lubar," she began, "Has announced to-to the entire c-country that your brother is a werewolf."
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 12 November 2008 04 30 53 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi! Yes, cliffhangers are evil, but necessary. Chapter 35: Kidnapped After suffering an embarrassing defeat to Hufflepuff the previous month, Ravenclaw was out of the running for the Quidditch cup. Everybody, students, teachers, and staff alike, had been shocked by that turn of events. The captain of the Ravenclaw team actually spent a full three days holed up in his common room following the devastating loss. Due to this, Gryffindor was set to face Slytherin in the final match of the year. Albus overheard Georgia say that if Hufflepuf had managed to score a few more goals in their match against Ravenclaw, they would have been in the final. Albus actually would have preferred to play Hufflepuff, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. The Slytherins were extremely pleased about their place in the Quidditch final and spent the entire week leading up to the match strutting around the corridors with an air of smugness about them. Albus personally thought they were being rather cocky and should wait until after the match was over to show off. "Listen up, everyone!" Georgia shouted in the changing room a few minutes before the match was set to begin. Albus sat down next to James and placed his broom on his lap. He was feeling more than a little bit nervous. This was his first Quidditch final and he was determined to do well. "I know we've been preparing for playing Ravenclaw in this match," Georgia said as she paced in front of the team, "But we all know Slytherin has a worse team than Ravenclaw! We can do this, I know we can! Just remember that the Slytherins play dirtier. Watch yourselves out there. If we just play like we've been playing all year, we're sure to win. Remember that we've already beat Slytherin once this year. We can do it again! Now let's get out there and kick some snake arses!" "Do snakes even have butts?" James whispered to Albus as they walked out onto the pitch. "I heard that James," Georgia shouted. "Welcome, Hogwarts students and staff to the final Quidditch match of the year! Will Slytherin be able to score enough goals to steal the Quidditch Cup away from Gryffindor? Let's hope not!" Todd Smith shouted. "Smith!" Patil scolded him. "Sorry, Professor," Todd replied, "And here we have the Gryffindor team! Captain Georgia Weasley, followed by an entire clan of Weasleys including Fred, Heather, and Bradley. We also have two pseudo-Weasleys, James and Albus Potter. Then there's Ryan O'Malley, who isn't a Weasley at all, but plays Quidditch well enough that he might as well be adopted by them!" "And here come the Slytherins. They're probably all related, too, although they won't admit it-" "Smith!" Patil yelled, "Enough genealogy and get on with the commentary!" "Sorry, Professor," Todd continued, "I guess you'll want to know the names of the Slytherin players. They are Ferris Fielding, Talan Flint, Captain Lance Goyle, Peyton Hughes, Garth Octavius, Hailey Odele, and Jackson Naiser!" "I want a clean game," Professor Oteski said sternly as Goyle crushed Georgia's hand. Oteski released the Bludgers and the Snitch as Albus and the other players rose into the air. Oteski threw the Quaffle into the air and it was immediately taken by Haines. Albus sped up and tried to catch up to Haines as he soared towards Georgia. Albus was ahead of both Fred and Heather as he flew towards the Gryffindor goal posts. He saw Ryan send a Bludger at Haines, but Haines dodged it. Albus had to admit that Slytherin did have decent Chasers. Haines threw the Quaffle at the goal posts, but Georgia caught it and tossed it back into play. Albus caught it by his fingertips and turned around to fly towards the Slytherin posts. "Heather!" Albus shouted as all three Slytherin Chasers converged onto him. Two of the Slytherin Chasers immediately flew to block Heather, and Albus threw the Quaffle to Fred. Fred caught it with a grin and took the rest of the way down the pitch. Albus smiled as the Slytherin Chasers glared at him. Classic Weasley Fake. Albus and his cousins used that tactic all the time when they played over the holidays. "Gryffindor scores the first goal of the game!" Todd exclaimed after Fred easily tossed the Quaffle into one of the Slytherin goals. Gryffindor scored five more goals over the next ten minutes. Albus scored two of those and assisted two others. Slytherin hadn't scored at all and Heather currently had possession of the Quaffle. Fielding and Odele were currently flying on either side of Heather. Flint was behind them and hit one of the Bludgers straight at Heather. "Heather, look out!" Albus shouted as he flew straight towards her. Heather turned to look just as the Bludger hit her in the head and knocked her from her broom. Oteski blew his whistle as Albus, Fred, and James caught Heather before she hit the ground. The rest of the Gryffindor players landed and ran towards Heather. "She's unconscious," Fred announced, "She'll need to go to the Hospital Wing." "We'll take her," Stanley emerged from the stands with Neville following him. "Damn Slytherins," he muttered as he watched Neville conjure a stretcher for his sister. "We'll just have to play with two Chasers," Georgia announced after Stanley and Neville left with Heather, "She wouldn't want us to dwell on this. She'll be fine." With only two Chasers, Gryffindor's performance drastically declined. Albus managed to score another goal, but Slytherin somehow scored eight right in a row. The Slytherin Beaters were ruthless and had managed to injure Georgia's left hand only fifteen minutes after they knocked Heather out. Albus easily made the penalty shot Oteski had given them, but Georgia's ability to protect the goal went down. Albus was getting quite discouraged and exhausted as he and Fred frantically tried to make up for the fact that Slytherin was now winning 190-70. "Why don't you just forfeit, Potter?" Naiser sneered as Albus flew the Quaffle towards the Slytherin goal posts. "Why doesn't your Seeker just catch the Snitch?" Albus smirked. The Slytherin Chasers were quite skilled, but it would be useless for them unless Octavius caught the Snitch anytime soon. "Shut up, Potter," Naiser growled and hit a nearby Bludger at Albus. Albus, who hadn't even noticed the Bludger, tried to dodge it, but instead got hit hard in the arm. He groaned and dropped the Quaffle, which Fielding grabbed and flew in the opposite direction. Albus winced and held his arm towards his chest. It felt like it was broken. He turned and flew towards the Gryffindor side, trying to get Georgia's attention. Georgia noticed Albus, but not before Fielding managed to score yet another goal. "Time out!" she shouted. Oteski blew his whistle and the Gryffindor players huddled below their goal posts. "What's up, Al?" Georgia asked. "Naiser broke my arm," Albus groaned, "Hit a Bludger right at it." Georgia sighed, "Can you play anymore?" "I'll try," Albus said. Hopefully the game wouldn't last much longer. Albus had lost all hope of winning, and since getting his arm broken, he didn't really care who caught the Snitch. "Good," Georgia said and turned to James, "Listen, I know we're too far behind to win even if you catch the Snitch, but if you catch it before Slytherin gets anymore goals, we might still be able to get the Cup. Slytherin's really far behind us in points for the Cup. So just catch it soon, James." "Ok," James nodded, "I've seen it a few times, but haven't bothered to catch it. Just been trying to keep Octavius away from it, which isn't difficult." "Are we ready, then?" Georgia asked. Everyone nodded. Georgia signaled to Oteski that they were ready and he blew the whistle. Albus flew back into the air, trying to ignore the growing pain in his arm. He was going to concentrate on keeping everyone away from Fred, who was the only uninjured Chaser left. Albus didn't think he'd actually be able to catch or throw the Quaffle and stay on his broom with only one arm. Fred did manage to get the Quaffle, but was quickly overtaken by the Slytherin Chasers and dropped it. Odele grabbed it and scored another goal for Slytherin. Albus groaned partially due to this goal and partially due to his arm. He flew high into the air and noticed that James was making a dive towards the ground. Albus breathed a sigh of relief. James had seen the Snitch. Octavius saw what James was doing, but he was at least ten feet behind James. James pulled out of the dive with the struggling Snitch in his hand. "Slytherin wins," Smith muttered, "350-320." Albus immediately flew towards the ground and dismounted as the entire school descended onto the pitch. "But wait!" Smith shouted, "Apparently, Slytherin did not score enough goals to win the Cup! The Quidditch Cup goes to Gryffindor!" The majority of the school burst into loud applause and cheering. Oteski gave Georgia the Quidditch Cup and she held it high into the air. "C'mon, Al," Georgia said, "We're going to see Heather in the Hospital Wing. You ought to get that arm checked out." Albus nodded and he followed the rest of the team up to the castle. They lost most of their entourage as they ascended the stairs to the Hospital Wing. Georgia pushed open the doors and led the team inside. Madam Pomfrey bustled over to the door and gaped at the large group of people who had walked in. "What's going on?" "We've won the Cup," Georgia grinned, "Is Heather awake?" "I'm awake!" Heather shouted. "We won the Cup!" Georgia shouted back and ran past Madam Pomfrey over to Heather's bed, "But we lost the match." "Ugh, we lost to Slytherin," Heather groaned, "But at least we won the Cup. How bad was it?" "350 to 320," Georgia sighed. "That's not as bad as I thought, but still horrible," Heather sighed. "You can talk about it later," Madam Pomfrey announced, "This is the Hospital Wing, not your common room!" "But Albus and I broke our arms," Georgia said, holding out her arm. Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Of course you did. Quidditch. Will it ever stop?" "Nope," Georgia grinned. "Sit down on the bed, both of you." Albus sat down next to his cousin and held out his arm for the nurse to heal. She muttered a spell and pointed her wand at Albus's arm. It immediately felt better. "There," Madam Pomfrey said after she healed Georgia's arm, "Now you can go to your-" The doors burst open and Rose, Matt, John, Amanda, and Kaden came bursting in. "Are you ok, Albus?" Rose shouted. "Of course, it's you lot," Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Any of you break anything?" "Not today," Matt laughed. "Good, now you can all go back to your common room," the nurse announced, "This is not the place to celebrate or complain or whatever it is you want to do after this match!" ****** The excitement about Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup was short-lived. By the time the weekend was over, everyone was concentrating on studying for exams. Those who hadn't studied much over the year were now frantically trying to learn an entire year's worth of material in a few short days. Albus's first few exams went well. He was especially happy that his Charms exam was relatively easy since he failed the previous year's one miserably. "I wonder where Kaden is," John said as he tossed his book down on the table and leaned back in his chair. "Dunno," Albus shrugged as he furiously scribbled down the properties of mandrakes onto a piece of parchment. Albus and his friends were spending the evening in the common room studying for their Herbology exam the next day. "Makes for a nice quiet time to study, though," Rose commented. "I think he was studying for Transfiguration with his tutoring group in the library," Amanda said. "But it's after curfew now," John pointed out, "He should be back." "Why do you care so much if he breaks curfew?" Rose raised her eyebrow, "Perhaps you would make a good prefect." "Why thank you, Rose," John grinned, "But I actually wanted to take a break from studying and play chess or something. And I'm sure you lot would rather study." "I'll play with you," Matt said, "I'm sick of studying." "Excellent," John replied and the two of them ran up to the dormitory to get their chessmen. Albus alternated between reading his Herbology book and watching the game of chess for the next few minutes. He had been cramming his brain with everything there is to know about magical plants for the past few hours and was becoming increasingly distracted by John and Matt's game. Albus closed his book and glanced at his watch. It was already 9:30 and Kaden still wasn't back. It was a bit strange since Kaden never missed curfew. He was surely going to get caught by a teacher or a prefect if he didn't hurry up. "Yes!" John shouted as his queen smashed Matt's bishop, "Another one of your pieces destroyed!" "At least I still have my knights," Matt smirked. "At least I've got my queen," John pointed out. Albus grinned to himself and settled down to watch the rest of the game. One of Matt's knights was in the process of killing John's queen when he heard a faint tapping on the window behind him. "Is that an owl?" Rose asked, looking up from her book. Albus turned around and looked out the glass. There was an owl out there. Albus opened the window and the owl flew inside and landed on top of John and Matt's game. "Not a very well trained one," Rose smirked, "Guess your game's over." "Oh, well," John shrugged and untied a piece of parchment from the owl's leg. The owl took off as John examined the envelope. "It's addressed to you, Albus." Albus stared questioningly at the letter. He took it from John and slowly turned it over. It was addressed to him. But why in the name of Merlin would it be delivered now? He only ever got mail in the morning with everyone else. "Open it," John said excitedly. Albus tore it open and unfolded a rumpled piece of parchment. His face turned pale and he gasped as he read what it said. "What is it?" Rose asked anxiously. Albus wordlessly tossed the parchment onto the table, where it landed face up. Glued onto the parchment was a variety of letters that appeared to be cut out from a copy of the [i]Prophet[/i]. [i]To Baby Potty- I have your idiotic cousin. Bring the Cloak to Hogsmeade in front of the Shrieking Shack, if you don't want any harm to come to him. Don't tell anyone.[/i] "It's Willinson," Albus whispered, "He's got Kaden." "How do you know it's him?" Amanda asked. "He's the only one who ever called me 'Baby Potty'." "And you're sure it's Kaden?" Rose asked. "Look around, Rose," Albus snapped, "All my other cousins are here!" "I'm just trying to make sure," Rose said, "There's no need to get angry at me." "I've got to go find him," Albus stood up and started to run to the portrait hole. Rose grabbed his robes. "Albus, wait. You've got to think this through. You can't just go storming into Hogsmeade with Willinson there!" "And what do you suppose I do? Just let him torture Kaden?" "No, I mean we should go tell Uncle Harry!" Rose insisted. "But we don't have much time!" "Aurors have ways of dealing with these situations, Albus," Rose explained, "What do you suppose Willinson would have done if you went to go rescue Kaden? I'm guessing you wouldn't be handing him over the Cloak." "No, but-" "Albus, listen," Rose said sternly, "We're going to show this to Uncle Harry. Go get the Cloak and the Map-" "The Map!" Albus exclaimed, "It'll show us exactly where both Willinson and Kaden are!" "And then we can tell Uncle Harry where they are." Albus ran up to his dormitory with John and Matt following quickly. "What are we going to do?" Matt asked. "Find my dad, I guess," Albus replied as he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and the Map. "It's the right thing to do, Albus," Matt said, "The five of us couldn't have saved Kaden from Willinson by ourselves. Remember last year?" Albus nodded. He certainly did remember last year and he did not want this year to be a repeat of it. Albus ran out of the dormitory without saying a word and the three boys met up with Rose and Amanda near the portrait hole. "No point in bothering with the Cloak," Albus muttered, "We can't all fit." Nobody argued and the five Gryffindors ran through the quiet corridor. They completely ignored Peeves and his boisterous cackling. Albus wasn't in the mood for the poltergeist's joking around. Kaden was in trouble and possibly being tortured. Albus picked up his pace at the thought of torture. John was the only one keeping up with Albus, and even he was starting to lag behind. Rose, Matt, and Amanda were far behind as far as Albus could tell, but he wasn't pausing to find out. He turned a corner and ran smack into someone who was quite a few inches taller than Albus. "Ouch!" a girl shouted. "Sorry," Albus muttered and tried to go around her. "And just what are you doing, Al?" the girl grabbed his robes. Albus looked up and noticed that the girl was his cousin, Gabriella. "Er, nothing." "Albus, as a Prefect, I have to report you for wandering the corridors at night," Gabriella sighed, "As well as your friends." She gestured to John, Rose, Matt, and Amanda, who had caught up. "Unless you've got a good reason." Albus thought for a moment. He didn't really want to tell Gabriella what was going on, but he realized that he couldn't get past his cousin unless he told her. "Listen," Albus said quickly, "Kaden's in trouble. We were going to find my dad." "What kind of trouble?" Gabriella asked. "Hard to explain," Albus said impatiently, "But we're losing time. Can you please let us go?" "Tell you what, I'll just go with you and make sure you really are going to find Uncle Harry." "Fine, but let's go!" Albus replied and took off running again. The group didn't run into anymore trouble on their way to Harry's office. Albus was in the lead and skidded to a stop in front of his dad's study. He pulled out his wand and shouted 'Alohomora' at the doorknob. He wrenched it open as the rest of the group came up behind him. Harry had been sitting on his couch, wearing only a pair of boxers and a t-shirt with a Gryffindor lion on it, reading the Prophet when Albus burst into the room. He jumped and threw the paper down when he saw the large group of people in the doorway. "Al?" Harry asked, "What's going on?" "Kaden's in trouble," Albus said breathlessly, "He's been kidnapped by Willinson." "What?" Harry shouted, "How did you find this out?" "Willinson sent me a note," Albus handed his dad the parchment. Harry quickly read the letter and looked up at Albus and everyone else. "How do you know it's Kaden and how do you know Willinson sent this?" "The rest of my cousins are in the common room," Albus said quickly, "And Willinson's the only one who ever called me 'Baby Potty'." "All right," Harry sighed, "Let me contact your Uncle Ron and then we'll head down to Hogsmeade. Gabriella, go inform the headmaster and Neville, then return to Gryffindor and make sure nobody leaves the tower." Gabriella nodded and left the room. Harry pulled out his wand and whispered an incantation. An enormous silvery stag burst from the end of his wand. Harry said something to it and a few seconds later it disappeared out the window.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Monday 13 October 2008 07 27 11 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Questions, comments, and general reviews are always appreciated! Chapter 16: Turbulence My parents were still whispering to themselves. I set my book down and leaned forward to try and hear what they were saying. One good thing about being stuck in this plane was that they couldn't hole themselves up in a separate room to talk. Maybe this was my chance to find out more about everything that was going on. "I'm still surprised you were able to take this much time off from work," Mum was saying. "Well, er, I'm Head of the department, so no one could really say I couldn't take the time off... I mean...I haven't taken too much time off in the past year, so it's not like they could've stopped me..." Dad stammered. "What exactly happened when you said you were taking time off?" Mum asked curiously. "Er, they weren't too happy about it. They demanded to know why." "And what did you tell them?" "Well, you know they know that we pulled Amy out of school. They know we had an, er, disagreement with the headmaster, although they don't know what it was about. I told them I just needed to take some time off to relax with my family, so we were going to visit Jack in New York. Wasn't exactly a lie." "I'm guessing they weren't pleased." "Oh, not at all. There was a fair bit of yelling. But like I said, I haven't used up my holiday days yet this year, so they couldn't do anything." Mum sighed, "They could fire you." "They could," Dad agreed, "But they won't have the grounds to do it if I take a week off from work. I'm perfectly within reason to do that." "Nevertheless, it's a strike against you. I really hope you don't get fired over this." "Honestly, Julie, what would it even matter if I did? I'm going to have to quit anyway when we move." That was definitely a good point. Although I did wonder what job Dad would find when we moved. There wasn't exactly a high demand for Heads of Departments for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. It's not the kind of job you just apply for anyway. You had to start out in a lower level job within that department. That's how Dad landed his job in the first place. He started out in the Werewolf Control Unit and then got promoted. "You know full well that it matters," Mum replied, "You'll want to leave on good terms if you've got any hopes of finding a job somewhere else. They'll contact the Australian Ministry, wherever you decide to apply." "Julie, I'm not ever going to be able to leave on good terms. Not when I'm vetoing all their laws. The only way I'd leave on good terms is if I passed all the proposed legislation. And there is no way I could do that, you know that." "I do. I wouldn't pass it either." "I think I'll be getting out of a sinking ship anyway," Dad continued, "The Ministry's gone down hill ever since Gabishi became Minister." Vincent Gabishi was elected Minister a few years ago. He had actually been the Head of the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures before Dad. Dad got promoted to the position after Gabishi left it vacant to become Minister. I met Gabishi once and did not like him one bit. He's a tall lean man with a pointy mustache and sinister grin. He struck me as extremely creepy. His policies are harsh, yet he puts on a kind face when he addresses the public. That's how he got elected. There was no doubt in my mind that whatever anti-werewolf legislation slipped past Dad would get signed and put into law by Vincent Gabishi. "I've never liked that man," Mum muttered. "You and me both," Dad agreed, "The amount of rows we got into when he was Head..." Mum and Dad were silent for a moment. I rarely ever got to hear them talk about the Minister and the rest of the Ministry. They usually talked about such things behind closed doors. Hell, they probably thought I wasn't even listening right now. "I have to admit that it kind of worries me what kind of legislation will be passed after we move," Dad admitted, "I'm the one reason most of these laws haven't been passed. Most of the department wants them passed and Gabishi is all for them as well." "I've thought about that as well," Mum said, "But sometimes you have to put your family before the general public, Walter." "I know. And that's why we're headed to New York," Dad reminded her. "Any idea who's going to replace you as Head?" Dad sighed, "To be honest, it'll probably be Lubar." Ralph Lubar? That arse who was quoted in the article? I didn't know the man at all, but judging by his comments, he'd make a horrible Head of Dad's department. "Lubar?" Mum said skeptically, "They can't find anyone better?" "Lubar's tight with the Minister," Dad said. "And connections are meaning more and more these days." "You didn't need any connections," Mum pointed out. "Afton appointed me, remember?" Zachary Afton had been Minister before Gabishi. He lost to Gabishi, but Gabishi had vacated his spot as Head of Dad's department before he actually won the election. Pretty arrogant, if you ask me. What would he have done if he lost? He would've been out of a job. Plus, he didn't get to appoint the next Head. He was probably regretting that now. Anyway, Afton got to appoint the new Head of department and he appointed Dad. "Yes, but not just because he knew you," Mum said. Afton had shared Dad's view about werewolves. He was sympathetic towards them, as well as centaurs, merpeople, house elves, and goblins. Afton was a kind man who always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Pretty much the complete opposite of Gabishi. "I know, I know. And Gabishi will appoint Lubar because they share the same views." "When are you going to let them know you're resigning?" Mum asked quietly. "Not yet. I'm not telling anyone about our plans until they're final. Once we have Amy enrolled in her new school and our new house bought, I'll put in my two weeks. Then Gabishi can go ahead and appoint Lubar or whomever he wants." "Good idea," Mum said. Neither of them said anything else. I heard Mum rummaging around in her bag and I knew their conversation was over. I stuck my own nose back into my potions book and got absorbed into it for the next hour or so. The first five or six hours of the flight went by surprisingly fast. I read a few chapters of my potions book and read an entire novel (yes, that one was actually a novel). I also did a little more Muggle-watching. Most of the parents on the plane spent the entire flight so far chasing their kids around and taking them to the bathroom. The businesswoman, along with a few other people I assumed to be businessmen and women, spent the time on their laptops and talking on the phone. Black-clad teenage boy listened to his music and slept. Hawaiian t-shirt man and his wife spent the time complaining and flagging down flight attendants in order to complain to them. The young couple who had been arguing at the airport had apparently made up and were kissing each other, causing Charlie and Tara to shriek 'ew, gross!'. I smirked to myself as I saw the couple break apart from each other on my way back from the bathroom. Charlie had just ran up to them and shouted 'Mum, they're kissing!'. Charlie's mum was looking more and more stressed out and tired. She grabbed Charlie by his arm, muttered an apology to the couple, and gave Charlie a glare that I had seen on my own Mum on multiple occasions. When I returned to my seat, Mum and Dad were talking again, but not about Dad's job. This time they were talking about what kind of house they wanted to buy. I didn't want to listen in on that conversation. I just didn't want to think about buying a new house. "I'm bored," Matt said once I had sat down, "And hungry." "Well, I saw them getting ready to serve the disgusting meal back there," I told him. "Good," Matt replied, completely ignoring the fact that I had said the meal was disgusting. For some reason, Matt actually liked the food they served on planes. Either that or the last time we were on a plane, he was so hungry he would've eaten anything. "99 bottles of butterbeer on the wall, 99 bottles of butterbeer. Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of butterbeer on the wall," Matt sung quietly. "Ugh, not that song again!" I groaned. The last time we flew to New York, Matt had gone through the entire thing three times. It drove me mad. I was well on my way to madness when the nasty meal arrived. Matt had made it down to 67 bottles of butterbeer, but stopped singing when the flight attendant put his meal down on his tray. I glanced at my own food. There was a piece of meat that slightly resembled chicken, but I couldn't be sure. The mystery meat was drowning in some kind of creamy sauce with chunks of who-knows-what in it. Then there was a baked potato wrapped in tin foil. I took off the foil and found that it actually looked like a normal potato. That might actually be edible, I thought. There was also a pile of mixed vegetables that made an odd squishing noise when I tapped them with my plastic fork. Besides that, there was a cardboard cube of chocolate milk and a little tub of chocolate pudding. At least they knew to give me chocolate. Matt was already digging into his meal. I tentatively stabbed at the chicken and ate a bite of it. I immediately regretted it. The 'chicken' tasted like a combination of cardboard and socks, not that I'd ever tried either. Well, ok, I did eat a bit of cardboard once, but it was on a dare. I'd never tried socks, though. The only part of the dinner I actually ate was the potato, pudding and milk. The rest of it was just too disgusting. I'd just have to eat a whole lot once we got to Uncle Jack's. That wouldn't be a problem, though, since Uncle Jack always cooked the best food. "Are you going to eat that?" Matt pointed to my uneaten chicken. "Uh, no," I raised an eyebrow at him, "You can have it if you want it." "Excellent," he grinned and grabbed my plate. Sometimes I wondered how he could still be so skinny and short when he ate so much. Of course, he hardly ate anything the day of the full moon and a couple days after, so I guess it evened out. I drifted off to sleep shortly after I finished my mediocre dinner. There wasn't really anything else to do besides sleep at that point. I had already gone through an entire book and didn't want to start another one yet. I was jolted awake by the pilot announcing something on the loudspeaker. I had no idea what time it was. "Hello, everyone, this is your pilot. I just wanted to let you know that we have crossed the International Date Line. It is now, well, yesterday! It's March 17th. Although we will be arriving in New York on March 18th." Thinking about that just made my brain hurt. How could it be yesterday? I didn't even want to think about it. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. The plane was dark now, with only the lights from the inside to illuminate it. A fair few of the passengers were sleeping and most of the others were watching the movie that was playing. Both of my parents were asleep and they were leaning on each other's shoulders. Matt was asleep as well. He had curled up in his chair like a cat and had his head leaned up against the window. That was one good part about being short. You could curl up on an airplane seat. I was much too tall to do that now. It was still dark out when I next woke up. I kind of liked it when it was dark. I could see the stars and the moon through the window. It was also hard to tell that we were so high up when it was so dark. Mum and Dad were awake as well. Once again, they were whispering, only this time it was so quiet that I couldn't hear them. I started and finished another book before we landed in Los Angeles to refuel. By that time, the sun had risen and was lighting up the plane again. Despite this, only about half the passengers were actually awake. I was extremely knackered and was feeling achy due to lack of movement. Matt was awake as well and was singing '99 bottles of butterbeer' again. I had long since given up on trying to get him to stop and was trying to ignore his redundant song. Shortly after we took off again from Los Angeles, we were treated to yet another wonderful in-flight meal. This one was actually somewhat edible since it was breakfast. I received a dried out bagel, some warm cream cheese, a cube of orange juice, and a not quite ripe banana. I ate all of it since I was starving. I hadn't eaten much of the previous meals and this one was a bit better than those. I fell asleep again after eating because the only other alternative was listening to Matt comment on the ground outside. When I woke up a few hours later, the sky outside was ominously dark. I saw a bolt of lightning and swallowed hard. Great, I thought, we're going to be stuck in a storm. A loud dinging noise started and the fasten seat belt light started blinking. I grabbed for my seat belt and shakily buckled it. "We're going to be flying through a storm," the pilot said in an annoyingly cheery voice, "Nothing to worry about, but please fasten your seat belt." "Nothing to worry about?" I muttered, "We're flying through a thunderstorm and that's nothing to worry about?" Dad turned around. "It'll be fine, Amy," he assured me. I nodded but didn't say anything. Thunder and lightning were surrounding the plane and I could see rain drops on the window. We were in the midst of it now. I closed my eyes and gripped the arm rests, waiting for it to be over. The plane started shaking a few minutes later. It was crashing, I just knew it. We were all going to die in a fiery plane crash. "Dad?" I whispered, "I think the plane's going to crash." "It's just turbulence," he replied. Sure enough, the pilot was on the loudspeaker again. "We're experiencing a bit of turbulence, nothing to worry about!" What was with this bloke? The plane was shaking and he said there was nothing to worry about? My stomach was starting to hurt again and I was regretting eating my entire breakfast. Why did the turbulence have to come after breakfast? I opened my eyes and looked out the window, where it was still storming. Matt was sleeping through the whole thing, figures. He can sleep through anything. The thunder clapped loudly and the plane lit up with lightning. A kid shrieked and my stomach churned. I grabbed for my chunder bag. I bent over and retched into it. Dad turned around again. "Amy, are you all right?" I nodded, wishing more than ever that we could have brought potions on the plane. But no, all liquids had to be less than 4 ounces. This was beyond disgusting. It was one thing to chunder in your own house, but on an airplane where everyone could see? Once we had flown out of the storm, my stomach felt much better. The remainder of the flight was boring but not nearly as nerve wracking as the storm had been. The plane landed in New York about two hours later than it was scheduled to. We exited the plane and immediately had to go through security and the passport place again. Both went smoothly and I was relieved that I did not set off any metal detectors. When we finally had finished collecting our luggage and getting through security, we went into the crowded sitting area and I immediately spotted Uncle Jack. "Uncle Jack!" Matt shouted and ran over to him. "Hey! Matt, you've gotten so big!" Uncle Jack grinned and picked him up, "How's my little guy doing?" "Good," Matt replied. Uncle Jack is my dad's little brother. He's four years younger than Dad, but he acts even younger. He's even taller than my dad and keeps his dirty blond hair in a long ponytail, much to the dislike of Mum. Unlike Dad, his hair has hardly any grey in it and his face isn't lined with wrinkles. My dad and Uncle Jack get along wonderfully, despite their differences in lifestyles. When they were just out of school, they traveled all over the world together, looking to find the 'Deathly Hallows'. These are a cloak that renders the wearer invisible, a stone that can sort of bring back the dead, and an unbeatable wand. They're explained in this kid's story, [i]The Tale of the Three Brothers[/i] and most people don't really believe they actually exist, but Dad and Uncle Jack do. Even Mum went with them to look after my parents got married, but eventually she and Dad gave up because they wanted to settle down and start a family. Uncle Jack, on the other hand, kept looking. He stopped looking actively years ago, but I'm pretty sure he still thinks they're out there. I'll bet if he heard any rumors about them, he'd go check it out wherever it was. He's a very spontaneous and active person. He moved to New York after he actively gave up finding the Hallows because that's just the last place he had traced them to. He liked it there and just decided to stay. Whereas Dad has a high-powered job in the Ministry, Uncle Jack dislikes the government and wouldn't want to work for them. However he does respect Dad's career. Uncle Jack works at a used book store and does random jobs that I think involve tracing people and magical objects. He makes a decent living and he's got inheritance money, too. I don't think he's ever really had a serious girlfriend and I honestly can't see him getting married. The best thing is, is that he doesn't care at all that Matt is a werewolf. Richard and Cinda pretend they're ok with it, but I've heard them talking to Mum about it and they're really kind of nervous about it. Uncle Jack, on the other hand, isn't bothered in the slightest by it. He treats Matt exactly the same as he did before he was bitten. Even my parents don't do that. "Jack," Dad grinned, "How the hell are ya?" "Brilliant!" Jack grinned back, "I've been waiting here for the past two hours, but no matter. I don't have to work tomorrow so it doesn't matter." "Hi, Jack," Mum smiled. "Julie, how have you been?" "Oh, you know. Surviving," Mum replied. "Hey, Uncle Jack!" I grinned at him. "Amy!" Uncle Jack shifted Matt over to one side and hugged me with his other arm. "Guess what I've got at home, just for you?" "Spiedies?" I guessed. One of my favorite things about going to Uncle Jack's house is the spiedies. Spiedies are little pieces of marinated meat that you barbecue or cook in the oven. Uncle Jack's preferred method is to barbecue them, Muggle style. They're usually made with chicken or pork, but there are lamb ones too. I like the chicken ones best. You're supposed to eat them on a roll or in a salad, without any ketchup or mustard or any other condiments. They originated in the Southern Tier of New York and Uncle Jack discovered them during his travels. I absolutely adore them and can't get them in Australia. They've stayed pretty local anyway. Uncle Jack says it's hard to find them outside of the Southern Tier and even harder to find them in other states. "Sure do," Uncle Jack replied, "I'll just cook them up as soon as we get home." "Excellent," I grinned, "I'm starving. Airplane food is awful." "Let's go, then," Uncle Jack said and started leading us out of the airport. "There's a Floo station a couple blocks down. Oh, but you ought to put on your winter coats. It's quite chilly out." I laughed as I looked at us in our t-shirts. I had completely forgotten about the whole winter thing. I opened up my suitcase and pulled out my puffy jacket. The rest of my family did the same and as soon as we were all bundled up, Uncle Jack led us out the door. I followed, trailing my suitcase behind me. I was immediately hit by the image of New York City in the winter. There were huge buildings all around, cars and buses clogging the streets, steam coming up from the sidewalks, and piles of black snow. There wasn't any white snow in sight. I guess I'd have to wait until we got to Uncle Jack's to see that. Then there was the noise. Cars were honking their horns, brakes were screeching, people were yelling, dogs were barking, and music was blasting out of cars. "This way!" Uncle Jack shouted and led us to the left, "Stick with me now, it's crazy tonight!" Matt, who was still in Uncle Jack's arms, had clamped his hands over his ears as a car honked its horn right next to us. I couldn't blame him one bit. Even I hated the noise and I didn't have super sensitive hearing. Cities have never been my favorite places. I much prefer a rural setting. A few minutes later, Uncle Jack led us into a crowded pub that the Muggles walked past without even noticing. It was dark and there was smoke everywhere. Not the kind of place I would want to frequent very often. "Floo's in the back," Uncle Jack muttered, "Dodgy place, don't make eye contact with anyone." I heeded his advice and followed him quickly to the fireplace. I could feel people's eyes on me and wanted to get to Uncle Jack's as soon as possible. Uncle Jack pulled out a bag of Floo powder and passed it around. Dad went first, then Mum, and then me. I threw in the powder, shouted the name of Uncle Jack's house, and stepped in. A few moments later, I stepped out of the fireplace and into Uncle Jack's house.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2495 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 7 October 2008 01 42 52 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Questions, comments, and general reviews are welcome! Chapter 15: Muggle Watching We got lost twice trying to find the security area. Mum wound up asking a Muggle who worked at a fast food place for directions and we finally got there. The line at the ticket counter was nothing compared to the line for security. This line was so long that I couldn't even see the security center. "Here we are," Dad said as we got into one of the lines, "We'll just have to wait for a while." A while was an understatement. I think we stood in that line for nearly an hour. I had gotten so bored that I had started listening in on other people's conversations and counting the different number of accents and languages I'd heard. So far I'd heard about six different accents of English, and five different languages that I couldn't understand. "Can we get something to eat now?" Matt asked for what must have been the tenth time. "I told you, we'll eat after security," Dad said shortly. "But I'm hungry now," Matt whined. "I know. But we're almost to the front of the line and we're not going to wait in this again." "And my feet hurt," Matt added. "So do mine. Would you just shut up?" I snapped at him. I was thoroughly sick of his complaining. It was his fault we had to go to New York anyway. "Amy, don't say 'shut up'. Matt, we'll be done soon. Want me to carry you?" Dad asked. Matt nodded and Dad picked him up. I rolled my eyes. He was such a baby sometimes. Of course, Mum and Dad kind of enabled it. After another fifteen minutes of complete boredom, in which I counted twenty sunburned and confused looking tourists, our turn at the security center finally arrived. "Put your bags up here," a bored looking woman, who was loudly smacking her gum, pointed to a conveyor belt that led to an x-ray machine. It looked pretty much the same way it did the last time we flew to New York. Mum and I lifted all the suitcases and carry-on bags onto the belt and watched as they made their way down to the machine. "Good, good," gum-chewing lady muttered after all our bags had gone through the machine. "Carry-on?" she pointed to the four smaller bags. "Yes," Dad replied. The woman nodded and picked up the four smaller bags. She set them down on the floor and then put the bigger suitcases onto the back of a nearby cart. "All right," she said after she was done, "Take off any metal you've got on, and your shoes. Empty your pockets. Put them in this bucket." The woman put a bucket onto the conveyor belt. I couldn't help but start to giggle at those instructions. Muggles were strange sometimes. I pulled off my shoes and threw them into the bucket. I reached into my pockets and pulled out a few Bertie Bott's Beans, a hair tie, and to my horror, a few Knuts. Why were those still in there? I thought I'd taken them out. Great, now the Muggles were going to see wizard money. I groaned inwardly and tossed them into the bucket. Maybe the woman would just think they were some sort of novelty item. "Why do we have to take off our shoes?" Matt asked as he pulled off his left sneaker. "That's just the way they do things here," Mum replied, tossing her wallet into the bucket. Once we had all finished emptying our pockets and taking off our shoes, the woman gestured for us to go through the metal detector. Mum went through first, then Dad, and then Matt. The three of them went through fine, but when I went through, the machine emitted a loud beeping noise. I shrieked and jumped over to where my family was standing. "What was that?" "Step back through, please," the woman said. I sighed and did what she told me to do. Why had it been me to set off the metal detector? I emptied my pockets. I didn't have anymore metal on me. "Did you put all your metal in the bucket? Empty your pockets?" the woman asked. "Haven't got any jewelry on?" "I took it all off," I muttered. "Step through again," the woman said in a bored voice. I went through the metal detector again and it started beeping. I stepped back over to where the woman was standing, but the beeping didn't stop. She sighed and started fiddling around with the machine. People were starting to stare now. There were a few other lines of people waiting their turn at the security center and most of them were now looking in our direction. "Figures," a large man wearing a horribly tacky Hawaiian T-shirt muttered, "Always get in the line with the dodgy metal detector." "Is it going to take long to fix, mam?" the large man's wife shouted. "I don't know," gum-chewing lady answered, not looking up from the machine. "Can you at least turn off the beeping?" the wife asked. "I'm trying!" gum-chewing lady replied shortly. I edged away from the metal detector towards where my family was standing. Mum was staring at the machine and shaking her head. Dad had an amused look on his face and was trying not to laugh. He gave me a half-hearted smile and shrugged. "Make it stop!" Matt screwed up his eyes and covered his ears. Dad picked him up again and he buried his face in Dad's shoulder. "I'm sorry about this," the lady stopped messing with the machine and turned to my parents, "I don't know what's wrong with it. If you'll just hang on a second." She pulled out a phone and started muttering into it. A few moments later, a man appeared and started talking to the lady. I couldn't hear what they were saying over the beeping, though. "That your daughter?" the man shouted over the beeping. "Yes," Dad replied. "She empty her pockets?" "Yes, we all did," Dad answered. I could feel my cheeks burning. Why had I set the thing off? And why was it still beeping? Maybe it was broken. The man seemed to be thinking the same thing because he was now inspecting the metal detector. He pushed a few buttons and it started beeping even louder. People were now stopping to stare at us. The man pulled out his own phone and muttered something into it. Then he did something else to the metal detector and it finally stopped beeping. "It's broken," the man said to the gum-chewing lady. "I'll have her go through another one." The man gestured for me to follow him. I turned around and looked at my parents. Dad nodded his head and I started to follow the man. He led me to the next security station, which was only a few meters away. He said something to the man who was running the station and then told me to go through the metal detector. I closed my eyes as I did so, hoping there wouldn't be any beeping. Thankfully, there wasn't. I stepped through it without it making any noise at all. "Sorry about that," the man said once we had rejoined my family and were collecting our stuff, "I don't know why the machine broke." "That's all right," Dad replied. The man and the gum-chewing woman were now trying to explain to the people waiting behind us in line that the machine was broken and they'd have to join a different line. The large man and his wife were not taking the news very well and were yelling at the two workers and waving their arms around. "Glad that's done with," I said once we started walking away from the security center. "Stupid bloody machine." "Amy, it's actually the magic that was causing the machine to not work correctly," Dad told me, "All four of us emit a kind of magical impulse all the time and the machine kind of went haywire with so much magic around." "Didn't happen last time," I pointed out. "Different machine," Dad shrugged, "Anyway, we've got to go get our passports checked." I followed my parents through the mass of people towards the passport area. I hoped there wouldn't be any metal detectors to go through. As it turned out, the passport thing only involved standing in another boring line (surprise, surprise), and then Dad handing our passports to the lady behind the counter. She stamped something on them and then handed them back. "Now can we eat?" Matt asked as we walked away from the passport counter. "Yes," Dad smiled at him, "Now all we've got to do is go to Terminal 16 and wait for the plane. We've got about an hour. There'll be someplace to buy food at the terminal." Terminal 16 was far away from the passport counter. We had to squeeze through loads of people to get there. When we got there, I saw that it was basically a huge waiting area surrounded by a few little shops and fast food places. There were couches and chairs and random newspapers and magazines laying around. There were also three or four televisions mounted on the walls, but they were all tuned to boring Muggle news stations. Dad led us over to a few empty chairs and set his carry-on bag down onto one of them. He started looking around the terminal and said, "Well, what should we have to eat? I see McDonald's and what appears to be some kind of sandwich shop." "Why don't you just go get a few sandwiches?" Mum suggested, "We'll wait here." "Sounds good," Dad replied and set off to get food. I dropped my bag onto the ground and sat down on one of the chairs. A whole hour until the plane was supposed to arrive. An hour of boredom in an airport. And then over twenty hours of boredom on a plane. I leafed through the Muggle magazines that were on the table next to me. [i]Preventative Health[/i], [i]Star Watch[/i] (which, to my dismay, did not have anything to do with stars in the sky), [i]Cars & Trucks[/i], [i]Surfer's Weekly[/i], and numerous newspapers. I sighed and tossed them all back down onto the table. Why didn't they put anything interesting to read down on the tables? Dad returned a little while later with sandwiches, drinks, and biscuits. I practically inhaled mine. It was amazing how you could get so hungry just by waiting in a bunch of lines all morning. I was just happy that that part of the trip was over. Of course, we'd have to wait in more lines when we got to New York, but that was still hours away. After I finished my food, I resorted to 'Muggle Watching', which I really had been doing all morning and hadn't had a good name for. The large man in the ugly shirt and his wife showed up shortly after I finished eating. They took seats opposite us and started looking through the pathetic assortment of magazines. The man picked up [i]Cars & Trucks[/i], while his wife (who was almost as large as her husband) chose [i]Preventative Health[/i]. The two of them quickly became absorbed into their reading material and I gave up on watching them. Behind me, a couple were in the midst of an argument about what they would do first when they reached New York. "I think we ought to just go to the hotel. We're going to be completely exhausted," the man was saying. "I told my parents we'd go to their flat first," the woman said, "You'll have plenty of time to sleep after." "I don't want to go to your parents' on practically no sleep," the man insisted. "Fine, you get your beauty sleep. And after we'll go see my parents. Maybe we'll spend the entire week with them." "Oh, no. This was supposed to be our holiday. We're not spending the whole time with them." "We'll see," the woman muttered. In the middle of the waiting area, a husband and wife were chasing five little kids around. None of the kids looked above the age of eight. How they were going to keep the kids still on the plane was a mystery to me. "Charlie! Get back here!" the wife shouted at the oldest, who was climbing all over the empty chairs. Charlie jumped off the chair and ran in the opposite direction that his mother was standing. His sister, who looked about five or six, had meanwhile found the remote to the television and was pressing random buttons. The channel changed from a weather station to a loud music station that blasted rap throughout the waiting area. "Tara!" her mother shouted and grabbed the remote from her hands. She switched the channel back, muttering apologies to the people sitting nearby. The husband had caught up with the other two kids, who I thought were twins. They had been picking up newspapers and throwing them all over the floor. One of the twins started screaming when his dad took away the newspapers. He picked up both kids at once and carried them over to where he and his wife had dumped their carry-on bags. The wife met him over there a few minutes later, with Charlie and Tara's hands clamped firmly in her own. Other people were peering at them over their reading material, probably grateful that they didn't have to travel with four young children. Once the kids settled down, I continued to take count of who else would be traveling on the plane with us. A bloke who looked to be in his late teens was sleeping in a chair next to the one Charlie had been climbing on. He was dressed in all black and had ear buds in his ears. A few chairs down from him was a businesswoman typing on a laptop. It was definitely an interesting group of people to be traveling on a plane together. I turned away from the businesswoman and looked to see what my own family was up to. Dad had picked up one of the Muggle newspapers and was reading it, shaking his head and smirking every so often. Mum was reading a novel that she had brought. Matt was sitting in between them, completely absorbed in his Nintendo DS. They weren't nearly as interesting as the Muggles who were in the waiting area. Of course, if the Muggles knew we were witches and wizards, they would probably think we were the most interesting people in the entire airport. As the time wore on, more and more people began to congregate in the waiting area for Terminal 16. I soon lost track of the young family, black-clad teenager, businesswoman, arguing couple, and the couple from the security center. "Should be boarding anytime now," Dad mentioned as he glanced at his watch. He had put down his Muggle newspaper and was watching the television that was displaying the weather. "Looks like we'll have good weather for at least part of the flight." The last time we flew to New York, there had been a huge thunderstorm during the flight. It was pretty scary. Lightning is much scarier when you're up close and personal with it. I had been hoping this flight would be storm free. "Jack said there's about three inches of snow on the ground right now," Dad continued, "And they're expecting a storm a couple days from now. You kids will be able to see a real blizzard." "Excellent," I grinned. I had never seen snow in real life and couldn't wait to experience it. That was one good thing about this trip. "Flight 531, Sydney to New York, is now boarding at Terminal 16," someone announced over the loudspeaker. People all around us started getting up and collecting their things. Parents were shouting their kids names, trying to find them. I got up and swung my bag over my shoulder. Dad fished the tickets out of his pocket and we followed him to the back of the boarding line. I peeked out from the line and saw that there was another metal detector at the front of it. Great, I thought, another one. I only hoped the magic wouldn't interfere with this one. The line to board the plane moved relatively fast, compared to all the other lines we had waited in that day. Dad handed the ticket lady our tickets and she gestured for us to step through the metal detector. I held my breath as I followed Dad through it. Then I breathed a big sigh of relief when it didn't make a sound. Mum and Matt walked through after us and neither of them set it off either. We walked towards the plane, following the businesswoman, and finally emerged into the coach section. It was already crowded with people settling in for the long flight ahead. Dad looked at our ticket stubs and gestured to us to follow him. Our seats were about halfway down the plane on the right side. Mum and Dad got the two seats closest to the front of the plane, and Matt and I sat behind them. I gladly let Matt have the window seat. I didn't want to look out the window at all during the entire flight. Then I could just pretend that we were still on the ground, even though I obviously knew we weren't. "We're lucky we got seats together," Dad commented, "Considering how last minute I bought these." "I like this seat," Matt said, "Look how tiny the people are." He peered out the window. If they were tiny now, they would be impossible to see after we took off. I put my bag under my seat and sat back in it. It was relatively comfortable, but I knew I would think otherwise in a few hours. There was a light above me, along with a set of headphones. On the side of the plane, just below the window, was a phone. Maybe I could call Kenzie if I got bored. Matt had started fiddling with everything. He was turning the light on and off, messing with the headphones, and pulling the tray up and down. This was going to be a long flight. The last time we flew to New York, he had been hyper the first half and then slept the entire second half. After what seemed like forever, one of the flight attendants finally announced that we were going to prepare for take-off. The seat belt lights came on and everyone made their way to their seats. The plane was packed with people and I couldn't see any empty seats. I closed my eyes and squeezed the arm rests as the plane started up. I knew it wouldn't be taking off for a little while, since we had to get in line behind other planes and wait for our turn. That's pretty much all we'd been doing all day, was waiting in lines. But I was freaked out anyway. Take-off was my least favorite part of flying, well, that and landing. I wished I could just sleep through those parts. That was impossible, though, since they were also the noisiest. The plane started moving forward and I opened my eyes a bit. Matt had closed his eyes and put his hands over his ears. Ever since he became a werewolf, he's hated loud noises. Dad told me that his ears are more sensitive now and every noise is a lot louder than normal for him. A little while later, the flight attendant announced that we were going to begin take-off. I shut my eyes again and listened the engine rumble louder and louder. The plane vibrated and I could feel it tipping up and up into the air. My stomach churned and I swallowed, trying to keep my sandwich where it belonged. That was another thing I hated about flying, it always made me sick. "How are you two doing?" I heard Dad ask. "I feel sick," I muttered, my eyes still closed and hands still firmly holding onto the arm rests. "My ears hurt," Matt's voice cracked, "It's too loud." "It'll be quieter once we're fully in the air," Dad assured him, "You need a barf bag, Amy?" "I've got one," I replied, hoping I wouldn't have to use it. I opened my eyes and loosened my grip on the arm rests when the plane was finally fully in the air. "You are now free to move about the cabin," the flight attendant announced. Mum turned around in her seat and looked at us, "Better now?" she asked. I nodded, not wanting to open my mouth. My stomach still felt uneasy, but it was starting to settle down. "My ears still hurt," Matt said as he rubbed his ears. "It's the air pressure changes," Mum explained, "Here, chew a piece of gum and they'll feel better." Mum handed Matt a pack of Muggle gum. "Ta," Matt took the gum and started chewing a piece, "Hey, this stuff is good!" Mum laughed, "Dad bought it where he bought the sandwiches." "Want any, Amy?" Matt offered. I shook my head and stared directly at the tray in front of me, trying not to think about the fact that we were hundreds of meters in the air. "Welcome everybody," a voice announced, "This is your pilot speaking. I would like to welcome you to Air Australia Flight 531, Sydney to New York. There will be a brief layover in Los Angeles in order to re-fuel. Please see one of the flight attendants if you are in need of anything." I was in need of being back on the ground, but I doubted the flight attendants would be able to give me that. The noise of the engines quieted down to a low roar and the plane started flying a bit more steady. Around me, the other passengers were settling in for a long flight. A few of them had already started leaning their heads back on pillows and closed their eyes. A fair amount of them had ear buds shoved into their ears. Others had pulled out various books, magazines, and newspapers. The business woman I had seen earlier had her laptop out again and was typing away. A few other people had laptops out as well. There were also some kids running up and down the aisles, followed quickly by their stressed out parents. I dug around in my bag until I found one of my potions books. Of course, to the Muggle eye, it merely looked like a regular old novel. Mum had put charms on all the books I brought before we left so I could read them on the plane. She had even transfigured all of our wands to look like everyday objects. Mine looked like a Muggle pencil and was currently in my pocket. Not that I could really use it or anything, since I was underage. But if anything really bad happened, I'd be able to do something. Mum and Dad had started talking to each other in low whispers. No doubt it was something not for the Muggles to hear. Matt was staring out the window and shouting out in delight at how small everything looked. It was becoming increasingly annoying. "Amy, look! The houses look like someone put a shrinking charm on them!" "Uh-huh," I muttered as I tried to focus on a chapter about the effects of clockwise stirring versus counterclockwise stirring on various potions. "I'd really rather not look." "It's not that scary," Matt replied. "I don't like heights." "But you climb the wall into the bush," Matt pointed out, "And trees." "That wall's not that high. And trees are different. I can climb down whenever I like and you can't even compare a tree's height to how high we are now." "Yeah, but it's not like we're going to crash or anything," Matt said. Great, now I was thinking about the plane hurtling to the ground and all of us dying a horribly slow fiery death. Clockwise and counterclockwise stirring, I thought, think about potions. Think about anything other than the plane crashing. "And even if it did start to crash," Matt continued, "Mum and Dad would just Apparate us out of the plane." Unless I was in the bathroom when it happened, I thought. Why did I always have to think the worst when we were flying? Breath, I told myself, breath. I continued reading my book and ignored everything my brother said. He finally stopped talking and started playing his DS.