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DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2095 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Monday 22 September 2008 12 06 49 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Disclaimer- I do not own Nintendo or Mario Kart. Chapter 12: Muggle Encyclopedias Life at home returned to normal as soon as I got back. Well, as normal as it had been since I wen home for the holidays after third year. I wouldn't have considered that normal a few months ago, but it was starting to feel normal now. Dad still hadn't elaborated on his issues at work and I had just given up on asking him. It would probably be better to focus my attention on weaseling information about the move out of them. I deserved to know what was going on with the move anyway, since it directly involved me. Mum and Dad didn't seem to pay any attention to that, though, since they just told me that they would tell me more about the move when they were ready to. I took this to meaning they still hadn't found a school that would accept Matt. The two of them still hadn't told me any new information when Matt's birthday arrived the following week. "Come on, Mum, you've got to know something else about it now," I said. "I've told you, we don't know anything new right now," Mum replied as she frosted Matt's cake. "Which schools have you written to?" I asked. "You already know which ones. One in New York, one in Massachusetts, one in Canada, one in Scotland." "That's it? There have got to be others." Mum sighed and set down the frosting. "All right. We've also written to schools in Pennsylvania and Illinois. Those are just to start. We'll write to every school in the States if it comes to that." "Illinois and Pennsylvania?" I repeated and stared at her, "The only place I might consider moving to in the States is New York and that's only because Uncle Jack lives there." "Well you don't really have a say in this, Amy," Mum shook her head, "Your father and I will be making this decision." "What are the schools like?" I asked, "I don't want to go to one I'll wind up hating." "We'll visit them, if they agree to let Matt attend. If there are a couple that will accept him, you might have a say in the decision." "They'd better all accept him, then," I muttered. "Haven't you gotten any response letters yet?" "Just that rejection one from New Zealand. I'll tell you when we get one," Mum said as she put the left-over frosting into the fridge. "I need you to watch your brother while I go get Richard and Cinda." I glanced at my watch. It was almost half-past five. "I thought Dad was getting them." "He was, but he sent an owl a little while ago to tell me that he had to stay late at work. He won't be back until six-thirty." "Oh," I replied. He was always staying late at work lately. "I'll be back soon," Mum replied, and with a crack, she was gone. I got up from the table and wandered into the hall. I didn't even know where Matt was. The house seemed empty with only the two of us there. I went upstairs and found Matt in his room. He was laying on his bed rifling through his collection of chocolate frog cards. "Mum's getting Richard and Cinda," I announced and walked into his room. "Ok," Matt replied without looking up, "Have you got any Dumbledores?" "Nope," I said as I sat down on the bed. I collected chocolate frog cards as well, but had never gotten Dumbledore. "Bugger," Matt replied, "I've got about twenty Merlins, but not a single Dumbledore." "You'll get one eventually," I assured him. "Yeah, probably. Hey, Mum said we might get to go to Hogwarts. That's where Dumbledore was headmaster. Wouldn't that be neat?" I honestly wouldn't care if Merlin himself was currently headmaster at that school, I still wouldn't want to go there. "I guess," I replied. There was a loud crack coming from downstairs and another one a few seconds later. "Richard or Cinda is here. Let's go downstairs," I suggested. Matt followed me as I went downstairs and into the kitchen. Cinda was standing next to the table in a lavender colored pants suit. She had been looking at the cake, but looked up when she heard us walk in. "Happy Birthday, Matt!" Cinda smiled and gave my brother a hug. "Ta," Matt grinned "Hi, Amy," Cinda kissed both of my cheeks once and gave me a hug. "Hey, Cinda," I replied. There was another crack and Mum and Richard Apparated into the room. Richard wished Matt a happy birthday and said hello to me. After that, Mum took my grandparents into the living room to talk before dinner. Matt and I followed them and settled down on the floor to play a few games of Exploding Snap. I listened to Mum and my grandparents talk as I played Exploding Snap. They really weren't talking about anything that interesting. Richard had immediately asked about the move, but Mum told him pretty much the same thing she told me: That they were still waiting for letters from schools. Cinda hadn't said a word about the party she was planning on throwing. I was sure she was still going to have it, though. Maybe she was thinking of having a surprise party. That would probably go over even worse than a regular party. I could only imagine Mum's reaction to showing up at Cinda's house one day to find a party going on. "What's so funny?" Matt asked. I stifled my laughter about the surprise party. "Nothing." Matt and I continued to play Exploding Snap while Mum talked to Richard and Cinda. I noticed that Mum kept glancing at the clock and then to the fireplace. "When's Dad coming home?" Matt asked after I beat him in yet another game of Exploding Snap. "Anytime now," Mum replied. "I'm hungry," he whined. "I know, honey. We'll eat as soon as Dad gets home," Mum said. Dad finally appeared in the floo a little after seven o'clock, a half hour later than he said he'd be. "Sorry I'm late," he said as he brushed ash off of his robes. "Dad!" Matt jumped up and ran over to the fireplace. "Hey!" Dad grinned and picked him up, "Happy Birthday!" "Let's eat now!" Matt announced. "All right," Dad smiled and let him down. Matt ran into the hall and Richard and Cinda followed him. I decided to hang back a bit because Dad had started whispering to Mum. I strained to listen in on what they were saying. "Everything ok at work?" Mum asked. Dad sighed, "Not really. Everything is just escalating. It's only a matter of time...." Until what? I thought. What was escalating? I took a step towards them, but both of them had gone silent. It didn't seem like Dad was going to elaborate on the topic. Probably since Mum obviously already knew what was escalating. I quietly followed them out of the room and into the formal dining room. Richard, Cinda, Matt, and Ellie were already sitting down. Ellie must have taken all the food out of the fridge and heated it up, since it was all on the table with steam wafting off of it. I took my seat in between Matt and Ellie while Mum and Dad took their seats on the opposite ends of the table. Dad said the prayer and then served everyone up heaping plates of food. I dug into my portion and nobody said much for a while. It was a bit strange being home for Matt's birthday dinner. For the past three years, I had been at school on his birthday, so I missed the celebration. Hell, I hadn't even been home on my own birthday for the past three years. My birthday is October 27, which is during the last term of the school year. I had been having my birthday dinner during the holiday in between the third and fourth terms for the past few years. Before I started going to school at the Australian School of Sorcery, Cinda would throw me a birthday party every year. I loved it when I was little, but by the time I was ten I was sick of them. The last one I had was when I turned eleven and I put up with it because I knew it was the last one. The parties just became too big and I hardly knew half the people who went to them. I would have been satisfied with having Kenzie over to my house to sleep over, but Cinda had other ideas. Matt used to have big parties at Cinda and Richard's house, too. His last one had been the year he turned six, which was only a month and a half after he got bit. I didn't go since I was in school, but Mum and Dad told me it was an absolute disaster. It was only a week after the full moon, which had been his first transformation ever. That transformation had gone terribly and Matt was still worn out and cranky from it when the day of the party arrived. Not to mention the fact that he was covered in fresh scars and partially healed cuts. Dad told me that everyone was asking about them and that in itself was exhausting. Apparently Matt fell asleep shortly into the party and he and my parents were the first ones to leave. Mum told Cinda flat out no more big birthday parties after that. Ever since then, Matt had been having small birthday dinners like I had. Usually they were a bit more fun than tonight's, though. Tonight, everyone was quiet. Even Matt was kind of subdued, which was a bit strange since he had been hyper all day. He must have been picking up on Mum and Dad's stress. I certainly was. Richard and Cinda weren't saying much either. Richard was a normally quiet person but it was rare to see Cinda not talking. Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to stand the silence any longer, Cinda finally decided to say something. "Any idea when you're moving?" Cinda asked. I groaned inwardly. The only reason she was asking was so she could plan that goodbye party, that was now destined to be a surprise party. "I've told you, Cinda, I really don't know," Mum said. "Where are we moving?" Matt asked for what must have been the hundredth time since Mum and Dad told us we were leaving the country. "I don't know," Mum told him. "Can we move to where Uncle Jack lives?" "I really don't know," Mum sighed. "I've been meaning to ask you, Walter," Richard began, "What about your job?" Dad and Mum exchanged another one of those glances and Dad didn't say anything for a few moments. This just confirmed what I'd already been thinking. Something was going on at Dad's work and whatever it was, it wasn't good. "I'll find something wherever we go," Dad finally said, "The number one priority is finding a school for Amy and Matt." Finding a school for Matt, I thought to myself. I could get an education anywhere. "Are you going to sell the house?" Richard asked. "We're not exactly sure," Dad replied, "I've got to talk to my brother before we do anything with the house." I stared at Dad, "Wait, we're not selling it?" "I didn't say that," Dad said, "I said we're not sure what we're doing with it." "So there's a chance we'll keep it?" I asked eagerly. I thought it was a given that we'd sell the house, but maybe I'd guessed wrong. Maybe they would keep it and I could move back after I graduated! "We don't know, Amy," Dad replied adamantly, "I'm not promising anything." "Can we have cake now?" Matt asked loudly. "Good idea," Mum hastily got up from the table and returned moments later with a large cake. She set it down on the table and I looked at it. It was a two-layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Atop it was a green dragon made out of frosting that was breathing red frosting fire. It said 'Happy 8th Birthday, Matt!' on it and had eight green candles. "Wow!" Matt grinned at Mum, "Cool cake!" It was somewhat of a tradition in my family for the birthday person not to see the cake before dessert. We all liked to be surprised on our birthdays. "Thanks," Mum smiled back and pointed her wand at the candles. Flames erupted on each candle and with another flick of Mum's wand, the lights dimmed and only the candlelight remained. We all broke out into an off-key rendition of 'Happy Birthday', which we all sang in different tunes. Dad's ended last and once he was finished, Matt took a deep breath and blew out all the candles at once. "What'd you wish for?" I asked as Dad cut slices of cake. "Can't tell you," Matt said, "Or it won't come true." "I know," I grinned, "Just asking anyway." Dad passed Matt a piece of cake and he immediately stopped talking and took a bite. He gave Mum a wide grin after swallowing it, but didn't say anything. Another one of our traditions. The birthday person was not allowed to talk from the moment they took their first bite of cake until they finished the last bite. Then everyone else would try and get them to talk. No one ever managed to convince me to talk, but I had Matt talking before he was halfway done with his cake on his fourth birthday. That was the last one I had been home for. Of course, now he was twice that age and it would probably be harder to get him to talk. I took a bite of my cake and thought about what to ask him as I chewed. I figured I might as well start with what had gotten him to talk when he turned four. "So, Matt," I smirked, "I know what Mum and Dad got you." He completely ignored me and continued eating his cake. I actually saw Dad crack a bit of a smile at this. I hadn't seen him smile in weeks. "Yeah," I continued, "They got you a nice set of encyclopedias." Matt snorted into his cake and started coughing. He took a gulp of milk and then shook his head. Bugger, I thought, this was harder than it was four years ago. "They're Muggle encyclopedias." Mum and Dad were trying to stifle their laughter. Richard and Cinda were smiling a bit, but didn't seem quite as amused as Mum and Dad. Matt took another bite of cake and I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. His face was bright red. "They're quite nice, really. All of them have a nice blue cover and gold edged pages." "Everyone needs a good set of encyclopedias," Dad chimed in, "Amy got some when she turned eight." This time it was my turn to laugh into my cake. "Mine are purple. They're upstairs in my potions room. Yours are in that closet upstairs that's always locked." "Tradition in the family, to get encyclopedias on your eighth birthday," Mum commented. Matt was beetroot red now and shoveling in his last bite of cake. He looked ready to burst with laughter. I knew he didn't actually believe the encyclopedia thing, but it was still funny. Plus, it had gotten my parents laughing a bit, which was great. Matt took a large gulp of milk and slammed down his glass. "All right, where are my encyclopedias? I've always wanted a set of them." Everyone, including Matt, burst out laughing. We laughed for what must have been five minutes before we all calmed down. "Where's my real prezzie?" Matt asked, grinning, "It's not in that closet, is it?" "No," Mum laughed, "Not in that closet. I'll be right back." Mum got up from the table and left the room. My present for Matt was already sitting on the counter in the kitchen, so I got it and returned to the table before Mum did. Mum came back with a rectangular box wrapped in shiny green wrapping paper and a gold bow. "This is from Dad and I," Mum said as she set the box down in front of Matt. He tore into the wrapping and pulled out a box. I leaned over and saw that it was a gobstones set. The board was oak and the gobstones were green and red. "Wow!" Matt grinned, "Thanks Mum and Dad." "You're welcome," Mum and Dad said at the same time. "Here's one from me," I handed Matt a small box wrapped in the same green paper. I had had no idea what to get him for his birthday, so I just went with something I knew he'd like. Matt took the box and unwrapped a box of Chocolate Frogs. "This is great, Amy! Thanks!" I smiled at him, "You're welcome." I knew he'd like those, due to his chocolate addiction. Only my own chocolate addiction could top his. There were twelve Chocolate Frogs in that box and I hoped one of them had Dumbledore in it. Cinda excused herself from the table and returned a few moments later with another box. This one was smaller than the gobstones set, but bigger than the Chocolate Frogs. It was wrapped in blue paper. "This is from Richard and I," Cinda said as she handed Matt the box. Matt quickly unwrapped the box and then stared at it. "What's this?" he asked. I looked at the box and started laughing. "What's so funny?" "It's a Nintendo DS. A gaming system," I explained. Kenzie had one and I'd played it a few times. It was pretty fun. "What does it do?" Matt asked. "You can play virtual games on it," I told him, "What game did you get with it?" Matt picked up another box that had come with it. "Mario Kart 7." "Oh, Kenzie's got that one. It's a car racing game. You'll like it." "You got him a Muggle electronic game system?" Dad asked. "Yes. All the kids like them," Cinda said. "First the music thing and now this," Dad muttered. "I like it," Matt announced, "It looks fun. Thanks Richard and Cinda." "All right, if you say so," Dad shook his head. He often seemed reluctant about the Muggle devices. He didn't even like to use the microwave. Matt opened the box and pulled out the red DS. "How does it work?" "You've got to charge it first," I told him and reached over to grab the box. I pulled the charger out and unwrapped it. "See this plug? One end goes into the DS and the other into the socket in the wall." I got up and went over to the socket that was near the kitchen counter. Our house doesn't have many electrical outlets, but there were a couple in the kitchen. I plugged the DS in and set it down on the counter. "Can I play it now?" Matt asked. "It's not charged yet. It takes a lot longer than with magic." "Oh. Do you want to play gobstones, then?" "Sure," I said. The rest of the evening was quite relaxing. Matt and I played match after match of gobstones, most of which I won. Matt didn't really care, though, since Mum would vanish all the slime off of him whenever he got squirted. Mum, Dad, Richard, and Cinda talked more about the move, but none of them said anything I didn't already know. Cinda still hadn't said anything about the party, which confirmed my suspicions that it would be a surprise party. At least she had dropped the idea of me helping her with it. Richard and Cinda spent the night, since it was already late when we finished dinner. I went up to my room when Mum and Dad told Matt it was time to go to bed. I decided to spend the night on my balcony. I dragged a blanket out there and laid on my back, looking up at the stars. It was a clear night and I could see loads of constellations. It was a good end to what had turned out to be a great evening. Once Dad had come home, the evening had been fun. Him and Mum were a bit tense, but that seemed to dissipate a bit once I started joking around during the cake. I should do more of that, I thought. My family was in dire need of more humor in our lives.
choki Joined: 1 May 2003 Posts: 3150 Location: In the Land of chicken worshippers, trying to open a fried chicken fastfood chain	Posted: Sunday 21 September 2008 01 55 49 am    Post subject: Re: Elder Wand's Allegiance in topic:Elder Wand's Allegiance I guess in a sense the wand is powerful enough to prevent its own destruction. A reducto curse from another wand won't be able to break it? Neither does any physical means of breaking it into half would work.
Paul Joined: 4 November 2001 Posts: 2963 Location: Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, England	Posted: Saturday 20 September 2008 07 12 49 am    Post subject: Re: Broomsticks and Owls in topic:Broomsticks and Owls Hee hee - yes, a really nice wand is one of the things that I'd like to get for myself one day. Sorry that I don't have any control over the prices but one thing I've noticed since BaO started is, from looking at he range and type of things now available, that the quality of the merchandise seems to have improved to really high levels. Originally there were a lot of much cheaper items available but the quality of many didn't seem very impressive. I'm guessing that the people who control what is officially made have decided to go mainly for items that people can keep for a lifetime which I think is the better way really. Thanks for offering to help with the news, Duckie. That would be hugely appreciated. There are a few different ways which we could go about it...probably best to discuss the planning in the Moderator's Forum if that's OK (don't want to give away any plans in the public part of the forum).
Scellanis Joined: 11 September 2002 Posts: 6232 Location: Pretending to be a sea slug with 'go faster' stripes...	Posted: Saturday 20 September 2008 05 31 38 am    Post subject: Re: Introductions and FAQ's in topic:Introductions and FAQ's Hello Radha! Welcome to BaO!! *waves wand and makes Sorting Hat shaped cookies appear*
choki Joined: 1 May 2003 Posts: 3150 Location: In the Land of chicken worshippers, trying to open a fried chicken fastfood chain	Posted: Friday 19 September 2008 08 17 14 am    Post subject: Re: Next Generation 2 in topic:Next Generation 2 Nikolaus turned around and crossed his elbows together, looking rather disgruntled. "What have you gotten into... again?" he said to Geneve, trying not to sound too harsh. Upon hearing his words, her tears began to trickle once more. Nikolaus was right, she had been nothing but trouble for him ever since the first instant they met. Although he was unable to see her crying face, Nikolaus probably sensed he had made her sad. A disillusion charm but knotty one I see," he rumbled on, "maybe a revealing charm might work..." "Aperio!" Nikolaus said as he waved his wand in an elaborate fashion. Yellow sparks flew out and started to surround an empty spot like butterflies around a flower, where the unseen Geneve stood. However, when the sparks faded away, nothing was revealed. Geneve remained invisible. Nikolaus took a deep breath and let in out in a long sigh. "I'm sorry I said those..." he paused a while, "but if you desire to be back to normal, you got to mean it. Don't let your fear overcome you. We'll try it when you are ready." Geneve hated herself for being so weak. The amount of tears she shed for the past week was enough to cover her whole year. Forcing herself to stop the flow, she made a steadfast decision not to ever again cry in the name of weakness. She grabbed the pencil and wrote on the parchment hastily. "I'm ready."
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2095 Location: Boycotting All Future Warner Brothers Films	Posted: Wednesday 17 September 2008 01 45 35 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind in topic:Albus Potter and the Tracks They Left Behind Thanks, Obladi and Fawkes! And yes, Fawkes, it is a bit familiar. Questions, comments, and general reviews always appreciated! Chapter 21: Cloak and Map On Christmas Eve the Potters went to Godric's Hollow, like usual. It was completely dark by the time they Apparated to the Burrow, but there was plenty of light streaming out of the tall house's windows. As they walked closer to the place, Albus could hear the roars of laughter coming from inside. "Harry!" the door to the Burrow flew open and George stood in the doorway to greet them, a mug of eggnog in his hand. "How are ya, mate?" "I'm great, George. I see you're already drunk," Harry grinned at him. "A drunkness only Mum's eggnog can bring," George went back into the house and Albus and his family followed. Albus smiled to himself as he saw the usual chaos that is Christmas Eve at his grandparents' house. His sea of redheaded cousins were milling around eating and laughing with each other. This was what Albus loved about Christmas at the Burrow. He grabbed a couple biscuits from the nearby table and went to find Rose. She was sitting on the floor near the fireplace with Hugo, Victoire, and Teddy. "Albus!" she shouted over the noise, "Over here!" Albus pushed his way past Georgia and Gabriella who were laughing at something Fred was saying. "Hi Rose! What's been going on?" "Not much. Uncle George, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Charlie are drunk. My dad's on his way and so is Aunt Alicia." "Wouldn't be Christmas Eve if they weren't," Albus laughed. "Gran's been refilling the biscuit platters and talking with my mum and Aunt Fleur. I think she's about to put on Celestina Warbeck," Rose gestured to the nearby wireless that Molly, Hermione, and Fleur were looking at. Fleur threw her hands up in the air and glared at Molly. "Yup, here comes Celestina." "Mum hates her," Victoire shook her head, "She'll be heading for the eggnog now." Sure enough, Fleur poured herself a large mug of eggnog as Molly settled down to listen to the wireless. She was the only one listening, though. Albus could hear bits and pieces of a heated Quidditch discussion going on between his Uncle Charlie, Uncle George, Aunt Alicia, and Heather. Harry was making his way over to them now. It amazed Albus that his uncles and aunt could carry on a fully understandable Quidditch discussion while drunk. "How long are you staying, Victoire?" Albus asked. "Just until after Christmas. I've got to get back to St. Mungo's in a couple days. But I've been here since yesterday when Amy left for Australia. I didn't want to be alone in the apartment, it would've gotten awfully boring." "You wouldn't have had to be alone," Teddy winked, "And it wouldn't have been boring." Victoire playfully slapped him. "Teddy! Don't let Mum hear you say that." "Oh, Albus," Rose began, "Both John and Amanda can come to my house on the 28th. Well, they can only come over for the day, but that should be enough time. Matt's still not sure. He said he won't know until after he gets back from Australia." "Ok. Great, we can play Quidditch!" "Quidditch?" Hugo snapped his head away from his chocolate frog cards, "Can I play?" "Sure," Albus replied. "The 28th?" Teddy commented, "I'll come over, too. I don't have to be back at the Ministry until the 29th. I'm up for some Quidditch." "Excellent," Albus grinned, "We can get a real game going. I'll just tell my dad I'm going home with you." Albus looked around the room and saw Harry in the midst of a Quidditch discussion. "Hey, Dad!" "What is it, Al?" Harry got up and squeezed his way through the crowd over to Albus. "It's all right if I go to Rose's house on the 28th, right? And stay a couple days?" "That would be fine," Harry said, "But we're actually going to Dudley's house for New Year's Eve, so we'll come get you on the 31st before we leave." "We're going to Dudley's?" Albus stared at his dad. "Er, yeah," Harry gave Albus a half smile, "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon will be there as well...." "What?!" "Dudley thought it would be a good idea, considering that Kaden is a wizard," Harry explained. "All right," Albus shrugged. He didn't really want to see Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, but he didn't really have a choice. "I'm sure they'll be...civilized, at least," Harry gave Albus a hug before leaving to rejoin his Quidditch discussion. "Well, at least I can come over for a few days," Albus said. "Yeah, but you've got to go see the Dursleys," Teddy screwed up his face in disgust. "It's definitely going to be an interesting day," Albus replied. "I'm sure it'll be fine," Rose assured him. "Plus, Kaden will be there." "That'll make it even more interesting," Albus grinned. "You know, he'd fit right in with this lot," Rose gestured to the loud and boisterous Weasley family around them. "Except without the red hair." "Hey, I haven't got red hair!" "Neither do I," Victoire agreed. "I do," Teddy laughed as he changed his hair from its usual blue to red. "You're not technically a Weasley," Rose commented. "Close enough. And anyway, who knows what'll happen in the next few years," Teddy winked at Victoire, who giggled. Teddy threw his arms around Victoire and kissed her. "Better not let Gran see you doing that," Rose warned. "Always a stickler for the rules, huh Rosie?" Teddy laughed and lengthened his hair until it was the perfect replica of Rose's. "Don't do that!" Rose groaned, "And I do break rules. Just ask Albus." Teddy shortened his hair again and turned to Albus. "Really?" "She does," Albus confirmed, "Quite a few times, actually." "This I've got to hear." "Maybe another time," Albus glanced at Rose. Albus hadn't really decided whether or not to tell Teddy about the new map. Most of Rose's and Albus's most recent rule breaking was done in order to decipher it. Albus knew he wasn't going to tell his cousins about it, but he wasn't sure about Teddy and James. One part of him thought they deserved to know, considering that their father and grandfather were both Marauders, but on the other hand he kind of liked keeping it a secret. "Aw, come on, tell me." "Another time," Rose said adamantly. "Oh, fine," Teddy huffed, "But I will find out." Albus spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games with Rose, Teddy, and Victoire. He was really enjoying the time off from school and getting to spend time with his entire family at once. By the time he climbed up to the attic bedroom that he shared with James and a few of their cousins, he was tired and stuffed from all the biscuits. ****** "James! Albus!" Albus snapped his eyes open at the sound of his name the next morning. He immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Lily. He heard her footsteps bounding into the room. "Albus, James! It's Christmas! Wake up!" "Hi Lily," Albus yawned. "Good, you're up! James! Get up!" "I'm up, I'm up!" James mumbled. "We've got presents, James!" Lily grinned. "Right!" James said excitedly and Albus heard him crawling to the end of the top bunk to his pile of presents. "I'm going to open mine!" Lily shouted as she ran out of the room. After Lily's early wake-up call, everyone in Albus's room was up. Albus settled down to open his own pile of presents with the other boys. The first few boxes were filled with sweets and various Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products. The next was this year's Weasley jumper. It had a red quaffle stitched onto the front with a navy blue background. "Opened your jumper yet, James?" "Sure did," James replied, "Red with a green dragon on it." "Mine's blue with a red quaffle." "Excellent." Albus opened the next few presents, which consisted of numerous books and other clothing items. He also got a Broomstick Servicing Kit, which would be useful since his Firebolt 2000 had a few twigs that needed to be plucked. Albus saved the present from his parents for last and was about to open it when James gave an excited shout from the bed above. "Whoa!" "What is it?" Cedric asked and jumped off his bed. Ben followed and the two of them ran over to James's bed. Albus crawled out of his bed and joined his cousins. "What?" he asked. James had a huge grin on his face as he held up a blank piece of parchment. "Look what I got." Albus stared at the parchment. "You're kidding! Dad gave you the Marauder's Map?" "He sure did!" James shouted. "This is perfect!" Cedric exclaimed. "I can't believe he gave it to you," Ben grinned. "That's great, James," Albus smiled, "But why you and not me?" Albus couldn't help but feel a little left out, even though he now had his own Marauder's Map that would potentially be better than the original. But his dad didn't know about that, so why did he give the Map to James? "Dunno," James shrugged. "What did they get you?" "Haven't opened it yet." Albus picked up the package from his parents and tore off the wrapping. What he saw made his mouth fall open in shock. This would explain why James got the Map! Sitting in the middle of the torn wrapping, was the Invisibility Cloak. "He, he gave me the Cloak," Albus whispered. "Well, that's why you didn't get the map," James replied, "This is brilliant!" "Yeah," Albus agreed, pulling the cloak out of the wrapping. He laughed to himself as he thought of how he and Rose went through all that trouble of stealing it earlier in the month and now he got it for Christmas. "Guess this is why Dad wanted the Map back." James laughed, "We gave it back only for him to give it to me. I think we ought to share them." "That's a good idea," Albus agreed, not mentioning that hopefully he would have his own map working soon. "And share them with us, too," Cedric gestured to himself and Ben. "Of course we will," James assured them. "We just have to be sneaky about it. We can't let all of Hogwarts know we've got these." "I'm going to go tell Rose," Albus wrapped the Cloak around himself and left the room. He had never worn the Cloak at the Burrow before and he thought it was really funny that he passed Eddie on the stairs and Eddie didn't even notice him. He pushed open the door to the room that Rose shared with Victoire, Georgia, Gabriella, and Heather and waited for the girls' reactions. Heather jumped when she heard the door open and saw that no one was there. Victoire and Gabriella laughed and then shrugged. Rose got up from her bed and walked cautiously over to the door. "Boo," Albus pulled the Cloak off and grinned. All five girls shrieked as they saw Albus emerge from the Cloak, then they all started laughing. "Where did you get that?" Rose demanded. "Dad gave it to me!" "He did?" Victoire stared in amazement. "Wow, that is really great." "I just can't believe he gave you that," Rose grinned, "I'll bet James is jealous." "He got the Marauder's Map, so he's fine." "Wow!" Rose shouted, "That's incredible. And you can share them." "That's the plan," Albus grinned. "Well, I'll see you lot downstairs." He wrapped the Cloak around himself once more and left the room. Albus couldn't believe that his dad had actually given him the Cloak! He didn't think Harry would ever give it up. The best part was, was that he was now even more like his grandfather had been at Hogwarts. Albus was even more of a Marauder now that he had the Cloak. Albus continued down the stairs and into the kitchen of the Burrow. A few of his cousins, aunts, and uncles were already up and starting to eat breakfast. Harry and Ginny were there as well, along with Lily. His grandmother was tending to multiple cauldrons at once, while simultaneously bringing various items to the table. Albus watched them all for a few moments before pulling the Cloak off and shouting, "Happy Christmas!" Bill choked on his coffee and spat it across the table at George, who had started laughing. Harry, who had probably been expecting this, grinned and looked at Ginny, who was smiling back. Lily was staring at Albus with her mouth wide open. Molly dropped the bowl of oatmeal she had been bringing to the table. Everyone else looked at Albus with various looks of shock and amusement. "Albus!" Molly shrieked as she cleaned up the spilled oatmeal with a wave of her wand, "Don't do that!" "You gave him the Cloak?" George asked. "Yep," Harry replied, "I take it you're enjoying it, Al?" "Sure am!" Albus went over to where his parents were sitting and gave them each a huge hug, "Thanks!" "You're welcome," Harry smiled, "I figured you should be able to enjoy it while you're at Hogwarts, like I did. Although I expect you to use it more responsibly than I did." "I'll try," Albus said, thinking of when he snuck down to the Whomping Willow with it only two weeks ago. "James and I are going to share it. Same with the Map." "Wait, you got the Marauder's Map, too?" George stared at Harry. "No, James got that." "I didn't think you'd ever give that away," George laughed. "Well, I can wander the castle whenever I want and it won't matter who's around," Harry explained, "The boys can't. Plus, I didn't want to deny them the fun of it." "Are you sure that's safe, Harry?" Molly asked anxiously. "The castle is perfectly safe, even at night. I'm not saying I approve of you wandering around at night," Harry gave Albus a stern gaze, "But there are more enchantments than ever protecting it." "That won't protect them from wizards already in the castle!" Molly commented, "Remember that Willinson kid last year?" "How could I forget? Sometimes, you just have to take risks in order to live a little. I trust the boys enough to know they won't go wandering around late at night very often. And if you see anything suspicious on the Map," Harry turned to Albus, "Tell me about it right away." Albus nodded. "Sure." He took a seat at the table, with the Cloak on his lap, just as James ran into the room holding the Map in his hands. "Thanks, Dad!" James shouted, "This is brilliant!" "I'll tell you what I told Al. Don't use that to break too many rules and if you see anything abnormal on it, tell me right away." "Hello, Weasleys!" Teddy strolled into the room, his hair half green and half red. He sat down next to Albus and pulled a platter of eggs towards him. "Happy Christmas." "I know your hair is Christmas colored, but those two colors just shouldn't be paired together," James shuddered as he noticed Teddy's hair. "I mean, Gryffindor and Slytherin at the same time?" "It's festive," Teddy grinned. "You want me to charm yours to be red and green, too? Just learned some excellent charms for that sort of thing in training. Not that I'll need them." "No thanks," James had a look of disgust on his face. "I'll keep the plain red." "Is that..." Teddy looked at the parchment James was holding, "The Marauder's Map?" "Oh, yeah! Sure is!" James handed it to Teddy, "Got it for Christmas!" "That's great!" Teddy grinned. "What did you get Albus? Don't think Harry could top that." "I got the Cloak." Teddy turned to Albus, "Really? That's great, too! Wish I had an Invisibility Cloak." "But you can cast those Disillusionment charms," Albus pointed out. "Not nearly as fun as that Cloak, though," Teddy commented. "Oh, boys," Harry began, "You're going to have to share those with Lily once she gets to Hogwarts." "Aw, come on," James groaned. "If you don't I'll just steal them," Lily smirked, "And hide them in my dormitory, which you two won't be able to get into." "She's got a point," Ginny grinned. "We'll share," Albus assured them. He wouldn't mind sharing with Lily, just as long as she kept the Cloak secret. The last thing they needed was the entire castle knowing about it. "Good," Harry smiled, "Now who's up for a little winter Quidditch?" "Me!" Albus, James, Teddy, and mostly everyone else shouted at the same time. ****** Albus spent most of the day playing Quidditch outside with his family. Eventually they all had to come in because they were too cold to play any longer. Plus, it started snowing pretty hard and nobody wanted to lose the Snitch. Albus spent the rest of the day with Rose and reading a few of his new books. The Cloak was passed around between his cousins, and most of them were amazed Harry had given it to him, and a little jealous as well. James passed the Map around and everyone had fun watching the few dots that were left in the castle. Christmas dinner came and went in its usual chaotic state. It was loud and funny and Albus enjoyed every minute of it. He went to bed feeling very full and very content. The next day Albus's aunts, uncles, and cousins all started to leave. Albus and Rose's families stayed for a couple more days, but they soon had to leave so Albus's grandparents could go on holiday for New Year's. Albus was actually excited to leave because he would be going to Rose's house and hopefully getting the stag print. Albus landed in Rose's living room after Flooing from the Burrow. His Uncle Ron, Rose, and Hugo had already arrived and his Aunt Hermione was right behind him. There was an owl waiting next to the window and Hermione ran over to let it in. "That's Matt's owl," Albus announced as he and Rose went over to retrieve the letter. Albus opened the envelope and scanned the letter, "He can come, but only for tomorrow. We're supposed to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron at eleven." "Sure," Hermione smiled, "Tell him that will work." Albus found a quill and quickly scribbled a response on the back of the letter and sent it off with the owl. He and Rose ran up the stairs and into Rose's room to talk about plans for getting the print. "I hope you've got some ideas," Albus said as he shut Rose's door. "Of course I do," Rose grinned. "We'll tell my parents that we're going to go exploring in the forest and we'll look for a stag while we're in there. Once we find one, we'll all try and stun it-" "What about the underage magic laws?" Albus definitely didn't want someone from the Ministry showing up shortly after they stunned a stag. The last thing he wanted to do was explain why he had done it. Rose laughed, "Haven't you figured it out yet? They can't tell who's done the magic, only that magic's been done. The Ministry has no way to tell if it was us or my parents who performed the magic." Albus hadn't thought of that. All last summer he could have done magic and the Ministry wouldn't have found out. "Really?" "Yes, really. The Ministry just relies on parents to not let their kids use magic outside school. So I wouldn't suggest doing it a lot. I'm sure we'd get in big trouble with our parents. I wouldn't even be suggesting we do this if there was another way to get the print." Albus nodded. He didn't really want to break the law either, but what could they do? There was no way to get a stag print if the stag wasn't stunned. "I just hope we actually find one tomorrow." "Me, too. But we do have a couple days. You'll be here until the 31st, so that's 4 days to get it." "Yeah, but John and Matt want to help, too." "I know and we'll try. Hey, I'll bet Amanda's gotten the dog print by now!" "Oh, yeah!" Albus said excitedly, "So we're pretty much halfway there." "Yup," Rose grinned. "Now we've just got to find the charm to keep Kaden quiet," Albus replied. "You're going to tell him everything after I find that charm?" Rose asked. "I think so. I mean, as long as the charm works he can't tell anyone about it. It's obvious now that he's Wormtail, although I'm sure he'll be a better one. But it's up to Matt whether he wants to tell Kaden he's a werewolf." "Isn't it kind of necessary for this?" "Probably, but I can't exactly tell Kaden that." "Yeah, you definitely can't," Rose agreed. "Let's just try and get the stag print first," Albus suggested, "Then we'll figure out the Kaden thing."
*Riley* Joined: 30 November 2007 Posts: 1764 Location: Celebrating with good friends	Posted: Tuesday 16 September 2008 06 22 17 pm    Post subject: Re: Broomsticks and Owls in topic:Broomsticks and Owls Oh, I didn't know about the shop until I wrote <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.broomsticksandowls.com">www.broomsticksandowls.com</a><!-- w --> into my URL and forgot to put /forum on it, I came across the shop and I was like 'Wha!, where's the forum gone!' and then I realised! It had a link to it ... That was in January/February, but now I like cruising through the items that you stock, hopeful to find a real wand!! *Cackles Madly*
Distortia Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 527 Location: Over the sea	Posted: Wednesday 10 September 2008 07 37 24 pm    Post subject: Re: Next Generation 2 in topic:Next Generation 2 Geneve stepped forward, watching Damien disappear into the hold beneath the trap door. She dropped to her knees and looked down. Damien was sitting amidst a tangle of long vines. From the minimal light iluminating from Damien's wand, Geneve could see that the vines were moving, snaring Damien where he had landed. Geneve paniced and looked around the room, trying to find something to throw down to him to help him. She stepped into the hall and saw a suit of armor. The weapon it held was a long metal axe. Geneve grabbed it and started dragging it back into the room. She looked down at her hands and smiled; it really looked like the axe was moving by itself because even she couldn't see her own hands.
Comma Joined: 4 September 2008 Posts: 14	Posted: Wednesday 10 September 2008 07 11 56 pm    Post subject: Re: A Gaunt Tale in topic:A Gaunt Tale teyannanecole wrote: I like it! I set up a feed of it on harrypotterfanfiction.com, but I'll keep checking this site if you'll be posting here. Hmm, I haven't been on that site in forever, I think I posted one chapter of this one there. I'm going to post it here a couple chapters at a time, I think. Thanks for the comment, though ^_^ since you're the only person who [i]has[/i] commented and everything. Anywho. Next couple chapters: ---- Chapter 3 When it came around time to get to Hogwarts, Katalina and Lily headed into a different compartment to change into their school uniforms: black cloaks with a white, collared shirt, a tie with their house colors, and a grey skirt with their house colors on them around the end, in trimming. Lily was laughing about something when they re-entered their compartment. "What's so funny?" James said as they walked in, and Katalina shot a glare worthy of a true Gaunt in his direction. "Just asking..." "Nothing," she and Lily said at the same time; Lily was still laughing, but Katalina's voice had no humor in it. "Nothing at all happened," she said firmly. "I think something happened," Sirius said to James. "No," Lily said, still giggling a little. "Nothing." "And it wasn't funny!" Katalina said angrily; she laughed harder again. "Well, I don't see what's so funny about nothing..." James said. "It's funny that she's capable of laughing that hard at anything," Sirius said. "Which is how she's laughing at nothing, since she's not capable of laughing that hard at anything," Katalina reasoned. They looked at her blankly. "You'll figure it out later," she said. "How much later?" Sirius said. "Few years, maybe," she said, looking out the window, just in time to feel the train stop. "Are we here?" she asked. Lily managed to calm down. "It wasn't that that I was laughing at," Lily said. "It was the pack of first years that was there when --" "Nothing!" Katalina said loudly, in a frantic voice, over Lily. She remembered the pack of first year boys that had been walking past and Katalina had to do an engorgement charm on the top of her shirt to make it fit over her chest. Lily had put the curtains back up, thinking Katalina was done. They had stopped at the window to gape at her, and got a few seconds of black bra before Lily rolled the curtains back down, giggling. "And if you ever do that again, I won't be very happy..." "Alright," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." "Do what?" James and Sirius both asked at the same time, eagerly. "Probably not what you're hoping it was," Katalina said. James's face turned somewhat pink. Sirius looked out the window and chose not to respond in any way. Getting up, laughing, Katalina and Lily left together, Severus with them. "I swear to God..." Katalina grumbled on the way to the carriages, “if you two don’t cut it out, I’m going to hex you both." Lily was giggling again, and Severus was laughing too, now, as she had told him. The same group of first years walked past her as she, Severus, and Lily made their way to where they had to go. The first years gaped at her again. One poked another, pointed at Katalina, and whispered something. Lily had to grip the side of the carriage they were apparently taking to the school to keep from falling over with laughter. It was then that Katalina saw the school, gleaming in the distance. "Is that Hogwarts?" she asked Severus, who had control of his voice at the time. "Yeah." It was a magnificent castle, and the lake they were crossing over in the carriages was like its moat. "Wow..." she said, climbing into the carriage. "And it’s thestrals pulling these?" she asked. "What?" Lily said, calming down. "There's not... anything there." She was out of breath. "You can only see them if you've seen someone die," she said. "Who'd you see die?" she asked curiously. "Old muggle that lived in the village I lived in," she said. "Handing out church pamphlets... my dad was having a bad day... he happened to knock on our door that day... my dad doesn't like dealing with muggles on his bad days." "He killed him?" she asked, getting in the carriage, as did Severus. "Yeah..." she said. "Horrid, i'n'it?" "Just a tad," Lily said, with a definite note of sarcasm in her voice. The carriages were also designed to fit eight people; the other four caught up with them fast enough. Seeing them and remembering what happened, Lily couldn't help but laugh again. "What the bloody hell is she laughing about?" Sirius demanded of the three of them. Lily only laughed harder, Severus started laughing, and Katalina's face turned red, matching her hair. "So you told him and not us?" James said. "No, Lily told him..." "Who else knows?" Sirius asked. "About every first year in the school, by now," Lily said through her laughter. "Nooooo..." Katalina groaned, hiding her face, which turned from red to pale in under five seconds. "They're all going to be pointing... and staring... noooooo... Lily, I'm going to kill you, I swear it..." Lily responded by laughing harder; her face was now red. "What --" "Ask one of the first years!" Katalina snapped at James. "Alright, fine!" he said. He looked next to the cart, and a group of first year boys was walking by, pointing at her. James jumped off the carriage. "What happened involving them and a group of first years?" James asked, pointing at Katalina and Lily. One of them beckoned him closer, and whispered whatever it was. "You're kidding," he said, laughing and looking up as well. "Thanks for that." He got back up and sat in his seat in the carriage, which started moving then. "She definitely does have grounds to kill you," he said to Lily. "What happened?" Sirius demanded. "Apparently, Lily thought they were done changing before she was," he told Sirius. "She opened the curtains back up, and a few first years were standing there, who stopped to look in. She turned, saw that her shirt was still opened, and attempted to close the blinds as fast as she could while laughing that hard." Apparently hearing the story again made it even funnier. Lily laughed harder, leaning over on Kat, who still hadn't taken her face out of her hands. "I'm sorry, Kat," Lily said. "But the looks on their faces, that was priceless, and at least you had a bra on --" "A halfway fecking transparent one..." she grumbled. "What made you think she was done in the first place?" James said, joining the laughing. "Ummm..." "Shut up," Katalina warned her. "Embarrassing enough already..." "It makes it look like I did it on purpose if I don’t..." Lily said, trying not to laugh now. "Oh, alright..." she snapped, her voice still muffled. "I didn't realize, she just about had her shirt buttoned when I walked over to the window, and it turns out it didn't fit right in... places... so she had to do an Engorgement charm on the top half of the shirt, and I didn't realize she was doing that when I opened the curtains back up." She had to steadily increase her voice the entire time, as everyone but Katalina was laughing now. "So they got a free show and none of us have?" Sirius said. "Shut up," she said. "All of you, just shut up..." she finished, in more of a begging plea than a command. "Oh, c'mon, it's funny," James said. "No..." she said, shaking her head. "It isn't... they're all going to be ogling when I go in... all of them... stupid short people..." she added, quite seriously, but this made them all laugh even harder. "Please don't say anything to anyone who doesn't know..." she said. "Please?" They agreed not to, even still laughing, except Sirius, who said he wouldn't agree until they got a free show, too. She threatened to tell everyone in the school that he had grown his hair out for the same reason he liked to wear dresses when he was alone (a complete lie, but good blackmail anyway) -- he agreed then. After the sorting of first years and the feast in the Great Hall, they all headed off to their Common Rooms. As they'd all gotten there late, almost everyone went to bed. Katalina went into the girls' dormitory only to put her kitten, Alice, back in her cage to sleep for the night. She headed back down after, with her invisibility cloak. Sirius was still lying on the couch in front of the lit fireplace in main area of the common room. "What's the password to get in again?" she asked. "Flabbergroit," he said. "Where're you headed?" he added, sitting up. "Just to sit out by the lake," she said. "I slept last night," she added. "I don't need to tonight." "Same here, actually..." he said. "Or I'd be up in the boys dormitories... I was thinking about heading out myself... I wanted to talk to you, anyway." He held up an invisibility cloak. "James was half asleep when I asked to borrow it," he said. "Never would've said yeah otherwise." "About what?" she asked suspiciously. "I swear if you leave me suspended by my ankle out there all night as revenge --" "No," he said. "Just meet me there and we'll talk." She shrugged and threw the cloak over herself. She walked down the seven flights of stairs that tended to like to change around; nonetheless, she made it to the bottom, the entry hall, and she headed out the double oak front doors, just barely opening them. She heard them close behind her; apparently he was right behind her. She rushed over to the edge of the lake and pulled off her cloak. A few moments later, as she was sitting down at the very edge of the lake, against a large, thick elm tree, he pulled his cloak off, already sitting against the same tree, easily with room for more than one person to sit against it. "So?" she said quietly. "I just really wanted to apologize for everything that went bad today," he said. "It's your first day here and you're already having trouble." "Well thank you," she said. "Have any veritaserum on you?" "Wha... no, why?" "So I can prove you're just someone else using polyjuice potion." He laughed a little. "I'm not," he said. "I really wanted to apologize for me and James trying to get information on your family out of you. I had no idea how bad it was, and I've felt horrible since I did. I'm in a fairly similar situation at home myself, except my mom didn't stop me going to Hogwarts. My dad's dead, but he wasn't any better than that old bat, and I don't like talking about them either." "It's alright...” she said. “I wasn’t helping by being secretive. And James was asking more of the questions, anyway.” “That’s because he kept beating me to them as I thought of them, honestly,” he said, with guilty grin. “It’s alright,” she repeated, smiling kindly. “I know how secretive I can get; I even almost resisted the Parselmouth thing under Veritaserum... I really didn’t want to say that... but again, I don’t blame anyone but myself. And I guess I should say before people start spreading rumors...” she added with a sigh. “My surname is Gaunt. Yes, he’s my brother, and yes I despise him, I only helped him because I was pissed off at how you were talking to Lily, as she was the only person nice enough to talk to me.” “No wonder you didn’t want to say what your surname was...” he said. “He claims relation to --” “I know, Voldemort himself...” she said with a sigh. “I hope it’s not true...” she added. “Probably just him showing off, I know Al even if I do hate him, but it’s still weird... he was always up for sticking up with my dad in bullying me, and his theory is that Voldemort is the son of my great great aunt and a muggle she ran off with, who ran out on her while she was pregnant, and that the baby she had in an orphanage was him. She died an hour after his death, there’s no way to trace.... My dad calls the child a filthy halfbreed bastard with a muggleloving blood traitorous wretch for a mother. And my brother always agreed with him. Always, without fail, just to show me how much they despised me.” She smiled. “Maybe I’m lucky,” she said. “I would’ve been the same as them, had I ended up in Slytherin... in Gryffindor, I suffered, but I’m not them...” “So...” Sirius said, looking at her. “He’d use the Cruciatus Curse on his own sister...?” “He did at home,” she scoffed. “Why not here, if no one’s looking? It’s how I was punished for contradiction, I sometimes managed to escape under my invisibility cloak, nothing can penetrate it except for the Killing Curse. Usually, though, I was in the sitting room and the cloak was in my room. My dad, quite often, let my brother have the honors of the punishment. He’s afraid of me now, without his daddy to back him up. He’s afraid I’ll get revenge.” “And you will?” Sirius asked, as though to make sure she would. “Ahhh... I don’t know...” she said. “He’s my brother and all...” “Who hates you.” “But I don’t like to hate people...” “It’s kind of mandatory in this case...” “No, not if I don’t want to.” “Alright, but I’m getting revenge for you,” he said, sitting up straighter, putting an arm over her shoulders, and looking down at her. “Justice will be served.” She sat up straighter as well. “No, it won’t,” she said. “Don’t. You won’t be getting your ass in trouble for revenge that isn’t even for your sake.” “And you won’t be commanding me. “And as for the first year incident on the train... I can honestly say I’ve never felt this much pity for anyone.” “Shut up,” she said, laughing with him and elbowing him in the side. “I have one favor to ask.” “What’s that?” “Could you stop picking on Severus? It doesn't make any sense why you do, anyway, he doesn't seem bad for a Slytherin.” He looked as though he were thinking for a moment. “No, definitely can't do that.” “Why?” “Because it’s fun.” “It’s not right...” “Life’s not right,” he said. “I thought it wasn’t fair?” she said. “That, too." "Really! It's mean!" "Are you really a parselmouth?" he asked, changing subjects quickly. “I can’t prove it without there being a snake around...” she said. “And it’d just scare you off, anyway, it’s what it does to everyone.” “It won’t,” he said. “I promise it won’t.” “Well, there aren’t any snakes around.” He pulled his wand out of his pocket. “Accio Snake,” he said, flicking it in no general direction. A small, green snake zoomed towards him. He caught it. “Yeah there are,” he said. “Think if I put it down, you’d be able to tell it not to bite me?” “I don’t know how well it’d listen...” she said, watching it squirm angrily. “Oh, give it a shot; it’s only a garden snake.” “Alright...” she said uncertainly. He set it down, a few feet away, and moved back against the tree. It slithered quickly towards him, and she watched it. As it got in a striking position, she spoke to it, in what felt and sounded to her like normal English. “Sssstop it,” she said. The snake, its tail curled and the rest of it sticking up, looked curiously over. “You can sspeak to me?” “Yes.” “He woke me just to sssummon me here for nothing.” “He was bored. Not his fault he wasn’t born with a larger brain...” “I ssuppose that’s true, but nonethelessssss --” “Bite him and I’ll break you like a twig.” “Well said, girl. I like not being broken, I’ll leave.” At that, it lay back down, turned, and slithered off. Sirius was gaping at her. After a long moment of silence, he spoke. “That was brilliant,” he said finally. “I can’t believe that’s considered evil... well, yeah, sure, it sounds evil and all, but it’s still wicked.” She smiled a little. “I’d give it up in a heartbeat if I could change things so I belonged to another family...” “I can imagine...” he said. “It’s still considered quite evil, even if it isn’t really, it all depends how you use it.” “Be nice if other people understood that...” she said with a sigh, looking back down at her feet. She could feel his eyes, looking down at her. After a moment, he pulled her a little closer, so she was facing sideways a little. She put her head against his shoulder. At least he had an idea of how she had to feel, outcasted by her own family. “They might not get it right now,” he said. “But they will,” he said. “One day when Voldemort’s finally gone, they’ll realize that it’s not what magic someone can do that matters, it’s whether they choose to use it for good or bad. Even if you are related to Voldemort, it doesn’t mean anything, you’re not like him just because of blood.” “It’s not what you can do that makes you who you are,” she said. “I know. I’ve told myself that forever. I just don’t listen, I guess. I don’t understand it, personally. Any time I’m angry, I loose all sense of self control I may have had before, I act like a reckless fool. And it worsens with my age, I don’t want to end up killing some poor old muggle like my dad did...” He pulled her a little closer with the arm he had around her shoulders. “You’ll be able to get a grip on it,” he said. “I’m the same way, how do you think your brother ended up dangling in midair in the middle of the hall?” She smiled a little, and he thought he heard a small laugh. “I’ll try to help you out, I’ve been working on it myself. He just pissed me off.” “He does that,” she said. They both laughed a little, but stopped upon making eye contact. Her pulse quickened, as she stared into that reckless, handsome face, suddenly etched with both care and the same nervousness she was feeling. The tension was horrible -- she was afraid to keep looking into his blue eyes, but she didn’t want to look away. He spared her the trouble, as he cleared his throat a little and looked at his watch. He yawned. “It’s already two in the morning, our classes start tomorrow.” “Detention...” she said. “Yeah...” “How bad is detention?” she asked. “Depends who you have it with, Filch just takes us to our assigned people.” “We should get back to the common room...” she said, a little awkwardly. “Yeah...” he said. “We probably should...” They both moved away from each other and stood with their cloaks. She put hers on, and he put his on. They headed for the castle. He was ahead of her, and he sat on the couch in the Gryffindor commonroom five minutes before she got there, time to reflect on what had happened. She got there and pulled off her own cloak, reluctantly; she’d been debating whether or not to. She did, when she got into the common room. He was already heading towards the stairs, but he stopped when he saw her. She walked over to the wall separating the boys' and girls' dorms, where he was already standing. "Well..." he said a little awkwardly. "Good night..." "'Night..." she said. Apparently wanting to show that they were still just friends after that one moment by the lake, he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her own arms around his waist as well. They pulled apart at the same time, and they both headed upstairs. She rushed upstairs, not willing to tell anyone anything. Luckily, everyone in the girls’ fourth year dormitory was fast asleep. She fell into her bed and thought of what it would have been like if he hadn’t nervously looked away... Had he kept his eyes locked with hers…. Her heart beat faster with every passing second. It seemed as though their faces were slowly coming closer together. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest until, finally, his lips touched hers; it completely stopped beating for a fleeting moment then, but shortly after began beating at the same quickened pace. It was just a soft brush of his lips against hers, but their lips came back together almost immediately in a slow, romantic kiss. He put his hand on one side of her face, leaving his other arm draped around her shoulders. Her hands found the collar of his shirt and gripped it tightly. And, at that moment, she was being shaken awake by Lily. ------- Chapter 4 “We’re going to be late! Transfiguration!” Lily was yelling and shaking Katalina’s arm. It was too early in the morning for Katalina to comprehend yelling. “Gah...?” she said groggily. “Classes!” “Oh, shit!” she yelled, jumping out of bed. She changed quickly, pointed her wand at her hair, making it smooth and shiny, as it had been before she fell asleep, as it had been last night while she was with him... She grabbed her books and ran, up the hall, with Lily. The tardy bell rang. “No...” Lily said. “We’re dead...” “Why?” Katalina asked. “We’re only going to be a few minutes late.” “What’s this, I wonder?” said a high pitched, cackling voice. “Two girlies late for their first lesson of the entire year?” A halfway see-through man in a funny, checkered purple and yellow suit with a large, black bowtie and a flower pinned to the right side of his chest, appeared before them, floating upside down. “Peeves,” Lily said. “School poltergeist. Get out of the way, McGonagall’s going to kill us as it is!” “Oooh, and McGonagall teaching... two of her own students!” Peeves tsked at them. “Really, really, the student body keeps getting more and more careless...” “Peeves,” Katalina said kindly. “Won’t you please let us through?” “And why should I?” he asked. “When I could just as easily tell Filch and have the fun of watching two poor little girlies get detention?” “Because I know how I can get you in trouble, Peeves,” she said. “Had any interesting conversations with the Bloody Baron lately?” She made a mental note to remember to thank Lily later on for telling her about the school ghosts durring the sorting ceremony. He looked at her with wide eyes. “Alright...” he said, grumbling. “Go...” “Thank you, Peevesie, you’re such a nice ghoulie,” she said, imitating Peeves's high-pitched, intimidating voice quite well. As they walked swiftly away, Katalina looked over her shoulder and waved. Peeves made a rude hand gesture at her and floated off. They made it to their first class of the day fifteen minutes late. There were a few glances back at them as they entered the Transfiguration classroom as well as a few sniggers. There was even a snore; Sirius had fallen asleep at the table he and James were seated at in the back, using his open Transfiguration book as a pillow. “Thank God, she’s not here right now...” Katalina sighed with relief as she and Lily walked to the front of the classroom, where there was an empty desk that seated two. “I thought we were dead...” The cat sitting on the desk with spectacle markings looked over at them as they sat. It jumped off the desk and, as it did so, transformed into a stern woman in black robes with square glasses. Katalina gulped, and her eyes were as wide as they had been on the train when McGonagall had come frantically into their compartment asking who produced the Patronus Charm. "G-good morning, professor," Katalina said nervously. "Didn't... didn't see you there..." "Late for your first class at Hogwarts, Miss –" Katalina nodded gravely, indicated McGonagall to use her name by birth. "– Gaunt. And Lily, I'm quite surprised, you've never been late for my class once in the past." "We would have been on time, Professor," she said. "Peeves wouldn't let us through; we were close enough to get here just on time." "I-I-I didn't get to sleep until six o' clock in the morning, Lily couldn't wake me up, she stayed behind to try to help me," Katalina lied. "It's my own fault, if anyone gets a detention it should be Peeves." Professor McGonagall looked a bit confused by the sudden change of course of her entire confession and apology. The class sniggered. "Miss Gaunt, I wasn't going to give you a detention, but –" "Sorry," she said immediately. "I couldn't resist." "I believe ten points from Gryffindor will do fine, as will a double detention tonight will do fine, since you already had one set for tonight for the scene you and Mr. Black made on the Hogwarts Express." At hearing his name, Sirius quickly sat up straight in the back, and said, quite loudly, "I'm awake!" "I somehow doubt that," Professor McGonagall said disapprovingly. "And that's the third time this morning." "I didn't sleep last night and –" "You'll be doing double detention tonight as well." "Who else is?" he asked curiously. "Well, you were awake, Mr. Black," she said. "You should know, shouldn't you?" He grumbled in agreement. “In this class today, we're practicing Vanishing Spells," she said. "Look in the indexes of your textbooks, Misses Gaunt and Evans, to find the page numbers for Vanishing Spells. Read them, then attempt to -" "– make the swallows sitting on our desks disappear?" Katalina asked curiously, having just done so in a silent spell. Professor McGonagall looked astounded. "And, as you can see –" She put her hand through the spot the swallow had been. "– it certainly wasn't Disillusionment, was it?" "All right…" she said. "Yes, that is the correct. Now...” McGonagall conjured another swallow onto Katalina's desk. “With the enchantment, if you don’t mind." "Evanesco," she said, flicking her wand at the bird; it promptly vanished. Lily made hers do so as well, with the incantation, at the same time. Professor McGonagall looked from one to the other, who both looked back, smiling. "Alright,” McGonagall said. “Ten points to Gryffindor. Awarded to each of you." "I think mine's a shade lighter..." Sirius muttered to James in the back; Sirius hadn't managed to make his bird disappear, but he had managed to change it from black to pink. "I think your screwy spell’s trying to tell us something." James laughed, looking at the pink swallow in amusement. Sirius elbowed James out of his chair. "Is there a problem back there?" McGonagall asked James, who was just getting back in his seat. "No, ma'am," he said, rubbing his side where he’d been elbowed. "Except I think Sirius's spell just tried to show his feminine side." Now everyone was looking back and laughing at the pink swallow, including Sirius himself. "That is a good first attempt, however," said Professor McGonagall, walking to the back of the classroom to their desk to examine the bird. "Especially considering all you heard was the incantation before everything else was drowned out by snoring, Mr. Black." "I'm going through the change early, ma'am" he said. "Hot flashes make me tired." The sniggering around the classroom grew a little louder. Professor McGonagall shook her head and walked away from Sirius and James's desk. James was getting back up off the floor again, as he'd just fallen out of his chair laughing. The next person to get it was Remus Lupin, followed by Peter Pettigrew, who Katalina was sure hadn't actually done the spell himself; he was rather unskilled with magic as it were, and Remus was sitting right next to him. Sirius managed to make his swallow slightly see-though, though still pink, and was begging to be allowed to keep it at the end of class. "Oh, fine," Professor McGonagall said, annoyed with him. "Keep it. And practice!" "But I already named him..." he said solemnly, putting on his act quite strong for the rest of the class's enjoyment. He patted the bird on the head with his finger. "Isn't that right, Pinky?" "Then practice on something else before I have to give you triple detention!" she yelled at him. He sank back in his seat sheepishly and slid under the desk. A moment later, he elbowed James in the knee. "What?" James said. "Is it safe yet?" he asked in a loud whisper. "No," James said in an equally loud whisper. "But don't worry, I don't think she knows where you're hiding." It wasn’t too much longer in the class before the bell rang. It was double Potions with the Slytherins next. The class headed down to the dungeons, where both the Potions classroom and the Slytherin Common Room were, apparently. They all gradually stopped at a door where a group of Slytherins were already gathered, Severus among them. "Are you still hanging out with that mudblood, Sev?" one of the Slytherins asked loudly as Katalina and Lily approached the door. "You know, that Evans girl that's in Gryffindor? And the blood traitor she's friends with, Gaunt? Her brother's a prefect for Slytherin, the things he's told us about her –" "Yes, I am," he said to the other Slytherin. "Now shut up, Avery." "I can't believe you're friends with a mudblood and traitorous filth," said one of the other Slytherins. "The Dark Lord wouldn't like that." "Who said I was going over to him?" Sev demanded. Katalina and Lily were just stopping by the crowd of Gryffindors on the opposite side of the dungeon corridor near the door. "What, you're not going to be a Death Eater?" Avery asked. "I never said I would be!" "But hanging with mudbloods and – hey, stop it, you bitch!" Katalina had just lunged forward and pinned Avery against the wall. She punched him in the face so it hit his nose; the impact of the hit was hard enough to make his head hit the stone wall behind him. He, to his amazement as much as anyone else’s, hadn’t been knocked out by the blow. "I can only hear the word Mudblood so many times in one minute without having to punch the person who's said it," she said through gritted teeth. "Guess my brother didn't tell you that." She let go of him, pushing him into the wall again. Sev, with a glare at the two Slytherins he'd been talking to, joined Lily. Katalina stood off to the side of them a little; she didn’t much feel like being confronted about her loss of temper. When the teacher, Slughorn, arrived, she was the first to rush through the door. She took a seat close to the front of the class. Lily sat next to her and Sev sat with them when he made it inside. Naturally, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were sitting behind them. Sirius and James had apparently decided it would be fun to attempt throwing small bits of parchment into Katalina and Lily’s hair. Katalina realized what they were doing instantly and turned her chair around, glaring. She picked a small piece paper out of her hair. She pulled out her wand and set it on fire in her hand. "If you ever throw anything in my hair again," she said coldly, "then remember, this'll be your head." She held up the ashes in her hand that had been parchment, and let them fall out of her hand like snow. She smiled and the blank expressions on their faces and turned back around. Katalina pulled out her potions book and looked through it; she had already made various notes on its different pages, from when she'd bought extra supplies at the apothecary in Diagon Alley so she could practice potions before she went to school. Inside the classroom, there were various large cauldrons, all full of different potions. Katalina recognized all of them; one was Draught of Living Death. Another was the most powerful love potion possible to make. Another was Felix Felecis. Another, as it was colorless and scentless, had to be Veritaserum. The last one, oozing and bubbling, was most definitely Polyjuice Potion. When the bell rang, Slughorn rushed to the front of the class. "Hello, everyone!" he said brightly, beaming around at his class. "Now before we get started today, I would like to check and see how much you remembered about identifying potions over the summer, if all of it hasn't slipped your minds. I'm sure you see all these potions around the room?" There were mumbles of agreement. "I want at least one of you to be able to identify at least one of them. Now." He indicated the purple potion with light pink smoke wafting from it. It was emitting a mixed smell of roses and chocolate… or it was to Katalina, anyway. "Can anyone tell me what this one is?" Katalina's hand shot up faster than anyone else's. Potions were the one thing her father had taught her during her homeschooling, so, naturally, it was one of her best subjects. "Miss Gaunt," he said as enthusiastically as she had raised her hand. "Yes?" "It's a Love Potion," she said. "While it is called a Love Potion, and it is the most powerful type of Love Potion, it does not create love, but more of an obsession. It is identifiable by its lilac color, pink fumes, and its scent, which is different to everyone." "Very well said, very well said! Ten points to Gryffindor. It's disappointing your brother doesn't do as well in the art of potions." "It's more disappointing to me that we're related," she said brightly. All the Gryffindors in the class laughed. "Now, now, that's enough," Slughorn said, as the class gradually quieted. "And how about this one? Miss Evans." He was indicating a pale blue potion, with fumes that seemed to be putting the Slytherin student Avery and his group of friends to sleep. "That's Draught of Living Death, or just Draught of Death. It puts anyone who drinks it into such a deep sleep that they appear to be dead because they cannot be awoken; their heart can even stop under the influence of the potion, though it starts again after its effects wear off. It's easily recognized from its pale blue color and watery consistency, and its invisible fumes that make anyone near it drowsy." Everyone looked over at the Slytherins; Avery had started to snore loudly. "Very good, Miss Evans, very in depth, as always," he beamed. "Now, this one?" He indicated a silvery potion that was bubbling to the point that the bubbles appeared to be almost happy, and it was emitting thin, silver, streaky fumes. Remus raised his hand for this one from behind them. "Mr. Lupin, isn’t it? Go ahead." "Felix Felecis," he said. "Its color is silvery, as are the scentless fumes it emits, which is common in many potions, but this is recognizable by its bubbling and thin consistency. Its effect is luck; it can make the drinker lucky for weeks, depending on the amount consumed. A small vial of it can work for a whole day." "Very good, Mr. Lupin. And now, how about this one?" He indicated a muddy looking, bubbling potion. Severus raised his hand. "Severus, finally someone from my own house," he said, again beaming. "That is Polyjuice Potion," he said. "Its consistency is much like that of mud, and its color before its last ingredient is added is a pale grey. It can transform its drinker into another entirely different person for an hour, but only another person, since animal transformations do not work and are dangerous, as well as the fact that they can be permanent if not treated in time. It only can transform its drinker if the drinker has DNA from the person they wish to change into, such as a few pieces of hair; the last ingredient. Its color after the DNA is added depends on the person, it can turn any color imaginable, and each and every person's potion has its own distinctive color." "Very good, very thorough, ten points to Slytherin. And now, here is the trickiest one." He stepped over to the cauldron of clear potion, and no one seemed to know what it was. "This is a bonus," he added. "We didn't learn about this, but if you've read ahead in your course books, you might know what it is." After a moment, Katalina raised her hand. "Miss Gaunt, again." "Veritaserum," she said. "It's colorless, scentless, and tasteless, with the consistency of water, and can easily be mistaken as such. This makes it easier for its true purpose; if you slip this into someone's pumpkin juice, they won't see it or taste it, but they will feel the effects: Veritaserum makes its drinker tell the full truth about anything asked of them. You-Know-Who himself would spill his darkest secrets if it was given to him. A small vial of it can work for over an hour, depending on the ratio of amount of potion to the drinker's weight – but lets not get into math here, the Draught over there is putting us to sleep enough already, I believe." The Gryffindors sniggered as Avery snored loudly again. His friend nudged him and he sprung awake. "Also, Veritaserum is banned for use in this school on any student under almost all circumstances." "Very good, I see someone's been reading their course books," he said brightly. "Ten more points to Gryffindor. "Now, for today's lesson, we'll be brewing up our very own Draught of Living Death," he said. "The best attempt will be awarded a small vial of liquid luck, Felix Felecis," he said. "Enough to last for twenty-four hours. Make it known, to any Quidditch players, it is not permitted for use in sporting events by the law." Excited whispers echoed around the classroom from almost everyone. Katalina, however, spared no time. She got out her potions kit as she flipped to the page on Draught of Living Death, which she'd already made notes on. When it became time to start, she took out her cauldron and commenced with making her own Draught and finished it before the time was even up – she had practiced her course book for potions so much she'd found shortcuts that actually made the potion better than the official directions. Apparently Sev had done the same thing, as he finished barely a minute later. After about five minutes, they heard someone behind them laugh triumphantly. "I think he did it," James said to Sirius, looking into Remus's cauldron. "Awesome!" Katalina looked back into it as well. "So how far've you gotten?" she asked, looking into James’s cauldron – a blob of what looked like burned licorice was sitting at the bottom. She couldn't help but laugh a bit. "You're just pissed because you can't do it," James said. "I finished mine five minutes ago," she said with a laugh. "And mine's way better than that blob in the bottom of yours." "Shut up..." he grumbled. She laughed and turned back around as Lily was finishing hers. Katalina looked into her cauldron. "Nice," she said. She yawned. "God, of all the potions to make... and we've got History of Magic next, don't we?" "I think s-s-s-sooo," Lily managed through a yawn. "Lord... I'm not going to be able to stay awake... I might need that Felix Felecis just to be lucky enough to keep my eyes open." Five minutes later, the time was up; Katalina, Lily, Sev, and Remus, who had all made perfect potions, each got a small vial of Felix Felecis, and were asked to stay after class for a minute. "Why?" Katalina asked Lily as they packed their things. "Probably because of how well we did in class," she said. "Slughorn likes having connections with people, and he has a knack for spotting people who'll do well later in life. He's formed a club within Hogwarts called the Slug Club for his more exceptional students; we're probably finding out when the first party is." "Party?" she asked, quite intrigued. "I like parties. Alcohol?" "Probably so with the really big parties, but nothing we can't have underage." "That figures. I'll have to sneak some in." "Oh God, you sound like Sirius and James now," she said, laughing. "No, they sound like me," she said. "There’s a difference there." They headed up to his desk in the front, still laughing. Slughorn beamed at them from his chair. "I believe Severus and Lily know about this already, but I believe neither of you do?" He addressed Remus and Katalina. Remus shook his head no. "The Slug Club?" Katalina suggested. "Lily was just telling me." "Ah, yes," he said. "Yes. It's a club for my more exceptional students; we occasionally have small parties and get-togethers, usually on Saturdays, and generally a huge party on the day before Christmas holidays. It's your choice whether you want to be in it or not, but the first get together is this Saturday at the time of supper in the Great Hall." They left with passes for their next classes explaining why they were so late. Professor Binns, their History of Magic teacher, was a ghost as it turned out. He'd died at the school when he was taking a nap and his study caught fire. He went back to teach classes after his nap, stepping right out of his body without even realizing it. His tone was generally melancholy, and boring enough to put anyone to sleep. The class droned by; the most interesting thing that happened was when Professor Binns caught Sirius and James at the back of the class passing notes that read "See other side" on both sides of the parchment – apparently, this happened quite often in that class as there was absolutely nothing else to do. Katalina simply tuned out Binns’s talking and read her book at her own pace. After that class was her Divination class; she and Lily split up, as Lily headed off to Arithmancy. To Katalina’s dread, she realized she had Divination with James and Sirius, and the tables, with crystal balls in the middle, were made for three people to sit at. She cast a bit of a glare at them as they sat at her table. "I think she wants us to move," Sirius said. "Yeah, I think she just tried to do some kind of Basilisk thing with that glare," James agreed. "No," she said. "But if you bug me, I won't resist throwing the crystal ball at your head." James looked at the crystal ball. "I definitely foresee quite a bit of pain in our futures, then, mate," he said to Sirius. He looked at it as well with his head tilted to the side a little. "I see that my world is going to be turned upside down." "What?" James said, and then looked at the reversed, upside down reflection of the classroom in the crystal. "Holy shit, I see it too…" The bell rang. Their teacher walked in – she certainly was an odd looking woman. Her hair was huge, frizzy, and blonde, but graying in places. She wore large, circular, black, thick-rimed glasses that magnified her eyes several times their normal size. She wore a head shawl and even more shawls draped over her shoulders, and a green, button up shirt over a darker green dress. She also wore several necklaces, bangle bracelets, and rings on all her fingers. "Good day, class," she said in a dreamy, out-there sort of voice. "Though today is not the day we worry about – as you all know, the noble art of Divination teaches you to look beyond the boundaries of the present and into the future, through the stars, through your own eyes. Today, we'll be working with crystal balls, a subject that we just barely touched on last year." Katalina was boredly flipping through her Divination book, as she listened to the speech about true Seers and prophets and so on and so forth. She found a page on different depictions that one might see in their crystal ball, and read through them, so she was ready when it was finally time to attempt to see something in the foggy, swirling, circular crystal. "Open your minds!" the teacher, Trelawney, kept telling them. "Allow your Inner Eye to see beyond the mundane!" Sirius raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Black?" "How do we see with our Inner Eye if it's not on the outside where it can see, Professor?" he asked sarcastically. "Broaden your mind," she said. "All the answers you seek, you already have, you just aren't aware of them yet!" Katalina boredly gazed into the crystal ball, her mind miles away. She hadn't broadened it, she'd just decided to take it on a trip. However, nonetheless, she snapped back when she was sure she saw something within the crystal. When she jumped, Trelawney was walking past. She quickly came back and kneeled down next to Katalina's chair, her already wide eyes widening even more. "Dear girl – what is it you have seen?" "I – I – I-I-I don't know yet," she stammered in surprise. "It looked like a face. I was barely even paying attention to the crystal, I was miles away," she admitted. "But I saw it, snapped back and it was gone." "You understand what you've done?" Trelawney asked. "N-not really..." Katalina said uncertainly. "Your Inner-Eye reflected what it has Seen within your own mind into the depths of the crystal for you to see! When you allow your mind to wander, you allow your Inner Eye to see where it has gone. It could be seeing something in your past that's passed so long ago that you didn't even know you still remembered it, or even something to happen in the future!" "Oh..." she said, trying to comprehend this. "Alright." "So you're saying," James said, "that all I had to do to pass this class last year is go into daydreams every time I sat down? What a rip off! Why couldn't you have just told me that?" Katalina was back to the crystal again. This time, when she saw two figures, she didn't snap out of her daydream, but used her peripheral vision to distinguish the scene’s features. Once she'd done this, it was like the crystal turned into a television screen. She saw two people, and she clearly recognized one of them as her father. The other was a man about her father's age, maybe older. They were speaking indistinct words, but the scene was clear enough. She saw her father kneeling down as though worshipping the other man in billowing black robes. After what felt like hours of watching them speak indistinct, faint words, she finally heard her father's voice. "I didn't mean to!" It yelled. "She left on her own, I never would have –" Katalina was jerked out of the vision when she heard someone snore. Sirius appeared to have fallen asleep after doing the daydream idea that James had, and James was turning red, clearly straining to try to see anything other than clouds in the crystal ball. The bell rang about ten seconds later. Sirius almost fell out of his seat in surprise, and James let out the breath he’d been holding, shooting the crystal in front of him a glare. Katalina packed her bag quickly and headed downstairs to the Great Hall for lunch. ----------------- [i]Side notes: Trelaney isn't Sybill Trelawney from the books. It was mentioned that her grandmother had a gift for Divination - [u]that[/u] would be who this is. She seems like a quack, but she's not so much as her granddaughter - she's going to be important later. I'll post the next chapters in a bit.[/i]
Scellanis Joined: 11 September 2002 Posts: 6232 Location: Pretending to be a sea slug with 'go faster' stripes...	Posted: Wednesday 10 September 2008 02 55 26 pm    Post subject: Re: Introductions and FAQ's in topic:Introductions and FAQ's