Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, stood up and surveyed the room. Every single student in the Great Hall's eyes were watching him, waiting.

"Now," he announced in his deep wise voice, "You all are probably wondering what this is all about". He gazed at each of the house tables in turn. "This year, Hogwarts is taking part in a pen pal programme. Each and every one of you will be assigned to write to another student in either this school or another magical school participating in this programme. This student will be your Quill Pal, and you will have to write to each other at least once a week. After a month, you may reveal your secret identity if you wish to do so. You may choose your secret identity name but it may not be offensive to anyone or contain foul language. Your Quill Pal will be selected randomly, but no clues will be given as to he or she is. Before you leave the room, write your secret name on a piece of parchment and give it to me. Later this evening, a parchment will be sent to you giving you your Quill Pal's name. If you have any problems, please see you Head of your House".

With that, he finished his announcement. An excited buzz went all the way around the Great Hall as students whispered to one another.

"And now," Professor Dumbledore said, "Let us eat". He clapped his hands twice and a large amount of food appeared on each of the four tables. As everyone started to eat, Harry, Ron, Hermione and some other Gryffindors huddled together to discuss the Quill Pal programme.

"It sounds brilliant! It'll be a great way to make new friends!" Hermione said excitedly. However, Neville Longbottom looked confused.

"I don't get it. We're meant to keep our identities secret for at least a month, right? But if they're sending us a parchment telling us who our Quill Pal is, the it won't be a secret, will it?"

Harry and Ron laughed. Hermione allowed herself a small giggle. "Oh Neville. They meant that on the parchment, it'll give your Quill Pal's secret identity name. Say if my secret name was 'Brainbox1' and I was your Quill Pal, on your parchment it would say 'Brainbox1'. Get it?"

Neville's face broke into a smile and nodded. Ron rolled his eyes and muttered "Finally". Harry spluttered.

Hermione shook her head. "Honestly, you two are so immature". However, even she couldn't help a smothered grin.

"Oy, Seamus! Stop nicking all the food!" Ron yelled all of a sudden. Seamus grinned. "I'm not nicking all the food. If you want some, start eating instead of yapping away".

Ron turned to Hermione. "Have we stopped talking now? I want to eat" he moaned. Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed a chicken drumstick and tore a large bite out of it.

As he ate, Harry wondered who his Quill Pal would be. Would it be someone he knew? 'I guess I'll just have to wait for tonight' he thought with a sigh.

When they had finished eating, Hermione ruffled through her bag and pulled out three slips of parchment, then handed them out to Harry and Ron. Harry picked up his quill and tapped it thoughtfully against his chin. Hermione quickly scribbled something down on her slip of parchment and folded in it half.

"What name did you choose then?" Ron asked her. Hermione blushed furiously.

"Well, erm, it's a secret, isn't it? Yeah, it's a secret, so I can't tell you, can I? Um, I'll just go and hand this in". She hurried off. Ron turned and raised an eyebrow at Harry, giving him a What-was-that-all-about-look. Harry shrugged his shoulders.

Ron smiled suddenly. "Do you know what would be fun? If we made each other's secret names up!"

"Okay" Harry agreed, "Um, you will be called, er, 'Ginga Ninja'!" Ron pulled a face and both boys started laughing.

"Okay, pay-back time Mr Potter!" Ron thought for a moment, then grinned evily. "To your Quill Pal, you will be known as...'Green-eyed Beauty'!" Harry gasped, before having a fit of hysterics along with Ron.

They both scribbled their new secret names, then raced each other to hand their slip in.