Hey guys! Wow, I feel like I've been dead for like...a lifetime. But fortunately, getting back into Harry Potter (not that I ever fell out of the Harry Potter series) has inspired my creativity and my writing mind. :) Anyway, this is a story that came to me a couple months back and I've been working on it vigorously since then. Let me explain something before you begin reading so you don't get confused. As you can see, this chapter is a journal entry. There will be several chapters like these because it gives you a look into my character's mind and gives you a little more detail. It starts out in my character's fifth year, which is Harry Potter's fourth at Hogwarts. I try to stay as canon as possible, more than ever before, in this story.

I hope you can forgive me for being away for so long! And I hope this makes up for it...and I hope that you guys actually enjoy this story. That's all the details I will give you for now!

17 August 1994

Can you believe it? Mum got us tickets to the Quidditch World Cup! I can't even believe it myself, really. I've heard wonderful things about the World Cup, about how incredibly exciting and thrilling the whole experience is. Dad said that even he might be interested in seeing a wizarding event, after years of grinding him down on my part. I would love if Dad could come see how fun a magical sport can be! We leave tomorrow for Stoatshead Hill…we'll be traveling by Portkey, though I've never done it before. Of course Dad hasn't done it either, I imagine, but he's always open to the new experiences of the wizarding world. I've always believed that Mum was lucky to have found a man like Dad.

Anyway…back to what I was originally going to write down. I can get so carried away sometimes.

So here I am once again. After the fun of the World Cup is over, I am to return to Hogwarts. I've gotten most everything packed away and at this point and I'm fairly certain that I've gotten all the necessary items for this year. I can hardly believe that this is my fifth year at Hogwarts…time flies so fast. Perhaps I should try to get to know more of my fellow Gryffindors this year. I'm not sure whether to feel excited or nervous or perhaps both. I don't want my time at Hogwarts to draw to a close so soon; I've only two more years there and the question I keep asking myself is, "What am I going to do after it's all over?"

Of course…that depends on the state of the magical world, I suppose. The Dark Lord hasn't made an appearance in many years, but going to school with Harry Potter has made me realize that maybe You-Know-Who isn't so far from regaining his powers. I don't know. I'm not sure what to believe anymore, quite honestly. But I know the Potter boy couldn't possibly be making these things up, given he has the greatest connection with You-Know-Who, probably even more so than the Death Eaters. People are so ignorant, in my opinion. They want to stay in this box of life and they don't want to think outside of it. Anything is possible, even if it's not necessarily the greatest possibility in one's perspective. Wizards and witches alike don't want to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named could ever return to power and overrun the wizarding world. I don't like to think that he could come back, but I don't want to be one to think that life would be better if I could just forget about the Dark Lord and pretend that everything is alright.

What is better? Living in ignorance and pretending that life is absolute bliss? Or is it much better to learn about what lies ahead so that you can brace yourself for it?

Well, maybe I'm being too dark and depressing at the moment. I'm going to the Quidditch World Cup! It should be an exciting time! All the best teams will be there and I've heard that the stadium seats hundreds of thousands of people. This will be one of the greatest memories I think that I will make this year and I do believe it will be well worth it.

Ariana