And another chapter. Same disclaimer applies as to the previous one. Two chapters left! I'm hoping to get this finished before christmas, so keep an eye out for posts.

5th September 2009

Dear Dad,

It's my first week at Hogwarts! And guess what? I'm in Gryffindor, just like you and mum were! Isn't it amazing? The castle's so big and I keep getting lost, but the older students say I'll get the hang of it eventually. The moving staircases are really annoying! Teddy's in Gryffindor too, so I know someone else. I've made lots of new friends though – Lorna Teague, Jeremiah Wood, even two Slytherins – Raziel and Kerridon Zabini. They're twins. Kerridon's a bit funny at times, but Raziel's nice. He showed me how to do a Wronski Feint on my broom. I love quidditch so much! Uncle Ron says you were seeker and Captain for the Gryffindor team when you were at school, and that he was the keeper, and mum was a chaser, and Uncle George was a beater with his twin, Uncle Fred. And Uncle Charlie says he was Captain for Gryffindor too! Is that all true? Lorna's older brother is the Ravenclaw beater. I can't wait to watch the first match, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, but poor Lorna doesn't know whether to support her brother or her house! I want to be a seeker when they have an opening in the Gryffindor team and so does Raziel for Slytherin, but that would mean we'd have to play against each other. It doesn't matter, though, because we've agreed that we'll still be friends because friendship is more important than quidditch.

There are some really annoying people in my year as well, though. Gerald McShiffles and Alexis Skeeter are the most annoying. Gerald is the son of the Minister and he thinks that makes him better than everyone else. Alexis is really stuck up. Her auntie is a famous journalist. Teddy says she wrote some horrible things about you and his dad when you were at school. I don't like them at all. Raziel doesn't either.

My favourite lesson is Potions. Professor Slughorn says that I must get it from you and your mum, because you were both really good when he taught you. It's really strange calling Uncle Neville 'Assistant Professor Longbottom'. I keep worrying I'm going to forget! Mum says that Professor Sprout will probably retire in a few years, and that Uncle Neville will become a proper teacher. Hagrid invited me and Teddy to his hut yesterday. He told me loads of stories about you when you were at school. I didn't know you got into so much trouble! Norberta sounds... interesting, and what's this about a three-headed dog called Fluffy!? (Why did Hagrid name a three-headed dog Fluffy, exactly? Or a dragon 'Norberta'?) He's just got a new puppy and he called it Scar. It's a black Labrador with no scars at all.

Hagrid also said something about why you were put in prison. He said that you did some bad things to defeat Voldemort, that big dark lord who was alive back when you were at school. He said that it worked, and you defeated him, and everyone was happy for a while, but then the Ministry decided to punish you for the bad things. He wouldn't tell me what the 'bad things' were, though, and started talking to Teddy about his dad and your dad when they were at Hogwarts.

I was talking to Raziel and Lorna about it at breakfast this morning (Raziel came over from the Slytherin table), and Gerald overheard. He said some horrible things, then he said that you'd used the Unforgiveable Curses. Is that true? Is that what mum wouldn't talk about when I asked why you were in prison? I don't know what to think. Gerald seemed so sure, but he might have been winding me up, or he might just be making it sound worse than it is. If it is true, then I still don't know what to think. I suppose if you had to use them to get rid of Voldemort, but wasn't there another way?

I'll write again soon, maybe next weekend if I'm really busy.

Lots of love,

Siria x x x

Please don't kill or harm me in any way for making Harry spend so long in Azkaban! Hopefully it's good to have a different POV, from Siria - next time it'll be Teddy! This next bit is thanks to Unexpected Inspiration, who inspired me to give something worthwhile to my readers by offering oneshot stories as thankyous instead of just a virtual item. However, if I offered oneshots then I'd be worried that I wouldn't finish them, so basically for two or three of my top reviewers I will make a banner for one of their stories (all hail Photoshop!) I'd prefer it to be Harry Potter so that I have a general idea of canon plot & characters, but it doesn't have to be.

The deal is:

1) You must have reviewed at least 6 chapters once I'm done posting, and the majority of reviews must be more than a few words.

2) I will pick two or three reviewers who qualify, either randomly or based on quality of reviews, and PM them. If you're picked, you'll have to tell me which story you want a banner for, what you want the banner to say, a brief summary of the story and you'll have to find the images you want on the banner, of characters and such. I already have pics of the dark mark, Hogwarts crest and several canon characters, but you'll have to check which I have.

3) PM me the links to the pictures and the other information (you'll have to put spaces in the URLs or they'll be blocked), and I'll get the completed banner to you as soon as possible! Please credit me with making it though (I'll put a small bit of text in the corner of each banner to say they were made by me anyway).

Hope you like the idea. That's got to be the longest A/N I've ever written! Reviews now please!