Monday October 30th

Hi Melody,

Happy Halloween! Sorry I haven't written in a long time. Aunt Petunia hasn't been letting me go over to Uncle John's much anymore. Uncle Vernon has been talking to Aunt Sophie about something called business tax exemptions lately and she doesn't want them talking anymore. I've never seen my aunt and uncle fight before. Well, I don't really see it. I have to spend more time in the cupboard lately after chores, but they're very loud.

Lucky Jeff and I have figured out a way to sneak letters at school. I even write letters to his family so that Maggie doesn't miss me too badly. He's also planning on sneaking in some chocolate for me on Wednesday. I never get to have chocolate, so it's exciting!

Jeff told me about the pranking and the pledge you wrote. How has that been going? Is your friend doing alright since the accident?

Houdini

Tuesday October 31st

Hey Houdini,

Ugh, it's not finances that are the problem. She's worried that a woman other than her is talking to her husband. Pfft. As if Aunt Sophie would ever want to date Vernon! Don't worry about it too much, hopefully it will pass. Good thinking on the letters, though. I'll send Jeff a thank you note with my usual letters.

Well, it's gone well for the most part. Domonkos got out of the hospital wing over the weekend and nobody's getting killed or maimed anymore, which is great. Trouble is… I didn't exactly consider the loopholes. There's been a few issues of damaged textbooks and stuff. Someone also tried to get an upper year wizard to do a vicious prank on their behalf. Luckily the Twins and I were able to stop things from getting worse that day. We're all talking about it and trying to curb our more… enthusiastic pranksters. Here's hoping it works!

Happy Hallowe'en to you too! Don't worry about the lack of chocolate bars. Hogwarts does better than that. We just had a big feast of candy and pumpkin-flavoured things. I'm telling you, these wizards go all out on this holiday! There's also a big political thing about Hallowe'en that the others told me about. It was hard getting details while also celebrating. It's kind of complicated though, so you'll have to remind me to tell you about it sometime. Either way, I'm going to stuff you full of candy and chocolate once you get here!

Certainly better than being stuck in a cupboard. Ugh! Stupid, abusive Dursleys!

Talk to you soon,

Melody

Thursday November 2nd

Hello Melody,

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Sophie together? Yuck! That's a terrible idea. You're right, that would never work. Hopefully that means this fight will be over soon. Though it's not the worst thing, at least they don't take it out on me too much. Even being in the cupboard isn't so bad. I've been able to study more since I'm out of sight a lot of the time.

Halloween at Hogwarts sounds like so much fun! I'm probably going to dream about it all week! These chocolates really help me imagine it better.

Glad your friend is alright. Don't worry, when I get to Hogwarts I'll stick with things from my prank book so I don't hurt anyone. Promise!

Houdini

Friday November 3rd

Houdini,

First off. No. Stop talking like that. Nothing about getting locked in a cupboard is good.

Better yet, before you go to bed, start saying this every night (quietly, so no one hears you).

1. Nothing about getting locked in a cupboard is good.

2. Guardians should never abuse those under their care.

3. Those who do are putrid slime buckets.

4. I'm an adorable muffin who deserves to be loved.

Melody

Tuesday November 6th

Melody,

I'm not calling myself an adorable muffin! That third one sounds funny, though. I might try that. I'm starting to see why Uncle John used to make me leave out things in my letters.

Houdini

Friday November 9th

Houdini,

Aw, come on! You're absolutely a muffin! An adorable, green-eyed muffin. WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

Also, I have good news, bad news, and hilarious news. The good news is that kids in other houses of our year decided to join the Prank Pledge. The bad news… I was not prepared for Ravenclaw ingenuity. They made these floating bubble things that explode on contact. It's only a noise and doesn't cause damage, just scares the hell out of people. They also did some kind of letter-swirling spell on people's homework. Pretty sure it's how dyslexic people see things. Either way, it's both confusing and ingenious. We got them back, though. Someone transfigured their personal library into kittens! (In our defense, all it takes to get into Ravenclaw is to answer a riddle, and answers are easy… if you're good at thinking outside the box, that is!)

Three cheers for fluffy chaos!

Melody

Thursday November 23rd

Hi Melody,

Sorry for not writing. I've been working really hard at school. You mentioned once that the subjects are different at Hogwarts, so I've been trying to learn enough muggle stuff before I leave it forever. Last week I got 100% on my maths test! I got 93% in science, too! I was a bit worried that Dudley would tell his parents, but I talked with my teacher about my marks and she promised not to boast about it. Now he won't find out unless he sneaks into my notebook.

That prank sounds like a lot of fun. Do you think the kittens still know they're books? That would be a fun way to study. Like a kitten speaking in Latin. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm trying to learn Latin, now. I figured it ought to help by the time I start going to Hogwarts. It's really tricky!

Even if the pranks are still happening I bet that at least your teachers are happy that they aren't really hurting anyone anymore.

Houdini

Monday November 28th

Hey Houdini,

Awesome job! I don't think I've ever gotten 100% on a test before! That's wicked cool! It's great to hear how well you're doing. To be honest, I'd probably do a lot better at school if kitten books did work for studying. Funny you should say that, Professor McGonagall actually can turn into a cat! I don't think she can talk as a cat, though. I'll have to ask her.

Huh, I never thought of that. Glad to know the teacher isn't announcing results so openly anymore. Hopefully Dudley won't find out.

Ha! Are you kidding? At this point Professor Snape is convinced I'm the worst thing to happen at this school. Or at least since he started teaching. You'd think a teacher would be happy about bullying incidents going down? Though he's of a mind that it's my fault that it started. Which is only, like, a quarter true. Then again, he's pretty mean to most students, so maybe he's just mad that there isn't enough bullying? I don't know, it doesn't make much sense to me.

Luckily the other professors have been a lot nicer to me since the Pledge started. Professor Flitwick says I'm a natural at Charms, and Professor Sprout practically adores me at this point :) Stephanie Egalitaire hosted a small DADA study session in the Hufflepuff common room the other night, and Professor Sprout got us all chocolate chip cookies from the kitchen! (Hey, at least they're not muffins, right? Can't go around eating my friends. That's cannibalism!)

Amy has been thinking of working with Egalitaire and Diggory to have more study sessions since Professor Phasian is about as useful as a pheasant in a flying contest. Maybe the other class will join in once it picks up? Certainly better than treating other kids badly just because they're in different houses.

Talk to you later,

Melody

Thursday December 1st

Hi Melody,

Thanks! I've been working really hard, so it feels really good when I do well on tests. My teachers are starting to be nicer to me, too. Also, our librarian says I can come stay at the library during lunch time, so I've been safe from Dudley and his gang since he would never think to find me there.

That's too bad. Professor Snape sounds as bad as Aunt Petunia. Hopefully he'll change his mind. The study session sounds like a nice idea. I've never done one before. Though Dudley would probably chase the others away if I tried. Maybe it would be fine if I had one at the library. What do you think?

I didn't know pheasants can fly. I'm almost scared to ask, knowing you, but why a pheasant?

Houdini

P.S. I forgot to say, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon aren't fighting anymore. I think Uncle John talked to her about it and she seems happy now. I'll try to come over when you're back for Christmas. I should be free once the snow is done shovelling.

Tuesday December 6th

Hey Houdini,

Wooooooow. 'As bad as Petunia'? Okay, that's harsh! I don't think even Snape is that bad!

Right, I'm not surprised. Dudley's a jerk. The library thing could work. Though the best/sneakiest way to do it is to make sure that other kids only hang out with you at the library. If Dudley sees people start being nice to you, he might realize that something is up and try to ruin it. Probably best to wait until Hogwarts, anyways. I'm sure you'll make tons of friends once you're here.

Oh, Corin figured out that phasian is another name for a pheasant. It also means some group of Greek people, but I didn't pay much attention to that one. And he sort of looks like a plump bird anyways, so it fits.

That's brilliant! It'll be great to spend the holidays together! I miss that black mop of yours! What do you want for Christmas? Some of the older kids are going to Hogsmeade this weekend. Maybe I can bribe them to buy us some candy to share?

See you at Christmas!

Melody