Tick tock. Tick tock. The clock in Gryffindor Tower chimed as its hands moved at the speed of a slug. 'Is it broken?' Courtney Flowers couldn't help wondering as she sat on a chair in the now empty Gryffindor Common Room.
"What's taking them so long?" Her friend/enemy Benjamin Wright moaned. He yawned and slunk down farther in his chair.
Courtney glared at him. "You can go to bed if you'd like."
It was just after half past twelve, but it seemed like their friends Stacy Arrons and Peter Trey had been gone much longer than that.
"Do you suppose Filch caught them?" Ben asked and yawned again. If Courtney didn't know better, she would have said he had a concerned expression on his face.
"I hope not," Courtney replied. She twirled one of her many curls around her finger nervously. "Maybe we should go out and find them."
Ben looked at her strangely. "Are you insane? We'd be caught in two seconds. At least they have the invisibility cloak. How did Stacy get that anyway?"
Courtney shrugged. "Someone left it for her as a present I guess. I wish someone would leave me things like that."
Suddenly, the door swung open and Stacy pulled herself into the room.
"Stacy!" Courtney cried and jumped to her feet.
"Where's Peter?" Ben asked, leaning through the hole to look for his friend.
Stacy bit her bottom lip nervously. "He isn't back yet?"
Ben looked angry. "You left him out there!" He bellowed angrily.
"Sssh!" Courtney shrieked and hit him in the chest. "Do you want to wake everyone else up? They're already mad enough at us."
Stacy's eyes darted around the room before telling them, "Filch caught him. Well, he caught both of us, but Peter told me to hide."
Ben's face turned red with anger. "You got caught! He might get a detention! He might get kicked out of school! He might-"
"Hey guys," Peter said quietly as he climbed in.
"Where were you?" Ben hissed.
"Are you in trouble?" Stacy asked timidly.
Peter nodded. "I have detention everyday for a week. And, Filch is keeping your cloak. Sorry."
"It's ok. I think that cloak's more trouble than it's worth," Stacy replied. "Besides, I owe you. I should be the one with detention."
Peter blushed faintly. "Did you find out who wrote you the note?"
Stacy shook her head. "I think they gave up waiting for me and went to bed."
"Ahem."
They turned around to see Joan Prickle standing on the steps from the girls' bedrooms. "Some of us are trying to get some sleep tonight," She said kindly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the first time since leaving California, Stacy felt the stares and whispers of her peers as she walked through the Great Hall before breakfast. The only difference this time was that no one was following her around begging for her autograph. Word had spread quickly about her near accident the day before and it felt like the entire school could discuss nothing else.
Stacy had grown accustomed to being the center of attention. Growing up in a family like hers would teach anyone how to smile and be courteous to everyone, even that gossip columnist who kept pressing her for dirt on her mother. Despite her training with these situations, it was nearly impossible for Stacy to keep her cool when people laughed everytime she came anywhere near them.
'I can't be the only student ever to fall off her broom', Stacy thought as she passed a group of Slytherins doing their idea of an impression of her. 'Besides, it really wasn't that amusing, was it?'
It was times like this when Stacy would learn to be especially thankful for her friends. If they too really wanted to laugh at her, they were doing a good job hiding it. Courtney stood by Stacy's side the whole day and glared daggers at anyone who made fun of her. Ben threatened to beat up all of Stacy's mockers. Ben was unusually strong for an eleven year old, so people listened. Peter did not have the strength of Ben, but knew a spell which momentarily changed the victim's tongue into a furry mass. Even Joan and Penny Prickle helped by reminding the older students of their own first attempts at flying. Their efforts, along with the attention span of your average teenager, caused the school to forget about Stacy's mistake by dinnertime.
One thing still bothered Stacy. She could not understand what had caused her to fall. She had been doing fine until she saw a brilliant flash of green. She had asked Courtney about it, but Courtney said she had not seen it. Then, there was the "dream" she had seen. It wasn't the first of its kind. Stacy had had one similar to it at least once a week since arriving at Hogwarts. She always saw the same people. A girl a couple years older than herself named Eliza and her older brother Michael. The story felt familiar to Stacy. She could easily sense Eliza's fear and Michael's anger. She just couldn't remember where she had heard it before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October flew by quickly and before anyone knew it, Halloween had arrived. Stacy had always loved October 31st, especially the trick-or-treating part of it. Every year, she had worn the best costume of anyone in her class. Her mother's best friend was a make up artist who made up Stacy and her Muggle best friend Mandy Payer to look like anything from zombies to princesses.
Halloween at Hogwarts was different from anything Stacy had ever experienced. No one dressed up in costumes and got candy, but they had a huge feast for dinner.
The Great Hall was decorated with real spider webs, gravestones, bats, and lit dimly. All of the school ghosts joined the festivities which added greatly to the scariness factor. After everyone finished eating, Professor Dumbledore announced the teachers had made plans for something new that year. They had set up a haunted house in the dungeons for any students who wished to visit it.
The majority of the students wanted to go, so the line was very long. After waiting for nearly a half hour, Stacy, Courtney, Ben, and Peter entered the dungeons with another group of students, including their friends Justin Taylor and Greg Adams, and their new flying teacher, Professor Granger, as their tour guide.
The dungeons were always dark and dreary, but with the teacher's efforts they looked scarier than usual. Professor Granger led them through a passageway covered with cobwebs, fake blood, and something brown and slimey- Stacy wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. They walked through a room set up to look like a graveyard, complete with vampires rising from the "graves" and witches standing over them collecting supplies for potions. Many of the students laughed at the witches' pointy black hats and shoes.
"Muggles don't know what they're talking about," Penny whispered to Stacy.
The next room was actually a haunted house with monsters and ghouls and giant spiders. Professor Granger warned them not to go near a giant scorpion type creature with a large stinger. Hermione shook her head and muttered, "Hagrid and his Blast-Ended Skrewts." After everyone in their group had received a small bag of tricks from one of the ghosts, they moved on to the next room.
The last room of the haunted house was by far the strangest. The instant they entered it, the entire group was literally sucked up to the ceiling by something that looked like a giant fan. Stacy and Courtney linked arms in an attempt to keep from falling as they tried to walk across the ceiling to the exit. Suddenly, a flash of green light burst in front of Stacy's eyes. She staggered backwards and was caught by Greg and Jana.
"Did you see that?" Stacy asked as her friends helped her stand up.
Greg shook his head. "Are you okay, Stacy?"
"What did you see?" Courtney asked anxiously.
Stacy shook her head to try and clear it. "It was nothing. I'm probably just dizzy."
They walked the rest of the way with Courtney and Greg on either side of her and Jana in the back.
Outside, the rest of the school was sitting around the lake watching as the teachers set up a stage for a play of some sort. Stacy and Courtney sat down with the rest of the first years. They spent the rest of the evening watching the teachers perform skits about true scary stories. The stories ranged from how the Bloody Baron became a ghost to one led by Hagrid about the sort of creatures in the Forbidden Forest to the true story of the Chamber of Secrets. After the last skit was done, the students sleepily walked back to the school. That was the first night since her arrival at Hogwarts Stacy slept without one nightmare.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School had always been easy for Stacy. Back at La Anglia, she had earned straight As every year. This year was different. While Stacy was doing well enough in her classes, she was not anywhere near the top. Potions was by far her worst class. She was almost doing as badly as Ben in it. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the only class she had top marks in. The rest of her grades were a little above average. Stacy would usually be disappointed with herself, but she was just happy to be passing.
Courtney, of course, was the best Gryffindor student. Mary Sarers was the only first year with better marks than her. Peter, like Stacy, had just above average grades. Ben's marks were growing worse and worse. Courtney offered to help him, but he refused, saying he "would figure it out somehow".
As with many students in all schools, Stacy and her friends' lives did not simply revolve around schoolwork and classes. They spent much of their free time in the Gryffindor Common Room talking and playing chess. Ben was the champion chess player. He could beat anyone, including Keith Stewart. No one could understand how he could be so good at the game, but not do well in school. He was obviously very smart.
Quidditch was extremely popular among most of the students. Stacy could not understand why. Courtney tried to explain it to her, but Stacy still felt basketball was by far a better game.
It was a windy early November morning when the entire school gathered around for the first Quidditch game of the year- Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.
The Gryffindor table was particularly noisy that Saturday morning. Everyone, including Stacy, was excited. Winning the game would make up for the points lost by the first years and then some.
The stands were nearly full by the time Stacy and Courtney arrived. Courtney had forgotten her cloak, so the girls were among the last to get there. To Courtney's dismay, the only seats left were next to her sister Rachel and her friends.
Rachel was considerably more cheerful than the last time Stacy had seen her. She was even nice to Courtney. The sisters were very similar in appearance and personalities, which caused them to clash over everything else.
"I'm so excited!" Rachel squealed to her friends. "I hope Gryffindor wins."
Courtney's eyes bulged. "What?" She asked in shock.
Rachel giggled which caused Courtney's shock to change to disgust. "Please tell me you did not just giggle," She remarked.
Rachel stopped laughing at that. "Keith's playing," She said very matter-of-factly.
Stacy suddenly understood why she was so happy, but Courtney continued to look confused.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Courtney asked her sister, who simply giggled again. Courtney looked like she was either going to be sick or giggle herself.
Sitting with Rachel did have its benefits. Try as she had, Courtney had not been able to explain the game of Quidditch very well. Rachel, who was the Ravenclaw Seeker, did a much better job of it. Within ten minutes of the game, Stacy could appreciate why everyone else was so crazy about it.
One of the downsides of being a first year was the fact that you were generally not allowed on the House Quidditch team. In fact, the only person Stacy knew who was playing was Keith, the Gryffindor Seeker.
The game was a relatively dull one. The Slytherin team was not on the same level as the Gryffindor team and it was an easy, fast victory. Keith caught the Snitch only twenty minutes into the game. The end score was 10 to 200.
Rachel ran on to the field when it was over and kissed Keith. Courtney looked appalled.
"Does she have to do that in front of everyone?" She hissed to Stacy before they caught up with Peter, Ben, and Justin, who was once again avoiding his housemates. They were still discussing Quidditch.
"I'm going to try out for the team next year," Ben informed the others.
Courtney smiled slyly. "If you are here next year, you mean."
Ben turned red with anger. "I'll be here. Will you?"
"Ooh. Good one," Courtney joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"So, what did you think of the game, Stacy?" Peter asked. "That was the first Quidditch match you've seen, right?"
Stacy nodded. She was glad he had spoken up before their friends could get into yet another argument. "It was okay. I mean, it was more interesting than I would've thought. I like basketball better though. I played for my school team last year."
"What's basketball?" Justin inquired.
Stacy almost laughed, but then remembered they knew about as much about the Muggle world as she knew about theirs before coming to Hogwarts. "It's kind of like Quidditch. Except without brooms or as many hoops or a Snitch or Beaters or-"
Justin wrinkled his nose. "Sounds boring."
"Oh, it isn't. I love it," Stacy assured him.
"I think I saw it once," Courtney spoke up. "My dad was watching it on the telly-vason."
"Television?" Stacy asked in an amused voice.
"Yeah!" Courtney answered. "Just what I said. My mum wouldn't let me watch all of it. She thinks Muggle things are for Muggle eyes only and our things are for our eyes only."
Ben nodded. "That's what my father says." His face flinched slightly at the mention of his father. Stacy couldn't help wonder if Peter had been right about Mr. Wright.
"Hey, Stacy!" Penny yelled as soon as the group reached the Gryffindor Common Room. "You have a letter."
Stacy followed her finger to see her owl Ana sitting on the window clutching an envelope in her beak. Stacy eagerly hurried over to Ana. It was the first letter she had received since arriving at Hogwarts. She had sent one to her grandmother her first day to let her know she had arrived safely, but had not heard back from her. She had been starting to get worried. Courtney's parents sent a letter to her and Rachel nearly everyday. Peter got one at least once a week. Ben had only received two, and one of them had been a Howler for receiving a failing mark in Potions, but that was more than Stacy had been sent.
Stacy collapsed on a couch and happily tore open her letter. She could immediantly tell why it had taken her grandmother so long to write back. She had enclosed two letters from herself, one from each of Stacy's parents, and one from Mandy, who had been given Roxanna's address to use for notes to Stacy.
The rest of the afternoon flew by as Stacy read her letters and responded to each of them. She told her father and grandmother all about the school and her classes. She knew her father would be especially interested to hear about them. He loved his years at Hogwarts and would be glad to hear that Stacy also liked it. He was one of the few wizards who had taken a job in the Muggle world after leaving the school. Though, he continued to use spells in the movies he directed. No one could understand how he kept the Muggles from noticing something was not quite normal about his special effects. In the letter to her mother, Stacy made sure to gush about her friends and the wonderful social opportunities the school had opened up for her. Her mother would not be interested in or understand anything about the magic her daughter was learning. In Mandy's letter, Stacy eliminated everything about magic and concentrated on her thoughts about the school, classes, and friends. No one had told her not to tell about where she went to school, but Stacy did not think it would be the right thing to do.
Finally, right before dinner, Stacy sent Ana back on her way to deliver the letters to her grandmother. As she was sitting down to eat, Stacy realized that she had not included anything about her dreams in any of the letters. Perhaps she should write another letter to her grandmother about them. Then again, maybe it was best just to leave things the way they were...
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes:
I finished a part within three days after the last one. Wow...
Thanks again for reading this. Now, PLEASE review. According to my stats, over 200 people have read this and only 11 have reviewed. I would REALLY appreciate if you'd let me know what you thought. No flames please, but just let me know. If you love it, hate it, whatever- let me know! Constructive critcism is also good.
I want to know whether I should bother posting this anymore. If no one's really reading it, I'll stop. Let me know! Review!
Ok, I'm done complaining. Thanks soooo much to everyone who has reviewed so far!
Once again, sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. I feel like I should apologize for this at the end of each part because I know I made some....
Go review! Thanks! =)
- Hope
"What's taking them so long?" Her friend/enemy Benjamin Wright moaned. He yawned and slunk down farther in his chair.
Courtney glared at him. "You can go to bed if you'd like."
It was just after half past twelve, but it seemed like their friends Stacy Arrons and Peter Trey had been gone much longer than that.
"Do you suppose Filch caught them?" Ben asked and yawned again. If Courtney didn't know better, she would have said he had a concerned expression on his face.
"I hope not," Courtney replied. She twirled one of her many curls around her finger nervously. "Maybe we should go out and find them."
Ben looked at her strangely. "Are you insane? We'd be caught in two seconds. At least they have the invisibility cloak. How did Stacy get that anyway?"
Courtney shrugged. "Someone left it for her as a present I guess. I wish someone would leave me things like that."
Suddenly, the door swung open and Stacy pulled herself into the room.
"Stacy!" Courtney cried and jumped to her feet.
"Where's Peter?" Ben asked, leaning through the hole to look for his friend.
Stacy bit her bottom lip nervously. "He isn't back yet?"
Ben looked angry. "You left him out there!" He bellowed angrily.
"Sssh!" Courtney shrieked and hit him in the chest. "Do you want to wake everyone else up? They're already mad enough at us."
Stacy's eyes darted around the room before telling them, "Filch caught him. Well, he caught both of us, but Peter told me to hide."
Ben's face turned red with anger. "You got caught! He might get a detention! He might get kicked out of school! He might-"
"Hey guys," Peter said quietly as he climbed in.
"Where were you?" Ben hissed.
"Are you in trouble?" Stacy asked timidly.
Peter nodded. "I have detention everyday for a week. And, Filch is keeping your cloak. Sorry."
"It's ok. I think that cloak's more trouble than it's worth," Stacy replied. "Besides, I owe you. I should be the one with detention."
Peter blushed faintly. "Did you find out who wrote you the note?"
Stacy shook her head. "I think they gave up waiting for me and went to bed."
"Ahem."
They turned around to see Joan Prickle standing on the steps from the girls' bedrooms. "Some of us are trying to get some sleep tonight," She said kindly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the first time since leaving California, Stacy felt the stares and whispers of her peers as she walked through the Great Hall before breakfast. The only difference this time was that no one was following her around begging for her autograph. Word had spread quickly about her near accident the day before and it felt like the entire school could discuss nothing else.
Stacy had grown accustomed to being the center of attention. Growing up in a family like hers would teach anyone how to smile and be courteous to everyone, even that gossip columnist who kept pressing her for dirt on her mother. Despite her training with these situations, it was nearly impossible for Stacy to keep her cool when people laughed everytime she came anywhere near them.
'I can't be the only student ever to fall off her broom', Stacy thought as she passed a group of Slytherins doing their idea of an impression of her. 'Besides, it really wasn't that amusing, was it?'
It was times like this when Stacy would learn to be especially thankful for her friends. If they too really wanted to laugh at her, they were doing a good job hiding it. Courtney stood by Stacy's side the whole day and glared daggers at anyone who made fun of her. Ben threatened to beat up all of Stacy's mockers. Ben was unusually strong for an eleven year old, so people listened. Peter did not have the strength of Ben, but knew a spell which momentarily changed the victim's tongue into a furry mass. Even Joan and Penny Prickle helped by reminding the older students of their own first attempts at flying. Their efforts, along with the attention span of your average teenager, caused the school to forget about Stacy's mistake by dinnertime.
One thing still bothered Stacy. She could not understand what had caused her to fall. She had been doing fine until she saw a brilliant flash of green. She had asked Courtney about it, but Courtney said she had not seen it. Then, there was the "dream" she had seen. It wasn't the first of its kind. Stacy had had one similar to it at least once a week since arriving at Hogwarts. She always saw the same people. A girl a couple years older than herself named Eliza and her older brother Michael. The story felt familiar to Stacy. She could easily sense Eliza's fear and Michael's anger. She just couldn't remember where she had heard it before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October flew by quickly and before anyone knew it, Halloween had arrived. Stacy had always loved October 31st, especially the trick-or-treating part of it. Every year, she had worn the best costume of anyone in her class. Her mother's best friend was a make up artist who made up Stacy and her Muggle best friend Mandy Payer to look like anything from zombies to princesses.
Halloween at Hogwarts was different from anything Stacy had ever experienced. No one dressed up in costumes and got candy, but they had a huge feast for dinner.
The Great Hall was decorated with real spider webs, gravestones, bats, and lit dimly. All of the school ghosts joined the festivities which added greatly to the scariness factor. After everyone finished eating, Professor Dumbledore announced the teachers had made plans for something new that year. They had set up a haunted house in the dungeons for any students who wished to visit it.
The majority of the students wanted to go, so the line was very long. After waiting for nearly a half hour, Stacy, Courtney, Ben, and Peter entered the dungeons with another group of students, including their friends Justin Taylor and Greg Adams, and their new flying teacher, Professor Granger, as their tour guide.
The dungeons were always dark and dreary, but with the teacher's efforts they looked scarier than usual. Professor Granger led them through a passageway covered with cobwebs, fake blood, and something brown and slimey- Stacy wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. They walked through a room set up to look like a graveyard, complete with vampires rising from the "graves" and witches standing over them collecting supplies for potions. Many of the students laughed at the witches' pointy black hats and shoes.
"Muggles don't know what they're talking about," Penny whispered to Stacy.
The next room was actually a haunted house with monsters and ghouls and giant spiders. Professor Granger warned them not to go near a giant scorpion type creature with a large stinger. Hermione shook her head and muttered, "Hagrid and his Blast-Ended Skrewts." After everyone in their group had received a small bag of tricks from one of the ghosts, they moved on to the next room.
The last room of the haunted house was by far the strangest. The instant they entered it, the entire group was literally sucked up to the ceiling by something that looked like a giant fan. Stacy and Courtney linked arms in an attempt to keep from falling as they tried to walk across the ceiling to the exit. Suddenly, a flash of green light burst in front of Stacy's eyes. She staggered backwards and was caught by Greg and Jana.
"Did you see that?" Stacy asked as her friends helped her stand up.
Greg shook his head. "Are you okay, Stacy?"
"What did you see?" Courtney asked anxiously.
Stacy shook her head to try and clear it. "It was nothing. I'm probably just dizzy."
They walked the rest of the way with Courtney and Greg on either side of her and Jana in the back.
Outside, the rest of the school was sitting around the lake watching as the teachers set up a stage for a play of some sort. Stacy and Courtney sat down with the rest of the first years. They spent the rest of the evening watching the teachers perform skits about true scary stories. The stories ranged from how the Bloody Baron became a ghost to one led by Hagrid about the sort of creatures in the Forbidden Forest to the true story of the Chamber of Secrets. After the last skit was done, the students sleepily walked back to the school. That was the first night since her arrival at Hogwarts Stacy slept without one nightmare.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School had always been easy for Stacy. Back at La Anglia, she had earned straight As every year. This year was different. While Stacy was doing well enough in her classes, she was not anywhere near the top. Potions was by far her worst class. She was almost doing as badly as Ben in it. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the only class she had top marks in. The rest of her grades were a little above average. Stacy would usually be disappointed with herself, but she was just happy to be passing.
Courtney, of course, was the best Gryffindor student. Mary Sarers was the only first year with better marks than her. Peter, like Stacy, had just above average grades. Ben's marks were growing worse and worse. Courtney offered to help him, but he refused, saying he "would figure it out somehow".
As with many students in all schools, Stacy and her friends' lives did not simply revolve around schoolwork and classes. They spent much of their free time in the Gryffindor Common Room talking and playing chess. Ben was the champion chess player. He could beat anyone, including Keith Stewart. No one could understand how he could be so good at the game, but not do well in school. He was obviously very smart.
Quidditch was extremely popular among most of the students. Stacy could not understand why. Courtney tried to explain it to her, but Stacy still felt basketball was by far a better game.
It was a windy early November morning when the entire school gathered around for the first Quidditch game of the year- Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.
The Gryffindor table was particularly noisy that Saturday morning. Everyone, including Stacy, was excited. Winning the game would make up for the points lost by the first years and then some.
The stands were nearly full by the time Stacy and Courtney arrived. Courtney had forgotten her cloak, so the girls were among the last to get there. To Courtney's dismay, the only seats left were next to her sister Rachel and her friends.
Rachel was considerably more cheerful than the last time Stacy had seen her. She was even nice to Courtney. The sisters were very similar in appearance and personalities, which caused them to clash over everything else.
"I'm so excited!" Rachel squealed to her friends. "I hope Gryffindor wins."
Courtney's eyes bulged. "What?" She asked in shock.
Rachel giggled which caused Courtney's shock to change to disgust. "Please tell me you did not just giggle," She remarked.
Rachel stopped laughing at that. "Keith's playing," She said very matter-of-factly.
Stacy suddenly understood why she was so happy, but Courtney continued to look confused.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Courtney asked her sister, who simply giggled again. Courtney looked like she was either going to be sick or giggle herself.
Sitting with Rachel did have its benefits. Try as she had, Courtney had not been able to explain the game of Quidditch very well. Rachel, who was the Ravenclaw Seeker, did a much better job of it. Within ten minutes of the game, Stacy could appreciate why everyone else was so crazy about it.
One of the downsides of being a first year was the fact that you were generally not allowed on the House Quidditch team. In fact, the only person Stacy knew who was playing was Keith, the Gryffindor Seeker.
The game was a relatively dull one. The Slytherin team was not on the same level as the Gryffindor team and it was an easy, fast victory. Keith caught the Snitch only twenty minutes into the game. The end score was 10 to 200.
Rachel ran on to the field when it was over and kissed Keith. Courtney looked appalled.
"Does she have to do that in front of everyone?" She hissed to Stacy before they caught up with Peter, Ben, and Justin, who was once again avoiding his housemates. They were still discussing Quidditch.
"I'm going to try out for the team next year," Ben informed the others.
Courtney smiled slyly. "If you are here next year, you mean."
Ben turned red with anger. "I'll be here. Will you?"
"Ooh. Good one," Courtney joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"So, what did you think of the game, Stacy?" Peter asked. "That was the first Quidditch match you've seen, right?"
Stacy nodded. She was glad he had spoken up before their friends could get into yet another argument. "It was okay. I mean, it was more interesting than I would've thought. I like basketball better though. I played for my school team last year."
"What's basketball?" Justin inquired.
Stacy almost laughed, but then remembered they knew about as much about the Muggle world as she knew about theirs before coming to Hogwarts. "It's kind of like Quidditch. Except without brooms or as many hoops or a Snitch or Beaters or-"
Justin wrinkled his nose. "Sounds boring."
"Oh, it isn't. I love it," Stacy assured him.
"I think I saw it once," Courtney spoke up. "My dad was watching it on the telly-vason."
"Television?" Stacy asked in an amused voice.
"Yeah!" Courtney answered. "Just what I said. My mum wouldn't let me watch all of it. She thinks Muggle things are for Muggle eyes only and our things are for our eyes only."
Ben nodded. "That's what my father says." His face flinched slightly at the mention of his father. Stacy couldn't help wonder if Peter had been right about Mr. Wright.
"Hey, Stacy!" Penny yelled as soon as the group reached the Gryffindor Common Room. "You have a letter."
Stacy followed her finger to see her owl Ana sitting on the window clutching an envelope in her beak. Stacy eagerly hurried over to Ana. It was the first letter she had received since arriving at Hogwarts. She had sent one to her grandmother her first day to let her know she had arrived safely, but had not heard back from her. She had been starting to get worried. Courtney's parents sent a letter to her and Rachel nearly everyday. Peter got one at least once a week. Ben had only received two, and one of them had been a Howler for receiving a failing mark in Potions, but that was more than Stacy had been sent.
Stacy collapsed on a couch and happily tore open her letter. She could immediantly tell why it had taken her grandmother so long to write back. She had enclosed two letters from herself, one from each of Stacy's parents, and one from Mandy, who had been given Roxanna's address to use for notes to Stacy.
The rest of the afternoon flew by as Stacy read her letters and responded to each of them. She told her father and grandmother all about the school and her classes. She knew her father would be especially interested to hear about them. He loved his years at Hogwarts and would be glad to hear that Stacy also liked it. He was one of the few wizards who had taken a job in the Muggle world after leaving the school. Though, he continued to use spells in the movies he directed. No one could understand how he kept the Muggles from noticing something was not quite normal about his special effects. In the letter to her mother, Stacy made sure to gush about her friends and the wonderful social opportunities the school had opened up for her. Her mother would not be interested in or understand anything about the magic her daughter was learning. In Mandy's letter, Stacy eliminated everything about magic and concentrated on her thoughts about the school, classes, and friends. No one had told her not to tell about where she went to school, but Stacy did not think it would be the right thing to do.
Finally, right before dinner, Stacy sent Ana back on her way to deliver the letters to her grandmother. As she was sitting down to eat, Stacy realized that she had not included anything about her dreams in any of the letters. Perhaps she should write another letter to her grandmother about them. Then again, maybe it was best just to leave things the way they were...
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes:
I finished a part within three days after the last one. Wow...
Thanks again for reading this. Now, PLEASE review. According to my stats, over 200 people have read this and only 11 have reviewed. I would REALLY appreciate if you'd let me know what you thought. No flames please, but just let me know. If you love it, hate it, whatever- let me know! Constructive critcism is also good.
I want to know whether I should bother posting this anymore. If no one's really reading it, I'll stop. Let me know! Review!
Ok, I'm done complaining. Thanks soooo much to everyone who has reviewed so far!
Once again, sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. I feel like I should apologize for this at the end of each part because I know I made some....
Go review! Thanks! =)
- Hope