Disclaimer: Thanks everyone for reading as I borrow the characters
Rose & Tansy's 10th Birthday!
You are invited!
Dear _ Sev _
When: Saturday 19 June 1971
Where: 10 River Street Cokeworth
Time: 2 pm to 4 pm
Rsvp: 14th June to Mrs Hyacinth Evans 020 7323 8000
(Summer Holidays: Wednesday 30 June 1971 – Wednesday 1st September 1971 (9 weeks)
Severus arrived at the Evans house in time for breakfast Saturday morning on the day of the twin's party carrying their presents.
Halfway through a breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, there was suddenly a loud tapping noise against the window
'Oh, that must be E.B.O.' Mrs Evans exclaimed, opening the window E.B.O swooped in and dropped the letter that had been held in his beak onto the kitchen table.
'It's from Tuney!' Lily announced
'Go on read it out Lily bug' Mr Evans encouraged
'Dear Family,
I know you hold parties on Saturdays so I just wanted to wish Happy birthday to Rose and Tansy before their party started.
My housemates and I studied as much for our exams as we could. I'm confident that I can pass them.
I have asked Professor McGonagall and she has told me that the grades at Hogwarts are a little different to non-magical schools. Instead of A - F, the grades for Hogwarts are O, E, A, P, D and T. They stand for Outstanding [O], Exceeds Expectations [E] and Acceptable [A], Poor [P], Dreadful [D] and Troll [T].
To pass a class you need to get Outstanding [O], Exceeds Expectations [E]or Acceptable [A] and if you get Poor [P], Dreadful [D] or Troll [T] then you fail.
My brain feels like it's been stuffed full of information so I just wanted to send off a short letter before I forget the twin's birthdays.
I love you all and can't wait to see you again. Petunia' Lily handed her mother back the letter after she had finished reading
'Mum, can we play Monopoly?' Tansy asked
'Good idea sweetheart that should keep us busy all morning' Mrs Evans replied having just put the last dish into the drying rack.
Monopoly Gameplay & Rules; Open up the board game and arrange the Houses, Hotels, Title Deeds and money (in value order) in the separate sections of the bank game tray
Separate the Chance and Community Chest cards, shuffle them and put them face down in the relevant spaces on the gameboard. Each player selects a playing token and places it on "GO".
The Banker gives each player £1,500 divided as follows: Two x £500, Four x £100, One x £50, One x £20, Two x £10, One x £5, and Five x £1.
Roll the dice to pick the first player Whoever rolls the highest number goes first, and play then continues clockwise around the board. You can use two dice or one, whichever you prefer. A quicker alternative is for the youngest or newest player to go first. This skips the initial dice rolling and gives them a small advantage. After the first turn, play goes to the player on the left in a clockwise fashion
Each player rolls the dice and moves their game piece the same number of spaces. If you roll doubles, you get to move again after doing whatever you want with the first space you have landed on.
If you roll doubles three times in a row, go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect £200
If you are the first one to land on a spot with a coloured stripe across the top, a railroad, or a utility, you may buy the property for the amount printed on the board. The banker in turn gives the player the title deed for that property. Most players recommend buying every property you can as if you don't, the other players have a chance to get it.
Whenever a player who lands on an unowned property opts not to buy it, the banker takes over and auctions it off immediately. The player who initially declined to buy the property at the printed price can not participate in the auction. Bids start at £1 and stop when no one wants to increase their bid. If absolutely no one wants the property, it returns to the bank and the game resumes.
If you land on someone else's property, you must pay them the rent printed on the title deed card for that property (unless they have mortgaged the property). Rents vary according to the price of the property, whether or not a player has a complete colour set (monopoly) and how many buildings have been built there
You have a monopoly if you own all the properties in a coloured group! This is one of the main goals of the game-you can bankrupt other players easily if you have a monopoly.
If all Sites within a colour group are owned by a player, the rent payable is doubled on any Site of that group not yet built on.
However, an owner who owns a whole colour group may not collect double rent if any one Site there is mortgaged.
Where Houses or Hotels have been built on a Site, the rent will increase and will be shown on that Site's Title Deed. Rent is not payable on mortgaged Properties.
If you have a monopoly, you can start to build houses on any of those properties to charge more rent. You can find the building prices on your property deed. You can build up to four houses on each property of your monopoly.
Buildings raise the rent on your property significantly. For example, the first property on the board, Mediterranean Avenue, rents for £2 without any buildings. When you build four houses, you can charge £160 to each player who lands on it.
You have to build evenly-you can't build two houses on one property in your monopoly and none on the others. If you buy one building for a property, you can't put a second one on that property until you have bought a house for every property in your monopoly.
The most lucrative buildings you can add to your properties are hotels. After you've built four houses on each property, you can buy a hotel from the bank and replace the houses with them. A hotel is roughly equivalent to having five houses yet the maximum number of houses on a site is four. However, it is sometimes better to leave the four houses on each property instead of building the hotel if you wish to create a house shortage for other players.
Collect £200 when you pass GO
If you land on a spot marked "Chance" or "Community Chest," take the top card off of the corresponding deck of the space that you landed on. These cards have effects that can cause you to earn or lose money, move you across the track or even send you to jail. There's also the infamous "get out of jail free" card. When you're done reading the card, return it to the bottom of the corresponding deck. The "get out of jail free" card can be kept until you use it.
Going to jail prevents you from moving around the board until you're free. But you still can collect rent, buy houses, participate in auctions, and trade with other players. There are three possible ways to go to jail. Put your game piece inside the jail cell when you are sent to jail.
1 Landing on the space marked "Go to Jail" is the most common way to end up in jail. The player goes diagonally across the board to the jail space without passing GO, and their turn ends immediately.
2 If you pick a Chance or Community Chest card that reads this, your turn ends immediately and you must go directly to the space marked "In jail". If you pass GO on the way to jail, you don't get to collect your £200.
3 Rolling three consecutive doubles on the same turn also sends you to jail immediately. Place your token into the jail cell as soon as the third double is rolled.
If you just land on the jail space by an ordinary dice roll, you can place your token on the "Just Visiting" section of the square. You are not subject to any restrictions and can take your next turn as usual.
You can get out of jail by paying £50 bail, using a Get Out of Jail Free card, or rolling doubles on your next turn. If you succeed in rolling a double to get out of jail, you move forward the given number of spaces but do not take another turn. You must leave jail on your third turn and immediately pay £50 if you fail to roll doubles on that turn.
Trading with other players is a key part of the strategy of any Monopoly game. This is usually how you obtain a monopoly to build houses and hotels
Set a time limit to determine the winner (optional). If you want a faster game, try setting a timer for 1 or 2 hours. When the timer goes off, each player counts their total amount of money, the printed prices of all their unmortgaged properties, half the prices of all their mortgaged properties, and the printed prices of all houses and hotels. The richest player wins the game!
Mortgage property. If you can't pay the rent when you land on a property, you can mortgage your property. You can also choose to mortgage property to buy other properties, houses, or hotels. When a property is mortgaged, no rent can be collected. To unmortgage it, you must pay 10% interest when you pay it off. If you have to pay a decimal, always round it up.
Mortgages have their rewards and their consequences. You should only mortgage property to avoid bankruptcy or to make a quick boost of money for buying more properties and trading. You can also sell your mortgaged properties to other players, causing them to pay the bank if they want to collect rent on that property. The 10% interest is far better than the 50% loss from selling buildings.
Go bankrupt. If you owe more money than you and your assets can afford, you're declared bankrupt and are out of the game. When a player becomes bankrupt, all of their houses/hotels are given back to the bank and their properties are auctioned off to the other players …
Playing Monopoly with the girls was very eye-opening for Severus, he sat back a little stunned at the ruthless tactics the girls used to win the game. With the girls all eager to destroy one another, Severus only had Mr and Mrs Evans to compete against.
It hadn't been that long into the game when the girls started mocking each other
'That's £50 you owe me.' Tansy gloated 'I'd be careful if I were you Lily or every possession you own will soon be mine!'
'I know what I'm doing!' Lily scoffed having landed on Tansy's property.
'My turn!' Rose declared picking up the two dice and enthusiastically rolling them across the board, they came to a stop with each showing three dots facing up.
'Doubles! Rose squealed happily moving her dog the required amount and landing on Piccadilly
'Do you want to buy Piccadilly Rose petal?' Mr Evans asked
'Absolutely!' Rose counted out the money she needed 'There you go Daddy £280 for Piccadilly.' Rose handed over her money and got a yellow card back.
This time Rose rolled a six and a three for a total of nine and landed right in the middle of Park Lane and Mayfair on the space that said Super tax £100
'Aww' Rose whinged paying the amount owed to the bank
'My turn!' Tansy eagerly grabbed the dice and threw them across the board with each dice showing one dot.
'Two! Yes! that gets me just what I wanted' Tansy exclaimed as she moved her Battleship to a square marked Fenchurch st station £200. 'Here you go, daddy!' Tansy waved the money at her father before he could even find the card.
'Hang on Firecracker,' Mr Evans sorted through the cards he had and then swapped her money for the right one.
The game progressed steadily until half past eleven when Mrs Evans called a stop to the game
'Alright Time's up!' Mrs Evans announced after she completed her turn
The girls all let out a noise of disappointment, but obediently began counting up their wealth along with everyone else;
Scotty dog - Rose: £400
Battleship - Tansy: £900
Racecar - Severus: £700
Top hat & Banker - Mr Evans: £550
Horse and rider - Lily: £470
Wheelbarrow - Mrs Evans: £800
'Congratulations Princess' Mr Evans said collecting everyone's money & property and methodically packing up the game.
After a quick lunch of tomato soup and noodles Severus followed the girls to the sitting room preparing it for the party with decorations and snacks.
The party again started with happy screaming and Severus was once again engulfed in a group hug with Lily, Rose and Tansy.
The sitting room was decorated in much the same way as last time with balloons and streamers, the coffee table once again had a bowl of fruit punch and snacks sitting on it, and a fold-away table had been again positioned underneath a Happy Birthday banner, with presents placed on top of it.
'Come along children it's time to play Duck duck goose!' Mrs Evans called
Sitting on the floor in a circle with the rest of the kids, Severus watched as a boy who had no interest in learning the name of, walked around the circle, tapping each player on the head and saying 'duck' when he did so. Until he came to Tansy where he said 'goose.' and took off running
Tansy leapt to her feet running after the boy successfully tagging him just before he got to her spot.
'Don't worry Henry, you can try again.' Rose consoled the boy as she started his walk around the circle again
'Time for party food!' Mrs Evans called after what felt like forever to Severus as he lay sprawled on the floor after having just dived into Lily's open seat
Not wanting to miss out on the delicious food or a chance to rest, Severus peeled himself off the floor, collecting a bowl of crisps, a cup of trifle and a biscuit. Seating himself on the floor with the girls, Severus happily munched on his food.
'Time for the cake' Mrs Evans called across the room after everyone had eaten some snacks. Mr Evans left the room and went to the kitchen to receive the cake while Mrs Evans turned off the lights.
The cake that was brought into the sitting room looked like a circle divided into two halves by a curved line. One half of the circle was black, while the other was white. A dot of the opposite colour was situated near the centre of each of the teardrops.
'Thank you, Daddy' the twins called out
'Happy birthday Rose petal. Happy birthday, Firecracker, ' Mr Evans said, smiling indulgently at the girls as he sat the cake down on the coffee table and everyone sang happy birthday to the twins.
'Go on and make a wish' Mrs Evans encouraged.
The twins closed their eyes together and blew out all the candles in one go. During the round of applause they received, Mr Evans cut the cake into slices and handed them out for everyone to enjoy while Mrs Evans handed out cups of juice
Watching the twins unwrap their presents Severus noticed they had very different techniques towards unwrapping. Rose was precise and methodical with the way she unwrapped her presents much like Severus himself was. In contrast, Tansy was a lot like Lily, very happily ripping the paper apart to get to the goodies inside.
Rose and Tansy's presents consisted of: An Etch A Sketch each, two Candle Sculpture Making Kits, A bag of marbles each, A bag of Jacks for each of them, a hibiscus-scented candle for Rose and a Lavender scented candle for Tansy. an assortment of sweets for each of the twins from Severus. A Microscope from their parents and Chemistry set each from Lily and Petunia who had sent money home from school.
'Time to play What's the time Mr wolf.' Mrs Evans called
'I'll be the Wolf!' Tansy volunteered, running over to the far side of the sitting room
'Come on Sev.' Lily took hold of his hand and led him over to the other side. 'This game is easy!'
'What's the time Mr Wolf' Lily, Rose, Tansy and the rest of the kids belted out much to Severus' bewilderment.
'3 o'Clock' Tansy called with her back facing towards Severus
'Now we take three steps towards Tansy.' Lily encouraged Severus leading him three steps forward by his hand
'What's the time Mr Wolf' everyone repeated
'6 o'Clock' Tansy called
Everyone including Severus who still held Lily by the hand took six steps forward
'What's the time Mr Wolf' everyone sang out for the third time
'It's dinner time!' Tansy yelled spinning around and lunging at them
Severus felt like he had gone deaf when everyone screamed in joy and his arm nearly popped out of its socket when Lily yanked him backwards out of Tansy's grasp, sacrificing herself in the process. By the time the party had ended Severus was feeling completely and utterly knackered.
A week later another letter from Petunia arrived via E.B.O. and Rose read out the letter over breakfast.
'Dear Family,
I believe I did very well on my exams. We took our written exams in a swelteringly hot classroom and were given special quills that were bewitched with anti-cheating spells on them. Our practical exams were held in the same classrooms where we studied our subjects.
Professor Flitwick called us in one by one to see if we could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk.
Professor McGonagall had us turn mice into snuffboxes, points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was but taken away if it had whiskers.
Professor Slughorn supervised as we valiantly tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion. I believe I did very well on that thanks to Severus.
In Astronomy, we were asked to name as many stars as we could remember.
For Herbology, we were given a plant and were asked to sketch it and write a small essay on how we could use it.
With D.A.D.A. We demonstrated all the spells we learned during the year. I got extra points because my Knockback Jinx was particularly powerful.
History of Magic was one boring hour of answering questions about a batty old wizard who'd invented the Philosopher's Stone. I get my exam results very soon and I'll be home before you know it.
See you for summer break, it feels like this year has gone quickly.
Love From Petunia'