Disclaimer: The places and characters mentioned are almost all the creations and property of JK Rowling.
31 October
I really need to make the time more often. Keeping a diary is good for me. It letÕs me put everything down on paper, think about it, make sense of it all. But where does one find the time? Maybe now, now that I finally seem to be on top of things, I can finally start writing again.
This last month and a half has been hectic, to say the least. You would think that, they would start us out slowly, letting us gradually get into the swing of a new school, a new environment, but that just isnÕt so. Instead, weÕve been buried in work since the very first week. Some of the other Slytherins say itÕs because of the Muggle borns, that thereÕs just so much background to give them that if the teachers moved slowly weÕd never learn anything. Never having seen any magic (or at least, not knowing what it was) before a few months ago, I see their point. On the other hand, inundating new students, be they Muggle or magic, canÕt be all that helpful.
For my own part, I havenÕt found the work all that challenging, or even that interesting, but still very time consuming. Between dozens of pages of reading, an hour of regular homework nightly, plus at least four feet of essays due every week, itÕs a wonder I found time to breathe. It might have been more bearable if it were a little less boring. Still, things are starting to slacken now that everyone is finally on the same page (except for a few hopeless dunderheads, who probably never will be.) Now I have time to return to my own projects.
Speaking of which, I talked to Professor Lestrange, my head of house, just last week. I like her a great deal. Powerful, capable, and from what the other Slytherins say, from a good family. IÕve been working hard to earn her respect since the first week, and I think I may have succeeded. I mentioned to her how bored IÕd been feeling in all of my classes, and she recommended that I pursue some independent study. She gave me a lengthy reading list on books in all of my subjects, enough to keep me busy through Christmas at least. I started going through them today, as a matter of fact, and have already been fascinated by what I found. Just today, I mastered the Furnuclus curse and the Summoning Charm, material that most fourth years canÕt handle. You would never think I was a Muggle born.
That was something else I broached with Professor Lestrange. I told her how I felt a bit uncomfortable in Slytherin, as the only Muggle born and all, and sort of felt as though didnÕt really accept me. She just got a steely, cold look in her eyes, and said ÒYou may have Muggle blood, but never let anyone call you a Muggle born.Ó I thanked her for her time and left.
Later that night at dinner, I saw her talking to Dumbledore, of all people. It surprised me at first, because itÕs common knowledge that they donÕt see eye to eye (as if an idiot like him could ever be in total agreement with a genius like her.) What surprised me more is how they both kept looking towards the Slytherin table. I could swear they were looking straight at me. I wonder what that could mean?