Disclaimer: I don't own it, as you well know. JK Rowling does, and she should. I'm not making any money off of it, though, so no worries.
20 December
I made the most wonderful discovery yesterday: I can stay here at Hogwarts for Christmas break! The sooner I can put off seeing that horrid old woman again, the better. Most of the other students have gone home. There are a few kids from other houses left, but I'm the only Slytherin. I honestly expected to catch some heat for that, but no one has given me any trouble for the last month or two. I think that's partly because I've been scoring so many points for us in class, and partly because the prefects have been coming down hard on anyone who does. Whether this is out of the goodness of their hearts or, as I suspect, Prof Lestrange has something to do with it, I really don't care. I'm grateful to whoever it is, though.
Now that the others have been forced to accept me, I've actually managed to make a few friends. At first, they just came to tap my brain-power for their homework, but as we've talked more and more, I think they've found me to be more of a kindred spirit than they thought. They certainly didn't expect me to share their feelings on Muggles, but if anyone has a reason to dislike them, it's definitely me. Strangely enough, most of the ones who've stuck around are from the purest of the purebloods: Antonius Malfoy, whose family has been on the school's board of governors for a century; Elladora Black, second daughter in a large family of old wizard nobles; Rasputin Lestrange, nephew of the estimable Aquilia; and also one Tiberius Snape, whose family isn't particularly noble or wealthy, but is certainly as pure as they come. They're all quite capable at magic in their own right, and seem to stay in my company of their own free will. If nothing else, they will be a useful source of information about the wizarding world outside the school.
As it is, they are second only to the books that Prof. Lestrange has given me. I've been getting through faster even than she expected. It is all just so fascinating. So far, I'm cursing past the level of most seventh years, I can transfigure animate objects into completely different animate objects (wouldn't Dumbledore be surprised if he knew), a feat some of our professors haven't managed, and I've successfully brewed a Polyjuice potion, and even used it to tranform into a Hufflepuff first-year by the name of Abbot and managed to get the password and location of their common room. Useful information, and exciting in the getting. Also included, of course, were a large number of astronomy books, which have quite enflamed my interest in the subject. Apparently, wizard astronomers don't merely map the stars, but even the void between., and can draw upon it for use in very powerful spells. I get the feeling that this isn't a commonly accepted practice, though, considering some of the things I've read and the fact that we've never heard about it in class. Still, the forbidden nature of this "dark" magic only makes it all the more fascinating.
The only subject she didn't give me any books on was History of Magic, much to my disappointment. Still, I'm almost finished with the books I have. Maybe I could ask for some in the next batch.
A/N- sorry to have taken so long to update. I'm finally finished with school for this semester, so I'm hoping to get back into the swing of writing. Special thanks to Marauder3Moony for reminding me I still had work to do.