Chapter 13: A Letter Home

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            November 5th

            Hi Mom!  I'm back to provide you with an amusing glimpse into the exciting life of a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!  Or, barring that, to at least tell you how the talent show went and what else has been happening.  You can judge the excitement levels for yourself.

            First off though, the talent show.  It was amazing!  Things went very well.  You can tell that everyone had put a lot of work into getting ready for it.  I was exhausted afterwards, but it was well worth it!  I'll give you the run down of who and what went on and you can watch it all later as I've enclosed one of the recordings that we made of the show.

            Pansy (Slytherin) started things off by singing True Colors.  She looked about ready to faint when she first got out on stage, but she held in there and started singing and finished strong.  I was quite proud of her.

            Next, Colin and I (Gryffindor) danced to Bailamos.  That was a blast!  I haven't been able to dance like that in way too long- I'm not counting lessons, since that's more like work.  We did mess up a little, but we were able to ad-lib it and I don't think anyone noticed anything.

            Then, Ginny (Gryffindor) played a really amazing song on the flute.  She pretty much brought down the house and she tied for third place!!!  I really think she's coming into her own finally and becoming someone other than the little sister of Ron and the twins.  I've been spending a lot of time with her because of all this and I really like her. 

            Lavender (Gryffindor) followed with a dance routine.  She's obviously been taking dance and gymnastics for quite a while or maybe she's just naturally talented.  Which ever it was, it was impressive- shows us a whole new side to someone who always seemed a bit superficial to me.  Must re-evaluate that impression now…

            Graham (Slytherin) sang next- The Shape of My Heart.  For someone so young, he's got a great voice.  He tied with Gin for third place.

            Nicki, a friend of Ginny's from Ravenclaw, sang You Should Hear How She Talks About You.  Ginny and I sang back up for her from the wings- poor Nicki spent most of the time trying not to laugh at us back stage.  The rest of the time, I think she was glaring out at Harry, who still hasn't noticed Ginny's existence.  I don't know if the glaring was at all successful, but she sang well.

            Padma (Ravenclaw) and Parvati (Gryffindor) Patil did an Indian dance.  As they appear to be from India, or at least maybe their parents were, it was appropriate and added a nice change from the other acts we'd seen.  Rather calming actually.

            Justin and Eleanor (Hufflepuff) were supposed to be singing next, but Eleanor had to drop out at the last minute due to illness.  Justin agreed to let me sing her part so he could continue to perform.  He's very talented, though I hate that everyone missed hearing him with Eleanor as the two of them together are… I can't even describe how wonderful they sound!  Quite a loss for the show, though luckily I made a recording from the dress rehearsal of the two of them.

            Then, Jillian (Hufflepuff) sang Most Girls.  Remind me to explain the stereotypes associated with the various houses here at some point.  It's amusing to know the stereotype and then see some of the choices the various students made when picking things to perform- this was one of those amusing contrasts, but she did it well!

            We had a jazz group that was made up of students from each of the houses.  Once they got over the whole 'you are not in my house and therefore can not be trusted' thing, they worked well together.  Thought I might have to kill them though up until that point.  Let it be known that you should not irritate the stressed out stage manager boys and girls!  She is likely to do something quite violent! *insert evil grin and maniacal laughter here* Oh, did I say that out loud?  Oops.

            Anyway, on to the next performer- Sonja (Ravenclaw).  She took second place with her performance of Material Girl.  She deserved it.  She's almost as much of a ham on stage as I am, and it worked!

            The Ladies and I closed out the show with Giving Him Something He Can Feel.  Nervous yet?  Wait until you see the performance!  I'm sure, once you do, you'll see how we won first place… and why the Gryffindor Ladies have suddenly become so popular!  It was most amusing to watch the jaws drop as we sashayed our way out in those dresses, and even more fun to see them do it again when it was announced who had been performing!

            Whew!  I'm almost too tired to go on after all that!  But persevere I will- worry not Mother Dear!  Ready to hear the rest of my news?  Good, because I'm about to tell all… or at least the parts safe for your ears.

            George has finally asked me to the Yule Ball.  I was beginning to think I was going to have to use (rather un-ladylike) force to get him to say the words.  There's only so many invites a girl can turn down you know.  I was about ready to give up and ask Dumbledore… who would be a most amusing date I'm sure, or at least more amusing than some of the other Professors (like a certain Potions teacher I could mention).  So, do you think Dumbledore can dance?

            Anyway, George did ask me after the show (I blame the red dress- Thank You Red Dress!) and I accepted.  I told him that he had to learn to dance though- Ginny swears she doesn't know how she's still able to walk after having her brothers trample her feet while practicing all those years.  He agreed.  Bwhahahahaha.  Ooops, sorry 'bout that.

            Also due to the show, I now have four magic students.  Fred, George, Ginny and Katie have asked to learn wandless magic.  We've just started, so they haven't gotten too far yet, but they're keeping an open mind which can be the most important part.  I keep feeling that they'll need to know this, but I can't figure out why.  Damn the family Gift which gives me Sight, but in such a useless way!  If Trelawny (the Divination Professor) weren't completely nutters, I'd be tempted to ask her about all this; but having heard about her from Ron & Harry, I plan to stay as far away from her as possible.  I'll just continue to complain to Dumbledore during our afternoon tea get togethers and he'll just peer kindly over those glasses of his and tell me that he's sure I'll understand things when it's time.  If I didn't like the man, I think I'd have had to hurt him by now- who really can live with someone like that who really does seem to know everything?!?  Incredibly frustrating!

            Humm… what other news to pass along?  I've started looking for Christmas gifts.  I know it's a bit early- so what?  Got any ideas for what to get the Ladies?  Also, once the whole dates for the dance thing gets resolved, hopefully without major bloodshed (on the guys' parts); we're planning on doing some serious dress shopping.  Good thing I know how to sew fancy stuff since Ginny's already moaning about how she can't afford to get anything new (which I understand- why else did you teach me to sew in the first place?).  I told her we'd go looking for ideas, material and we'd make her one by hand if necessary.  Which I think sounds like fun, but I'm just weird like that I guess.

            Well, I'd better close this off for now.  Potions homework is calling (and it sounds as nasty as it ever does!) and I need to get this to Dumbledore to send out.  Don't forget to watch the recording of the show and tell me what you think.  Use your judgment about whether to show Grandmother- you can never tell what's going to morally offend her…  Humm, maybe you should show it to her either way- I won't be back to visit for months!  Ha!

            Until later then.  All my love!

            Alinora