Disclaimer-I do not own any of J. K. Rowling's or William Shakespeare's ideas, I only own mine.
A.N. I'll do some non-letter parts now too. And please, please, review.
Chapter 4- School Begins
Dear Harry, Ron, and Hermione
Hello, how's Hogwarts? Ziriat's pretty nice, I guess. Gran went here when she was a girl, and wanted me to spend at least one year here. But at least I finally got to remember most corridors, stairwells, and rooms in Hogwarts, but it's like I'm a first year al over again here. They gave us all maps of the main building, but I keep losing it. Oh well, at least there's one person I know here, and two I sort of know.
Your friend,
Neville
Dear Neville,
That must kind of stink. But at least you get to meet new people, travel to a whole different continent, and Ziriat is one of the very best schools in wizarding world. And not only that, they also teach Muggle classes, and students from Ziriat have made very big contributions to both worlds. Did you know George Washington studied there? And though he did lead a war against our country, you have to admit he was a very great leader.
Everything here is fine. The students from Ziriat are quite nice. I've met one of them, her name's Irene and she got sorted into Gryffindor. By the way, Harry and Ron say hi, as they are much too lazy to write their own letters. I'm sorry about the shortness, but it's getting near midnight. Write back.
Hermione (and Harry and Ron)
Dear Kilo,
Wizards and witches would actually choose Muggle careers? Do you realize how much more work that is? You would never be able to use magic in view of the Muggles, which would mean practically all day! Who would choose that kind of life.
Padma
Dear Padma,
And you said you're in Ravenclaw? At least we realize the fact that nothing is ever worth anything if we can just wave a piece of wood and say a few words, then all gets done? Now tell me what kind of life is that? And for your information, I plan on being a Muggle editor.
Kilo
Dear Kilo,
What did this McGonagall guy do to you? Did you get detention? Or did you use the "I'm just doing a creative writing project. We have to record anything we hear or see that's interesting, and your class was so fascinating," excuse? So, how's Hogwarts? Are the teachers strict? Are you trying out for a Quidditch team?
We're held the King Lear auditions today. You should have been there. I tried out for the Duke of Cornwall, and guess what? I got it! We're doing a slightly modified version, though. If you were there, you'd have gotten Lear for sure! Oh, darn it. King Lear was the one you didn't get to read, wasn't it?
Well, it's about an old, senile king. He has three daughters, one good, and two evil. He's giving away his kingdom to his daughters as their dowry, but the good daughter, Cordelia's answer doesn't please him because it isn't as flattery-oozing as Goneril and Regan's. So he banishes Cordelia (who marries the King of France) and the Earl of Kent, who stand up for her, but then his two evil daughters take control. They kick him out of their castles, and turn him out into a storm.
Meanwhile, the Earl of Gloucester's stepson Edmund is also turning evil. He forges a letter, incriminating the good son, Edgar, which gets Gloucester mad. So then a disguised Edgar, Lear, the Fool, and a disguised Kent are all in the storm.
Then Goneril, Regan and Regan's husband the Duke of Cornwall turn upon Gloucester and gouge his eyes out. But a servant gets in the way ad Cornwall is mortally wounded. So now its Lear, Edgar, Kent, Fool, and Gloucester who all somehow get together.
Then France wages war against England, and Edmund leads the British army. Goneril and Regan both want to marry Edmund, and Goneril sends Oswald (a steward) to kill her husband, the Duke of Albany. But that plan fails, both sisters end up killing each other, Cordelia and Lear are both taken prisoner, Gloucester dies of joy that Edgar is still alive, Cordelia is hanged, Lear dies of grief, Edgar kills Edmund, Albany turns down the throne and insists that Kent and Edgar rule, but Kent refuses, knowing he is likely to die of old age very soon, and the tale comes to a tragic end.
Wow this is a long letter isn't it? Write back.
All worn out from this letter,
Aaron
Dear Aaron,
Aren't you dying of annoyance at Padma there? She thinks that we shouldn't pursue Muggle careers because that's a waste of our magic. And can you believe that Hogwarts doesn't have Muggle classes? Is Dumbledore nuts, or what?
Professor McGonagall is a girl. I couldn't use the creative writing excuse, they don't have creative writing here! So yes, I did get detention. For detention here, they actually make you clean out a classroom or something. She made me untransfigure everything her second year class did. Half the time I had no idea what they managed to do. Those kids are really sloppy transfigurers, even worse than you. Just kidding. You're much worse. It took me three hours to get through all those poor spiders. That's another thing I'm going tocomplain about to Dumbledore, using animals as spell victims. Part of the time the effects are fatal!
Extremely shocked at the state of Hogwarts,
Kilo