Disclaimer- I shall actually write a serious disclaimer this time. My story is based on the series by J.K. Rowling, some rights are owned by various publishers, and Warner Bros., no profit is being made from this story, the usual stuff.

The submarine dream is based on a dream I had last night, and I thought "Hey, this is interesting. Let's use it!" Just thought I'd let you know. I'm bringing in Ginny now.

Chapter 5

Dear Lyle,

Sorry I haven't written for so long, but this year is O.W.L. year at Hogwarts for us fifth years, and even though it's still September, the teachers are giving us tons of homework. How's Ziriat? How are Padma, Parvati, and Neville? Poor Neville. He must be having a hard time adjusting.

I had the strangest dream last night. First, I saw a harbor for the U.S. Navy. I was on a submarine/ordinary ship called the Titanic II. I seemed to know a few kids there, especially these two ten year-olds, Samantha and Pablo. The captain briefed us on the rules and regulations of the ship. The captain seemed to shift constantly from a middle-aged man to a young woman. It was very… odd. A day after we cast off, we were in the middle of the Atlantic, and it had snowed. The whole upper deck was covered with it. We had a major snowball fight, one that even Fred and George would envy. But the strangest thing of all was that the dream had not an ounce of magic in it. Oh, yes, also I seemed to lift up the curtain on a porthole, and saw three fish staring at me.

Have you had any dreams strange dreams so far? Write back soon.

Already tired of school,

Ginny Weasley

Dear Ginny,

No I have not had any strange dreams. Ziriat Academy for Young Magicians is the strangest school I have ever been in. There are two sections. The Lower school, grades 5-8, and the Upper School, grades 9-12. Guess what? They make us study Muggle Classes, and some are even with Muggle teachers! Hogwarts seems so old-fashioned compared to Ziriat. They are run pretty much like an ordinary boarding school. If you live near by, you can simply have your parents drive you over, or if you live really near by, you can take the school bus. We don't have to wear uniforms, we use pencils, pens, notebooks, folders, and binders. You also would not believe the extra-curricular activities here. Apparently a witch in Milwaukee just recently discovered a way to keep electrical items from blowing up around magic, so Ziriat uses computers, light bulbs, and all these Muggle stuff.

Also the Senate of Magic has voted a long time ago that they would not necessarily keep Muggles from knowing about them. If they believed in magic, and were not considered to be a threat to the magical community, they were allowed to interact with us. Am I babbling here? Okay, I'll stop my ranting now. By the way, I was assigned to Unicorn House, and am bunked up in a room with a boy named Jessie, he seems pretty nice.

Feeling very sorry for you,

Lyle Peterson

Dear Kilo,

I'm sorry. There I have it out. I've never looked at it from that point of view, I guess. But know that I have, I suppose I can sort of see your reason. Let's just not mention this problem anymore, okay?

King Lear is a fantastic play. William Shakespeare was truly a master at plays. I have tried out for the role of Goneril, but I got Regan instead. Oh well, she is a pretty good character, I guess. I'm also the costume manager for the play. Parvati is Goneril, and the House manager. Aaron is Cornwall, my husband, unfortunately, and Tech. Director. Marie is Oswald, and costumes assistant. Alyce is Cordelia and the Art director. Surprisingly, Neville tried out too. He got the part of the First Servant, he's the one who intervenes when Cornwall plucks out Gloucester's eyes. An odd part for someone usually so shy, but he is in Gryffindor, so he must have courage to some degree. We're currently on the reading-through stage of the play. Oh yes, I never told you who the teacher is. He is Mr. Brewer, he's quite nice. But he's really only the overseer. Most of the load will be on Mikey, the student director. I believe she is known as your only real rival in school. She seems very brilliant and precocious. I like those words. Brilliant and precocious. They have a nice ring to them. I seem to be classing everyone I meet here in Ziriat to what they'd be at Hogwarts.

Alyce: A true Hufflepuff. She seems to fight for the equality of everyone and everything, as a lot of Americans do. She'd excel at Charms class, as she does here, and would most certainly join Hermione Granger in her Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. I know, Hermione could help you in your, um, cause. She is probably the smartest student at Hogwarts, and very determined. Like you and Mikey, I think. Anyway.

Marie: Slytherin. But not in a bad way, of course. She is very ambitious, like most Slytherins are, but other than that, she is not like those nasty, self-centered Slytherins. She would be a Quidditch star. She's the best Keeper Dolphin House has ever had, or so they say. She plans on becoming a professional athlete.

Aaron: Ravenclaw. He's not as smart as some of course, but his memory and planning abilities (though it seems you two use it mainly for pranks) re amazing. You could be the next Weasley twins.

Your friend,

Padma Patil