Chapter One: Letters

Dear Cedric,
Look! Dad bought me my very own owl! I haven't named him yet, but he was a present this summer. He and Mum were so excited when I got my letter from Hogwarts that they went out and bought him for me right away. Dad keeps saying it's absolutely wonderful, another family member at Hogwarts…I think he was nervous about me getting in at all, since we found out about my cousin being a Squib. Whatever the reason, they're thrilled, and I got an owl!

How's your holiday?? Are the Falklands fun? It must be neat spending your holidays with wizarding communities…Dad hasn't taken us anywhere like that, he usually just lets Mum and I dress like Muggles and go explore the big cities where the Foreign Ministries are. You'd better tell me everything that you're doing there! I'll only forgive you for being gone all summer again if you give me all the details.

I didn't get a lot of letters from you while you were at Hogwarts this past year. Was the second year really that much harder? I'm kind of nervous about starting up there. You'll have to show me how things work, all right?

Mum and Dad and I are going to be at Diagon Alley soon to buy my supplies. Maybe you and your family will be there, too, and we can spend some time together before school starts up again. Write back to let me know soon.

Your friend,
Alex

P.S.: If you have any ideas about what to name my owl, let me know.


Dear Alex,

I love the owl; he's really sweet. But how did he get pink?

Don't worry about Hogwarts, it's a little different, but it's really not bad. The prefects of whatever house you're in will help out, and I'll be there if you ever get into trouble. And your house mates will be there to help you, and given how loyal you are I'd place good galleons you'll be in Hufflepuff with me.

The Falklands, since you asked, are dead boring. There's a ton of wizard stuff to see, but no one my age, it seems. And it's gorgeous, of course, but it's freezing! It's the middle of winter here, after all. So no one's really getting out. I'd never tell Dad this, but I'd rather be up there with you all than down here in this "idyllic vacation spot, perfect for the whole family!"

Oh, don't mind me. I've just looked back at what I've written, and I'm whining awfully.

We're probably going to buy all of our supplies down here and then get back just in time to rest up before Hogwarts, so I'm likely to just see you on the Express. Sorry about that, but I'm just thirteen--my parents make the rules.

Your friend,
Cedric


Dear Cedric,
Oh, was he still pink? I'm sorry. Dad had his cage in with this exploding bottle of wine, and apparently there was this "accident"... I hope he wasn't still sticky when he got there!

I'm sorry about your holiday... Trust me, if I could be there to spice it up for you, I would be! I guess I'll see you on the train, though.

Until then,
Alex


Dear Alex,
Was it Filibuster's Explo-wine? I've heard really bad things about that. Apparently it sometimes goes off even without a wand to trigger it. There was this one tale about some poor woman's cat that was stained pink for months.

Only a few days left of this interminable holiday. Rejoice with me! And I'll see you on the train,

Cedric


Cedric,

This time, I'm writing from Diagon Alley. No matter how many times I come here, there's just so much to see! I went and got my wand today. Is Mr. Olivander always so strange? He made me rather nervous. I wasn't scared (not much anyway), but I was definitely glad to get out of the store. Oh, I ended up with a dogwood wand with dragon heartstring. Apparently it means something about strength-oh, and it's supposed to be very good for protection spells. Most of what he told me I didn't understand, but I think I got that part right.

Dad let me check out some of the new racing brooms, too. I wish I could bring one with me to school this year. You were on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team last year, right? Maybe you can show me some of the tricks you learned. That way I'll have a head start when I try out for my team next year.

I ran into quite a few other new students, too. Only a few of them seem to know much about what Hogwarts is like, so I feel a little better now about being nervous. I'm getting more excited about starting school, now. I hope I end up in your House. It'd be nice to have a friend there already.

See you soon!

Alex


Dear Mum and Dad,
There's so much to tell you! The first and most important thing is the one I know you've been a bit worried about. No need to fear--despite the clumsiness and red hair, I didn't end up in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Instead, I'm in Ravenclaw, although how I got in there I'm sure I don't know.

Oh, and you'll have noticed by now that I have Firewine back. He's a little tired, which is why this letter is late. Cedric says that in the future I should probably make sure I don't send so many long-distance owls in such a short time.

I have a lot of new house mates to tell you about. There's a lot of girls in our house this year. (It's so strange to actually be thinking of Ravenclaw as my house! I was really expecting Hufflepuff.) Most of them seem pretty silly, though, or stuck up. A few looked approachable, I guess. There aren't many boys in our year, though, so we're going to have to make friends with some of them. There are only two others: George Pettigrew--yes, related to that family. There're almost as many of them as the Weasleys!--and Gary Whippleworth. Gary's not bad, but George seems very snobbish. One of the girls was nicer--very approachable, the sort of person who would never think of laughing at you. Her name's Cho Chang, and since we've both predicted our weak subjects and they don't match, we're going to be studying together.

There was one bad thing that happened on the train--some older students noticed that Firewine's feet were still pink and got on me about it--but other than that this has been a phenomenal day. I'll write more tomorrow.

The next day:

This is great. The way things worked out, we got to school on a Friday, so we haven't any classes until a few days after we get in. Cedric already spoke with me about going on a tour of the castle, and since Cho was looking really curious (and a bit impressed) he offered to show her around, too. Naturally, the rest of the Ravenclaw first years tagged onto him after that. The look on his face was priceless! It turns out, though, that only a few of the rest accompanied him, because everyone else followed this one Ravenclaw fourth year girl--I think it's because they run in packs, or something, girls being what my house is entirely made up of. It was just me, Gary, Cho, and a couple of the girls who were sharper than the rest who followed Cedric. Cedric took us on this great tour, pointing out what steps creak, and which paintings move--that sort of thing. He was really nice about making certain we could find our way back to the Great Hall from anywhere in the castle--but then, Cedric's always nice, isn't he? I'm just certain he's going to be a prefect.

That's all I've got to tell you, I think. Give Firewine some toast for me, he really deserves it!

Your son,

Alex


Dear Mother,

I am so absolutely ecstatic right now. I would have written to you earlier, but I've been extremely busy getting established here at Hogwarts. So much has happened over the past few days, I'm not sure where to begin.

Well, first of all, I was sorted into Ravenclaw House. It's a perfect fit, Mother, you wouldn't believe how glad I am I ended up here! Everyone here is kind and dedicated, and best of all, there are more girls in my year than in any other house. I'm so relieved, after seeing some of the slobs who were sorted into Gryffindor and Slytherin. At least here, we're bound to be civilized. A lot of the girls are rather stuck up, but I'm sure that once classes start and we get to know each other better, we'll be great friends.

Speaking of friends, I've already made at least one. His name is Alexander Whitman, and he's really very sweet. He seemed a bit shy when he came over to our table after being sorted, and since he was one of the only boys, most of the other first years ignored him. I felt sorry for him, being left out like that, especially since he kept looking over at the Hufflepuff table. (I found out later he has a friend in that house), so I decided to talk to him. He's very funny, and smart, of course. We've been spending a lot of time together, but I'm hoping the rest of the girls will stop being so snobbish soon so I can get to know them, too. Alex took me along on a tour of the castle yesterday, with another boy in our year, Gary, and his friend from Hufflepuff. His name is Cedric Diggory, and he's so handsome. He's a third year, but Alex told me that their parents work together in the Ministry of Magic, they live fairly near each other, and that's how they met. They've been friends for quite a while now, despite the fact that Cedric is older. I think that shows how intelligent Alex must be to understand someone older than him that well, and how enlightened Cedric must be to spend time with someone younger.

Alex and I spent part of the first night at Hogwarts trying to figure out which would be our weakest classes. After the tour, I asked Cedric to tell us more about the different subjects. They all sound so interesting, except Potions. I've heard Professor Snape is difficult and plays favorites with his house, and he certainly didn't look very nice at the feast. Besides, I've never enjoyed anything involved with potions, as you know. They're too messy, they take too long to make, and they smell terrible! Luckily, Alex is quite excited about Potions, although why, I can't even imagine. One thing we both have in common is Quidditch. We both want to be on the House team next year, and Cedric has already promised to teach Alex and I some of the things he's learned on the Hufflepuff team. He's Seeker-can you believe it? He's practically perfect!

I know I sound like I'm just watching boys so far, but really, I'm not. Cedric is handsome, but he's in a different House and in a different year. At any rate, right now I'm more concerned with doing well in class and making friends than romance. Today we got our schedules, and tomorrow classes start. I can't wait.

How are you and Father doing? Has anything interesting happened since I left? I know it's only been three days, but you never know. I miss you very much, and I'll try to write whenever I can.

Your Loving Daughter,

Cho.


Dear Diary,

What a day! That girl Alex brought with him is really something. The other boys were teasing me about her awfully, but they'll get their tongues back in their heads when they start hanging out with girls… I suppose I'll have a bit of an advantage on them then, won't I?

Alex seems really excited about being in Ravenclaw. I suppose I should have known, he's always been dreadful smart, but I really always saw him as more of a Hufflepuff person. I can't imagine why he was sorted into Ravenclaw…

…And let's face it, I'm more than a little bit jealous. I mean, he's one of my few real friends—not the sort who are nice, like most of Hufflepuff is, but the kind who really cares about me. Why should those Ravenclaws get him? He was my friend first! And— I'd deny it to the end if I ever got asked, but I really think I'm feeling betrayed. I know you can't pick where you get sorted to, and I know that even Alex was expecting Hufflepuff, but I can't help it, I feel like he's left me. It was always going to be us two, together in Hufflepuff. And now it's not. And that… hurts.

I should do my Potions homework. Potions. Yuck. This isn't turning out to be a very good start to the year, is it?

--CD


Dear Diary,

What did I ever do to deserve a House full of girls?! Everywhere I turn, I see them standing there, giggling! I mean, really—is it too much to ask to have a bloke about that's not dreadfully hoity-toity or a complete air-head? But no, instead I get George "You're-Supposed-To-Be-a-Hufflepuff-So-Go-Annoy-Somebody-Else" Pettigrew and Gary "I-wouldn't-know-reality-if-it-bit-me-someplace-I-care-about" Whippleworth. Lordy! About the only one in the entire class who has any degree of approachability and isn't entirely clueless is Cho, and she's a girl! What did I do to deserve this?

I figured out about George the first night—I mean, he just gave me this look, and I knew. Gary really had me fooled, though; I thought for sure that he'd be nice. It was only in potions that I realised how imbecilic he really is.

It started with Professor Snape's entrance. Now, as someone whose mother considers herself a connoiseuse of Theater, I know about good entrances, and that is obviously what Professor Snape thought he was making. But let me tell you, the fact that he was thinking about it at all just ruined it for him. I mean, a good entrance needs to seem unconcious, as if it just happens naturally, whether the person wills it or not. Professor McGonagall makes that kind of entrance; Professor Giza makes that kind of entrance; and Professor Dumbledore makes that kind of entrance. Professor Snape does not. Very disappointing.

Most of the class was fooled, though. Not a big surprise—it was really dramatic, just too aware of that fact to be really good. So most of the people in class were staring at him with the intensity of improvising dancers.

Gary most definitely was not.

Instead, he was looking at the window, where a whole bunch of insects (ugh!) were crawling.

This should have been the first clue. Silly me, I missed it.

The next thing that happened was that Professor Snape gave us an introduction to the course—and I have to admit it, that was pretty impressive—and told us that we would begin with one of the most basic potions known to man, a sleeping drought that even a Muggle can make, although it's not nearly so effective. We were to come and get the perishable supplies from the front, put a low flame under our cauldrons, and begin. We would be working in pairs.

Well, I told Gary, who was my partner, to put a very low flame on under our cauldron, and I would go measure out the milk. Which I did—only to discover, as soon as I turned around, that Gary had started an extremely high flame that was not only completely unsuitable for the potion and would, in fact, delay until we got in trouble because we had to wait for it to die down, but also was devouring my tranfiguration text!

The worst part is, I splashed milk all down my front as I ran to put it out and start a proper one, so I had to re-measure the milk and I had to change my robes, which meant I was late for my next class because I certainly couldn't leave Gary alone with that cauldron.
And I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be the smart ones!

More later—it's lights out.

--A. W.


Dear Diary,

Someone needs to explain to me how boys think, assuming they do. I mean, really—I say one word about wishing we could get on broom in first year without about fifteen people watching us to make sure we don't hurt our precious little selves—and the next thing you know, the boys are insisting that we sneak out and get in some practice on the school brooms—which aren't even OURS—during our free period after lunch! Well, fine and all, but shouldn't we have cleared it with Madam Hooch or somebody first? I said that to them, just like that, and the next thing you know I'm some sort of traitor—you'd think I said I wanted them to hang by their toes from the Great Hall, rather than see if it's all right. And of course it wasn't all right, so we have to wait a whole three weeks to get near the brooms, instead of the two weeks our classmates have, just because we proved that we could fly so they don't feel bad about making us skip flying lessons. And honestly, I can see how it's fair—and I'm sure you can imagine how the boys reacted when I mentioned that!—but I really don't like it. And I can't even protest that I was an unwilling accomplis, because I really could have insisted we not do it, if only I'd thouhgt of it…

We got called up to Flitwick's office, though, and that was intriguing. I love it! I want to have an office just like it some day! He has all these things—they look like fairies, but I really can't be sure—charmed to fly about the ceiling, and there's this constant music all in the air, like a harp that plays itself or something. There were all these hangings on the walls, a huge variety of them. I saw an old patchwork quilt, quite stained, and a japanese silk screen, just a small one. There was a poster of a very nice looking Muggle—he had the most gorgeous eyes—and a picture of Celestina Warbeck that wouldn't come out from behind the edge of her poster, but her shoulders certainly didn't have any clothes on them. And Flitwick was very nice about not taking House points, so none of my classmates hate me at least. Flitwick is just a dear; I'm certainly glad our house was the one to get him!

I really should get to bed—I'll write more sometime soon. Goodnight.

Cho


Dear Diary,

Well, I found out what happens when you get in trouble at Hogwarts. It turns out that you get tortured within an inch of your life by the Slytherin head of House, because he's an overgrown BAT who seems to have no life but to lurk around scaring first years; then you get reported to the Professor whose jurisdiction your transgression was in, and she lectures you; then you get sent to your head of House, who tells you how terribly disappointed in you he is, offers you a bonbon, and finds ways to punish you without taking points. Flitwick is COOL.

The story goes like this. I overheard Cho saying she wished she could practice the cool stuff, unsupervised of course because we would get in trouble for stuff that daring. Well, it should have been perfectly FINE with everyone if we did just that because all four of us—me, Cho, Gary, and George Pettigrew—were accomplished flyers. I mean really good—I'm probably the worst of the lot and I'm good enough to try for the House team. George was the one who had the idea. He said that since we were good enough to do it, there should be no problem with going out and practicing. I said we should do it during a free period, because otherwise it would be skipping class, and Gary said that the one after Charms should do perfectly. (Oh, and he bought me a new Tranfiguration text through Owl post, so we're good again. I just know to let him do the theory part of Potions.)

Well, Cho, typical girl, got cold feet immediately. She said we should check and see if it was allright, and I knew what the rest of us were thinking, which is "of course it's not allright, so of course we won't check, we'd just be asking for trouble"—but of course, we couldn't say that to Cho, because she a GIRL. I HATE girls.

So we had to find something to say to her to convince her not to go tattling—or, excuse me, "asking permission". Finally, George—who may be snooty but he is BRILLIANT—said, "Well, I'm sure it's allright, after all, we are the best flyers in our year."

Diary, never let me forget that when you're dealing with girls, you should always just butter them up. While they're sitting there being all complimented, you can push ANYTHING past them.

So off we went, and it was WICKED. We really must be the best flyers in our year, you know. It's a damn shame we aren't allowed on the Quidditch team yet. We were just returning the brooms to the broom cubbord when Professor Batwings loomed up behind us and demanded to know what we were doing. Cho explained it—rather politely, too, given that he's got to the first vampire ever to teach at Hogwarts, forget the fact that he was standing right in the sun—and the first thing he did was start hissing at us in that aweful voice of his. Ugh.

Then he referred us to Madam Hooch, who had apparently seen our flights from her office and was very impressed in spite of herself (HAH!), but still felt obliged to lecture us, which had no effect on me, but seemed to have really cowed the rest of them. Only, as we were walking up to Flitwick's office—which is where we were sent next—George snorted and said something about "What a load of dung. You could tell she just loves us—I bet she was a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts." So I guess he figured it out too.

Cho didn't, though, and she just let him have it both barrels. So he got really mad at her and isn't speaking to her, which isn't very different from the rest of us, actually, because she's furious with all the Ravenclaw boys. Oh well, though. She'll get over it.

Argh! I've forgotten, we've Astronomy! Got to go--!

AW


Dear Cedric,

This is awkward, but I haven't seen you almost at all since classes started, and, well, I'm not exactly faring well in the friends department. In case you haven't already guessed, it's Alex. Yes, I did really send this by owl. Don't ask why. I couldn't really think of any way more certain.

Actually, that's what I'm writing about. I'm getting along well enough in my house, but Cho's just so…incredibly girly, it's starting to cramp my style. And Gary and George just really aren't the sort of people I really like spending lots of time with, fun as they can be. I'm sure you've heard about our mishap with Professor Batwings, Madame Hooch, and Professor Flitwick. After that, George went back to being overly aloof again except when trying to get me to think of more ways to get in trouble. All of which lead to Cho overhearing and getting all gushy and paranoid again, and Gary trying to get in on something I haven't even thought about yet. I know things will get better, but right now, I just miss having one close friend that I can really talk to.

You remember how we used to leave notes and sweets and things behind that brick on the old house foundation between our houses? I thought maybe that might be a good way to keep in touch when we can't talk during the school days. You'll be busy with Quidditch and classes, I'll be trying to get the hang of life here at Hogwarts, and we both probably won't see each other much at all, so I thought it might be a good idea. Just let me know somehow, all right?

-Alex


Alex,

I did hear about your little adventure. What were you thinking? If you don't start thinking more, you'll end up in trouble more than the Weasley twins. I thought you were in Ravenclaw because of your brains, so why aren't you using them?

I'm happy to talk to you any time you want to--just let me know; I can't read minds. In the meantime, do you want to meet up sometime this afternoon? I'm free after lunch. Quidditch practices don't start for another week yet. Meet me in the library if you want to. If not, I'll just do homework.

-Cedric


Dear Diary,

Those two are so adorable. Not together, of course, but still! I was in the library, and I saw them talking together, although what about I have no idea. I thought about going over and joining in, but it seemed kind of private. Besides, Alex still seems a little put out about the whole flying incident, so I'm waiting for him to cool off.

Ah well--Astronomy calls.

CC


Dear Diary,

I talked with Cedric this afternoon for the first time in quite a while. And we made mad passionate love Get away from my diary, George!!!!

-AW


Dear Cedric,

Yes, I'm sending this by owl again. On the other hand, I found a new way of doing it. Something interesting happened last night--Cho came running into the common room screaming about being attacked by a suit of armor. Well, one of the prefects checked it out, and it turns out to be true! Apparently the suits of armor here sometimes move around. You never mentioned that!

This one had apparently gone somewhat rogue, and now it's been spelled stationary again. I talked to it, though, and it's agreed to carry messages for us. It's the one on the way out the front hall doors with the big "H" on its crest. So leave your message with it, and I can get back to you that way.

-Alex.


Alex,

Meet me in the library after detention, and I'll sneak you some chocolate frogs. By the way, the armor's name is Betty.

-Cedric