A/N: Not JKR. Meh.

September 17th, 1978

I expect you've all been in one of these situations at some point or another. The kind where your professor does something that makes you scratch your head and think, "Excuse me, Professor McGonagall, but blimey, you really haven't got a clue, have you?"

I mean, the woman's name is Minerva. I realize it's probably a bit much to live up to, being named for the goddess of wisdom and all, but you'd think it would at least guarantee some semblance of common sense...but as I learned in class today when she assigned us into groups and paired me with Selma Frint and Ella with Pritchard Goyle, apparently that is not the case.

We Ravenclaws have always had our Transfiguration lessons with the Slytherins, but never before has McGonagall demonstrated such a mindless desire to play devil's advocate. To be sure, I can most definitely hold my own with Frint the Fuck-tard, but Ella having to work with Goyle? The man is going to crush her. Literally. I didn't used to think it was possible to have hands roughly the size and weight of sledgehammers, but then again, Pritchard Goyle defies a lot of expectations I used to hold about the world—usually in terms of an individual's capacity for sheer idiocy. Yes, he continues to alarm me on a weekly basis with his complete lack of intelligence.

More to the point, though, I genuinely fear for Ella's safety on this assignment (which is to research medieval Transfiguration spells that have fallen out of use, pick one, and modernize it, presenting to the class on how it could be applicable in our time...joy of joys). The only evidence that Ella has a spine at all is the fact that there must be something keeping her upright. Pollux and I had to talk her down from the panic attack she had after class got out, and we've agreed to be close by every time she and Goyle are working together…not that I expect he'll be doing much of the work.

Pollux, by the way, has been helping me brainstorm ways to mess with Selma the Slag. We spent our free period wheedling Professor Slughorn into giving us some Veritaserum…I would say I'm shocked that we succeeded, but for one thing the man is daft when it comes to anything of actual importance, and for another he absolutely loves Pollux, so honestly I'm not too surprised. I plan to slip some into her pumpkin juice while we work on our assignment together tomorrow. Let's see what dirty little secrets the Slytherin princess has been keeping.

September 18th, 1978

Well. Today has certainly been enlightening, and I'm not at all sure if I've processed everything that I learned. I suppose I should begin with the easy things. We needn't have worried about Ella—Pollux and I were a few stacks removed from Goyle and her in the library in case anything went awry, but she handled it surprisingly well and only required a walk-by paired with a menacing glare from us once.

Frint and I, however…somehow I managed to convince her that working in an empty classroom was more conducive to a productive working environment than the library, so I was able to slip a drop of the Veritaserum we coaxed from Slughorn into her flask of pumpkin juice (I only needed a very small amount, for I wasn't expecting Selma to reveal anything of great worth).

Let me tell you, that witch can talk. Amidst the endless babble about her hair, her robes, and her sexcapades with Regulus (the nauseating details of which I will spare you), Frint let slip some very important news: apparently Regulus, Goyle, and several other of the Slytherin idiots in my year are to be "inducted" this Christmas. Inducted to what, you might ask. It would seem that for the past few years they have all been training to become Death Eaters. Yes, that's correct. Death Eaters.

Things are bad in the wizarding world. That much is obvious to all of us. But perhaps I've been too naïve in thinking that while we're still at Hogwarts, at least, the horrors that go on beyond the walls of this castle can't really touch us here—which just shows what an idiot I've been, for of course the reverberations are felt here just as strongly as they are outside. I haven't been blind to the missing students—those whose parents have deemed their own homes safer than Hogwarts—or the rising death tolls in the Prophet. I guess I've just failed to add it all together. I missed the big picture here. For once I haven't lived up to the Ravenclaw standard. I neglected to comprehend the full extent of this Dark Lord's reign of terror (by the by, bet my mother's his number one fan).

So when Frint informed me of just how deeply involved Regulus and his cronies are and have been for several years, at least, it did rock me a bit to my core. I wonder if that was one of the reasons Sirius left home a while back? Could he just not bear to see his younger brother so wrapped up in this pureblood-mania nonsense?

This Christmas…that's only three months away. So immediate. Well. If there was any doubt before, it's utterly clear now: Regulus Black has really and truly gone over to the dark side. It's certainly true that I'm not surprised. But there's a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that I can't quite justify.

A/N: Dearest readers,

I apologize for the lengthy break between chapters (unfortunately that's going to be the way of things while I'm away at school). But I am home for the next month and plan to work hard on this and ET.

On another note: I made an error (gasp!) when I made Sirius two years ahead at Hogwarts, so I've gone back and fixed that to only one year. Originally I had wanted it to be different from the age difference in ET (which is according to canon) but upon further study of the chronology of events in the first wizarding war, I realized that if I want this story to be accurate, Regulus and Phaedra need to be in the graduating class of '79. So. There you go. If you don't care one whit about accuracy, that's great. No harm done. You may have also noticed a change in the format what with the introduction of dated sections. The previous chapters as you may have noticed were all summing up Phaedra's story to this point and now that we've come to her present, I thought the most sensible format would be by date.

Right. That's all. Much love. Hope you all had fantastic holidays. I got a nifty swiss army knife. Please review! It would be a lovely late-Christmas present.

Harmoniously yours,

Crengels