Dear Maya,
THERE WAS A BASILISK IN THE SCHOOL BASEMENT!
Well under the dungeons in some secret chamber created by Salazar Slytherin when the castle was built but still! Apparently, he put it there to protect the school if the worst happened, how barmy can you get! I mean I always knew he was crazy with the whole pureblood mania thing, but hiding a basilisk in a school as a protective measure is completely insane!
Some guy turned up to get rid of it in the end. Neville says he was one of your teachers. Dunno what there gonna do with it, good riddance is all I can say, can you imagine if it had gotten out!
Anyway, congratulations on your team winning the Quidditch cup. Our season's still going, our last Junior team match was against Hufflepuff, we managed to win and have taken first place in the rankings but Slytherin are playing Ravenclaw next week so it might change. The Senior team haven't played their second match yet, I know Wood is hoping to win by a big enough margin to overtake Slytherin, but the senior seeker is pretty hopeless compared to you.
Professor Flitwick and Professor Moody, the new defence teacher, have started a duelling/defence club and there gonna hold a mini tournament after exams. Speaking of the new defence teacher, he's a former auror, he took the job as a favour to Dumbledore, says he's only staying till the end of this year. Hopefully he'll stay longer because he's utterly brilliant, even Malfoy admitted he was a good teacher, and you know how hard he is to please. He's been teaching us everything we should have learned last year and in the first term of this year, everything we would have learned if our professors were any good anyway. It's hard work, but Malfoy and Hermione are continuing the study club they started last term which is helping a lot.
We had a mini football tournament last weekend. Professor Sprout and Professor Babbling organised the whole thing after they overheard us talking about it before Christmas. They're both fans of the sport. It was mostly muggleborns and half-bloods apart from our year, where almost everyone turned up. It was fun, even if it doesn't beat Quidditch, they're gonna do another one again soon, might even make it a yearlong competition next year. Either way, they've kept the pitch they created and there's a sign-up sheet for people who want to use it to play a game or just have a kick around. Dean hasn't stopped talking about it all week. How did your try-outs go? Did you make the team?
How's everything actually?
Write again soon.
Ron.
P.S. The twins have now recruited Ginny as well as Neville, I'm not sure Hogwarts can survive the four of them teaming up, I definitely won't!
Dearest Cousin,
I never thought I would say this, but for once I find myself in complete agreement with Weasley. Salazar Slytherin was insane! A basilisk, one of the deadliest creatures in existence and he left it in a school full of underage children! I shudder to think what might have happened if not for mother. Her campaign to improve Hogwarts is still going at full strength, thank Merlin, else we never would have known about the Basilisk before it got out and ate someone!
As I mentioned before she's hired a team to remove the curse from the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. The team came highly recommended by the goblins, one of them was Weasley's eldest brother, apparently, they're some of the best in the business. They live up to the hype as well, they were the ones who discovered there was a basilisk in the school. Mother hired that new teacher of yours, the Parselmouth one, to come and deal with it. None of us students knew anything about it until it was all over, mother didn't even tell me! Basilisk parts will earn the school a small fortune once it gets harvested. Uncle Severus is very happy as he gets first pick at the parts, he didn't even punish the Weasley twins for the exploding cake fiasco, that's how pleased he was!
The cursebreaker team located the curse as well, what remained of it anyway. According to what mother said it was already broken before they found it, the cursebreakers seem to think it broke about September/October time last year. They've cleared away the remnants anyway, and that's that. Not that our new professor intends to stay on past June though, which is unfortunate because he is very good. Mother has promised to find someone equally as good, who will stay longer than a year, but we'll see. The proof, as they say, is in the casting.
Now that the curse has been dealt with, mother has transferred her focus onto the subjects. She doesn't have a problem with how any of them are taught, other than History, but she does think there could be more. Professor McGonagall and Uncle Severus agree with her, as do the other heads of house, I believe even the Headmaster agrees with her. So come next year we may have more lessons, and hopefully a new History professor. I am looking forward to the possibility, other than mothers insistence that physical education should be one of the new lessons, and a mandatory one at that!
Congratulations on your Quidditch win, Weasley believes that Gryffindor will win the Junior team Quidditch cup this year, but I'm telling you now, Slytherin will come out on top. Flint's been pushing us hard in training, much harder than any of the other teams, I think it has something to do with some bet his made, but I may have misheard his mutterings. We're bound to win our match against Ravenclaw next weekend, our last match against Hufflepuff may be difficult, as I said they're surprisingly good. Gryffindor only just scraped through with a win against them, mostly due to Weasley's efforts, he's a good keeper, just don't tell him I said that!
How was the Imbolc ritual? How were your football try-outs? Is it football or soccer? Thomas say's it's football, but you keep calling it soccer, or are they different things? What new experiences has your godfather dragged you out on now?
Don't forget to write back soon.
Much love from the most amazing cousin you have,
Draco
P.S. Why would you give Neville and the Weasley twins ideas? Just why?
Dear Maya,
As I'm sure you've heard from the others, we had a bit of excitement at Hogwarts recently. There was a basilisk in the school, it was under a spell that forced it to hibernate until it was awakened by a Parselmouth, so we were never in much danger, despite what Ron and Draco think. Anyway, Lady Malfoy arranged to have it dealt with, so all's well that ends well. How are your Parselmouth lessons going? Your teacher was the one who dealt with the basilisk so he must be very competent.
I'm also sure the other two have told you about our new defence teacher. He's very good and we've learnt a lot from him, much more than we ever did from that complete fraud Lockhart. I've joined the duelling club that he started with Professor Flitwick; I've also joined the Transfiguration club that Professor McGonagall oversees. I needed to do something, without you here dragging me into different adventures I've gotten quite bored, and as much as I enjoy watching Quidditch, and the occasional football match, I'm just not one for outdoor sports. Neville tried to persuade me to join the Herbology club, but I don't really like plants that much, and Lavendar and Parvati thought I should join them in Charms club, but I decided Transfiguration was more my thing. How are your clubs going?
Lady Malfoy is still set on making improvements to Hogwarts and I completely applaud her efforts. Draco is bemoaning her insistence on Physical Education becoming a mandatory subject, which I'm afraid might be partially my fault. She wrote to me and asked me about my experiences of Physical Education in Primary school, you know what sort of sports and activities we did, and well, I might have mentioned that it's a mandatory subject up until the end of senior school. I clearly wasn't thinking things through sufficiently when I replied because as much as I support her making improvements, I'm rather with Draco on this one, I do not wish to start P.E. lessons again. Although, if she manages to get Binns replaced then it might make up for it. How are your lessons going? Are you still struggling with Math and Arithmancy? I'm thinking of taking Arithmancy next year, actually I'm thinking of taking everything next year if I can, although that might not be possible if we end up having more options than we do now.
Fred and George have utterly corrupted Neville. I don't know how they did it, but last month they managed to prank the entire school. They managed to change everyone's hair colour, the Slytherins ended up with red and gold stripes, Gryffindors changed to blue and silver, Ravenclaws changed to yellow and black and Hufflepuffs got changed to green and silver. Even the staff were hit, ending up with pink and purple hair. It only lasted for a day, but still! Then this week they made exploding cakes; the entirety of the Great Hall was covered in glitter! And that's just the big pranks they've pulled. There's been lots of little ones as well and I know you've been giving them ideas. Fred's even managed to persuade Professor Snape to look at there potion idea for a sweet that makes you laugh so much you float. Which is how I know you've been giving them ideas, they got that straight from Mary Poppins which you told me your godfather took you to see!
It's not just pranks either. Zacharias Smith insulted Luna and the next day he had an entire heard of singing daisy's following him around, they didn't sing though just threw insults at him and no-one could get rid of them, not even Professor Sprout. Some of the Slytherin seventh years hexed the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years and then they turned up in the entrance hall completely trapped in vines with giant bats made from bogeys attacking their faces. I think Ginny, Ron's little sister, helped with that one, she'd friendly with quite a few of the other first years. It took the Professor's an entire day to cut them out of the vines. I mean Smith and the Slytherins probably deserved to be punished, but Neville never would have done anything like this last year! With all that happening it's a wonder anyone noticed the whole Basilisk removal! Anyway, I think you should stop making suggestions to the twins and Neville, at least until the current seventh years have left, or we might not have a Hogwarts to return to next year.
How was the animal adoption day you were volunteering at? Were the puppies and kittens cute? I'm thinking of getting a cat this summer. Mum and dad said I could have one for my next birthday, but since I will be away at school, I can choose one over the summer. I did consider getting an owl, but I decided I'd prefer an animal that I can have an occasional cuddle with and just keep using the school owls when I want to send letters. If I do get a cat, what do you think I should name it?
How was the trip to the air and space museum? Are you still considering becoming an astronaut? I've asked mum and dad to get me study materials for everything I would have studied at muggle school the last two years. I'm going to try and catch up this summer, it will be hard work, but if I can catch up over the summer on the first two years of senior school, then I can ease back and study the rest alongside my Hogwarts studies. I've been looking into the magical universities you told me about and I think I'd like to study at one once I graduate, maybe do muggle courses alongside magical ones if I can keep up with my schooling. I'm not sure what I want to do yet, possibly something in the medical field like mum and dad.
Write back soon, I'm missing you like mad. Parvati and Lavendar send their love and want to know if you've met any cute boys?
Love,
Hermione
P.S. Ron is freaking out about Fred, George, Ginny, and Neville forming in his words "An unholy alliance of chaos and terror". If he goes on any longer, I may have to drag him to Madam Pomfrey for a calming draught. He's not wrong but still!
Dear Maya,
I've enclosed the latest copy of the Quibbler for you to read. Daddy was ever so pleased with how everything turned out. Mr Crowley was kind enough to give him an interview after he dealt with the Basilisk, he even allowed daddy to get some pictures of the Chamber of Secrets and the carcass. We got the exclusive! This edition sold out within hours, daddy sold the article and the pictures to the Daily Prophet instead of reprinting. We're going to use the money for an expedition to Sweden this summer, we're hoping to catch a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Mr Crowley had several suggestions for areas we could look in to find one, and his husband Mr Fell has agreed to contribute a column each month, to be honest I'm not sure who was more excited about it, daddy, or Mr Fell.
It's sad that the Basilisk had to die, Hagrid was keen on keeping it, but Aunt Cissa says that unfortunately that would have been illegal and that it had to be put down with all due haste. Professor Dumbledore has been busy persuading Hagrid not to attempt to breed his own, as he is not a Parselmouth and would not be able to control it if he was successful. Ronald suggested that he should go and visit the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania over the summer, as it's open to visitors and he would be able to see how Norbert is getting on. I don't believe Hagrid was aware that he could visit before, but now that he is, he's been very enthusiastic about it.
Hermione, Draco, and Ron, seem to think that you and the twins are corrupting Neville, I'm not sure why. I think it's good that Neville's gaining some new friends, it's brought him out of his shell a lot, he doesn't have as many Nargles around him these days. I tried to explain this to the others, but they weren't convinced, I think they might be a bit too much under the influence of the Wrackspurts to understand. I thought your suggestions for the twins sweet range were excellent and Neville was very pleased with the list of books you sent him, Mr Fell even brought some more along when he came with Mr Crowley to deal with the Basilisk. It was very nice of him I thought.
Aunt Cissa's efforts to improve Hogwarts are going well, we're having another school dance just before the Easter holidays. How was your latest one? Do you have pictures of your dress? How did your girls weekend go? Aunt Cissa sent me a dress to wear to the dance, I'll send you some pictures as well, there's a first year in Gryffindor who loves taking photos, so I'll be sure to get some from him to share with you.
Enjoy your soccer match and your camping trip. Write soon.
Love Luna,
P.S. Watch out for Blibbering Humdingers, there known to swarm during the spring. Also Fred and George would be delighted with any other ideas you might have for their sweet range, but suggest you send them through me from now on to avoid Hermione's wrath.
"Basilisks, also known as the King of Serpents, are a magical creature that was first bred by the wizard known as Herpo the Foul. He got the idea for breeding them after finding Mr Crowley in his snake form, snacking on a toad that had found its way into his chicken pen. The breeding of them has been outlawed since 1347 due to the fact that they are deadly to all life and cannot be controlled by anyone other than a Parselmouth, and even that's not a sure thing. Any questions?"
A sea of hands immediately sprung up into the air, Aziraphale sighed, rubbed his nose, and pointed at one of the students at random.
"Why was he eating a toad?"
"I have never been able to get a satisfactory answer to that question, but I believe it has something to do with his dislike of Hastur. Next Question."
"How do you kill a Basilisk?"
"The safest and easiest way to kill a Basilisk is with the crowing of a rooster as this can be done from a distance. However, it's also possible to kill them with weapons if you can strike a mortal blow. Next Question."
"Who is Hastur and why doesn't Mr Crowley like them?"
