Happy Christmas!!

I'm afraid that this post isn't going to be very long.  Today is day before the Christmas Holidays, and I'm going to be going home to my family.  I've mentioned before that my parents are both dentists, so although I miss them both very much and am excited to see them, I feel like picking up and leaving the magical world of Hogwarts for the Muggle world of my parents is going to feel lackluster.

Well, except for the fact that I get to see my family.  Mum, Dad, I did miss you so!

Oh, and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Besides that exciting news, all there is to say as far as Harry, Ron, and I with our search for trying to find out who Nicolas Flamel is has been a bust so far.  I've read all the books I can from the library to the point that Madam Prince was getting irritated by my coming and going. 

It wasn't just me either.  Harry and Ron have been accompanying me as well, searching for any mention of Flamel while I proofread through their homework.

😐

I hope the boys find something while I'm away, it'd be good if we can solve this mystery before it gets too big to solve.

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All Information based on the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPre. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Ch. 12. New York, NY: Scholastic, 1999.  Print.

The case of the Cursed Broom

Today was the first Quidditch match I've ever watched.  And one of my best friends, Harry Potter, is on the team.  Harry plays seeker, which means that his whole goal in the game is to find and catch the snitch. 

If he does, the team automatically gains150 points and also ends the game.  This doesn't always mean that the team that catches the snitch wins, however.  There have been many games in which the team that caught the snitch actually lost. 

Now since I'm starting off this post quite happily, I think it's pretty obvious to say that Gryffindor did indeed win, and Harry did catch the snitch. Actually it looked like he's basically swallowed it whole when he caught it; now that's something that will be going down in school history (besides the fact that Harry is the youngest to be on the team in AGES.)

But while I'm immensely proud of Harry and Gryffindor house for winning, it's actually what was happening DURING the game that concerned me the most. 

In the middle of the game as the whole school stood watching, Harry's broom started acting funny.  He kept moving strangely until the broom just started trying to buck him off.  It was frightening, I thought Harry was done for right then and there! 😟

Now, ever since Harry, Ron and I have become friends, they've let me in on a few things that I was surprised to learn was mutual between us.  None of us like Snape.  Or even really trusted him.  Harry had seen him with his leg all bloody and messed up, like it was chewed on.  I was shocked when I heard,he is a professor after all, but the fact that his leg was like that meant that he had met up with something with a lot of teeth. And the tendency to chew on bones and meat. 

That could obviously only mean that Snape had paid a visit to the giant three headed dog, and was attacked for some reason.  Since the dog was guarding something, I guess that Snape was not allowed to pass.  I didn't want to give the boys any ideas though, so I tried to dismiss it, but Harry and Ron are too stubborn to do anything like that. 😒

The reason I point all this out is because as I was looking through the binoculars, I saw Snape muttering something under his breath all while maintaining eye contact with Harry's crazy broom.

That's when I did something crazy....

  I set Snape's robes on fire.

...

It's unexpected of me, I know.  But as soon as I saw that, not to mention as soon as Hagrid, the kind groundskeeper, said that Harry's broom is CURSED, I just reacted.  I had to stop Snape, so I went over to the staff's seating as fast as I could, and without even thinking, I bent down and whispered the incantation for fire. 

It MIGHT have been a drastic move, but as they say, drastic times call for drastic measures.  Or something along those lines.

As soon as Harry regained control of his broom he caught the snitch in about three seconds flat and won the game!

All three of us ended up in Hagrid's hut (Hagrid was making Harry a cup of tea) and when we brought up Snape's curse to Hagrid, he vehemently denied it. But in doing so, he did let a few interesting things slip.

1) The monster guard dogs name is Fluffy.
2) The "Fluffy" belongs to Hagrid.
3)Whatever it's guarding has to do with someone names Nicolas Flamel.

The third one there might make sense to me, if only I could remember where I've seen that name before...

Hagrid wouldn't say much after that, and we were sent back to the Gryffindor common room, where there was apparently a huge party happening.

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All Information based on the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPre. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Ch. 11. New York, NY: Scholastic, 1999.  Print.

Halloween

I had promised myself I wouldn't have anything to do with Harry or Ron again.  I wrote it myself in my last post.  An to be completely honest, I was going to go through with refusing to speak with either of them again, but... they were just too annoying.  And irresponsible.  And I felt like I had to do SOMETHING because it seemed to me like no one else was going to do anything.  Which is why, right now at the end of Halloween, I believe I can say with confidence that Harry, Ron and I will be great friends.

 Allow me to explain:

A few days after the whole duel incident, I was doing well with my promise of not talking to them (which I think they were a bit relieved about to be honest)  when during breakfast, Harry's owl Hedwig dropped off a package for him.  I wouldn't have noticed at all if the package hadn't been large and also hadn't knocked over my pumpkin juice, but alas, it did, so I saw.  And I was all over annoyed again.

He'd received a broomstick.  A Nimbus 2000 I heard Ron whisper out.  Clearly they were trying to be sneaky, but really, all it was was a broomstick wrapped in packing paper.  It was  pretty obvious to figure out what the "package" was.  They snuck away and that was the moment I decided to give them a piece of my mind when I saw them next.

First years weren't supposed to have broomsticks, since they weren't allowed to actually play Quidditch.  First years were supposed to be learning how to properly handle a broom with Madame Hooch, not get all cocky after they broke the rules and discovered they could fly all fancy (even if it was impressive).

When I saw them in the common room, I overheard Harry say that he was on the team.  If anything that frustrated me even more.  RULES ARE THERE FOR A REASON.  And Harry was rewarded for breaking them.  I didn't understand.  And I told them off anyway.  And then Ron griped some more.

That boy has always got something to say, doesn't he. 😦 Even now, when we are friends.

This morning, Ron ended up being my table partner in Charms class.  We were learning all about the swishes and flicks one must use when using their wand.  Ron of course kept doing it wrong wrong wrong, but I kept it together.  Until he started trying to actually say the spell.

I won't say what spell it was (confidentiality, remember?) but I finally had enough and I told him how to say it proper.  To which he snapped back at me to do it myself.  And I did.  And I succeeded.  Honestly, I was feeling quite proud of myself until the end of class when I heard Ron telling Harry that I was... how did he say it? Oh yes, a Nightmare.  Oh, and that I have no friends.

Now this is still before the events of today, and all three of us weren't really friends.  I suppose we were more peers, but what he said really hurt.  Even if we weren't "friends" we were Gryffindors and we were also first years.  And it wasnt as if I had NO friends.  I had Neville and a few of the other girls in Gryffindor House, Ron didn't know what he was talking about.  But it really bothered and upset me, so I locked myself in the girl's bathroom and didn't come out all day.

I know it's pathetic (and I even skipped some classes!), but what he said really hurt.  It just made me realize even more that I don't come from a magical family, and the fact that some people think I have no friends made me feel like maybe I wasn't doing as well as I thought integrating into magical society.

Doing that was dumb and stupid, and actually almost cost me my life today.  Because if I had just ignored Ron and went on with my day, I would've been in the Great Hall at dinner when Professor Quirrell burst in saying that there was a troll loose.

So I was in the bathroom, still upset, as the troll made it's way in.  I didn't notice it at first, but all of a sudden it felt like everything was extremely quiet and still.  I stopped sniffling for a moment and raised my head and that's when I saw a club swinging towards my head.  I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes and I realized something in that moment.

I'd been so excited about Hogwarts and being here that I'd forgotten to really enjoy it.  School isn't just about rules and schoolwork, but about the people as well.  And I felt bad about nagging Harry and Ron ever since the day I'd met them.  I still feel bad.  I understand why Ron said what he did, but it didn't make it any less hurtful.

After that split second, my body sort of took control and I dived out of the way.  The sinks were destroyed and I ran into a stall and closed the door.  I don't know why I thought that would help, but I was on autopilot at that point.

I was screaming as loud as I could, but no one seemed to hear me.

Right when I thought I was done for, I heard Harry's voice yell something to the red haired kid who ran in with him.  And then I saw both of them do the most reckless thing ever.  Harry tried to get me to run towards him, but my legs were frozen and I couldn't move.  I saw Ron yelling at the troll, distracting it I guess, and then Harry jumped on the troll's back.  I thought my eyes would pop out of it's sockets!

At that moment, Ron pulled out his wand and executed perfectly the spell he was struggling with in Charms just this morning!  The troll's club rose into the air and knocked out the troll and then all was still.

Five seconds later, Professor McGonagall, Snape and Professor Quirrell were in the bathroom demanding to know what happened, and what we were doing there.


So I took a risk.  Harry and Ron saved my life and I owed them, and I also didn't want them to get in trouble.  I took the blame for trying to handle the troll on my own.  And I told the professors that Harry and Ron had tried to stop me.

Professor McGonagall was very upset with me and took off five points.  It's the first time I've ever lost any points ever.  But as I was heading out of the bathroom and back to the Gryffindor common room, I heard Professor McGonagall award both Harry and Ron five points each, meaning we never really lost any points to begin with.

That Professor is a smart one.

And that is how Harry, Ron and I became friends.

---

Information based on the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPre. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Ch. 10. New York, NY: Scholastic, 1999.  Print