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Author: Elsha Story: Discussions Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: WIP Reviews: 2 Words: 19,719
Chapter Two — Eye on the Owls July 24 1996 Dear Miss Fairleigh, We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall Memo To all members of the Owl Post Surveillance Team: First, congratulations on a job well done. As far as we can detect no member of any of the households which we are keeping an eye on is aware of what we are doing. While this is probably due to the fact that the Death Eaters normally resident in said households are in our custody, it is also due to your handling of the case. Well done. Second - it has been noted that Theodore Nott (son of Eric Nott), currently staying with Karena and Paul Amberley, appears to be conducting correspondence with a Muggle household in Essex. We have not yet been able to figure out a way to open the letters sent back to him without showing our interference, as the sender is using Muggle envelopes. Enclosed are copies of the three letters sent by Nott jr so far; it is possible he is using some kind of code. I would like all team members to give me their thoughts on this (and also methods of opening and resealing Muggle envelopes.) Io Hartley Memo Ms Hartley and fellow team members, As far as I can discern the letters do not appear to be in any code, but there is definitely something suspicious going on. There is no reason for a Death Eater's son to be carrying on correspondence with someone from a Muggle area. The addressee on the outgoing letters has been identified as a Muggle-born witch, age fifteen, with no previous known links to Theodore Nott or his family. It is suspected her name is being used as a cover. This may indicate a breach of security if our surveillance is suspected. I suggest several courses of action. 1)Someone be assigned to research the recipient of Nott's letters Regards Memo Jo, I know that I'm field surveillance, not communications, but Edith showed me the letters, and after reading them I would like to respectfully suggest that we may be working this into something it isn't. After all, it is entirely conceivable that Theodore Nott DOES have a Muggle-born friend he's writing to, and that she is just using Muggle envelopes because she's Muggle-born. Nothing sinister about it. I know that Nott's father and other relatives are Death Eaters, but that doesn't make him one. I mean, look at my mother - she married a Muggle-born, and her sisters are Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy! I'm not saying the surveillance isn't necessary, just that we may be being overly paranoid, a la Mad-Eye. Cheers Memo Nymphadora, There is a war about to start. We can't be too paranoid. And your mother aside, are you seriously suggesting Eric Nott's son is engaging in correspondence with a Muggle-born Hufflepuff? Also, as you noted, you ARE fieldwork. Please stick to your area. Regards, Memo Dion, You’re Muggle-born, Beaumont’s tossed the envelopes problem over to me. How in Merlin’s name do you open a Muggle envelope and re-seal it? I must admit I’m pretty curious about what’s inside. I mean, if it is a trick to stop the letters being read, it’s a pretty good one. You generally don’t get that sort of thing — I would have expected hexes rather than glue. Then again, I was chatting to Edith, and she says Tonks reckons we’re making a mountain out of a molehill. She could be right. Just because Theodore Nott’s father is a Death Eater doesn’t mean he agrees with him — but then again… Hal Memo Re:Re: Muggle Envelopes Hal, Muggle envelopes are easy. You just get something that steams and use that - the steam melts the glue, and then you can glue them up again if you're careful. Irons are best, kettles just get the paper soaked. (Yes, I have tried this before.) If you can't get a Muggle iron, I'll get one, but we'll need a Muggle Artefact Enchantment Permit. Shouldn’t be too hard, Jo’s really annoyed about this one — I think Hartley’s on her tail about the letters — so she’ll push it through. She’ll be right. Tonks could be onto something, but I’m waiting ‘till I can have a squizz at the other letters myself — see if it matches up. Dion Memo Johanna, Issue all sorted. Dion memoed me to tell me how to work it. Useful having a few Muggle-borns around the place, isn't it? Apart from that, I opened, copied, and re-sent the latest letter. I'm telling you, Tonks may have had a point. It's all about music, gossip, and younger siblings. If the writer is Anne Fairleigh, she even mentions she hasn't explained to her parents she's writing to a Death Eater's son! I think these may be on the level. Regards, July 25, 1996 Dear Theo, You haven't written back, so I'm writing to you again - because Theresa got her Hogwarts letter yesterday! She is utterly thrilled, and was dancing round the kitchen going on about how she's going to be a witch just like me. Edmund, I'm afraid, stormed off to his room. He really isn't taking this very well, but then, I guess that's not really unexpected; he did want to go so much, and then he didn't get a letter. Mum and Dad are very happy for Theresa, of course, but I can see they're rather worried - they're remembering what I told them about Voldemort, and, of course, I get the Daily Prophet, so now they've started reading it, and it's being so panicky. Did you get that free information guide from the Ministry about how to keep safe? Bit of a joke, I guess. I heard they'd been sent round, but we didn't get one, because we're not a wizarding household - there's just me, and now Theresa. Actually, if you did get a copy, could you send me it? No offence, but you aren't exactly likely to be attacked. Well, maybe by Aurors or something. That was unfair. Ignore it. We're taking Theresa to Diagon Alley in a few days to get her school things. I know school isn't for another two months or so, so we'll be leaving most of it, but just the books and her wand, so she can start practising - and reading. There's no rule says you can't try magic before you start school, after all, and she really wants to. I think I'm going to teach her Wingardium Leviosa, that's the first spell we did in Charms, and probably…I'm not sure. I won't be able to demonstrate. But we'll see. I think she'll be a Ravenclaw, she's so into learning and finding things out, I'm being drained dry with questions! I think I'll farm her out to the Martins, they can answer better. Which brings me to the other thing I meant to write about. The attack, yesterday. Looks like it's started. I got a very scared letter from Ellie. Those people - the Croakers - they lived really near her. She's over in France, at the moment, but she's coming back on the first of August. I think she'll be okay. She isn't Muggle-born. But I'm worried. How did they choose? Alfred Croaker was just a random Ministry worker, he wasn't - not anything special, or his wife, and they were the first to go. Why them? Why anyone, when it comes down to it, what's the point in all this? Now I'm working myself up. Ah well, I get to go to Diagon Alley on Friday…back in the magic world. I honestly can't wait. Love from July 26 1996 Salut, Anne Glad to hear you and the others had a nice get together at Sarah’s. I really wish I could have come — although France is really cool. Mind you, I’m getting back in five days, so I’ll see y’all then. I hear Mai’s asked you over for the weekend — I think you’ll have lots of fun, being in a wizarding house, we’re all used to it but I’ve visited my Muggle relatives’ houses a few times and it’s just so different. Funny you’ve never actually stayed at Mai or Gabby’s before, but then we usually communicate by letters, anyway, and half the time half of us are away over the summer. It was you last year off up to Scotland for two weeks, wasn’t it? I’m taking lots and lots of photos to show you when I get back. Including one of me with this really nice Beauxbatons boy I met at the beach. His name’s Phillipe, and he’s really great to talk to — it turns out that we both take Care of Magical Creatures, so we were talking about that. He’s heard lots about Hogwarts from the students at his school who came over for the Triwizard Tournament. Gotta go. Still got some tanning to do before we come home! Ellie July 27, 1996 Dear Anne, Sorry about not replying. I meant to, but I had to hide your letter quickly when my cousin burst into the room, and to tell the truth, I forgot where I put it. Celia's so damn nosy, it had to be hidden pretty well. She was trying to get information out of me the other day about what her parents are doing. She essentially confirmed my suspicions regarding my aunt, but I didn't say anything to Celia - she is thirteen. Too young for this. Can't she see it's better to not know? The Ministry is curiously blind about women — they seem to assume that women are less likely to be involved in Death Eater activities — or at the least less dangerous. It’s true that you do get a few like Bellatrix Lestrange who are convicted, but from all accounts, including my father’s, she was pretty much insane before she went into Azkaban. She’s probably worse now. You must have read in the paper when she escaped about what happened to Neville Longbottom’s parents. But most of the wives of people who were investigated for Death Eater activities and discharged were never tried themselves — like my mother and aunt, or Draco Malfoy’s mother. I don’t think that my mother — at least, I’m fairly sure there was nothing to investigate, however much she might have known, but my aunt is an entirely different matter. I’m far more concerned about her working out what I really think about the Dark Lord than anyone else — she’s the one Celia inherited her nosiness from, but I think Celia is actually smarter. My aunt certainly tries to keep her precious children from knowing about what really goes on; she agrees they’re too young to know about it. (Not that she knows I think that.) But Celia has picked up more than she thinks. Lucas, at least, will go off and distract himself for five minutes — Celia is lost without something to read, and enjoys irritating me. Tell your sister congratulations on getting her letter. I think it’ll be good for you to have some family in Hogwarts, remember the conversation we had about family and missing them? I do, anyway, mainly because I ended up yelling at you and that isn’t something I do very often — in fact, I don’t think I did at any other point. I think I startled myself as much as you. Your parents are probably right to worry a bit. Hogwarts will not be as safe as it has been for Muggle-borns, now the Dark Lord is in the open — many of my House will feel it necessary to be more active in harassing them. I know you’ve experienced a little of that yourself, but it will be worse for your sister being younger and starting at this time. Look after her. She’d be okay in Ravenclaw — it’s traditionally a bit of an in-between House, some Death Eaters, but mostly fence sitters or those on the other side. We need a good noun for that, by the way; continuing to say "those who oppose the Dark Lord" or something along those lines is so negative. It defines people by what they oppose rather than what they are. Then again, that opposition unifies them. Certainly, I doubt I’d be writing to or even know you if it wasn’t for the fact the Dark Lord had come back, and I had doubts about him, and wanted to forget the choices — and so chose to follow you that day to see where you were going, instead of going to the Quidditch. Funny how such little things matter. I wonder what I’d be doing if I didn’t know you? Probably playing the piano, or just brooding. In any case, it would have been a very boring summer. Have I ever mentioned I’m glad you write to me? It gives me something to do — and to think about. Thanks, I suppose. Mind you, you are indirectly responsible for an astonishing number of lapses into sentimentality on my part, so it isn’t all good. Never mind. I think I can put up with it — at least for continued letters. Only a month to go - thank God, and then I can be back at Hogwarts. Where I will have to deal with Malfoy. I have clearly offended some higher deity, or I wouldn't have to deal with all this. Not to mention Crabbe and Goyle’s idiocy and Zabini’s blank stare. It makes Celia's nosiness and Lucas's whining seem almost - almost - agreeable. But what I really want is my father and my old life back. I don't suppose I'll ever get that, will I? Now I’m home-sick for school. I’d really better stop now. Yours, P.S. I think we may have got a copy of the information booklet thing you mentioned, so I’ll dig around a bit for it. It’s probably in the rubbish bin by now. Here we go — I’ve put it in. Not much there, to be honest, but you might find it useful. I was nearly caught by Lucas getting it out. There would have been no excuse for that one. July 31 1996 Dear Theo, Thanks for the information thing. You’re right, it was vague, but then the last war was fourteen years ago and they have no idea what You Know Who is going to do next, so what can they write? You probably have a better idea than they do! Not to mention half of it is about putting up wards and that sort of thing, which we can’t do. Or not ‘till I’m seventeen, and that’s not for another two years. Remember how I was invited to my friend Mai’s for a weekend in August? It’s this one. I’ll be away from home from the second ‘till the fifth, just in case you try owling me during that time. I’m really looking forward to it, I can’t wait to go to a totally wizarding home. I’ve been over to my friend Sarah’s once, but she has two Muggle grandparents so it was fairly ordinary. Mai’s parents are both purebloods, and they moved over from another country, so it’ll be really different. I’ll be meeting her younger sister, too, who’s starting at Hogwarts this year — I think. Her older brother finished last year, he was in Gryffindor so I didn’t see him more than once. Mind you, the only seventh-year Gryffindors I even knew the names of were the Weasley twins (being the Weasley twins — and having that splendid exit) and Lee Jordan who commentated the Quidditch matches. It’s a shame he’s gone, he was really entertaining, even if he was a bit biased towards Gryffindor. And against Slytherin, so I suppose you won’t mind he’s gone so much. I went down to the park and played football today. You remember I told you about it, my brother plays it? I used to when I went to a Muggle school, but I stopped once I started going to Hogwarts, because it’s a winter sport so I couldn’t do it over the summer holidays. Anyway, some of the girls I went to Muggle school with were down there, and a couple of them were kicking a ball around. Girls don’t do that much, it’s more a boy thing. Do girls play Quidditch just for fun? I know there are lots of girls on the House Quidditch teams, but I don’t know whether wizards have the same thing about girls and sports that a lot of Muggles seem to have. I’ve never really asked. Anyway, I saw my old friends there, I was going for a walk with Terry — Theresa, that is — we were both really bored — and I asked if I could join in. I barely see these people anymore, going to Hogwarts; I hate the lying, hate the fact that I have to tell them I’m going to some public boarding school. It makes them think that I think I’m better than them somehow. I know what you’d say; they’re Muggles, I’m a witch. But they were my friends, the people I grew up with, the ones I shared everything with before I went away. Sure, we had different interests, they didn’t like music, I thought dolls were only mildly interesting, but we were friends. You’ll have noticed the "were." It’s for several reasons. One, there’s the whole public school thing. Two, there’s the fact that — well, we have nothing in common anymore. It was okay when Theresa and I were kicking the ball around with them, and not really talking, but once we stopped and started to chat — we had nothing to say. I’ve noticed this happening every summer, but it was never so obvious before now. Their lives have diverged so totally from mine. They wanted to know about the boys I knew, and if we had any dances, and whether I was on the netball team. I wanted to know what subjects they were doing, and who was still at school, who’d moved, who was in the orchestra. They thought my life sounded boring; I had to say we didn’t have school dances, I didn’t really know any boys (yes, I know that sounds stupid when I’m writing to you, but — you know what they meant. Boys as in liking boys. Anyway. ) I wasn’t on the netball team. (Feel free to enjoy the mental image of me trying to play Quidditch.) They were doing subjects they liked but didn’t love; they wanted to get out of school as soon as they could; they couldn’t tell a quaver from a semi-breve. We stood around for a while, and then Theresa and I went home. I felt so — sad, seeing the great divide that had grown up between us. But it’s because of my magic, because I’m a witch — not that I would ever tell them that. I can’t. And I wouldn’t give magic up for anything, for the world, even though it puts me in a world where people might want to kill me — because I love it so much, love learning about it and doing it and seeing our world which is so different to the boring, everyday one. I feel sorry for them, because they’ll never have that. I can almost understand why some people do think Muggles are lesser, now I think about it; and that scares me, because I don’t want to feel that way. My parents and my brother are Muggles! But then it helps me understand you a lot better, too, so I guess it’s a good thing. I still wish I could have the friendship back — but I guess that’s part of the price of magic. Love P.S. I understand about the cousins. Nicola can be more than irritating — but siblings are different. You love them anyway. Cousins can just be pests with no sibling-ship (I know it’s not a word!) to soften it. P.P.S. There’s nothing wrong with sentimentality! And I thought Slytherins corrupted poor innocent Hufflepuffs — not the other way around. August 3rd 1996 Anne, I suppose you heard about the attack from the paper? Looks like it has started after all. I just got an owl from Ellie, she’s in a bit of a tizz about it. To be honest, I would be, too, it was in her town after all and that’s way too close for comfort. A whole family gone, just like that. I didn’t know either of the kids at Hogwarts but I think Gabby did, one of them was in her Muggle Studies class. I suppose Mai did as well. I’m really just…wow, this is all happening so fast, and it’s real. The Dark Mark, and everything. You Know Who is back, and the Dementors have left Azkaban, and…yeah. Write soon. Have fun at Mai’s place. Sarah August 5 1996 Mai and Anne, Hope this letter reaches you okay, three attacks in three days — this isn’t good. You should be okay, they seem to be targeting Ministry people, but — that first one was too close. I mean, I knew those people, the Croakers, there are only five wizarding families in my area and they were one of them. I grew up playing with their kids. Their dad worked for the Department of Mysteries, I guess that’s why he was killed — after all, that incident with Harry Potter (the latest one, that is) happened there, didn’t it? I didn’t really think all these attacks would start so soon, the Ministry seems to have been caught off guard. Then again, they spent a whole year denying that You Know Who was back, so I guess they were caught off guard when it turned out to be true. And now we’ve wasted a whole year with that cow Umbridge not learning any practical defence — Fudge really is an idiot. Anyway, I hope you’re having a good time together, Anne, how’s life in a wizarding house? Much different? I think it’s the little things that are the biggest differences, like how the cooking’s done. The big things are pretty much the same. Except for TV, there’s no TV, but then, you said you don’t watch much. Mai, enjoying having your parents away? Mind you, your brother is probably quite strict. Still, I wish they’d go and leave me alone for a bit. Must be cool having the house practically to yourself, well, and your brother and sister. That reminds me, is Peggy starting Hogwarts next year? I’ve forgotten. Love, August 6, 1996 Dear Anne, I got my OWL results back yesterday. I had to show them to my aunt and uncle, of course, and I think they approved. I hope so. I don't want to care about their approval. Still, as I told you so often, family's family. I wish I could tell Dad, but — I reckon I’ll have the chance at some point soon. I just wish he’d been here when I got the letter, you know? Anyway, I passed everything — hooray! — except Care of Magical Creatures. But then, I always have done badly at that, so I’m honestly not worried. I’d probably have dropped it this year anyway. As it is, we do a lot fewer subjects in the last two years, and we have to send in our subject choices in the next two weeks — some of them are marks-dependent so we couldn’t choose before then. I think I’ll be doing Charms, Astronomy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. Possibly Herbology, but probably not. For one, too much work, for another, I always put vicious man-eating plants on about the same mental level as Hagrid’s interesting — that is to say, insane — collection of vicious, man-eating animals. Or birds, or reptiles. Or whatever the Blast-Ended Skrewts were. I intend to leave that sort of thing to people who enjoy risking their lives daily to no good purpose. There are some pe! ople in my class who actually like the things. Mind you, the Hippogriffs in third year were fascinating, and the Thestrals were…well, weird. Did you get taken to see them? If you didn’t, you might this year. They pull the carriages to and from the train station — there aren’t very many people who can see them. There were only three in my class, Potter, Neville Longbottom — that Gryffindor whose parents were put in St. Mungo’s by Bellatrix Lestrange — and me. You have to have seen someone die to be able to see them, so naturally there aren’t very many who qualify. My marks aren’t good enough to continue Potions, not that I mind. You have to be nearly perfect to continue. It was alright, but I always have preferred actually doing the magic — I know Snape gives his big speech every year about how only some people appreciate Potions, and I was never one of them. I passed my OWL, I can make the basic ones without poisoning myself or blowing anything up, that’s all I want to know. Charms and Transfiguration are much more interesting, there are so many things you can do — and they don’t take half as long. I can be a little impatient sometimes, and waiting ten days for a potion when a spell will do the work in ten minutes always seemed rather impractical. Do you enjoy the subject much? I know Snape is very hard on the non-Slytherin students, it gets quite ridiculous at times. I mean, Potter and his friends can be extremely rude, but accidentally-on-purpose knocking over Potter’s potion so he fails is so childish. He’s a teacher. I’m just glad I am in Slytherin. You’ll be in for it this year with your OWLs coming up. They really are quite exhausting, and the amount of homework is nothing like what it is in any other year. I think half the point is to get rid of the really useless people by working them to death. Mind you, even Longbottom and Malfoy’s two lackeys reached the end of the year without having nervous breakdowns, so it isn’t working if that is the point. But you do learn a lot — in most subjects. Defence Against the Dark Arts was a different story, but you’ll have a new teacher — I must say I really envy you that one. Umbridge didn’t teach us anything useful for the exam. Or barely, anyway. I wish we’d had Lupin for this year — he may have been a werewolf, but he did know his stuff. Practically the only one who did. Or Moody, but since he wasn’t who he claimed to be and half-insane besides I suppose it wouldn’t be such a good idea. We do seem to get the dregs of the barrel with the Defence teachers. Here’s hoping this year will be better. By the way, I never said you corrupted me. I merely said that you were responsible for a number of lapses on my account. I’m sure it can be beaten. I was never sentimental at all before I talked to you. I feel I may be discovering the secret of why Salazar Slytherin wanted to ban Muggle-borns. He knew they were part of a fiendish plot to weaken the wizarding world. Good God, now I’ve contracted frivolity as well. This is serious. Yours P.S. Hope you had a good time at your friend’s, what was it, Mai? And don’t worry about those girls at the park. You’re part of our world, not theirs. I know you don’t want to hear me say that, but it’s true. Not in any sort of bad way, just how things are. You’re one of us, not them. P.P.S. I get what you mean about liking. Or not. It made sense, sort of. Actually, never mind.
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