After meeting Fluffy
Dear Mum and Dad,
I should have told Percy that his brother and Harry were planning to leave the dorm after hours. I tried to tell Ron and Harry myself, but they selfishly refused to listen to any sort of reason. I was locked out of the common room when I tried to make them come back, so I had to go along with them, lest the caretaker find me. Mr Filch is very strict in enforcing the out of bounds rules. I heard Ron’s brother Fred telling Neville that he has chains. Neville was left outside as well, because he could not remember the new password into the common room. So there were four of us sneaking through the school after hours! It was horrible.
It was quite exasperating, too. Ron even threatened to use a curse on me. He had heard Professor Quirrell mention it in class the day before yesterday, now. But he obviously wasn’t listening because the Curse of the Bogies isn’t a real curse. It is used to describe a whole class of Curses, many of which have been lost now, anyway. I do not understand how he thinks he’s going to learn anything while he’s at school.
Draco set Harry and Ron up, of course. He wasn’t there to meet them where he said he would be. This is a perfect example of Slytherin thinking; he sent Filch instead. Harry led us on a merry run through the school. He seemed to know where he was going. There are secret passages all across the school, at first because the Founders thought that it would be an interesting thing to have, and later because Gryffindor and Slytherin liked to avoid each other at all costs. There are further theories that the school has grown extra secret passages over the years. No one has managed to map the whole school.
We ended up near the Charms classroom, which would have been okay, but we ran into Peeves and Ron tried to take a swipe at him. We had to run from Peeves. I was the only one who knew the charm to open the door at the end of the corridor that was locked. I was very annoyed at Harry, because he had his wand because he had been going to duel Draco, but he hadn’t read the introduction to his Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). Ms Goshawk describes the unlocking Charm quiet clearly. It’s a very interesting Charm, because it only works on cast locks, not other things baring doors like latches. It’s actually a form of a transfiguration.
I had to use Harry’s wand to open the door. That was a very strange experience. Normally magic works naturally. You say the spell, and think about what you want to happen, and everything follows clearly. But using Harry’s wand was like trying to watch something through a mirror, or playing both hands of a card game. All the thinking was the same, and everything was clear, but you had to translate it in your head, concentrate more, go carefully. I would like to borrow someone else’s wand to try again, but I don’t know anyone who’d let me want to ask. And Magical Theory says that for the first few years of learning magic, one should use one’s own wand exclusively. One should learn one’s wand as one learns magic. And I like my wand. It’s very pretty.
The door was locked because the corridor on the other side is out of bounds. It is out of bounds because it leads to another part of the school that is being used to house or store something. I have no idea what it might be, but Dumbledore surely knows. It is obviously both important and very secret. There aren’t even rumours about it. That corridor is being guarded by a large three headed dog, and it was quiet an experience to come up against it in the middle of the night. We fled back to the common room without meeting anyone. If Filch had found us we would surely have been expelled. None of the boys noticed that the dog was guarding something. I have decided that I am never speaking to them again.
Gryffindors have a reputation for being curious and reckless and sticking their nose where it does belong, but I refuse to go on break anymore school rules while I’m here. Unless they’re stupid ones, of course, but that is how it should be. The Sorting Hat said Gryffindor would teach me something, but so it is simply to avoid boys. None of them can think properly! Except possibly Percy, I should have trusted that he would a prefect.
At least we didn’t caught, so we didn’t lose any more points and we weren’t expelled. Draco Malfoy clearly expected Ron and Harry to be on the train this morning. He was very upset to see them at breakfast, which was a nice thing.
Because of the skill he displayed in rescuing Neville’s gift from Malfoy, Harry has been given a place on the Quidditch team. Professor McGonagall even gave him a broom. I can’t image what she was thinking. It’s all very well to make sure the house has a good team, because the Quidditch cup is an important part of the school culture, and winning it put the house in a good position for the House Cup. But rewarding an eleven year old for breaking the rules is hardly a good example. After getting away with last night, they are going to be awful to deal with.
I look forward to everything going back to normal and learning some real spells in Charms. So far we can only make coloured sparks and light.
I will have to write to Aunt Grace to tell her about the three headed dog!
Love from,
I should have told Percy that his brother and Harry were planning to leave the dorm after hours. I tried to tell Ron and Harry myself, but they selfishly refused to listen to any sort of reason. I was locked out of the common room when I tried to make them come back, so I had to go along with them, lest the caretaker find me. Mr Filch is very strict in enforcing the out of bounds rules. I heard Ron’s brother Fred telling Neville that he has chains. Neville was left outside as well, because he could not remember the new password into the common room. So there were four of us sneaking through the school after hours! It was horrible.
It was quite exasperating, too. Ron even threatened to use a curse on me. He had heard Professor Quirrell mention it in class the day before yesterday, now. But he obviously wasn’t listening because the Curse of the Bogies isn’t a real curse. It is used to describe a whole class of Curses, many of which have been lost now, anyway. I do not understand how he thinks he’s going to learn anything while he’s at school.
Draco set Harry and Ron up, of course. He wasn’t there to meet them where he said he would be. This is a perfect example of Slytherin thinking; he sent Filch instead. Harry led us on a merry run through the school. He seemed to know where he was going. There are secret passages all across the school, at first because the Founders thought that it would be an interesting thing to have, and later because Gryffindor and Slytherin liked to avoid each other at all costs. There are further theories that the school has grown extra secret passages over the years. No one has managed to map the whole school.
We ended up near the Charms classroom, which would have been okay, but we ran into Peeves and Ron tried to take a swipe at him. We had to run from Peeves. I was the only one who knew the charm to open the door at the end of the corridor that was locked. I was very annoyed at Harry, because he had his wand because he had been going to duel Draco, but he hadn’t read the introduction to his Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). Ms Goshawk describes the unlocking Charm quiet clearly. It’s a very interesting Charm, because it only works on cast locks, not other things baring doors like latches. It’s actually a form of a transfiguration.
I had to use Harry’s wand to open the door. That was a very strange experience. Normally magic works naturally. You say the spell, and think about what you want to happen, and everything follows clearly. But using Harry’s wand was like trying to watch something through a mirror, or playing both hands of a card game. All the thinking was the same, and everything was clear, but you had to translate it in your head, concentrate more, go carefully. I would like to borrow someone else’s wand to try again, but I don’t know anyone who’d let me want to ask. And Magical Theory says that for the first few years of learning magic, one should use one’s own wand exclusively. One should learn one’s wand as one learns magic. And I like my wand. It’s very pretty.
The door was locked because the corridor on the other side is out of bounds. It is out of bounds because it leads to another part of the school that is being used to house or store something. I have no idea what it might be, but Dumbledore surely knows. It is obviously both important and very secret. There aren’t even rumours about it. That corridor is being guarded by a large three headed dog, and it was quiet an experience to come up against it in the middle of the night. We fled back to the common room without meeting anyone. If Filch had found us we would surely have been expelled. None of the boys noticed that the dog was guarding something. I have decided that I am never speaking to them again.
Gryffindors have a reputation for being curious and reckless and sticking their nose where it does belong, but I refuse to go on break anymore school rules while I’m here. Unless they’re stupid ones, of course, but that is how it should be. The Sorting Hat said Gryffindor would teach me something, but so it is simply to avoid boys. None of them can think properly! Except possibly Percy, I should have trusted that he would a prefect.
At least we didn’t caught, so we didn’t lose any more points and we weren’t expelled. Draco Malfoy clearly expected Ron and Harry to be on the train this morning. He was very upset to see them at breakfast, which was a nice thing.
Because of the skill he displayed in rescuing Neville’s gift from Malfoy, Harry has been given a place on the Quidditch team. Professor McGonagall even gave him a broom. I can’t image what she was thinking. It’s all very well to make sure the house has a good team, because the Quidditch cup is an important part of the school culture, and winning it put the house in a good position for the House Cup. But rewarding an eleven year old for breaking the rules is hardly a good example. After getting away with last night, they are going to be awful to deal with.
I look forward to everything going back to normal and learning some real spells in Charms. So far we can only make coloured sparks and light.
I will have to write to Aunt Grace to tell her about the three headed dog!
Love from,