Owl to Vincent Crabbe
Hullo Vincent!
It seems silly to write you when we're going to back at school so soon, but then we mostly communicate through letters even when we're at school, so maybe it's not so odd really. How have your hols been?
Mine have been quite nice. It's been good to get out of the castle for a bit. I love it most of the time, but sometimes it can feel a bit claustrophobic, never going anywhere except Hogsmeade, which is great fun when you're in third or fourth year, but after awhile it starts to seem all the same. Here, I have all of London to wander about in, and loads of free time in which to do it. I swore to myself when I left school that I wasn't going to bring any work with me, because I knew I wouldn't do it, and if I brought it it would just sit on my desktop giving me a horrid guilt complex. So I've mostly been spending the hols either faffing about London or lazing around my house not doing much and letting Mum pamper me a bit. She doesn't get into a pampering mood often, so I'm taking advantage of this one for as long as it lasts.
I spent quite a bit of time in muggle record stores--some of the fancy new ones like Tower and Virgin have little stations with headphones (imagine something that looks sort of like an earmuff set, but plays music) where you can hear the new albums. I didn't want to spend any money on things I won't be able to listen to until the summer(to my knowledge, no one has ever been able to make Muggle music players work at Hogwarts), but it was fun to listen to. I did get loads of new chordbooks for my guitar though, and I expect to spend some time once I get back to school in my favorite nook by the greenhouses practicing. I've not done that in ages, partly because of the weather and partly because I've been so bloody busy
I've played endless amounts of footie with my little brother Will (footie is sort of like Muggle quidditch, except you play it on the ground, running, and there's only one ball, and you kick it instead of using your hands--and there's nothing like the snitch) and he kept making the ball curve back toward him rather than coming to me. I guess that means he's definitely a wizard. I'm glad Tori (that's my sister) didn't see it, because she's finally having a better attitude about things. I even attempted a little sister bonding by going shopping with her, which was actually fun! (Normally I hate shopping, unless it involves bookshops or record shops) She kept trying to make me buy lip gloss though! I don't know what it is about some girls and makeup. I had tea with Parvati Patil, who's my partner in the mentoring program. She was rather nice--nicer than I expected her to be, honestly--but she kept going on about taking our mentee, Ivy Watkins (who seems a bit down), shopping and buying her lipgloss and stuff. Honestly, not all problems can be solved by buying lip gloss! I can see where it might make some girls (like Parvati, or my sister Tori) feel better, but I'm not sure Ivy is like that. Though I can't really tell, as I don't know her very well yet. I do know she has a cousin in Slytherin--Graham Pritchard, I think. Do you know him?
Since I know you like sweets, I've enclosed some classic Muggle ones--Cadbury Creme Eggs, they're called. Eating them around Eastertime is a big Muggle thing. They're some of my favorites.
see you at school,
Eloise
It seems silly to write you when we're going to back at school so soon, but then we mostly communicate through letters even when we're at school, so maybe it's not so odd really. How have your hols been?
Mine have been quite nice. It's been good to get out of the castle for a bit. I love it most of the time, but sometimes it can feel a bit claustrophobic, never going anywhere except Hogsmeade, which is great fun when you're in third or fourth year, but after awhile it starts to seem all the same. Here, I have all of London to wander about in, and loads of free time in which to do it. I swore to myself when I left school that I wasn't going to bring any work with me, because I knew I wouldn't do it, and if I brought it it would just sit on my desktop giving me a horrid guilt complex. So I've mostly been spending the hols either faffing about London or lazing around my house not doing much and letting Mum pamper me a bit. She doesn't get into a pampering mood often, so I'm taking advantage of this one for as long as it lasts.
I spent quite a bit of time in muggle record stores--some of the fancy new ones like Tower and Virgin have little stations with headphones (imagine something that looks sort of like an earmuff set, but plays music) where you can hear the new albums. I didn't want to spend any money on things I won't be able to listen to until the summer(to my knowledge, no one has ever been able to make Muggle music players work at Hogwarts), but it was fun to listen to. I did get loads of new chordbooks for my guitar though, and I expect to spend some time once I get back to school in my favorite nook by the greenhouses practicing. I've not done that in ages, partly because of the weather and partly because I've been so bloody busy
I've played endless amounts of footie with my little brother Will (footie is sort of like Muggle quidditch, except you play it on the ground, running, and there's only one ball, and you kick it instead of using your hands--and there's nothing like the snitch) and he kept making the ball curve back toward him rather than coming to me. I guess that means he's definitely a wizard. I'm glad Tori (that's my sister) didn't see it, because she's finally having a better attitude about things. I even attempted a little sister bonding by going shopping with her, which was actually fun! (Normally I hate shopping, unless it involves bookshops or record shops) She kept trying to make me buy lip gloss though! I don't know what it is about some girls and makeup. I had tea with Parvati Patil, who's my partner in the mentoring program. She was rather nice--nicer than I expected her to be, honestly--but she kept going on about taking our mentee, Ivy Watkins (who seems a bit down), shopping and buying her lipgloss and stuff. Honestly, not all problems can be solved by buying lip gloss! I can see where it might make some girls (like Parvati, or my sister Tori) feel better, but I'm not sure Ivy is like that. Though I can't really tell, as I don't know her very well yet. I do know she has a cousin in Slytherin--Graham Pritchard, I think. Do you know him?
Since I know you like sweets, I've enclosed some classic Muggle ones--Cadbury Creme Eggs, they're called. Eating them around Eastertime is a big Muggle thing. They're some of my favorites.
see you at school,
Eloise