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~Emma Holmes

I was kept from returning to my compartment for the very stupid reason that when I slipped on my robe, my Dwarf rabbit named Whiskers--named so because he seems to have too many for any normal rodent--slipped out of my suitcase and began to leg it down the hall. Usually I keep him on a leash, but he's bewildered around too many people, so I keep him in the peace of my trunk. Now, however, he dashed away from me as I listened to Terrance's conversation outside in the hall. Cursing my absentmindedness, I took off after Whiskers, keeping my eye on his furry body. He was obviously much faster than me, since he didn't have to bump into people and endure their looks of offence, and I saw him slip after a boy into a compartment at the other end of the car. I ran to it and threw the door open.

The compartment contained three boys and one rabbit, the last of which was sitting, his numerous whiskers trembling, on the trunk of a boy named Sirius. I knew him, since he was from the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, but I didn't recognize the others by name. I knew the face of one, however, since he was the star Chaser of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and always was tossing around a Golden Snitch. On my entrance, they hurriedly folded up a sheet of paper they had been studying.

"Hi!" I said, my voice coming out squeaky from breathlessness and embarrassment. "Um... rabbit." I scooped up Whiskers, smiled again, and was about to leave when I heard one call out,

"Hey--have you seen Lily Potter?"

"The auburn haired girl?" I asked, turning.

"Yeah."

"She's with Severus Snape, I think," I replied, curious. They smirked.

"Thanks," said the Chaser, and then they put their heads together again. I left the compartment and went to stand by the door of the train, still clutching the rabbit, since I could see the carriages of Hogwarts lined up glittering in the twilight.

"Hey," I said, thinking Holly had come up beside me. It wasn't; it was a Slytherin called Delphi Lane and Azeala Prewett. They smiled thinly, looked with aversion at Whiskers, then returned to their conversation. "Hogwarts here we come," I muttered to myself, and couldn't suppress the giddy feeling that scuttled up and down my spine.

--Terrence--

After the conversation with Cindy Umbridge, I went and changed into my robes. A few minutes later, I went out onto the cairrages and rolled off toward the castle. I sat with Holly Evans. "Hi," I said to her. She looked up from the book she was reading. "Hello, um..."

"Terrence."

"Yes, Terrence. I apologize for jinxing you on the train."

"Why did you jinx me?" I asked. "Oh, it was an accident," Holly replied. And then who should join us in the cairrage but Cindy Umbridge, who said, "Oh, you jinxed him? Well, that's quite rude!"

Holly's face flushed, and me and her talked no further. But Miss "My-mummy-is-an-all-powerful-fat-faced-Ministry-official" did. A lot. All about how she planned on becoming first the head of the Improper Use of Magic Office ("Plenty of punishments to petty troublemakers like you, Terrence"), then the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures ("I'm sure I'll be managing all those foul vampires!"), and become an Unspeakable at the Department of Mysteries ("Whatever they've got in there has got to be good for my career"), and I'm not sure, but she may have mentioned an ambition to become the first female Minister (or rather, Ministress) of Magic.

When the cairrage finally arrived to the castle and we were relieved of the agony brought upon us by Cindy Umbridge, we entered. Professor McGonagall made a brief speech, the Sorting Hat sang his song, and the students were sorted. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, made his speech, and while I listened as well as everyone else, I didn't remember a word. All I really did remember was that Quidditch tryouts started on the first of October.

I was a Quidditch Chaser, though I wanted to be a Beater, and was darn good at it too. Last season I had joined the Hufflepuff team, and I was the reason we won that season.

After the speech, the feast commenced. Holly and Emma were both sitting next to me. We had a long boring talk about Transfiguration before the feast was over and we went to bed.

After I went to bed, I pulled out my Invisibility Cloak. It was cheap, just a large piece of cloth I'd had my uncle place a Disillusionment Charm on. I put it on and left the dormitory silently. Then I ran to the Ravenclaw common room. Yes, students were still entering! I hid until one of them walked up and then answered the question that the door gave him. As it opened, I walked up behind him, then dashed through as it shut.

I waited, then snuck into the girl's dormitory and hid some more for a few hours until everyone was asleep. Then I walked over to Emma's bed. I wanted to look through her belongings.

I pulled out a small sack of Dungbombs. Well, that was odd. Then I pulled out a copy of Hogwarts, a History. No surprise there. Then I got out a small object that felt like a stone.

It wasn't a stone. It was a Snitch. It wormed out of my hand flew around the room. I quickly caught it before it broke anything and then shoved it in Emma's bag. Then I began to leave, but before I did, I looked down at Emma. I wanted to do something she would never let me do when awake. Well, she probably wouldn't let me go through her bag awake either, but... she wouldn't let me do this especially.

I leaned over and touched her shoulders. Her skin was smooth and soft. I then noticed that her wand was under her pillow, and then it... flashed. Really brightly. Emma woke up, registered the fact that I was there and I was touching her, and then she screamed. I threw on my cheap Invisibility Cloak again just before all the other girls started to wake up.

I ran out just as the other teachers filed into the dormitory. "What is going on?" shouted Professor Flitwick. "For goodness sake!"

"I woke up, and Terrence Repwillson was standing over me, touching me with his hands!" shouted Emma. "Search outside," said Professor McGonagall, and then I ran. But on the way, my cloak caught on a sword held by one of those armor suits in the hallways. I tried to pull it away, but it ripped the more I tugged. Before long, my cloak had been shredded.

Oh well, it was old anyway. I grabbed the pieces and made a dash just as the teachers and prefects followed the noise. Somehow I was not caught on the way back to the Hufflepuff common room.

--

The next morning, Emma approached me furiously. I had not been caught, and no one had been able to prove she was telling the truth. "I know it was you who snuck in the dormitory last night. And you displaced my things." She slapped me from the left side of the face. "That's for sneaking in my business," she said furiously. Then she slapped me from the right side. "And that's for touching me! Don't. Touch. Me. If I wanted to be touched, Terrence, my mum would have somebody hired to do it for me, and they'd get paid about twenty Galleons and hour, which is about how much she pays our house elf."

"You pay your house elf?" I asked.

"There were no normal house elves willing to work for free like every other one. She's a weirdo."

Emma walked away furiously, all respect for my nerve that I'd aimed at Cindy Umbridge gone.

Speaking of Cindy Umbridge...

"So you snuck into the Ravenclaw room, didn't you... Terrence?" said that devilishly falsely sweet voice.

"No one can prove it," I said.

"Oh, but I can..." she said, and pulled out a photo of me running from the Ravenclaw common room and tearing my cloak on the armor's sword. I gasped.

"Five Galleons, and I won't show this photo to the teachers," she said in her singsong voice.

"You can't bribe me!" I said furiously. "Watch me," she said, then called, "Oh, Professor Mcgon-!"

"Fine!" I said, forcing my hand over her mouth. Then I handed over the Galleons and released her.

"Good boy," she said, taking my money. "Very good boy. Why were you sneaking in the Ravenclaw room anyway?"

I paused, then said, "I won't tell you."

"Suit yourself!" she replied, then walked away.

The answer to her question was, I wanted to become part of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew's little gang. 

Anthony~

I could still remember that day.

The first day at Hogwarts for me. "Anthony Briggs," they had called, and I had taken the place on the stool where the sorting hat would be placed on my head.

The hat seemed in indesicion. It sat there for several moments before saying "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"What?" I cried out loud in shock, but I was usher to the Hufflepuff table before I could do anything about it.

Hufflepuff.

I was in Hufflepuff.

I should've been in Ravenclaw. Was that not obvious?

Waiting at platform nine and three quarters for another year of Hufflepuff, another boy, Terrace, who was also a Hufflepuff, tried to get a conversation going with me and a studious Ravenclaw I was sitting next to. Ha. As if. I buried my nose deeper into my textbook, willing for him to go away.

He eventually did.

I sat in a compartment with my younger sister, Ice. It was her first year at Hogwarts.

I saw some kids I knew looking for a place to sit.

They walked right by my compartment.

I hate the sorting hat.

So, Ice is Steve's character who we are devolping. It's her first year, and she'll be in..... I won't say but it's not Hufflepuff. He's in the middle of the Harry Potter series right now (okay, in the middle I mean the fourth) so this is awesome! 

~Holly

"Holly! Wake up!" I heard a distant voice say. I cracked open my eyes. Kelpie was trying to get me to move. Why? I was having a perfectly nice sleep. Hadn't had one in a few days. I started to nod off again, but Kelpie smacked me awake.

"Ow!" I said, now fully awake and rubbing my face. 

"Good, you're awake. You were asleep the whole way here," Kelpie said as we got up and out of our compartment with our books and luggage. We talked about our summer, how it was, what we did. I'm a Muggle-born, so I did the typical Muggle vacation. Went to Bermuda, Pennsylvania, places like that. Kelpie said she stayed home all summer, and did nothing much but study, read books... the usual.

When we got to Hogwarts, I stared at the towers in amazement. It amazed me every year. Probably because I was a Muggle-born, and had never heard of Hogwarts until I was 11. When we entered the Great Hall, Kelpie and I sat at the Ravenclaw table of course. It was good to see my fellow Claws!

"Hi Emma!" I said as Kelpie and I sat next to her. 

"Great to see my mates!" Emma said and Kelpie, Emma and I talked for a bit until Dumbledore silenced us all. It was time for the Sorting Hat ceremony.

"Probably going to be barely any Claws, like last year and the year before," Kelpie said, rolling her eyes. Just between us Ravenclaws, we joked that intelligence was rare. Since there weren't many Ravenclaws...

"We'll just wait and see," Emma said, sighing.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That's as much as I can write now. Got to go to bed soon. What do you guys think of adding Molly Weasley (Prewett) and Quirinus Quirrel? They both were in Hogwarts around the Mauraders. And Joe the Stickfiddler, Cindy Umbridge sounds like a good idea! But I'm role-playing Holly and in the near future Kelpie (peeps, you can role-play one main character, and one minor character. I'm adding Kelpie, a dirty blond haired witch with blue eyes.)

Name: Gertrude Boulstridge

Age: 13

House: Ravenclaw

Personality: Is slightly lonely. Loves candy.

Other: Reads the newspaper every morning, and subscribes to various periodicals. Loves to read. Gets teased by Slytherins. Is neither pure-blood nor Muggle-born.

Gertrude~

After the feast, I went up to the dormitories and got ready for bed. Though the food was excellent, I had not very much enjoyed it because of my foul mood. My pet owl, Mr. Mailman, had mysteriously dissapeared, and so I was not able to bring him to Hogwarts. Brilliant. Now I was completely friendless. I fell asleep quickly

All of a sudden I was awakened by someone screaming."Terrence Repwillson was standing over me!"                                                                                                

OK sorry for being so short but I'm almost out of time on the library computer.

-Gertrude
"-- , touching me with his hands!"
How else could he have been touching her, I thought.
I checked my clock, it was around midnight. Why are people always causing disruptions in the night? It is so annoying. Ah, if only my darling Mailman were here. He would understand.
--
The next morning, I was very much missing my Daily Prophet and other periodicals. Oh why did Mr. Mailman have to go and disappear? I really should stop it, I'm starting to sound insane.
At breakfast, I overheard Emma talking to her friend Holly.
"-- and he had been rifling through my belongings, too! I can hardly believe I had thought him nice! I am going to give that Terrence Repwillson a piece of my mind!"
Ah, well, I don't really care. Just a little snippet. At least I have you to confide in, diary.

--Terrence--
After Emma gave me a piece of her mind and Little Miss Ministry bribed me, I ran off to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Our new teacher, Professor Pellettingle, walked into the classroom. He was tall and had a large mustache.
"Hullo, class!" he said cheerfully as he entered. "I am Professor Pellettingle, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Here are the first things a third year must know about Defense: know your enemy's intentions. If you don't know what they want..." He did nothing but talk the whole lesson. Worse than Professor Binns.
After DADA we had Herbology, taught by Professor Sprout. Her class was much more interesting, if a little dangerous. But danger could be pretty fun. She showed us how to pick the leaves off a Venomous Tentacula without being hurt. Then we had Transfiguration. Our job there today was to transform large books into cats and back again. I was almost ready to believe I had succeeded, until the Transfigured book bit
me.
Finally, my favorite class. Potions.
"Greetings!" said Professor Slughorn cheerily. "Today we are going to be making a basic Solution of Inconscium. Properly mixed, it will knock the drinker unconcious for several hours. But no one will be tasting it in class today. I shall smell everyone's potion and see if it is done properly, and samples will be tested by me later, on myself, with someone else standing by. This is in interest of all your safety, overdoses have been known to kill. Though this is not used often except in the Healing profession, it is handy for most wizards to know how to properly brew this. The ingredients are very common.
"You have twenty-five minutes. Time starts now." I looked in my Potions book and ran to get the ingredients. A bit of some Acromantula venom, Floo Powder, unicorn hair, an onion... no, not an onion... a Gurdyroot? What in the name of Merlin was that? We had one, thankfully. It looked like an onion all right. Crush the Gurdyroot, mix it with the Acromantula venom, stir clockwise for twenty-and-a-half seconds, add the Floo Powder and unicorn hair slowly as the potion boiled...
Then swish it sideways, put a lid on it, turn it upside down for three and one-quarter minutes... and done! But then I opened my potion after turning the cauldron right-side up again, and then the room filled with a strange green gas. Everyone coughed. "Terrence, my boy," said Slughorn, "what in the name of Merlin's beard have you done?" I looked at the instructions.
I'd forgotten to add one pint of... water. I said as much, and Slughorn replied, "Well, I'm afraid you'll have to have a zero. I'm very sorry it has to be so."
"Oh, it's fine," I said calmly. I didn't particularly care to have good grades so long as I knew how to make enough Galleons to have a good life. One fail at Potions could never hurt.
After the smoke had cleared, Slughorn found Lily Evans' potion and right away said, "Why Lily, my dear! You've surprised me again! Excellent work, such an exceptional Solution of Inconscium you've got here!"
So Lily got full marks. I got nothing. Was I a little jealous?
No. Okay, maybe a LITTLE. But I needed to learn how to make that potion. It would be handy to use on Cindy Umbridge.
--
After Potions, we had the lunch feast, and I ran into Cindy Umbridge. "Hullo again, Terrence, I'd like it if you would-"
"Get out of my way," I said, shoving her aside. "Stop acting like you own the place."
"My mum is coming in a few months," she called. "Just thought I'd warn you to be good, Terrence." I ignored her. However, I hoped she was kidding.
After the lunch feast, I sat in the library reading my copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I enjoyed such funny views on magic by Muggles. Muggle writings in general were fascinating to me. I particularly enjoyed Charlotte's Web and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Sounder wasn't bad either.
As I was reading, Emma entered. I looked up as she sat at my table. "Touch me," she said casually. Now I really looked up, and put down my book. "What?" I said. "You said not to touch you."
"Well, now I'm saying to do it. Touch me." She held out her hand. I grasped it, and -
"Ow!" I said as I was given a shock coinciding with a buzzing sound. Emma giggled. "Classic Muggle trick," she said. "What is that noise?" called Madam Pince. Emma gasped and hid under the table. "Help hide me!" she said desperately. Madam Pince came, and I acted like there was no one else around and pretended to read my book. Then Madam Pince took the book from me. "That is long overdue, Repwillson," she said. "You have had it out since last year. So irresponsible. You are henceforth banned from the library."
"But, that's mine -" I said, trying to say it was my own book and not the long-overdue copy of Quidditch Through the Ages she had mistaken it for, but she cut me off. "Get out!" I sighed and stood up, revealing Emma. "You!" shouted Madam Pince. "I banned you in your first year! Miss Holmes, you shall leave with Mr. Repwillson, NOW. Or you shall both have detentions!"
I sighed and we left. Then once we were out, I told Emma, "She took my copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz! We've got to get it back!"
Emma sighed. "Stealing stuff back isn't really my department, but I think I can help you."
****************************************
Okay, I hope more people are going to use Cindy Umbridge in their comments. Seriously, she's very interesting. Who agrees that Dolores Umbridge is the type who might have a daughter? And a word from Emma would be good about now...