Pacing
Author: Charlie Weasley
Date: 02-02-02 14:56
Charlie Weasley stood in the little room that he and Bill shared at the small inn, pacing in front of the small window.
"What in bloody hell am I going to write her?" Charlie said aloud to no one in particular. After a while of pondering, he finally sat down at the small desk in the corner of the room and began to scribble out a letter in dark green and royal purple ink (The ink would change colors halfway to every letter--from purple to dark green).
"Argh!" Charlie exclaimed, ripping up the letter and throwing it into the waste basket across the room. He sighed then began writing again. This time he took it extra slowly, and wrote from his heart. At first, Charlie felt like he was being sappy, but he came to the conclusion that if you're truly serious about a girl, you had to write truthfully.
As he wrote, Charlie thought back to his school days when he and Bill would be swooned over by countless girls. He remembered LaLainya Petersen, that sweet and tender-hearted Gryffindor that Bill had hooked him up with. They had dated and gone steady for two years until LaLainya moved to some country far away. Charlie couldn't even remember the name of the country, but he remembered how broken hearted he was to come back to school with no LaLainya. He remembered passing Belladonna in the hallway as he went to class with Bill that first term without his beloved LaLainya.
Bella smiled at him, and he smiled back. The odd thing was, he felt warm as they locked eyes for that moment in the hall. He seemed to forget his heartache. Oh, why hadn't he taken the opprotunity over that term to ask her out? He was such a foolish fifth year student, then. He wouldn't let his pride take over this time. No way in hell was he going to do that. Charlie grinned as he signed the letter and put a little extra token of his love inside the envelope and sealed it. "This time, my dear brother Bill, I've got the girl."
Touring London
with a Lady
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 02-02-02 16:53
It was a chilly day in Muggle London. The skies were overcast and grey clouds in the distance were threatening rain.
"So, this is Muggle London," Bill mused as he and Adriana emerged from the Tower Hill tube station. He was glad to have his feet firmly on solid ground again, for he hadn't ever used the subway before and the experience was anything but pleasant.
"It's really dirty in those subway cars," Bill had whispered to Adriana as they fought the crowds to find the exit of the station.
Adriana had laughed and replied, "That's what happens when millions of people use them for transportation everyday."
They had emerged from the station and climbed some stairs to find themselves staring at the Tower of London with Tower Bridge looming in the distance.
"Wow."
Adriana smiled and patted Bill on the back, "Nice, huh?"
"Let's go get a closer look!" Bill said, taking her by the hand and following the tourists to the massive structure. Adriana paid their entrance fees with the Muggle money she happened to have with her and she even bought Bill a book on the Tower of London. He listened intently to the Beefeater who told the history of the place, sharing his knowledge on the historical events and famous guests the Tower had once served.
After the tour ended, Adriana led Bill to the building where the crown jewels were held. They stepped onto a conveyer belt (which was also very new to Bill) and stood, gliding past the various display cases housing crowns, rings, scepters, and orbs.
"That's a pretty ring," Bill said, pointing to a golden ring with a large ruby on it. "You could probably buy yourself one." Bill bit his lip, thinking that he could probably never afford to buy Adriana or any girl a pretty ring such as that one. Adriana seemed to sense his distress.
The conveyer belt stopped, and Bill almost fell but Adriana held onto his arm tightly. They continued to walk throughout the building, admiring fine golden platters and jewel encrusted robes the whole way.
After that, Adriana took him to the White Tower, so that Bill could admire more manly items. Fake armoured horses, battle cannons, pistols, long swords, and fancy daggers lay fixed behind glass display cases. Bill was having such a nice time, he had almost forgotten that there still were some unanswered questions he wanted to ask Adriana.
As they walked out of the Tower of London complex, Bill went on and on about the stories he had learned that day, and how he felt sorrow for poor Lady Jane Grey and the young princes who had been executed there.
The sun was on the verge of setting when Bill and Adriana began walking the banks of the Thames. A nice yellow glow shone on the water, disturbed by a slow moving boat, which caused many ripples to glide over to the bank where Bill and Adriana stopped to admire Tower Bridge.
"Did you know that the old London Bridge is in the United States? They bought it from you Brits, thinking they were getting Tower Bridge, when in fact they were getting something not so elaborately decorated." Adriana stated, looking up at the blue coloured bridge.
Bill chuckled, "You know a lot of interesting things."
"I guess so," she smiled taking one of his hands with both of hers as she began walking backwards. Pulling him along, she said, "Do you want to see my favorite place in London?"
"I do." They returned to the tube station and took the subway to Russell Square, where Adriana immediately took him by the hand and dragged him a few blocks to the British Museum.
"This, Bill, is my favorite place in London," she smiled and turned away from him, staring up at the building. "This is the British Museum."
By now the sun had set, and the air grew cooler. The two hurried inside and found themselves lost in many wonderful artifacts, ranging from the Rosetta stone to the Elgin marbles. Bill was having a great time, and he was sure that Adriana was too.
[Baliseon,
France] The Commencement Ceremony
Author: Lord L. A. Higginton-Smythe
Date: 02-02-02 18:15
The stadium of Baliseon was massive. The delegates numbering to five thousand occupied a very small portion. Those many rows that were unused went underneath hundreds of national flags, symbols, and banners. Lludd Alfred sat comfortably with an unrestrained smile along side the other members of the high council. Around them in the top box (which was unusually located near the middle of the rows) sat influential dignitaries whose authority was needed. Lludd Alfred was extremely social with everyone about him in anticipation of the ceremony ahead. Once the chorus of voices reached a fortissimo Kalgrie Iulok stood and with wand ready spoke, "Sonorus." Her voiced boomed above the chatter of the delegates,
"Welcome! We are here to begin a great journey into the history books of future generations as we commence the first International Wizarding Convention in several decades. This is the Commencement Ceremony of the International Wizarding Convention of 1995..." Kalgrie paused for a moment with delight overwelling her, "Begin!"
White, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and violet bursts erupted above the stadium. While the color display continued above thousands of creatures emerged out onto the field. They were of all shapes and sizes and numbers, some which were chosen for their abilities and others for their coloring. They continued and continued in numbers until the field of the stadium was solid with creatures. On the field there were displays of the capabilities of each creature before they became rowdy and began to turn on each other. Starting in small pockets then spreading across the crowd brawls became all out warfare among the creatures. Immediately Balesion officials broke into the crowds with wands shimmering while there was cheering and laughter above. Kalgrie stood up once again and bellowed out the name of each attending nation, organization, and group while the representing colors and symbols flashed from everywhere imaginable.
An hour later Kalgrie sat again having finished the list and more light was sent into the night sky above. Figures flashing here and there could be seen until the crowd finally discovered they were Quidditch players. Two allstar teams of the world's greatest players began a long and brutal match. Lludd Alfred smiled as people reached over to shake his hand with the feeling of early success.
Friday
Author: Jet
Date: 02-02-02 21:14
Being able to sleep in on Friday mornings was one of Jet's favorite things during the school week. Jet stayed in bed until his stomach let it be known that it wanted food. After he'd grabbed a bite in the Great Hall, Jet had returned to his room, emptied his book bag of all its contents then filled the bag with the items he'd bought a couple of weeks before in Hogsmeade.
Jet picked up the bag and headed out onto the grounds. He went straight to the cave he'd explored weeks earlier with Hannah and Alanis. Jet looked around until he found a soft enough section of the cave floor that he could dig a small hole. After making one big enough for the items he brought, Jet placed them in the hole then filled it back in. He moved some stones to mark the spot, dusted off his hands, picked up his book bag and returned to Hufflepuff House. With the rope and other things now buried in the cave, Jet didn't have to worry about one of his roommates seeing them and asking questions. Jet had been wanting to get the things well hidden since buying them but with the piles of assignments he'd had, it was the first chance he'd gotten.
Heading straight back to his room, Jet collapsed on the bed and decided that since he had no Friday classes, was caught up on all his assignments, and had nothing else to do at that moment, a nap was just the thing.
Fearing the
Truth
Author: Adriana Fairchild
Date: 02-02-02 23:19
Adriana crept silently through the mummy room of the British Museum. It was so incredible to be there without any other people. She crouched down behind a sarcophagus, listening intently for Bill's footsteps. He came shortly after. Pressing her face to the floor, she watched under a display case as his feet came closer. Bill walked over to where she lay hidden, but still didn't see her. As he turned to look elsewhere, Adriana crept up behind him and poked him in the ribs.
Bill shrieked and flew around, completely out of breath. "Don't...ever...sneak up...on someone...in here." He finally managed to get out.
Adriana was on the floor with laughter. "You'd think after working in Egypt you'd be used to these guys by now."
She turned away from him and walked into the next room, stopping in front of a woman's bust. "Do you know who this is?" she asked Bill. "This is Queen Tiye from the 18th dynasty. She was a commoner who became a great queen."
"Well, now." Bill smiled as he came toward her. "You never told me you studied Egyptology!"
"I didn't." Adriana paused. "When I was eleven, my father brought me to London with him on business. He had meetings all day so he dropped me off here. He asked one of the curators to look after me for the day. Wow, that was a great day. The curator showed me the entire museum, and he had a story for everything..." She smiled, "For Queen Tiye. It's one of my happiest memories." She sighed. "And I guess that's why this is my favorite place."
Adriana looked up at Bill sadly. "Of course, I never knew at the time that my father was a wizard, and was probably at Diagon Alley that day." She looked away and then suddenly grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."
They made their way back to the Underground. As they waited for the next train, Adriana caught sight of a newspaper on one of the benches. She picked up the abandoned copy of The London Times. "Let's see what's going on in the Muggle World today."
Opening the paper she skimmed down the columns. 'NATO secretary-general Willy Claus resigned today...The UN is celebrating it's 50th anniversary this weekend...There was an underwater earthquake near–"
"What does UN mean?" Bill asked.
"It stands for United Nations. Oh, look," Adriana continued. "There's going to be a total solar eclipse on Tuesday!"
Bill didn't say a word. She could sense something was wrong. "What?"
"Why do you care what happens here anymore?" Bill asked
"Well," Adriana smiled. 'I need to know what's going on, so I'll be well-informed when I go back."
'Go back?" Bill shook his head. "Go back where, here?"
Adriana frowned. "Well to New York, probably. But not for a while, I mean, I still have to train and–"
"You don't understand, Adriana." Bill looked at her sternly. "You can't ever go back. This is the world you belong to."
"No it's not, Bill." Adriana turned away from him, trembling. Adriana...Adriana... She could hear Voldemort's thin voice sticking in her ears. "If this is the world I belong in, why did my parents try so hard to keep me out of it? I'm starting to put things together now." She began to pace, back and forth.
"Bill, Dumbledore didn't even know I existed until September. You wanna know why? Because the magical quill that writes down the name of every magical child born didn't write my name. And I am a witch. Do you know what kind of power it takes to hoodwink an object as magical as that?" Adriana stopped now, almost out of breath. "Why else would my father move us to the United States? He was trying to keep me away from all this, I know it."
Adriana looked as though she was going to cry. Bill pulled her into his arms and gently kissed the top of her head. "Let's get you home." He held her all the way back to The Leaky Cauldron, with more unanswered questions floating around in his head than before. He would get to the bottom of this. He would find all the answers. Not because it was his job, but because he had to. For her sake.
[London,
Ministry of Magic] Two Letters
Author: Lord L. A. Higginton-Smythe
Date: 02-03-02 12:02
Cornelius Fudge looked at the message placed in the center of his desk. The familiar handwriting and seal caused a scowl to pass over his face. Reluctantly he opened and looked at the message:
Cornelius,
You were missed at the Commencement Ceremony last night! I must say a good
many hands were ready to shake yours. I am not writing you on Baliseon though,
("Good," was Cornelius's response) but I am writing you on Ministry issues.
I wish now to fill in the position of Head of the Department of International
Muggle Cooperation. With my duties here now is an excellent time to fill in
dear Barty's old seat. You will accept my decision to appoint young Percy
Weasley, my assistant, who will be receiving a letter at this time congratulating
him on his appointment.
Good day!
-Lludd Alfred
Cornelius tossed the letter on the desk and put his hands together with a sigh of frustration.
Percy opened the letter in his input box expecting new instruction from Lludd Alfred which were set to arrive any day now.
Percy,
Congratulations young lad. Cornelius Fudge has received a letter announcing
my decision to fill my temporary occupation of the Head of the Department
of International Magical Cooperation with you. Again I congratulate you Percy,
and I trust you and all your judgments. Your office at the moment should be
empty so move in as you look. I shall return to Britain once my obligations
here in France have been completed. You are welcomed here in Baliseon if you
wish.
-Lludd Alfred
Halloween
Party Plans in the Tower
Author: Belladonna
Date: 02-03-02 18:37
Professor Sinistra rushed into her bedroom when she heard the hoot of an owl, despite the towel turban and the bath robe. One could never look elegant when wearing it, so why try ? She'd sent invitations to the feast in the Great Hall to the inn room of Bill and Charlie Weasley, so it might be a response. A whole month since they flirted in Hogsmeade and she still couldn't get the guy out of her head. It was like being trapped back in her school days.
She saw the Owl Post and smiled at the huge package. Not a response or acceptance letter, but something almost as good. Judging by the London postmark, Mum had sent the promised package, and hopefully had added the black pearls that had been begged for by her daughter.
She quickly opened the package and pulled out a lovely orange satin dress with black lace overlay. Goodness, it was even more slinky that she had imagined. Of course, it wasn't too bad and she had seen the sixth years wearing worse at dances. She found a black velvet box and opened it, marveling at how lovely the black pearl necklace and earrings were. Thank you, Mum! Everything would look great with her unusual coloring and hopefuly would bowl over a certain guest.
She carefully laid the items out on her bed, made sure her cosmetics lay on the dressing table, and went back to finish her bath. She'd be unforgettable after tonight, that's for sure.
Promotion
Author: Percy Weasley
Date: 02-03-02 21:00
Percy sat down at his desk and looked at the pile of letters in his in box. He picked them up and looked to see who they were from. He stopped when he reached a letter addressed from Lludd Alfred and opened it. Percy expected to find a letter with new instructions but was surprised when he read the first line.
"Congratulations young lad," he read out loud to him self.
Congratulations? Me? What for? Percy continued reading, he couldn't believe it; it was a promotion! Percy was going to be made head of the department.
This was the best thing that could have happened to him on Halloween. Percy couldn't wait for the workday to be over so that he could go home and tell his family.
Evidence
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 02-04-02 09:55
It had happend a few days before Halloween when Hermione had received the greatest possible piece of evidence for her case, save a direct confession from the culprits of course. All of her hypotheses had been more or less correct, but this new piece of information was the absolute clincher to her case.
She had been walking down the hall towards the dungeons to serve another delightful detention with Snape. Over the past couple of weeks, her duties had gone from boring to down right disgusting. Snape had her cleaning out cauldrons, removing eyes from newts for future Potions classes, and one time, he had even asked her to floss his teeth for him. Hermione had had about enough of this torture, and was nearly ready to give in and go straight to Dumbledore with her thoughts. But on that particular day as she was trudging down the hallway to a certain doom, luck had been on her side.
Milicent and Pansy had stopped Hermione in the hallway and started teasing her about her predicament.
"Oh, poor Hermione. She's lost her goody-two shoes reputation forever!" said Milicent with obvious mockery in her voice.
"Never again will she be teacher's pet. The professors certainly know better than to trust you now, Mudblood!" Pansy spat quite literally.
"Out of my way, Slytherins," Hermione said through gritted teeth, trying her best to get to the dungeon on time.
Pansy cackled and turned to Milicent. "What do you think Snape would do if Granger here was late for detention?"
"I think he'd have a serious issue with that, Pansy," Milicent said, glancing at Hermione sharply. "He might make Granger cry again."
Hermione glared at both of them, standing her ground. She didn't want to be late for detention, but she wasn't going to let these two Slytherins win at their little game.
"To think that a prefect got caught cheating! If only you could have seen the look on your face, Granger. It was priceless!" Pansy grinned evily.
"It was too good to be true," Milicent admitted, mimicking Pansy's grin. "That Pyrrhus is a frickin' genius!"
Hermione raised a brow, and all chatter in the hallways seemingly came to a halt.
Milicent and Pansy both seemed unaware that they had spilt some precious information. Continuing, Milicent said, "And poor Hermione will never be able to clear her name, because he made sure that no possible trails were left behind that could lead to him!"
"Evidently he didn't take you two into consideration," came the voice of a professor. Prof. Fairchild had been standing nearby during the entire confrontation. She had heard every word they had said, including that vital bit of information.
Milicent and Pansy froze. They had just come to realize what had flown out of their big mouths. Pyrrhus would no doubt kill them.
For the first time in a long time, Hermione could smile again. She smiled and smiled and thanked both Milicent and Pansy for the news they had brought her. Both girls stormed off before Prof. Fairchild could have some harsh words with them, leaving the professor, Hermione, and a few other witnesses alone in the hallway together. It was at that moment that Hermione noticed Prof. Sorcha fleeing in the opposite direction. Hermione watched her for a few moments, certain that the Ancient Runes professor had also heard the information Milicent had leaked out.
"Prof. Fairchild," Hermione said, turning to the Muggle Studies instructor. "I need your help."
An Excitable
Boy with Excitable News
Author: Percy Weasley
Date: 02-05-02 21:49
After work Percy rushed to meet Mr. Weasley so that they could go home together. It took a lot of selfcontrol for Percy to keep a straight face and not blurt out the good news to Mr. Weasley. Percy had sent an owl to Penelope right after he got the news telling her to meet him at The Burrow for tea. That way he could tell his news to her and his parents at the same time. It was a good thing that Penelope was still in London.
When Percy and Mr. Weasley entered the house Penelope was in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley helping to make the tea. Percy had such a smile on his face and looked as though he were ready to explode.
"Percy, dear, are you alright?" asked Mrs. Weasley with a look of concern on her face.
"I'm fine, why."
"You are acting rather strange, more like Fred or George then yourself." Mrs. Weasley turned to her husband and said hello.
The four of them sat down in the living room for tea, Percy still fidgiting.
Mrs. Weasley put down her cup of tea and looked at Percy with a stern face. "Now really Percy, you are starting to make me nervous. What is it?"
Percy couldn't keep the news to himself anymore. He too put down his teacup and began to tell them about the letter from Lord Lludd Alfred and the promotion.
When he was done Mrs. Weasley and Penelope squealed and gave him congratulatory hugs. Mr. Weasley looked very proud of his son.
[Baliseon,
France] The Last Request
Author: Lord L. A. Higginton-Smythe
Date: 02-06-02 17:08
"For the past week we have recognized those participating nations and organizations here with us who wished to speak out before our international gathering for the purpose of promoting a cause related to their own interests..." Kalgrie paused to moisten her dry lips. Before her sat the entire body of the International Wizarding Committee within the basilica. All the eyes were echoing back at her random stares through the crowd. Behind her sat the High Council at the head of which was the Masterwizard, Lord Lludd Alfred. He shifted in his seat anxiously for Kalgrie to continue. "It is with great pleasure that I thank you all for your participation in resolving these conflicts to the best interests of the international community, and the interests of those who have asked for our help. There remains one last request though. This last request is the reason for which you sit in your chairs with us today, and it is the request of the nation, which called upon this gathering, Great Britain. It is asked that the support of the international community be given to Great Britain and her Ministry of Magic at this time of such peril and darkness. To help combat the resurfaced threat of the Dark Lord, it is asked that approval be given for the foundation of an international committee whose purpose and right shall be to hault and destroy the threat of the Dark Lord and his followers, for the last time. It is when this goal is accomplished, and accomplished it shall be, that the world will once again be without a stain. It shall be a reunited world as we have only once hoped for."
Hundreds of delegates stood immediately as Kalgrie finished. Lludd Alfred cranned his neck to see what their face held, but he did not need to. Cheers! One by one the delegates began to cheer for the proposal in a show of undivided support. They did not all cheer though. Shouts of objections and discontent were heard here and there in small pockets. He watched with interest as some delegates stood and without a word walked along the aisles through the exits and out of the meeting basilica, most of them members of the International Confederation of Wizards. Kalgrie turned to Lludd Alfred with a gleam of success across her face. He nodded his approval to her and shook hands with the other High Council members. All that remained now were a couple of dry sessions over which the details would be sorted out, and then the paperwork to be sent to every institution of magical authority around the world. If all went as planned, Baliseon would be a mission center within a month's time.
