19 July 2021

MJs Hogwarts Journal Chapter 54


Thursday 27th May
Ooow, I love this school. I love this school. I love this school. I really don’t want to go home on Monday. I’ll miss everyone too much. This last week has been such a blast though. No more worrying about the unicorns. No more test. Just a week of magical fun.
On Saturday it was Slytherin’s final Quidditch game. We played Hufflepuff. There really wasn’t a lot to report though, which I think is why I didn’t actually get around to writing anything down in here. We won three-hundred-and-twenty to ten. It was pretty pathetic for Hufflepuff really. It made it kind of awkward to watch. Our team creamed them. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw still have to play each other next Saturday, but this was our last game. So longs as neither team does anything dramatic during their match on Saturday, I think that it is safe to say that we are the winners – yey!

*

Being as our exams are all over and done with, we’ve been having little taster classes of what we are in store for next academic year. Potions doesn’t sound too bad. It’s mostly perfecting all of the potions that we had been learning this year, as Professor Snape revealed that it is impossible to learn all of the potions that he taught us perfectly and to a high standard in one year. It does sound like there is a load more theory stuff though. It may sound boring, but I’m hoping that, like the formula in Transfiguration, it will help make the potions easier to understand.
Mentioning Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall revealed a few more spells that we will be learning. One is turning a bird into a goblet, which sounds like it could be fairly useful if you happen to be stranded in the middle of nowhere and need a cup to drink from. Another two transforming spells that she told us about are Beetle Buttons, which transforms a beetle into a coat button (again very interesting if you should lose your button on your coat and desperately need a new one) and the other involves transforming a pair of white rabbits into fuzzy, bunny slippers (which Professor McGonagall insisted does absolutely no harm to the rabbits at all, it’s like they become fluffy, plush until you wish to change them back).
Professor Sprout announced that we would be learning a lot of charms and how Dark Art spells can actually be used to cut back and maintain certain types of plants. She also warned us though that many of the spells we would just be learning in theory and that we would not actually be performing them – I guess she doesn’t exactly trust everyone in our class. Who can blame her?
Okay in History of Magic Professor Binns didn’t act like he was just giving us a summary of what was to come in next year’s class. He just stood at the front of the room lecturing us on ‘The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards’. I don’t think that anyone was listening – I know that I wasn’t. We all spent most of class passing around a piece of paper. We each took it in turns adding another comment to it. It wasn’t anything interesting and I have no idea who ended out with it at the end of class. It was just a bunch of us saying stuff like, “I really hate Binns,” and, “Not another year of this loser. Can’t they find us a real teacher – you know, who isn’t dead!” Binns didn’t notice at all, so it was fine.
In Charms we found out that there are a lot of new spells that we will be learning, like a freezing charm (which is used to stop living things from moving), an Engorgement Charm (which makes things grow) and something called Skurge (which is used to clean up the sticky residue left behind from the ghosts). Professor Flitwick also mentioned that there was a tickling charm, which sounded quite fun, but he warned us that we would only be studying it in theory and not in practical – I can’t imagine why. Maybe he’s worried that everyone would laugh all of the way through his class otherwise.
We didn’t have any Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. Whenever we should have had these classes, we were just given free time instead, which was nice. Professor Snape had told us that we were supposed to use the time to read up on Defence Against the Dark Arts spells or any study for our other classes, but none of us did. We were all too busy just chilling out in the Common Room or sitting outside in the sunshine.
We didn’t have a Flying lesson either, which is a shame now that I’ve overcome my fear of flying. We don’t have that class at all next year either – unless we completely failed, that is. Oh, something that I did find out that was kind of interesting. That broomstick that I found in the Forbidden Forest, we think that it might have been the one that Neville lost during our first ever Flying lesson. When he fell, his broomstick shot off in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. It must have just stayed there, on the ground, waiting for me to find it. I really must remember to give Neville a huge thank you. If it wasn’t for him, then I never would have concurred my fear.
I don’t think that we have an Astronomy class tonight either, but I will have to double check. I don’t mind if we do, but part of me wants an early night. The beds at this school are so comfortable that I just know that I will not have one, single, comfy nights’ sleep once I go back home.

*

Today, something fun happened. It was the day of the Slytherin picnic. We had been planning it all week. After our last lesson, us First-Years had arranged to take a picnic outside with us and have some fun on the grassy area surrounding the castle. We don’t have any lessons tomorrow, so we decided that straight after Charms, we were going to go and celebrate.
During lunch, Scarlett went around checking with us all that we were definitely going. Of course, we all said yes. Sitting opposite me, Blondie smirked in my direction. “MJ, you know, you can invite Josie if you want to,” he suggested. A found myself smiling at him. This was the nice Malfoy that I found myself smiling over the other week.
“No way!” snapped Blaise. “She’s a Ravenclaw.”
“Yeah Draco,” agreed Pansy with a pout. “It’s a Slytherin only picnic – you can’t go inviting outsiders.”
“Yeah, who you gonna invite next, Potter and his pals?” Scarlett sneered, as she dropped into her seat beside Pansy.
“Hey!” Blondie snapped at them, going red in the face. “I was only being nice to MJ. Josie’s her friend. It was only a suggestion.”
“You’d better not be going soft on us, Malfoy,” said Trevor, prodding Blondie in the chest.
Goyle, who was sat on my left, tapped my shoulder. Leaning towards me he whispered, “He’s gone more than soft,” and began to snigger. I think he might have said that a little loud though, because Blondie heard him – or he heard something.
“What was that remark, Goyle?” Blondie snapped.
“Goyle was just defending you,” I said with a smile. “Thanks for the offer Malfoy,” I told him, “But I wouldn’t wanna bring her along if it’s gonna cause this much trouble.”
“You’d only be stirring up trouble between her and Pansy,” Jed muttered to me. He was right. I’d already thought about it. No matter how much I would have loved spending our first few moments of academic freedom with Josie, I knew that it wasn’t worth the hassle.
Before lunch was over though, I did manage to grab Josie. Jed and I revealed to her the argument that had gone on at the Slytherin table about her on our way to Herbology. “It’s fine,” Josie smiled. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t want to be too near Posey Pansy and her posse anyway.” I’m glad that Josie understood. I had to tell her; otherwise I was worried that she might think that I turned her away, because I didn’t want her near. I’m just so pleased that she agrees and isn’t mad at me for wanting to go to the picnic without her. “You two go,” she told us with a smile. “Have a wonderful time. I’ll still be around once you’re finished. There’s always tomorrow and the last Quidditch game.”

*

The picnic was nice. Nothing special. Just nice. I spent most of my time between Priscilla and Jed. It was cool being able to hang around with everyone now that there weren’t any worries about lessons or exams. Trevor, Crabbe and Priscilla kept trying to guess what happened to the disappearing Professor Quirrell. Blaise suggested that migrated back to wherever he came from, because he was too terrified of being tracked down by the werewolves and vampires. I guess on the bright side at least we won’t have to walk into a classroom full of garlic – that was getting a little too much to handle.
We had such a nice lot of food too. It was all of the sweet stuff that there is never enough of at the table. I don’t know who had managed to swipe it all, but it was good. There were pastries, sandwiches, wraps, salad, jelly, ice-cream, cupcakes and a rather large cauldron-shaped chocolate sponge cake. We had lots of cold drinks to choose from too: there were juices and flavoured waters, as well as tonnes of fizzy drinks to pick from too. I had a couple of finger sandwiches, a cupcake and a scoop of mint-chocolate-chip ice-cream with a glass of cola. It was so refreshing.
Pansy was a little annoying when she went off on a tearful rant, complaining that Blondie didn’t care about her. He disappeared mysteriously for almost half an hour, before reappearing with his smug grin as though everything was fine. Yeah, it was fine when he was back, but lucky him, he didn’t have to listen to whining Pansy the entire time. Seriously, she sounded like an overdramatic soap opera. Oh this, oh that. Oh my life is over, no one cares about me. If she could only hear herself, then I bet she wouldn’t be quite so pathetic. I still love her though – I just wish she would grow up a little. Who knows, she might mature a little over the summer.

- Josie -

No comments:

Post a Comment