MJs Hogwarts Journal Chapter 28

Sunday 24^th November

I know, I’m getting worse and worse at writing in here. It’s just that we have so much homework, what with end-of-term exams next month, I’m so stressing. All you have to do is say the word ‘magic’ and I feel like screaming. Even Jed’s stressing and he’s usually the cool, calm and collected one. I’ve noticed he’s started biting his nails. In our Charms class, last lesson on Friday, Professor Flitwick announced the possible topics that could appear on out end-of-term test paper. Scribbling everything down with his right hand, Jed’s left hand remained cupped to his mouth. When it comes to coping with stress, we’re both very different. I like to eat. At the table during dinner, I’ll keep a pastry or cake or anything back and store it in my bag. I know it sounds terrible, but studying makes me hungry. It’s like the more I use my brain, the more my stomach growls. Jed on the other hand doesn’t feel hungry at all. At breakfast yesterday he barely managed a piece of toast while Scarlett quizzed him on all of the steps to make the Forgetfulness Potion, which like the name suggests creates a slight degree of memory loss for whoever drinks it – depending on the strength of the potion depends on how long you forget for. While Scarlett quizzed Jed, I decided to scribble down all what I could remember onto a napkin too. I think that I got it all right.

 

The strain of studying is even getting to Josie too. Yesterday, the three of us were in the library and she was trying to read four books at once. Four! I swear, how in the Merlin does that girl’s mind function? She had two Potions books out, a History of Magic one and a Transfiguration textbook. I watched as she read one page of one book, before moving on to the next. How on Earth could she possibly take it all in? By the time I get to the bottom of a page I just about understand what it’s talking about. I couldn’t then swap books instantly – I’d just get confused. I reckon Josie did too. I mean how could anyone possibly take anything in reading like that? I just hope she hasn’t gone completely mad.

*

Ooow! We learnt a new spell in our last Transfiguration class. Okay, so none of us can actually do it yet, but what happened to Jed was so funny, I couldn’t stop laughing for the rest of the day. It even made our Flying lessons seem less bad. Okay, so Professor McGonagall was teaching us transform a goblet into a mouse. The spell was called Muslionfous, which was pronounced a tad different from how it looks. Mus-lee-oy-en-fus. The first part ‘Mus’ sounds like the word must, just without the ‘t’ at the end. The second part sounds just like the name Lee. Then it’s ‘oy’, like when you shout, “Oy,” at someone who annoyed you. Then you sound the ‘n’ and add ‘fuss’ on the end. Mus-lee-oy-en-fus. Well, after Jed’s last mispronunciation disagreement with Professor McGonagall this spell was bound to be just as entertaining.

Tapping his wand against the glass, Jed said the incantation. A blue spark shot from his wand. Then, a curly tail emerged from the side of his goblet. Clasping a hand to my mouth, I tried to stop myself from laughing. Jed’s goblet had grown a pig’s tail. “My, my, Mister Edwards,” said the professor as she approached our table. With her raised brow, she seemed just as surprised as we were. “And how does one come to grow pig’s tails on their goblets?”

“I dunno,” Jed chuckled. “What d’ya think, Miss?”

“I think Jed accidentally said Mus-lee-oink­-fus,” I told her with a giggle. Professor McGonagall stared down at the desk. The corners of her mouth poked into a bit of a smile. We could tell that she was trying to fight it, but it was too funny.

“Now Mister Edwards, one must learn to enunciate your spells correctly, or else spells like this – as different as they may appear, are not quite the practical sort.” Professor McGonagall curled a piece of hair behind her ear, as she tried to restore her strict classroom manner. “One would not wish to find the entire Great Hall’s goblets have sprouted pig’s tails upon my next inspection,” she warned him. Jed’s eyes widened. Oh no! Professor McGonagall had just given him an idea. “And if I do find pig’s tails on the school’s glassware, Mister Edwards, I shall be holding you personally responsible.”

“Yes Professor,” Jed mumbled, trying to hide his grin.

*

After Josie, Jed and I had finished studying last night, Jed and I were on our way back to the Slytherin Common Room when we heard shouting coming from Professor Snape’s office. Reaching the bottom of the winding staircase to the dungeon level, it was obvious that someone had crossed Snape’s wires again. “Wanna bet it’s Goyle again?” I asked Jed.

“Who cares,” Jed laughed. “I’m j’st glad it’s not me.”

“Did you or did you not Quirinus? It’s a simple enough question,” boomed Snape.

“Now, now, I… Severus…” stuttered the other. Although the voice was quiet, so it was hard to hear properly – this could be no other person than Professor Quirrell. “Y-you know just as w, w, well as I that that cannot be t, t, true.”

“Then say it,” Snape ordered. There was a bang. Snape must have thrown a book against his desk for emphasis – he’s done this in class before to get our attention. “Say you didn’t do it and we’ll put it t’ bed.”

“B, b, but-” Quirrell began.

“I’m losing my patience Quirinus,” yelled Professor Snape. Jed and I both turned to each other, wide eyed. “I swear to Merlin you are worse than the students.”

Everything went quiet. Pressing a hand against my chest I held my breath, hoping to stop my heart from beating so loudly. I’m sure they could hear it. They had to. I turned to Jed. My mouth opened, but no words came out. He had frozen. His back pressed against the wall, he stared ahead at the door to Professor Snape’s Office.

“I’m giving you one last chance Quirinus…” Snape announced. We could hear, Professor Quirrell’s voice shaking, but he never actually said anything that made sense. There was a crash. Something shattered. Throwing a hand to my mouth, I gasped. “How?” roared Snape. “How did you do it?” There was another bang. “Blast that! Why did you do it? I swear Quirinus, if you don’t tell me I’ll-”

“I didn’t,” interrupted Quirrell. “I didn’t do it. S, s, Severus, you know I would n, n-never go against Albus.” I could hear Professor Snape growling.

One of the teachers started pacing. As the footsteps neared the doorway Jed whispered, “Quick! Run.” Running to the opposite end of the corridor, we whispered Salazar Slytherin’s name, the Common Room door edged open and we scooted inside. Lucky for us the room was quite full, therefore noisy. No one heard or saw us sneak in.

Dropping into a seat in the far side of the room, I whispered to Jed, “What on Earth was that about?”

Jed shook his head. “Beats me. But I’m sure glad I’m not Quirrell right now.”

- Josie -

MJs Hogwarts Journal Chapter 27

Monday 18^th November

Sitting at the Slytherin table this morning for breakfast, I was surprised to glance over at the entrance and see Josie coming in with Fabian by her side. The two of them are usually in the Great Hall long before me – especially first thing on a Monday morning. Spotting some of Fabian’s friends, the two of them made their way through the gap between our tables and slid into the space that seemed to be saved for them. Seeing Josie sat in direct line with me I smiled – she may not have been able to see me, as her back was towards me, but seeing her there made me happy. I hadn’t seen her since Saturday evening, at dinner after the Quidditch match. When I couldn’t find her yesterday, I was tempted to ask one of the Ravenclaws if they had seen her, but after everything that had happened between Ivy, Blondie and Fabian, I didn’t want to go and upset her. Another thing that made me smile – Josie usually sits at the end of the table closest to the door, but today she was sat right in the centre of the hall.

Dipping my spoon into my bowl of cereal, my arm was knocked, splashing milk across the table. “Jed,” I hissed grabbing a napkin. “Watch it, will ya?” Okay, I was still a little grumpy – it was early on Monday morning.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “But look.” He nudged me again and pointed ahead at Josie.

“I know,” I smiled. “I can see Josie too.” Jed let out a sigh through his nose.

“Well duh,” he said, flicking my arm. I snapped my hand over where his finger hit me and jerked it away. “Isn’t tall, blond and blah-blah a little too chummy-chummy this morning?” Rolling his eyes in Josie and Fabian’s direction, Jed pointed his thumb towards them.

“What?” I frowned at him, before looking back at Josie. Josie was sat between Fabian and his friend Malachi. The boys were leaning back behind her to talk. “Okay, so leaning behind Josie to turn to his friend, Fabian’s put his arm out around her a little – that’s normal, so that she doesn’t lean too far back and bump into one of them,” I told him as I shook my head. “It’s instinct.”

“Does instinct follow you in from the front door?” asked Jed with a raised eyebrow.

“Does hallucination before eating enough breakfast mean anything to you?” I asked with a laugh. What was Jed playing at?

Looking past me, Jed smirked, before grabbing the jug of maple syrup and pouring a hug dollop on top of his pancakes.

“Nah,” replied Jed. “It’s a male thing.”

“A male thing?”

“Yeah, you know, kinda like claiming her as his property.” I threw a hand to my mouth to stop myself from spitting my orange juice out everywhere. “Not like that!” Jed exclaimed. “Well probably not in this case, anyway.” Scratching a fork to his head, Jed frowned at Fabian, before stabbing his pancakes. “It’s more like the older brother protecting his younger sister sorta thing. Notice how he purposely made them walk past Malfoy. That hand thing is for his benefit.”

“For what exactly?”

“Ya know,” said Jed, tiling his head to one side. “Sorta, don’t mess with my little sis’, or you’ve gotta go through me an’ my pals. By the way we’re Third-Years and could hex you into next summer – just sayin’.” Jed’s mouth prodded up in one corner as he shrugged. “That sorta thing.” Goodness – I didn’t realise guys were so competitive and overprotective when it came to friendships, especially those that involved girls.

*

We managed to catch up with Josie in Herbology. I was a little worried about joining her. “Is it okay if we sit with you?” I asked her before Jed and I sat down.

“Of course,” Josie replied with a smile. “Why wouldn’t it be?” Phew. Everything seemed fine.

“Well you know…” I muttered with a shrug. “After Saturday I was-” Jed cleared his throat. “We were,” I corrected myself, “worried about you.”

“We didn’t want you t’ hate us, j’st ‘cause Malfoy’s a big mouthed idiot,” Jed added. Shaking her head, Josie smirked.

“I’m not mad at you two,” she told us with a smile. “I never could be. You’re the best friends that I’ve ever had.” Smiling she looked from me to Jed and back at me again, before looking down at her textbook. She smiled as she whispered something, but before I could ask her what she said, Professor Sprout came in and started our lesson. Today, we were learning about the healing properties of dried nettles. Apparently, they can cure boils when mixed in a herb tea – I might have to try and remember that one. You never know when the shouting around here can lead to a curse and I wouldn’t fancy walking around the school with a face full of disgusting, oozing lumps. I wonder if it works on spots too… Hmm, one will have to investigate.

*

After Herbology, I walked with Jed and Josie back to the Great Hall for lunch. When we got there Malfoy was already making a scene in front of a crowd of whoever would listen to him. He was blabbering on about Miss Know-It-All-Hermione-Granger from Gryffindor when all hell broke loose. “That filthy little Mudblood,” Malfoy spat.

“Malfoy,” Jed yelled shooting his wand out of his robes and pointing it straight at Blondie’s head. “Don’t you dare use that word.” Malfoy’s skin grew paler than I even thought it could. The smug grin dropped from his face and his eyes widened with fear as he stared at the end of Jed’s wand. Snarling his nose, the lines on Jed’s forehead thickened as he breathed deeply through his nostrils. “You dare move an’ I’ll hex you so bad they’ll send you to ‘Saint Mungo’s’ an’ I’ll make sure my mom leaves you for dead.”

My eyes widened as they shifted from Jed to Malfoy. I could see Blondie squirm under Jed’s control. He struggled to even swallow, staring at the tip of Jed’s wand all the while. Everyone around us fell silent. All of the tables were watching us. Why, I don’t know. I don’t even know what Blondie said that was so bad. Even the teachers were staring. Why wasn’t anyone intervening? “I mean it Malfoy,” Jed warned through gritted teeth. Josie sniffed at his side. Blondie broke eye contact with the wand and stared at them, emotionless. I heard Josie sniff again before running out of the hall. I looked from her to Jed and back again. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just leave Josie. But Jed looked like he could use the backup – I didn’t want him to do anything stupid. Squaring his shoulders, Jed lowered his wand. “You’re just lucky my dad’d snap my wand if he found out I’d hexed anyone,” he growled and marched off out of the Great Hall. Not knowing what to do, I rushed off after him.

Turning the corner, I watched as Jed held his hand out to Josie, who was sat at the bottom of the staircase with red, blotchy eyes. Standing up, Josie thanked Jed as she rubbed her left eye. Confused, I stood in front of them and shrugged. “I don’t get it,” I told them. “What was so wrong?” Josie glanced up at me, before looking back at the floor. Jed stared at her, his shoulders drooped at his sides, and then he looked over at me. The life was drained from them. All of the anger from Jed’s face had come to pass. He was still red, but his features had dropped. Still with no answer, I muttered, “What did he mean Mudblood?” Josie pinched her eyes and seeped a breath, while Jed clenched his fists – a vein bulged at his left temple. Josie’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at me. Her bottom lip trembled. She gazed at Jed as a tear rolled down her cheek. Staying silent, he stared back at her all the while.

“It’s the worst word that you could ever say. It means dirty blood,” Josie whispered. She stared at Jed the whole time, but I knew she was speaking only to me. Her chest shook. She too clenched her fists and pressed them against her shuddering ribcage. “Some pure-blood wizard families think that if you’re half-blood or Muggle-born that,” she closed her eyes to steady her breathing. “That, that you aren’t worthy of being a witch or wizard,” she said staring at Jed again. “They think that your blood is dirty… tainted… that you’re a filthy germ and don’t deserve your powers.” As Josie pinched her eyes tight (no doubt to try and stop herself from crying), Jed broke eye contact with her.

Looking down at my feet, he mumbled, “That was low.” As he looked up to me and our eyes locked, he added, “Even for Malfoy.” Noticing Josie look over at him he held an arm out towards her. Her bottom lip quivered as she took a step towards him and nuzzled her head against him. Wrapping his right arm around her he rested his chin on the top of her head. He held an arm out towards me and I threw my arms around both of them. Without meaning to, I burst into tears. I couldn’t stop. My eyes just wouldn’t stop leaking. I squeezed both of them tight. Over and over again in my brain I kept thinking of every single tortuous thing that I could remember Professor Quirrell had mentioned to us in Defence Against the Dark Arts and wished each and every one of them on Malfoy.

*

I don’t know how we got through the rest of the day. I really don’t. Malfoy is just lucky that I don’t sit close enough to him in any lessons to do him any harm. So what if he’s the better wizard? I bet I could show him a thing or to. The act of surprise is better than skill. Sure, Blondie could talk the talk, but faced in an actual battle – we’ll see who’s the better witch/wizard.

- Josie -