The Chamber of Snogs

Who: Alison Mallory, Fred & George Weasley
When: January 02, 1999
Where: The Burrow
What: The twins and Alison come up with the idea for the Death Eater map!


( I just wish there were a way to keep an eye on things... I don't know how the Order does it on the large scale. )

Well, this Quidditch season is shaping up to be... interesting. Hopefully in a good way, though I'm still a bit nervous - the first game of the season is against Gryffindor next month, and while our team is decent, everyone's minds have been elsewhere lately, it seems. I suppose I can't really blame anyone, but it's definitely making organizing practice harder. I can only hope the Gryffindors are having the same problems. But that's not something I can count on. I wonder if I can ask Professor Slughorn to reserve the pitch for us for longer on the weekends, so we can get some extra practice in. I'll have to ask him first thing tomorrow.

I got a very lovely letter last week, from a certain pair of twins. The ink was so bright pink I nearly needed sunglasses to read it. That certainly made my day. I suppose it must be the new shade for their Wonder Witch products. Which they seem to like sending to me, for a laugh. Though some of them are quite useful - I have to say, I've always been a big fan of the Daydream Charms. They get me through Muggle Studies some days. Would anyone like one or two? They sent me a couple of generic ones I wouldn't mind sharing.

... Well, at least Quidditch practice has been going pretty normally. I guess that's a good start, right? The term has been nothing if not disorienting this year, with so many changes - and so many ways that are so very tempting to step out of line. I swear, it gets harder and harder to sit in Muggle Studies every day. And Dark Arts... I don't know what to think. On the one hand, it's atrocious. On the other hand... I feel like at least we're getting a little glimpse into something we may need to know, someday. I don't know, it's still very disconcerting.

I'm gong to Owl Fred and George after this, and let them know that Malfoy will help pass on information about You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters if he can. I'll try to word it so that anyone intercepting the letter won't be able to tell. It might be interesting to see if I can word it like a raunchy love letter, don't you think? Now I think I should try. God knows I need something to make me laugh, they probably do too. Though I suppose I have the advantage of hanging out with everyone in the Chamber. That really makes life much more bearable, most days.

Speaking of, Ora and I met a new student, Kahvi, just outside the entrance - she was talking to Gilbert and Serge, though they don't seem to have told her anything about the Chamber. She's really very interesting - from Tarikha! That sounds so exotic! It sounds like the wizarding and Muggle communities are much more closely intertwined where she comes from, and she's really interested in Physics. And she seems to like Pansy Parkinson about as much as we do. She seems all right. Maybe we should try talking to her more often, it's got to be hard to be new in a place like this right now.

Well, it's done. Ora and I managed to sneak out last night and plant the Extendable Ear inside Professor Snape's office, right inside the chimney. The only real hitch we ran into was he was still in his office when we first arrived, and it must've been nearly 3:30 in the morning! I don't know if being Headmaster kept him up so late, or if he was plotting something else, but hopefully with the Extendable Ear we'll be able to start figuring that out.

Ora is quite the acrobat, I don't know if I could've wedged myself into the chimney and climbed all the way down and up again without falling, like she did. It was pretty amazing. We'll still have to fly back up to the roof every once in a while to check on the journal we placed there, but at least that won't take nearly as long - or be quite as risky! Though getting from the dungeons all the way to the Quidditch Pitch in the middle of the night may not be easy, if we're doing it once or twice a week. I suppose we'll have to hope for the best. I wonder if learning some advanced invisibility charms might be worth the trouble...

In any case, thanks, Ora, for prodding me awake in Dark Arts this afternoon. I kept nearly nodding off, but she kept me awake. I'd definitely rather have a sore side than end up in "detention" with Professor Carrow! I'd rather not find out for myself if real Unforgivable Curses are involved or not, thanks. I'm already close enough to getting one in Muggle Studies - I swear, whatever that woman is teaching, it's utterly outrageous. I've had to nearly bite my lip through more than once to keep from insulting her into next Tuesday. Muggles are like mangy animals my foot. Do we have to put up with an entire year of this? What if some of the younger pureblood students start believing her?

Gred and Forge,

Well, we've all survived our first week, though I suppose even the Prophet would've printed something, had Hogwarts exploded or imploded by now. Slughorn's been an all right Head of House so far, and Snape hasn't done overly much as Headmaster, but the Carrows are pretty awful, as predicted. I think I might actually try to behave in their classes, because I'm not entirely sure they'd punish infractions using the usual avenues. (Don't worry, I won't behave too much.)

Thankfully, it looks like there will be Quidditch this year - I guess I should be thankful, at least, though somehow it still feels like another cover-up by the Ministry. What are things really like, by the way? I still get the Prophet, but it's hard to tell whether anything they print is really true, these days. You guys are going to have to be my source of real information, because it's sure as hell not going to be the paper.

But regardless, I'm Quidditch captain! I know, who would've thought? But Malfoy's in no shape to do it, and Professor Slughorn seems to like me enough. I don't think we'll have to hold tryouts this year - besides, what would that prove? It's not as though anyone better is going to show up - none of the first-years seem particularly proficient at anything other than boasting, and between Vaisey and Pritchard we've got at least one Chaser with a brain. Though if anyone decides to be particularly blockheaded, I'm not going to hesitate to replace them. I think I'm going to put Crabbe as Keeper this year, because it's either him or Goyle as the other Beater and I don't trust Crabbe not to whack a Bludger at me. Goyle's stupid enough that he probably won't think of it, I hope. And no offense to Ginny, but if she's the best Gryffindor's got, they don't stand a chance this year. I don't think Ravenclaw will be much trouble, so I suppose it's Hufflepuff I'll have to keep a watch on. I don't plan on losing to them in my last year here!

Whichever one of you left the Fainting Fancy in my trunk (Fred), did you think I wouldn't recognize it? Or did you just assume that I was going to leave it for Pansy? (In which case I guess you'd be right - that girl needs to learn to look at what she's putting in her mouth, seriously, even if it is adressed to her from "Draco.")

Take care of yourselves - I expect all remaining limbs and extremeties to be intact next time I see you. I'm not sure yet about Hogsmeade trips, but even in the worst case it's not as though the cancellation of those would keep me from sneaking out. (What can I say, I've had excellent teachers when it comes to subterfuge.) Also, don't forget about the three extra boxes of Shield Hats in the closet - you know those tend to sell out fast nowadays.

- Alison

Well, we're finally at school and through half of the first day of the term. It'll be pretty different, I imagine, what with Professor Snape as the new headmaster. And I'm a bit afraid of Defense Against the Dark Arts - not to mention Muggle Studies as well (not that it was ever particularly useful, given).I think having both Carrows as professors is going to be... an experience. One I can't say I'd prefer to have, but I guess no one's got much choice. And Professor Snape announced it last night as just "Dark Arts." Does anyone else think that wasn't a mistake?

The feast last night was... subdued, I guess the word would be. It was strange - I mean, not only has half the staff seemed to change (well, maybe not half, but still, there were some distinct absences), but most of the people at our house table were acting as though nothing was wrong. But then again, half the people at our table have parents who support You-Know-Who, so I guess that's not surprising. Though maybe stranger than anything was the fact that Malfoy seemed to be one of the ones who wasn't acting like everything was normal. Ora, if you find out anything from him, definitely let the rest of us know!

The rest of the houses all seemed nervous and quieter than usual, and the sorting went much more quickly than it normally does, as though Professor McGonagall was eager to get the meal started so it could finish that much sooner. Professor Snape's "welcome" speech was nothing like Professor Dumbledore's ever were, but at least it was brief too - but that seemed more because he didn't want to be there than anything else. He didn't say anything about Quidditch, but I really, really hope that means we'll still have games this year. If we don't I think I might go stir-crazy before the month is gone! And it turns out Professor Slughorn is our new head of house, which is pretty much old hat for him. I like him all right - he's always been decent to us, so I guess this year will go pretty well in that respect. I do still wonder if he'll resume his Slug Club parties or not, but I guess we'll see soon enough.

I brought a whole box of Extendable Ears from the shop (as well as a few other unmentionables), and the twins have promised to work on improving their range and owl me as soon as they have results; I'm fairly confident they'll be able to do it, if any of their work over the summer is any indication. It was as strange leaving this year as it was last year, though - Diagon Alley, for all that it's changed, still somehow feels a lot like home, even though I've only spent two and a half months there, this summer and last. And Mrs. Weasley even said good-bye to me as I got onto the train at King's Cross - though I'm not sure if she was just grateful to get the chance to commandeer Fred and George for the afternoon after the train left. The twins said they'd try to pop over to Hogsmeade to see me if we still have our weekend trips (and maybe even if we don't), so I guess at least it wasn't goodbye until next holiday. And I called Dad Monday night from a telephone box on Charing Cross Road to let him know I was all right and that everything was set for school. He's still a bit iffy on the whole owl post system, but as it really is the easiest way for me to reach him from Hogwarts, I'll be owling him every week or so to let him know I'm still all right. He admits that while he doesn't know what's going on, he's being careful, and I suppose that's all I can ask. Mr. Weasley did say he'd pop over to Cambridgeshire every once in a while to check on him, so I was pretty thankful for that.

I guess this year is going to be unlike any we've ever had, but that doesn't mean it's anything we can't handle, right? And now I should get to my next class, I don't need to be tardy on the first day of the term!

Who: Alison Mallory, Leah Chase, and Ora Yang
Where: The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole
When: Aug. 11, the day of Bill and Fleur's wedding
What: The girls are enjoying the wedding reception when the Ministry of Magic falls.

Alison leaned back in her chair, watching the nearest witch and wizard couple on the dance floor glide by. The music had mellowed out a bit, given that evening was falling over the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and, of course, the lawn of the Burrow where Bill and Fleur had gotten married only a few hours before. The wedding had been simple but really quite beautiful, and the reception that followed had included an abundance of food, drink, and dancing. Not long ago, the twins had been dragged off by a small group of French girls who were twittering amusedly, though every once in a while one of the boys would catch her eye and grin as reassuringly as, well, they ever did.

Now Alison was left at a table near the front with Ora and Leah; they'd settled back with a bit of champagne each and were chatting quietly about their summers, as well as what they thought would be in store for them during their last year at Hogwarts. They'd just begun discussing their rather long and daunting list of schoolbooks, and had agreed that, if possible, they would go shopping for them together in the remaining time before the school year started. Things were tense all over, though - and especially in London, and Alison could vouch for the fact that Diagon Alley definitely wasn't what it used to be. "Hopefully you guys will be able to come down and get your books in person," she was saying, as Leah took a sip of her drink. "I mean, if you come to the joke shop, we can all go to Flourish and Blotts together.