Shopping in New London was

utterly brill! Mum saw our new lacquer and the bag I got and Parvati's new comb and simply adores them, too. And it was so nift to just gad about, even without buying anything. I thought we might never get Parkinson back from that record shop.

Perks, Parvati says Gemma can plait her hair anytime she likes! Did you decide against that bracelet, after all? I know some people don't like anything round their wrists when they're writing. Or the jingling bothers them. It's probably just as well you didn't get it.

Supper was lovely, too! I didn't know that Burrow and O'Flaherty had both gone into Healers' training. It was a surprise to see them - Haruman usually doesn't talk much about his mates.

(Lav, did you see the way that Chadwick smiled at you? He's well fit, isn't he?)

Oh, and has anyone seen today's Prophet? There's a huge piece about Auror Crouch - and they mentioned Sandoval prominently, too! I knew she'd be brilliant as an Auror! 'Presence and grace under heavy hexfire' and then later it said she was 'instrumental' in apprehending the traitors. I'm keeping our copy so when she's head of the Aurors one day, I can say I knew her back at school. Well done, Lana! Ravenclaw Corner is well proud of you!

Daphs, you might want to read the article, too, because it does talk about Auror Crouch's career and some of the things he's done for the Lord Protector. Plus there's his mum, which might be useful to you when playing that scene with Chang. (Actually there's a sidebar that's got a bunch of facts and trivia about him, like how he showed his magic the first time and when he joined MLE and like that. And you might want to read it, if you haven't. I think there's more there than in that Rise of the Protector book Ptolemy found for us all!)

I don't know about anyone else, but even though it's been lovely to get away from school, I think yesterday was the best part of the holiday. I can't believe we've got to pack up now and go back. I hope our lacquer lasts as long as they said it would. We paid the extra two sickles for the hardening and strengthening spell, too, so that it should last through the end of term.

Ugh, and now Aunt Sivarti wants us to go help make supper. It's not even time for lunch!

Private Message to Seamus Finnigan

You'll NEVER guess what happened yesterday! It was so hard not to laugh I thought I'd bust.

You know how we girls went out on a shopping day and all (which is why I didn't bother to invite you, you'd have been bored squib), and of course Parkinson insisted on bringing along her pet Perks. Well. Perks couldn't come unless she could also babysit Stretton's sister as well. Honestly, can you imagine? Gemma has a nanny but the Strettons realise they've got a good thing when they see it. Perks as a free live-in governess, I mean, it's perfect. Honestly it's the kind of thing I could see her doing her whole life. No one's going to want to marry her, so she'll have to raise other people's children, won't she?

Anyway. Well, Perks was feeling all smug because for once in her life, she had the dosh for the outing. I mean, the Strettons gave her gold so she could pay for things Gemma wanted, like ice creams and all. But Gemma wanted to get her nails lacquered along with everyone else's, and while the witch who did the manicures thought Gemma was so adorable that she put hers on for free, she had to charge Perks full price, of course, just like the rest of us. And when Gemma saw what Parvati was getting - she got the unicorn running across a moonlit meadow, I knew she would - well, Gemma just wouldn't rest until Perks got the same thing! (And it looks ridiculous on her, really. Although I think she did convince Gemma she couldn't have exactly the same thing as Parvati, so she just got the unicorn running across a plain pink background - yes, pink, because that's Gemma's favourite colour. And it's the same shade of pink that the witch made Gemma's nails, too.) Actually, it's Parvati's favourite colour too, and you should have seen how Gemma lit up at that! She's still very attached to Perks, of course, but then Perks is round her all the time, so it's not surprising.

Well, after that, and the ice creams we bought with lunch and all, she had used up all Gemma's pocket money. So then we were browsing through the mad fabulous second-hand shops they've got in Soho - you know, the ones all along Oxford street? - well, she saw a charm bracelet that she just loved. I mean, you could tell she just thought it well gorgeous. It was rather beautiful, have to admit, but like the nail lacquer, not something I can really see Perks wearing, you know? But anyway, it was real gold, wasn't it, and all the charms were bespelled so they wouldn't get lost or broken, and it was easily more than her dad probably makes in a year fixing up other people's broken whatnots, let alone anything the Strettons would see fit to buy for her. Gemma was all over getting it for her and then Perks had to explain to her how they didn't have enough Galleons for it. I felt bad for Gemma but really, doesn't she realise that her babysitter is poor as a mudblood?

Oh, but the best part was when Haruman met up with us to take us all to supper. Perks was supposed to go back to the Strettons' so we wouldn't have Gemma with us. Only when she made her excuse, that Gemma had to go home for her bath, Gemma piped right up about how her mama had told them they could stay out all day, and since it wasn't yet dark that meant they didn't have to leave yet! Well, lucky for us, Haruman was just as amused as anything because Gemma really is a very cute little thing, so he said it would be no problem to add them in to supper. And supper was really great, too - he took us to Masala and it was great - except that Naani's saag is better than theirs.

But the funny thing about it was that Gemma had to sit between Perks and Parvati! I think Perks may be in for a surprise now that Gemma's seen what real older girls are like. Of course, she's her own sibs at home, but that's not quite the same thing, is it?

Anyway. Back to school, huh? Have you had a good holiday? Ready for the play? I'm getting so nervous and it's still days away. I'm more worried about this than exams, I think!