So what does everyone else think

[alt_padma]

about all the reports in the news and on the journals? Did you see how Master Arkadinov says he predicted those dogstar captures, which Parvati thinks is proof he's a genius. I say it's proof he's full of himself! Last year he claimed he predicted that Auror Lestrange would kill Sirius Black - but I noticed that he didn't actually say that's what his prediction meant until after it happened. Just like now he's saying he knew all those dogstar people would be caught, but if you look at what he actually said, it just says that the Protectorate's fortunes will rise as stars fall. Well. Anyone who studies Arithmancy knows that there are meteor showers this time of year every year! I think it's awfully cheeky to say that they're linked to anything in particular. (But then I don't think Arkadinov is his real name, either!) Lav, I'm sorry, but he's really too much, even if he is supposedly very famous and Madam Carpenter says he's Talented. Your predictions are going to be ever so much more accurate and interesting, I'm sure!

But the reaction to the Aurors is really really nift, isn't it? Lana, I hope you saw that snitch entry Mrs Dapplemyre wrote about all the trainees, particularly you and Reethi Singh and how important it is that our young witches prove they're just as good as warlocks in the field. (I don't know if anyone else reads Mrs Dapplemyre regularly, but her entries are always interesting and really, really thoughtful about how witches can have brilliant careers and still be wives and mothers and all that. I just love how she writes about all the really amazing witches from the past and the ones we celebrate now in the Protectorate.)

And Seamus, did you see that long post by that bloke, whats-his-name, Orestes Skym? Well, he's Welsh so I'm not surprised at all that he thought MLE should have let well enough alone in the Vale of Glamorgan. But did you read the whole thing? Because toward the end he even compared his people's struggle to Ireland and how it would have continued to be peaceful and happy if MLE would just let them all be. And he had a choice thing or two to say about the Kestrels, on top of everything else!

I'm getting ready to go to the CCF next week, how about the rest of us who got in? Actually, I've kept up the exercises that we started when we were going to be tested - and Parvati sometimes comes along, too. We've convinced Mum that we're old enough we can take little jogs round the neighbourhood and no one will bother us. She even designed us some nift running robes, so that it's easier to go long distances. She might even put a line in for the autumn.

What's everyone else doing to prepare?

Comments

[alt_linus]

I think it's rather like living in one of those snitch spy novels! Good guys taking out bad guys is so much more wizard in real life!!! Especially when some of the good guys are from my school. I tend not to read most of the commentary posts after the fact. In most situations it's proper to have discourse, but one of the good things about living in the Protectorate is the lack of moral ambiguity. That's what Dad says, anyway. I took a look at Mrs Dapplemyre though, after what you said, and she seems like a really sensible witch.

I've been working on getting my library into a transportable state. Not all of it, mind, just my top twenty reference books and the Ministry-approved history texts. I hear Doctor Deller is really strict, but that'll be a nice change from Professor Rubbishbinns, even if I'm not working with him directly. Hope I will, though! And Mum seems to think they won't feed us enough, so she's been making biscuits nonstop. She's been complaining about how skinny I am.

[alt_draco]

There's plenty of land at the Manor for long walks, flies, or runs, so I've had more than my fill of exercise. Too bad the food's so nice. What would a nift running robe be like? I've rigged mine so that the cooling charm doesn't kick in until I keep up a certain speed for a certain distance. Good trick, that.

[alt_lana]

Congratulations on your CCF acceptance. I wish we'd had that opportunity when I was your year. I imagine you'll all find that it opens many doors for you in future.

I know from experience now that physical training puts one in much better form not just in terms of stamina and strength but mentally and magically. I'm always sharper on days I've begun with solid time in the sparring dungeons or out on the field courses.

Even now that I'm working off-site most days, I've kept my regular regimen with Singh and Evan. It's good to have a partner or two: they help you keep the commitment and they push you on days when you might otherwise slacken the pace or short your routine.

Thanks for pointing us to Mrs Dapplemyre's piece; I would have missed it otherwise. Did you see what Maestro Gilhooly wrote about feeling as though our realm is finally coming into it's own now? Oh, and Belinda Sewell--you know, the biographer? she's written on all the important old families--did you see that she wrote a piece about Auror Crouch and his grandfather, Caspar Crouch, who was a military officer and an administrator in India. It was a really fascinating reflection on how our models of leadership and loyal service have progressed over time, and it was also about how character develops as a result of influences in and beyond the family, considering that virtue and aptitude sometimes skip generations. It was the sort of piece, I think, that only Mrs Sewell could have written without causing a fuss, but it was so perceptive. I couldn't put it down.

Mostly, though, the writers I follow are either motivational--like Aptos Markham, who's always got his eye on the goals Our Lord has set for us--or fitness specialists--I especially like Michaela Throckmorton because she's always suggesting things to add a bit of variety in a routine or things you can do while standing in a queue or waiting for the lifts at the Ministry. Of course, I also keep up with what our trainers write in their journals--Professor Myddleton, for instance, is simply fascinating on magical techniques for enhancing memory and mental keenness.

I suppose that's more than you wanted to know! I hope you do enjoy the experiences you'll have in this CCF programme. It sounds absolutely nift.

[alt_seamus]

I hadn't noticed the post from Skym until you pointed it out. He's an idiot. A complete barking idiot. If you give muggles an inch, they'll take an ell, and if he knew anything at all about Ireland he'd know that.

As far as training goes, my tutor this summer is working with me on duelling and physical training so I've been doing whatever he tells me to, which has included running but also a lot of strengthening exercises. He seems to especially like sending me out to run when it's raining.