Padma Patil

What on earth did you tell Rebecca Vain and Narcissa Lonsdale? They've just been in the girls' loo crying there eyes out.

Ugh. Its happening again. Yesterday I had to copy out my Ruins assignment fore times.

Anyway. You know better than to upset firsties, Lines. Is something wrong?

off to a great start for the year. We've added some new pillows for the window seat and Madam Pince has given us permission to bring Restricted Section books there for reading, provided we bring them back to the desk at the end of the evening.

As has always been the case, if anyone else happens to be looking for a title in the library and can't find it, you're welcome to see if it's on our adjoining table. We generally keep those texts near to hand when we're revising there in the afternoons or during free periods.

Gilhooly and Vane: We were talking in Ravenclaw Corner and we've decided that if you'd like to come and sit with us now and then, you're welcome to do so. It's good to see an incoming class with so much potential; our advice to you lot is: Don't squander it.

Thompson and Cuthbert: Congratulations again on making Prefect. Remember that House Prefects meet every Monday and Thursday for breakfast and Professor Vector likes us to report to her before each staff meeting, so you can tell me or Edgecombe (or Moon and Tamblyn, of course) if there's anything from the lower forms that we need to her to know.

Oh, and Lines, there are a couple of things I wanted to ask you, if you can tear yourself away for a private conversation. Maybe in the common room tonight? History club, for one thing, and a couple of other little thoughts I had.

Hullo!

How is your holiday so far?

If you're off with Mr Rosier you might not even have got your letter yet, but most of us got our O.W.L. results today. How did you do? Is Mr Rosier pleased?

Actually, that's partly why I'm writing. We have to reply by the 1st as to which subjects we'll be continuing and I didn't know if you meant to continue in History. Because Lines and I are thinking of skiving off it for N.E.W.T.s and only sitting the exams (like I did for Creatures and Divination) but I didn't want to do that if one of us wasn't going to continue, so that History Club can at least attempt to stay on track.

To be honest, we could maybe pass History Club on to someone in 4^th or even 3^rd years but Lines might pout. He's so needy that way. Anyway, something like History Club looks good on a vitae, doesn't it?

Well, mostly I just wanted to see how you're doing. Have you finished with Remy after that spectacle at the wedding? Or are there plans for you two this summer? There might not even be any YPL, that's what Bobolis was saying on the train, but either way, you'll be able to see each other if you want to, won't you?

And, the other thing? Ireland? There hasn't been any more trouble for you because of any of it, has there? I don't like to bring it up if it upsets you but you'd let me know if you're still having problems, right?

Write me if you have time or when you get back to New London if you're busy having your holiday, and we'll meet up for ice creams or something, all right?

Love from,

Padma

Thanks for the butterbeer today. It was a load of fun.

Sorry I didn't feel too well all of a sudden. But I'm much better now. I think it was just a little too sweet and I drank too quickly.

I hope everyone had a good afternoon.

I'm really worried about Seamus.

No one's seen him all day.

I'm going up to the hospital wing--Kirke said he walked him up there earlier because he couldn't go back to class after what happened in Dublin.

If he's not there, Lav will you check the Gryffindor common room? And Lines, the library? And maybe send Davies or someone down to the pitch to see if he went flying.

I've got this terrible feeling that they made him go back. His family will And that maybe sending him to the hospital wing was just so no one would notice for hours.

Daphs and I have been talking more about her musical idea. Lines, do you think Karo would be willing to help a bit, even if she is planning her wedding and all?

And Pav, Daphs asked if you'd speak to Madam Hooch about backing us up if she goes to Madam Umbridge about making it part of the YPL's activity for the year. Like the play only Madam Umbridge wouldn't have to lift her wand about it. I told her you and Lav could take care of Hooch.

Lines, I know you're excited for Saturday but we do need to think about History Club for Monday. Maybe something from the 19th Century when the conclaves of West Indian wizards took over the old Whitechapel area of New London? Or maybe you have other ideas.

(And I know you think the Omnioculars are a good idea so you'll be able to see their wandwork but honestly, we'll be indoors. You'll look like an idiot if you bring them. Seriously.)

Oh, Pav, incidentally, I checked with Gambol and Japes and they'll send us the seeds and candles and everything for Navratri next week. Gupta says he's got a few idols his parents sent with him, too. Rohani says she'll arrange for the space to be kept clear for the week, so we can leave it set up and don't have to clear it every night.

Lana,

How is your grandmother doing? I hope she's all right. Haruman said he'd call to check on her if you like.

I've been thinking more about everything that happened Monday night and, well, it was all very frightening, but honestly it was also kinda cool to be able to pitch in and help. And I hope I did. Help you, I mean. Setting up the checkpoints and the relay stations. You were amazing, I hope someone's told you!

I'm already incredibly busy being back at Hogwarts, and lessons haven't even started yet! Finnigan and I are continuing History Club, of course, and then we've been talking about some other ideas for the CCF, based on everything coming out of Monday. We got to talking about the IMA and some of the other terrorist groups, and of course, the false Black post and so on, and we came up with a proposal we're working on for Professor Sinistra. (And Professor Raz, really.) It's to do with learning more about the ways one can help decode things in the journals - you know, how some people say that all those posts from the Crimson Company are nothing but encrypted messages to their followers? We want to start a cryptography workshop. I thought perhaps someone from MLE might come and give us pointers. I just think...it's hard when we're reading things in the journals, sorting out what's real from what's just a load of stuff, and no one really tells us much here, they like to just tell us that everything's perfect.

Well, we know that's not true, but the whole point of YPL and CCF is to make it more perfect. And it seems to me that knowing what might be going on below the surface is a good way to do that.

And the Corner is really going strong already. We've been putting together timetables for when to revise what. There's hardly going to be a free night, at this rate!

Now, don't fret at me, but Lares Tamblyn actually told me yesterday that he thought Page acted horribly last year and that if I'd like to sit with him and his brother and the other Prefects at meals and such, that'd be all right. And then he said - well, he said Davies even told Page he'd been beastly, 'and especially to someone as fit as Patil,' was what he told him. Cox and Samuels overheard him in the locker rooms, I guess, after one of their matches. Tamblyn said he figures Davies might like to ask me out but he doesn't want anyone to make a meal of it like they did with Page last year. So he suggested that sitting up with the Prefects would put me close to the Quidditchers but not right in among them, because obviously that would look like I'm just trying to catch Page's eye again. As if I'd give him a second chance to be a gentleman!

Well, I'm not sure what I'll do about it. I don't think Tamblyn's the type to wind one up; if Chambers had told me then I'd be sure she'd just putting a kneazle among the occamies! But I always thought Davies fancied Chang, so I don't know quite whether Tamblyn's really drawing the right conclusions. I mean, it could just be that Davies is too decent to let the side's reputation get tarnished by one player's foolishness. Couldn't it?

But anyway. I thought you'd be interested to hear. What else? Well, you probably already know that Karoline Moon's already quite the mope since Baddock's gone. (Clearwater, too, but she does a better job, at least, of not letting it rule her every conversation. Though, honestly, I think I'd be sick if she did go on and on about Weasley, of all people. By the way, what do you think of them choosing her for Head Girl? You probably don't want to say but personally I think, as much as I'd like to see a Ravenclaw with the job, the Headmistress is rather scraping if Clearwater was her best choice. She's not at all a leader like you were. At least, not so far.) But anyway, Dames says Moon and Baddock wanted to get engaged over the summer, but Baddock's father wouldn't allow it! She's been a mope about that, too. Dames thinks it's not that Mr Baddock objects, really, it's just that he thinks they're too young. I thought perhaps he wasn't happy about the play, from last year, you know, how Ptolemy let Karo put in all the stuff about his parents. But Dames doesn't think so, not really. She says Mr Baddock's far too sensible to hold something like that against someone our age. Well, Karo's age. I asked Lines what he thought about his sister getting engaged to Baddock but he just shrugged. Boys.

Oh, and can you believe there were actually no new Bobolis cousins in this year's firsties? But there are some promising ones. Persephone Sanditon's supposedly got a lovely voice and Orla Quirke dances, I hear. And my own cousin, Darshana, she got sorted into Ravenclaw as well! I'm sure Sanji would have been Sorted

Well, I've really gone on and on, haven't I? I'm sure you've loads of important things you're learning at the Ministry and I haven't even asked what you're specialising in now. Of course, Monday was far from the time to catch up but I hope you'll write back and tell me all the exciting parts of your training nowadays!

Corner, what did you do? I thought you wrote to Professor Sinistra. What happened?

Linus, I thought you were supposed to make sure he turned in his letter.

except for Astronomy.

Remember, History Club begins tonight! Parkinson and I have been working on a project that I think everyone will find really interesting. We've been looking at the history of the regulation of time travel. I think, given how well this has worked out, we might ask if others don't want to research other laws, like how Animagi came to be, or the history of Parseltongue or things like that.

Anyway, so far, I like Dark Arts and Arithmancy best of the new lessons, and Potions, Defence and Transfiguration are still at the top of the regular ones. I mean, I like Charms too, and Astronomy is okay but I like the night-time part better than the lectures (and that'll be tonight).

And Ravenclaw Corner is still nift, I mean, with Sandoval and the Bobolises and the Dameses and all. Oh, and Sandoval, I don't know if your brother told you but there are a few others who've started coming by more often. Davies, for example, and Cox. And there are some newer ones, like Gray and Martinez. But mostly it's the same chums from last year. Dunstan may start coming with me sometimes, and Moon, but only when Karoline isn't there to tease him. I guess that's the bad thing about having an older sister or brother at school with one!