Padma Patil

Thanks for coming with me to the Hospital Wing last night. I'm feeling much better.

I do wish we could have one Healer again, though, it's so hard to go already but it's worse when you don't know who you're going to get. But anyway, the Healer gave me a week's supply of Dreamless Sleep in case I need it. I'm to try not to use it too much, though.


It's just...there was a boy. Sanji's age. I mean, Sanji's age when he died, you know. And I keep seeing Sanji instead. And I realised I've thought of him more this week than in five years. That's terrible, isn't it.

I dunno. I'm sure it'll go away.

Anyway. I've got the potion now, so I shouldn't have to wake us all up with my whinging.

flown--I mean, it could have been on a Firebolt, it feels like it's gone by so fast!

We're all so relieved that Diggory's eventually going to recover, for one thing. And now, all the clubs are being reinstated (we've completely lost track of History Club; I think we might just want to chuck it altogether until next year), and Professor Vector's trying to make sure that we all get our Careers Advice before the end of the year. I guess Madam Umbridge didn't realise we were supposed to have the sessions and people weren't sure if that counted as Professors teaching things that weren't strictly related to their subjects, so we didn't have them back in the winter when we were supposed to get them.

I hope that doesn't mean that people have been revising for the wrong O.W.L.s, though.

Oh, but lessons have been brill this week. Well, Monday was a little strange, but by Tuesday things felt normal again, didn't they? And we've got Defence sorted out again and everything. And everyone's been getting together to revise like mad, now that we can do. Ravenclaw Corner was bursting at the seams tonight--Madam Pince had to tell us that if she had to come over one more time she would eject us all from the library! And we all just smiled and didn't even mind being told off.

Our dormitory has an adorable kitten now, too, which we've all agreed we're going to let stay and consider to be everyone's. She's a little white and black number, with black ears and a sort of splotchy pattern on her back and legs and tail. It's almost like someone dipped her in ink. She's ever so dainty, too. Su Li said we should call her 'shaw moon yu' which is 'little cow' in Chinese, but none of us could say it right (that there doesn't even really do the pronunciation justice), so we've just decided to call her Moonpie instead.

I'm not sure what we'll do come summer, though. Mum certainly wouldn't want her at our house and I don't think Morag could stand having a cat to herself (she's a bit allergic, and she's been complaining that her nose is going to run straight through exams, now). Maybe Belinda will take her home. I don't think we could leave her in the castle all summer.

Lav, I think we should get something going this weekend, don't you think? I think we all need a little something to celebrate because it's May and April was just so awful and you can just tell that waiting for Hogsmeade isn't going to do anyone any good. I'll ask Professor Vector if we can get up a dance in the Great Hall or something on Saturday, shall I?

almost over. I guess with the time away for the CCF and all, there hasn't been nearly as much loafing about as usual. Which is probably a good thing, overall.

Not that there was all that much loafing about, even normally. But this summer, Pav and I were also helping in the shop. (Mum's said more than once that it would be lovely if one of us took an interest in the business.) It's fun, of course, but it's also a load of work. And Mum recently took on some more help, but if anything, going through the CCF training made things more efficient afterward. I dunno, I'm happy to help out but I'm still leaning toward other things. I think it's important that each of us does our utmost to serve the Protector the best possible way we can. I don't think clothes design is really all I'm capable of, is all.

That doesn't mean we didn't have a grand time designing! Mum's putting a few of our robes into production, even. I wish they'd been ready before the end of the summer but holidays will do. (It's also well strange to be designing things for winter when it's hot and for summer when it's cold, but that's the nature of the business, isn't it?)

Ginny, I think Purest Sparkle might even be interested. I mean, young clothes for the young witch about town? Mum's going to see about it, anyway. If you're still modelling for them that would be really snitch, wouldn't it?

That's not the only news we had this summer. Haruman's brought one particular girl round for supper about half a dozen times. Mum's holding out hope he'll make a Big Announcement any day.

They came tonight, too, but not to make a Big Announcement. Haruman wanted to talk to Dad about something in the papers today. Apparently a Healer that he works with occasionally at St M's turned up dead in Wales yesterday. He was really shaken up about it. Not because he particularly liked the Healer but because so many people have been talking to one another about whether it could have been a murder.

It's kind of disturbing and exciting at the same time, isn't it? I wasn't sure why anyone would want to kill a Healer but Haruman said that to know this Healer was to hate him, basically. And apparently he had a string of patients who were always complaining and Haruman was one of the Jr Healers who sometimes had to calm them down while someone else tracked Healer Stint down and well--he's not surprised if someone got cross enough. Or it could have been an accident, too. He was found at the bottom of a cliff, so he could have fallen (though it's odd he didn't Apparate away, if he fell, right?).

Well, anyway.

School starts in only a week! Has anyone heard more about the 'changes to Dark Arts' that Mr Malfoy mentioned? (I saw that and wondered if anyone had been mad enough to buy their books already--I mean, we've all been waiting to find out what would happen since Miss Professor Carrow died, right?)

Oh, by the way, for Ravenclaw Corner: We're meeting up in Diagon at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. Seamus, Lav, if you want to join us that's fine. Pav and Su Li are coming too and my cousin Darshana, and Desai as well. Cooper, Bole, if you're interested, come and meet us outside Fortescue's.

I thought it might be useful to do a little strategising ahead of Saturday.

I'm looking forward to working with you both. I'm not worried about Su Li, she's actually really clever and pretty well-rounded. Bundy will be fine, too, don't you think? Depends on what we've got to do. MacMillan's strength is in keeping people together, at least from what I've seen, so maybe he'll do best at the sorts of challenges that require loads of coordination.

What about the third-years? Is there anyone we should definitely try to get early in the draft? Oh, and Zabini, do you want Mlle Durand on our team, or not on our team? Because I figure Draco will put his cousins on his team, and then Hydra will likely want Finch-Fletchley. And we have to have at least one each of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, right?

So let me know what you two think and maybe we can all meet as a team, the six of us, before Saturday?

read in today's Prophet that Abbott's little sister and brother are being reclassified as purebloods?

I think that's about as good a way to honour Abbott's memory as any, really. Maybe they think it'll help protect them some. Although it might not, either. Not entirely.

Here in Ravenclaw, loads of people are having trouble sleeping. I guess on Sunday the Sisters in Witchcraft made sachets for under their pillows. Lavender and chamomile and other herbs that help soothe and calm people when they're going to sleep. I'm not sure how well they're helping. Fawcett's been having a terrible time of it, and Su Li too, for that matter. We've asked Professor Sprout if we can go down to the greenhouses after today's last exam, to make some more, and she said yes, we could do. I think we'll put runes on to help make them more powerful, too. MacDougal got a bottle of some vile potion from her mum but it smells so bad no one wants to test it. I think the runes are safer - especially after reading that paper Linus Moon wrote for class.

We were talking about things in the Corner this afternoon, about how it seems like Our Lord's peace keeps getting disrupted in really horrible ways. Like last year. And now this. We're supposed to be safe at Hogwarts - and we are, mostly - but if stuff like this can keep happening even with the best kind of protection available, well, we reckon it's just true what they tell the Young Protectors, that it's everybody's business to keep themselves all prepared for domestic enemies, all the time, because you never know.

Still. Even with knowing that we're practising and we're prepared, it feels sort of helpless. Doesn't it? Like you can't ever really keep the bad out, not altogether. And I mean, being fourteen doesn't make us any more able to stop bad things happening than being thirteen did. Do grown-ups feel that way too, do you think?