Chapter Three;

Just over a month had passed since Dumbledore had received the note from Charles, informing him that Harry Potter would not be attending Hogwarts. He hadn't truly believed it until tonight, when the 11 year old didn't step forward to be sorted into Gryffindor. His plans had been ruined. He had no use for Nicholas' stone, and Quirrel had no use either. Now his priority would not be to test Harry, but to get him back. For now, though, he would have to address the students.

"Yes, I can see that you have all noticed that a certain boy is not here," he said in a voice that indicated (he hoped) that he was in no way responsible, "Harry Potter has declined his invitation to attend Hogwarts." Dumbledore sat back down as an explosion went off.

"Declined the Hogwarts invitation!"

"Who does he think he is?"

"Hogwarts is the best school of magic there is! Where else would he go?"

"Do you think they lied when they said he was alive?"

"Where is he?"

"I heard that he went to live with muggles... maybe he doesn't want to learn magic!"

"Maybe he's been getting private tutoring... too advanced to be in first year!"

"STOP!" Shouted a small voice, "Stop! I know where Harry Potter is, and none of you are getting anywhere near the truth." A tall first year with long red hair and light green eyes stood up.

"My sister Sarah sent me a letter and it arrived while I was on the train. She knows Harry Potter."

"Ms. King," said McGonagall, "if this is relevant, you will be allowed to read the letter out loud."

"Oh, it is, Professor," she said earnestly, pulling the letter out of her pocket.

"'Dear Lily,

I can't believe that it has already been a month since I began at Salem. So much has happened! I will tell you about my friends, first, though. There's James. He's a bit pompous and rude sometimes- he really enjoys getting on peoples nerves! He's stubborn as well, but he can be nice when he feels like it. He's the best at transfiguration in the year and he helps us a lot (when he's not arguing with us!) remember how you told me about the Hogwarts houses? I explained them to everyone else, and James said that he would be a Slytherin. The rest of us know that he would be more likely to end up in Gryffindor- he has no subtlety at all! He's set on it, though.

Stephen is funny and quite cheeky but not in a James way. Sometimes I think that he's just here for comic relief! We all agreed that if he went to Hogwarts, he would be in Hufflepuff as he is incredibly loyal to his friends, but if someone insults us he can be scary. Never want to get on his bad side! The masters all think that he will have an aptitude for healing magic as he has slight empathy (the magical gift!) but we won't begin to learn that until 3rd year.

Michael's here as well. If Steve's here for comic relief, then Mich's here for stress relief. He's the most laid back of all of us- though that's not to say he's bad at school! He's quite good in every subject but he never takes top spot. Mich is closer to Harry than any of the boys because he understands him better than anyone else. Though he does have a wicked streak! Jessica is Michael's older sister- she's in second year and Mich managed to convince her to play a prank on all of the masters the other night at dinner. It was never traced back to us, thank goodness! It was brilliant, though, and we never thought him capable of it which made it even better!

Michelle is brilliant. Quite fiery and fierce but kind and understanding at the same time. She's definitely the best in Care of Magical Creatures- I think she just frightens the animals into behaving! Gryffindor girl through and through. She's closer to Harry than anyone and the two of them talk to each other more than anyone else, but we know that they're friends with us as well- Harry just has trouble opening up to too many people at once and Michelle was the first person to try and get to know him properly without being mean or cruel about it.

Laura's the rebel of the group. I have never seen a person have shockingly violet eyes- at least, not until I met Laura. She's probably one of the fitter of my friends and when we all go for a run together; only Harry and Shell (Michelle) can keep in front of her! She runs like a Nimbus 2000. Laura comes first in Charms, hands down. I swear she gets them all right first try!

Angela is probably the most Ravenclaw of the group, though everyone is intelligent enough to be in that house. She's brilliant in potions class and astronomy as well, and is the one to remind us if we forget to do our homework. (Okay, fine- she reminded me when I forgot about the essay we were supposed to hand to Master Whitley, but I feel better if I say she reminds everyone.) Angie is definitely the most logical out of the group.

Finally, there's Harry. He seemed brilliant until we found out his name, then he almost seemed to hide away from us for a while until he realised that we weren't treating him any different. I got the story from Charles; the others agree that I should be in Slytherin! Charles said that Harry is quite famous in Britain for living when his parents died. (That was Harry's description of his fame- I cornered him afterwards) Harry really hated the idea of being famous for that, and I don't say I blame him. Who wants their fame to be a reminder of the fact that they are orphaned? When Charles explained about magic, Salem and Hogwarts, (No, he didn't know. His relatives tried to squash the magic out of him, told him that there was no such thing and informed him that his parents were worthless drunks that were killed in a car crash and informed him quite seriously that it would have been 'better for everyone if he had had the decency to die with them.') Harry was terrified at the idea of fame and being recognised. He also apparently saw that many people would try to manipulate him and he would never be left alone. He accepted the offer to attend Salem; apparently deciding that he needed to know more about magic before he braved Britain. He doesn't ever want to return to his relatives, and I can certainly see why. Now that he is eating proper meals, though, he seems to be gaining a proper height and size. He's almost as tall as Steve now! He's good at practically every subject, but he's coming first in Defence against the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes. He's the best dueller in the year as well. Harry started school acting almost like the perfect Slytherin! His behaviour is becoming more and more Gryffindor-ish as he gets used to being treated well. We all agree that that is the house he would be in now. Speaking of houses, it's the first year versus third year Quidditch match on Sunday, and we're all so excited! Harry's playing Seeker against Thomas Robinson and we think that Harry might actually beat him. He's a natural at that game, I tell you! I'll be playing Chaser, Lily, and we've been training really hard.

So, that's my friends! I have to tell you, Lily, classes are intense here. Take DADA. Master McGowan told us the incantation for a shield charm, before he began to throw as many humiliating curses and charms as he could at us until we managed it! Make no mistake, Lil, we all have perfect shields now. Harry was the only one that left the classroom not severely embarrassed, and he was still in a fluro pink uniform with matching hair!

I know this letter will arrive when you are still on your way to Hogwarts, and I want to say good luck. Make heaps of friends, and have fun- but don't forget to pay attention in class! I know you will. I hope you end up in Gryffindor like you wanted, though the 8 of us here don't see what's so important about the houses. Surely you can be friends with whoever you want and talk and eat with whoever you want no matter what house you're in! You're still all living in the same castle, learning the same subjects under the same Professors. Just something to think about. Michael asked me to ask you to say 'hi' to a girl in your year- Tracey Davis. I think they are cousins? Well, while we are saying hello to people we know, pass on my greetings to Hannah.

Please reply soon and I can't wait to see you again!

Your Sister,

Sarah King

(Sorry- we have to reply with our surnames here otherwise the letters apparently go missing. According to the Campbell's and the Lewis'- they're two sets of twins in 3rd year, and they are always being silly and making jokes.)' That's the letter," she finished. Tracey Davis gaped at her.

"Sarah was accepted into Salem Institute of Magic?" she asked weakly. Lily nodded proudly.

"What's so good about that?" a muggleborn said, confused.

"What's so good about that?" snapped a pureblood, "only the fact that anyone saying that Hogwarts is the greatest school of magic is lying. It the best school that most people can enter. Salem is incredible. They're students come out with more knowledge of magic than most people manage in their lives. By the end of first year, they probably know more that our fourth years! It's incredibly difficult to get into, though, and no one really knows what they look for; even less where it is. We have never found a school in Salem. For an idea of how tough it is to get in, though, just look at Lily. Pureblood, with a twin accepted- she wasn't. You would be mad to decline an invitation to attend Salem Institute of Magic."

"Actually, though I don't know all of the requirements to attend, I know a few," said Lily, "Charles told us some when he came to collect Sarah. Salem doesn't care about blood status. What they care about is the amount of magical power you have, your study and work ethics and your ability to learn quickly. I failed in the study and work ethics, according to Charles, as well as a few of the other requirements that he wouldn't tell us." Another first year Gryffindor with bushy hair looked affronted.

"Fail in even one requirement, and you won't attend Salem Institute. What Sarah didn't say in her letter was that she described every first year in attendance- they take four boys and four girls each year only." The hall gasped, and even the staff looked shocked.

"You heard the methods employed by the DADA Master. Well, my sister is known for understatement. Knowing her, that would have been one of the less brutal lessons, which is why she used it as an example- she is terrified of frightening me. Harry Potter is going to be incredible when he comes back to Britain- to top a class at Salem is like a first year outperforming a 5th year on their OWLs. Absolutely incredible." Tracey nodded.

"I agree with Lily, Salem is an incredible school and its graduates even more so. If the 5th years there wanted to overthrow the government- bear in mind there is only 8 of them- they could probably do it with sheer magical power. Not that our politicians are particularly magically skilled."

"I wish I could go to Salem," someone called out, "it sounds brilliant!" Lily smirked.

"Put your hand up if you want to attend Salem Institute of Magic," she said and the majority of the hall put their hands up. "Now put your hand down if you change your mind while I am speaking. They have classes 6 days a week-" half the hall dropped their hands- "Classes begin at 5am in the morning-" now only a few Ravenclaws and Hermione kept their hands up, "and the classes end at 5pm in the evening." Even more hands dropped, leaving only five in the air, "From 5am to 5pm they have only two hours of respite, meaning they spend 10 hours every day in the classroom, and none of those hours are study or free periods." And the hands finally fell down.

"Oh, look at that," smirked Lily, "you all changed your minds fairly quickly... keep in mind that this information comes from Sarah King, Master of understatement-" and the students in the hall shivered. "That and the brutal lessons they have is the price the students at Salem pay for the knowledge and skill they have."

"I like the point about the houses," said a Ravenclaw, "they are right. We are all Hogwarts students; we live and learn in the same castle. We have the same teachers and we learn the same things at the same rate. We all have so much in common! The only thing that divides us is a single word said by an old hat when we were 11. We shouldn't have to limit our friendships based on that word." The students around the hall began to slowly nod in agreement with the words being spoken, and the Professors were in shock.

"Harry Potter is managing to unite the Houses... something that hasn't been done for hundreds of years... at the age of 11 without even stepping foot in the castle," McGonagall murmured.

Dear Sarah,

I loved getting your letter. Thank you! I'm sorry, as well. The Great Hall went absolutely crazy when they realised that the Boy-Who-Lived hadn't turned up, and the only way to get them to shut up was to read the letter out loud. You'll never guess what happened, though! They heard your thoughts on the Houses being friends, and most of them realised that you were right. People are being friendly to others in different houses! I even saw a Gryffindor and a Slytherin talking together! I think your comment about Harry starting as a sure-fire Slytherin and then changing to almost perfect Gryffindor behaviour helped a lot. It seems that no one really thought it possible for others to change.

I am still glad that I managed to get into Gryffindor, though. The people aren't as nice here, unless you were exaggerating in your letter. I will tell you about the Gryffindors, anyway, as though the houses are closer together, the first years are sticking close to their house mates as we all get used to the school. It has been less than a week, though.

There's Hermione Granger. She's a bookworm, that's for sure! She's obsessed with being the best in every subject and is working herself far too hard but she is still missing the basics! She acts as though she knows everything when really she is one of the most ignorant people I have come across. I think her problem, though, is she is trying to fit everything in with the muggle world. Muggle celebrations, traditions, clothing, inventions, customs, behaviours... she's trying to make the magical world more muggle instead of understanding the magical world and changing herself to fit into it. She is probably an example of why some purebloods want to keep muggleborns away from our world- they would destroy it. I think she will learn with time, though. Hermione seems particularly offended at the idea of Salem- or more precisely- that she was not invited to attend.

Lavendar Brown is a giggly gossip, with not much of a brain. Sarah, really- I had to remind her to do her homework! Me! Though that might have been because she was trying to avoid doing it just to annoy Hermione who has been nagging her about it ever since we got it. She hangs around with Parvarti Patil. Parvarti is almost the same as Lavender, though prettier and a little smarter. Parvarti has a twin sister- Padma- who is in Ravenclaw, so she does have a semblance of study routines and habits. That's pretty much the girls.

Ron Weasley is like James, but more stuck-up and not nice... ever. He seems under the impression that Harry is his best friend and that everyone should respect him. He is always saying stupid things, like;

"When Harry Potter comes back to Hogwarts, he's gonna hex you if you don't listen to me." Honestly, I think that you should suggest to Harry that he send a letter to all of the Gryffindor boys telling them that Ron is lying, because they all seem to believe him. That boy can't even hold his wand the right way!

Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas I know almost nothing about, but they hang in the shadows around Ron and seem to listen to him.

Neville Longbottom is probably the only decent Gryffindor. He is quite shy and not very confident in his magical abilities, but he is brilliant at Herbology! Some of the meaner Slytherins are always telling him that he shouldn't have come to Hogwarts, and that he is almost a squib. How mean is that? I think it works, though, he believes them and it takes me a lot to try and get his confidence back up to its still low standing after every encounter with Draco Malfoy- and that is several times a day. Classes are good, though, at least- as good as classes can be. Professor McGonagall is the head of Gryffindor, Deputy Headmistress and most importantly- the transfiguration Professor. She is really nice, but quite strict. The best lesson was her first. She is a cat animagus, Sarah! She was sitting on her desk in cat-form and just watching us a few minutes after the bell went. Ron, Seamus and Dean came running in 5 minutes late and crowing about how they had made it before the Professor and that they were soooo good. Well, they finally finished bragging... and Professor McGonagall transformed! The lecture she gave them has been filed away in my mind for safe-keeping... it was brilliant! How did the match go?

Write soon,

Lily.

P.S. Tell Harry to watch out for Dumbledore- he seems to be determined to have Harry attend Hogwarts before the end of the year.

They sat back.

"Well," said Sarah finally, "that could have been slightly more cheerful."

"Why does Dumbledore want me at Hogwarts, though? It's not his business!"

"Harry, you might be brilliant, but sometimes you can be really naive! You're famous, especially in Britain. Dumbledore is famous as well. For you to decline Hogwarts looks bad on Dumbledore even if it was to attend the so-called 'Salem Institute of Magic.' He either wants you back to improve your image or because he is another one of the manipulators. Remember that the prophecy was delivered to him; he knows it and he would want you under his control. Think of what he can do with the information that he already has!" said Angela hotly.

"Okay, I see your point, Angie," he said, "should we write to the Gryffindor boys?"

"Nah, it will give him an even larger reputation if he got a letter from you no matter the consequences. And, if he's clever he can always charm the letters to the other Gryffindors to make it look as though you are threatening them," said James, "By the way, Sarah, what did you say about me in the last letter that looks so bad from Lil's end?" Sarah blushed.

"I said a... few things about your slightly annoying personality... and stubbornness."

"Oh, that's alright then!"

"What?"

"Well it is, she's more stubborn and annoying than me... and can't even play Quidditch properly!"

"Neither can you, James," said Laura, "neither can you. Has it already escaped your notice that the third years were flattening us this morning until Harry caught the snitch? That Shell was the only beater on our team managing to hit the bludgers at the third years? That Sarah scored the majority of our goals?" James blushed.

"Sorry, Sar," he said, "I guess I'm just a little embarrassed by how much better the third years were. I always thought that I was good at Quidditch, but they were so much better."

"Hey, James, don't worry. Annalise and Stephanie are amazing beaters... and they are twins as well... they can practically read each other's minds! You've only worked with Shell for a month, you'll get better. Harry is just a natural at Quidditch."

"Yeah, James, the Campbell's are incredible!" James smiled and the eight first years began to think over their first month at Ancient Phoenix School of Opportunity.

The classes were brutal, though the first week hadn't been too bad. The Masters had each been taught a spell to place the knowledge in their textbooks right into their brains, though they had to read them afterwards to keep it there, otherwise the knowledge would be lost. Once that had been done, though, classes were fair game. They knew the theory, so it was practicals all lesson, and they went to bed magically exhausted every night. Thankfully, magic is like a muscle so they were slowly improving. The combat and swords classes had been just as brutal. First swords lesson, Master Whitley had them take out their swords and block him for a full minute. Only Harry and Michelle had escaped injuries in that first part of the lesson, but it didn't stay that way. By the end of the month, they could all block quite well and were beginning to focus on attack. The same happened in both combat classes, though they were not nearly as advanced. Riding was the class that they all agreed they liked. In the first lesson, they had been taken down to the stables and introduced to the horses. All of them were black Arabians, but with vastly different personalities. They had been told to find the horse that was calling for them, and he or she would be theirs to learn to ride on, and own when they graduated. Harry had quickly found his. The nameplate on the door of the stall read 'Galeno' and Harry loved him. The others quickly found their horse as well. Angela found her horse next- Puebla. Michelle matched Kaseem, Sarah met Arif, and Laura matched Zandra. Stephen matched up with a horse named Melek and Michael met Rafa. James had a lot of trouble, but he finally felt drawn to a small Arabian named Rudi. Needless to say, he didn't get on with Rudi as well as the others got on with their horses. The first week was spent learning to care for them and then the riding lessons began. The fact that they were matched with their horse helped a lot, but their riding skills still needed a lot of work. Thankfully they all enjoyed the lessons.

"I still can't believe Rudi threw you off, James," said Michelle when they came back to the present.

"Hey, would you stop talking about that, please!"

"No, it's funny!" said Laura, "and the rest of us matched well enough that we don't get thrown off. Zandra would never do that to me, anyway." James sniffed.

"Well Rudi was just in a bad mood, he wouldn't have done that otherwise."

"Sure, James, sure," said Angela, "that explanation works... as long as he's always in a bad mood. But then, Rudi had to get his name somehow!"

"Well Puebla must be in a bad mood quite regularly as well then, as she looked quite annoyed at you yesterday."

"James, you'd better stop it or I will give either Shell or Harry a sword and tell them to go."

"Why not just give Harry one?" asked Laura.

"Because Harry would probably refuse to fight, so I get the next best dueller, Shell to step in," she explained.

"Hey! I am right here, you know," said Harry.

"OH! Harry, mate, didn't see you there. You need to speak up a little more, you know?" said Angela playfully.

"Thanks, Angie, glad to know you care," said Harry, rolling his eyes, "and who said I would refuse? I'd love to have a round with my sword, but James might not be able to keep me going for long enough."

"OI! I can so handle my sword!"

"Not nearly as well as Harry or Shell though," said Laura, "and that's nothing on you, James, but those two are incredible!"

"Why thank you, Laura, never knew you actually thought highly of me," said Michelle, "but don't group me with Harry- he's in a class of his own with that sword... or staff... or knives... or katana... or hands in combat... or wand when he's duelling... let's just say that our Harry's in a class of his own when it comes to fighting," said Michelle, "but Harry, you won't be there for long! I am so going to beat you one day and that's a promise."

"Huh, if you're going to try harder, maybe it's time that I put some effort into the combat and swords classes," Harry teased. From the horrified looks of the others, they thought he was being serious.

Dear Lily,

I don't mind that you read the letter out in front of the school, and the others here thought it was pretty funny, too. Only Harry sees a problem with it, but he's just shy, and he only complains half-heartedly. The price was cheap for him, considering the hall was told the truth about his schooling! I'm sorry that you are having trouble with friends at Hogwarts. I take it you don't hang around with Hannah? Is that because you don't want to, she avoids you or mutual consent? I'm glad you ended up in the house you wanted, anyway.

Hermione Granger sounds terrible! Have you tried to explain to her what she is doing? She might truly be unaware of how much she is alienating herself from the rest of you, and Harry said that he would probably try to fit the magical world in with the muggle one if Charles hadn't given him things to read and information. I can't imagine him doing that, though, so I think he is just trying to understand her. The others don't sound all that nice, either.

Harry's not going to send a letter to Ron, the potential for abuse of the letter is too high- it could make him feel even more important because 'Harry Potter' wrote a letter to him, and there are spells he could use to change the writing on it. Sorry about that, but you will just have to put up with him. I'm glad that you get along with Neville, though. Do you really think that it's just a self-esteem issue? We talked to Charles and the records show that he is living with his grandmother. Is it possible that she wants him to grow up like her son/daughter- Neville's parent so much that she passed on his/her wand to Neville? You know that the wand works its best when it is suited to the witch or wizard wielding it. Just something to think about. That Draco Malfoy sounds like a ponce! James takes offence to you describing them as similar to each other and I think I agree- James is really starting to calm down a little, and I think it might have just been the nerves that were making him unbearable. He's quite nice now, though still stubborn and enjoys teasing us. What's been happening at Hogwarts? We're all enjoying ourselves. Harry and Michelle are going to be incredible duellers when they get a little more experience and Harry seems to be really serious about it. He gets up an hour early every morning and goes for a run! The rest of us are serious as well, but he's insane! Especially when he goes for another run and a swim after dinner while the rest of us are fighting over the showers. He enjoys it, though, and that's what matters.

Remember how Charles told us that I would be matched to a horse? Well, I was, Lil! Arif is the bravest, nicest, most beautiful horse I have ever met and I hope that one day you will be able to meet him... OW! The others want me to mention their horses as well, and they seem to take offence at the description of Arif. Well, Harry matched with a beautiful horse. His name is Galeno and he really does match Harry's personality. Calm, gentle and slightly shy most of the time, but incredibly fierce when riled up and highly competitive. Fast as well. Melek. Well, she's matched to Stephen and definitely the most gentle of them all. Cheeky, though, and definitely well matched to Stephen. Rudi is the most stubborn mule I have ever met! He took forever to call to James, and they are the pair that work the worst together. Rudi actually threw James off a week ago! Rafa is a beautiful mare, though nowhere near as beautiful as my Arif. Once again, the pair is well matched. I swear that horse is more laid back than even Michael, and that is saying something!

Michelle paired with another warrior-horse- Kaseem is a crazy one, and he could easily be Shell as an animagus. If I didn't see them together, I would swear that Shell was a black Arabian animagus- it really is incredible! Laura matched with Zandra- she's the rebel horse and Angela matched with beautiful Puebla. The personality match is once again incredible. You really have to see it to believe it, Lil!

The Quidditch matches are going brilliantly. Our team really could do with some more skill, but Harry is yet to miss the snitch and the score is always in our favour at the end. No thanks to the rest of us, usually. Last Sunday's game was ended by Harry amazingly... the score was 150-0! I've never heard of anything like that happening before! Have you?

Well, that's pretty much all for now. Hope to get the Hogwarts Update soon!

Sarah King.

Dear Sarah,

Nope, I've never heard of a Quidditch game ending like that before! I asked around, and no one else here has either. You broke a record! I hope that I can meet Arif soon as well. I understand your point about Ron, and I'm a little embarrassed that I never thought of that possibility. Now for the 'Hogwarts Update,' as you put it.

You know, you really need to stop being right all the time! Neville's gran had given him his father's wand, telling him that hopefully one day he would grow up to be just like him, though she was always hinting that he would never do that- he could never do anything right. No wonder he has poor self-esteem issues! I talked to Neville and he said that he never got his own wand, but that he was fine using his fathers. I didn't like that, so I dropped a note to Professor McGonagall. A week later, a letter was sent home to Augusta Longbottom stating that they had discovered that Neville didn't own his own wand and that Hogwarts required every student to purchase their own wand- family heirlooms were not accepted. Well, she turned up that weekend and took him to Ollivanders (the wandmaker in Diagon Alley.) His spell work has improved so much, it's incredible! His best subject is still Herbology, but he is definitely not coming anywhere near last in any of the classes involving a wand. The Potions Professor, Snape, still makes him so nervous that he makes silly mistakes but that is only one class. That's the first miracle that has happened since my first letter.

On Halloween, a troll entered the castle... yep, a fully-grown mountain troll. I was in the bathroom with Hermione at the time when the troll came in. It was so frightening! It was going for Hermione, too, and I don't know why I did it, but it worked. I levitated its club out of its hand and dropped it on its head. The troll was apparently knocked out for hours. Well, you know what they say- The bigger you are, the harder you fall. That was certainly true for Mr. Toll there. Hermione's become a lot nicer since then. I wouldn't call us friends, but she does come with Neville and I to see Hagrid, and I think she sees us as friends. We shall have to see.

Speaking of Hagrid, he's the half-giant gamekeeper here... and an idiot! He. Has. A. Baby. Dragon. A Norwegian Ridgeback. What do we do? We have to convince him to get rid of the dragon somehow, but he won't let it free. We need to give it to someone who would take care of it... anyone you know willing to take it? Please say yes.

I'm glad Quidditch is going well for you, the opposite is true here. The Gryffindor seeker is pathetic! We lost the game because he failed to catch it. Our other players are incredible, but the snitch is just worth too much and Slytherin (who we were playing) aren't exactly push-over's. Classes are going fine over here, and Christmas was great. I wish you could have come home, but you had classes. Still, you get a month off for the summer... right? That's such a long way away, Sarah! It's only been 4 months since I saw you last, it feels like so much longer. Well, that's all for now. Please write back as soon as you can (not that you ever forget to)

Lily.

Lily,

That's great news that Hermione is calming down! Hopefully one day she will be your friend, but you still need to be careful. Dumbledore is going to try and get close to you (or get someone else close to you) as you have the most information on Harry. Be careful. Now, the Dragon. Isabella in all of her infinite wisdom, has decided that she will take the dragon, and we will study it in her CoMC classes. THIS IS MAD! Anyway, she asked me to tell you that it needs to be at the top of the tallest tower in exactly a week, 11pm. Bad luck about the Quidditch match, hopefully one day you will get a good seeker. Hey, Harry was sent an anonymous invisibility cloak for Christmas! There was a note, though; 'I had this in my possession the night your father died. It is time it is returned to you. Use it well.' I think it was sent by Dumbledore, as it was layered in tracking charms. The writing was large and loopy- any chance you can find out a little more? Thanks! Now... YOU FOUGHT A TROLL? You're almost as mad as Master O'Neil! (That's Isabella; we usually use her first name) Oh well. Classes are going smoothly over here. We are apparently at the level of a third year Hogwarts student, but they're not expecting us to keep progressing so quickly, as the Hogwarts students start to work harder around third year- so the estimate of a fourth year graduate at the end of first year is probably about right. Harry is now duelling two of us at once, he's crazy. He looks incredible with his weapons, though- all of them. Like they are just an extension of him. Sure, that is what all of us feel with our weapons, but they still look a little clumsy- not with Harry, though. He's incredible at Runes, as well, and Lancaster is delighted to have him in the class. They have private lessons on Sunday afternoons, now, and Harry is learning warding from him. I'm really enjoying the Arithmancy classes- you should definitely choose that course when you get to third year! Ava is giving me private lessons as well, though they don't go for very long. Actually, everyone in first year seems to be getting private lessons! It's weird. Stephen is spending the time with Mandy Popinwright; the school healer, and he is doing really well with healing magic. They were right when they said that he would have an affinity towards it. James works with Kirk Rasmussen- the transfiguration master. Michael isn't really exceptional at any subject, but he is good at everything so he spends time with Charles learning things from him. Michelle works with Isabella, Laura works with the Charms master, Sophia. She's getting really good! Angela splits her time between the Potions master, Daryl, and the Astronomy Master, Olivia. Is your Potions Professor really that bad? Daryl knows the master that Snape learnt from (to get his Mastery- Snape did not come to Salem!) and he says that Snape is extremely good at Potions but they never saw his as one to pursue a teaching career. Not enough people skills. If he is, next time he bullies Neville, say this; 'Snape, your master, Charlene Jacobs was right when she said you would never work with people- you really need to have a discussion with her.' That was a message from Charlene, don't ask me what it means- there is obviously a hidden message in it. I'm glad Neville got his own wand, I am sure that it would have made an incredible difference! I'm sorry that I couldn't come home for Christmas; we do get the one month break you were asking about, though! (Thank goodness for that!) Even Harry is looking forward to the break, but he doesn't have to go back to his relatives so that would help- he has his own property! He invited us to visit for a week in the holidays (and the rest of the first years here.) It's such a long time until then, though, that I'm not sure I should answer right away. I loved the 'Hogwarts Update," hopefully I will get another one soon...

Love from

Sarah King.

Dear Sarah,

Don't worry, I understand that you weren't able to come home for Christmas- I was just a little put out as it would have been nice to see my sister again. Well, the dragon's gone, though we got caught coming back from the tower. Malfoy somehow found out that we were moving him that night… don't ask me how… and informed the professors that we would be wandering around the castle. Git. Neville and I were caught coming down by Filch, the evil squib caretaker. You'll never guess, though. Lavender apparently found out that we would be wandering the castle and decided to come and find us! She got caught as well. McGonagall was furious! She took fifty points off the house and gave us a detention, but then Lavender complained! Well, she then added an 'each' at the end of the point-loss, so Gryffindor was 150 points down overnight. We weren't very well-liked after that. The house rivalries have diffused from duelling in the corridors to mutual dislike at the beginning of the year, so Gryffindor house was absolutely furious when they found out who had put them out of the running for the house cup. They refuse to speak to us, now. Well, Hermione still does, but she seems to be distancing herself slightly… its house-suicide to 'associate' with us at the moment. We still had our detentions, too… They sent us into the forbidden forest with the gamekeeper, Hagrid. We had to find unicorns that had been severely injured by a creature in the forest. How dangerous is that! It had already hurt unicorns; did the teachers think it would have problems with first years? Even worse, Hagrid split us up. Poor Neville had to go with Malfoy and Fang, Hagrid's dog, while Lavender and I went with him. Instructions were to send up red sparks if anything happened. Really. Malfoy decided it would be amusing to play a trick on Neville, frightening him into sending up the sparks. That boy is a coward, reduced to tricking people when they are in the middle of a dark, forbidden forest at midnight. He would never dare do something like that to Neville's face. The groups changed, then. Malfoy and I found the unicorn… it was dead. The creature wasn't gone, though, and I've never run so fast in my life. Apart from that, nothing much has happened here. Well… apart from the fact that we found a Cerberus in a third floor corridor… we all agree to never go near it again. It was scary. The yearly exams are coming up soon, and Hermione can always be found working as hard as the OWLs students. She's still missing the basics, though. I'd love to spend a week at Harry's and I think we should invite him to ours as well. I think that you're right about the cloak, by the way, and no one has the guts to pass one message to Snape verbally… we'll write it down in handwriting he doesn't notice and leave it on his desk… unless we can convince the Weasley twins that it's a good prank, then they would do it for us… anyway, I'm rambling… in a letter!

I might cut the 'Hogwarts Update' here, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Lily

Lily,

THAT DRAGON IS IMPOSSIBLE! It's growing so quickly, and only Isabella and Michelle are the only ones crazy enough to approach her, and the latter is only when Harry is calming her! (For some odd reason, he can communicate with her. Still, the dragon has serious mood swings, and Harry's going to wait until she's older!) Harry say's that we're both welcome, the last week before I go back to school is what we're arranging as he lives quite close to the place we have to meet at the beginning of the school year. Your detention sounds horrible! The points, too, and I'm sorry that you're being treated that way. As for Hermione… so much for Gryffindor courage, she's sounding almost Slytherin-like! Probably a very good thing that the house-tension has diffused even a little, imagine what it would have been like otherwise! Well, considering your extremely long account of Hogwarts life, I feel as though I should reply in kind. It's hard, though. School life is falling into a nice pattern now. Our abilities are starting to level out, except for the subjects that we top at- where the leader is pulling away from the group as the work gets harder. Harry's duels, for example, are really frightening now. I never want to be up against him, and I really do not care what weapon he is wielding… and that includes his wand! Not that it matters much anymore, as he's learning to combine them. Frightening. The masters all assure us that his sort of progress is nowhere near normal. Almost unheard of, in fact, but then our whole year is apparently unusual in that respect. Even our Quidditch matches as seeing a dramatic improvement! We are beginning to rely less and less on Harry to pull us out a victory as the rest of us gain a level of competence on our brooms. Our last game (though admittedly against the second-years) we actually won 360-210! Oh, Lily, you should have seen the first year common rooms that night! Suffice to say, the Masters weren't overly happy with our sleep-deprived state the next day. It was worth it, though, as it was the first time we had managed to be on par with the other time before Harry ended the game! He still hasn't missed the Snitch, though, and Harry is gaining an impressive reputation for it now. He even missed out on his morning run because he went to bed so late, partying with the rest of us. No idea how James got the food but I don't think I really want to ask him either… Now that I have added enough length to the letter to prevent people from randomly gaining the contents over your shoulder… what on earth is a Cerberus doing in your school? That would be in capitals if I weren't afraid of gaining someone's attention. I wouldn't go near it, either. Try to pass the message to Snape on if you can, but if it's too hard, don't worry.

Hopefully this is my last letter until the holidays,

Sarah King.

Dear Sarah,

Something strange happened the other night. Someone broke in to the corridor that the Cerberus was guarding. As far as I can tell, they tried to steal a valuable artefact that Dumbledore was hiding there. From what I can gather, they made it all the way to the final protection before Dumbledore was able to stop them. Hagrid is looking inconsolable at the moment. He apparently accidentally let slip valuable information in exchange for the dragon egg. The Cerberus was his, you see, and the first protection of many. He told them how to get past. He is under the impression that Dumbledore should have fired him, so I can tell that it was pretty important… but then we worked that out already and I am sure that you did as well. The Defence Professor died the same night as well. Everyone's kind of in shock about that, although I suspect that the two events might somehow be related… there was something- off- about his stutter, as though it was fabricated somehow. Anyway, there are only a few more days until the end of the year and unfortunately, Gryffindor is in last place for the house cup. No surprises there, but it's not making the others like us any more than they already do. I can't wait to see you again, though, and to meet Harry, Michelle, James, Michel and everyone else! I'm happy for you, Sarah, it sounds as though Salem is really agreeing with you, and the routine is beginning to settle… your Quidditch is becoming impressive, even if I can only read about it! Classes, too… I'm not sure if I ever even want to see Harry duel… sounds frightening. Speaking of Harry, he can communicate with dragons? That's incredible! I almost asked Hermione, but then I realised that all of you at Salem would do better with the research… and it's probably not something that you want to advertise to the world, even if it is unlikely that people will try to fight him with dragons… I hope. Still, the public might suddenly decide that it is a 'dark' talent or something like that because people will be scared of it. Think of all of the dangerous things you could do with the talent… imagine if You-Know-Who had been able to communicate with those giant lizards! No 'Light' wizard, or muggle, would have survived the war. We would have all been burnt to crisps within weeks! Enough of those thoughts for now, though. Well, I'll see you in about a month, isn't it? I doubt I will get a letter in that time, do you know why the owls take so long to get through? Probably, though the letter will take too long to answer… this is so frustrating! WE need to get those two-way mirrors that I saw in Diagon Alley at the start of the year, they would be perfect!

Anyway, I'll see you soon,

Lily.