A few days later:

Anita has built a lot more of her treehouse. We visited it again, and this time Ed and Jared came with us. We all helped her build more of it. The invisible rope-bridge is finished, and platform has been constructed in the boughs of the Lookout Tree. We've also started on the 'Grand Arch' that leads onto the rope-bridge from the main treehouse, which currently has a floor and two walls.

After we'd done all that, it was nice to sit up there and talk about things.

Ed is getting fed up of studying, he says he wants to take more breaks, as it's driving him crazy. I'm not surprised, he was studying a lot through the summer holidays, never had time to do anything fun.

It seems Anita has been doing really badly in potions.

"It seemed really easy at first,"Anita said,"but then, suddenly, I just kept messing them up really bad. Even though I did everything like I was supposed to."

"Anita?"I asked, suddenly having an idea,"who do you usually have potions class with?"

"Well, Eric and Martha, and..."Anita began.

"No, I mean, which other House?"I continued.

"Oh - that!"Anita said,"Gryffindor, usually always. I don't think we've ever had it with another House."

"They might be trying to sabotage your potions,"I said.

"Why, though?"Anita asked.

"Yeah - why on earth would they do that?"Ed just asked.

I looked at Lotty.

"They might,"Lotty said.

"Why?"Jared and Ed both asked at the same time.

"They've got this gang,"Lotty said,"not all of them are in it, but some of them are, and the goal of the gang is to cause trouble for Slytherins. Especially pureblood Slytherins. Especially Carrows."

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard,"Ed said,"why in the world would they want to do something like that?"

"I don't know, you ask them!"Lotty said, sounding irritated,"anyway, it's not just Gryffindors in their gang now, they've got some Ravenclaw members too."

"WHO!?"Ed demanded.

"Well, there's this girl called Hilary Winter,"said Lotty,"and some others. I don't know their names. I know about her, though, because the others in Gryffindor have been talking about her like she's of some importance. 'Strategician' - they called her."

"Ah, I know who she is,"Ed said,"doesn't seem like a very nice person from what I know."

"I haven't noticed anything strange in my classes,"Jared said, thinking,"or have I?"

"So, Anita, keep a look out for people trying to sabotage your potions next time,"I suggested.

"I certainly will,"Anita agreed.

"Be careful, though,"I warned,"don't do anything to their potions, or anything that could get you into trouble."

"There's no way I'd want to get into trouble with Professor Park!"Anita responded.

"Wouldn't he notice if students were sabotaging potions, though?"Jared asked.

"I'm not sure,"I said,"he might not notice, if the people doing it are being really sneaky. Anyway, they might not be doing anything to your potions, Anita; but keep an eye out, just in case."

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"Got it! I certainly will be keeping an eye out from now on,"Anita said.

The next day:

Anita followed my advice in Potions Class. She had it with the Gryffindors, as usual. Apparently the first thing she did was ask if she could move to a different potion table, saying she was worried the first one she'd been given was 'unlucky'. She managed to get one as far away from the Gryffindors as possible, and she says 'kept four eyes in the back of her head's - her words. Her potion went well. It wasn't a particularly difficult one, and doesn't prove that people have been trying to sabotage her work, but it certainly gives a hint that they might be.

For some reason, we 6th years have been having all our potion classes with the Hufflepuffs this year. Maybe that's a good thing. The only class we share with the Gryffindors (apart from Herbology one time) is Defence Against the Dark Arts. Here, I have something to say about our most recent class.

Professor Livia was supposed to be teaching us how to block fairly dangerous curses. She got us to pair up against each other in duals. Every pairing was Slytherin Vs Gryffindor. She got us to cast curses at the Gryffindors, who blocked, but she didn't teach US to block any curses! The way I see it, she was only showing the Gryffindors how to block curses! She did kind of explain how to do it, but we didn't get any practice. Also, getting US to be the ones casting the curses!

She paired Dominic with a muggleborn Gryffindor boy called Max. I have to mention him, because he's one of the gang who has been annoying Dominic as much as possible lately. Dominic went a bit over the top in his offensive, and Max wasn't able to block everything he sent his way. Professor Livia took points from our house, of course. I'm not going to say she shouldn't have. On that occasion, I can understand, because Dominic went too far. He made it look like he really did want to curse Max, but I suppose that is because he did!

Another annoying thing, is Antonius seems to have forgotten about the argument we had back in September, and he's resumed trying to talk to me again. Not discussions, or anything like that, just loads of unwelcome greetings, and sitting next to me. Normally I like that, other students being friendly, but not him. He even sits next to me in class. It's so frustrating. It's got to the point where even just hearing him breathing next to me, makes me want to pull my ears off.

Almost Hallowe'en:

Professor Longbottom caused quite a scene in Herbology today. He tripped over an empty plant pot, got his foot stuck in it, and fell headlong into a row of potted mandrakes. Fortunately, they were really young ones, not mature enough to cause damage, but my ears are still ringing! Needless to say, the rest of the lesson was cancelled, so quickly, that I don't even know what it was going to be about. We had it with the Hufflepuffs, and I can tell you, they helped Professor Longbottom get everything back in order really quickly! I have to give them credit! We Slytherins were mostly on the floor, rolling around with our hands on our ears!

Anita has almost finished building 'Carrow Castle's with some help from us, and a lot of wise counsel from Ed. Anita has named the lookout tower 'Wise Wizard's Watch' after him. Anyway, she reckons we'll be able to finally finish the whole thing today.

Later:

So we did finish the treehouse! Anita says she's going to continue to add bits here and there to turn it into more of a 'home'.

Each of us took turns to look out from Wise Wizard's Watch, peeking out from the top of the tree branches. We didn't see anything interesting, of course. Anita says it's for spotting enemies.

But something strange happened when we were leaving. Lotty and I decided to go and have a look at the ruined, ivy-covered building that Anita and I had discovered a few weeks ago. Jared and Ed had gone on ahead, and Anita decided to follow us.

Anita suddenly started acting strange. She told us to get away from there right away, so we did.

She didn't say anything until we were halfway back to Hogwarts castle.

"I had a weird feeling,"she said.

"Like what?"I asked.

"Of - dread,"Anita responded.

"Why?"Lotty asked.

"I think I had a dream or something,"Anita tried to explain,"about something bad that happened there, in that place. I felt that we had to get away from there quickly, or something bad would happen."

This didn't seem to make much sense to Lotty, but I understood the unusual expression on Anita's face. She looked worried, and that's not a way I usually see Anita looking.

"What sort of feeling?"Lotty persisted.

"De ja vous, or something,"Anita said,"but not the normal kind, the bad kind!"

"Are you just remembering some nightmare you had?"Lotty asked.

Anita shook her head, looking strangely pale.

"Maybe we should go back there and check it out?"Lotty suggested.

"NO!"Anita shouted.

Lotty and I both looked at her in surprise.

"Just - let's not go near there, ok?"Anita insisted.

"Has something happened there?"I asked, feeling concerned,"have you seen something there? One time when we weren't there?"

"N-no,"Anita answered,"the feeling isn't like something happened, it's like something going to happen or something that happened in a dream. Anyway,"she shuddered,"let's just forget about it, please?"

It was later, when I was trying to sleep, that I remembered the strange wound I got on my arm when we were near that ruin last time. It's healed a lot since then, though the scar will remain for a while. Maybe there is something weird about that place? What if it's cursed? Or haunted? I haven't seen any ghosts there, though.