First day back:

Professor Longbottom somehow managed to set fire to a Venomous Tentacular in Herbology... we were evacuated from the Greenhouses.

We ended up having Care of Magical Creatures class instead. Professor Macmillan is the teacher. She is also Eric Macmillan's (Slytherin 1st year) mother (it must be so awkward having one of your parents as a teacher at school). She's also Head of Hufflepuff House.

I always want to pet the animals in the magical creatures classes, but we aren't allowed close to them. Professor Macmillan says they need to be protected from us more than we need to be protected from them; though I don't see how, because some of those creatures can be dangerous!

In theory, it sounds like it would be an interesting class; but most of it is just learning about which foods certain animals can eat, what kind of habitats they live in, stuff like that. A lot of the time we don't even get to see the creatures we're learning about, because they're rare or belong in a different part of the world.

It's still useful information, I suppose. Maybe I've always found Care of Magical Creatures disappointing because I remember reading about when Harry Potter was at Hogwarts and had ideas that this class involved flying around on Hippogriffs and things like that.

Towards the end of the day, I was sitting in the common room, in my usual preferred spot, when I was reminded of something dreadful. Antonius sat down next to me.

My heart sank, as I suddenly remembered what that impending sense of dread was that had been hanging over me all day; but I supposed now was a good opportunity to do what I had to do, and get it over and done with.

"Antonius,"I said.

"Yes?"he answered.

"Could I have a private word with you?"I tried to say it in an angry way, so he wouldn't get any of the wrong ideas.

"Am I in trouble?"he responded, in a voice that sounded very unconcerned.

"Yes,"I answered.

He followed me out into the dungeons, I looked around for a place with no people, more particularly, no Anita or Jared to bump into us.

"Taking me deeper into the dungeons, are you?"Antonius said,"what are you planning on doing with me exactly?"

I found a quiet corner.

"Listen to me, Antonius,"I said,"I've heard about this plot between our parents, to unite us in marriage, or you know - that general nonsense."

"I wouldn't call it nonsense,"Antonius said.

"I would,"I said,"because I don't like you."

There was an awkward silence.

"I never have liked you,"I went on,"and I don't need you wasting your time. So I need to be clear now. That's not going to happen, understood?"

Antonius was silent for a moment, then he said,"understood,"in a quiet voice.

As I looked into his handsome, dark eyes, I couldn't help feeling slightly sorry for him.

"Look, I don't want to be mean,"I added,"I just need to be honest with you."

"Alright,"Antonius responded, quietly, but then he added,"can I ask why it is that you don't like me?"

"I just don't,"I said,"besides, I don't agree with you on a lot of things. I don't think we'd ever get along."

There was another pause.

"Well, thank you for letting me know,"Antonius said, slowly,"so, goodbye then."

Another pause.

"Goodbye,"I said.

Antonius walked off.

I thought I'd feel more relieved after this. I thought I would feel happy too, but I don't feel happy, I just feel weird.

Next day:

I remembered the runes thing! How could I have forgotten? That was the very thing I wanted to do before the Christmas Holidays began, and now I finally have a chance to do it!

However, I couldn't help feeling a bit nervous about going by myself, so I asked Lotty if she would come with me. I knew I wouldn't be able to tell her about the secret chamber, so I just asked her if she'd like to go for a walk.

"There might be something strange at one point,"I said,"I can't explain, you'll just have to see for yourself."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lotty looked at me, mystified, but didn't ask any questions.

As we approached the small woodland, we suddenly heard the yelp of an injured animal. Lotty spotted it first! She ran towards it, and I ran after her.

A beautiful red fox had gotten itself caught in barbed wire.

"What's that doing there?"I said, referring to the barbed wire.

Lotty didn't answer, she ran straight to the fox, she had to free it!

"Careful! It might bite you!"I warned.

Lotty had already gotten a hold of the fox and was attempting to carefully untangle it. The animal seemed to calm down, it was as if it knew we were trying to rescue it. I sat down beside it and stroked it's head and ears.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of here,"I reassured it, as Lotty untangled it, bit by bit.

It seemed as though the fox could understand what I was saying. Finally, Lotty had got it all free, and I held it on my lap.

"Look!"Lotty said, pointing to wounds on its back legs,"poor thing!"

I knew just the thing for it.

"Accio Dittany Paste!"my accidental invention was going to come in useful for something.

I applied the paste to the fox's injuries. It yelped and tried to get away.

"It's going to help you heal,"I said.

It was as though the fox understood me again, for it calmed down instantly, and allowed me to attend to its' wounds. Then it lay there for a while, as we both stroked it and spoke to it reassuringly.

The Dittany Paste worked quickly, after a few minutes, the fox jumped up and ran off down the field into the distance. We were kind of sad to see it go, but happy that it was alright now.

"Come on,"I said to Lotty.

We carried on up to the woods.

"Isn't this the woods where Ed lost his wand?"Lotty asked.

"It is,"I answered.

We got to the foxhole.

"Fode Terram!"I cast the spell.

The ground around the foxhole began to lift itself out into piles of earth, like it had done with Ed.

"What are you doing?"Lotty asked,"why do you want to go back down there?"

"Accio rope!"I called, remembering we'd need that.

We tied the rope around the tree. Lotty was firing questions at me the whole time, but I couldn't answer.

"Remember I told you something strange might happen,"I said,"I can't say anything more."

Lotty followed my instructions without any further questions, but she looked puzzled, and not exactly happy.

I went down first, Lotty followed.

"Lumos!"

Lotty saw the archway now.

"What?"she gasped,"why didn't you tell us about this before?"

"I couldn't,"I said, as I ducked under the archway and entered the hidden chamber.

Lotty followed, and looked around.

"I don't like the look of these potion ingredients,"she remarked,"what is that? Is that a...?"she was looking at the fragments of a human skull.

"It probably is,"I answered.

"What on earth is a place like this doing down here?"Lotty said.

I opened the book and began copying down the runes, symbol for symbol. I wouldn't have enough time to study the book here in the underground chamber, but I would have time to copy down the first two pages and bring them back to use as samples for translation workings.

"I have a bad feeling about this place,"Lotty said,"come on, let's go now."

"Wait a minute, I have to copy this down,"I said.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?"Lotty asked me.

"It's fine,"I responded.

"It could be one of those dangerous enchanted books,"Lotty warned.

"It is an enchanted book,"I said,"but the enchantment just means no one else can read it, apart from people who have been in this chamber. The same goes for you. Unfortunately, you won't be able to tell the others about this."

"Why won't I!?"Lotty demanded.

"Same reason I couldn't,"I said,"I did try telling you about this place! I even tried writing it down, and you said I just wrote a bunch of nonsense."

Lotty gave me a strange look.

"There is an enchantment protecting this chamber,"I went on,"keeping it secret."

"I don't really like the sound of this,"Lotty said,"we should go!"

"I just need to finish copying down these runes,"I insisted.

It only took a few more minutes. Lotty went up first, and I followed.

As I looked down at the piles of upturned earth, I realised I didn't know a spell to undo the digging. Last time, Ed had been there, and he'd known - but, I didn't have to wonder about it for long.

Without even thinking, I raised my wand and said,"Restituo!"

The soil around the foxhole began to return to its original setting, as though it had never been dug - it was being undug! Weirder still, I looked at Lotty, and she was doing the same thing. We both filled in the hole. Now it was just a foxhole again.

Lotty and I looked at each other feeling a bit confused and unsettled.

"I have a REALLY bad feeling about this place now!"Lotty said.

"Well, we don't have to hang around,"I said,"let's go!"

Later:

Defence Against the Dark Arts again. In class, I was sitting by myself for the first time in ages. I noticed Antonius was sitting next to Dominic, like he always used to. The Sanding twins were sitting together, Priscilla Bulstrode was sitting next to Regulus Flint, I was the odd one out. I felt a bit awkward sitting down by myself, but I remembered how irritated I'd been with Antonius always finding a way to be near me, and suddenly I felt less awkward.

I realised it would be a lot worse if he was sitting next to me now and we hadn't had that important conversation in the dungeons.

I suddenly had a feeling like I needed to look around, and I looked over to the side of the classroom where the Gryffindors were. Silas was staring at me. When he saw me looking at him looking at me, he quickly looked away.

I wasn't paying attention to what Professor Livia was saying. She wasn't talking about Patronuses in this class, and I was too busy thinking about everything that had happened lately. The fox we rescued, the underground chamber, the runes I'd copied down in my notebook. I couldn't wait to study them later!

Even later:

Last class of the day was Potions (with the Hufflepuffs again). More flammable ones. Fortunately none of them went up smoke this time, but Professor Park still wasn't happy with the quality. He walked around examining all of ours intently.

He took one sniff of Regulus' potion.

"What do you call that?"he said, leaning over and sniffing more aggressively,"dropped your brain in there, did you?"

He cast a disapproving glance over at mine, then went over to Bulstrode's.

"Well done!"he said,"I actually believe we have made a record today. You, Bulstrode, have achieved a record!"

We waited in anticipation. I waited in stifled horror. Was this going to be the biggest insult of the term? Or was it going to be something extremely rare...?

"Finally, a Slytherin in this year has managed to brew the best potion in the entire class! Not only is this the best potion in the class, it is, in every way, worthy of its name! Unlike all of this other diluted swill; Flint's melted brains, and that sad excuse for a liquid simmering in Miss Carrow's cauldron. You should all take note that it is in fact possible to LEARN things in this class! If you actually LISTEN, pay attention and put in some EFFORT - like Bulstrode, here!"

A compliment from Professor Park is possibly the most rare and valuable reward you could ever receive at present-day Hogwarts!