Beginning of October:

So - it turns out, Anita has been building a treehouse in the Forbidden Forest, of all places! She wants to build the rope bridge up in the trees, connecting two large, old oaks.

"Anita - the Forbidden Forest belongs to the Centaurs,"I told her.

"Well, it's only the edge of it,"Anita declared,"and I haven't seen a single centaur, and I've been building it for ages! It can be our secret headquarters, a hideaway that only we know about! If we ever have to hide from enemies, it's going to be the perfect place, where no one would ever expect to look! Not even the Centaurs!"

"Aren't Centaurs supposed to be incredibly wise and perceptive, though?"I said,"they can read things in the stars."

"Yes, my secret treehouse is going to be written about in the stars!"Anita responded, sarcastically, then she added,"well, that would be cool if it was!"

She showed me the treehouse location. It was within a small section of trees that grew somewhat apart from the main body of the forest. It was a very inconspicuous place. The kind of place that most people would pay no attention to as they passed it by. In fact, it could be disputed that it lay outside the bounds of the Forbidden Forest. From a distance, it appeared to be connected, but it's not. There's a small meadow separating it from the rest of the trees.

"What made you think of building a treehouse here?"I asked Anita, as we approached it.

"Because it seems like a very uninteresting place,"Anita answered,"the kind you don't take notice of. That's what made it exactly the right place to build a secret base. Hidden in plain sight!"

"Well, it's not exactly in plain sight,"I observed,"though, what happens when all the leaves fall off in the winter? People will be able to see it, then."

"No, they won't,"Anita said,"I've planned for that!"

She climbed large old oak tree, I followed. When I was up there, I saw a wooden platform amongst the great old branches, but only when I'd actually climbed onto it!

Anita noticed my astonishment,"it's a disillusionment spell,"she explained,"from below, it looks just like the trees, how they were before, it's only when you're on it, that you can see it."

"Ed's been teaching you spells..."I began,"Anita! This is really advanced magic! How are you able to do this at your age?"

Anita shrugged,"maybe I'm a genius, who knows?"she said, grinning.

"So, in the winter, when all the leaves fall..."I started to say.

"People still won't be able to see it,"Anita finished my sentence,"from a distance, and nearby, it'll just look like normal trees, like they looked before I built it. You can only see it when you're touching it. Like we are now."

"What about birds and creatures?"I asked.

"It won't bother them,"Anita said,"I'm not worried about animals finding our hideout, I'm only worried about humans."

"What if someone else climbs this tree?"I said.

"They'll find it then,"Anita said,"so, hopefully they don't. I don't think they will, anyway. People stay away from the Forbidden Forest. I'm sure until now, me and you are the only people that have been in this patch of trees for ages!"

We sat on the wooden platform while Anita described her elaborate construction plans.

"And I'm going to have arched windows, and a big, arched doorway going onto the rope-bridge over into a lookout tower in the bigger tree,"she went on,"a lookout tower where you can peek out from the top of the tree to spy out enemies on the approach..."

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

I wasn't sure Anita's treehouse would turn out exactly as planned, but I've been impressed with her success so far - and she's only been at Hogwarts for one month!

We climbed down the tree and decided to explore around for a bit. That was when we found a ruined building concealed within the very middle of this cluster of trees. We ventured into the empty rooms, some still had a roof, some didn't. Ivy covered a lot of it, which is why we hadn't spotted it before.

"Look at this!"Anita suddenly said.

I went around to the back of the ruin. Anita pointed through a low doorway into one of the rooms at the back. It was full of black water.

"That water is as blank as ink,"I remarked.

"Intriguing!"Anita declared, grabbing a stick.

"No, don't!"I warned,"who knows what that water is, it might not even be water!"

We decided we'd done enough exploring, by this point. It was time to get back, before people started to notice we were gone.

"Can I tell Lotty about this place?"I asked.

"Of course!"Anita said,"it's going to be Carrow Castle. Only Carrows allowed. I'm going to tell Jared. Ed already knows. You can tell Lotty, if I don't tell her first! Maybe don't tell Dominic, though, he might want to smash it up."

"I wasn't even thinking of telling him,"I said.

One time, when Dominic was living with us for a few weeks; Anita built a 'house' in the woods near where we lived, and Dominic smashed it down. I can't remember why, but Anita and Dominic have been enemies ever since.

A few days later:

I don't feel so well. I've been having problems with my memory again, and it's worrying me. Lotty, Anita and I decided to pay a visit to Anita's treehouse earlier. I remember going there, and Anita showing us the beginnings of her invisible rope-bridge, but something happened. I don't know what. When I was walking back, I got a deep wound on my arm. I don't even know how I got it, and it was so bad that I had to go to the Hospital Wing!

Lotty and Anita didn't see how I got it either, it just appeared. I feel like I must have blacked out at one point, but Lotty and Anita said they were with me the whole time, and nothing like that happened. Lotty says I probably caught it in a thorn-bush while walking, without realising, but I'm sure I would have noticed that! Those would have had to have been some thorns!

Weirder still, when I was in the Hospital Wing, Nurse Pamela said it looked like my injury had been caused by magic. Not a rogue branch or thorn. It's baffling, and Anita and Lotty can't work it out either.

Later:

I found Anita hiding! She was looking the closest to scared that I've ever seen her, at least since she was last running away from the Fat Friar...

"Anita, what's up?"I asked.

"Um,"Anita said,"not much!"

She said it in the exaggerated cheerful way that I've learned means there is a lot going on and she is in over her head.

"It's not like you to hide?"I asked,"are you playing a game?"

"No,"Anita answered,"it's about - potions class."

"And?"I asked.

"So, it sort of involves me, and a failed potion recipe..."

"So?"I persisted.

"Professor Park said the recipe was really simple, so simple that if any of us got it wrong, he was going to boil us in it,"Anita went on.

"And you got it wrong?"I said, trying not to smile.

"Yeah, so - you know, don't fancy being boiled,"Anita said,"I'm hoping he'll forget if I avoid him long enough."

"He's not going to boil you in your failed potion,"I said, struggling not to laugh.

"What do you mean?"Anita asked, pushing her glasses up her nose and frowning at me in the way she does when she's confused or unhappy about something.

"He was just joking,"I said.

"Didn't sound like he was joking,"Anita disagreed.

"He says things like that to everyone,"I explained,"he threatens all kinds of extreme punishments, but never actually means it!"

"Oh, so..."Anita began, then she said,"maybe I should go back to class."

"Anita - what did you do?"I asked, unable to stop myself laughing.

"I kind of, um, ran out of potions class, and, well, you know, got out of there,"Anita said,"anyway, better - go - back - now. Nice seeing ya!"

She dashed off.

Well, that's another thing she's scared of. Professor Park!

Even later:

We just had Herbology with the Gryffindors. It did not go well. I could have sworn two of the Gryffindor boys were sabotaging everything Dominic did, and Professor Longbottom got really frustrated with us for damaging some important plant. The whole class was just an absolute nuisance, and we lost something like 20 points from Slytherin! Not that I care about the House Cup, anyway. The last time we won it was when Harry Potter's son was in Slytherin, and we've never won it since. Probably won't ever for a very long time, as Professor Livia basically takes points off us every chance she can get anyway.

I've noticed recently that it seems like the entire efforts of that Gryffindor gang, are all concentrated on trying to annoy Dominic as much as possible. It doesn't seem a very courageous and noble cause, I can tell you that! They do no credit to their House. Lotty is a better Gryffindor than the lot of them! Irony is, they'll probably still win the House Cup!