I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_sally_anne]

Well, the nice thing about Carrow putting me back here all by myself is that I can write in my journal without him noticing. 

It's funny who keeps turning around to look at me.  Pansy of course but also Harry did twice and looked like he wanted to say something but changed his mind. Milli turned around to make a face at me and Teddy turned to get a look at what I was doing since I'm usually a bit better at Transfiguration than he is.

Did Alecto split you lot up in Muggle Studies this morning Ron? You have Muggle Studies on Monday right?

I wonder if any of the other teachers will, I mean in theory they'd be doing it to keep us halfbloods safe but Carrow didn't even bother pretending. 

The funny thing is people used to come in early to try to get this seat right here in the back because who'd WANT to be up front in Carrow's classroom? Sometime last autumn he banned people from sitting in those two back rows, there are plenty of seats in our Transfiguration class and he wanted everyone near the front where he could keep an eye on us.

Comments

[alt_ron]

Yeah, we have it first thing. And yes. She put Dean and Seamus and Katrina Bundy at the back. Actually, she made them leave a whole row between them and the rest of us.

Neville and I got up to go sit with them, but she made all the other desks disappear!

[alt_sally_anne]

I wonder if it bothers her she's not as scary as her brother?

No one in Slytherin house was mad enough to try to come sit with me in Transfiguration, not even Pansy. She sat in the back pureblood row though even though she had to threaten Greg to get him to move (he usually tries to sit in the back because he thinks Carrow won't call on him as often that way).

[alt_ron]

Oh, she can be evil sometimes. Maybe not with Slytherins, but you should hear how she talks to us some days.

Towler said there was a Hufflepuff who started in his year who got wrongwiz with Alecto Carrow and had to do a load of detentions with her before one of the holidays, and he never came back to school after that. Towler says it used to be if you got detention with her, she had a trunk she locked you in--all crouched down on your hands and knees--and if you made any noise there were sharp spikes that would stick you, and people'd come out all bloody. He says the Governors made her quit doing that, but she still has the trunk in the back of her classroom.

Oh, and I heard Acton separated the Hufflepuffs in Charms today. I guess we'll see tomorrow.

[alt_sally_anne]

A trunk with SPIKES?

Does she still have a trunk in the back of her classroom? I'd never noticed one but I hadn't heard the story. I suppose I can look on Friday.

[alt_ron]

Yeah, it's there.

Or anywiz, there's a trunk back there. I don't if it's really the one she was using to torture people. But it's big enough it could be.

[alt_sally_anne]

I wonder if you can see the spikes if you look in?

Not that I'm going to look mind you.

[alt_sally_anne]

When do the Ravenclaw firsties have Muggle Studies and Transfiguration?

I'm just wondering if the Carrows will make Luna sit with the halfbloods. It's not OFFICIAL that her father has the sickness and isn't a pureblood but everyone 'knows' if you know what I mean.

[alt_ron]

Oh. I don't know. If I see Ginny, I'll ask her about that. She'd know. But I hardly ever see her anymore. I think she's in the library a lot or something.

I bet you're right, though. They probably will make Luna sit with the halfbloods. I'm not really sure she'd mind about that.

[alt_sally_anne]

She'll probably be pleased she gets to sit with the halfbloods when none of the other purebloods do.

[alt_sally_anne]

The back row Carrow still let us sit in, I mean.

He had everyone in the front three rows until today and then put me in the back and left the fourth row empty.

Pansy bullied Greg into moving for her. Then he made Milli move. That was when Milli made a face at me.

[alt_ron]

Bulstrode's a menace.

And Goyle, I'm still surprised they let Goyle take lessons. I mean, can he even write his own name or does he just mark an x at the top of his parchments? I know he mostly leaves the rest blank.

I heard Acton talking Slughorn about it one time when I had to go back for my Potions book. She was telling him she couldn't see how Goyle was getting high enough marks to be allowed to stay.

[alt_sally_anne]

Milli's not that bad, I mean she's rude but she's not awful. I'd rather share a dorm with her than Patil, I'd never sleep well if I had to share with Patil like poor Sarah does.

Vince and Greg are thick but they can both read, Hermione says they even read their diaries. I think they get passing marks because both their fathers have Dark Marks and everyone knows it. At least they get passing marks in some of their classes, I would've thought Acton would be one of the ones marking them up though!

[alt_ron]

I'm glad I don't have to choose between them. I think girls can be more horrible than boys, anyway.

Oh, I'm sure Acton's giving them passing marks, but I think she was trying to tell Slughorn he needed to do something with them. Help them or get somebody to tutor them or just to get someone else to write their parchments for them or something. What she said was that there wasn't much she could do for him if Goyle kept turning in blank parchments for all his homework. I reckon she meant that if he'd just write something, then she could pretend it made sense and give it half marks at least, but it's hard to give points when there's nothing there at all.

[alt_sally_anne]

Huh. I wonder if I could get them to pay me some of their pocket money to write their homework for them. I'm already doing Harry's, but that was a trade of favours.

The trouble is I don't think Vince and Greg much care how badly they do. Their fathers might care but it's harder to send them a letter and say, 'say, would you like me to write your son's papers for him? I'll do his homework for 10 sickles a week!' And Slughorn probably reckons they ought to be doing their OWN homework.

[alt_sally_anne]

And I'm not doing ALL of Harry's, just Transfiguration.

[alt_ron]

What? All year?

[alt_sally_anne]

No, just since December when I found out I was going back to the Strettons. I TOLD you about this. Harry sent me a letter right after I get there, he even had it hand-delivered by a courier in livery, it was brilliant. All the letter said was 'hello Sally-Anne' but of course I didn't tell the Strettons that. The courier waited for a reply so I borrowed Mrs Stretton's pen, remember that bit? and wrote back to him.

Anyway the Strettons were much nicer to me after that. Much.

When I realised I was going back to the Strettons I told Harry I'd do some of his Transfiguration homework in exchange for him sending me the letter. He came up with the part about the courier doing it. Anyway it worked out well for both of us, his marks are better and my foster family was nicer to me.

[alt_ron]

Yeah, I remember. I just didn't know you were going to be doing his homework for the rest of the year. That seems

I mean

Really?

[alt_sally_anne]

Not the rest of the YEAR. I think we agreed that I'd do twelve assignments, he gets to pick which so he tends to pick the long ones. It's not like it's that big a deal, I mean I have to do these assignments anyway. I do it once for myself and then I write a version that sounds like Harry and he copies it.

It's not like you wouldn't copy my homework if you could, Ron, I've heard the questions you ask Pansy when we're revising together!

[alt_ron]

Sure I would if you'd let me. Just I couldn't afford to pay you to do it, and I wouldn't make you do something to pay me off for doing a favour for you.

I mean, he wrote, what, three words? And you have to write twelve assignments? I mean, yeah, I see it's about who he is and all and how the Strettons see that, but still.

I'd never

Yeah, whatever.

[alt_sally_anne]

He might have sent the letter without asking anything in return if I'd asked him to.

But I don't like asking people to do favours for me. Just because, I mean. I want to be able to offer something in return, at least when I can. It's especially important in Slyth

How would you feel if your best mate were really rich and wanted to buy you a broom just because? After all he could afford it! And the money's nothing to him, right?

[alt_ron]

But it's not the same at all.

I mean, for one thing, it didn't cost him a thing, and it didn't take him any time. I guess he had to remember to do it when you needed it, but that's nothing.

And it was something you needed, not like giving you a broom to lark about with. I know you're not going to understand because to you Slytherins if it's something you need, then the other person'll think he should get something really great for it. Like you should buy him a broom for sending you a parchment with three words on. But that's just not on. When somebody really needs something and you can do it for them, you should do it. And to ask for anything in return for that is like selling food to your children or making your gran pay you to help her walk across the road. That's just not quidditch, d'you see? I mean, if you really don't like someone, then, okay, you don't maybe have to do stuff for them if you don't want to. Like if Malfoy But for your friends and for people who are nice to you anyway, like you are to Harry, when it was just not any big thing for him to do it?

He's a git to let you do so much work for him.

Even if you offered.

[alt_ron]

And, no, I won't tell him I think he's a git for making you do that. So you don't have to tell me not to, like I've just got the brains of a newt. I get it that you don't want me to go telling Harry that you told me what he's got you doing for him.

But he is a git, all the same.

[alt_sally_anne]

It would be wizard if I could get paid for doing some of Greg and Vince's, though. They've got loads of money and no brains at ALL.

[alt_sally_anne]

Not that there's anything to spend it on at the moment anyway, since no one can go to Hogsmeade or receive packages.

[alt_ron]

Sure, but it's always good to have pocket money.

And they've got to let us go home sometime, and then we'll want money for the sweets trolley and we'll be able to do other stuff again.

[alt_ron]

Except.



What if this epidemic keeps going? D'you think they'd make us stay here all summer?

[alt_sally_anne]

Yeah, probably, if people are still getting sick and everyone at Hogwarts are still healthy.

Or else they'll just keep the halfbloods here and send the rest of you home.

[alt_ron]

Only if they're not lying when they say purebloods can't get sick. I don't know what to think any more. Except, it seems as if whatever the Ministry says, the truth is probably the opposite.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well right now they're saying it can't infect purebloods and I think it probably can.

They're saying there's nothing to be afraid of as long as we follow the rules and I think there probably is.

They're saying Hogwarts doesn't have the disease. Do you reckon the people who got petrified have some form of it? I mean maybe it's related, the disease and the petrifications. Maybe Carrow made it happen, maybe he caused it in the mudblo muggleborn camps when he went there on holiday.

I mean it sounds plausible to me but to be honest with you I think I'd be happy to blame Carrow when it rains five days in a row.

[alt_ron]

Well, yeah. And it's totally Carrow's fault it keeps snowing. It's all part of his evil plan to keep us locked inside here until he can petrify all of us.