I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_sally_anne]

Something to bear in mind:

The journals may know who you're writing to even if you say 'Aunt Midge' instead of 'Mildred Jane Elizabeth Smythe of Hertfordshire Downs' but you'd better spell the 'private message to' bit all the way out or EVERYONE will see.

I wonder who'll tell him? It certainly won't be me.

Comments

[alt_pansy]

I've been thinking.

It probably matters to spell out this thing all the way too, properly.

Because if you don't, well, people will see the message, and they'll also see what you've written on top, and even really stupid people will wonder why that's being written and might sort it out or try writing it themselves.

And I know it's not like we're going to get drunk any time soon, but we might be really scared or unable to write because we've been cruciated, or something else awful, and

I guess we shouldn't risk it at all if we don't think we could write it properly. For safety. Because that would be really, really, really bad if we messed it up.

[alt_pansy]

Maybe we could have a code word? That we could use if we think we can't spell out Solemnly Swear properly? That way, somebody else could do the spell for you, and you could say what you needed to then. Because if you write an answer to someone that did the spell, it works fine, and you don't have to re-write it.

What would be a word you could write really easily, but isn't used often? So people would know that you meant it, and weren't saying it by mistake?

[alt_sally_anne]

Everyone figured out the black/red/blue code and everyone figured out the fish code and I think making up another code would be borrowing trouble, honestly.

I think we're all clever enough that if someone's hurt and scared and somehow doesn't seem to be able to write things properly someone will turn on the lock and ask what's up.

There's two layers of protection with the lock, both the words and the ink, but the ink wouldn't keep, oh, Padma Patil from seeing it, so.

[alt_pansy]

Yeah. I figured as much. But it's still scary to think about everything hinging on proper spelling.

[alt_sally_anne]

Yeah.

Lucky Vince will never be on the lock. He's UTTER PANTS at spelling.

[alt_pansy]

Haha, I think he spells everything how it sounds. Like he says it out loud first.

[alt_hermione]

Millicent Bulstrode too!

[alt_pansy]

And Harry's just awful with apostrophes! It's like he never has the time to write them out!

[alt_hermione]

I know! I've told him and told him, and he tries sometimes, really he does. But he just doesn't think about it, he writes too quickly to put them in, even though he's not so bad a speller or anything, and then he says things like "Well but that's why I have you around, to check," and then he doesn't have me check at all, for things like journal entries! It makes him look so stupid.

[alt_ron]

Ha! Yeah.

But I think about it every time I write it. 'Cause, like, what happens if you write 'I Solemnly Swear I'm Up To No Good' instead of, y'know, 'I AM'?

[alt_pansy]

Well, I'm not about to test it and see!

[alt_pansy]

And don't you dare either, tunabrain.

[alt_ron]

I know, right?

He must be dead embarrassed about it!