I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good: Private message to Pansy and Ron

[alt_sally_anne]

Merlin and Morganna, I just realised something.

You know Colin, the boy from the sanctuary who's come to learn apparation with us? (And Defence and ... I think they all get to pick a tutoring group in the afternoon, same as we do.)

He looked SO FAMILIAR and I finally worked out why. Remember Dennis? I think Colin is his brother. I think he must be older but I'm not sure. I mean it's been so long, and I just remember Dennis as being really little. Do you think he KNOWS about his brother? He must, I mean they must have told him, right?

I wonder why the Order rescued Colin, and not Dennis? For that matter why they didn't rescue Hermione, although maybe they didn't start until Dennis's year? Lisa's our year -- I mean, she would be. But they didn't get her as a baby, I guess she's one of the ones they grabbed right after the QWC bombing.

Comments

[alt_sally_anne]

You know that book Professor Dolohov had us get, 'Grimoires of the Worthy Families'?

The Blacks had a first-edition copy AND Sirius Black's evil 18th century ancestor wrote notes in all the margins with personal comments about the people he thought had provided the spells. It's, like, two-hundred-year-old vindictive gossip. PLUS he has all sorts of comments on how this person's version of the spell isn't as effective as his own version and so on. I am pretty sure that in at least a few cases, it's the Ancestral Black version that made it into the edition we use.

Of course we cannot possibly show this to Professor Dolohov.

I sort of wish we could, though.

[alt_ron]

Wait.

We totally could. We could just tell him we bought it off someone in some dodgy shop somewhere.

I mean, he doesn't have to know we found it here.

[alt_sally_anne]

Ron, are you mad? He'd work out in two minutes it came from the Black house. No one was able to get in here after old Mrs Black died, except for Sirius, and then once he DID get in he called up his friends and they cast the Fidelius (this was all part of the lesson this morning on the Fidelius Charm, weren't you paying attention?)

You don't think it would be slightly suspicious if we turned up in his office with a book that came from THIS PARTICULAR HOUSE?

[alt_sally_anne]

And 'some dodgy shop somewhere,' he'd want to know exactly which shop. EXACTLY. If we said we couldn't remember he'd say 'what was the neighborhood, here, I'll take you there RIGHT NOW and we can walk around and see if you remember what it looked like?'

Not because he was trying to trap us but because he'd want to BUY OUT THE REST OF THEIR INVENTORY. I mean if they had THIS...

[alt_ron]

Uh.

No, wait. We still could.

We'd just say that Regulus Black gave it to Pans. That's it!

[alt_sally_anne]

There's also the minor detail that this book belongs to Sirius Black and we can't shouldn't just nick it, it would be a betrayal of trust. (Besides, there might be a ward or something to keep it from being taken out of the house and how would THAT look?)

[alt_ron]

Um.

Well, yeah.

They'd maybe loan it to you, though. Maybe?

And you could still show it to Professor Dolohov and

Okay. Maybe that's really not a good idea, is it?

Right.

[alt_ron]

Only, I was just thinking it's a waste, because it's not like Sirius Black is going to read it. Did you hear him talking to that portrait? I mean, he doesn't seem like he cares about anything that was his parents', does he?

But, yeah. I wasn't thinking what it would look like if anyone found us taking stuff.

I don't know what I was thinking, really.

At all.

Mum would skin me.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well, it's not a complete waste, because I'm reading it, right?

But I keep running into bits that make me think, 'Professor Dolohov would LOVE this' or 'Professor Dolohov would find this SO FASCINATING' or 'I wonder if Professor Dolohov could tell me who that Alberic was who made Black the Ancient cross so often.'