I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_sally_anne]

That is NOT GREGORY.

There is no way. Gregory wouldn't know what half those words meant, let alone how to spell them.

I hope he doesn't get in horrible trouble. Not that I especially like him, but -- do you suppose he dropped his journal as he was getting off the train?

Comments

[alt_sally_anne]

Though I'm thinking about it and he can't possibly have done. I mean only people who USE their journals carry them on the train ride, and I'd have thought Goyle's would be at the bottom of his trunk.

Except

Hermione. Did YOU take it? You live in Slytherin and you go in that dorm sometimes and he'd never have missed it.

[alt_hermione]

NO! I wouldn't be that stupid! Only - if you thought I did maybe somebody else will.

Sally-Anne, you need to tell Harry about this right away. I can't, he'll - I mean it would look suspicious, and it would just be - well you know they absolutely can't Legilimise me, they just can't, we can't let them!

[alt_sally_anne]

No. No. You're right.

Can you make sure he reads his journal soon? Because I don't have an owl (and that won't get there fast enough anyway).

[alt_hermione]

Yes. He will. I'll tell him.

[alt_sally_anne]

I wrote to him.

[alt_hermione]

Well you did something right because he sat me down and told me about things very seriously, like he was trying to be really mature and take care of me or something, and I think he really meant it, so I think he'll help us at least. And I told him I was scared of the Lestranges and I was scared of magic on my mind and he said 'I won't let them mess with your mind Hermione, don't worry,' so.

[alt_sally_anne]

Oh, thank Merlin.

I was a little worried I'd make things worse. I mean I wanted him to know people might blame you but not make HIM blame you and ... well I'm glad it worked.

[alt_pansy]

Well, of course someone else has it. Do you suppose it's someone like that one person? The Charlotte person?

I mean, this one looks different, and the Charlotte person didn't have any drawings or anything, but I think it's like that.

[alt_sally_anne]

This person uses much bigger words. Not to mention he's more or less contradicting what Charlotte said last time, about stealing people's wands.

Do you suppose it works, the wandless magic he's talking about?

I don't think it ever occurred to my mum to try to learn a summoning charm or anything else without her wand. She could sometimes heal me, when I hurt myself, though. When it wasn't too bad.

Most muggleborns don't have journals. I don't know how they're going to learn this, unless people copy it out for them.

[alt_pansy]

Well, I know loads of mudblood muggles and things read the Grim Truth ones, the real ones, I mean, because when they thought he died a bunch of the muggles and servants working at Gloss House talked about it when they thought I wasn't listening.

[alt_sally_anne]

You know it just occurred to me we might be worried over nothing.

Maybe MLE had Mr Goyle hand over Greg's journal so they could pretend it was stolen and write this. Maybe the magic they talk about doesn't work at ALL but they reckon since they said 'don't try to use a stolen wand! BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN!' they'll blunt the effects of any muggleborns who DO try to rebel. Instead they'll have people practicing these spells and maybe they'll catch them at it.

Smith thinks it's all a laugh, like the world's most complicated April Fool's joke ever.

I suppose we could try out the wandless magic -- there's no rule against a wizard or witch learning to do 'Accio' without a wand. And then think how easy it would be to learn it next year with one! If it works, at all, we'll know this wasn't MLE because they'd never give useful information out like this. If they did write something like this, it would all be rot.

[alt_pansy]

It could be a massive April Fools.

A really dangerous one.

Who would know about wandless magic who could tell us if it'd be safe to try, or if it is right? I'd bet Professor Brutka would tell us.

And I think the worse thing that could happen would be that nothing would happen at all... but just in case, I wouldn't want to try it before I'd heard one way or the other.

[alt_gredforge]

Seem to remember something long ago Bill said, that wandless magic used to be part of the NEWTS curriculum in Defence. Years ago, anyway, before the Protectorate.

Maybe we can buttonhole him next time he's over for dinner and ask.

[alt_sally_anne]

I would be very interested to know what he says.

I think Professor Brutka would be a good one to ask, too, but not in the journals and I won't see him until I get back to school.

[alt_terry]

Well, Hermione and me, we have wands, so there's no need for us to try it.

But if enough Muggleborns read this and try it...wow!

[alt_sally_anne]

My mum doesn't have a wand.

I mean, so far as I know. I suppose maybe the same people you got your wands from gave her one, it's not as if she has any way to tell me.

I don't know if she'd take one, though. She was always really careful about following rules because she was so afraid of what would happen to me if she didn't. But if this worked --

Imagine the camps. If everyone learned how to do wandless magic. For a week in our defense club Pansy and I worked on things that aren't meant to be hexes but can work that way, and 'accio' is definitely a charm that could be used offensively. 'Accio' on something someone's standing on, so they fall down. 'Accio' on something heavy you can throw, or if someone's grabbed you, 'accio' on something heavy and you dodge right as it's flying at the both of you...

[alt_ron]

But where are people supposed to go to practise wandless magic? I mean, I could go out with the goats or down by the river and get away with it until Mum shouts at me for not doing something else she wants. But do they just let people in the camps go off by themselves? I mean.

Wouldn't they figure they'd get up to mischief? Like trying to figure out to do magic without wands?

I guess. I just think wouldn't they all be using it already if it was something they could really learn just by trying wand spells without wands?

[alt_pansy]

They can't watch them all the time, though.

[alt_ron]

Yeah.

D'you think it works? Wandless magic? I mean not just wild magic like little kids have, but really doing proper spells?

D'you think you could learn to do it if you'd never been taught Charms at all? With a wand, I mean.

I've sort of been trying, but I can't make it work at all. Yet. But it would snitch if we could get the hang of it. It'd be great in duelling club--if someone captured your wand, you could still fight.

[alt_pansy]

Well, I mean, we could do it when we were babies, right? I levitated a silver rattle when I was one, and the person said that babies and young kids were particularly good at it.

Maybe we'd be better at it because we've only had our wands for three years?

[alt_sally_anne]

I wonder if I can still tell bees not to sting me? It's been ages since I hunted down a beehive. The Strettons have hives but they're in boxes in rows on one of the estates, not wild in the woods. I don't know if that would matter or not.

[alt_neville]

Blimey. I wouldn't want to be in Goyle's shoes now for anything.

But...is the information real? I mean, does wandless magic really work like that? Whoever wrote it sounds like they know what they're talking about. Um, not that I've ever studied wandless magic, though...