Weird Sisters

[alt_harry]

Mr Malfoy sent the new Weird Sisters album to me and Draco. That was nice of him. Thanks, Mr Malfoy. I'm really liking it so far.

So it turns out that there are some places in the castle where we really shouldn't go. I learned that this weekend.

It's really weird to have that Mudblood serving at the Head Table. She always looks like a mouse scuttling around. It would put me off my food if I were a teacher. She's so thin - even thinner when you see her up close. And I think there's something growing in her hair.

Comments

[alt_lucius]

Don't thank me, Harry, thank Mr Tenebridge, their agent. He's an old friend of the family. You may remember meeting him several Christmases ago. He also represents The Warlocks, which I'm sure none of you young people remember, but I think you'll find one of their songs done over in "Weird Sisters" style.

Congratulations on being made seeker, by the way. I'll be in contact with Cumulus Cuthbert at the Nimbus Racing Broom Company to get an appropriate broomstick for you. Can't win the Quidditch Cup with those ancient school brooms!

As for the Mudblood, try not to give it any notice. While they are unavoidably visible, unlike a decent house elf or other proper servant, it is essential that Mudbloods and Muggles alike learn to stay in their proper place. Let it learn its lesson and put the rest from your mind.

[alt_harry]

"Warlock Rock," right? That was brilliant! It might've been my favorite song on the album.

Do you mean a Nimbus 2000?!

[alt_lucius]

Yes, "Warlock Rock" was one of their best hits. I shall let you listen to the original when next you visit.

As for the Nimbus ... we'll see. Possibly.

[alt_draco]

Thank you for sending the album to Harry for both of us, Father.

So, do you mean a Nimbus 2000?

[alt_lucius]

You're welcome.

And that will be up to Cuthbert, but I expect he would hesitate to provide the Lord Protector's son with anything less than the latest model.

[alt_harry]

Brilliant!!

[alt_lucius]

I make no promises, Harry. Only that I'll speak to Mr Cuthbert on behalf of your Lord Father.

[alt_draco]

Well, I wonder if Mother knows that Harry's getting a Nimbus 2000.

[alt_harry]

Come on Draco, you can ride it half the time. I'll just need it for matches and otherwise we'll share it, promise.

[alt_draco]

Thanks, Harry.

[alt_lucius]

I don't see what your mother knowing or not knowing has to do with the matter, Draco.

The Headmistress has graciously made an exception to the prohibition on first-years having brooms for Harry. If he is generous enough to share it with you, you must be grateful, but that does not mean you are also exempt from the normal regulations.

This is all speculative, at any rate.

[alt_draco]

Okay, Father. I understand.

[alt_lucius]

Good.

I'm certain that you will have your chance to play for Slytherin in due time, son. Chaser, like I was, hm?

Next year, you'll be able to bring your own broom as well, and that I can promise.

[alt_draco]

I do believe there will be a spot for me on the team in the future, yes. Chaser would be fantastic! I wonder if Harry will be captain by then?

[alt_draco]

You look at the mudblood during supper? Doesn't it put you off your pudding?

I'm really bothered by this, Harry. By the...places in the castle, I mean.

[alt_harry]

It does, that's the point. She's so... skinny.

I'm bothered by it too, but I suppose we were told not to go there, right?

[alt_draco]

Avert your eyes, or it could affect your already suspect vision.

Yes, we were definitely told not to go to that Myrtle-ghost's bathroom. Who knew a dead person had so much to complain about? Anyway, it was clearly that Ron Weasley who herded us into that dreadful territory. Gryffindors simply don't know when to quit.

[alt_harry]

Yeah, I suppose I will.

It was your fault too. Whose idiotic idea was it to go bumbling around the castle at that time, anyway? But yeah - he could've picked a better door.

[alt_draco]

I was only defending my honor, and our whole house's, really.

Why do you suppose it's there, though? Erm, that ghost, I mean.

[alt_harry]

Don't know. It looked like there was a... hole. In the bathroom floor. In the tiles. That it was standing on top of.

Floating on top of.

Anyway, it would've helped our house's honor a whole lot if we had had points taken off, for sure. I bet it would've been at least fifty.

[alt_draco]

How unsettling. I hope never to see it again.

Well, it's not as if there were points actually lost, right? I do think it best to stick to our common room from now on, though.

[alt_harry]

I don't know. I'm intrigued. (Hey, if that Mudblood was reading this she'd probably make it her word of the day, yeah?)

No points lost, but better not to risk it in future, mate. The professors have eyes in the backs of their heads, I swear.

[alt_draco]

Oh, Harry, surely she can't really read. She's just a very good mimic.

I did say we should stick to the common room, yeah? You'll get no argument from me on that.

[alt_harry]

Like an African Grey parrot? But don't those things only have the intelligence of two-year-olds?

All right, common room it is. Want to play a round of Exploding Snap?

[alt_draco]

Exactly!

Hang on, I've got a few inches to finish on my essay. And some sweets to find. But yeah, I'll meet you at quarter past.

[alt_neville]

Her name's Hermione, by the way, just so you know. Odd name, haven't heard it much before.

[alt_draco]

Disgusting name, you mean! Why don't they just give them numbers, or something?

[alt_neville]

Well, I know the Ministry says that her sort should be classified with animals, but my Gran says that even animals that live with people get their own names.

[alt_draco]

That's a silly comparison. Pets and familiars aren't looking to steal and corrupt the magic of the Pureblooded.

[alt_sally_anne]

All the more reason they need names. It makes it easier to keep track of them so that if they cause any mischief, the wizards in charge of them can spot patterns.

Anyway, the name "Hermione" is from Shakespeare. There's nothing wrong with Shakespeare, he was a 16th century wizard who wrote plays and poetry about witches and wizards. The Weird Sisters got their name from one of his plays, too.

[alt_draco]

Numbers seem a far less personal way of keeping track of them, and just as efficient.

And honestly, Sally Anne, I have heard of Shakespeare.

[alt_sally_anne]

You really think you'd remember a #24698 if you ran into it two years later, better than a "Hermione"? You're a lot better with numbers than I am, then.

You've heard of Shakespeare?!? No one else at my village school had. Did you ever get to see one of his plays performed? I think it would be wizard to see The Tempest.

[alt_draco]

You give them a number so you don't have to remember. It gets put in a file somewhere, or something. And remember that there's only so many names to go around, as well. Imagine if there's a proper witch out there named "Hermione" and how she'd feel to know that a mudblood shared her name. I would be downright outraged if I ran into a mudblood named Draco. Though obviously, that would never happen.

No, but I saw Millicent Bulstrode say "bubble, bubble, toil and trouble" while bent over her cauldron in Potions. I suppose I could have told her that the correct wording is "double, double" and not "bubble, bubble," but I really couldn't be bothered.

[alt_sally_anne]

There's no charm to make a file fill itself up with all the stupid rule-breaking things a mudblood does, or anyone else does for that matter. Someone (like Headmistress McG) has to pay attention, notice, and put it in the file. Which means that some wizard has to actually know the names of the mudbloods they're responsible for. Or the numbers, if it were numbers.

Are you usually up this late? I'm the only one of the girls who's still awake, and that's just because I have trouble sleeping.

[alt_draco]

No, which is why I slept for hours before replying to this.