FIC: Letter Home (02/50, G)

[sparkysparky]

Title: Letters Home
Chapter: (02/50)
Author: sparkysparky
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Terry Boot (Blaise Zabini, Susan Bones, other Hogwarts students and professors)
Rating: G-NC-17 (This part G)
Prompt: #41 Castle ( 50timesimetyou challenge)
Warnings: N/A for now
Summary: Terry writes a letter to his parents after his first full week at Hogwarts. (This follows directly after AMPs, but is not a sequel exactly. Both are fully contained fics, and can be read independently.)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter or the characters JKR created.
A/N: Just for visual reference, I use Adam Brody as my Terry!muse.
Wordcount: This part: 1,589 (Total: 4,225)
My Table: Previous Parts



7 Sept 1991

Dear Mum & Dad,

I know you wanted me to write AS SOON AS I GOT TO SCHOOL, but I haven't had time! Hogwarts is BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a real live CASTLE, and Dad, the STAIRCASES MOVE!!! I thought at first it was some sort of mechanical pulley system, but I couldn't find any wires or a switch or ANYTHING! It's MAGIC, but I'm going to figure out how they do it. I've made it one of my projects for the term. There are four Houses, mum: Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. I'm in Ravenclaw, which makes sense, because Ravenclaws traditionally like to learn and acquire knowledge. They put this smelly old hat on my head and it SPOKE to me. I thought it might be a robot, but when I asked Professor Flitwick (he's my Head of House, and is really small--like a dwarf--and has a white beard) about it, he just laughed. I'm going to figure that out too. It's my second project. Everyone seems nice, and they all love books and learning like me. No one seems to want to figure out WHY things work the way they do, but that's okay. Not everyone is a scientist like me and you, Dad.

There are four other boys in my dorm with me: Stephen Cornfoot (he's very tall and quiet, but he seems a decent sort), Michael Corner (his older brother Clarence is the 6th year Prefect), Kevin Entwhistle (he brought a guitar with him, and promised to show me how to play) and Anthony Goldstein (he's sort of swotty, but I think he's just homesick). There are girls in my house too, Lisa Turpin (she seemed interested in your experiments dad, so maybe there's some hope there!), Mandy Brocklehurst (she brought a cat with her--only it's called a Kneezle and is some sort of Magical Creature. I got a few books from the library on them, and they're BRILLIANT!), Su Li (she's very shy and doesn't say much, but I think she's just homesick too), Padma Patil (she has a twin in Gryffindor, and says that her parents expected them to be in the same house, but is glad they're not, because she wants to be more than a twin) and Sophia Fawcett (who talked lots about some game called Quidditch, which is played on BROOMSTICKS. It sounds BRILLIANT!). Don't worry Mum, the girls sleep in a separate room!

I met loads of other people too. On the train I sat with a bloke called Blaise Zabini, whose mother is from Italy. He didn't talk much, but showed me the book he was reading. It was called 'Baggish's Theoretical Charms For The Modern Age', and he said that first years weren't supposed to read it. He said if I let him read without interrupting him, he'd let me borrow it. It's a brilliant book Dad, and at Christmas I think we should go to that bookshop in Diagon Alley and buy a copy. It has lots of scientific theories on how charms (which are what make things float and stuff) work, and I think it would help in our experiments. Don't worry Mum, I don't think it will make anything explode. Probably.

I also met a girl named Susan Bones and a boy named Neville Longbottom on the train. They came and sat in the same compartment as Blaise and me. Neville showed me a game called Exploding Snap, and Dad, the cards EXPLODE when you pick the wrong one! It's AMAZING! Neville gave me his cards when I said I didn't have any, and I'm sending them to you with the owl, cuz I think you can really do a lot of experimenting with them. I don't know how they worked, and neither did Neville, but I've made that my third project. I'm going to create my own Exploding Snap cards.

Susan didn't say much, but she's really nice. She helped Neville find his toad when it hopped away, even after a bossy girl named Hermione Granger tried to take over by bursting into everyone's compartments without even asking, demanding to know where the toad was. Susan found the toad eventually. It had hopped under the bench and was stuck between the seat and the wall. She spoke to it quietly and it hopped right into her hands! It was BRILLIANT! Susan says she wants to work with magical creatures when she passes her NEWTs (those are the tests we have ot take our 7th year, that make us fully qualified wizards!).

The Headmaster is called Dumbledore, and he's a bit of an odd duck. He wears bright robes with moons and stars and sparkles on them, and everyone says he's barmy. I think he's brilliant though, you can tell because even though his eyes are twinkly, you can see he knows things. I've made it my fourth project to find out whether or not he really is crazy, or if he's just pretending. I think this one will take longest, but I've got seven years to figure things out!

Right, I was going to write about classes too, but this letter is already five pages (or parchments, because that's what we write on here). Oh well, you don't mind do you? Classes are brilliant too. There's potions (which is like chemistry dad. I melted my first cauldron yesterday and the Professor, he's called Snape, gave me detention. It wasn't so bad, he made me show him what I tried to do, and then helped me make it right.), and Defense Against the Dark Arts (which is where we learn how to defend ourselves against bad magic. It's not a very interesting class, the professor, he's called Quirrell, seems scared of his own shadow. I dunno, I'll give it a chance but it's not nearly as the rest), Herbology (which is a lot like botany. I wanted to try to crossbred some of the plant, but Professor Sprout said I couldn't do that until I'd passed my OWL which isn't until 5th year. I still think I should have a chance to try, and my friend Neville (you know the boy I met on the train?) said he wants to try too, so we're going to do it on our own. Don't worry Mum, we'll be careful!), Astronomy and History of Magic are both kinda boring, there's not much chance for experimenting there, but I'm still enjoying learning about the history of the magical world. It's very interesting! Did you know that during World War II, there was an evil Wizard called Grindelwald who was the Wizard equivalent to Hitler? Professor Binns (who is a GHOST dad! I forgot to tell you about the ghosts!) spends most of his time talking about Goblin rebellions, so some of us went to the library and have outlined our own curriculum of interesting things to learn about. It was Lisa Turpin's idea, but most of the Ravenclaws have joined, as well as that bossy Hermione girl, Neville, Blaise and Susan. I offered to get permission from Professor Flitwick so we can make it into a school club. I've made that my fifth project!

Oh! I almost forgot! The BEST CLASSES of all! Transfiguration and Charms! Dad, they're brilliant. In Charms we float pencils and make things bend. Floating things is called Levitation, and we've only just gotten started! At first I couldn't get the wand movements right, it was easier to do it with my mind. But Professor Flitwick explained that was dangerous, especially for untrained wizards, and that wands directed the magic and helped it flow correctly. Once he explained the theory behind why we need wands, something sorta clicked and Professor Flitwick called me a natural. And Transfiguration is changing one thing into something else. We practiced changing a match to a pin. It took me awhile, but when I finally understood the theory of changing one element to another, it was just like Chemistry Dad. Remember that time we did that experiment to see if we could turn lead into something else? It was just like that! Only without chemicals and fumes and broken glass! Professor McGonagall (she's the Transfiguration teacher and is very stern but brilliant too, and she can CHANGE TO A CAT DAD! Someday I'm going to learn to do that. It's my sixth project!) said I was a natural at Transfiguration too.

Okay, I've run out of time! I promise to tell you about the rest (ghosts, and Hagrid, and the Forbidden Forest and this kid called Harry Potter who is some kind of Magical hero or something, but is really just a boy my age with glasses and funny hair, and the food and more about my friends!) I wrote Albert a letter too, can you please get it to him? I don't think his mum would like it very much if a school owl came to her door! If you want to send me a letter or a package or books or anything, just tell the owl to wait or to come back. It will understand. I love you and miss you both lots! I'm going to have so much to show you when I come home at Christmas! Maybe for a Christmas present I could get an animal? We can have a cat, or a toad or an owl. I think I want a cat, a Kneezle like Mandy has. There is a shop in Diagon Alley that sells them!

Lots of love,
Your son Terry