Sirius Black

I think we're about ready to go. Radhika and Ellen are going to take photographs to establish that Draco and I are working with the good people of Brighton to rebuild their boardwalk.

Merlin, what a massive annoyance, but I admit I'm looking forward, in some ways, to doing a little work with my hands.

Alice, I left something for you in the drawer of your desk. Open only when you're alone. Circe knows I needed one after John's service, and Remus mentioned you were feeling particularly tense, too.

Anyway.

We'll be back by dark, I expect.

Bill,

That parchment and everything for the Goblins - Draco's coming up to the Great Hall. I said you'd meet him. I hope you don't mind. I'll come down, too, if you like.

He'll sign whatever we need, just please if we can minimise what he has to do, that's for the best. I mentioned the trust. If he can sign the parchments for that at the same time, so much the better.

I didn't tell him you might need a print or a drop of his blood but he'll do whatever we need to do to get this over and done.

The bank has been open for about an hour. Ragnik had told them to wait about that long, as there are usually a few customers who want to rush in right when they unlock for the day. That crowd should be thinning out by now. Draco and Hermione left a few moments ago to watch for their moment.

This is the part where we can't behave as if we're worried, isn't it. While hoping they either get done with it quickly and easily or have time to write and tell us how they're doing.

Being the one out there doing it is much easier. Even if we're sure the goblins won't throw up any roadblocks in their path.

Mordred.

Hermione, Remus tells me you asked about a party in honour of Minerva.

Of course, we can mark the occasion.

But he said something in the course of it that I want to clear up. He said, 'Technically, it's your house.'

Look. All I've ever wanted is for this place to be a home for whoever needs it. Right now that's you, and Draco and Sn Severus.

Oh, all right, I know only you and Remus can probably see this, but I'm making a point: This is your home, for as long as you want it to be. And you've every right to invite members of the Order into it for occasions such as this.

So. No more of this business how it's my house and I need to approve visitors or parties or whatever else you've planned. So long as Alice has given them the secret, they're welcome whenever you invite them.

That's that.

Charlie, take extreme caution when you go speak to the centaurs again. As you may have gleaned from other journals at Hogwarts, one of the young women in Voldemort's ridiculous competition went and ran afoul of them over the weekend.

Pansy, Draco, Hydra, Ron and I went into the forest shortly after the Quidditch match (as soon as Draco and Ron were ready, that is). We found Hagrid without too much incident. (Allie, he says he's willing to take on jobs for us, if we want him. He can leave the forest without being noticed and I trust his ability to travel overland undiscovered, as well. I'm just not certain what you might want him to do.)

Hagrid knew of a spider that had recently met with an accident and took us to the spot. Luckily, the rest of the creature's clan hadn't finished devouring him, so there were pieces left for us to harvest. We'd just finished there and were collecting some less impressive findings for Ron and Pansy when two 7th-year Slytherins came crashing through the trees. They seemed to be in the middle of an urgent discussion. I changed back to Padfoot as soon as we heard them, so they never saw me as anything but a dog - but beyond that, they were far too preoccupied to worry much about proper introductions. As soon as they saw Hydra, they begged her to help find where their friend had gone. Between Draco and Hagrid, they were able to get the young wizard to start at the beginning and tell them what had happened: They were looking for creatures and found the centaurs. Three of them - two girls, one boy - but this is the couple who are expecting. The young witch's pregnancy is starting to show a bit. The centaurs must have seen that, as well, or smelled it. They let her alone and abducted the other young woman. It seems they spared the bloke because of his bravery in protecting the pregnant girl - Lizzie Stevens, I think that is.

Anyway, they escaped with only minor harm done but their friend was in the hands of the centaurs. They asked Hydra to find her 'by tracking her thoughts' - as if that's possible, but that's neither here nor there. Hagrid said he knew where they'd likely have taken her and led us in that direction. When we got there, he told everyone else to stay well out of the way and went in alone. He even left Fang behind, leaving me to stay close to the big girls' blouse. (He took a lot of convincing to stay put and protect the others but I got him to understand eventually.)

Well. We waited for probably twenty minutes. It was getting quite dark. Then Hagrid came out of the grove, crossbow on his back and Miss Montgomery in his arms, in quite bad shape. He carried her to the edge of the forest and then Vaisey and Ron took her from there, though she was well nervous of males, but she bore up in order to get to Poppy.

In the hospital wing, Poppy removed the memory of Hagrid, Fang and the other black dog who was with them, so all they'll remember is that they ran into Pansy, Draco, Hydra and Ron, and together they convinced the centaurs to get her back.

I don't know how long she was in their possession but she was clearly the worse for it. I can't imagine your negotiations will be any easier as a result. Hagrid did tell me that it's better to go sooner rather than late, however, since the longer we wait to tender our regrets over the incident, the more the centaurs will misinterpret our silence. You know how they get.

And I highly recommend that you take Hagrid with you when you do go. He has better luck with them than anyone I've known and he'll be able to straighten out any selective memory they might have over this encounter.

Well, for those of you who've been wondering about Harry, he's sent me an owl. (Hermione, did you have anything to do with that? Or did he decide to do it on his own? Just wondering.)

He sounds fairly depressed about being chosen, in point of fact. He swears that he didn't put his own name in - says Draco Malfoy of all people suggested that he write down another student's name instead of his own - but he thinks the whole thing might have been rigged from the start to make sure he could be named Champion. Says he thinks the other lad, Diggory, is a much better choice.

He says he's not too keen to look naff in front of three schools, up against competitors who are two or three years ahead of him. He doesn't say it right out but I think he's worried about failing at the tasks and getting himself hurt. Either way, sounds like he's planning to lose and rather badly at that. I'd be depressed too, with those prospects.

And yes, Moony, he's telling me point-blank he doesn't need me to come running up there and putting myself at risk. Just wanted to talk to someone, I think. Someone who can advise but who isn't going to scold him or tell Voldemort.

That's another thing. I've never quite heard or seen him so vocally opposed to Voldemort before. Hermione, is that ... I mean to say, have you and he been talking a lot more lately? About things? Does he say this kind of stuff in front of anyone who might betray him? What's Malfoy's part in all this?

I don't want the rest of you thinking that he's suddenly off to join the revolution. But he goes on about how Voldemort tends to push him right in the spotlight when that's the last thing he wants. And how the bastard's changed (which we've all heard before, Minerva's reported that much) - but here's the thing, Harry seems to perceive a shift of sorts in Voldemort's attitude toward him, as well as all the physical differences. Harry calls it being less interested in him, not listening. Sounds to me like he's simply stopped feigning whatever interest he pretended to have in the first place. That is, if there's anything to it besides the usual teenage angst!

Anyway. Unless Minerva can give us that blow-by-blow of the discussion Monday night, and what she may or may not know about who really did put his name in, I continue to think that whomever did it does not wish him any cash prize or the glory of Hogwarts. But now that he's in it, I think we'd best help him however we can, if only so the poor kid doesn't get handed his own wand-arm in a sling.