Blaise Zabini

You needn't act as if Smith did something amazing yesterday. He's insufferable enough as it is. And, honestly, any of us would have done what he did if we'd been asked.

I mean, it's fine with me if you want to see what the view is like from the Hufflepuff table, but if you're trying to send some message by lunching over there, you'd do better to just say it directly.

Are you put out I didn't write something in the journals to tell everyone that you were absolument magnifique ou tout à fait étonnante yesterday? Really.

I saw you were writing to your mother.

I know there's been a lot of talk since that article came out. Is it bothering you?

Congratulations, Harry. That was ace!

You didn't get hurt too badly, did you? What's taking so long in the Healing tent?

Or are you being swarmed by reporters? Daphne thinks that's it.

Anywiz. We're getting up the celebration back in the common room. Get here as soon as you can! We all want to toast you!

Really, Daphs? Fifteen?

That used seem positively unattainable, but here you are already. I do wish you'd stop reaching birthdays so many months before I do. That's rather poor form, don't you think, to always be rushing on ahead?

Kidding.

I hope you enjoyed yourself today. We were all sincere in wishing you only good things for the year ahead. (Even Teds, though I admit he had a unique approach to gift giving.)

Here's to the year to come!

Teds, have you read tonight's Prophet? You're the one always reading up about explosives: can you make heads or tails of what they say about the one last night? Well, not one. It was several bombs attached to the supports below the top box. They're saying there were different types, too, but I don't know the terminology. It's all Muggle, isn't it? So the kind they're calling 'incendiary' was meant to start an elemental fire of some kind, right? And the one with the 'manufactured fertiliser pellets' was meant to blow out the supports beneath the box, I guess. And then the 'shrapnel,' that's nails and other bits of metal, right?

The thing about it is that this was the one kind of thing MLE wouldn't have found, right? And yet, look how really well their protection magic worked. That fire didn't rip through the stadium like it was meant to, and the force of the ones meant to crush the support structures was significantly blunted, wasn't it? And most of the shrapnel was contained or vanished by the wards around the box. Did you see the diagrams? Dead amazing that they can show us just how the protections worked!

Daphs,

I wonder if you'd like to sit with me at the Quidditch Cup. Mother's accepted Mr Karkaroff's invitation to join him as his plus-one, so she said you could have her seat by me, if you'd like.

She said Mr Karkaroff promised to introduce us to Bulgaria's Seeker, Krum, after the match. Apparently he's a bit of a special protégé of Karkaroff's; they're travelling back together, in any case.

That's according to Mother, though, and you know Mother: if she doesn't see the point in a topic, she doesn't always listen very carefully. So I'm not getting my hopes up too much that we'll meet Krum. After all, he's dead famous and there will be press and fans and women who'll all be mobbing him after the match.

Draco, mate. The Floo comes through into a little parlour off in the east wing. I don't even know. It's a bit of a maze in this house.

Harry and I are just up and having breakfast on the veranda--the weather's fine here this morning. After that, I expect we'll go out and walk the course a bit, see that everything's ready.

The mudblood will show you through whenever you come along, but if you're ready now, you should come. Breakfast is salmon on toast and a fruit plate with ambrosia melon that's amazingly good.

How was the party, then? Shame you had to stay for it, but I suppose the food was good, at least. Don't suppose any of the adults got up to anything interesting? Mother was letting Mr Glozeman escort her, but I don't think she's very keen on him, so I doubt they were interesting at all. -- Hang on, then. We just saw what your Mother's written. So I guess there was something interesting that happened, after all. Come tell us about it.

Say. Do you see who Longbum wrote for his YPL application?

Scrimgeour.

That'll surprise some people. But, really, it fits what you've been saying all along, doesn't it?

Dear Mr Baddock,

I write today for two reasons. First, as a member of the Young Protectors' League applying for its first-ever summer Combined Cadet Force programme, I am asked to write someone with experience in a profession that interests me. Second, I write as someone who admires not only your work but your position and your example as one of the pillars of Our Lord's realm.

I confess that I am not certain to which profession I might aspire, or, indeed, whether I aspire to a life defined by salaried labour at all. However, even if I should not take it up as a career in service to others, the management of wealth in property and investments is sure to be a significant component of my life's work, and in this, I look to you as a model of one whose stewardship of his own holdings and whose wise counsel to others have earned him a robust reputation and much success.

I aspire, too, to manage my social and personal commitments as graciously as you have done and to contribute to Our Lord's peaceful kingdom by following a course of committed allegiance, ready obedience, and quiet integrity.

To all of these ends, it is my hope that I will be accepted into the active training components of the YPL CCF programme and that I will be allowed to specialise my training with those elective components geared towards strategy and analysis.

I thank you for your willingness to place your name amongst those one might write for this project, sir, and I would welcome an opportunity in the future to speak with you about the training and vocational experiences you have had as you have followed your profession. I understand, of course, that your time is valuable and am not writing in expectation of a response. Nevertheless, I address this to you

With sincere admiration,
Blaise Zabini
Slytherin House

Avery says Pucey said that Bletchley saw the Headmistress carrying a broom-shaped parcel quickly along the corridor past the library this morning.

About time, too, if it's your broom back, mate. Has she sent for you or anything?

Cher Madame,

Je désire acheter une écharpe -- d'un vert doux, ou peut-être argent. C'est un cadeau pour une jeune fille de mes amies. Quelque chose de vraiment beau; je m'en remets à votre goût.

Envoyez-la moi ici, s'il vous plaît.

Tous mes remerciements,
B. Zabini
Slytherin House, Hogwarts

I just want to say a public thanks to all of you who came to last night's fête, and to Montgomery, Stevens and Fletcher for their hospitable entertainment. I think we'd all agree it was memorable.

To Professor Slughorn, I want to say thanks for letting us have the room and for stopping in to offer birthday wishes. Best Head of House ever, you are, sir.

To Teds and Greg and Vince, thanks, I think, for the interesting artefacts: I'll let you know when I've tried them out, yeah? And Harry: they're splendid, thank you. Draco: I've been needing a new pair, and these are perfect. Thanks to Derwent, Gamp, and Vaisey for seeing I won't lack for 'reading' material; it all looks top notch. Jugson, mate, thanks for the quill; I'll use it for exams, shall I? Croaker, don't feel badly about the stellar strobe, it was great when you set it off and would have been nift to use again, but it's not worth going on about. At least it was you that stepped on it, not one of the others, yeah? And Warrington: have you got over that vertigo? I heard you got detention for upsetting things in Transfiguration this morning, shame about that!


Most of all, I want to thank Daphne for thinking of it to begin with and for all the planning and brilliant execution it took to pull all that off.

I must say, fourteen is spectacular so far! But really, Daphs, you're the best. Thanks so much.

So. Do either of you know what's happened with Greg?

It's his book, obviously. Leave it to Goyle to leave something like that where someone could take it. That's what happened, isn't it?

He hasn't been kidnapped, right? Or Imperiused?

I wouldn't want to be him today, and that's the truth.

Teddy and I are going out in a bit to collect data from our scopes at the badger sett. We could collect yours, too, if you want. Or you could come with.

Surprising how interesting they are, really, badgers. Did you see that one turn on Fawcett the other night? Thought she might wet herself! Too bad Brutka stepped in. Could have been entertaining.

Daphs, that's excellent you got Auror Crouch. Really brilliant. And Draco, Scrimgeour should be a good role. Really distinguished and commanding. I can totally see why they thought to cast you for him.

And Harry! We'll make awesome traitors together, mate. Sirius Black, though. Phew! You must've been brilliant to land that. We'll have to practice being villains. Maybe I ought to grow a mustache for Shacklebolt. What do you think?

Guess not everyone was as pleased with their parts.

And then there are the ones that are too dim to have noticed they should be embarrassed. Can you see Weasley over there? Looks pleased to bits. Ha!

Do you see what Corner's saying in his journal? That MLE think we're behind some robbery at his parents' apothecary shop.

How daft is that?

I'm sure saying outrageous stuff like that's going to make everyone believe him now!

Want to wager on when exactly MLE will turn up to question us? My galleon's on September 35th.

Marvolo! Where have you and Malfoy gone off to? Have you finished the homework for Creatures? I've got all the basic stuff written out about basilisks and that business he called the literature review, but I thought maybe you'd let me throw in a quote or two about what you saw. Draco--you, too--you were down there with it. It'd be brilliant to finish out the parchment with something eye-witnesses have said about them. And who better than you?