"Better Be..." Bellatrix Lestrange's Recruitment-Fall 2011!

[melindawarren]

I woke somewhat early the next morning because I needed to do some work. I read through some more chapters of Hogwarts: A History before my mother and I side-along apparated to Hogwarts. I headed to the dungeons to meet Penelope. I knew that I could attend a maximum of six houses today.

Penelope handed me my schedule. It read:

Order of the Phoenix
Slytherin

For a brief moment, I was disappointed at the loss of Hufflepuff. Nonetheless, I knew that I had two awesome houses to attend! Parvati owled to tell me that she would be visiting Hufflepuff, Order of the Phoenix, Ravenclaw and Slytherin; Ginny did the same to inform me that her schedule consisted of Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

My mom and I headed home, where I debriefed Narcissa (who was very excited for me…and also very focused on what she was going to wear that day. The girl has a one-track mind, have no doubt!) and performed the same set of beauty enchantments to get ready. I took another little bit of Felix Felicis for the road and threw some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans* in my bag (which was enchanted to be bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside…so it's kind of a TARDIS bag, too!) and flooed back for some more parties!

*=BBEFB is a very real muggle product, manufactured by Jelly Belly. I've had them before. Hint: look at the flavor chart before eating! Rotten Egg is no joke.

I headed to Order of the Phoenix first. I must admit, I was somewhat nervous. I decided to make the most of it! It was pretty clear early on that this was not the place for me. I just didn't click with the girls. But whatever! It's still early in the sorting process, and I knew my mind could change at any moment.

Between parties, Ginny and I hung out. We had similar experiences at Order of the Phoenix/Hufflepuff: we just didn't quite feel it there. We were both nervous about Slytherin. We talked about meeting up after parties were over and before heading to the dungeons, perhaps to watch a muggle movie about the wizarding world (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I hear muggles love that one!) or just rest a little. I headed off to my party.

Slytherin. This is a story about why all young witches about to get sorted should keep an open mind. I had the most amazing time ever. The sorter kept saying things like, "I never thought I'd have this conversation during sorting!" and the like. When the party was over, I felt a little sad that I had to leave! The sorter hugged me and said, "I'm not going to forget this for a LONG time!"

Neither would I.

As I left, I found Ginny. I said, "you are going to have the best time, ok? Just owl when you're done. I know you'll love it." I gave Ginny a giant hug before heading out.

Ginny owled when the party was over. As I predicted, she loved Slytherin! It was then that she asked an interesting question, "Bella, what if we wind up sisters?" I thought about that for a second. Ginny and I had bonded so well from the get-go. Perhaps we could be sisters?

We never watched the movie-we were both exhausted and we each had a lot of other work we'd skived off in favor of sorting (and honestly, who doesn't wind up in that situation? Everyone I'd spoken to insisted that, one of these days, Snape was going to collect a potions essay and she would be the only girl without a foot of parchment*).

*Did I mention that Penelope and I have a class together? Just throwing that out there. It holds no significance to the story. But I thought it'd be interesting to mention.

I went to the dungeons and met with Penelope again. I told her that I owed her a big thank you-after all, I hadn't done half of what she'd done that day. If I was exhausted, I had to imagine how she felt!

I told her that my personal choice, were I to be ranking, would be:

Slytherin
Order of the Phoenix

But, alas, I was not ranking. I was simply telling Penelope what a great (albeit exhausting) day I'd had!

[twinkle555]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

I woke somewhat early the next morning because I needed to do some work. I read through some more chapters of Hogwarts: A History before my mother and I side-along apparated to Hogwarts. I headed to the dungeons to meet Penelope. I knew that I could attend a maximum of six houses today.

Penelope handed me my schedule. It read:

Order of the Phoenix
Slytherin

For a brief moment, I was disappointed at the loss of Hufflepuff. Nonetheless, I knew that I had two awesome houses to attend! Parvati owled to tell me that she would be visiting Hufflepuff, Order of the Phoenix, Ravenclaw and Slytherin; Ginny did the same to inform me that her schedule consisted of Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

My mom and I headed home, where I debriefed Narcissa (who was very excited for me…and also very focused on what she was going to wear that day. The girl has a one-track mind, have no doubt!) and performed the same set of beauty enchantments to get ready. I took another little bit of Felix Felicis for the road and threw some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans* in my bag (which was enchanted to be bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside…so it's kind of a TARDIS bag, too!) and flooed back for some more parties!

*=BBEFB is a very real muggle product, manufactured by Jelly Belly. I've had them before. Hint: look at the flavor chart before eating! Rotten Egg is no joke.

I headed to Order of the Phoenix first. I must admit, I was somewhat nervous. I decided to make the most of it! It was pretty clear early on that this was not the place for me. I just didn't click with the girls. But whatever! It's still early in the sorting process, and I knew my mind could change at any moment.

Between parties, Ginny and I hung out. We had similar experiences at Order of the Phoenix/Hufflepuff: we just didn't quite feel it there. We were both nervous about Slytherin. We talked about meeting up after parties were over and before heading to the dungeons, perhaps to watch a muggle movie about the wizarding world (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I hear muggles love that one!) or just rest a little. I headed off to my party.

Slytherin. This is a story about why all young witches about to get sorted should keep an open mind. I had the most amazing time ever. The sorter kept saying things like, "I never thought I'd have this conversation during sorting!" and the like. When the party was over, I felt a little sad that I had to leave! The sorter hugged me and said, "I'm not going to forget this for a LONG time!"

Neither would I.

As I left, I found Ginny. I said, "you are going to have the best time, ok? Just owl when you're done. I know you'll love it." I gave Ginny a giant hug before heading out.

Ginny owled when the party was over. As I predicted, she loved Slytherin! It was then that she asked an interesting question, "Bella, what if we wind up sisters?" I thought about that for a second. Ginny and I had bonded so well from the get-go. Perhaps we could be sisters?

We never watched the movie-we were both exhausted and we each had a lot of other work we'd skived off in favor of sorting (and honestly, who doesn't wind up in that situation? Everyone I'd spoken to insisted that, one of these days, Snape was going to collect a potions essay and she would be the only girl without a foot of parchment*).

*Did I mention that Penelope and I have a class together? Just throwing that out there. It holds no significance to the story. But I thought it'd be interesting to mention.

I went to the dungeons and met with Penelope again. I told her that I owed her a big thank you-after all, I hadn't done half of what she'd done that day. If I was exhausted, I had to imagine how she felt!

I told her that my personal choice, were I to be ranking, would be:

Slytherin
Order of the Phoenix

But, alas, I was not ranking. I was simply telling Penelope what a great (albeit exhausting) day I'd had!

Loving your story so far, but I hate to tell you, apparating to or from Hogwarts is impossible!

Cant wait to read more!

[melindawarren]

Originally Posted by twinkle555

Loving your story so far, but I hate to tell you, apparating to or from Hogwarts is impossible!

Cant wait to read more!

Oh, jeez. You're right! This is what happens when you don't get enough sleep and you attempt to write anything (well, either this or a situation in Defense Against the Dark Arts where you use a Patronus on a Boggart. I can speak to both).

Ok, I apparated to the set apparition point in the Forbidden Forest. I was lucky enough to have some centaurs around to keep me safe from the spider community.

[KKGCaroline]

this is some genius writing.... keep going please

[FleurGirl]

I am so obsessed with this! Keep going!

[melindawarren]

That night, I dreamed of invitations to Slytherin and Order of the Phoenix. I got an owl from Ginny relatively early:

"Slytherin!"

I owled back my congratulations and flooed to check on my invites. Sure enough, there it was:

Slytherin!

Though I never got to see Ginny that day, she and I owled excitement back and forth. She went to Slytherin and had a great time! I was still performing various fun enchantments when I received an owl from Parvati:

"Hufflepuff and Slytherin "

The idea that the three of us could be sisters hadn't quite hit me, but I realized that it was a distinct possibility and decided that we would have a ton of fun.

Anyway, I rocked out to the newest Weird Sisters song, checked out the Daily Prophet to see the scores of the most recent Hollyhead Harpies game (they defeated Puddlemere United. Go Harpies!), and thumbed through a copy of the Quibbler Cissy'd bought on a recent Diagon Alley trip. Oh, my, do I need a trip to Diagon Alley! I need a few more books at Flourish and Blott's.

Ooh, and here's another story: apparently, all houses have something called a water heater. This is a muggle invention and I'm not exactly sure why my parents have one (when they could just as easily have a spell to do the work for them, right?). Well, this "water heater" broke. Lovely indeed. As soon as it was fixed, the muggle healer left, but my father discovered that his shower was running uncontrollably. No spells could stop the onslaught of water! For a second, I was sure that Peeves the Poltergeist had managed to apparate along during my side-along apparition and created an uncontrollable mess. Either way, it was an unnecessary mess and I feel for all of the muggles who have these kinds of fun situations on a more frequent basis!

Alas, it came time to floo to Slytherin. I was nervous, all right.

If yesterday opened my eyes, today sealed it for me. This is where I'd fit best. Wow. It was such a relief to have such a great time! We talked about things we had in common-it almost seems as though there were too many exciting "OMG!" moments to list! I was ecstatic when I left that party. I was actually the last witch to get to the portkey!

I told Penelope how excited I was, and she joked that she had a "sixth sense" to figure out when i was coming (she and I really get along so well!). I told her that I couldn't wait until the next day.

And then I hopped a Nimbus 2001…to Grimmauld Place. Yes, we were going to go visit with my Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga, not to mention Sirius and Regulus and a variety of other cousins at Number 12, Grimmauld Place.*

*This is part of the story because, well, it basically happened. My mom was having 15+ relatives over for brunch the morning of pref. And, of course, they were going to be at a shared "family" home, not my actual residence.

[twinkle555]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

That night, I dreamed of invitations to Slytherin and Order of the Phoenix. I got an owl from Ginny relatively early:

"Slytherin!"

I owled back my congratulations and flooed to check on my invites. Sure enough, there it was:

Slytherin!

Though I never got to see Ginny that day, she and I owled excitement back and forth. She went to Slytherin and had a great time! I was still performing various fun enchantments when I received an owl from Parvati:

"Hufflepuff and Slytherin "

The idea that the three of us could be sisters hadn't quite hit me, but I realized that it was a distinct possibility and decided that we would have a ton of fun.

Anyway, I rocked out to the newest Weird Sisters song, checked out the Daily Prophet to see the scores of the most recent Hollyhead Harpies game (they defeated Puddlemere United. Go Harpies!), and thumbed through a copy of the Quibbler Cissy'd bought on a recent Diagon Alley trip. Oh, my, do I need a trip to Diagon Alley! I need a few more books at Flourish and Blott's.

Ooh, and here's another story: apparently, all houses have something called a water heater. This is a muggle invention and I'm not exactly sure why my parents have one (when they could just as easily have a spell to do the work for them, right?). Well, this "water heater" broke. Lovely indeed. As soon as it was fixed, the muggle healer left, but my father discovered that his shower was running uncontrollably. No spells could stop the onslaught of water! For a second, I was sure that Peeves the Poltergeist had managed to apparate along during my side-along apparition and created an uncontrollable mess. Either way, it was an unnecessary mess and I feel for all of the muggles who have these kinds of fun situations on a more frequent basis!

Alas, it came time to floo to Slytherin. I was nervous, all right.

If yesterday opened my eyes, today sealed it for me. This is where I'd fit best. Wow. It was such a relief to have such a great time! We talked about things we had in common-it almost seems as though there were too many exciting "OMG!" moments to list! I was ecstatic when I left that party. I was actually the last witch to get to the portkey!

I told Penelope how excited I was, and she joked that she had a "sixth sense" to figure out when i was coming (she and I really get along so well!). I told her that I couldn't wait until the next day.

And then I hopped a Nimbus 2001…to Grimmauld Place. Yes, we were going to go visit with my Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga, not to mention Sirius and Regulus and a variety of other cousins at Number 12, Grimmauld Place.*

*This is part of the story because, well, it basically happened. My mom was having 15+ relatives over for brunch the morning of pref. And, of course, they were going to be at a shared "family" home, not my actual residence.

Woooo Slytherin!!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by twinkle555

Woooo Slytherin!!

Is that what the impossible to read neon green word is?

[twinkle555]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Is that what the impossible to read neon green word is?

It took some squinting

So excited for the rest of the story

[melindawarren]

Sorry about the Slytherin font!

I arrived at Grimmauld Place at a very late hour-too tired to even really talk about Hogwarts. All of my cousins wanted to hear everything; I talked for a little bit before heading upstairs to the room Cissy and I share when we visit Grimmauld Place. We went to bed relatively quickly. I had to be up very early the next morning, especially since I had a long flight ahead of me!

I was up very early the next morning. I'd had an idea for a really cool beauty enchantment I'd seen other people do, but never really tried on myself! I managed to levitate my things out quietly, since I didn't want to wake Narcissa. When I began to set up, I laid out the books of beauty enchantments (they're the best!) and, of course, my robes.

How can I describe this particular robe? When I bought it at Madame Malkin's, she said it was brand new and one of those things she was so excited to get. It was a one-shouldered, peachy-pink robe. I didn't think it would match with my unusually light skin and jet-black curls, but it did. It gave me the look of someone going to a fancy tea.

Anyway, I'm working on one of my more basic beauty enchantments (specifically, the "whip-out-my-Temptu-and-spray-my-face-with-foundation" charm) when my mother walked in and announced that an owl was pecking at the kitchen window. I headed over to see what the owl had in store, when I took a slow step back-this was Penelope's owl.

Penelope's note was sincere and apologetic. I definitely had a moment of sadness when I realized that I wouldn't get to attend the last round of the sorting. And the idea that those robes were going straight back into my trunk? Equally disappointing. At least I'd get to see some of my relatives.

Parvati and Ginny were invited back to Slytherin only, and they both received invitations to join the house. I am very happy for both of them! I know they're having a great time, and I'm happy that they found something so right for them.

The story still isn't over yet, though! Because on Monday, I was walking around the seventh floor saying, "I need to find a group of young witches to spend my time with," when, as though it was magic (this is Hogwarts, it probably was!)…

A door to the outside of the building appeared. When I opened the door, I found a ton of girls talking, giggling, and enjoying Chocolate Frogs. Two thoughts came ti my mind: one, hey, I just discovered the Room of Requirement! Ten points for me! Two-umm, who were they? They seemed totally awesome.

Turns out, they were the Daughters of the Knights of Walpurgis. And, umm, I had the best time with them. Really! I loved how naturally conversations flowed, how much fun we had using our wands (they knew some pretty cool enchantments, and I was able to transfigure some really cool stuff), and how laid-back this was!

So, I'm not done-yet. Stay tuned for more on my experience with the Daughters of the Knights of Walpurgis!

[thetalady]

WTF?? and I almost never say that. I am so confused that I can't follow this story at all anymore. Anyone able to put it into regular Greek rush terms for me? I thought we had gotten to Pref parties, but now I am not sure. Please type slowly, apparently I am not terribly bright tonight

[ElieM]

I think Bellatrix got to the round before prefs. Parvati & Ginny both preff'd (and therefore received bids from) Slytherin

[ElieM]

NOw, OP is looking at a different group that are not a NPC sorority

[melindawarren]

Oh, my. Sorry! I really, REALLY didn't mean to get confusing-in terms of anything. I just wanted to be ambiguous.

My two friends preffed. I was not invited to pref. I am now COBing another NPC.

Again, really sorry! My goal was not to throw people off-really-I just didn't want to give away too much.

[ElieM]

it's okay... we probably just thought the round where you got the one invite was pref, not the round before pref