Today I'm recovering from a hangover, because yesterday we went out to celebrate Ginger Gudgeon's birthday. What I learned is that both of them HATE Auror training. They're not just complaining for the fun of it. I didn't expect the drinks to hit me so fast, but they must have been stronger than what I'm used to.

That's alright. We ended up at The Three Broomsticks, and Madam Rosmerta loves us. She gave us our final drinks and made sure we got home alright. We did. It's nice that most of us live in Scotland, it wasn't as long a ride as it could've been on the Knight Bus.

So Happy Birthday, Ginger.

Also, Happy Birthday Gwenog, and Happy Birthday Sarah Prewett.

The weekend is coming in two days, and next week late in the week, Milo starts his NEWTs. He's lucky that he has friends who are interested in revising too, whether they need the NEWTs or not. His schedule is hard because all of his exams are at the end, and I hate sitting exams when everybody else has already finished sitting theirs. Milo is going to do well on his exams, and he'll have a lot of choices to make when he gets out of school. Obviously

This is a good time to remind everybody that I'm still brewing and selling Contraceptive Concoctions.

Portree won their last match of the season, and the Wanderers are going to win theirs because they're playing the Cannons. I'm crossing my fingers for the Magpies to bury the Falcons in a pit of self-loathing so that all of them can overreact and get arrested again this month. That's what I want most.

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So.

Augustus Rookwood had a department full of brains, and the person he had passing information was Ludo Bagman. It's an interesting theory.

We'll see it tested at the trial today.

Gryffindor plays Ravenclaw this month. I'll visit school to see Milo's last match. I expect him to play very well. Puddlemere plays the Wanderers and the Kestrels play the Cannons that day, so Marelda will be going to the match too.

It was good having Milo home for the holiday. I was sorry to see him go, but the next couple of months will fly by, and soon he'll be in Scotland for good. I know he'll have good NEWTs because that's what Marelda wants, and his friends are studious. He's not dumb. I don't know what will happen to him this summer, but any team would be lucky to have him.

Things at work are still a mess, but I've just got used to them being a mess.

Weasley and Hooper are still together and I still think it's weird that they could go all those years at Hogwarts without noticing each other and now want to snog all the time. Ew. Ew. I'm not writing about that anymore.

Switch's birthday is Saturday and I guess I'll go because I'm a Gryffindor and I know Mulciber and Parkinson aren't allowed to be there.

I'm looking at buying a new mortar and pestle this weekend.

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I still haven't been fired or arrested. Nobody else in the department has been fired or arrested.

I made soup today that tasted like shit, I think the ink smudged on the recipe the last time somebody cooked with it, and I used too many onions.

It's Friday night, and later I'll stop at the Three Broomsticks to visit Ginger and Rosmerta and have a drink. It's weird to go there and know that the school is within walking distance.

This weekend it would be really, really nice if the Wanderers upset the Wasps. I am going to that match. Ginger and I already have tickets because from what I hear, she needs a break from training. Marelda is going with a couple of her friends, although the match we're really looking forward to is Portree taking on the Magpies again on St Patrick's Day. The Magpies won the first time, but Stephanie Keitch won't beat Hell to the snitch twice.

No matter what Marchbanks and Mulciber say.

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Life is still awkward.

Gryffindor has a match on the 12th, and I'll be going to support Milo and Gryffindor. Best of luck, Gryffindor. Think of it this way: this is the last time you'll have to play

The last time I wrote in here, I didn't get a chance to talk about Marelda's birthday. It was on the 20th. It was nice. She and a couple of her friends went to Germany to spend the weekend with a friend she still keeps in contact with from Hogwarts, Callista Schneider. Marelda said that all of her friends had to visit her because Callista won't

This month I don't have any big plans although I know if I go to Amanda Hooper's house I can play with Bracer Bowman and Maddie Frobisher's niece.

So today was awkward.

Igor Karkaroff dropped Augustus Rookwood's name in the trial. I think that's his ticket out of Azkaban, but now the Department of Mysteries isn't as mysterious as it was five days ago. That secret's out. Apparently.

I have only been working in this department for a month. I swear that I had nothing to do with it - NOTHING to do with it. I did not try to move to this department as protection after my stint with Rodolphus Lestrange and Chalmers fell through

Igor Karkaroff.
Antonin Dolohov.
Augustus Rookwood.

AW-KWARD!

Now the Aurors are going to want to see all of our paperwork and

Yes, that's the word for it.

Awkward.

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Happy Boxing Day.

Go Magpies.

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I have a new cousin-in-law. Valkyrie Rowle married Caedmon in all of the excitement over the past week, and right now they're on their honeymoon in Greece. Caedmon said they had been talking about it for awhile, planning it for this month between Thorfinn and William's birthdays. All of us are relieved that he decided it was worth his time to get married.

Congratulations to everybody on all of the good things that have happened to them this week.

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Thanks to everyone who remembered my birthday. It was nothing special. Marelda took me out to dinner and we saw John Fleecer at the restaurant. We ended up eating together. He and Marelda know each other better than I realised, but they were in the same year at school. After he left, I was tempted to ask Marelda if she'd slept with him, but I was afraid to ask. I might not like the answer. On the other hand, the not knowing might drive me insane. She's not married, I like to think she just doesn't have sex. In fact, I liked the first 19 years of my life when I didn't think about it at all. The whole thing was rather unexpected.

Three days to Hogsmeade.

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Good luck with your first day of classes, Hogwarts.

I'm still accepting potions orders through owls, and Milo will always have a supply for emergencies.