Oh, hi, Mum! Guess I was already off to bed last night when you wrote this.
Um, well. We had this cave exploring activity yesterday, y'know, and our group was with Clearwater and Avery, so we went off into the cave like we were supposed to and it was pretty much all right until we found some stuff that a bunch of smugglers had left behind. And then we found a dirty great hole where we figured they'd probably stashed the rest of the goods! So we decided to go down and have a look. You know, we were supposed to be learning to climb and absay, er, scale down the sides of rocks and use ropes and a few special charms and practice teamwork and trust and stuff, so we figured that climbing down that hole was exactly the sort of thing we were meant to be doing (though maybe not, because Professor Sinistra and that Auror bloke weren't too happy about it in the end). But anyway, it seemed like the most interesting thing we could do, so we got the ropes ready, and it was Macmillan's turn to go first, so he started down, and Morag MacDougal was next cause she's pretty small and we figured they could be on the ropes at the same time, but then Macmillan fell. Or, rather, he hit a security hex and it jolted him pretty badly and made him fall, but he grabbed for MacDougal's rope and so she fell, too. Pretty much right on top of him. And I think they might've hit some of the stuff at the bottom, too. Cause, Mum, it was a smuggler's stash!!! And there were sacks and crates and things down there. Amulets, and some kind of funny, whirly instruments, and a case of wands, and some kind of prickly dried up plants. Anywiz, they both lost their wands on the way down, so they couldn't see anything down there and nobody knew quite how far down they were. MacDougal tried, but she couldn't find a way to climb back up, and, anyway, she got hit by one of the wards when she tried, so we didn't know what to do. And Macmillan thought his arm was broken. (And he was right! You should have seen it when we got him up and Professor Sinistra looked it over properly!)
So we were all at the top and Macmillan and MacDougal were at the bottom, and it sounded like a fair way down, only Clearwater said you can never be sure in the dark, especially in a cave because sound plays funny tricks. So, anyway, nobody knew what to do, and Macmillan was moaning like, and MacDougal was getting upset, and Avery sort of went mental and started shouting at everybody. And he and Clearwater didn't agree what to do, and he told her off and ordered her to go get help, and she seemed like she'd had it with him and said, 'Fine!' and flounced off. And there we all were left with Avery, flapping his wand around and casting every spell he could think of and stalking round and round the hole.
So the rest of us kind of put our heads together and made a plan. Well, mostly Parks and Bones figured out the plan and Harry and I did the climbing. And it was really sorcerous, too! We had to figure out what kind of warding spell they'd hit, so I went down the rope and it turned out the sides of the hole were hexed, and I can totally see how Macmillan got knocked off his rope! But then Pansy saw that we could hook the rope through this kind of crevice in the rock overhead and it would hang down pretty much in the middle of the hole, so we could get down without touching the sides. The only trouble was figuring out how to get the rope up there and make sure it would stay! Moon had a bunch of really naff ideas that would never have worked and would probably have ended up with me falling and breaking my neck (which maybe what he hoped, the git). But Brocklehurst and Pansy figured out how to do it and they cast the spells. And it totally worked!!
So, anywiz, I climbed back up my rope and then Harry Marvolo used the new rope and swung out over the hole, and then he was able to climb right down. I went down, too, once he'd got down there.
And you know what? When we cast Lumos and could see what was down there, it was totally like those stories about Phineas Phelps and the Brotherhood of the Bat! There was all sorts of smuggler stuff down there! Sextants and optical glasses and Sneak-o-Scopes and a whole load of stuff they'd stolen and hidden there. But we couldn't really explore it all because Macmillan looked really bad and MacDougal had started getting sorta shirty about how much time it was taking for us to help her. So we found their wands and then we had to figure out how to get them up, but Pansy'd already got it sorted. She and Bones charmed the ropes to make a kind of ladder, so MacDougal climbed up and then me and Harry got sort of either side of Macmillan and got him up even though he was really dizzy and yelled whenever we took a step up.
So, yeah. We got out okay, and it's all good 'cause Professor Sinistra was able to cast a charm on Ernie that's kind of holding the pieces of his arm together and she gave him something to drink that made him snore like an erumpent all night. And we're packed up and ready to head back home in a bit.
It was really a wizard trip, though, Mum. And the caving was pretty exciting, all things considered!!
I'm sure the Ministry will be all over those caves, and it'd be impossible for us to trace the stash to the smugglers now. I hope they don't get caught if they come back to get their contraband.
Indeed. We knew we couldn't be the only ones. I just wish I knew how they got through the wards. As you recall, we didn't have such an easy time of it, and it's not something I'm likely to be able to arrange again soon.
Got to be wizards, though, if they had all that lot, and wands besides.
Of course, we were going to get them out! You had some good ideas, too, and it was lucky you and Brocklehurst were there to cast some of those spells.
Well, I was thinking more of Jenkins or Gudgeon than Lockhart, and wishing Harry and I had our brooms with us, 'cause then we could have just swooped down and flown them up! But Clearwater was right, even if she or Avery could have summoned them, it would have been dead dangerous to have a bunch of brooms zooming through those caves. They'd have brained someone for sure!!
It goes to show that this camp was a good idea I think, because I'm not sure we all would of been able to work together like that otherwise.
But now I've gotten this picture in my head of loads of brooms flying 'round braining people, and I can't stop laughing. I think I'm having delayed histerics maybe. Or maybe your just funny.
Yeah, the camping was brilliant! No doubt about that.
Heh. Just imagine it, rogue brooms zooming around everywhere! It should be a storyline in that new Quidditch comic Neville got from Seamus. Thundering Broomsticks it's called. Actually, you might like it. I bet they'd let you read them if you wanted, 'cause I think Seamus has a subscription now, so he'll be getting it at school.
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Really, Ronald.
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Everything's good.
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Um, well. We had this cave exploring activity yesterday, y'know, and our group was with Clearwater and Avery, so we went off into the cave like we were supposed to and it was pretty much all right until we found some stuff that a bunch of smugglers had left behind. And then we found a dirty great hole where we figured they'd probably stashed the rest of the goods! So we decided to go down and have a look. You know, we were supposed to be learning to climb and absay, er, scale down the sides of rocks and use ropes and a few special charms and practice teamwork and trust and stuff, so we figured that climbing down that hole was exactly the sort of thing we were meant to be doing (though maybe not, because Professor Sinistra and that Auror bloke weren't too happy about it in the end). But anyway, it seemed like the most interesting thing we could do, so we got the ropes ready, and it was Macmillan's turn to go first, so he started down, and Morag MacDougal was next cause she's pretty small and we figured they could be on the ropes at the same time, but then Macmillan fell. Or, rather, he hit a security hex and it jolted him pretty badly and made him fall, but he grabbed for MacDougal's rope and so she fell, too. Pretty much right on top of him. And I think they might've hit some of the stuff at the bottom, too. Cause, Mum, it was a smuggler's stash!!! And there were sacks and crates and things down there. Amulets, and some kind of funny, whirly instruments, and a case of wands, and some kind of prickly dried up plants. Anywiz, they both lost their wands on the way down, so they couldn't see anything down there and nobody knew quite how far down they were. MacDougal tried, but she couldn't find a way to climb back up, and, anyway, she got hit by one of the wards when she tried, so we didn't know what to do. And Macmillan thought his arm was broken. (And he was right! You should have seen it when we got him up and Professor Sinistra looked it over properly!)
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So, anywiz, I climbed back up my rope and then Harry Marvolo used the new rope and swung out over the hole, and then he was able to climb right down. I went down, too, once he'd got down there.
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It was really a wizard trip, though, Mum. And the caving was pretty exciting, all things considered!!
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Still, your Dad and I are very proud of you, son. I'm sure you'll tell us all about it again when you get home.
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A whole case of wands? Oh, my. I would dearly have loved to get my hands on that!
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I'm sure the Ministry will be all over those caves, and it'd be impossible for us to trace the stash to the smugglers now. I hope they don't get caught if they come back to get their contraband.
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Got to be wizards, though, if they had all that lot, and wands besides.
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If you come home, I'll tell you all about it. And you can help me unpack. I'm sure I heard Mum say it's your turn for laundry.
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But I tried to think about what Professor Lockhart or somebody brave like that would do, and that helped a little bit.
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Well, I was thinking more of Jenkins or Gudgeon than Lockhart, and wishing Harry and I had our brooms with us, 'cause then we could have just swooped down and flown them up! But Clearwater was right, even if she or Avery could have summoned them, it would have been dead dangerous to have a bunch of brooms zooming through those caves. They'd have brained someone for sure!!
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And since tomorrow's my birthday, I thought I might be able to get one of my ever-so-kind brothers to do my laundry turn for me!
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Maybe you'll be cleverer once you turn eleven!
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But now I've gotten this picture in my head of loads of brooms flying 'round braining people, and I can't stop laughing. I think I'm having delayed histerics maybe. Or maybe your just funny.
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Heh. Just imagine it, rogue brooms zooming around everywhere! It should be a storyline in that new Quidditch comic Neville got from Seamus. Thundering Broomsticks it's called. Actually, you might like it. I bet they'd let you read them if you wanted, 'cause I think Seamus has a subscription now, so he'll be getting it at school.