(no subject)

[alt_pansy]

She is a bit of a broken record, isn't she?

How nice of her to repeat all the lovely things she was saying at breakfast right here for everyone to see.

I believe my opinion on the matter has already been very clearly expressed, so I'm not going to bother to express it again here.

I owe her nothing.

It's only a pity I didn't manage to get in a shot at Morag, too.

Comments

[alt_hydra]

Are you in trouble, Pansy?

From,
Hydra

[alt_pansy]

Probably.

I don't particularly mind, though. I did what I needed to do, and now it's done.

[alt_hydra]

I hope you aren't punished too terribly much.

From,
Hydra

[alt_pansy]

Thanks.

[alt_draco]

Did that make you feel better?

[alt_pansy]

Yes.

[alt_draco]

So it feels better to know that everyone else now knows that you're bothered by idle gossip?

[alt_pansy]

It's funny, now that it's done, I don't think I'll be nearly as bothered by it in the future.

I just needed to get it out of my system, I think.

[alt_draco]

As usual, I can see that you're utterly satisfied with your course of action, no matter how it might look to others.

[alt_pansy]

Well, that sort of depends, doesn't it?

On who the others are?

[alt_draco]

How about my family, for a start. You know, they do do a lot for you, and sometimes I'm not sure you care, or maybe you just forget.

[alt_pansy]

I know.

She can say what she wants about me, but when she started going on and on about your mum and dad, and my mum, I'd had enough.

I'll never forget what they do for me. Ever. You too.

I might not have shown it in the best way, and I'll be the first to admit I can make a royal mess of things, but it certainly wasn't absent-mindedness on my part. Or lack of trying.

[alt_pansy]

Or caring.

[alt_draco]

As long as it's out of your system, then. But next time, consider a dark corridor. That's what they're for, yeah?

[alt_pansy]

Yeah.

I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_ron]

Oi!

I mean, I want Patil to get it as much as the next bloke, but 'next time, consider a dark corridor. That's what they're for'?! He is such a bloody piece of work! That's exactly what's wrong with this whole thing! It's what Finnigan's getting from that Mr Rosier. It just makes me want to kick something! Like Malfoy's face.

[alt_horace]

Miss Parkinson - I was intending to speak to you privately, but it appears this is simply too serious to wait.

Unauthorised magic is forbidden outside the classroom, as you are well aware, and hexing your fellow students is equally against school rules.

I had hoped you might show some regret, perhaps even remorse, for your impulsive actions this morning. I see instead your regret is that you were not able to attack another student as well.

Whatever Miss Patil and Miss MacDougal may have said that upset you, there is simply no excuse for such conduct.

Detention - one week.

I'll see you in my office this evening to assign your detention, and to hear your explanation for your behaviour. I suggest you give it some serious thought in the intervening period, if you don't want your detention extended any further.

[alt_pansy]

Yes, Professor Slughorn.

[alt_sally_anne]

Professor Slughorn, don't you think getting cruciated by Mr Professor Carrow (when she was not the one who started things this afternoon) is enough punishment?

I don't think she can come tonight, anyway, she's really not well because of what Patil did to her, and Professor Carrow.

[alt_padma]

What do you mean, what I did to her? I've not done anything since duelling club, and that was just a jelly-legs, it didn't even last very long.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well, she was vomiting blood after you hexed her.

Cruciatus quite often makes people vomit after. It does not usually cause people to vomit blood.

[alt_padma]

Listen, I can understand why you'd have a high opinion of my hexing ability, but I'm sure I don't know any spells that make a person puke blood.

And even if I did I'd never cast it on a person if it weren't an emergency. Which just running into Parkinson in the corridors wasn't, and as Professor Slughorn and the prefects and everyone have told us, it's against the rules to duel in the corridors, anyway.

Stop lying. Whatever's wrong with Parkinson has nothing to do with me.

[alt_sally_anne]

I'm not the one lying here, but I understand you have to keep saying that since otherwise you'd need to admit both that you ambushed us, and that you thought you needed at least six people at your back to do it safely even when you had the element of surprise.

[alt_padma]

Barking mad, the both of you. Longbottom, too.

I was just as shocked as anyone when that happened. And I hope she's all right. I really do.

But there's a difference between a harmless jest of a hexing and really trying to hurt someone. Like, say, the difference between making someone write whatever they want in their journal and making someone's hair fall off over and over, or making a whole dormitory positively crawling with disgusting insects.

Besides, she'd already got a detention. That should have been enough.

[alt_horace]

Miss Perks - I understand that the punishment Miss Parkinson received from Professor Carrow was in relation to a different, although perhaps related, incident. Professor Carrow is quite within his rights, as a Professor at this school, to mete out whatsoever punishment he sees fit for the incident he witnessed. As Miss Parkinson has already been punished for this incident, I, as her Head of House, will be taking no further action. However, in relation to the incident at breakfast, my original punishment most certainly still stands.

I would also very much like to speak to Miss Parkinson about her recent behaviour, but I quite understand that tonight may not be the best time. Please let her know that I will see her when she's feeling better.

Sally-Anne, if you girls are having trouble with your schoolfellows, please don't resort to fighting in corridors. Come and speak to me, or one of your prefects, or any of the staff you feel comfortable with. Hexing is not the answer. Especially not when done in the vicinity of your teachers.

[alt_sally_anne]

Sir, I am happy to be able to come to you with problems.

But when we're attacked without warning in a corridor, what can we do other than defend ourselves?

[alt_sally_anne]

And to be clear, sir, it wasn't just Patil: it was Patil, McDougal, Dunstan, Moon, Li, and Finnigan, and I think there were a few others. We were outnumbered and taken by surprise.

I don't know what we could have done other than defend ourselves.

[alt_horace]

I understand you found yourselves in a difficult situation, Sally-Anne, but confrontations can often be avoided if we apply our minds above our hearts. We Slytherins are known for our cunning. We're not Gryffindors, bursting in with fists flying in the heat of the moment. We think, we plan, we assess those around us and we judge the situations we find ourselves in.

I'm quite sure both you and Pansy have all necessary skills and qualities to approach such difficulties with your classmates wisely. Miss Patil is a popular and well-connected student. You may have your disagreements, but I trust you understand the benefits of doing your best to keep them to a minimum.

In short - the best way to defend yourself, in any given situation, is not to get into it in the first place.

I would advise, if you can, that you and Pansy do what you can to make peace with Miss Patil. And then, if you can't be friends, do what you can to avoid upsetting one another. I have every confidence in you both to understand the wisdom of such an approach.