01/11/1989
Wednesday, 1st November
Dear diary, today is our last day in Bulgaria. We had a good time but mainly visited the magical side. On the Muggle side, we saw the city of Sofia and its Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which was impressive, and one of the oldest cities in all of Europe: Plovdiv. The history and architecture were extremely interesting, but I can honestly say that the most fun was on the magical side. Beyond the Vitosha mountain, we came across a junior Quidditch championship. Apparently, the country organises competitions for this sport every year; there were even some students from Durmstrang Institute, seemingly scouting for young talent to improve their national league, which has been performing poorly in recent years.
Together, we formed a team to participate at Draco’s request. Blaise didn’t want to play, but my Dragon pestered him so much that he got the rest of our friends to come so we could participate. Although I don't like it that much, I am the fastest on a broom, so I was the Seeker.
Draco, Luna, and Theo were Chasers, Mirella and Greg Beaters, and Vins was the Keeper. I still don't understand what Blaise did, but he managed to get everyone here very quickly, and we were able to practise together.
Amazingly, Luna was very good with the Quaffle. As always, she seemed to have a faraway look but at the same time juggled the ball. She would also stop suddenly or fly aimlessly, thus bewildering her opponents, and before they realised it, she had already passed the Quaffle to Draco, who was very good at receiving the ball from any direction. Then, he would pass it to Theo, who had the best aim of the three and almost always managed to score. Watching them play was breathtaking; they still needed practice but were spectacular.
Mirella and Greg took a bit longer to sync, but they were also quite good. Mir has an impressive aim but doesn’t hit very hard, while Greg could launch the Bludger with tremendous force but his aim wasn't very good, making him a danger to the team at first. However, they managed to find a balance by practising together.
Vins, well… he wasn’t our best player, but he made up for his skill with his size. Among all the children, he and Greg were some of the biggest, and that’s considering we competed against children up to 13 years old.
I had fun flying around, annoying, and further distracting the opposing team. It was very amusing to see the confused faces of the other children.
Amazingly, we made it to the semi-finals, where we played against the favourite team. It was a spectacular match but the most difficult one we had to play. Towards the end, we were losing by 150 points when I saw the Snitch. If I caught it, we would draw, or so I thought, but the opposing Seeker was very good, and I couldn't shake him off.
We both dived for the Snitch when it suddenly swerved to the right. Luckily, I was on that side and managed to catch it, but the opposing team had scored another goal, and we lost by 10 points. Dad congratulated us and bought sweets for everyone, and I got another Penpal! His name is Viktor, and he is the Seeker of the team that beat us.
He told me he had been recruited for the national junior league despite being 13 years old, whereas they usually recruit from the age of 15, and that he hadn’t had so much fun flying in a long time. He’s quite pleasant, but Draco didn’t let me talk much with him.
In the end, we managed to come third, winning a cup and medals for everyone, as well as some offers to join various junior teams. My Dragon was over the moon with happiness.
Aside from that, we visited the Bulgarian Ministry, but we were not given permission to visit Durmstrang Institute, which was a shame.
Oh! Julius's Runespoor hatched while we were ill in Spain. Celty befriended two of the three heads and is indifferent to one, so I count it as a victory. Julius adores his familiar, and it seems the feeling is mutual.
Julius named the middle head Kundalini, which comes from Hinduism and is a spiritual serpent representing primal energy since this head is the dreamer. The right head he named Apep, which comes from Egyptian mythology where it is a giant serpent representing chaos, as this head is the venomous one and is a bit irritable. The left head is Quetzalcoatl, which comes from Aztec mythology and is a feathered serpent deity associated with wind and wisdom, as this head is the one that plans and makes decisions.
By the way, Celty doesn’t get along well with Apep, and they often argue about who is the most venomous. Oh, and when Julius wants to refer to his familiar as a whole, he calls it Kunapza, which is a combination of the three names.
And, last but not least! I discovered more details that Dad and Mum have in common!
When Dad worries about me, he bites his lips and crosses his arms tightly over his chest.
Dad tiptoes up the stairs.
When he thinks deeply, he tucks his hair behind his right ear and puts his left hand on his hip.
Just like Mum! I don’t know if I’ll find more details if I keep observing, but I hope so. However, Dad is starting to notice that I’m watching him more, so I have to be more careful.
Anyway, it was fun. Tomorrow we go to Russia!
See you,
Goodbye.