14/04/1990
Saturday, 14th April
Dear diary,
We have finally arrived home at Prince Mansion! After so many months travelling the world, it feels so good to be back. The trip was amazing, but nothing compares to the smell of potions and old books that always lingers here.
As soon as we arrived, Dad asked Julius and me to help him organise all the potion ingredients and items we collected on our travels. We had so many new things: rare plants from Brazil, crystals from Romania, magical mushrooms from Norway… We spent the whole morning sorting and storing them in jars and drawers. Dad was very pleased with our help, and Julius had a lot of fun learning about each ingredient.
After that, Dad took us to one of the rooms we had reserved for all the Muggle items we brought back. It was very exciting! We had a huge television and lots of films, anime, and manga we got from Japan. There were also heaps of photos and videos from our travels. We spent the afternoon organising everything on shelves and in cupboards.
Julius and I worked together to set up the television and make sure everything worked correctly. Dad watched us with a smile as he ensured everything functioned properly with the help of the manual we got in Japan for connecting Muggle devices with magic.
We also brought fabrics from India for our house-elves: Dorl, Mimi, Mons, Vici, and Moki. They were so happy when we gave them the fabrics. They were bright colours with beautiful embroidery. The elves bowed deeply and thanked us with tears in their eyes. I told them they deserved it for taking such good care of the house while we were away.
The day was long but very productive. I love helping Dad and Julius, and seeing the elves happy with their gifts. This house is really special to me, and I feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful family.
I still have to decide if I will go back to the Potter mansion on weekends. James lost the right when Mum passed away, and I really don’t want to see him, but I miss my siblings and I need to give all the memories to Anna. I know very well that if I send them by post, James will never let her keep them, and it feels very impersonal too...
Dad says he can accompany me along with one of the adults assigned to look after me, and that if I really want to see my siblings, James cannot forbid it. I need to think about it carefully...
Another thing I need to do is go through all my mail – there’s so much of it! Dad also has quite a bit of mail; Julius is the only one who’s spared. It makes me a bit sad; my little brother doesn’t have friends his age, although he says he’s happy with the friends he has and his familiar Kunapza, but I want to help him make friends of his own.
All our mail was sent to the mansion instead of reaching us since moving from country to country was a bit difficult for the poor owls to keep up with.
And I can’t believe my teachers gave me homework! Miyako-sensei assigned me a 12-inch essay on wandless magic from each country I visited – one essay per country! Professor Ryu also gave me an essay! All his classes are physical! I can’t believe it… his essay is 16 inches on weapon techniques and combat I learned on my trip; at least it’s just one essay… his letter also said he expected I had been practising my movements because he would give me an exam as soon as we resumed classes…
Professor Hall, from history, also assigned me an essay on the history of each country. He wrote that the length of the essay was up to my discretion, so I don’t know how long is the maximum to write! I have an etiquette exam with Miss Walker, another one in Transfiguration with Professor Clarke, also in Charms with Professor Turner, and finally a language exam with Professor Jackson. My poor brain is going to explode from all the studying, and I wanted to read the books we got on our travels…
According to Dad, they all want to check that the information I learned is still in my head and if I need a review or not, but I still think it’s excessive.
My Draco is worse off; he has the same as me but more languages, and together with Blaise, Theo, Luna, and Mir, they decided to start taking wandless magic and self-defence classes with Miyako-sensei and Ryu. Apparently, they finally convinced their parents to let them take those classes. My Dragon convinced Cissy and Lucy that he needed to learn to defend himself after telling them about our adventures with the troll and the vampires. I had never seen them so pale; it was a bit funny.
Vins and Greg also wanted to learn, but their parents consider it too dangerous, so we decided to teach them a bit whenever we meet. Pansy is a different story; she’s the one we’ve had the least contact with, and she seems to have changed for the worse. She doesn’t want to see any of the Muggle stuff we brought back and makes very derogatory comments about Muggles and Muggle-borns. She used a very nasty term that Dad said he would punish me for and wash my mouth out with soap if I ever said or even wrote it. When he explained it to me, I got very upset with Pansy, but her mum no longer lets her hang out with us much.
What bothered me more is that she tried to stick to My Draco all the time we saw her. She batted her eyelashes excessively and pouted; she even tried to kiss My Dragon! I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but I’m glad I know wandless magic and all the prank potions the Weasleys sent me, so I can keep her away from My Draco.
Anyway, I have to study hard for my exams and do my homework, also respond to my mail and decide whether to go to the Potter mansion. I need to finish all that so I can finally read my new books and practise Parseltongue magic with Celty.
See you!
Goodbye!