081226: En alternativ julsaga - del 3

An Alternative Christmas Tale - part 3

Draco couldn't sleep. Theo, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon as he'd drawn the curtains of his four-poster. Draco leant over the side of his own bed and pulled out the package from under it. He lit his wand and read the note again. He turned the card around, but there was no signature. He felt a squirm of excitement in the pit of his stomach.

As quietly as he could, he tore open the paper. He almost yelled at the sight of its content in the light of his wand. The thing inside looked dead, and Draco carefully unfolded the rest of the package without touching the repulsive item. It was a shrivelled hand holding a grimy, old lantern.

His father had been a dark wizard, and it made Draco wary of the dead hand. He hated his father; thought him a coward and a murderer. Lucius Malfoy's refusal to leave You-Know-Who's service had cost him his life in the end. When You-Know-Who was brought down by Albus Dumbledore, Lucius accepted to do his time in Azkaban and in exchange receive protection for his wife, Narcissa, and newborn son, Draco. However, this was only a diversion, and the Malfoy family fled the country.

Lucius wanted to join forces with remaining Death Eaters, and sought out Bellatrix Lestrange, his wife's sister. The reunion, however, was far from the victory Lucius Malfoy had expected. Bellatrix, demented by the death of her Dark Lord, accused him of having betrayed them. She killed him on the spot, and then went after her sister. Narcissa Malfoy tried to escape, the baby in her arms. The killing curse hit her in the back, and she fell forwards. Even in death she held on to her son, who was found under her lifeless body by the Aurors.

His mother! Maybe the hand had belonged to her. It gives light only to its holder. He put out his wandlight, and gripped the wrist of the dry hand. The effect was immediate, and Draco had to stop himself from crying out in surprise and fear once again. The light inside the lantern had burst into a vivid flame, illuminating the entire dungeon room. He had to try it now. He slipped out of bed and went over to Theo's bed. He poked his best friend in the small of his back and held his breath, waiting for Theo to turn around and see him.
"Huh," mumbled Theo. Draco watched him turn around to look in his direction, but it was a peculiar sight. Theo was looking seemingly right through him, and deciding that there was nothing to be seen, lay down again and started snoring almost immediately.

Suddenly, Draco felt wide awake. The whole of Hogwarts was open to him with this hand. Excitement flooded through him as he stood there in the dark silence. He could go anywhere with this, anywhere, and no one would ever know. He crept out of the dormitory, up the stairs, across the common room and out into the corridor. Where should he go? He stopped, his heart racing. He had climbed aimlessly up the stairs and was walking an empty corridor when he heard a noise. Draco stood rooted to the spot as Filch and - he gasped - Professor McGonagall came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see him in the dark, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into him.

He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, an to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past and Draco leant against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he had hidden in.

It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket - but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't quite look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and McGonagall, Draco moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself holding the lantern. He stepped in front of it. He had to clap his free hand to his mouth to stop himself from screaming. He whirled around. His heart was pounding furiously - for he had seen not only himself in the mirror, but someone standing right behind him.

But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, he turned slowly back to the mirror. There he was, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and there, reflected behind him, was a ghostly woman. Draco looked over his shoulder - but, still, no one was there. He looked in the mirror again. The woman, standing right behind his reflection, was smiling at him and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air - she existed only in the mirror.

She was a very pretty woman. She had white blond hair and her nose - her nose is just like mine, Draco thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Pointy - exactly the same shape. Her face was pale, and her eyes icy blue, just like Draco's. Then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time.

Draco was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.
'Mum?' he whispered.
She just looked at him, smiling. Draco had his left hand pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach her. He held up his other hand, looked at his mother, to the lantern, and back to her again. She nodded and he felt a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness.

How long he stood there, he didn't know. He sank down to sit on the floor in front of the mirror. He could look at her for en eternity. Her piercing blue eyes, her silky hair, her mesmerizing smile. He imagined her warm arms embracing him - frail but caring. There was nothing to stop him staying here forever with his mother. Nothing at all.

For the first time in his life, Draco felt truly loved.

The End.

081225: En alternativ julsaga - del 2

An Alternative Christmas Tale - part 2

Once the holidays had started, Theo and Harry had the dormitory to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get good armchairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork - bread, crumpets, marshmallows - and plotting ways of getting Potter expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.

Theo also started teaching Draco wizard chess. This was exactly like Muggle chess, except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Theo's set was very old and battered. Like everything he owned, it had once belonged to someone at the Ministry of Magic - in this case, a wizard at the Department of Magical Games and Sports who had donated it to the Ministry's orphanage when Theo was five. However, the old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Theo knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.

Draco played with chessmen Adrian Pucey had lent him and they didn't trust him at all. He wasn't a very good player yet and they kept shouting different bits of advice at him, which was confusing: 'Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him.'

On Christmas eve, Draco went to bed looking forward to next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all. When he woke early next morning, however, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.

Theo was still asleep, and Draco was just about to wake him when a note on the top present caught his attention. It is time this was returned to you. It gives light only to its holder. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you. Draco's heart leapt. Could this be... But Theo stirred in the next bed, and Draco hurriedly hid the package under his bed.

'Happy Christmas,' said Theo sleepily as Draco scrambled out of bed and pulled on his dressing-gown.
'You too,' said Draco. 'Will you look at this? I've got some presents!'
'What did you expect, turnips?' said Theo, turning to his own pile, which was slightly bigger than Draco's.

Draco picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Draco, from Theo and Blaise. Inside was a wizard chess set. A second, very small parcel contained a note. We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. Mrs. Regina Hamphings, Barney Orphanage. Sellotaped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.

'That's friendly,' said Draco.
Theo was fascinated by the fifty pence.
'Weird!' he said. 'What a shape! This is money?'
'You can keep it,' said Draco, laughing at how pleased Theo was. His friends and the muggle orphanage he had grown up in - 'So who sent this one?'
'I think I know who that one's from,' said Theo. 'Chelsea at our orphanage. I told her you didn't expect any presents and - oh, I knew it, she's made you a jumper.'
Draco had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted, grey sweater.
'That's really nice of her,' said Draco.

Draco had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of fat chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce - and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic crackes were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the orphanage usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Vincent and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear-admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Up on the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Marcus Flint nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice. Draco watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally, to Draco's horror, kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek. Draco loathed drunk people, something he had learned from one too many encounters with the alcoholic husband of Mrs. Hamphings.

Draco and the other orphans spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight in the grounds. Then, cold, wet and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Slytherin common room, where Draco broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Theo. He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Marcus hadn't tried to help him so much.

After a tea of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed expect sit and watch Marcus chase Crabbe and Goyle all through the Slytherin dungeons because they had stolen his Quidditch Captain badge. It had been Draco's best Christmas day ever.

To Be Continued.

081224: En alternativ julsaga - del 1

Hur skulle julen te sig på Hogwarts om Voldemort hade störtats innan han mördade Lily och James, om Dödsätarna hade satts i fängelse och deras barn tagits om hand? Denna alternativa saga är i stort sett endast en omskrivning av kapitlet The Mirror of Erised i Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone av J.K. Rowling (tyvärr hade jag bara den engelska boken till hands), men jag hoppas att ni kommer att tycka om den ändå.

God jul!

Maria




An Alternative Christmas Tale - part 1

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and Crabbe and Goyle were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Lupin around, floating in front of him like pale full moons. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver post had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Slytherin common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor McGonagall's classes in the windy north wing, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to the magical fire burning behind the teacher's desk.

'I do feel so sorry,' said Harry Potter, one Transfiguration class, 'for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted anywhere else.'
He was looking over at Draco as he spoke. Granger and Weasley chuckled. Draco, who was trying to master a new spell, ignored them. Potter had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that Gryffindor had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a paralyzed snake would be replacing Draco as Seeker next. Then he'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Draco had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Potter, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Draco about having no proper family.

It was true that Draco wasn't going back to the muggle orphanage for Christmas. Professor Snape had come round the week before, making a list of all students who would be staying for the holidays, and Draco had signed up at once. He didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. The other orphans; among them Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, would be staying too.

When they left the classroom at the end of Transfiguration, they found a large tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two shuffling feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud wheezing sound told them that Filch was behind it.
'Hi, Filch, want any help?' Theo asked, sticking his head through the branches.
'Move,' grunted the caretaker.
Draco, Blaise and Theodore sympathized with Argus Filch, because, if possible, he was even more of an outcast than they were. Also, Draco appreciated his equal dislike of all students.

'Would you mind moving out of the way?' came Potter's drawl from behind them. 'Are you trying to earn some extra money, Nott? Hoping to be caretaker yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose - that cupboard of Filch's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to...'
Potter turned silent, because Professor Snape had just rounded the corner of the corridor. Not caring, Theo dived at Potter just as McGonagall came up the stairs.
'NOTT!'
Theo let go of the front of Potter's robes.

'He was provoked,' said Snape, who glided up protectively behind Draco, Blaise and Theo. 'Potter was insulting his family.'
'Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts' rules, Severus,' said Professor McGonagall sternly. 'Five points from Slytherin, Nott, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you.'
Potter, Weasley and Granger pushed roughly past the tree and smirked.

'I'll get him,' said Theo, grinding his teeth at Potter's back, 'one of these days, I'll get him -'
'I hate them both,' said Draco. 'Potter and McGonagall.'
'Not that tone, Draco,' said Snape, but Draco could see his lips curl into a sneer. 'I don't want to hear you talk about a Professor that way again.'
'No, of course not, Sir,' Draco replied.
He knew that Snape deliberately had left Potter's name out of the reprimand. Snape was the only teacher who understod him, Draco thought bitterly.

To Be Continued.

081224: Skrynkelhornade snorkackor önskar...


Julbild kopiera

081221: A very Harry Christmas


Årets sista hela vecka börjar imorgon. Vi får väl se om nyhetstorka infinner sig över julen p.g.a. att fansen tar ledigt. Oavsett så får du väldigt gärna maila in om du har gett bort eller fått något Potterigt i julklapp, eller har något annat spännande att berätta. Har någon ex. varit på en Yule Ball i år?

081219: Månadens wrockisar

Vem påstår att en månad är en lång tid? Nåja, för allmänhetens service kommer här en länk till Wit Beyond Measure och His Silver Hands musikal från Wizard Rock Halloween för dem som inte har sett den än: Sevrius - the Musical, upplagd av Emelie i Wit Beyond Measure. His Silver Hand har delat med sig av manus till musikalen på sin MySpace för dem som är nyfikna.

Wit Beyond Measure har också lagt upp videon från WRH där hon spelar Saint-like. Hon kallar den "my first and only wrock song", något vi får hoppas inte stämmer. His Silver Hand å andra sidan, har laddat upp en splitter ny sång, "Love", till sin MySpace. Det är en bitter visa från Aberforth till Albus efter Arianas död.

Som en sista intressant notering har Morsmordre status: "still deep in the process of writing our debut EP, but fear not, it's coming along!"

Tillägg: Även Solitary Snape är på väg mot ett album. Dreaner skriver i deras blogg att 15 låtar är skrivna, och när de är nöjda med materialet till albumet så kommer inspelningar att börja.

081219: Locka wrockers till Sverige

Drömmer du om att se Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys eller något annat stort wizard rock-band live? PEACE AND LOVE-festivalen i Borlänge tar nu emot önskningar på band att bjuda in (tack till Hanna för tipset!). Tillsammans är vi starka, så önska era wrockfavoriter ni också!

081218: Recension av The Tales

Resultatet av enkäten om J.K. Rowlings nya bok här på SHPF var övervägande positivt. 38 personer svarade på frågan "Vad tycker du om 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'?" 19 personer tyckte att boken var "underbar" och fyra tyckte att den var "över förväntan". 15 personer svarade också att de inte har köpt/läst boken än. Hoppas att de har önskat sig den i julklapp!

"'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' är en sagosamling bestående av fem berättelser nedskrivna av barden Beedle. Sagorna har berättats för generationer av trollkarlsbarn, i mängder av variationer. Denna bok sägs dock vara originalet.

Sagorna är inte sagor i en snuttifierad bemärkelse, tvärtom är de stundvis obehagliga att läsa. De tar upp mörka teman som egoism, oförmåga att älska, avund, maktbegär och inte minst förtryck av mugglare. Moralen i sagorna är mer hoppfull och värdesätter jämlikhet, rättvisa och kärlek.

Berättelserna är intressanta att läsa i sin enkelhet, men det som sätter en humoristisk prägel på boken är Dumbledores kommentarer om berättelserna. Boken är vackert illustrerad av J.K. Rowling själv. Helhetsupplevelsen har beskrivits av många med diverse adjektiv, varav några är: söt, mysig, fin, lustig, skum, härlig, rolig och underbar."

081217: Julklappstips

Idag är det en vecka kvar till jul. Om du har julklappspanik, så kommer här en lista på tips över saker du kan köpa/göra till dina nära och kära som tycker om Harry Potter. De här tipsen går självklart också att nyttja när det gäller födelsedagspresenter.

Böcker
- "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" av J.K. Rowling, ca. 100:-
- "Harry, A History" av Melissa Anelli, ca. 150:-
- "Quidditch genom tiderna" av J.K. Rowling, ca. 70:-
- "Fantastiska vidunder och var man hittar dem" av J.K. Rowling, ca. 70:-
- Någon av Harry Potter-böckerna som personen inte har, ca. 100-200:-
- Harry Potter som ljudbok, ca. 150-300:-

Film
- "We Are Wizards", ca. $20
- "The Wizard Rockumentary", ca. $20
- Någon av Harry Potter-filmerna som personen inte har, ca. 100:-

Musik
- Årsprenumeration på Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club, ca. $75
- ROCK OUT AGAINST VOLDEMEDIA, gratis
- JINGLE SPELLS 2, ca. $19

Övrigt
- Presentkort på en biljett till ett Harry Potter-konvent (INCENDIO 09 eller EXPECTO PATRONUM 2009), ca. 200:-
- En t-shirt från Harry Potter Alliance, ca. $15
- En kalender för 2009 med Harry Potter-motiv, ca. 70-120:-
- En stickad halsduk i färg med det elevhem personen tillhör, ca. 50-200:-
- En trollstav, gratis

Många av dessa produkter köps endast på nätet. Läs alltid igenom villkor noga och spara alla kvitton när du handlar online. Be en vuxen om hjälp om du inte har eget kreditkort, eller om du är osäker över något.

Tänk på att du kan ge ett "presentkort" på det du har beställt om presenten inte hinner komma fram i tid till julafton, ex. ett egendekorerat Harry Potter-julkort där du skriver ner vad personen kommer få.

081209: Incendio 09

I dag kom det mer information om konventet i Tranås under våren 2009 som vi tidigare har skrivit om. Konventet har nu bytt namn till INCENDIO 09 och är tidsbestämt till 21-22 mars. Mer information och anmälan görs på incendio09.webs.com.

081208: Bilder från Beedle i Göteborg

Nu finns det lite bilder även från Beedle the Bard-releasen i Göteborg. Tack till Poffe för bilderna!



Poffe tipsade också om en artikel i Göteborgs-Posten: Först i kön för Rowlings nya.

081206: Nytt här på SHPF

Vi har haft många besökare på sistone, vilket verkligen känns roligt. Några utav er har kanske redan märkt att det har utförts vissa förbättringar av sidan. I kolumnen till vänster syns nu planerade träffar. Där finns även en lista över fotoalbum från diverse evanemang, som kommer att växa med tiden. Sist men inte minst kommer det nu och då att finnas enkäter upplagda.

Om du har tips och idéer på hur SHPF kan bli bättre, mer informativ och roligare; skriv gärna en kommentar eller ett mejl.

081205: Beedle kommer inte att översättas

Dagens Nyheter skrev igår att "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" inte kommer att översättas till svenska. Enligt Cecilia Nilsson, förläggare på Tiden förlag, beror det dels på tidsbrist men även att J.K. Rowlings tidigare böcker har sålt bra på engelska i Sverige. Otur för de läsare som inte bemästrar engelska, och synd om de barnhemsbarn i Östeuropa som skulle blivit hjälpta av Childen's High Level Group, vilka får en del av försäljningens intäkter.

081205: Bilder från Beedle

Tack för en trevlig natt, alla som köade! Vi var över 100 personer när SF-bokhandeln slog upp portarna kl. 07:00 för släppet av "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". Här kommer lite bilder från kön i Stockholm:



Tack till Maria, Hanna, Fanny, Ch, Fávnir, Cosmopolitan, Elin, RM och Vanio för bilderna. Dean från The Swedish Rowling Fanclub tog också bilder, dem kan du för tillfället se på SF-bokhandelns hemsida. Om du har bilder från kön i någon av städerna, mejla dem gärna till oss så läggs de upp här.