Sly Sulwen!
Slytherin House
Hogwarts School
Scotland

Abby Reid
Flat 5E Hiraeth Gardens
London

Sulwen,

Congrats on Slytherin! Your mother must be pleased! Mine is. Your grandmother is ordering all the green things, just to warn you, so it's a good thing you look nice in green. Coira is going to be so jelly. Green with jelly (before I confuse you, jelly=jealous=envious). That's why I decided to send you something a little more subtle. It should be large enough to fit parchment in, if anything.

How do you like your housemates and professors? Are classes going well? Tell me all the gossip. And don't be afraid of grumpy Professor Storm. Deep down, he really cares about his students and wants them to succeed. That's the impression I get from Raine, anyway.

Guess what? I might be working at the Ministry again! A real job, not just an internship. I'll tell you more when I find out.

Gotta run. Aileen sends her love.

Love,
Abby!

Dear Aunt Abigail,

Thank you very much for the gift and the welcome to Slytherin. With your talk of jelly, I half-expected jelly. (That's a joke.) I've already received compliments on the clutch.

I wish you luck in getting a job at the Ministry.

The professors are rather eccentric. The Headmaster is a werewolf. The Deputy Headmaster keeps everyone in line. I li respect him. I like my Head of House, however, he makes a point not to favor the Slytherins. When Aunt Aileen taught here, did she ever favor Slytherins?

There's a very excitable girl in my dormitory named Elaine. She never stops talking about her travels.

There's another girl, Aoide, who reminds me a bit of you. She seems warm and funny. However, she's in Hufflepuff.

The boys are loud and rude.

Your Niece,
Sulwen

Sulwen,

Let me tell you a secret! If you want to make friends with someone, their house doesn't really matter. Yes, I know, I never went to Hogwarts, so I can't speak to the dynamics while there, but I can say that after school, your House becomes something you crack jokes about.

Case in point  - last month my flatmate, Raine, held a slumber party for me, and there were former Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Slytherins, and Hufflepuffs all in the same room, mostly getting along, except for one tiny little hex moment, but yes! All friends. New friends for me, anyway.

If there's someone you want to befriend from another house (especially if she's a bit like me!), do ittttt. Do it now. Then tell me about it, stat (right away).

In answer to your question, I'm fairly sure Aileen tried not to play favorites with the Slytherins. Of course she had favorites that she talked about, privately, but she did her best not to show it in class. She can tell you more about it when she's feeling better.

Boys are loud and rude, true, but they can also be sweet and charming! I promise. Sometimes they can be all those things. I saw evidence of that at the slumber party.

By the way, I got the job!!!

I started Monday, actually. I didn't want to say anything until I survived my first few days, but look at us! You surviving school, me surviving at the Ministry. I'm the Head of the DMLE's personal assistant. How brill is that! I get to hang around the Aurors and decipher their handwriting, and make lots of tea. Many of them have children at Hogwarts. Aoide, I think you mentioned her, is one? Gwinna and Noah, I believe, are others.

~Abby!

Dear Aunt Abigail,

Congrats on your..

There were boys at your slumber party?

Congratulations on your new job at the Ministry. How exciting to be trusted with confidential information. I've attached a lovely quill as a gift. I hadn't used it yet. I have many, and I'm sure you'll make a professional impression with it.

I will consider what you said. Houses seem to be very important things here. We all share the same table, and gain and lose points together (some lose far too many points), and sleep in the dormitories without murdering one another. (Joke).

I haven't noticed the professors here favor students. They are consistent. They are consistently nice or consistently mean or consistently eccentric. Some of them are a bit too nice, like the flying instructor, though I do love flying. Some of them are unnecessarily mean. Some of them are just right.

As for friends, I think I'm becoming friends with Elaine. We worked together in Potions, and did well. I can't tell if anyone else likes m

I like Potions. Professor Darkfall is one of those 'just right' professors.

Is there a house you think you would have ended up in, Abby? I apologize in advance if that's a rude question.

~Sulwen

Secret Keeper Sulwen,

Oops! If you love me at all, don't tell either of our mothers about the boys! <3

Thank you for the quill! Mr. Carstairs approves, or I'd imagine he does. He didn't say otherwise.

So you like Potions and Flying best, so far? What do you like about them? Elaine is the talkative one in your house, isn't she?

I'd imagine it's not easy being the quiet one in a louder group of students. Don't get discouraged! Keep speaking up, don't be afraid to open up, and I'm sure you'll have lots of friends in no time.

No worries, I don't much care if a question is rude! I've wondered about Houses myself. I don't think I'd be a Slytherin. No offense to you and the rest of our sly family! I don't consider myself to be a very ambitious person. Though now that I'm at the Ministry, watch out, wizarding world.

Ravenclaws hold a special place in my heart, but no, not_.....

Sorry about that. Hand slipped. Hmm, probably Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. You pick!


Abby!

Dear Aunt Abigail,

Of course I won't tell. I remember that time you wore "unmentionables" to our brunch. My eardrums still hurt.

For you, I'd say Gryffindor. You are more courageous than most of our family.

Must run, write soon.

~Sulwen

Dear Aunt Abigail,

Witch Weekly wrote a mean article about one of my classmates, Feliks. Did you read it? Feliks is one of the mischief makers in class. I don't understand why they had to pick on him. Will they pick on you, next? Who will they pick on next?

I found him in the kitchens drinking hot chocolate and looking sad[1]. He told Naomi Foley and I a bit about his life in Siberia (brr! - joke) and I still have so many questions, but I won't ask them all. Not all at once. That's rude.

Prefect Foley is very nice. I can see why you're friends. She made me foamed cocoa. It's tasty. I gave one to Elaine. Elaine has a very colorful quill and I think she appreciated the very colorful drink.

Did you know that Naomi calls Aunt Aileen just "Aileen"? She's a brave Slytherin.

~Sulwen

1.	Devil's Child, Dove Wings

Dear Sulwen,

I'm barely awake and the first thing I read was your early owl, Sulwen. Feel special! Let me try to find WW in my mail. I can't imagine why they would_...

..._I have to run. I'm being summoned into work on a Saturday. Who spat in Carstairs' tea today? No!

I'll write more soon.


Abby!

Dear Sulwen,

Guess who I am sitting with right now, as I write?

Guess!

Feliks' father, drinking hot tea and looking sad. I'm glad I came into the office today! I just explained to him that you and Naomi were there for Feliks this early, early morning. He said if you wouldn't mind looking out for him, he'd appreciate it.

Which translates to, Sulwen, talk to Feliks if you see him sitting alone! Tell a prefect or professor if the students are being especially nasty.

Wow, I just felt like, a strange sense of responsibility? Is this what it feels like to be an adult?

Bizarre!


~Abby!

Dear Abigail,

You're eighteen. That technically makes you an adult. You have a job and live with your best friend. Therefore, adult.

Which father did you see at the Ministry? Was he stuck working on a Saturday, too? I have to do revision. Which translates to, Abby, we're all working.  (joke)

What if Feliks is sitting alone because he wants to be alone? What's the difference between nasty and especially nasty? (not a joke)

Next time I see Feliks, I'll ask if he wants to go to the library. I hope he's not too loud. What do I do if he hugs me again? Do I hug him back? People are going to think we're best friends.


~Sulwen

Sulwen,

I'm nineteen, technically. (My birthday is coming up in October, by the way, and Aunt Aileen's! I expect a card and an attempt at a doodle).

I saw Mr. Spectre at the Ministry. Apparently it is the place to be!

I'm glad you're on board for Operation Cheer Up Feliks. Recruit your friends, your housemates, your not-housemates. Hug everyone. Be best friends with everyone. The success of the operation depends on it!

... (joke)

 For serious, if he seems really glum, just go over and sit next to him. You don't have to talk. Sometimes it helps just knowing someone is there. "Especially nasty" means constant insults and hexing, I would say. I trust your judgment!

~Abby

Dear Abigail,

On it.

And I'm sorry. I got confused about your birthday from last year. I will remember your birthday this year.

Love,
Sulwen

Dear Abigail,

Thank you so much for the care package from Hogsmeade. I split up the treats evenly and distributed them among the Slytherin first-years. Even Bean Bobbie.

~Sulwen

You are very welcome, Sulwen! I walked through rain, and puddles, and endured drinks at The Three Broomsticks for you!

Do me a favor? Give a hug to Naomi Foley next time you see her.

<3 Abby