Final Goodbyes and Closure

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina had always found it extremely difficult to say goodbye. As such, she usually avoided it as much as possible. It was usually why she never got too close to people she'd only have to say goodbye too later. But being in New Zealand had been different. There she had made friends, even through all the drama that had started at the Yule Ball and continued on in to the second semester. But now, it was time to go back to Durmstrang, and although she was looking forward to it, she was going to miss Hogwarts New Zealand, too. So, as she trudged up the stairs to the Owlery to retrieve Lenka, she had made sure to take a few things - quill, ink and parchment, most notably - with her, so she could say goodbye without losing face. There were a few letters she had to write before she went.

The first letter, she wrote to Estrella, her first and possibly best friend from New Zealand.

Dear Estrella,
I wanted to say, and I hope you don't think this is too sentimental: thank you for being my friend this year. It really meant a lot to me to have somebody to talk to - even if things got a little busy around the second semester, thanks to exams. I'm glad that they're all over and done, in any case. I'm sure you did extremely well on them, and I hope I did okay.
I am about to return to Durmstrang, and I must admit, despite all the hardships I faced at Hogwarts New Zealand this year, I will miss this place. I will miss the friends I have made and the lovely welcoming environment...and it is so warm here, compared to Durmstrang. In short, HNZ has been very kind to me, and I am very sad to leave it. Promise me something: promise me you will write to me! I will write to you from Durmstrang, of course. I want to hear about all that happens at Hogwarts and I will tell you about Durmstrang. I do hope that Nic and Dom face some retribution at Durmstrang, as well as what they faced here. I rather enjoyed witnessing such revenge occur. They most definately deserved it. I suspect you know the whole story by now, so let's just say they deserved what was coming to them.
Anyway, enough of that. Basically, this letter is to say goodbye...but not for good, of course. I do hope we get to meet again one day in the not too distant future. Because I am happy to call you a friend, and a good friend, at that. We must meet up again one day. Until then, we shall definately write to each other. If you want to, that is, but I will write to you, anyway.
Haven't got that much time left to write, but before I go, I thought I should give you this. It is an owl pendant. I couldn't find a raven, I am sorry, but owls are nice - and they're wise, too. I hope this owl keeps you company through two more years of study.
Good luck, my friend, and I hope to hear from you soon! I will miss you very much.
<3 Katerina

P.S. Make sure that Jaken is good to you. He seems to have changed for the better, and I am very happy about that. But if he does anything to hurt you, be sure to tell me, because I won't let him get away with it!

((the owl pendant))

Attaching the letter to Lenka's leg, she allowed the owl to sail off in search of its recipiant before writing another letter.

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Already she could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she wrote. Silly, she admonished herself. Stop being an emotional wreck. And that thought brought her to yet another thought - Yvan. She had to sort things out before they left.

Katerina decided to scrawl a quick note to Yvan, so she could sort things out before they left.

Yvan,
I suppose it's our last day here, then. I really, really need to talk to you before we go. Could you meet me on the Lakefront as soon as you get this note? It is rather important.
- Katerina

Heart in mouth, she saw Lenka soar back - so she gave the owl the note to send to Yvan, before leaving the Owlery herself. She had to write to Katalina and Rhyspa, but that could wait. This had to be sorted out now.

((this is followed by the thread on the Lakefront, which can be found here.))

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

After arriving back at Durmstrang, feeling as though she was much happier than she deserved. She hadn't seen the full extent of her father's disappointment at not making champion - not that it mattered, the tournament was one huge fiasco, anyway - and she had managed to avoid Nicolae and Dominik for the whole trip from Hogwarts to Durmstrang. Not that they had any right to insult her. They had been well and truly beaten by the Hogwarts New Zealand girls (and boy). Katerina smiled at the memory - she had hidden away from everyone, watching the event from a distance. Seeing the girls get their justice had made Katerina extremely happy, and the kiss between Bruin and the Professor - Professor King, she believed - had just been too hilarious for words.

After saying a long and awfully drawn-out (but temporary, thankfully) goodbye to Yvan, Katerina headed home, telling her father all about the events of the year. Naturally, he was worried about the Death Eater activity, but Durmstrang was safe for now, and that was the most important thing. Her mother, brother and sister were highly amused by the saga of Dominik and Nicolae, saddened by the events of the Yule Ball, and glad everything had turned out okay in the end.

Once she had finished regaling her family with tales of Hogwarts New Zealand, Katerina stole upstairs to her room, a room she always missed. Sinking on to her bed - there was no bed like her own, she believed, she pulled out her stationary, and resting her parchment on one of her books, began to write.

Dear Katalina and Rhyspa (sorry for the one letter, I'm rather lazy like this).
Firstly, I wanted to say I'm sorry I didn't say a proper goodbye, but to be perfectly honest, I'm terrible with goodbyes. I'd rather not say goodbye, anyway, because I do hope we will meet again one day. And I hope we meet in better circumstances than we did in the past year. I am glad that has mostly subsided - and I'm sure you two are glad that those awful boys were whisked back to Durmstrang with me. You won't have to deal with them again, and I'm sure they have no desire to come near Hogwarts New Zealand ever again.
On that note, I also wanted to say thank you - to you two and to Bruin, for helping to teach those two a lesson. I thought what happened was amazing - nothing of the sort would ever have happened at Durmstrang. Those two definately deserved it, and I was highly amused by what happened (I would've been there, but I was too scared. I did see, though.)
Also, I would like to apologise on behalf of my school for causing such an uproar. I almost wish that we hadn't gone to Hogwarts, if only because Dominik and Nicolae caused so much terror amongst you and the rest of the female population at Hogwarts. I wish they hadn't done what they did, but the past can not be erased. Besides, on a selfish note, I am very glad I went to Hogwarts for the year. It allowed me to resolve issues in my past, completely get over Nicolae, see another part of the world, and most importantly (haha), I am now, well, in a relationship I suppose, with Yvan! That would not have happened if it weren't for Hogwarts New Zealand.
I won't be gushy about it. You must excuse me, I am rather giddy with happiness over the whole thing. It took until the last day at Hogwarts New Zealand for us to finally talk...and I'm so much happier for it.
Anyway, I could not leave without giving you a present, and I thought you would find these rather amusing.
My muggle grandmother told me about these things called 'voodoo dolls', and the idea has really stuck with me. I don't know if they work, I do not know a charm to make such a thing happen, and I did not want to use any form of Dark Arts on a present. Anyway, these two voodoo dolls are for you. I tried to make them look like Dom and Nic, but art isn't my strongest point. Any time you think of them, or if any boy does you wrong, take all your anger out on the voodoo doll. I think you're supposed to stick pins in them or something, but I didn't know where to get them and I didn't want to send poor Lenka overseas with pins. Please enjoy them, and here's hoping that no more boys do you wrong, because you two are wonderful and you don't deserve to be hurt by any pig-headed boys - or any boys in general! Also, if you squeeze their stomachs, they say "we're not worthy!" and a few similar lines, like "we're stupid!" "we smell!" and "I wish I could be as awesome as Katalina/Rhyspa" (you know, yours says your name, haha). Clever charm, no? I got the idea from the rabbits.
And speaking of the rabbits, you simply must tell Bruin 'thank you' from me. I found this little rabbit charm and I simply could not resist it, and continuing with that charm, I charmed it to say: "Bruin Dumbledez is the real TriWizard champion!", if you tweak its ears. I was going to make a comment about kissing Professors, but I thought that might be a little too impertinent.
Anyway, this letter has been ridiculously long, and I suppose I ought to let you go and get on with your summer. I should like to stay in contact, that is, if you don't mind writing back to me. I miss you and do consider you both to be my friends.
I hope to hear from you soon!
- Katerina
P.S. Next time I write, I'll tell Yvan to send his greetings. I'm sorry! I said I wouldn't gush. I don't normally behave like this, you know.

Attaching the letter to Lenka's leg, she whispered to the owl, "please send this to either Katalina Vanderhol or Rhyspa Aireous...whomever you find first." A little embarassed by her own stinginess, she watched as the owl soared off in to the Russian sky, and away to wherever her sunny New Zealand friends were now.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat had been sitting in her room, bored out of her mind when she heard the light tapping on her window. With an extremely puzzled look on her face she got up and opened the window slightly, seeing that it was an owl that made the noise. She hadn't seen this owl before, but noticed that the letter it was carrying was addressed to her and Rhyspa. Kat took it and read it, happy that Katerina had thought to write to them. She smiled as she read through it once more and then took the 'voodoo dolls' and bunny charm and placed them on her bedside table. I'll have to remember to give those to 'Spa and Bruin she thought as she grabbed some parchment and sat down to write a return letter.

Dear Katerina,

It was so good to hear from you. I was a little worried that you'd go back to Durmstrang and forget all about your 'Princesses'. I'm positive that we have a bond that is forged forever and I'm also positive that we won't hear from those two toads ever again. They got what they deserved and they know it too! We were glad to help, though the whole set up is completely credited to Bruin. The rest of us were just there to help...thankfully!

So I want to hear all about you and Yvan. Please don't leave out any details and I do hope that he will keep in touch as well.

Thanks so much for the dolls. They are a bit of a good idea, but hopefully I won't be needing it. I've decided that this year I'm not going to go out looking for any guys affections. I was honestly a bit vulnerable when I met Nicolae and let myself get swept up in a way that wasn't normal for me. Lesson learned and it's in the past. Time to move on I say!!

Things at school are going to be a bit quiet and I'm sure probably a tad boring at times, but I have to say I'm actually ready for a bit of boredom. I do miss you though and hope that you continue to keep in touch and remember...I want details!

Hope to hear from you soon!
Kat

With that she attached the letter to Katerina's owl and said, "Get this to Katerina please!" After giving the bird a treat she sent it on it's way. Kat looked over at the dolls and bunny charm and grabbed them and the letter, heading to give them to Rhyspa and Bruin.