Illustrated Thoughts

[Fleur van Houten]

The holidays were around the corner, but Fleur's parents still wrote her at least once a week. She didn't always dutifully write back immediately, but she knew her parents were a little worried about her out here at the other side of the world. This time she really had to write back, because the envelope hadn't just contained the regular weekly letter from her parents but also a letter from her little brother. Fleur missed her brother Lars a lot, and it seemed like he missed her as well. His letter had contained a lot of questions about Hogwarts as well as a few of his drawings. Her brother was very creative and his drawings were already rivaling her own, despite him being three years younger. Fleur planned to put a few on the walls in her dormitory. She had written a quick response to her parents' letter and was now working on her response to Lars.

She had written out the answers to all his questions, though he wasn't coming to Hogwarts until she started her fourth year. It was a little early, but she had the feeling he was starting to feel anxious for it already. He was an anxious boy in general, and Fleur tried to protect him from his own nervousness as much as she could. Sending just a simple letter back wouldn't be fun. So she decided to make a drawing for him as well. She had taken some pencils down to the great hall and spread out a piece of paper on the Gryffindor house table. Leaning over the paper, she was working on a drawing of Hogwarts. Fleur figured that was pretty smart, as it would give Lars an idea of what it looked like. Even if she had embellished a little bit. The real Hogwarts didn't have a dragon flying overhead, after all. It would be a lot cooler if it did. It wasn't until she had finished the dragon that she realized it may not be the best way to ease Lars's anxiety. If he expected dragons looming overhead he may be even more nervous about going to school. She would have to add in her letter that she had made that part up.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe sometimes didn't pay enough attention to her sisters. She was so caught up in her own world and own ideas that she often forgot they were even here at Hogwarts with her. It didn't help that both of them were sorted in different houses than her, and she wondered if Alice would be a Ravenclaw like her. She somehow didn't think so, but perhaps she would be surprised during the next sorting ceremony. Walking to the Gryffindor table, she kept an eye out for people she knew. Oswald would be here somewhere, but also that annoying Tomas. She didn't spot Rose yet either, but her eye was soon caught by a big piece of paper on the table. It had a drawing of Hogwarts on it, and Phoebe stopped as she passed. "That's not bad." She told the girl drawing it, a redhead she didn't know. "Why are you drawing this?" She added, tilting her head to the side. "I wonder if there's some sort of spell to make drawings move, like pictures." She said, almost more to herself than to the Gryffindor. That would be a fun thing to learn, and she might have to ask Professor Haden about it soon.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was just in the process of giving the dragon some scales, while debating whether or not to give the sun on the drawing sunglasses when another girl approached. She was fairly sure the girl wasn't in her year, or in her house. But she appreciated her compliment, even if it wasn't the most enthusiastic compliment ever. "Thanks," she said as she looked back at her drawing. Some of the scales on the dragon were a little crooked, but all in all it wasn't bad. "I'm making this for my little brother, he's coming to Hogwarts soon," then she paused as it wasn't really that soon. "Well, in two years." She said with a small shrug. The next thing the older girl said was something Fleur hadn't thought about. She considered it for a moment. "I don't know. But my drawing doesn't need that anyway. He'll like it like this." Even as she said this, she knew she would have to look up this possibility for Lars. He would love making his drawings move, and Fleur liked nothing more than making him smile.