Archive of Five Words Stories

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:50 pm

This story was first posted by Finn BV - Dec 6, 2007 12:38 am (#1786 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Potty Five Words: "The Trouble with Time"

“Harry, wake up! It’s nearly time for the match!” Seamus yelled as he ran past the armchair Harry was dozing in. His potions book dangled from his fingertips. “I haven’t finished Snape’s essay about the seven uses of purple loosestrife,” he thought, as he got up. He hadn’t slept last night – the stupid essay was supposed to be 1000 words long, but he only had half that amount.

Hermione walked across the common room with Neville, both of them excitedly whispering and looking at a pamphlet. “Harry, did you hear? The world-renowned botanist Algernon ‘Algie’ Herbival is coming to Hogwarts today! I can’t believe I forgot to make the date in my planner!” Neville said.

Harry grinned at the excited pair. He couldn’t understand what Herbology had that Quidditch didn’t; Gryffindor was playing Slytherin so it was bound to be violent. His Firebolt was in the dorm but it wasn’t in its usual pristine condition. Realizing the time, he grabbed it, ignoring the bent twigs and scratched handle.

“We’ve got to go, Ron. The match will start soon.”

“Alright,” Ron said sleepily, getting out of the next couch and heading towards the door. “Come on! You can’t possibly miss the last Slytherin–Gryffindor match of our Hogwarts careers!”

Hermione began to splutter, “Oh… well… the thing is, Ron… Neville was hoping I—”

“NEVILLE?!” Ron asked incredulously. “Are you telling me you’d rather go with Neville… hang on, where are you planning on going?”

Hermione blushed slightly. “Well, this eminent herbologist is coming to Hogwarts, and I thought…”

“What? And miss my last game?” Ron’s ears turned red.

Harry tried to forestall the explosion of bickering. “Couldn’t Neville take notes for you?” Hermione looked meekly at the pamphlet in her hands. She wondered how she was going to get her Time-Turner from her trunk without raising suspicion. She had never told anyone that she still had it. She dared not reveal that fact now, considering all that they had been through.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Perhaps Krum is coming to this Herbology thingy, and that’s why you are so keen!”

“For goodness sake, Ron, not that silly jealousy of Viktor thing again! Besides, he’s refereeing the match between Puddlemere and Ballycastle today. He never even contacted me about today’s lecture. It’s not his sort of event.” Hermione rolled her eyes. “We don’t have time for this bickering! The match—”

“—will have to be forfeited if you guys don’t hurry up,” snapped Harry.

Neville offered, “Ron, you don’t understand. Professor Herbival will never give another Galleon to Great-Uncle Algie if I don’t attend this lecture.”

“Imagine that, being poor!” Ron said. “I know what that’s like.” He looked down at his frayed cuffs and sighed.

“Fine,” Hermione sighed. “Let me get my omnioculars. I’ll be right there. Neville – Hannah Abbott isn’t going to the match; why don’t you go with her? You know how much she fancies… er, Herbology.” Hermione rushed off to the girls’ dormitory without waiting for an answer. She grabbed the omnioculars and the Time-Turner before anyone could enter the room. Ten seconds later, Hermione was back, both items tucked safely in her bag.

“What’s happening now?” asked Ron, glancing at Hermione.

Harry had reached the end of his tether and yelled, “You’re all so indecisive! IMPERIO!” Three pairs of eyes glazed over. “Now I can finish my essay.” He pulled the parchment out of his bag and then remembered – Hermione’s Time-Turner! “Hermione, go get your Time-Turner.” Harry looked on with surprise as Hermione reached into her bag.

“Right, you finish my cup of tea, and Ron you can set about doing your homework. After we finish, Hermione and Neville can go to their precious Herbology lecture.”

Harry threw the Time-Turner around his neck and tried to turn it, but it wouldn’t budge. “Naturally,” Harry muttered, as the wise words of Dumbledore floated into his mind. Harry knew what he must do. “When perplexed, have a butterbeer to help clear your mind.”

Harry called for Kreacher, who, on appearing, immediately made the best ice cream sundae Harry had ever tasted. It was big enough for them all and butterbeer flavored: his favorite. After three spoonfuls, he decided that he didn’t care anymore about the spat between his friends. In fact, he was beginning to forget the whole thing. He grabbed his wand and whispered, “Deimperio!” Picking up his and Ron’s brooms, Harry grabbed Ron and headed for the door. “We’re off to the Quidditch pitch. See you at the lecture, which conveniently will also be held tomorrow!”

Neville and Hermione looked relieved.

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:51 pm

These stats were first posted by Finn BV - Dec 6, 2007 12:40 am (#1787 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 56
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
Potteraholic	49
Puck	25
Columbine Fairy	7
Snuffles	4
Finn BV	22
freshwater	20
azi	4
PatPat	11
Good Evans	3
Tazzygirl	7
legolas returns	2

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 153
Total Words: 765
Last Submission Date: #1782, December 4, 2007, 11:42 P.M. (Tazzygirl)
Total Time to Create Story: 5 days, 3 hours, 11 minutes.

**Please note that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

* Five Words - Volumes Index *

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* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:53 pm

These post-story comments were first posted by Potteraholic - (date, time, and post # not copied/archived) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Post-Story Comments for Story #56, Volume V,
Potty Five Words: "The Trouble with Time"

This story was written from November 29, 2007 to December 5, 2007. Eleven writers contributed to the story, which is 765 words long. Two of the eleven writers posted feedback.

- Finn BV, Dec 6, 2007 2:31 am: Nice job, PAH, two in a row!

This was a fun story. Notice how we wrote about half the words in a third of the time. This is how we always used to write stories -- it's good to see that after about 5 or 6 months of slooowness we're getting a little back on track.

Let's watch out for plot inconsistencies next time! We seemed to be digging ourselves deeper and deeper into complete contradiction.

- Potteraholic, Dec 6, 2007 3:10 am: Many thanks, PatPat and Finn! And Finn, I agree about the timespan and length of the story; hopefully we can keep to this pace.  

Let's watch out for plot inconsistencies next time! We seemed to be digging ourselves deeper and deeper into complete contradiction. Finn

  My thoughts exactly! I know I posted a lot , but there were times when I just did not know how to continue a post and hoped somebody else would come by and figure out how to get the story back on track.  

- Finn BV, Dec 6, 2007 3:20 am: PAH, I often feel the same way but usually just take a stab at something even if it messes it up more.

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:55 pm

This story was first posted by Tazzygirl - Dec 16, 2007 10:21 pm (#2014 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Potty Five Words: "Chester"

Snow fell heavily all night. Ariana watched through her window, thinking about the fun she’d have come morning.

Hours later, she was fast asleep, leaning against her favorite bear for comfort. Aberforth entered the room and called out, “Ariana, time for the goat’s breakfast!”

Sleepily, she got out of bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. The goat, a billy, which happened to be called Chester, looked up expectantly as they approached. Ariana fed him while Aberforth replenished his water supply. While leaning towards the animal, Ariana was suddenly knocked to the ground. She looked up, dazed and surprised, and started to cry. Aberforth rushed to her side and wiped her tears. “There, there, it’s okay! Chester was just playing. He’s been cooped up all night, he just wants to run around outside in the yard and play!” Ariana sniffled and looked around for her jacket and snow boots. She looked questioningly at her brother, plucked her jacket off its peg, and went outside into the snow covered garden. “Ariana, you forgot to take Chester!” said Aberforth, “And your boots, too!”

Ariana giggled as the goat sauntered over and nudged her gently towards the boots. She pulled them on, and ran outside, pulling Chester’s lead.

The sound of her laughter roused the rest of the house. Albus leaned out the window and cast a silencing spell on Ariana and tried to silence Chester’s bleats, too, but Aberforth directed his want at his brother and yelled, “Finite!”

Ariana’s eyes widened fearfully as Albus stumbled back into his steaming cauldron. He landed in the shimmering purple liquid and cast a cooling spell before he got burnt. Muttering under his breath, Albus slammed the window shut and started removing the chilled purple remnants of three months of careful brewing. Ariana hurried inside to Albus’ room and touched his hand. “I’m sorry, Albus,” she murmured. Something in his eyes softened. His friend, however, would not be so kind.

“Our potion! It’s ruined! All that work wasted! That Aberforth and his stupid goat!”

“Chester’s smart, Gellert, he would never ruin anything!” Ariana stared reproachfully at her brother for letting his friend speak unkindly about her beloved goat. Aberforth looked livid.

“Shut your mouth!” he shouted across the room. Grindelwald’s eyes flashed with anger.

“How dare you speak to me like that! You are an insolent little—”

“NO!” Ariana cried, but it was too late. Grindelwald had already raised his wand and pointed it at Aberforth, who had his wand ready, too. He barely had time to react, however, as Albus intervened by placing a shield charm between them, shouting angrily at them.

“Freak August snowstorms do not mean we should lose our cool. Look, breakfast is ready!”

“Good morning, dears!” chirped Bathilda. “I made all your favorites. Fried mushrooms, Cumberland sausages, smoked bacon, eggs, toast, and a hot pot of tea to warm you up.” Albus thanked her. “Strange weather for August, eh Albus?” Bathilda persisted. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Yes, well…” Albus had other concerns on his mind, namely getting everyone fed before tempers got even more out of control. He just wished that his family understood how important his work with Gellert was.

“Come and sit down, dears,” Bathilda said, nervously glancing at the group. Her nephew was still fuming and steam was unfurling from the charred remains of the stained robe.

Suddenly, a loud BOOM sounded from Albus’ workroom. They all rushed into the next room, finding it filled with rancid, blue iridescent slime. It was splattered across the entire back wall, dissolving everything in its path. Albus raised his wand, but Gellert brushed it aside.

“Let’s see what it can do.” He watched in fascination as the wall disappeared and snow began to drift into the room.

“It’s not even cold!” Albus noted. He looked at Gellert before trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue. “It tastes like sorbet too!”

Ariana giggled with delight and scooped up a mound of the soft flakes before turning to Albus with her hands outstretched. “Do you like it?” he asked, as she threw the snow above her head. Ariana just smiled and tossed the snow towards her brothers.

“Ari, did you have something to do with this?” asked Aberforth. Ariana just giggled mischievously and looked away shyly.

Albus’ eyes widened in surprise. He scooped up some of the snow, and then turned to Gellert. “This is advanced magic! A freak storm cast by such a young witch is extraordinary!”

Gellert sneered. In his mind, young out-of-control witches could hardly be described in positive terms. Control was essential; power and authority were unattainable without it. Magic by mistake was indefensible.

“Extraordinary? Troublesome, certainly. Our portion is ruined! How can you forget that fact?”

“She can’t help it, Gellert. The snow didn’t ruin the concoction you two have been brewing. I think it actually helped it… look!” said Aberforth. The mysterious brew was beginning to grow in size and a large bubble was expanding. It broke off and floated out of the open wall, twinkling and changing color in the morning light.

Suddenly, Albus yelled, “Reparo Maximus!” but too late- Chester was in his way, deflecting the spell.

“Chester!” cried Ariana, as he was knocked out by the force of the incantation.

“That stupid goat!” cried Albus. “Rennervate!” he muttered over the animal. Chester stirred weakly, and then immediately got up, completely revived. “Please get him out of the way. I need to fix this wall!” Everyone was soon chasing Chester around the room, and then out into the yard.

Bathilda, panting heavily, slumped into a chair and summoned five mugs of tea. “I need a moment.”

Chester butted Gellert, who Avada Kedavra-ed him unexpectedly causing an uproar from Aberforth, who cursed his brother’s friend.

“STOP!” yelled Ariana. “You are an evil wizard! Poor, poor Chester!” She cried over his lifeless body.

Albus was stunned, but Aberforth glared at his brother. “This is your fault for bringing this… murderer into our home!”

Bathilda stepped forward, attempting to shield Gellert from Aberforth’s wand, but the wizard’s fury subsided momentarily as Ariana rushed forward and placed her hand in his.

“I’m hungry,” she declared. “Let’s eat our breakfast.”

Aberforth smiled at her and followed her back into the yard to bury poor Chester. Albus said a few kind words to calm Gellert, and to change the subject he offered him a lemon drop. Albus wondered if things between himself and his siblings would ever be the same again.

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

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* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:57 pm

These stats were first posted by Tazzygirl - Dec 16, 2007 10:22 pm (#2015 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 57
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
Potteraholic	51
Finn BV	12
azi	35
Snuffles	6
Puck	39
Tazzygirl	16
legolas returns	8
freshwater	5
Columbine Fairy	19
PatPat	25

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 216
Total Words: 1080
Last Submission Date: #2005, December 14, 2007, 12:56 P.M. (Potteraholic)
Total Time to Create Story: 9 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes.

**Please note that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

* Five Words - Volumes Index *

* Five Words - Main Archives *

* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:58 pm

These post-story comments were first posted by Potteraholic - (date, time, and post # not copied/archived) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Post-Story Comments for Story #57, Volume V,
Potty Five Words: "Chester"

This story was written from December 6, 2007 to December 14,2007. Ten writers contributed to the story, which is 1,080 words long. Two of the ten writers posted feedback.

- azi, Dec 16, 2007 10:28 pm: I think that was a really well-written story! Congrats all!

- Columbine Fairy, Dec 17, 2007 3:50 pm: Btw I really liked that last story!!  

- Tazzygirl, Dec 18, 2007 9:20 am: Thanks for all the grammar tips everyone! Don't worry too much about noting paragraphs though, unless it is really necessary. When Finn and I write out the stories as they go along, we create the paragraphs. (We write all the posts out by hand, and then type it up. Helps to smooth out rough spots and errors. )

- Potteraholic, Dec 18, 2007 11:35 am: Duly noted re: posting ¶ tips, Tazzy. Wow, I'm impressed with yours and Finn's 'compiling' process. That seems like a lot of work to me, the 'writing by hand' part, I mean!  

- Potteraholic, Dec 18, 2007 9:15 pm: I wanted to edit my previous post: re: ¶s, but was timed out and didn't want to use up a post unnecessarily.

Tazzy, I find it helpful when someone posts that a new ¶ has started, especially after a few narrative-only posts with dialogue popping up when someone new is speaking. It makes it easier for me to understand the plot better and write accordingly. So... I hope you don’t mind, but I will still post 'new ¶' when I start one, and will try not to post tips about where new ¶s could start, present post excluded.

- Tazzygirl, Dec 19, 2007 4:23 am: PAH- If we keep up with all the posts, it isn't a long process to record the stories. LOL! About the paragraph stuff- I don't mind if someone says there is a new paragraph, I just thought I'd share that you don't have to unless you want to.

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:59 pm

This story was first posted by Tazzygirl - Jan 1, 2008 11:56 pm (#2264 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Potty Five Words: "The Battle of Hogwarts: Part I"

Severus Snape entered the Great Hall and headed immediately for the Gryffindor table. “Longbottom and Patil, what is the meaning of this?” he sneered, pointing at a twisted glob of green goo splattered on the front of his robes.

“I-I fell over,” stuttered Neville.

“Fell? I happen to know that just two minutes ago you stunned a certain young Slytherin during a childish duel.” Snape sneered.

“M-me?” stammered Neville.

“Honestly, Professor Snape,” said Parvati emphatically, “I saw him fall in the Potions classroom! There was a puddle of putrid perplexing potion!” At this Neville averted his eyes, trying to avoid Professor Snape’s gaze. If Snape saw the grin on his face, he was done for. Snape glared at Parvati, whose expression didn’t waver.

“Fine! But just one toe out of line and I will personally make sure that you help Mr. Filch clean Myrtle’s bathroom.” Snape stomped off, eyes blazing with anger.

“Nice one, Parvati.” said Neville, sitting down and reaching for The Daily Prophet sticking out from under a cushion.

Parvati sat back down and said, “He doesn’t scare me. Anything interesting in today’s Prophet?”

“There are rumors about more Harry sightings, and even more rubbish about Hagrid being captured in Scotland.” Parvati glanced at Hagrid talking to McGonagall at the teacher’s table, wondering what today’s topic of discussion was. There was an apprehensive look on McGonagall’s face. Things were tense.

“I think McGonagall’s got some bad news to give us.”

“Wonder what could be worse than Harry being accused of blowing up Lovegood’s place?” asked Neville, flattening the paper so both of them could see.

“What?! Harry’s attacked Gringotts now?” Lavender smiled. “He’s keeping them busy, isn’t he? Maybe he will overthrow the Ministry next!”

“I doubt Potter has the guts to set foot in a public place,” sneered Malfoy.

Neville gave Malfoy a dirty look and turned back to Parvati. “I think it’s time we put our plan into action. You go to the staff table and tell McGonagall that we’re ready. I’ll head to the common room and give Ginny the signal. McGonagall will tell the ghosts.” Folding the paper, Neville quickly left the Great Hall.

Parvati walked to the front table. “Professor McGonagall, sorry to interrupt you, but Peeves is smashing up Professor Trelawney’s teacups.”

“Right. Follow me, Miss Patil.” McGonagall said, acknowledging the coded message. “Let’s go, quickly now.” She motioned to Parvati, who followed her.

“I’ll get goin’ then.” Hagrid said shrewdly, getting up and ‘accidentally’ knocked over a Death Eater sitting nearby.

“You clumsy half-breed,” sneered Amycus. Hagrid looked menacingly at him, then went down to the kitchens.

The house-elves were busy washing dishes. Winky approached Hagrid –hiccupped- and handed him a small object. She said, “Dobby told Winky that Mr. Hagrid needed some help with a task.” Hagrid nodded.

Meanwhile, in Gryffindor, Ginny had nodded at Neville’s quick ‘thumbs up’, unseen by some other Gryffindors lounging around. She went to the owlery. Once there, she sought out a small, ruffled looking owl. “Pig, I need you to find Fred and George and give them this password. They’ll know what to do. Hurry, Pig!” She ran downstairs and found McGonagall and Parvati waiting for her.

“All ready?” inquired McGonagall, looking anxious.

Determined, Ginny opened a box that Parvati was holding. “Careful, Ginny. Don’t let it shake too much. There’s a motion detector on it.”

McGonagall added, “Here, let me at it.” She whipped out her wand. “Diffindo!” The box’s top flew off, revealing a shiny blue pearl the size of a Bludger. Ginny slowly lifted it out.

“How long will we have before it explodes?”

“As soon as Pig returns, we wait for the signal from Neville and take this to the Astronomy Tower. Once we’re there, I’ll tap this twice and the powder will disperse around the castle, making it completely dark.”

“Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Parvati asked.

“Yes.” Ginny replied, looking slightly worried, “But with DA members everywhere, no one should get hurt. Not students anyway.”

“Right. Let’s get on with it, “ said McGonagall, just as a firework shot over from the Astronomy Tower. “That’s the signal! Let’s go!”

They rushed to their positions. Ginny threw the blue pearl upwards after tapping it twice. A loud CRACK sounded. Tiny powder pellets scattered over the floor, before taking flight in every direction. A loud POOF later, darkness fell instantly throughout the castle. Screams came from every direction.

Ginny, Parvati, and McGonagall began heading down to the lower levels, where the stash of anti-darkness goggles had been hidden.

“You’re here!” whispered Neville with a serious but excited look. “Take these.” he said, offering them goggles. Once on, they entered a broom cupboard and reviewed their plan.

“The Carrows, how will we get them into the staff room?” McGonagall asked.

“We’ve sent Professor Flitwick to get them. Professor Snape is currently occupied trying to round up Peeves. Little does he know that Peeves is actually helping us with the Carrows.”

“How’s he doing that?” Ginny asked.

“Well, he crashed into me on my way here and I managed to convince him to help by blocking all the staircases.”

“Good. Now, the ghosts are awaiting our signal in the staff room. When that miserable pair come along, they will glide through them both, shocking the siblings to the point of complete numbness. That’s when the second phase of the operation starts. Hagrid will release the Billywigs into the staff room which will then sting Snape as soon as he enters.” McGonagall finished talking and cast a patronus to summon Snape to the staff room.

“Okay, let’s get going.” Neville said.

Everyone set to work. McGonagall headed for the staff room while Neville and Parvati left to find Peeves. It wasn’t long before shrieks emanating from Peeves warned McGonagall of the Carrows’ fast approach toward the staff room, accompanied by Snape. Neville couldn’t help but hold his breath as a crash reverberated throughout the Entrance Hall.

Parvati ducked falling debris from a statue hit by a spell that had been cast by Alecto. Amycus was about to send off another curse, but bumped into the staff room door and fell inside. Alecto stumbled in after him, and Parvati managed to close the door behind them with her wand. They heard the ghosts swooping down and a scrambling commotion could be heard inside. A few screams later, silence fell.

“That’ll be the ghosts scaring the Carrows,” grinned Neville. Parvati nodded.

“Alecto, Amycus! What’s going on?” yelled Snape.

A few minutes dragged on before a loud crash echoed around the Entrance Hall as Hagrid rushed through the doors. “What’s that?! Peeves, is that you?!” shouted Snape.

“Let us out!” The Carrows whined shiveringly from behind the door.

Suddenly, a dazzling light appeared from Snape’s wand and shattered the door. Neville and Parvati, goggles and all, yelled, “Run!” and sprinted for the main doors.

“STOP AT ONCE!” screamed Snape, furiously, aiming a curse.

McGonagall raised her wand and said calmly, “What on earth is going on here? Let’s not shoot blindly at the students! We wouldn’t want another death on the school’s record, would we, Headmaster?” Snape and McGonagall locked eyes for a few seconds. Then Snape turned and left.

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

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* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:04 pm

These stats were first posted by Tazzygirl - Jan 1, 2008 11:57 pm (#2265 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 58
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
Potteraholic	93
PatPat	32
Puck	29
azi	44
Columbine Fairy	32
Tazzygirl	9
Ticker	3

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 242
Total Words: 1210
Last Submission Date: #2261, December 31, 2007, 9:43 A.M. (Potteraholic)
Total Time to Create Story: 14 days, 16 hours, 50 minutes.

**Please note that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

* Five Words - Volumes Index *

* Five Words - Main Archives *

* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:06 pm

These post-story comments were first posted by Potteraholic - (date, time, and post # not copied/archived) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Post-Story Comments for Story #58, Volume V,
Potty Five Words: "The Battle of Hogwarts: Part I"

This story was written from December 17, 2007 to December 31,2007. Seven writers contributed to the story, which is 1,210 words long. Four of the seven writers posted feedback.

- Tazzygirl, Jan 2, 2008 12:03 am: Thanks for being so patient everyone!   This story made me want to pick up and read DH all over again! LOL

- Potteraholic, Jan 2, 2008 12:19 am: Tazzy, I know what you mean about wanting to read DH over again. I had to consult it a few times just to keep things straight while posting for this story. And I like the title, too.

'Twas a hard story to get out, wasn't it? But we got there, in the end. And it does make some kind of sense, after all, I think. There was a quick bit of action near the end that was amusing. It reminded me of the silent-movie-era Keystone Cops. For non-US Forumers, I don't know a more globally-known entity to compare the KCops to except for lots of circus clowns coming out of a tiny car and the silliness that ensues.

Wow, this is a pretty short list of contributors! Maybe the shortest ever? Maybe things will pick up soon.   

Tazzy, you suggested in your post #2224, "I'm thinking we can get this story wrapped up in 10 posts or less...", but it took another 37 posts (until post #2261), to finish the darn thing! Too many loose ends to tie up, I think.   

- PatPat, Jan 2, 2008 3:26 am: Congrats to everyone! That was a tough one, but we pulled it out! I am beginning to feel JKR's pain with how difficult it is to keep all of the details straight!

- Finn BV, Jan 2, 2008 7:18 am: Sorry I've been AWOL everybody! I really needed to concentrate on the end of the (half) year at school and being with family.

I'm going to use a very large non-post to address some things that came up over the last 300 posts or so, since I read through them all.

We write all the posts out by hand, and then type it up. Helps to smooth out rough spots and errors. --Tazzy, a while back

Hehe, speak for yourself! I type up the posts, but go back with a fine-toothed comb, usually when recording stats (by hand). I couldn't have the patience to handwrite everything! However, to all: don't worry about paragraphing markings (we originally played it without even noting them in the post) and punctuation. As Tazzy said, the (new para) markings and similar are totally optional. I do them sometimes just because I know I'm putting them in my copy of the story, but really, you don't have to bother thinking about when a new paragraph should start. Perhaps the only time you should really include them in your post is if you have the end of one person's dialogue and the beginning of someone else's contained in your five words.

Man, that was a confusing story just to read, let alone to take part in I'm sure! Just a suggestion for 2008 -- let's try not to overthink it too much. This is only a constructive criticism. Just let the stories fold out as they do. I know we're all guilty of guiding it sometimes (myself included many times over) but sometimes if something is confusing, just go with it, you never know how it'll turn out. (A little hinting/explaining is naturally necessary every now and then, so don't abstain when you think it will server the greater good. )

- Potteraholic, Jan 2, 2008 11:36 am: A couple more thoughts about the previous story: 
• Poor Ginny was left out near the end, when Everyone set to work. First JKR, now us. Oh well, I guess we stayed true to canon.
• Oh, and we sure like the word sneered. It showed up about 3 or 4 times. Archive of Five Words Stories - Page 8 464751818

Archive of Five Words Stories - Page 8 464751818

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:08 pm

This story was first posted by Finn BV - Jan 15, 2008 3:35 am (#2587 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Due to a malfunction in World Crossing's servers, a number of posts were lost from this thread. Some of those posts included an ending to this story, which we had finished. Because the stories are recorded offline as well, the text and the statistics were not lost entirely. However, instead of just posting the ending to the story as it was already written, we decided to continue with the story, breaking off after the last common five words shared between the two endings. At the conclusion of this post, you will have the option to choose your own ending, and, thus, the fate of the characters! Two sets of statistics will be posted.

Potty Five Words: "The Urn of Agrippa"

Sirius sighed and looked out his bedroom window. “Another day trapped in this place,” he thought glumly as he dragged a fresh bag of rats behind him, setting it in a corner. He flopped onto his bed and read the headline of the Daily Prophet. “Umbridge quells student revolt at Hogwarts,” he muttered under his breath. Furious, he threw the newspaper down and stormed out of the room. He descended the stairs, bumping into Kreacher, and entered the drawing room. He was surprised to see Remus and Tonks talking quietly on the sofa. They jumped when they saw him.

“Hi Sirius!” said Tonks, a little too squeakily. “We were, um… just talking about what’s happening at Hogwarts!” She looked at Remus for help.

“Umbridge is determined to stop the kids from learning any defensive spells.” Sirius shook his head and frowned while Remus continued to explain the dilemma. “Tonks and I were hoping we could help somehow, maybe by sending Boggarts to practice on,” he continued. “You know, to help Harry stay in top form should he need to fight.”

“Right,” replied Sirius. “The question is how you could bring a Boggart into the castle without setting off any alarms installed by Umbridge?”

“Me and Remus thought we could try and take some to Hogsmeade, where Aberforth lives. He’s got some contacts who could smuggle them in.”

“Contacts? Not Mundungus, I hope!” Sirius said, looking severe. “He’d charge us for doing something that dangerous.”

Tonks shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “We should probably send Remus underground,” she said. “Come on, Remus, we’ve got to agree on your disguise.” She got up and walked to the door, with Lupin at her heels.

“Do you suppose Sirius suspects us?” whispered Tonks, glancing back at the closed door.

“Don’t worry about Sirius. I can keep him from finding out. Just try not to think about it,” Lupin said.

“That’s easier said than done,” said Tonks. “Being a Death Eater’s target must be frustrating, especially being stuck in a house all day where he can’t do much.”

Remus sighed and gave Tonks a kiss on the forehead. “He’ll be fine. We need to think of some way to get him involved, that’s all.”

Tonks thought for a moment. “How about asking Mad-Eye what he thinks,” suggested Tonks. “He will know what the best way to help Harry is.”

“Good idea! I think he’s due at headquarters any time now,” Lupin said, checking his watch.

A knock sounded from the main door. Lupin opened it and Moody came stomping in. “What’s the password?” Tonks demanded.

“Tiddlywinks,” came the reply.

“Correct!” Tonks lowered her wand.

“Where’s Sirius?” Mad-Eye asked. “I’ve got something for him.”

“I’m so glad to hear that,” came a voice from upstairs. Moody looked up as Sirius walked down quickly. “What is it?” he asked, looking happier than he’d looked in months. Mad-Eye reached into his cloak and withdrew a small box, its cover adorned with a large moonstone, surrounded by rubies. Sirius took it and looked inside. It was empty. “What is it supposed to be? What am I meant to do with it?” he asked impatiently. “It’s a pretty box and that’s it!”

Moody fixed his magical eye on the ceiling. “Your house-elf, upstairs, is it?

“Dunno, haven’t seen him since this morning.”

“Right, well, we need to be sure this information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. We found this box recently, among Malfoy’s secret stash, hidden inside the mansion. When Dumbledore saw it, he thought it had historical significance.”

“What could be so interesting about a box?” asked Sirius. “Did it belong to someone suspicious?”

“We don’t know for sure,” replied Moody. “But it’s your job to find out!” “Really,” Sirius replied sarcastically. “You mean Dumbledore is going to let me out?” Moody smiled grimly. “No, that’s too risky. You should be able to work it out by staying indoors. Dumbledore thinks you can, by using this,” he said, tapping Sirius on the nose.

“What, sniff the answer out?” Sirius scoffed. “That should keep me busy for five minutes!” He took the box and shoved it in his pocket.

Several hours later, after Tonks and Lupin had gone, Sirius decided that he had no other option but to go downstairs to the library and read some books of his great-great-grandfather’s, Hogwarts’ least popular headmaster, Phineas Nigellus. Sighing, he began looking through the titles of the books, finally reaching for a thick, battered volume entitled A Guide to Charmed Objects.

Suddenly, Kreacher came running into the library carrying a letter. “Master, you told me to bring you any letters from your friends when they arrived.” The elf bowed low, muttering about filthy half-bloods and werewolves until Sirius yanked the letter off him and hit him on the head. Kreacher mumbled about blood traitors and Sirius shut the door on him.

Sirius recognized Harry’s handwriting on the letter and ripped it open, quickly scanning the first few lines. “Harry isn’t well today, cancel Boggart delivery.”

Sirius was puzzled by this message. He turned the parchment over. “Harry couldn’t have written this – it’s a fake! A bad copy! But how do they do it?” he wondered. He pulled out his wand, pointed it at the parchment, and said, “Specialis Revelio!” The parchment glowed green, then began transfiguring into a stealth probe. Sirius destroyed it before it could gather any more information. “Who knows I’m… Kreacher!” yelled Sirius. “Get down here now!”

Moments later, and CRACK, the house-elf appeared, quickly hiding something inside a bag he was carrying. “Kreacher is here, Master,” said the house-elf.

“Would Master like to feed his giant bird?”

“What? No! Where have you been the past few days… and, what’s in that bag?” Sirius grabbed the bag and looked inside. “What would you need with a quill, Kreacher? What have you been doing?”

“I cannot lie, Master. Master told me to ‘get out’ so I went and then thought Master must need me, so I came back.”

Sirius fumed. That worthless little wretch! He could tell Kreacher was in a better mood than he had been in weeks. That couldn’t be good. “He’s being evasive,” thought Sirius. “Who’s he taking orders from?” He wished he had someone else to talk to.

Suddenly, Kreacher’s screams broke Sirius’ concentration. Sirius jumped as the elf started banging his head against the wall. “Stop that and get… er… go to the kitchen for a butterbeer!” he said, just wanting the elf to leave. “And stay there!”

Kreacher rushed off, leaving Sirius alone. He wished he could discuss the situation with Remus. Sirius turned to look at the box. “Is it a snuffbox?” He shook it, wondering if it would rattle or hum. Instead, a faint aroma rose from within as the hinged lid opened. He sniffed, but the must peppermint smell offered no help except to make him sneeze. So, he began pacing up and down, trying to understand why Dumbledore needed him to figure it out.

Suddenly Sirius could hear Remus and Tonks crashing through the front hall. “Freaks, half-bloods, scums, mutants!” shrieked Mrs. Black again from her freshly opened portrait. Sirius ran forward and pulled the curtains closed over his mother’s face.

“Hi guys,” he said.

“Sirius, we have some news about the Malfoys; they’re planning to meet with Cornelius Fudge at the Ministry tomorrow about Dolores Umbridge and this Inquisitorial Squad. They’re going to ban clubs.”

Just then, Remus noticed Sirius holding the box in his hand. “Hey, mate, did you figure that thing out yet?” he asked.

“Well, it smells like peppermint,” Sirius answered, “but so what?”

“Let me smell it,” Remus said, reaching for the snuffbox. “I can barely smell anything. You must have some nose there, Padfoot.”

“Wait,” interrupted Tonks. “Peppermint… Agrippa!”

“Who or what is Agrippa?” asked Sirius.

“You know, Agrippa,” Remus added. “The Muggles imprisoned…

------------------------------------

Take your pick! Ending A or Ending B

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:10 pm

This story was first posted by Finn BV - Jan 15, 2008 (date and time not copied/archived) (#2588 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Ending A:

… him for discovering peppermint! It is beginning to make sense! This box must be the urn of Agrippa! Stolen by Gunhilda of Gorsemoor for her beloved pet cat.”

Sirius laughed. “Right, so why's it was important! It's a historically significant peppermint box?” he scoffed.

“It’s reputed to be inscribed with runes which give power to anyone who holds it,” said Tonks.

“That's why Dumbledore doesn't want Malfoy getting hold of it,” Sirius suddenly realized. “You better get it back to Dumbledore right away, Tonks,” he said.

“Yes, now we know how dangerous it is!”

Remus chuckled, “And it's all thanks to you, Padfoot!”

“Woof!” He curled up and slept.

Ending B

Story #59

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:11 pm

This story was first posted by Finn BV - Jan 15, 2008 (date and time not copied/archived) (#2589 of 2988) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Ending B:

… his dog which motivated him to open a peppermint factory.”

“Why’d he do that?” Sirius asked skeptically. “Does peppermint have some unusual power or something?”

“Yes! When rubbed against boxes, it protects the contents inside. But to learn who owned this box and what it holds, you’ll have to ask—”

“Who?” Sirius asked, cutting Remus off. “Whoever stole it? What possible reason could anyone have to steal something for peppermint?” asked Sirius incredulously.

Tonks started to laugh. “It’s not for the peppermint, silly! It’s for the box’s properties! Peppermint just hides the box’s real properties. The secret is, when ordinary items like shells or pebbles are put into the box, they turn into fake money! People have killed trying to get it, especially Muggles.”

“Really? So who’s after it now?”

“Malfoy must be skint those days, having to pay for his special relationship with Fudge. Bribes don’t come cheap,” Remus said. “Personally, I think you should see if it works before you go destroying it.”

Luckily, a nearby houseplant provided small enough berries, so Sirius plucked some and dropped them in. With a [poof!, the lid opened and revealed four small bronze coins.

“Wow,” Sirius chuckled. “It actually works! Should we try—”

“No,” interrupted Tonks, “it’s not a harmless toy! We should destroy it! Remus…”

“Reducto!” Remus shouted, after knocking the box from Sirius’ hand. “There! It’s done! The end of the Urn of Agrippa.”

Ending A

Story #59

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:28 pm

These stats were first posted by Finn BV - Jan 15, 2008 3:45 am (#2590 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 59 Ending A
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
azi	69
Potteraholic	94
Columbine Fairy	70
PatPat	36
Tazzygirl	2
Finn BV	7
Puck	5
Ticker	2

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 216
Total Words: 1080
Last Submission Date: #2557, January 8, 2008, time unknown. (Columbine Fairy)
Total Time to Create Story: Unknown!

These stats were first posted by Finn BV - Jan 15, 2008 3:56 am (#2592 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 59 Ending B
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
azi	68
Potteraholic	105
Columbine Fairy	78
PatPat	38
Tazzygirl	2
Finn BV	11
Puck	4
Ticker	3
Snuffles	1

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 310
Total Words: 1550
Last Submission Date: #2583, January 11, 2008, 5:45 p.m. (Columbine Fairy)
Total Time to Create Story: 9 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes.

**Please note: For both versions, that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:34 pm

These post-story comments were first posted by Potteraholic – (date, time, and post # not copied/archived) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Post-Story Comments for Story #59, Volume V,
Potty Five Words: "The Urn of Agrippa"

This story was written from January 2, 2008 to January 12, 2008. Nine writers contributed to the story, which is 1,080 (Ending A) or (1,550 Ending B) words long. Two of the nine writers posted feedback.

- Finn BV, Jan 15, 2008 4:02 am: Whew, that was exhausting. It took 25 minutes or so to do all the postings, but a little over an hour to record all statistics and gather everything into its appropriate place. I'm worn out. Needless to say, that was not one of my favorite stories. Sorry to all, but what with the missing posts, double ending, and confusing and tiresome plot, I was happy to put it into the archives. Bring on the next story, and remember, please, let's not overthink, let's keep it simple, and let's keep it moving!

Congrats to PAH, we haven't had somebody break 100 posts in a long time!

- Potteraholic, Jan 15, 2008 4:31 am: Thanks, Finn, for getting this behemoth of a story (stories!) posted, with all the explanatory notes and different links. It sounds like it was quite a chore.   

What twisty/turny stories we write! Thought it might be nice to try and have a more light-hearted story and/or a short "nice little vignette", like "Chester" as Finn suggested here when we finished an equally twisty/turny story, "The Three-Horned Creature's Wax Seal".  

So, with that in mind, how about starting our new story with a blast from the past?

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:40 pm

This story was first posted by Potteraholic - Jan 22, 2008 5:13 am (#2816 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Potty Five Words: "A Playground Memory"

“Breakfast!”

Lily and Petunia rushed downstairs, where their mother, Matilda had prepared yet another delicious bowl of oatmeal, like always. The girls squabbled over places at the table and tucked in.

“What are you two doing today?” Matilda asked. “We're doing some gardening. Your Dad thinks that it's time we planted some lilies and petunias!”

“That's right, my dears,” said Rupert, walking into the kitchen. “You can help if you would like.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Lily said, “but we're going to the playground.”

“No, we're not!” exclaimed Petunia. “That horrible boy will be there!”

“Who?” Matilda asked. “Are you being bullied? What happened?” Lily looked at her mother.

“I didn't do anything, Mum,” Lily began.

“Yes, you did!” protested Petunia. “You showed him your flying trick and how you could turn grey pebbles into green marbles!”

Matilda turned to Lily and frowned. “What's this? What is Pet talking about? Lil, have you forgotten what will happen if someone—”

“Yes, Mum, I know!” Lily poked her tongue out at Petunia, who was looking smug.

“Girls,” chided Rupert, ruffling their hair at the table. “Play nice. Life's too short for bickering.” Matilda laughed. “See you two later,” Rupert called, waving as the girls left the table.

“Be home before dinner,” Matilda called to her daughters as they ran out the door, still arguing.

“Lily, why do we have to go to the playground? They've got lovely salmon-colored dresses at that little shop in the High Street,” Petunia whined. “He's from Spinner's End; he dresses so oddly! Why do they wear those cloaks and—”

“They're magic! Severus, his mum; she’s got a wand and everything!”

“But he's creepy, and he makes fun of me! Please Lily, let's go to the High Street instead? Pretty please?”

Lily paused, hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. “You told on me to Mum. I don't think you should get to choose!” Petunia's cheeks turned pink.

“Oh all right then, but I get to choose what we do tomorrow!” She turned and walked away, heading towards the playground. Lily followed, a smile on her face.

When they reached the playground, Petunia headed for the see-saw, but stopped suddenly, a flush creeping up her cheeks. It was Severus. “What are you doing here?” Petunia asked with a scowl.

Snape smirked, leaning against the fence. “The question is, what are you doing here,” he scowled right back.

“Hi, Severus!” Lily smiled. Petunia shot her a dirty look. “What's the matter with you?” Lily hissed. “Why can't you just ignore his clothes? Just because he doesn't have a lot of money doesn’t mean that he’s not a nice person!” Snape smiled as Lily's words rushed out in one breath. Petunia noticed.

“Ickle Sevvykins liked that, Lily,” she sneered.

Snape flushed. “Well, at least I can do this!” He pulled out an apple from his pocket. It exploded. Apple juice covered Petunia's clean yellow dress. “See, I don’t need to name-call. I use my brain,” Severus taunted.

Petunia broke into tears. Lily stifled a giggle before saying, with mock sternness, “Sev, look what you did to Tuney! She prefers orange juice.” Petunia stared at Lily in horror and jumped up on the red metal roundabout inches from Snape. It began to move.

THWACK! A football, hurtling through the air, suddenly smacked Petunia in the head and knocked her down. Lily hurried over to her side. “Tuney! Are you okay?” she asked, brushing the dirt off her sister’s face. Petunia looked dazed and started rubbing her head. “Where did that come from?” Lily asked, looking around the playground.

Severus was striding towards a group of boys who had resumed kicking the ball against a graffitied wall. “Oi!”

Meanwhile, Lily helped Petunia up and gently placed her hand on her sister's forehead. There was a small cut. Snape had, meanwhile, managed to get one of the boys against the wall by knocking over a nearby bench. “What the—” the boy shouted. His friends looked shocked and started to back away.

“You nearly hit my friend!” Snape yelled furiously. The boys turned and noticed Lily holding her sister. She looked even angrier than Severus. Lily removed her hand from Petunia's, marched over to the boys, and stood facing them.

“You hurt my sister! Say sorry at once!” she demanded.

Severus ran over and joined Lily. “Do as she says, or else!”

The biggest boy laughed. “What you gonna do? Sorry, you and your girlfriend,” the boy sneered. The other boys snickered. Lily and Severus, though a full head shorter than these three bullies, stood their ground, shoulder to shoulder.

“You're supposed to say sorry when you hurt someone,” Lily began, “but you hit my sister and you don’t seem to care. That’s just mean.”

The boys snickered again and started to walk away. “Come on, let’s leave these losers,” said the biggest boy.

Suddenly he was hoisted into the air and a loud bang rang out. “No! Stop!” Petunia shouted. The boy had landed on the ground and was groaning in pain. His ankle had twisted upon impact. He grabbed his leg, howling in anger.

“What did you do to him?” growled the larger of the other two boys.

Severus gave a satisfied smile and said, “I didn't lay a finger on him.”

Lily nodded, saying, “That's what happens when you mess with things and don't apologize, I guess.” The bully squared his shoulders, eyeballed the skinny pair, turned, and left.

Lily hurried back to Petunia, who looked mortified. Lily looked at the cut. “It's not that bad, Tuney.”

Petunia's lip trembled as she pointed over Lily's shoulder. One of the other boys was starting to move toward Snape. Lily turned, then ran quickly at the boy. His eyes widened in amazement. He and his friend took off as she began waving her arms and the football exploded in their midst.

“That was brilliant, Lily!” Severus said, but Petunia was frantically looking all around for the source of the explosion. Then it clicked. Magic.

“Lily,” she gasped, “you just did magic in front of those boys!”

Snape looked at her in disbelief. “She just got rid of the bullies!” While Petunia mulled that over, Lily moved toward her, putting her hand on Petunia's forehead. Lily's hand glowed, suddenly, and a tiny jolt of energy seemed to flow from her, and onto the cut, healing it completely. Petunia lifted her eyes, gave Lily a pensive look and, finally, a smile.

“That's what sisters are for,” said Lily, “and friends, too,” she added, looking at Severus.

Petunia nodded, smiling at them both.

Severus skipped back home.

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:43 pm

These stats were first posted by Potteraholic - Jan 22, 2008 5:18 am (#2817 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 60
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
Potteraholic	90
Finn BV	12
Good Evans	15
Columbine Fairy	21
Snuffles	5
azi	22
PatPat	45
freshwater	1
Puck	9

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 220
Total Words: 1100
Last Submission Date: #2814, January 21, 2008, 6:10 A.M. (Puck)
Total Time to Create Story: 6 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes.

**Please note that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:45 pm

These post-story comments were first posted by Potteraholic – (date, time, and post # not copied/archived) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Post-Story Comments for Story #60, Volume V,
Potty Five Words: "A Playground Memory"

This story was written from January 15, 2008 to January 21, 2008. Nine writers contributed to the story, which is 1,100 words long. Two of the nine writers posted feedback.

- Potteraholic, Jan 22, 2008 5:26 am: Okay! I did it! I officially posted the story and its stats! I emailed Finn a few times -- sorry to be such a pest, Finn -- and he gave me the go ahead about half an hour ago! I had gotten everything ready, just in case he said it was okay. (Can you tell I was eager? ) So, Finn and Tazzy, if you need me to do this again, just let me know. That's if my posts were up to scratch.   

We had a lot of dialogue in this story, didn't we? I kinda liked that.  

Edited to add: Finn and Tazzy, I hope it's okay to post this suggestion - There are just under 170 posts left in this thread and it is possible to write a story that can fit in this number of posts. It's been done before! Here are some examples: Story 24, Story 37, Story 44, Story 53, Just something to think about for the next story so that we don't have to continue this story on Potty Game: Five Words (Vol VI!).  Okay, phew! All done! 

- Puck, Jan 23, 2008 12:26 pm: I never commented on the last story -which I enjoyed- because I was saving posts, and had forgotten due to the excitement of this new one starting. When I commented about someone else doing stats, I kind of figured you might jump in, PAH.

  (Leans over and toots horn for you)  

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:47 pm

This story was first posted by Potteraholic - Jan 28, 2008 2:17 am (#2981 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Potty Five Words: "Molly’s Birthday Surprise"

Potty Five Words: "Molly’s Birthday Surprise"

The cauliflower on George's head was spinning wildly and florets were flying around the kitchen. Various members of the Weasley clan were taking cover, but Mrs. Weasley strode towards George pulling out her wand. She knew just the spell that would undo the mischief.

"Herbanesco!" she said loudly, the tip of her wand alighting with a flash of green. Fred ducked as the cauliflower exploded and splattered all over the kitchen.

"Now look at what you did!" Molly began, but George was touching his head, oblivious to his mother's dismay. Fred looked at George's head and saw tiny pieces of scales growing there.

"Mum, what is that spell supposed to do? Look what you've done!" he said, unsuccessfully hiding a purple growth behind his ear.

"Let me see that, George," said Molly.

"Hang on, Mum" George replied, moving away from her, trying to catch a hold of his hat. He blushed and stopped mid reach. His mother's glare was enough to stop him in his tracks. Reluctantly, he showed his odd-shaped growth to her.

"WHAT IS THAT?" she yelled. "What tomfoolery did you perform on that cauliflower?!"

Fred and George looked uneasy. They had used a potion they had found hidden in the chicken coop. Molly didn't miss the look that passed between them.

"Tell me what you did!" She seemed to have grown, her eyes flashing with anger.

George mumbled something about wanting to de-gnome the garden and Fred agreed. "You know how bad they get this time of year destroying all the vegetables."

Molly inched closer, her menacing stare steadfast and unforgiving. George stepped back, bumping into a pile of dirty dishes stacked beside the sink. They crashed onto the floor, some bouncing away safely, others breaking immediately. Everyone scrambled for the exits except Ginny, who smirked at the scene. Molly caught hold of the remaining plates before they crushed a flutterby bush situated beneath the kitchen window.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she exclaimed, pointing to the cascading stack. It froze in mid-air. Molly turned around quickly, just in time to see the twins heading out to the back garden. She waved her wand, causing the back door to freeze shut just as they reached it. Twin looks of terror fell on the boys’ faces. They appeared to shrink as Molly approached them.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?" Her eyes flashed. "UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU DID TO THAT CAULIFLOWER, YOU WILL NOT STEP ONE TOE OUT OF THIS HOUSE, DO YOU HEAR?"

"You're not exactly whispering," mumbled Fred, wincing, his shoulders hunched.

Molly rounded on him, "DON'T YOU DARE MUMBLE AT A TIME LIKE THIS!"

George cringed and said, "When would it be a good time to mumble, I wonder?"

Before Molly could respond, the growth on George's ear suddenly began to change colors, from purple to orange, and then lime green.

"What is happening to your ear!!" Molly shrieked. Fred and George looked at each other, the growth now beginning to lengthen. It grew downwards, hanging below George's shoulder blades. Molly lifted her wand again but her eyes widened as the growth burst. Out jumped a tiny, brown, horned toad. It blinked twice then hopped down from the chair it landed on.

It spoke to Molly: "Cor, you're loud, Missus! I was having a lovely kip."

Fred and George grinned. Molly was dumbstruck. "Didn't expect that did you, Mum?" George said playfully. "Come to think of it, neither did we! We thought the most that could happen was a burping tadpole."

"Lizards don't start off as giant purple blisters. How did this happen? And I mean to find out, one way or another," Molly said firmly.

"Look!" shouted Ginny. The lizard began spinning around, its tail shooting sparks into the air. "Stand back!" she cried, covering her face with one hand, keeping her wand hand ready.

It was unnecessary, however, as the sparks did not burn. In fact, they began to blossom into fragrant flowers. Fred caught one and held it up to his nose, inhaling deeply. He grinned at the shocked expression on his mother's face.

"See Mum, gardenias, your favorites!" Molly began to smile in spite of herself. She couldn't stay angry. Fred added, "George and I wanted to get you an early birthday gift so we used the conjuring potion we found in the chicken coop! We added a few of our own special ingredients to give it a little bit of extra oomph!" he said sheepishly. George grinned and gathered a bunch of gardenias. He bowed and offered them to his bemused mother with a flourish. Molly blushed as she reached out to accept the untidy bouquet.

Ginny smiled at her brothers. She admired their pluck. Only they could get out of this and come out heroes.

"Happy birthday!" said the lizard.

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Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:52 pm

These stats were first posted by Potteraholic - Jan 28, 2008 2:26 am (#2982 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 61
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
PatPat	42
Potteraholic	56
Columbine Fairy	13
Puck	37
Good Evans	5
azi	2
Tazzygirl	1
Snuffles	2
freshwater	1
Finn BV	1

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 160
Total Words: 800
Last Submission Date: #2979, January 27, 2008, 1:16 P.M. (PatPat)
Total Time to Create Story: 4 days, 21 hours, 18 minutes.

**Please note that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

* Five Words - Volumes Index *

* Five Words - Main Archives *

* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:53 pm

These post-story comments were first posted by Potteraholic – (date, time, and post # not copied/archived) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Post-Story Comments for Story #61, Volume V,
Potty Five Words: "Molly’s Birthday Surprise"

This story was written from January 22, 2008 to January 27, 2008. Ten writers contributed to the story, which is 800 words long. Five of the ten writers posted feedback.

- Finn BV, Jan 28, 2008 2:39 am: Well, this was a lovely little story! Sorry I couldn't have been more a part of it. Great way of bringing together the antics of the twins with CAPSLOCK!Molly in a new setting.

The last time I offered suggestions about Five Words was at the end of Volume II, and I hope everyone reads that -- it's got a few tips in there to make posting an easier process (disregard that last point though about keeping track of the number of times you post -- we've worked it out now).

Please understand this is constructive criticisms for everyone, including me. So, some further thoughts:

Don't think too hard. Really, this is supposed to be an entertaining exercise in limiting your thoughts to just five words, and reacting to other people's thoughts. We're not here to write Harry Potter 8, the novella, we're just writing short vignettes, typically wacky ones, sometimes serious ones, and sometimes epic ones. It's just a game -- don't overthink the whole process. Write simply, and compose a fun tale.

Try not to bring the stories around to the same characters again: the trio, Neville and Luna seem to pop up quite frequently. Obviously, it's fine to have them in the story, but there's a lot more fun it to feature characters you know less about -- for example, in the young Lily and Petunia story. I think we've been pretty good about this, but I just want to throw it out there so that we don't keep reading about Harry, Ron and Hermione forever.

A little trick about hyphens. Generally, if the word is an adjective, there's a hyphen. If it's a noun or a verb, there's no hyphen. If a string of letters is hyphenated, it's all one word. If it's not hyphenated, it's more than one word. I just Googled "hyphenated adjectives" and this page is great at explaining the rule with its exceptions. Obviously, hyphens can trip you up a number of times in your word count, because you could write "twenty-five-year-old boy" not knowing if it's all your five words or just two words.

Please, just have fun! This goes back to my first point, but I want it to be a fun, fun, fun experience for everybody. Don't get so caught up in the number of times you post or the intricacies of the stories that it detracts from the FUN level.

This is an open invitation to everyone to offer suggestions. There are only six posts left on this thread, however, so you're welcome to continue them in the new thread -- though I would recommend you post comments beneath your five words, in the same post, to preserve posts! I will start Volume VI now, but let's not post there until we max this one out.

Happy Five Wording!

-  Potteraholic, Jan 28, 2008 3:56 am: This latest story was a lovely one, wasn't it? I really enjoyed writing lines for CAPSLOCK Molly and the twins, and I liked thinking about them living during a simpler time.

  Finn, most of your comments make absolute sense to me, and the link about hyphens was really informative, I must admit.  

But I am confused by two suggestions you made:  
• Slow down. Take the time to think about what you're adding to the story if you happen to be a member of a posting spree. Remember that the story might sound good at the time that you're adding to it, but it may contradict itself from earlier. Really consider what should come next.  
• Don't think too hard. Really, this is supposed to be an entertaining exercise in limiting your thoughts to just five words, and reacting to other people's thoughts. We're not here to write Harry Potter 8, the novella, we're just writing short vignettes, typically wacky ones, sometimes serious ones, and sometimes epic ones. It's just a game -- don't overthink the whole process. Write simply, and compose a fun tale.  

To my mind, these two ideas seem to be slightly at odds with each other. On the one hand we should slow down, but on the other, not think too hard. When I slow down, thinking too hard, or at least thinking for a bit longer, is what tends to happen. With a slower pace, comes more time, and more time for me means more thinking. I have to say, this last story was a sheer joy to participate in because it was really such a simple story, without lots of complicated details to remember and loose ends to tie up. I actually remember chuckling a few times as I posted five words about Molly and the twins. This story really was a fun one to write.  

As a person who posts A LOT -- I just can’t leave a post hanging when I see it on the screen -- I wasn’t sure what to make of this line, Finn, "Don't get so caught up in the number of times you post or the intricacies of the stories that it detracts from the FUN level." I really don't know what you mean here. Would you mind elaborating?  

One more thing: with this last story, I liked the challenge of writing a certain number of words. I think it helped keep the story on track and not go off on contradictory tangents. Maybe we could try it again somewhere in the middle of the next thread, just for the heck of it?   Okay, time to go to! See everybody later on in the shiny new thread!     

- Finn BV, Jan 28, 2008 4:30 am: PAH, the first suggestion you quoted, about slowing down, was from Vol II, our fastest thread to date, clocking in at just a little over 2 months for the entire thread. That was because the thread was chockfull of posting sprees. So, "slow down" was primarily in response to the number of train wrecks we had, requesting people to really think about the story they were writing instead of just hopping in on all the posting fun, and sometimes blatantly contradicting earlier posts. Now that the posting has slowed down, my suggestion is to not overthink yourself. Don't worry about every little detail.

As for "Don't get so caught up in the number of times you post or the intricacies of the stories that it detracts from the FUN level," that is just a general reminder to make the game fun. It is not really in direct response to anybody or any trend I have noticed over the past volume, simply something to keep in mind that it's just a simple-story-creating game, not a game in which you rack up posts or make intricate plots. Sometimes if I see a post and I'm not totally set on what should come next, I will leave it there and wait for somebody else who perhaps has a better vision of what should follow to take over.

I know, sometimes my suggestions do contradict each other. But we're looking for that balance of fun/lots of posts/interesting stories/detailed but not complicated stories, and more, and to do that I hope to offer a bunch of different thoughts that can get you to see a few other perspectives of the game, perhaps altering your outlook or changing the way you play.

If I've rambled again without making sense, it's because I still (even at 11:13 pm on Sunday) have 20 pages of reading to do in history and am not really thinking about what I'm typing.  

- Puck, Jan 28, 2008 12:30 pm: I had a post almost done last night, and the laptop battery died. (Which is why I rarely use it.)   

Anyway, just wanted to say that I loved that last story, great fun.   

We don't seem to be having issues with my pet "peeves" anymore. Run-on-sentences used to be the rule, but are now the exception, I think. Thanks for that!

  I liked the count down, too.   

PAH, when this is done, I assume -as winner- you'll do the honors of starting the new thread? I started the last one after "winning" the previous round.  

- Columbine Fairy, Jan 28, 2008 1:21 pm: I thought that story was fun, too, even though I could only pop in for a post a few times!! I think it would be cool to start the new story with the new thread - so, as soon as this thread is maxed out, take it away PAH with the first five words!!!  

- PatPat, Jan 29, 2008 12:43 am: I also had great fun with that last story. I think Finn's suggestion of trying to make it a funny one worked well. It was less complicated so we didn't have to remember a ton of details from 5 or 6 days before! I also liked the word count. I think it helped us to not become too bogged down with a complex plot. It might be a fun exercise to try it again in the next thread just for the heck of it!

  Congrats again PAH! (I really thought I had you this time! LOL!) Can't wait to see the new story started.   

Great story and congrats to all who participated, whether you were part of a spree or just popped in occasionally. It came out great! I think we should all be proud! See you in the next room!  

- Potteraholic, Jan 29, 2008 1:41 am: Okay, I didn't want to use up one more post on this thread, but it's gone past 8:00 PM here in NYC, and the night is still young! I ate dinner, cleared up, and even took the recycling down before checking this thread. I figured if none of the UK Five Worders who contributed to this story (azi, Good Evans and Snuffles) had posted by now, I would close out this post and start the new story over on the wonderfully new Five Words (Vol VI) thread. They can wake up to a brand new story tomorrow and get posting then!   

Re: my questions to Finn a few posts ago about slowing down vs. not overthinking, I now understand that he offered that advice due to the plot contradictions that arose because of all the posting sprees during Vol. II's existence. That thread filled up three times faster than this one! So, the 'slow down' advice, given the context of that time, with all the frenetic ping-pong- and cross-posting, makes perfect sense to me now.

  One last comment before I go off to the new thread: It's always interesting to read a comment that comes after one of my, or someone else's, 5 words submission where the person who posted before me gives a snippet of what they thought was going to happen after their words, until I or someone else put the ki-bosh on it! I'm often amazed by the detail of the backstory folks have worked out in their minds. I don't tend to think like that. I think I'm more concerned with having characters do or say something once they've been introduced, so that they're not just standing around doing nothing. Or that they say or do something that fits their character.  

Okay, gotta get to the new thread. Stay tuned!   Edited to add: PatPat, yeah, you had a pretty good run there in "Molly's Birthday Surprise"! And you like the countdown idea, too, huh? Who knows, maybe we can do it again. :hint: :hint: (Finn?)

* Five Words – Volume 5 Index *

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* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:11 pm

This page contains a list with links to all the stories written in Volume VI.

Five Words Stories - Volume VI

• Click on Story #62 (5 February 2008) for "A Very Important Discovery for the Grangers"

• Click on Story #63 (13 February 2008) for "A Playdate with the Crabbes"

• Click on Story #64 (20 February 2008) for "Dean and Seamus' Strange Aussie Excursion"

• Click on Story #65 (29 February 2008) for "Dean and Seamus' Strange Irish Excursion (The Sequel)"

• Click on Story #66 (10 March 2008) for "Life After Fred: George's Epiphany"

• Click on Story #67 (17 March 2008) for "Presenting... the One, the Only... Gilderoy Lockhart!"

• Click on Story #68 (27 March 2008) for "The Granger-Weasleys Meet their Neighbours"

• Click on Story #69 (30 March 2008) for "Hogwarts: The Next Generation"

• Click on Story #70 (6 April 2008) for "A Mystery on the Hogwarts Express"

• Click on Story #71 (10 April 2008) for "The Trophy Room Rendez-vous"

There are no post-story comments in this volume. See explanatory NOTE in the header post.

* Five Words - Volumes Index *

* Five Words - Main Archives *

* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:16 pm

This story was first posted by Finn BV - Feb 5, 2008 5:47 am (#304 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Potty Five Words: "A Very Important Discovery for the Grangers"

Hermione left the school playground. The bullies were at it and strange things happened whenever she was anywhere near them. She searched for a logical reason to explain how she made Sam’s feet grow twice, because everything had a logical explanation. Maybe the library held the answer? She decided to head over there before dinner.

She walked into the library and headed straight for the Reference section. “Closing time’s one hour away, young lady. Please plan accordingly,” said the librarian, who was observing Hermione with a smile. “Your fourth visit this week,” she noted.

Hermione nodded sheepishly. “Yes, Mrs. Glass, I find that books always contain the answer, no matter what the question.” Hermione blushed and hurried to the shelves. “World History, Philosophy, Religion, Science… but I’ve already checked all categories and found only this…” She took down a book titled Magic: The Only Logical Explanation and flipped it open. Inside there was a drawing of a young boy standing on a stool and holding a two-headed chicken. The words “science creates magic” were written in bold at the top of the page.

Hermione took another look at the page and noticed a sickly green color surrounding the word “magic.” Had that been there before? Suddenly a scarlet color began to wash over the word. She stared at it, thinking, “What kind of ink is this?” The letters rearranged themselves to spell “Magic Aces, Nice Secret.”

Hermione squealed and dropped the book. An old man with a purple pork pie hat exclaimed, “You finally found it!”

Hermione stammered, “The book. It… changed — the words, the color — but it couldn’t,” stammered Hermione, looking paler by the second.

“Why not?” asked the wizard. “Magic can do anything!”

“Magic is not REAL! What intelligent human being believes in silly tricks and illusions?” she scoffed. “Everything can be explained by numerous laws of science!”

The man smiled benignly and said, “You’re much too young to know that, surely? I would think a bright girl like you would have an open mind on these matters.”

“Sorry, sir, but how do you know magic exists? What proof do you have? And I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen you before. My parents always taught me not to talk to strangers. So if you don’t know me, I really shouldn’t be talking to you.”

Hermione started turning away, thinking she’d sneak another peek at the book. It had landed facedown on the floor. The wizard drew a wooden stick, long and thin from beneath the strange robe he was wearing. Hermione’s eyes widened as the man pointed the leather-bound text. “Accio!” he shouted, and the book flew into his hand.

“Whoa! How’d you do that?” Hermione gasped, her eyes wide.

“Magic,” he replied simply. “Now let us find somewhere we can talk freely,” the wizard said, smiling at her.

Hermione, still a bit doubtful, suggested going back to her house. “My Mum will be picking me up in five minutes, Mr.… and, sir, I don’t think Mum will mind me bringing a guest home.”

The pair went outside and waited. Shortly, a car pulled up and Hermione began telling her mother what happened. “Mum, I’d like you to meet Mr. … um, what’s your name, sir?”

“It’s Diggle, Dedalus Diggle, and I’m very pleased to meet you both!”

Mrs. Granger looked wary. She stared at Hermione while trying to shake the wizard’s hand. “I don’t understand. Why are you talking to my daughter?”

Dedalus smiled indulgently. The Muggles were always so protective of their children. It was heartwarming. “Your daughter has a special talent that I would like to discuss with you. Perhaps I could join you for a glass of mead or a cup of tea? I am on the Board of Governors at a school called Hogwarts. I would like to discuss a placement for your daughter.”

Mrs. Granger looked surprised. “This is all very strange, but I suppose it would be better to talk about in private. How about a chat at our house? Hermione’s father will want to hear about this school too.”

Diggle nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that would be perfect. Would you mind terribly if I rode with you?”

Mrs. Granger hesitated for a second, then nodded. Twenty minutes later they pulled into the driveway. Mr. Granger was already home and came to the door with an inquiring look.

“Was there traffic, dear?” Then he noticed the strange older gentlemen with the purple hat that was just getting out of the car, his robes caught on the door. “Who’s that?” he asked surreptitiously.

Mrs. Granger glanced at Hermione. “Hi, Dad! Something very unusual happened to me today!”

Mr. Granger nodded. “Robes and a purple porkpie hat?” he thought. “If that’s not unusual, I don’t know what it is.”

Hermione turned as Dedalus climbed the front stairs, puffing, and said, “Mr. Granger, my name is Dedalus Diggle. I have wonderful news about your extraordinary daughter!”

“Please, call me Egeus,” responded Mr. Granger. “Portia, can I speak with you privately, please?”

Hermione strained to hear what they were saying. She wished desperately to make sense of what was happening. Walking back to the kitchen, excitement growing, Hermione decided to put the plates out for dinner. Dedalus followed Hermione into the kitchen. He conjured four glasses and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. He smiled at Hermione and said,

“One day, you will be able to do this.”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “But how? There wasn’t anything to change…”

“Wizards can create things by concentrating their power on a certain spell and using a wand. You have the ability to do this also.”

“Wizards?! There’s no such a thing as wizards!” Hermione said adamantly. “They just exist in fairy tales!”

“Have you ever experienced something unusual that you couldn’t explain? Done something that seems impossible and defies all that logic and rational thinking?” Hermione pondered that for some minutes. She hated to admit that weird things happened around her with increasing frequency, when she was upset especially. But magic? Surely there was no such thing. “Mr. Diggle, no offense, but this just doesn’t make sense.”

At that moment, Hermione’s parents came into the kitchen. They looked excited. “Has Mr. Diggle explained what is happening? He has given us a letter.”

“What kind of letter?” Hermione demanded.

Egeus Granger held out a piece of parchment with green handwriting on. Hermione took it hesitantly and opened it, skepticism clearly etched on her face. The letter had a crest with a motto in another language. There was a name across the top: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She couldn’t deny the fact that the letter looked authentic. Did she dare believe what was inside? Could this man be a wizard?

She asked, “Did you go to this school? Is Hogwarts the best school in the country?”

“It’s the only school of witchcraft and wizardry in the country. Only forty students are offered a place a year, as well.”

“That’s a very small number,” chimed in Hermione’s father helpfully. “They must really think our daughter is special!”

“Magic,” Portia added, “doesn’t just make you special, Hermione. It can also help you to experience exciting new opportunities!”

Hermione mulled this over. Her parents looked both apprehensive and excited. They were the sort who would do what was best for their child, even if it meant sending her away for most of the year. “Where will I get the things I need for this school?” asked Hermione. The list consisted of items that she would need for magical spells and potions. Eight books were listed, but Hermione had never heard of any of them.

“Ah, there is a very good shopping area where you can purchase everything you need.” Dedalus’ eyes twinkled brightly. He drank some pumpkin juice and waited.

“Where is this placed?” enquired Portia.

“It’s called Diagon Alley and Muggles don’t know where to find it.”

“Muggles? What’s that?” enquired Portia.

“It’s what we call non-magical people,” explained Dedalus.

Hermione looked at her parents, the Muggles. Would they feel out of place in a magical world? “When will I go to Diagon Alley? Is it far?” she asked eagerly.

“It’s in the middle of London,” Dedalus explained. “You will need to wait until tomorrow morning to go there. I will escort the three of you.” He left in an instant, Disapparating right on the doorstep.

Egeus turned to his wife and said, “You don’t see that kind of thing every day.” Hermione smiled. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

She woke up early the next morning, brushed her bushy hair a bit more than usual, and went outside to wait for Mr. Diggle. He arrived shortly, and gave Hermione a warm smile. “Good morning, my dear. Are your parents ready?”

“Here we are, Mr. Diggle!” said Portia, running down the front steps. Mr. Granger linked his arm in hers and whistled a happy tune.

* Five Words – Volume 6 Index *

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* Five Words - Main Archives *

* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:18 pm

These stats were first posted by Finn BV - Feb 5, 2008 5:52 am (#306 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 62
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
Potteraholic	89
Finn BV	9
Puck	59
geauxtigers!	15
Snuffles	8
journeymom	9
azi	56
PatPat	38
Columbine Fairy	5
Ticker	3
freshwater	2

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 293
Total Words: 1465
Last Submission Date: #296, February 3, 2008, 10:41 A.M. (Puck)
Total Time to Create Story: 5 days, 15 hours, 39 minutes.

**Please note that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

* Five Words – Volume 6 Index *

* Five Words - Volumes Index *

* Five Words - Main Archives *

* Five Words - Stories Index (by topic) *

* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:21 pm

This story was first posted by Finn BV - Feb 13, 2008 4:55 am (#562 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Potty Five Words: "A Playdate with the Crabbes"

Vincent sat staring at his reflection in the mirror. He had always been ugly but today he looked worse than usual. His nose had tripled in size, his face was a weird shade of orange, and his eyes were bloodshot.

“What happened?” enquired a voice behind him. “Vinnie, why is it that every time I leave you alone for five minutes you get hurt?” exclaimed his mother. Vincent simply shrugged. He could be quite clumsy sometimes. He wasn’t exactly gifted, either. His mother pulled out her wand. She waved it and the swelling subsided.

“Come and have some lunch. Draco is coming over. I’m cooking his favorite, stoat soup.” Five minutes later, Draco arrived with his mother, and Vincent was finally ready to greet him.

A quick nose wipe and he reached out to shake Mrs. Malfoy’s hand. Narcissa looked revolted and hastily started talking to Morticia. A grubby house-elf was behind Narcissa, trying to push a chair under her.

Narcissa turned sharply to him and said, “Morticia, your house is tiny. How can she ever get out from under there? Go on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They’ll give you a roomier house, and then you’ll be living the way we did before we had Lucius’ estate.”

Morticia’s mouth twisted into a forced smile. “We are quite happy with our house, thank you. We recently redecorated several rooms.” Morticia eyed Narcissa distrustfully. “I hope you find your own way out as our rooms can be difficult to navigate.”

Narcissa turned on her heel and strode out of the room. Vincent sat down hungrily at the table and began to stuff his face with cream cakes as Draco sat down. “I am not very hungry, Mrs. Crabbe,” Draco drawled. He pushed his half-eaten chocolate éclair away.

“Hey, Draco, want to see my new broomstick? It’s a Twigger 90 made by Flyte and Barker!”

“What?” Draco scoffed. “That’s a rubbish broom! Why’d you want that?”

“It’s nice! Plus it’s sturdy enough to endure my cousin throwing it across the room when he gets mad. Let’s go outside!”

Draco looked disdainfully at the broom and reluctantly followed Crabbe outside Just as they were stepping into the garden, a gnome streaked in front of Draco, who tripped and fell into the mud. Crabbe laughed stupidly as the gnome squealed and darted into the bushes. Malfoy got up, spitting mud out of his mouth. “You’ll pay for that!” He yelled at the gnome.

“Draco,” said Crabbe, stifling giggles, “it’s only a gnome! Let’s take my broom for a spin.”

Malfoy scowled and followed Vincent to the open field. Just as they got there, the wind gusted strongly. Vincent glanced at the sky, scratching his head. He thought he saw something flash, but the bright sky showed no signs of anything extraordinary. Then, Draco began to wheeze and gasp for breath. “What’s happening?” he whispered. “I can feel my throat tightening!”

Crabbe looked around, panicking. He saw Draco clutching his chest and fall to the ground. An evil laugh sounded from a shoddily manicured hedge.

“MUM! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” cried Crabbe.

“The spoilt brat deserves everything he got. Looking down on us because we have a—”

“—pathetic house!” Vincent spat. He looked at Draco who was now unconscious. “Make him better, Mum!” he pleaded. Reluctantly, she said the counter-curse and Malfoy came to, dazed.

“What happened?” he said groggily.

“Must be hay fever,” Vincent lied. He didn’t want his mother to get into trouble.

Draco sat up as a giant beetle landed on his knee. “Argh! Get it off!” he shouted. “Wait! Is that… Rita Skeeter? I heard she can transform into an Animagus!”

“What’s an Animagus?” Vincent asked dully.

“Someone who can turn into an animal, you dolt,” Malfoy sneered. “At a dinner party I saw Rita do it outside. She had one too many glasses of mead and forgot to stop talking when I came outside. She was telling her quill wild exaggerations about our family and how she managed to fly in through the gap under the door.” He sniggered. “But then Father came out and heard her and Rita immediately transformed into a beetle and flew away.”

“Is that her, then?” Crabbe asked pointing at the revolting insect. Draco gestured at the marks around the beetle’s eyes. “See the shape of her eye-glasses?”

Crabbe moved closer. Suddenly, the beetle flew off, landing on Vincent’s nose. “Argh, get it off, gerrit off!” he yelled, as he looked cross-eyed at it. The beetle merely flapped its wings. Draco was doubled over with laughter, tears streaming down his face.

“Oi! Stop laughing and get this thing away from me!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the less-than-truthful reporter zoomed toward a large rose bush and settled on a garden bench. She began to buzz with laughter. These boys would provide enough material for her latest story, “Purebloods: Not as Smart as They Seem,” running early next week.

A shadow fell over her as Crabbe leaned his broom towards her. He raised it above his head and then as he swung it, tripped over Draco’s outstretched foot. “What’s the matter with you?” Vincent yelped as he landed in the rosebush. Thorns were stuck all over his arms. “HELP ME UP!” he bellowed. His mother ran forward and quickly pulled him out.

“What happened?” Morticia growled, looking from Vincent to Draco, accusing the latter with her long squint-eyed stare.

Vinnie quickly came to his friend’s defence. “It’s not his fault, Mum. I just fell.”

“Fell indeed,” Morticia scoffed. “I saw him trip you.” She looked angry.

“What is this?” demanded Mr. Crabbe, who had appeared from inside the conservatory.

Malfoy stood up and looked arrogantly at the newly arrival. “Your son is clumsy,” he drawled. “You should give him a balancing potion in his morning pumpkin juice.”

“My son is not clumsy,” growled Mr. Crabbe. “Apologise to him at once!” Crabbe looked from Draco to both his irate parents. “Mum, can you get these thorns out of me? They hurt!” he whined.

Draco smirked as Vincent tried to wipe tears from his eyes without anyone seeing. As Morticia wiped off the blood from his arms, Draco noticed the black beetle inching away from the rosebush. It hovered just inches away from the whole group. “Grab that beetle!” he said, pointing. Mr. and Mrs. Crabbe’s expressions changed from anger to puzzlement as Draco leapt over Crabbe, his hands wildly grabbing for the beetle, which landed on a low-lying branch on a nearby tree.

Draco nearly grabbed it, but Narcissa appeared, calling from the conservatory, “Draco! It’s time for your lesson in robotic dancing. You know that your father and I want you to win the Best Young Robotic Dancer of Wizarding Great Britain. Stop jumping about, you may hurt yourself before the final!”

Draco looked guiltily at the floor. “Sorry, Mum, though I’m not sure I’m going to win. I—”

“What do you value most, being happy now pursing this ridiculous ‘friendship,’ or fame and fortune?”

“I don’t care about dancing! I can be famous for playing World Cup Quidditch one day if I want to.” He looked up poutily up at his mother, whose expression softened.

“Perhaps he could stay just a bit longer, Morticia?” she asked. Mrs. Crabbe fumed. Draco’s gaze had jumped back to Rita, who had flown to a higher branch and, thus, out of reach.

“Drat,” he mumbled, watching her wings fly away. “So, Vincent, how about we practice some new Quidditch moves?” he suggested awkwardly.

Crabbe smiled and said, “I’d love to. Beat you to the broom shed!” He smiled.

* Five Words – Volume 6 Index *

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* This volume's stories, stats and post-story comments archived from WX by Verity Weasley; formatted/posted by Potteraholic

Potteraholic Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:24 pm

These stats were first posted by Finn BV - Feb 13, 2008 4:59 am (#563 of 2989) on the World Crossing home of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon Forum'.

Statistics for Story 63
ordered by first contribution to the story

User	# of Submissions
Puck	43
azi	60
Snuffles	10
Potteraholic	36
geauxtigers!	21
journeymom	4
Ticker	2
PatPat	30
Finn BV	17
Tazzygirl	1
freshwater	10
Columbine Fairy	18
haymoni	1

The user in red is the rightful starter of the next story. They are welcome to pass on the privilege to the user who posted the second most number of times, who may in turn pass it to the user who posted the third number of times in the story, and so forth.

Total Submissions: 253
Total Words: 1265
Last Submission Date: #559, February 12, 2008, 12:13 A.M. (Columbine Fairy)
Total Time to Create Story: 6 days, 18 hours, 46 minutes.

**Please note that the times used to record the Last Submission Date and all other time-based data for these statistics were taken by subtracting 8 hours from the time that currently appears next to posts, to (approximately) reflect regular Forum time, which is based out of San Francisco, CA. (The hour is not the only number that is off; the minutes are somewhat fast as well, but the number by which they vary has not been constant across the whole posting period, and thus they will remain as they are.)

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