Secret Notes PV Avis Marlong

This time, Novalie wasn’t as quick to respond to the mysterious letters as she usually was. The delay wasn’t because of laziness but because she’d been captivated by the idea of a secret language - or, in this case, secret writing. The thought intrigued her so much that she decided to invent her very own.

Creating a unique symbol for each letter (and even for a few punctuations) took longer than the Ravenclaw had expected. So, instead of focusing on her lessons, Novalie spent her time drafting a complete list of symbols and practicing them until she felt confident to write them down without looking at the list.
One day, with a sly grin, she climbed the steps to the Owlery, eager to include a hidden message in her next letter to Lengen.

Hey Lengen!

About that secret language - gosh, I can’t wait to show you! I made my own and now it’s your turn to try and decipher it!! Think you can crack the code?

∧⇇⇉⊼ ⇉⊼ ⤷ ⇇⇉↪∧. ⊐⇅∧ ⇪↩ヾ ᴗ!?'∧ ⇊↪!ᴗ. ⇉'⤣ ⤷ э⤷ப⇅?⊏⤥⤷ᴗ⇽

As for your sneaky tips, I’m seriously taking them to heart. You’re so right! The key is acting like I’m not breaking any rules at all, right? For example, if someone catches me skipping lessons, I’ll act totally confused and say, 'I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not me - I’m Abaska!'.
That’ll totally throw them off! They’ll never suspect the real me of lying like that. It’ll just be 'that tricky Abaska' again! Thanks!!

And wow - you don’t study and still get good grades? Is that, like, always the case? You must be ridiculously smart and talented! Meanwhile, I’m still trying to wrap my head around those unspoken rules. They make no sense to me. If rules are important, shouldn’t they be clear and written down somewhere? How can anyone expect us to follow rules we don’t even know exist? I mean, it’s hard enough to follow the ones that are already on paper! Why does it have to be so complicated?

Oh! Now you’ve made me curious about your vice! You don’t have to spill all the details, but can you at least give me a hint? Does it have to do with your clothes? Your hair? Maybe your skin? Or… your teeth? Wait, I’ve got it! Your sister knocked one of your teeth out during a fight and now you’ve got a gap! That must be it!
Well, I’ve got a 'vice' too - if you can call it that. It changes all the time and involves pretty much everything!

Also, can you lend me 5 sickles? I’ll pay you back! Pinky promise!
-Rose

Ro, Ro, Ro
Er...it takes a bit more than two sentences to decrypt a cipher:)

Please tell me you didn't say that to someone. "I'm not me. I'M NOT ME?" Really? Thats like saying, hello, this is my dad." I am seriously rolling my eyes here. No, they key isn't when you are breaking the rules. The key is before you break the rules, you act so perfect that no one would ever believe that you broke a rule.

Well, I'm not very smart, but in my opinion, I do have an advantage, but thats a long story. Here is another example...You aren't allowed to use something because then your sibling might see, if you use it, but make sure your sibling doesn't see, it still accomplishes something. These unspoken rules, you don't need to worry about following, if you follow the rules on paper you will follow them. You just need to follow those if you don't follow the written rule. Morals, for example:)

I thought I wasn't supposed to tell you for anonymity:) No, I didn't chip a tooth, why would I love that? Its not crazy unique to me, simply not fitting to my personality.

Everyone has a vice, those that don't admit it are the ones that have it the worst.

No, I won't lend you money.
If I've been taught anything in life its that you always need a paper trail, and no, this isn't considered one.

Lengen

It had been a while since Novalie last visited the Owlery.
She’d been caught up with lessons, detentions, goofing around with her friends and, most importantly, practicing control over her Metamorphmagus abilities.
But with Christmas approaching, she finally found a moment to climb the long stairs to the Owlery. As soon as the girl arrived, she checked the gap in the wall where the letters were usually tucked. Disappointingly, it was empty.

Not ready to give up, she glanced around, hoping the letter might have fallen out. That’s when her eyes landed on a crumpled piece of paper in the corner. Curious, the redhead picked it up and unfolded it. Her lips curled into a smile as she realized it was indeed Lengen’s reply!
The note was missing the money she’d politely asked for, but as Novalie read Lengen’s response, it was clear they hadn’t sent any in the first place. With a light shrug, she got ready to write her reply.

Hey there, Lengen!

Sorry it took me so long to reply! I’m glad your letter didn’t get lost in the meantime. I found it on the floor though..

I promise I’ll give you more to decipher next time. Unfortunately, I don’t have my symbol list with me today and I’ve already forgotten most of the ones I made up. Guess I’ll need to study my own secret language again! Too bad you couldn’t crack it with just two sentences - I thought you might, since you’re really smart! But I guess even the cleverest people can’t do the impossible.

Oh, and about the sibling thing you mentioned - I don’t get it. What did you mean by 'not letting them see'? Why not? Did your parents play favorites or were you able to get away with things as long as your sister didn’t notice? People have tried explaining morals to me before, but honestly, I never fully understood them.
You know what? Writing to you is seriously opening my eyes. I’m realizing how much I still have to learn! I think I’ll start asking around about morals to get a better understanding.

Oh, and don’t worry about the money, I found another way.

Anyway, what are you doing over Christmas? I’ll be heading home, and one of my best friends from Hogwarts is coming to visit. I’m so excited! I’ve got so many ideas for things we can do. I’m thinking about spray-painting some graffiti with him and maybe even trying to bake cookies.
To be honest, I’ve never made cookies before, but there’s always a first time, right? Have you ever baked cookies yourself? If you have, do you know a good recipe?
I’d ask my mom, but every time she makes cookies, they come out way too crunchy. You know what I mean? Once, she even mixed up the sugar and the salt. It was so hard to pretend they weren’t that bad.

- Rose

Ro-
I suppose I'd better push it further in next time so it doesn't fall out huh?

I have the whole cipher memorized now obviously, but when I first started, I didn't know my Xs from my Zs from my Qs. I just figured it out from context. Those symbols changed every time I wrote something. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be good enough that it looks perfect:)

No, my parents didn't play favorites. This is really hard to explain. Just like, things I was old enough to do that she wasn't.

Heres another example-hopefully you'll get one of them. We went to an amusement park once with a friend another guy. He was allergic to dairy. And I mean allergic. He couldn't eat anything for fear of cross-contamination. This amusement park had a rule no food or drink brought in. Why? So they wouldn't lose money by people packing lunches. Our friend This guy brough his own lunch. technically against the rules. But the park didn't lose money either. He couldn't have eaten there anyway. The rest of my family bought food. We "broke" the rule, but we also gave the park what they wanted. Money.

Morals...are the most important thing you can learn. No matter what you've done, if you have morals and learn to live by them, you will be a good person. Morals are the reason that good triumphs over evil.

I'll be heading home for Christmas. My grandmother is going to cook a feast for my family. (When I say family, I mean my grandparents, aunt, our best friends) My best friend is basically my family. She and her dad practically live with us. Anyway, my grandmother is the greatest chef. She isn't fluent in English, though, she only speaks [scribbled out]. My sister and dad and I speak it but my mother doesn't really. My house is a mess of language sometimes, we'll just switch mid-sentence. Plus, someone has to translate for whoever doesn't speak the language. My dad jokes that the only time one person is talking without interupption is during prayer.

We have cookies, sometimes. My favorite dessert, though, is Jerry-Swari. Technically, it can be a breakfast, but clearly, it's meant to be a dessert. I've never baked cookies though. I don't really bake, and when I do, its jerry-swari. Mmmmm.

My mom isn't very good at baking(or cooking) either. It's a good thing we've got my grandmother.

[----Scribbled out----]
oh dear, the whole anonymous thing is pretty difficult today it seems,

Lengen.