Across A Great Ocean PV Manu Macedo Errand

Ms. Alyssa Salinger
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scottish Highlands, Scotland, UK
19^th December, 2025

Ms. Manu Macedo
Castelobruxo
Amazon Rainforest, BR

Dear Manu,

Goodness, I realised the other week that it had been genuinely ages since we'd last written. I hope you don't mind suddenly getting this out of the blue - I tend to miss old friends around the holidays is all! Also, I might be procrastinating packing to leave Hogwarts tomorrow. Either way, I figured I would sit down and write you a proper letter. We haven't really done that since... well, before summer camp at least, I suppose.

Mostly I just wanted to wish you a happy new year, and a merry Christmas if you celebrate that too! I know they're coming up in a week and two, but I doubt I will have the time to send any actual letters during the break from school. Tomorrow I go back to London on the Hogwarts Express, and then I'm off immediately to my grandparents' manor in the countryside - the ones I told you about at camp, where the ball was and everything. So much has happened since then, let me tell you! There was this exeat weekend in November when I went to Paris for some art auction - I've attached a few clippings from the articles that came out about it afterwards, though don't believe all the drivel in them about me and the heir from that family. Anyways, long story short, my grandmother hexed someone in front of me and then everyone acted like it didn't even happen. I am NOT telling you this because I want you to do anything about it - I know you too well for that! But if you have any suggestions for how to, well, sort of stand up to that sort of thing, I think you're the perfect person to ask for advice on that subject.

Oh, speaking of standing up for things - have you heard about all of the Hogwarts Heads of Houses being fired? Well, everyone is saying that they chose to leave, but I'm not so sure about that. Last week my own former Head of House, Professor Iwasaki, was arrested and sentenced to Azkaban for a werewolf attack we're all quite sure he didn't commit. After all, he spends years here at Hogwarts with no problems and then the moment he's outside of our little bubble he attacks someone? Make it make sense, honestly. Anyway, we're all quite fired up about it. Last weekend someone covered the common room in the attached article (again, don't believe a word it says, but I'm just sending it to you in case you don't get the Prophet over in Brazil). Isn't it just so properly inflammatory? We as a House decided to hold a protest in Diagon Alley next week, on the twenty-third. I doubt you'll be able to make it over to Britain by then, but you're welcome to come if you want; I've attached the flyer, too. This sort of thing seems like it would be right up your alley.

After that - presuming I can trick my family into bringing me to Diagon Alley for some last-minute Christmas shopping - I think it'll be back home for the rest of December. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to participate in the festivities we always have for the holidays in Hogsmeade, but I sincerely doubt that my grandparents will want to go to Hogsmeade for five whole days for some reason or another. If we do end up going, I will count it as a stroke of pure luck!

But I will hopefully be at Tenūsa in January if I can swing it! I'm extremely excited about that, presuming my family allows me to go. Even if not, however, I will absolutely go to the Olympics event at Koldovstoretz in February. I even managed to get an interview with the Koldovstoretz headmaster - well, he responded to my owl with questions for the Headliner, at least. I've attached that article, too, in case you were curious about the two events. I really do hope to see you at one or both of them! I know it has only been a few months since we saw each other at camp, but I do bloody miss you already. It's truly not fair that we live so far apart. I think you would have loved being at Hogwarts with me this semester - so many things to do and so much of it involved with social justice. Why you don't want to become a lawyer I truly have no idea; I do think you'd thrive as one.

All right. That's probably enough rambling from me. I mostly just wanted to write to you and update you on all that's gone on in the last few months. I'm not exactly sure if you celebrate Christmas, but you probably do the New Year, right? Even I am not sure how my family does either of these holidays - seeing as how I've never spent a holiday with any family other than just my parents and house-elf before. I'm actually quite excited, despite it all. My mother has told me that there will be a lighting of the tree in the ballroom, and I'm sure to expect a ball or two that we either host or attend - that seems to be the Livingston family's way of celebrating just about anything. Other than that, I've no idea what to expect. Cross your fingers for me that it ends up being actually fun, rather than just another soirée full of curtsying and smiling until my cheeks hurt.

I'd also love to hear about your holiday traditions if you don't mind sharing some with me. Maybe one day in the far future we could get together to celebrate something! I dunno where I'm going to end up after Hogwarts still, so maybe it could be in Brazil, even. You've visited me so many times that I feel it's only fair I come visit you eventually.

Happy holidays and much love,
Aly