How To Catch a Story

As editor for Student Organised Press Linette felt personally responsible for making sure there were decent articles with fresh ideas. Unfortunately it was turning out to be harder than she originally thought. The fourth year had never been a natural leader and finding herself leading a club had been challenging to say the least. She had to find some other way of making the members motivated to send in articles of quality and she decided the best way was to lead by example.

Today she thought if she stood at the doorway of the Great Hall and caught students as they were going out after lunch she might be able to find one with a story to tell. Maybe an interview. She was careful to make sure she ate as quickly as she could so she had a chance to catch as many as she could. It being a weekend naturally most of them had no reason to rush and she was becoming impatient for them to leave. Finally movement.

Linette rushed at the first student to catch her eye. "Excuse me," she called out, "I need the assistance of a capable student to give me the scoop on a story. Your name could me mentioned in my article if you help me." How could anyone resist such a promise?

It was a normal weekend for Caleb, after breakfast, he was going to go play with his kitten. Like he always did on the weekends. Once his meal was finished, he got up from his spot. He was surprised when a girl came up to him, he didn't think he had ever seen her before. He might have, but had never talked to him. "Oh, hello! A story?" A story about what? Oh! He had heard a story about the Quidditch pitch and who had painted it blue.

"Oh! I know! Do you know who painted the Quidditch pitch blue?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "I heard that it was the captain's secret admirer. The reason why she had done it is because she wanted the boy to notice her. What has his name again?" Caleb had learned that the boy was his best friend's cousin, but he had forgotten his name. "Anyways, some people say that she had his roommate put a note on his pillow for him. The note said to meet her by the lake so he would know who had done it and who liked him. I heard he didn't show up." If this was true, that would be rude to do. He should have went to meet the girl who had done that deed for him, she could have gotten caught. "I don't know who the girl is though, its a mystery. Maybe you figure that out. That would be a good story!"

"No," she replied and waited for what she hoped would be a hint as to the culprit. "His secret admirer? Do you know who she is?" Christian had an admirer? Linette was going to have to find out the identity of this mystery witch. "It's Christian D'Angelo by the way. He's in the same year as me." The mention of the roommate gave her an idea of how to find out. If she was a secret admirer then chances were Christian didn't know who it was but his roommate would. She nodded. "Yes it would."

Finally the word story penetrated her brain in a way she hadn't originally meant. Linette narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Were you just making all that up? I can find out if you were you know? I am in the same house as Christian and his roommate." Who the roommate was she couldn't recall but that was easy to find out. "Now how about a real story instead of just made up gossip. That's what I'm after." Of course she could still write something up on the blue Quidditch pitch. Just make sure it was objective journalism otherwise the Professors might shut her club down or worse take her off leadership.

Caleb was pleased that the girl seemed to enjoy the story he had told. He was glad that she had told him the name of Quinn's cousin. "I don't know the name of the roommate though." Caleb wouldn't make up a story like that, though his imagination was wild, he wouldn't make up a lie like that. "Of course I'm not making it up, I was just asking if that was something you were looking for. I didn't know what kind of story you meant. If you wanted a fairy tale, I know this great story about three pigs and a wolf." His mother had always read it to him when he was younger. "I think its gossip though. Whatever gossip is."

"Maybe you should ask Quinn's cousin, I mean, Christian. I mean, what I told you I heard around the school. I don't know if its true or not. You'd have to ask Christian or his roommate. Cause they're the ones that know the truth." The story seemed like it could be true, but they would need prove. "Maybe I could ask Quinn about it, maybe Christian let it slip." Caleb was willing to help as much as he could. "Why do you need a story again? I don't think you said. You could still write about the Quidditch pitch though. Make it like a mystery of who could have painted it blue." He had just given her two ideas which he hoped would help her.

Despite having a younger sister, Linette had completely forgotten how clueless eleven year olds could be. "When I say story," she began to explain, "I don't mean something made up. What I'm looking for is something which is newsworthy. If I wanted a fiction I'd write it myself. Not ask someone else to make it up for me." The pitch was blue. That much she already knew. Anything else was going to have to be investigated by herself. "Sometimes gossip and rumours can lead to the truth if you know how to pull the fiction out of the fact. Or was that the fact out of the fiction?" She really wasn't exactly sure on how you went about that. Or even if that's how journalists did things.

"I'll start with Christian," she decided. "His roommate can wait." Once she'd checked the dorm lists to see who it was. "Yes. Do that. Of course I can..." She paused. "Why would Christian let it slip to Quinn?" She wouldn't let things slip to Louise. Linette didn't even talk to her sister if she could help it. "I didn't?" she asked. "Oh it's for the Student Associated Press. You know. The school paper. That's exactly what I plan to do about the blue pitch."

Well, if she wanted a real story, she should have said that in the first place. It wasn't Caleb's fault that her directions weren't that clear. He had given her a story after all, it wasn't his fault he didn't like it. "Well it was a story," he stated. He shrugged, her rambling was confusing him. If the story wasn't true, then he wanted to know what had really happened and why it was blue. "I'm sure you will figure it out."

Quinn and Christian were close, weren't they? Caleb thought so. Family is supposed to be close. He was close to his, he enjoyed the company of his family. Quinn seemed to talk about Christian a lot, so Caleb assumed that they were close. "Maybe they're close enough to tell each other things. I'm close to my family, I tell them things. I would assume other people do that too." He told his brother everything, even if he didn't want to hear it. "Oh! That's cool! I'll have to read your article. Though I don't care for reading much." He would read it just to figure out the mystery behind the blue pitch.

"Yeah. That's true enough," Linette agreed. "You know what you could do? Join Student Associated Press as our fiction writer. Think about it the next time clubs are open to new members why don't you? We could do with some good made up stories to balance it out from the news." Linette wondered why on earth she hadn't thought of it before. It'd really balance the paper out from hard hitting facts to entertainment.

She was shocked at his revelation. "You don't like reading?" she asked. "Why don't you like reading? If it weren't for reading you wouldn't know whether it were safe or not to eat something. You wouldn't be able to know if you're being charged the right price for something you wanted to buy or..." She ran out of reasons why a first year student might want to read. "Anyway do you like to hear stories?"

Caleb wasn't the best writer, but he couldn't pass up her offer. It sounded fun and it could be something he might enjoy. "I will think about it. Sounds fun." He would have to check it out and see if he enjoyed it. It would also be a way to make new friends. "It will have to be on the list of things I want to do next term." He was also planning on trying out for commentator for Quidditch next term. It seemed like a fun thing to do. "The first on my list is to try out for a commentator position. Sounds like fun."

Caleb knew how to read and he would read if he had to, he just didn't enjoy it. "Reading has never interested me." She did have a point to read, but it still didn't sound interesting. Caleb loved to listen to stories. His mother always told him stories about princes, beamstocks, magic. "My mother tells the best stories. This one time she was talking about-" He covered his mouth before he could go on with his long story. He uncovered his mouth and gave her a smile. "Sorry, I talk a lot. Its hard to stop sometimes."

Linette was doubly pleased with his response. "Oh yes. It will be lots of fun. I'm sure the students will be very entertained by any stories you make up. And you so totally should try out for announcer. It gets so lonely up in that box all by myself." She grinned as she added, "even better is the fact you're a Montagnard. It'll give some balance to the announcing if we're both biased toward our houses." Professor Bowen had warned her a number of times not to be too biased but that was really a lot to ask when Linette loved her house.

"That really is a pity because if your mum tells good stories and she can't tell them whilst you're here then you should read some yourself." One way or another she had to turn this boy into a reader. Even if it was only certain types of books. She laughed. "Oh I wouldn't worry too much about that. I talk a lot too. Some people seem to get really annoyed about that for some reason." Linette clicked her fingers. "I've got it. You should retell your mothers stories in the school paper. See! That's the perfect reason why you should join next year."

Caleb liked the idea of joining the club and becoming an announcer. It sounded like a great deal of fun to him and he was sure that he would love it. Even though he was in Montagnard, he was sure to point out Quentin, he was his best friend after all. And he was sure that Quentin would enjoy Caleb's comments about his performance in Quidditch. Being the positive person he was, he would most likely say nice things about both teams. Even if it had nothing to do with the sport at all. He would say he liked someone's hair or shoes or eyes. He would want to make everyone happy. AMD if someone got hurt, he would worry no matter what team it was. "I think I will be nice to both teams cause I like being nice." He smiled a cheerful smile, he was looking forward to thia already.

The girl had good ideas, Caleb would love to retell his mother's stories. "You're a genius! That's a great idea." He would have to mail his mother and ask her to send him stories. He was glad that she didn't mind him talking. "Oh good! I'm glad I'm not annoying you. Cause a lot of people find my talking so much annoying. I don't see what's so annoying about it though. Its just talking."

"That'll save you from a grilling by Professor Bowen," Linette replied. "She's often telling me to be careful. But you do have to remember to be entertaining as well as informative." She could work with this boy. Linette believed she could work with anyone, even cranky Osmund if he were an announcer instead of a player. Well there was one person in the school she wouldn't have wanted to announce but she was seeker so that was a moot point. "If you ever need announcing lessons just come and ask me. I promise I will never ever tell you to go away."

Linette grinned. "You should tell my mother that. She seems to think I'm incapable of genius." She waved her hand dismissively at his comment. "Well those people don't appreciate the art of conversation. And an ability to talk is perfect for commentating. And I know lots about talking. You open your mouth and words come out. If someone doesn't like it then they can always go away."

Caleb thought he was a pretty entertaining person, at least a little bit. A few people would probably agree, he was always making people laugh and smile. "Entertaining also well as informative," he repeated. "Okay! Got it!" He thought it would be fun to work with the girl so she could help him out. She had been doing this for a while he assumed. It could be a great chance to make another friend and it would add to the growing list. He had already made a couple and he wanted more. "We could be friends! Announcer buddies!" He hoped she liked the idea as much as he did.

"Why would she not think you were a genius? You come up with so many great ideas!" She was a genius in Caleb's book, that's all that matter. "Having a conversation with someone is very fun. I just wish some people talked as much as I do. Its yards to hold up a conversation when the other person doesn't talk nearly as much as you do. But having a conversation in the first place is pretty awesome." Caleb pushed his glasses up, back to where they were supposed to be. They usually slid down when he either talked a lot or looked down, they were a little big on him. "I don't think we introduced ourselves. I'm Caleb Miller. I'm a first year, if you didn't know."

"That's it exactly. You're going to make a terrific announcer. I can feel it in my bones." Next year was going to be the best year yet for announcing Quidditch. After all, there was only so much entertaining commentary she could do all by herself. She grinned. "Yes we could indeed. Most certainly announcer buddies. I will be watching the announcing tryouts very carefully to make sure you're there."

Linette sighed. "My school results. That's why. They aren't as good as hers were when she was at Beauxbatons. Dad's never worried about how I do. Just so long as I don't fail he's happy." That in itself was perhaps a little telling as to why her parents' marriage didn't last far beyond Linette's eighth birthday. "Now that's something I can understand perfectly well. The worst thing is when I say something which seems to annoy the other person. Osmund seems to hate it the most for reasons I cannot fathom." She couldn't see how she could possibly be that annoying. After all she did share his love of books. "Lovely to meet you Caleb. I'm Linette Puchard, fourth year, announcer and editor of the Student Associated Press. Well my real title is leader of the club but I do make sure members send in their articles so that practically does make me an editor doesn't it?"

"Thanks. I hope I don't mess up." It seemed that Caleb messed up a lt of things that he did. But he never stopped trying. He was proudbof himself for that. Most people could quit after two tries, not Caleb. He would try until he got it right."I'll try my very best!" He wanted to make the girl believe in him and believe that he would try his best. "I hoped people like me." It was the prefect job for him, all he had to do was talk and be entertaining. That wasn't hard for him. He could talk in his sleep, he probably did. "I think I can do it!" She must believe in him if she was going to keep a look out for him.

Caleb wasn't the smartest person ever and his school results proved that. "You still try, that's all that counts. So what uf you're not prefect to your mother? You are you and you are the prefect you." Caleb was used to annoying people with his consist talking. "I don't mean to upset people, it just happens. I can't stop talking. I usually talk without thinking like I'm doing now cause I can't stop talking." Her last name sounded familar. "I know your sister! She's a friend of mine. Anways, I suppose it does make you editor since you're in charge."