It seems that everyone here at HPFF is in the throes of going back to school. Be it as a student of any kind or as a teacher, getting back into a routine of meeting deadlines and turning things in (and, dare I say it, thinking ) isn't usually on the top of anyone's list, mine included. I was hit by two at once - teaching and taking two classes at the graduate level.

So far this school year has been interesting. It's my fifth year of teaching, and I'm enjoying it more than any year so far. Maybe I sort of know what I'm doing now and can reach the point where I feel like I'm making a difference in my students. An added little perk this year is that the kids seem to be giving me almost unlimited inspiration for how to characterize my little first-years in my novel. I mean, I was kind of freaked out on the first day of school when I saw ickle Scorpius Malfoy walking through my classroom door... Let's hope I don't slip and call this kid by that name. That would be, to say the least, very embarrassing.