HIGHLY SUSPECT I SAY
On Saturday I received my letter from Hogwarts along with this 'laptop'.
I was really looking forward to receiving our new books lists and class schedules when I suddenly realized that instead of being written on the usual parchment, I had UNKNOWINGLY handled DISCARDED ANIMAL PELTS.

I'm not quite sure where the administration gets off putting their students LIVES IN DANGER by sending them unsanitary and possibly contaminated skins masquerading as innocent letters but I know that I won't bow to this kind of oppression!
Professor Dumbledore claims that You-Know-Who has wiped out all the new parchment at Hogwarts so we'll be using these special laptops to write back and forth and that's why their using animal skins for the letters.
I have always supported Dumbledore in the past, as my family has, and while he does seem slightly mad at times, and as suspicious as this story sounds, I can never imagine him purposely lying to the student body or purposely putting a students life in danger. That simply doesn't make any sense.

However, I have noticed that the Ministry has hired Percy Weasley to keep an eye on these journals, which seems highly suspect to me. I'm not quite sure what they expect us to be discussing here that's so important that the Ministry must be aware of it(unless they care about how Justin takes his toast haha!) but I feel that it's highly unnecessary.
In conclusion, I believe that Ministry sent out an army of blood thirsty demon owls to attack the owls that Hogwarts sent us AND THUS SWITCHING THE LETTERS resulting is widespread illness amongst the students so we will be too preoccupied to keep our eyes on THEM.
If we take Dumbledore's report as fact this must mean that YOU-KNOW-WHO is the Minister of Magic and has hopes that widespread cases of influenza and rabies will weaken us so we will not be able to resist him!

We'll just see about that.

I immediately started investigating all possible types of diseases that one can contract from an animal and have created this list for all concerned Hogwarts students. I have also begun writing several letter to the Hogwarts Board of Governors, the Headmaster, the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly and the Quibbler. I have also begun a petition so if anyone's interested in signing, let me know.



AVIAN INFLUENZA-This terrifying disease can infect several animal species, including birds, pigs, horses, seals and whales. Birds are an especially important species because all known subtypes of influenza A viruses circulate among wild birds, which are considered the natural hosts for influenza A viruses. Birds that are infected with avian influenza viruses shed virus in saliva, nasal secretions and feces.

Infection causes a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness to a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease resulting in severe epidemics. The latter is known as "highly pathogenic avian influenza". This form is characterized by sudden onset, severe illness, and rapid death, with a mortality that can approach 100% (notice how all the pelts were from DEAD animals???)

While human infection is rare, IT CAN HAPPEN PEOPLE. It is believed that most cases of avian influenza infection in humans have resulted from contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces (LIKE PARCHMENT PERHAPS). Influenzas also have the power to evolve and change over time so it may be possible to be PASSED ON FROM PERSON TO PERSON creating a LARGE SCALE EPIDEMIC.

LYME DISEASE- Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. It's a spiral shaped bacteria that is carried by various black-legged ticks (animals, like those which were used to make the makeshift parchment, carry ticks!). The Wizarding Lyme Disease Foundation of Britain says studies show that it takes a tick 36 to 48 hours to pass the bacteria on to humans. They also report that Healer's tests aren't always reliable for Lyme disease especially early in the disease's progress.

If caught in its earliest stages Lyme Disease is almost always cured, so it's important that symptoms not be ignored. The first sign, of course, is a tick that you find that has bitten you. But these ticks are tiny and often go unnoticed.
The first sign most people see is an expanding rash called erythema migrans or EM. It's been called a bulls eye rash because it tends to be round and expand from a central spot sometimes with rings. The rash shows up in over 80 percent of the cases according to the WLDFB. It will show 3 to 30 days after the bite by an infected tick.

Some of the other early symptoms of Lyme Disease are flu like symptoms:
Fatigue
Chills and fever
Headache
Muscle and joint pain
Swollen lymph nodes
Bouts of uncontrollable magic

Luckily, Lyme disease rarely results in death. It is also treatable by the majority of Healers if caught early enough. However, vigilance and prevention is key!

Malaria-Malaria is a serious, sometimes fatal, disease caused by a parasite. There are four kinds of malaria that can infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae.
More than 40% of the people in the world are at risk! The Wizarding Health Organization estimates that yearly 300-500 million cases of malaria occur and more than 1 million people die of malaria. DIE!!

Humans get malaria from the bite of a malaria-infected mosquito. When a mosquito bites an infected person, it ingests microscopic malaria parasites found in the person's blood. The malaria parasite must grow in the mosquito for a week or more before infection can be passed to another person. If, after a week, the mosquito then bites another person, the parasites go from the mosquito's mouth into the person's blood. The parasites then travel to the person's liver, enter the liver's cells, grow and multiply. During this time when the parasites are in the liver, the person has not yet felt sick. The parasites leave the liver and enter red blood cells; this may take as little as 8 days or as many as several months. Once inside the red blood cells, the parasites grow and multiply. The red blood cells burst, freeing the parasites to attack other red blood cells. Toxins from the parasite are also released into the blood, making the person feel sick. If a mosquito bites this person while the parasites are in his or her blood, it will ingest the tiny parasites. After a week or more, the mosquito can infect another person (parasites are microscopic! How do we know that our letters weren't crawling with tiny parasites just waiting to infest our blood?! HOW?)

Symptoms of malaria include:
Fever and flu-like illness
Shaking chills
Headache
Muscle aches
Tiredness
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea
Anemia and jaundice

Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and DEATH.

Rabies- Rabies is a preventable yet deadly disease that is mainly transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. About 90 percent of all rabies cases reported each year occur in wild animals like bats, foxes, skunks and raccoons. Dogs, cats, and cattle account for less than 10 percent of the reported rabies cases. Rabies kills more than 50-thousand people and millions of animals around the world each year

Early symptoms of rabies in humans are flu-like and typically consist of:
Fever
Headache
General malaise

Later, neurological symptoms appear and may include:
Insomnia
Hallucinations
Confusion
Anxiety
Slight or partial paralysis
Agitation
Excitation
Hyper salivation
Difficulty swallowing
Fear of water



As you can see, I wasn't wrong in being concerned for my health after coming into contact with the letters. In fact, after experiencing several symptoms listing above (headaches, nausea, dizziness) I decided to spend Sunday at St. Mungo's seeking treatment for all possible maladies.

I arrived by floo early in the morning to ensure I would not have a long wait to see my usual Healer, however, apparently he was on holiday in Bali and was so unconcerned with my possible life threatening condition that he REFUSED to portkey back to London to see me! I honestly don't know why Healer is in such need of a vacation! They only work four days a week and it's hardly taxing work! They only waltz in, administer a few potions and head on their way.

Eventually I did manage to get in to a see a Healer in Training who was quite incompetent. He wouldn't even allow me to stay for several days under observation! I demanded to speak with his supervisor and just as I felt I had convinced them that I was a health risk to the Wizarding World MY PARENTS arrived worried I had been kidnapped by Death Eaters! Apparently I forgot to leave a note letting them know where I had gone and my mum panicked. Luckily, my dad had a good head on his shoulders and said I was probably run off to St. Mungo's for some reason or another. They were pretty upset and when I tried to explain to them that I was sick and needed healing potions and my mum understood and agreed that I should be kept for observation 'just to be sure'. My dad, as usual, had to have the final say and demanded that both of us end this 'nancying about' and get back home. I'm sure he'll be sorry that I didn't stay once I contract Avian Influenza and pass it on to everyone at Hogwarts and we all fall into comas and DIE.
I must remember to amend my will to ensure that he will NOT be permitted at the funeral.
Then we'll see who's nancying about'.

We returned home where my mum ordered me to bed and has kept me under her watchful eye ever since. I have been taking several healing potions since the Sunday and am now starting to feel much better.
As you can see, it's better to be safe than sorry!

I must run and try to catch up to everyone's entries. I also need to finds out what classes Justin decided to take since I don't want to end up alone in Divination like last year!

Also, I'm not quite sure why everyone has little pictures of themselves next to their journal entries! Won't that just make it easier for the Secret Undercover Ministry Spies for You-Know-Who to find you??