#write for me technology

[alltechfacts1]

The Top 7 Latest technology That Will Shape 2024

Discover the latest innovations in technology in different industries and shape your better future with these miracles.

Introduction

In today’s dynamic era, keeping up with the latest technology is essential, especially if you’re in a technology niche and aiming for a career upgrade. From AI to the IoT, technology is evolving at a rapid pace, making it crucial for everyone to stay updated and upgrade themselves with ever-evolving technologies.

Here are the latest technologies you need to know about in 2024, ensuring you stay ahead in this rat race and make informed career choices.

Generative AI

Generative AI is the latest innovation, allowing machines to generate human-like text, content, images, audio and even videos. It’s trained on a massive database of billions of web pages & passed by trillion-parameter models and can generate output in a matter of seconds. Toos like DALL-E and ChatGPT have shown the potential of Generative AI, though there are concerns about DeepFake and generating copyrighted content and false facts.

Key capabilities include:

Generating almost realistic images from text

Creating articles, stories, and more on any topic by providing prompts only

Engaging in open-ended conversations and answering follow-up questions

Space Tourism

This latest business model has commercialised space travel for leisure and business purposes for citizens. As it is costly, only the ultra-wealthy can access this tourism. There are some key players like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic involved in fulfilling this unrealistic dream.

Key points of Space Tourism:

Planned private space stations for special tourism

Short-time orbital flights offering a few minutes of mind-blowing experience of Space

Multi-day orbital trips after establishing space stations

Despite having high costs, the space tourism market is expected to exponential growth. As launch costs decline and technology advances, space tourism could open to anyone.

Electric Vehicles

With the latest automotive technology, EVs replace polluting internal combustion engines with efficient electric motors and batteries.

The benefits of EVs are:

Zero direct emission reduces environmental pollution, especially in urban areas.

Lower operating costs by charging instead of low-efficient liquid fuel

Low maintenance cost and lesser noise pollution

Offer a smoother, quieter driving experience compared to traditional vehicles.

Global EV sales crossed 14 million units in 2023, more than double the 2022 numbers.

However, challenges faced by this latest technology are organized charging infrastructure and battery production and their sustainable recycling process.

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain is decentralised technology driven by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). It ends the domination of central authority and stores data across numerous interconnected systems.

Key points are:

Data stores across numerous systems and make it blockchain

It enables the transaction of digital currencies without intermediaries.

Facilitate Cryptocurrencies, DeFI applications, NFTs and more.

Blockchain’s market size exceeded $7.6 billion in 2022 and could grow over 85% annually through 2030 beyond just finance. Industries like finance, supply chains, healthcare, real estate, governance and other sectors actively explore blockchain to streamline processes.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT revolutionised the latest wave of connectivity across physical and digital devices, from simple household objects to highly complex industrial tools. It allows data to flow between human and computer systems for better connectivity. This technology relies on sensors run by low-cost components, high-speed wireless connectivity and cloud computing.

Great features are:

Embedded sensors and software enabling data exchange

Remote monitoring and control capabilities

Expansion of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business models

Allows remote access across domains like health care, household appliances, transportation, etc.

Over 30 billion IoT devices are estimated to be sold by 2025 and unlock business opportunities worth $2.5 trillion by 2029.

Quantum Computing

Quantum computing solves complex problems more efficiently than ever. It enables advancements in cryptography, AI, and other sophisticated tech domains. While conventional computers process information as binary 0s and 1s, quantum computing processes quantum bits or qubits that can exist as 0s, 1s, or both states simultaneously.

It allows us to evaluate multiple potential solutions in parallel for certain problems rather than subsequently. Areas where quantum computing could transform include cryptography, material science, pharmaceutical development, AI, and more.  Technology gains nations, and startups are racing to develop this technology to get an early lead.   Although there are some hurdles, including precise quantum control and developing a friendly algorithm, this market has $35 billion in global investment as of 2022.

5G Technology

The latest 5G networks are the 5th generation of wireless cellular technology. With dramatically faster data speeds, improved reliability, and expanded bandwidth, 5G opens the door for a new era of connectivity and smooth use of applications.

Key features:

Peak data rates up to 20 Gbps- 100x times faster than 4GLTE.

Latencies could reach as low as 1 millisecond.

Enable real-time communication

Facilitate autonomous vehicles and smart city infrastructure.

Enhance AR/VR experience

Due to its incredible advantages, it’s expected to create $13 trillion in the global market by 2030 across industries. While the full 5G is still ongoing, it promises a hyper-connected future where wireless performance reaches up to the speed of light.

Write for us technology

If you have valuable insights to share on the latest technology trends, we welcome you to “write for us technology” and contribute to the ongoing evolution of the technology.

Conclusion

Whereas these latest technologies are snatching many jobs, on the other hand, they offer promising career opportunities, but on one condition: endless learning. These technologies transform every year and have a big impact on the world’s scenario, accelerating growth and opening many doors for innovation and progress. By staying informed and embracing new technology, you can position yourself for success. Don’t forget, if you have valuable insights to share, “write for me technology” and contribute to the tech community’s ongoing evolution.

[cozylittleartblog]

Columbo and the Knight (1984)

put me in the universe where Columbo ran through the 1980s and had a crossover episode with Knight Rider. I think they deserved it, and I am not just saying that because they're my two favorite Old Shows. @telebeast wrote a little fanfic blurb about it and I HAD to visualize it into a comic (which is also the longest comic I have finished thus far at five pages...), so writing credit goes to them.

Autism W!

[luguangs]

@animangacreators challenge ⟡ spring 2024

↳ WIND BREAKER

You haven't given up on others yet. And you don't need to give up. At the least I'm looking your way, Sakura. So why don't you look this way as well? If you do, I'm sure… you'll become what you want to be.

[nightmaretour]

Anti-technology people who insist they're not ableist crack me up. What about people who rely on machines to breathe, eat, keep their heart functioning, or otherwise stay alive? "Well not that technology, obviously!" Ok what about AAC users, people who use hearing aids, or otherwise use technology to interact with the world in ways they otherwise couldn't? "Not that technology, obviously." Okay, my mobile phone is my memory, my sense of time, my sense of direction when I get lost, my ability to contact someone when I need help. It is my personal freedom because without it I would need full time care and supervision. But yes, that technology, right?

I hate how technology is made and utilised under capitalism as much as the next guy, but to pretend that technology doesn't greatly improve the lives of countless people, or even allow them to continue being alive, is to be willfully ignorant to the existence of disabled people. A world without technology is a world where a lot of disabled people don't get to survive. Capitalism is the problem, not the technology. Technology can (and should) exist just fine without capitalism.

[myokk]

💘

[weepylucifer]

i watch people react to the lotr movies on youtube sometimes - just for my personal relaxation - and this one guy just said "maybe this is presumptuous but why can't they just make a new, even stronger ring that controls all the other ones plus the one ring?" and, holy shit. why don't they just keep making even stronger rings. apart from all the lore and storytelling reasons for why that's not possible under those specific circumstances, i wanna send a complete stranger the wikipedia article for "arms race" so so so fucking badly 😂

[sinnettini]

elena rybakina after her quarter finals match at united cup 2025 (01.01.2025)

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[lilacjaemin]

highway to heaven

pairing: dongyoung x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff

word count: 677

summary: “pull over, let me drive for a while.”

a/n: inspired by #1 from 100 ways to say i love you and highway to heaven <3 also if you'd like some music to listen to while reading or while on your own nighttime drive, here’s my night drives playlist!!!!

the warm glow of the yellow lights lining the highway started to look fuzzy as you coasted along. dongyoung’s thumb brushed the back of your hand in rhythm with the mellow song on the radio. he sang along, the combination the motion of the car, his soft skin and his sweet voice tugging at your eyelids.

“when you told me you had a road trip playlist i assumed the whole thing would be upbeat,” you said through a yawn, “these songs are making me sleepy.”

“my daytime road trip playlist is upbeat,” he laughed, “this is the night time drive playlist.”

“you have too many playlists.” 

���first of all, they set the mood. second of all, it was your idea to leave at midnight!” he squeezed your hand.

“nobody’s on the roads at night, we’d get there so much faster.” you whined, shaking your head to wake yourself up.

“i know you didn’t sleep last night, you were so excited you almost kept me up too. and you've been bouncing around all day.”

you glanced at the clock. 3:02 am.

“are you not excited? a week at a gorgeous beach house on the coast, just the two of us, finally.” you sighed.

“of course i am,” he bit his lip to keep from smiling too hard, “it’ll be heaven.”

you rubbed at your eyes, those yellow lamp posts blending together once again as you flew down the highway. you opened the windows to get some air in your face, doyoung’s singing getting louder over the sound.

you felt alive. the excitement seeping in again, blurry lights zooming by, cold wind nipping at your skin, and doyoung’s palm against yours.

he alternated between slower ballads --serenading you with a water bottle microphone-- and more lively songs, dancing in his seat.

after an hour of wind swept hair and drowsy giggles, you closed the windows and settled back down.

you yawned and stretched your back, “we’re only a couple of hours away now.”

“pull over at the next rest stop, let me drive for a while.”

“baby it’s okay, if you just keep putting on faster songs i can-”

he leaned over and pecked your cheek, letting his lips linger, causing your eyes to flutter shut for a moment.

“oh yeah, you need to let me drive.” he laughed, sitting back in his seat. 

“no fair,” you pouted, “you can’t just surprise me like that.” 

you pulled into the dimly lit rest stop, doyoung running in to grab you both coffees. 

you sunk down into the passenger seat, pulling doyoung’s jacket from behind you across your lap as a blanket. you focused on the scent of his cologne swirling around the car and the guitar chords floating through the speakers.

doyoung arrived back at the car with two iced coffees in his hands. he knocked on the window and waited, but squinted and peeked through the glass when you didn't roll it down. he saw your sleeping figure curled up, ran around to the driver’s side and slipped in as quietly as he could. 

he put your drinks in the cup holder, lowered the radio and looked over at you. the way the red and white neon lights of the rest stop’s sign illuminated you. the way one of your hands was clutching his jacket to your chest and the other was strewn across the console, waiting to be held. the way your hair still looked a little wild around your face.

he couldn't help himself. he carefully balanced himself on his elbow and pressed a featherlight kiss to the corner of your mouth. he watched your features subconsciously smooth out into a sleepy smile and swore he could feel his heart melting in his chest.

“i lied,” he whispered against your temple, “this is heaven. you are heaven.”

“sweet dreams,” he let his fingertips graze over some of the exposed skin of your thigh, “we’ll be there soon.”

he gently intertwined your fingers in his, sipped a bit of coffee, and pulled back out onto the highway.

[no-light-left-on]

looking at the energy sources development in the dishonored trilogy just does something to me

first game with a boom in engineering, the whole world powered by whale oil, the destruction of the ecosystem combined with the rampaging plague, all this contrasted with the sudden crisis surrounding whale oil in the second game, with new alternatives coming into play and the focus city being powered by wind which, in combination with the silver mines, is actually harming the city (which is a really cool look at sustainable energies!! if everything isn't in balance it will cause harm and this is a really cool thing to include!!) and then lastly we enter doto with voltaic bolts that don't exactly seem like they are powered by whale oil, there is a hint of something new and different

idk it's just gnawing at my brain

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Thinking about young Charlie and young Bela meeting in juvie or some sort of delinquent youth rehabilitation programme that they chose instead of juvie. Maybe in the same foster home but I prefer people's actions to guide them to meeting people rather than happenstance. They're around the same age, this could work. 16 year old "I'm going to hack the pentagon but I can't lie in person to save my life" Charlie and 17 year old "I'm the most charming person in the room but I have no friends" Bela working together to...something. Right some sort of wrong against each of them. Maybe Charlie needs some paperwork she can't access without Bela's help to send money across for her mom's medical expenses (this would be 2001, hacking can only get you so far) and maybe Bela wants a forged american citizen ID.

2 girls who nobody cares about, with no contacts, no safety net and everything to lose choosing to help each other because no one else will. With an air of bittersweetness over the whole thing because we know that they lose contact.

(Until of course the epilogue where Jo brings her new femme fatale girlfriend to the Harvelle-Winchester Friends and Family Christmas and Charlie and Bela point at each other like 🤯🤩🥹)

[bloomeng]

For some reason I always feel silly promoting my fics but I’ve gotten a few questions about my writing lately so anyway the second chapter of my timberkon fic is out for the those interested

[frog-with-no-therapy]

I want a spider X dcu but have Peter working at the league's base in space as a mechanic or a scientist, cause of course they will have the best material and information to help him make a way home. Except that Peter is weird.

Like, weird weird. Like, spider bite kind of weird with a hint of different culture from a different world kind of weird.

Listen most of his interactions with humans in their world is with them cause he's at the watchtower all the time, so his understanding of what is normal is a bit skew, and he probably also got used to acting more spidery, especially when in a lab or sm (courtesy of his time at the avenger tower where he doesn't really have to hide his spidery side)

Then you take into account him having a different kind of humour and a different set of memes and you have the whole justice league thinking he's secretly an alien

[here-comes-the-moose]

Ummm… so what does it mean if someone looked at over half of their family members (most of which are on one side), themselves included, and have thought “oh that sounds a lot like Tech or like something Tech would do or gives off Tech vibes”?

I’m not asking for a friend.

[of-pale]

Vergil finds a new hobby

Hobbies were a luxury, an indulgence Vergil could scarcely afford throughout his stormy existence. He was accustomed to a life of constant movement and perpetual fight for survival, each step a calculation to outmanoeuvre the demons relentlessly pursuing him. Now, however, his circumstances had drastically changed and he had to figure out how to stop and truly live. It was a strange concept, but with his brother's office as a place of sanctuary he could always return to and an abundance of free time to spare, he had to embrace just living.

Not quite sure what to make of it, he fell back on his old habit of reading. Yet, according to the members of Devil May Cry, his ‘obsession’ with books hardly qualified as a hobby; more seen as a chore or a sinister ploy to seek out power. Though some tried to encourage him to explore new hobbies, their suggestions often fell flat and failed to pique his interest.

Of all people, it was Nico who managed to recommend a compelling diversion—a DVD of a vintage painting show titled 'The Joy of Painting'. Its familiar appearance drew him in, like staring at nostalgic pieces of a bygone era he could scarcely recall from a lifetime ago. She told him to give it a shot since ‘it was all the rage back in its hay day for a reason’. Glimpsing through fragments of the show, it appeared to be a worthy time investment where his attention to detail would surely pay off.

On a day when Dante was out terrorising some unfortunate ice cream parlour for its special deal on strawberry sundaes, Vergil seized the opportunity to relax uninterrupted. After setting up the canvas and the paints, he followed Nico's instructions to play the show on the DVD player—apparently a technological upgrade to the VHS players he vaguely remembers. It felt somewhat humiliating to follow instructions that seemed to be written for a child to comprehend:

press the tiny button next to the rectangle;

place the circular thing inside the pocket that slides out;

wait till the devices figures out its head from its ass;

on the remote, use the buttons with triangles pointing up and down to select an episode on screen;

oh yeah, that sideways triangle in the middle there is the select button;

It wasn't far off from describing an infant's toy where different shapes are passed through their respective holes. ‘That's right, the square goes into the square shaped hole. Yeah! You got it!’

Perhaps, there was still hope for him as he successfully followed the instructional cookie trail, simple enough for a four-year-old to navigate, and managed to play the show on the old TV. Settling comfortably in his seat, he paid close attention to the screen. The hosts' serene attitude and passion was contagious, and the painting process itself proved to be rather soothing. Although Vergil wasn't exactly a skilled artisan, the show catered well to artists of all levels. It was something he could improve upon and, as odd as it was, he now had all the time to spare for it.

“I'm gonna wash the brush and we’ll just blend that out. As you know, we wash our brushes with odourless paint thinner and we have a lot of fun.” The host dipped the brush into a bucket on the side. “Just shake off the excess,” he lightly shook the brush, following up with a practised motion of rhythmically smacking it against the leg of the easel stand. Almost chuckling, the host said one of his signature phrases, “And beat the devil out of it.”

Vergil looked down at his brush... menacingly.

[myokk]

before it felt like a sin, ch. 1

pairing: Sebastian Sallow x f!MC

word count: 3000

summary: Eloise never wanted to be different.

And yet, her differences are what have defined her life up until this point: growing up as a squib in one of the most prominent wizarding families, being exiled to muggle society, and then attending Hogwarts at the age of sixteen.

She finds herself thrust into the life she should have been prepared for from birth but was denied. As she navigates this new life and her new precarious position in her family, she must come to terms with the fact that maybe what she dreamed of her whole life isn't turning out how she ever expected it would.

a/n: Hi everyone!! I decided to post this here too...I'm slowly going through everything I've written so far, and I want to post each chapter here as I edit them. I'm hoping that this can be a way to a) get back in to writing more, and b) get better at my art as I make full illustrations for each chapter. Let me know what you think!! :)

There is nothing quite as horrible as being a muggle, Eloise thought savagely as she ripped out yet another stitch in the landscape she was embroidering. At least, it was supposed to be a landscape. Maybe with her head tilted to the left and with her eyes almost closed so everything blurred together, it might resemble one. She did just that, trying her hardest to make out some recognizable shape and blast the stupid practice of manually pushing colored thread through a fabric in some sort of -

“And what is this, Miss Babbit?”

Eloise jumped at the sound and looked up at the scowling face of her teacher, and then quickly back down at the tangled thread in her lap. Behind her, she could hear the hushed giggles of the other girls in her class.

“Oh! Er…it’s -”

“How long have you been here?” the woman interrupted.

“One hour…I just -”

“Don’t be smart with me. I mean, at this institute.”

“Five years.” Eloise glared down at her embroidery as if it had personally offended her. It wasn’t like she was actively trying to be bad at everything, but she had the distinct disadvantage - how had it ever come to be that she would be at a disadvantage to muggles? - of not having spent a lifetime being prepared for muggle society and all that it entailed. The last five years had been a monotonous, endless cycle of lessons designed to turn her into the perfect lady: French (a waste of time as Eloise was already fluent), embroidery (a waste of time as the things she embroidered weren’t actually useful), dancing (a waste of time as she was already engaged to be married - why would she bother trying to woo another silly man?), and her most dreaded class of all: etiquette. No matter how many years had been spent trying to assimilate into muggle culture, her thoughts still got muddled when she tried to remember the steps to a dance, or how to properly address the son of a duke.

Did it really matter, anyways, what the other girls thought? She had pretended her whole life to be the daughter she thought her parents had wanted - now she was simply pretending that she hadn’t been thrown into the muggle world without a second thought. What was a bit more pretending - that she didn’t care? That she hadn’t been tossed aside without a second thought?

“Exactly. Five years. And yet, you have shown no progress whatsoever. This -” a finger jabbed accusingly at the embroidery - “is absolutely horrendous. If your parents hadn’t continued to make such a sizeable donation every year, I would have deemed you a lost cause and sent you packing when you first arrived. How your family ever managed your betrothal to the son of an earl is beyond me.”

Eloise grimaced at the mention of her fiance as her teacher clapped her hands together to get the attention of the class - a wholly unnecessary action due to the fact that it was already being given. “Class is dismissed. Please collect your belongings and put them in the correct place. Remember, as future wives and mothers, you must be organized in all aspects of your life. Many of you will be managing important households and the slightest misstep -“ a slight glance to Eloise out of the corner of her eye - “can cause the biggest of scandals.”

Eloise raced to gather her things and leave the classroom before everyone else. No matter how many years had been spent at the school, she couldn’t help but hate sitting through the classes amongst the judgmental stares and snide remarks. Although things had started out shaky at the finishing school - to be expected, really, when you’ve grown up in wizarding society and then are then forced to live as a muggle - it still stung that after all these years, she still hadn’t found a friendly face. She was treated as if she were a pariah: it was as if the other girls just knew that something was different about her. But…wasn’t that the great irony of it all? She wasn’t different than them. She was a filthy squib.

When she first arrived at the school, she was an anomaly. A twelve-year-old girl who didn’t know how to play the piano or who the queen was. It was clear to everyone that Eloise wasn’t the charity case of the school - her parents were obviously quite wealthy - and yet they seemingly wanted nothing to do with her. Whereas the others got regular letters and visits from their family, it was as if Eloise were an orphan. Nothing new to her of course, but to her peers this otherness aided them in her ostracization.

Upon entering her room, she was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts. Something wasn’t right. Everything seemed the same: a twin bed perfectly made opposite a small wardrobe, a plain wooden desk placed between them. The weak afternoon sunlight shone through the window, illuminating her desk. But…there.

That…

Placed on her bed, resting on the pillow, was a letter.

She never received letters.

Eloise shoved her embroidery under her bed and hungrily grabbed at it, pausing when she saw the address. Miss E. Babbit. The Third Bedroom on the Left… It seemed vaguely familiar to her in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

As she read the letter, though, it became apparent to her exactly why this was. Although not exactly the same as the one her brother had received six years earlier, it quickly became apparent that this was a Hogwarts letter. For her. For Miss E. Babbit.

Hands shaking, she set the letter down on her desk and sat on the edge of her bed. She smoothed her hands over her skirt over and over, taking comfort in the familiar softness as she tried to even her breathing.

How was this possible? She had all but accepted the fact that she was a squib. The shame of her family, a dirty secret to be hidden away and never talked about or mentioned again. Her parents had suspected as much by the time she had turned seven without any signs of magic whatsoever manifesting around her - not even a basic transformation of brussel sprouts to sweets during dinner. It was ultimately confirmed, however, when her own Hogwarts acceptance letter never arrived. She had spent the whole year before her banishment daydreaming about her life at Hogwarts, still optimistic that there could be something magical inside of her. Her brother, Leo, came home every holiday with wonderful stories of his new friends and teachers, and the subjects he was learning at school. Even back then, at twelve years old, Eloise hadn’t been sure if he was actually hopeful she wasn’t a squib, or if he had been trying to prolong the fantasy for her before it all came crashing down.

Although she had had five years to come to terms with her new life, there was still a small part of her that hoped. A small “what if…”. She had tried time and time again to squash that tiny ray of optimism that would escape every so often, tried so very hard to cultivate a hard exterior that wouldn’t let any sort of vulnerability shine through. And that optimism was a vulnerability, after all. It was that vulnerability that had made it absolutely impossible for her to fit in the muggle world, and made it so that she didn’t really want to try.

Five years to come to terms with the fact that she needed a new purpose for her life and…

…not anymore?

Eloise grabbed the letter and greedily read through it again, drinking in all of the words. She paused at the end, thinking. Was this a forgery? Some sort of awful joke orchestrated by her brother? Leo had never been cruel to her in the past; in fact, he was the one who always encouraged her and was the most probable source of the small optimism that remained within her. However, she had no way of knowing how he had changed since she had last seen him. It had been, after all, five very long years. And not once had she heard from him, even though he had promised her through huge sobbing gulps that he would never abandon her. Maybe their parents had slowly poisoned him against her. It would be right on the nose for them, after all.

Looking at the envelope again, however…Third Bedroom on the Left…no. It was too specific. Nobody in her previous life had any reason to even want to contact her again, and nobody in her current life even knew what Hogwarts was, let alone have the ability to convincingly forge a letter just to have some fun at her expense.

A light, bubbly feeling began to spread throughout her body as it sunk in that this was real. She was going to Hogwarts. Soon, a - squinting at the letter again - a Professor Fig would be contacting her and giving her things to study. A huge grin slowly spread across her face and she hugged the letter to her chest as she fell back on her bed. She read through it again. Was it the fifth time already? It felt as though no amount of times rereading the letter would ever be enough.

Eloise got up and walked over to look at the calendar on her desk. She was surprised to see that September 1st was in only two days. The days at the finishing school moved in such a strange, sluggish way. They all felt the same. Monotonous. French and Latin and embroidery and household management and Merlin even knows what else all blending into each other in an endless parade of dusty classrooms and gossip and boredom.

The light feeling left her in an instant as, after years of practice, the optimism was squashed back down. But how will you even get to London? And, her brain added sneakily, you haven’t even shown any signs of magic. Maybe you’ll just be returned back here after they realize their mistake.

No, she thought fiercely, gripping the letter. Until -

A tapping came from the window. A tentative smile returned at the sight of a tawny brown owl with another envelope in its beak. She ripped it open as soon as it was in her hands (again addressed to Miss E. Babbit) and along with the letter a small, purple pouch fell out of the envelope and onto her bed.

Miss Eloise Babbit,

I am pleased to be the wizard charged with such an important task as escorting you to Hogwarts in two days’ time. It is something extraordinary to be accepted in your fifth-year, and as such, I expect extraordinary things from you. I have enclosed a small pouch along with this envelope, and in it are some items that will be vital to you in the upcoming days. I have included books for you to study at your leisure, and a small gobstone that will bring you to our rendezvous point in London. All you have to do is touch it at noon on the 1st and you will be transported instantly.

Your family has not been informed of your acceptance. I am sure you understand why - at this, Eloise scoffed quietly to herself - which is why I will personally be your escort.

I am looking forward to meeting you and bringing you to the sorting ceremony in two days’ time.

Yours,

Eleazar Fig

The handwriting was tiny and spidery and cramped, but it didn’t stop Eloise from reading it with the same vigor as the previous letter and as many times. Finally, she turned to the small pouch that had fallen onto her bed when she opened the second envelope. It must have had an invisible extension charm, because it was filled to the brim with books on basic spellwork and general wizarding history. Professor Fig had no way of knowing, but Eloise had already read many of these books and many more during the year her brother had started Hogwarts, as she had needed to know absolutely everything about what would be awaiting her. A few years may have passed since she had stepped foot in her family’s library, but she couldn’t get the books or their contents out of her brain even if she had wanted to. She had really wanted to forget everything she knew about the magical world when it was confirmed she was a squib but it was a futile effort. As she zoned out during her piano lessons, she would find herself mentally going through the movements to cast different charms.

It was painful to be thinking about things from the life that had been ripped away from her, to know that what she was thinking about would never come to pass, that she would never be able to wield magic - and yet she couldn’t find herself able to stop.

As Eloise picked out one of the books and settled into her armchair, a steely resolve overcame her.

She would prove that she deserved to be there, and was just as capable as any of they were. She would make her parents regret ever discarding her like she was nothing.

She was worthy. She was capable. And she would prove it.

The morning of September 1st dawned cold and rainy. Absolutely perfect.

Eloise had pretended to be sick the night before, and no one had suspected a thing when she stayed in bed long after all of the other girls had gotten ready and headed to breakfast. As the last of the chattering faded away down the hallway, Eloise finally got out of bed and prepared herself for the day. It was difficult to sit still long enough to braid her hair. Her fingers wouldn’t stop trembling and she had to restart countless times. Finally, she tied the black ribbon at the end into a neat bow and turned to the drawer of her desk to retrieve the small purple pouch she had hidden away.

Everything she deemed important enough to come along with her had already been placed inside: the books from Professor Fig, the hair ribbons gifted to her by her brother many years ago, and some clothing. Nothing else was coming with. She needed the fresh start. Besides, anything else she might need would be supplied, as her acceptance letter had specifically stated that any school supplies would be provided to her.

Waiting the hours before noon came along proved to be more difficult than Eloise had imagined. Time seemed to be moving slower than the molasses that had come with the breakfast sent up to her, the steady patter of the rain becoming a sort of metronome keeping time as she paced back and forth. Wasn’t there anything that could distract her, even for a bit? She glanced at the clock. Only five minutes had passed since the last time. 10.35.

The second hand ticking away in tandem with the sound of rain splashing against her window.

What if this was all a trick? What if she arrived at Hogwarts, and they turned her away because they realized they had made a mistake? After all, why would they admit a sixteen-year-old? Surely she was too old; every other student had started Hogwarts at the age of twelve and had shown signs of magic much earlier than that. She still hadn’t shown any signs of magical capability whatsoever, and didn’t feel any different than she had before receiving the letter. It had to be a fluke.

As her thoughts started veering into the melancholy she was prone to, she shook her head. No. Today was a happy, exciting day. She wasn’t going to squash the optimism down today, not when she needed it most. All of these thoughts she was having were simply that: thoughts. Not reality. Hogwarts never made a mistake, and in all of the history books she had read, she couldn’t recall an instance of someone being turned away at the door. Granted, she had also never heard of someone being admitted so late. But, better to focus on what she did know, which was that she had gotten the letter. It must be right in its assumption that she had magic.

Trying to pass the time was easier said than done. She ended up quizzing herself on all of the charms she had memorized in the books sent by Professor Fig, moving an imaginary wand in the precise movements needed to successfully cast and focusing on her pronunciation. She had studied all of these forms late into both nights she had had the books, and when she would eventually close her eyes to sleep, the wand movements were all she saw.

Eloise was determined that she would receive pity from nobody. Nobody was going to look at her like she was lacking. She had gotten enough of that to last a lifetime, and now that she was given this opportunity she wasn’t about to waste it.

When noon finally struck, Eloise was ready and waiting. She eagerly grabbed the gobstone that was sitting on her desk and felt the familiar tugging sensation in her navel as she was whisked away to London and the beginning of her new life.

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