My first story. Horrible, I know, but I hope I'll get better in time. If anyone reads this, please review? I need constructive criticism, but I also need a friend or two on this site. Thanks!

So, to those of you who don't get the point of this, it's a series of comical letters from HP characters to their fathers. I'll be starting off with nextgen, and then maybe doing repeats of certain characters...we'll see. So this is Hugo's; next up will be Scorpius.

Dear Dad,

Please don't tell Mum, but I failed my Apparition test. Yeah, Lily got her license all right, but I splinched. Splinched! You see, it was all a case of nerves. Before today, I swear I could apparate anywhere. Besides the official lessons, Lily and I practiced for ages during our last Hogsmeade weekend. (Don't tell Mum that either. She'll go on about how both of us are "underage" and should be behaving ourselves...not that she's at all justified. When you were our age, you guys were total delinquents. But that's beside the point.)

Anyways, when we tested, they made us travel from behind the Three Broomsticks to the front of Madam Puddifoot's. My examiner didn't like me much to begin with...he told me that I should cut my hair, clip my nails, and take a bath. Apparently "children these days" aren't what they were in "the good old days." I mean, honestly, before going at me, he really should have done something about his warts. They weren't just normal warts, they were warts upon warts. And warts upon those as well. Not to mention his teeth. Like he'd painted them yellow before he came. Ugh. Oh god, I'm rambling, aren't I? Damn it all.

Well, so when I apparated, I was quite a few feet off target. Oh, and I overbalanced, tripped over my own toes, and fell on the examiner's shoes. Nightmarish, you know. And the way he looked at me after I had picked myself up...I was petrified - petrified, I tell you. The only thing that was keeping me somewhat sane was the fact that I hadn't splinched myself in any noticeable way. I counted my fingers and toes twice over to be sure. But apparently, that dingbat of an examiner wanted to be more thorough than that. It was horrendous - I just had to stand there, enduring Lily's laughter from behind, while my eyebrow hairs, eyelashes, and so forth were inspected. After about five minutes of pure awkwardness, I was reluctantly let through. The examiner seemed completely furious; he squeezed my hand with a grip of steel. And while he was cutting off all blood circulation from my wrist forwards, he noticed that the fingernail on my right thumb was slightly shorter than it had been about five minutes previously. And that was the end of that. I was told that if I managed to splinch my nail, I could just as easily leave my head behind, and where would I be then? (Of course, if he hadn't noticed the length of my nails to begin with, I surely would've slipped by. But that's just my luck, isn't it?)

Lily says it's not the end of the world, but I'm afraid I've ruined any chance I have of living a somewhat successful life. With my parents, our reputation - how can I go on with a failed Apparition test? What on earth do I do now, Dad? Mum told me during Christmas hols that it didn't matter, even you didn't pass your first test. But what if she's changed her mind, or didn't mean it in the first place? Rose and Albus got their licenses two years ago without any problem. Bloody hell, even James managed it. Why not me? I feel like a total idiot. I need advice - please. I don't want to be disowned.

Sincerely,
Hugo