"Across the Pond"
Chapter One
The roofs of the city of Indianapolis were baking. It was early September, and Helios seemed to be shining extra-hard, in order to avoid losing his position, with the imminent coming of fall. It was in this city, in St. Malefecent's Academy for the Instruction of Benevolent Magical Theory, that a young man awoke, to find himself drenched with sweat. The young man was Uriel Inkwell. He was an aspiring wizard, a sixth year at St. Malefecent's.
Scrambling quickly out of bed, Uriel headed to the showers. He had to get to breakfast early, today. For you see, today was the day that Professor Mercury would announce the winner of the contest—the contest to find the student whom St. Malefecent's would send to the UK, to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
After his shower, Uriel bolted to the Great Hall, his mid-neck-length, chestnut hair still fairly damp. He took his seat at his house's table, and looked up, expectantly, at Professor Mercury. The professor was an unnaturally old man. His skin was stretched, and the frail bones and limp, varicose veins of his hands could be seen easily. His bushy, silver beard was trimmed, and he wore his hair in a nineteenth-century fashion. Oblong spectacles mirrored his violet eyes, which almost always seemed regretful, melancholy…who can say what that man had endured?
Professor Mercury took out an envelope. Removing its contents and reading them quickly, he smiled. "I'm sure you're all excited about the results," he said, "so I had better tell you what they are before you throttle me. And so, without further ado, I am proud to announce that the winner of the contest is Uriel Inkwell." He sat back down.
Great cheers erupted all over the hall. Although Uriel fit the archetypal role of "nerd" perfectly, and so was not immensely popular, he was well liked; and besides, everyone liked him much more than his rival, the snobby and obnoxious Ptolemy Anderson. Uriel cast Ptolemy a gloating, triumphal look, to which the response was a twisted face and a protruded tongue.
Yes, thought Uriel, I'm going to go to Hogwarts, and not that impudent bitch, Anderson; and as far as I'm concerned, he can go jump in a river! Uriel would leave in three weeks, and the anticipation was boiling inside him like so many cauldrons.