A Muggle's Playground

Chapter One Mrs. Field was leafing through the morning newspaper when she came across a picture of a flying car. "Henry!" she yelled, "get down here!" There was stomping sounds coming from above, and soon Henry was standing next to his wife. "What is it Mary?" he asked. "Look! What kind of rubbish is this?" asked Mary as she pointed to the picture. Henry bent over the picture and examined it, and then rolled his eyes. "Rubbish indeed. It's probably a fake picture made on someone's computer," he said. He stomped his way back upstairs. Mrs. Field still thought that maybe the picture could be real. There was even a red haired boy and another brown haired boy in the car, and what was this? An owl? Why would someone have an owl in a flying car? There was only one person that would be able to tell if this was true or not, and that was her daughter Jenny. Jenny had recently moved out to live with her husband Mark, and she was now working in the study of the paranormal. Mrs. Field knew that Jenny would be able to tell if this was a real picture or a fake. Mrs. Field got into her car and headed over to a large building that had a sign out front that said Advanced Paranormal Research. She went inside and went directly to Jenny's office, still clutching the newspaper article in her hand. Jenny looked up from her work when Mrs. Field came in. "Mom! What are you doing here?" she asked. "Hi honey, how are you? I have been really troubled by this picture lately." She handed the article over to Jenny carefully. Jenny looked it over for about ten minutes, and then finally she looked up at her mother. "This," she said, "is real. It is definitely real." "But how? How is someone driving around with a flying car?" asked Mrs. Field. "Well," said Jenny, "I haven't told anyone yet, but I have been doing some private research for over a year now and I have found something quite extraordinary." Mrs. Field raised her eyebrows. "Really? What did you find?" "I found a school," Jessica whispered, "and it is not your normal type of school. It is a school where young witches and wizards go to practice and learn about magic. It is called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." "You must be kidding me. There is no such thing!" "Ah, but there is. In fact, the little boy driving that flying car is named Ron Weasley. And the boy next to him is the most famous young wizard of all times: Harry Potter." "I.I just don't understand how this all could be real!" said Mrs. Field. "I couldn't believe it either, but I have researched it for so long, and a few times I have even seen the school! Here, take these documents and read them over, and soon you will know everything about Hogwarts and the students that go there," said Jenny as she handed the documents to her mother. "Thank you dear, this is all so shocking! I can't wait to tell Henry about it!" said Mrs. Field. "Uh, I wouldn't do that mom. I have a strong feeling that if a lot of muggles knew about this things could get out of hand." "Fine. Goodbye dear, and thank you for your help." Said Mrs. Field. She waved goodbye to Jenny and walked out. She went home and spent the rest of the day reading the documentaries. As a little girl she had always dreamt of magic and wizards, but she convinced herself as she got older that there wasn't such a thing as magic. But now that she found it actually was real, she was full of excitement! Mrs. Field looked at her watch. It was almost 6:30 and Henry would be coming home soon. She hid the documents and started making dinner. A few minutes later, Henry came stomping into the house. "Hello Mary. How did everything go today?" "Fine, dear." "Good. I saw a flying car today, I wish people would stop playing these tricks on people, we all know it's fake!" "Actually, I talked to Jenny today. She told me not to tell anyone, but I know that I can trust you. She said that she has been doing private research for over a year and she found out that there really are wizards and witches!" Mrs. Field went on explaining to her husband about all the documents she had read up on. At first Henry didn't believe it, but she soon had him convinced. "Maybe we could get Jenny to take us to see the school!" said Mary. "I think she would if we promise to keep a low profile," said Henry. Mary went to the phone and dialed up Jenny's number. Jenny answered after two rings. "Hello?" "Hi dear, it mom again." "Oh hi! Did you read the documents?" "Yes I did! I hope you're not mad at me, but I was just bursting to tell someone. I told Henry all about it, and we were both wondering if you could take us to see Hogwarts!" "Um.well.I guess so." "We promise to keep a low profile, but we really want to make sure that this school you're talking about is real!" "It is mom! Do you really need to see it though?" "Yes. Is there any way we could all go tomorrow?" "I suppose so. I will come over first thing tomorrow morning." "Okay bye bye." Mary hung up the phone and told Henry that they would be able to see the school tomorrow, and they went upstairs to go to bed. ~~~***~~~***~~~ The next morning Mary and Henry woke up early and were already sitting down to breakfast. There was a knock at the door. Mr. Field opened it and hugged his daughter. "Good morning dad!" said Jenny. "Good morning. Mary and I are just so excited to see Hogwarts!" he said. Jenny smiled nervously and then waited for Mrs. Field to clean up breakfast, and then they got into Jenny's car. "Usually," said Jenny as she started the car," it is almost impossible for muggles to find Hogwarts," "Muggles?" said Henry, "what are muggles?" "Muggles are a term used for people who don't practice magic and know nothing about magic at all," said Jenny. "Oh," said Henry. "Anyways, I found a way to get to this school. I found out that the students that go to this school are getting there by a sort of magical train at Platform 9 ¾. I followed the train with my car and now I know how to get there!" said Jenny. Jenny drove through hills, grassy plains, and swift streams for almost two hours. Then they came to a huge lake. The lake's waters looked black and uninviting. Jenny stopped the car and they all got out. "This is the tricky part," said Jenny. "All sorts of dangerous creatures live in these waters and have been charmed to destroy any muggle that might try to cross it. Luckily I found an old wizard car and I hid it over there, so we will be able to fly across the lake." "Jenny, you are brilliant!" said her mother. Jenny escorted them to the flying car and told her mother and father to buckle up. Jenny got into the drivers seat and turned on the car. Mr. And Mrs. Field looked a little nervous as she started up the car. The car began lifting up and it got higher and higher off the ground. Then Jenny drove it forward across the lake. Needless to say, Mr. and Mrs. Field were acting like children on a rollercoaster. They were cheering and screaming and laughing. "This is amazing!" they both yelled. Jenny landed the car and they all got out and stood before a beautiful gigantic castle. Henry and Mary's mouths both dropped open at the sight of it. "Amazing," said Mary. "We would be putting ourselves in a lot of danger if we actually did go into the school, so we will sneak over to the quidditch field and watch the students play," said Jenny. Before Henry could even ask what quidditch was, Jenny explained it to them and then directed them over to the quidditch field. They hid behind a long row of bushes. Soon students were coming out into the field carrying broomsticks and wearing robes of all different colors. Some students were also watching from towers overlooking the field. The students on the brooms rose up above the ground and balls were released from a woman in the middle of the field. Then the students started flying around and hitting the bludgers and throwing the quaffles. "I cannot believe my eyes!" said Henry. "Me either! This sport that they call quidditch is very interesting!" said Mary. Jenny just smiled at them. She was happy to share something that no other muggles in London knew about at the moment. After the quidditch match was done, the students in the red and gold robes were jumping up and down and cheering. "Did those students win?" asked Mary. "Yes. They are the students from the house called Gryffindor," said Jenny. Jenny, Mary, and Henry went back to the flying car and flew across the lake. Henry and Mary couldn't stop talking about what they had just witnessed! Then they got back into Jenny's car and went home. As Mrs. Field sweeped up the kitchen later that night, she knew that she would never look at a broom the same way again.