Monday
September 17th 1993
10:54 PM, The dead of the night.
Dearest Diary,
What will become of me? I can't even think anymore! The people at this
bloody institution become more horrible by the day! I.I just cant stand it!
Confused? I'll start at the beginning. It's 7:00 am, and time for those
prudish old crones to wake us up and make us go to our lessons. The
nightmare begins. At breakfast, Amelia and I eat our porridge quickly as we
can. Sooner we begin, the sooner we can stop. We make our beds, and tidy
our dormitories. Sister Anastasia commends me on organizing my small
wardrobe. I thank her graciously. We go to our lessons, and I snore my way
through History, Geography, and Algebra. Finally, lunch time. I eat my
tomato sandwiches quickly. Amelia and I are going outside to watch the
other girls play truth or dare. That's what we do, her and I. We watch from
the sidelines as the other girls have fun and be, well, fourteen. Sister
Leanne rings the bell. It's time to go in and attend to our classes, again.
I sit through double science and all I can think of is how my wool uniform
chafes and the warm day outside. The day goes downhill from here. Lindsay
McAffee passes me a note. I have pasted it in here as a reminder of why I
should never, never EVER again accept a note from Lindsay McAffee.
Hello, Helena. (I can already hear her sneering)
Well, freak face, why don't you just get up and make something fly around
to amuse yourself? You're such a pathetic little geekette. Everyone thinks
you're so amazing because you can do magic tricks. (Everyone? Everyone? I
don't know everyone! ) Well you're not. You're a Circus Sideshow. Why don't
you just get lost?
Sincerely,
The-Much-Better-Than-You
Lindsay
I didn't even have time to feel appalled that Lindsay would feel compelled
to write that to me, before Sister Abigail snatched it out of my hands. She
looks down at me and said in this snotty voice,
"This doesn't look like the notes on the Periodic Table of Elements that
I've asked you to copy, Ms. Potter. You can socialize with Ms. McAffee
later. Seeing as you've already spent my time on it, you can make it up to
me at the end of the day. I want you all copying from the blackboard. Now!"
You can see how I wanted right then and there to 'demonstrate' my superb
right hook for Lindsay, but I didn't. Why? Why? Because I'm a sissy.
Instead, like the doormat that I am, I just bowed my head, and said,
"Yes ma'am."
So I served detention or "disciplinary punishment" for my "Lack of respect
and distracted behavior during an important class". Guess what I had to do.
Go ahead, guess. I had to write lines. Not just any lines, 100 lines of: "I
will not be disrespectful during lessons. I will listen and be obedient."
100 times! That has to be abuse of some kind! At least it's better than the
time last week when I talked back in Algebra. I had to clean the desks. All
of them, in the entire class. There are, like, forty desks in there! And
they had to be spotless. My arms still ache from scraping chewed gum off
the bottom of those desks. But this isn't even the worst of it. You know
what else I did? I accidentally dumped the pail of board cleaning water on
Sister Abigail's head! (Yes, I have to clean the board after, too!) Here's
the thing though; I didn't actually do it! I mean, I think I did it, in a
sense, but I didn't physically get up and dump the bucket on Sister's head.
Some weird things happen around me. Really strange things, things I can't
explain. I've done it before, too. It used to scare me, but I'm not scared
of it anymore. It's natural, like breathing, or something. Anyway, I'm
standing there, stretching as high as I can, writing over and over again,
"I will not be disrespectful, yada yada, yada, blah, blah, blah." And just
thinking, you know, how unfair this is, and how angry I was. I was fuming,
right? So all of a sudden, the bucket of icky grayish water beside my feet
just floats into the air, as carefully as you please, and upends over
Abigail's head! (We aren't
allowed to call the Sister's by their first name but no one looks in here
except for me, besides, I hate Sister Abigail) I wasn't even surprised! I
don't even know why! I just stood there, watching, as she spluttered and
screeched, and asked me what the meaning of this was? I told her I didn't
know, and she just said I was being insolent. It's like, does she know
something that I don't? She sent me to my room right then, until I told her
that I was only at eighty-seven. She told me:
"Then you shall ask God for forgiveness eighty-seven times! Now go!"
So I went to my room, and here's the horrible part. I didn't ask God for
forgiveness. Not even once! I feel like I've sinned, and now I have to ask
for forgiveness at the confessionals. What if the priest can't help me?
What if he sends me to the Bishop because what I did was so horrible that
he can't forgive it? Uh oh! Mother Dolores is coming around to make sure
that no one is breaking curfew. Must go! Besides, the batteries are running
low in my flashlight.
Tuesday, September 18th, 1993 4:47 PM, After Class
Dearest Diary, I forgot to tell you about me! I was so upset at my horrible, rotten, smelly day yesterday, that I forgot to tell you anything! I'll start at the beginning. My name is Helena Mary-Jane Potter, and I have jet black hair that comes to my shoulders. I can never get it tamed, so I have it just in a pony-tail or a braid. But I like it straight the best. Anyway back on topic. My eyes are bright green, and everyone says they're nice, but you can't really tell, because they are always hidden behind my glasses. Nothing to say about them, really. I have no freckles or anything, but I do have a really weird scar on my forehead, that's shaped like a crescent moon. (No idea where I got that, either) I have two earrings on each of my ears. The Sisters frown upon it and say that I, "Shouldn't disfigure my body, because my body is God's temple, too." Whatever. They aren't my mothers. I've never actually known either of my parents. They died before I was born. I don't know how, and I probably never will. Some do-gooder relative dropped me off here, at the Salem Home for Girls. That's where I live. Salem, Oregon. There is supposed to have been a lot of witches here back in the day. Hey, I wonder if that's where I get my weird 'powers'? But that's stupid. Witches don't exist. Anyway, back about my family, or lack there of. I don't have any living grand-parents, and I don't have any other relatives, except an uptight aunt somewhere in Surrey, England. I have no clue as to what happened to the relative who dropped me off. The Sisters forbid questions like that because we are too young to know. Since when is fourteen too young to know about our families? That's just the way it is around here. I've been living here as long as I can remember. The Sisters took care of me and took me to the nursery until I was able to go to classes. I've learned to accept things for what they are. Like my life. I don't have a family, and it's just the way it is. I have only one friend, and strange, whacked out powers, but that's the way it is. My best friend Amelia and I, we hang out together. The other girls don't hang around her much, because she's Anemic and Diabetic. They think they can catch it, the stupid cows. I am excluded because, well, I'm me. I'm the weird girl with the glasses and the funny scar, who hangs around with the sick girl and can make things fly around when she's mad. Yep, that's me, strange to the last drop of my blood. Oh man! Here comes Sister Abigail again, she's calling us for dinner. Sometimes I think I can't have any time to myself. Oh well.
Tuesday, September 18th 1994 7:32 PM After Dinner and Later
Dearest Diary, It's me again, Helena. I've decided just to call you Diary. I'm not going to give you silly names like Amelia and Lisa do. They call their diaries things like, "Michelle" and "Amy" and "Daisy". Not me! I'm different and unique, just like everybody else. I heard that line somewhere once. I can't remember where.AH! No! Now Sister Rita is calling me. She's nice though. I wish I had her for lessons but she teaches the younger students. I'll be back soon!
Wednesday September 19th 1994 9:43 PM Receiving Shocking News
Dearest Diary, As I hold this pen I am so excited I can hardly write! I got a letter yesterday! Not just any letter, but an official looking letter, written on thick, yellowing parchment, addressed in green ink, and sealed with a fancy wax seal, stamped with an "H". I'm getting ahead of myself, so I'll start at the beginning. Sister Rita calls me, right? So I ran out of my room and walked a bit down the hall (we aren't supposed to run) to where Sister Rita was standing, smiling.
"There's a letter, come for you. If you have any questions, come to me afterward." I took it out of her hands all puzzled. It was heavy, and I wanted to ask what it was, but I just nodded and thanked her. Rushing as fast as I could down to my room, I locked the door and bounded onto my bed. With shaking hands, I broke the seal and looked at the address written in loopy green writing on the front. It said:
Ms. Helena Mary-Jane Potter
The Bed on the Left
Room 154 The Salem Home for Girls Salem, Oregon U.S.A. So of course, I'm freaking out, right? I'm like, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! How did they (whoever 'they' may be) know exactly where I am, and everything?" So at first I'm thinking it's a joke, but I need a laugh, so I open it up and I look inside. (Here's where it gets REALLY freaky.) It has my exact name, and birthday, (July 31st) and my age and all this stuff on it, and it says.Ok, prepare yourself.that I'm a witch! Ok, first I'm thinking is that Lindsay McAffee did this as a joke about my powers. A really sick joke, mind you, but a joke. Until I look at the bottom, and there is a list of things I'll need. Things I'll need for Witch and Wizard school! I'm like, totally freaked, right? It also has an exact location of where I can find these shops! And guess what? It's some place in London called Diagon Alley! It says.hold on let me check.It says that I need to "tap the third brick from the left on the brick wall behind the pub called "The Leaky Cauldron" with your 'wand' and thus opens an archway to Diagon Alley!" I like, can't even breath and I'm sitting there dumbstruck! There's a list of all these books, like, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration" (whatever that is) by some dude named "Emeric Switch. Plus all these other books like, "The Standard Book of Spells, level Four". I don't know what to make of this! Anyway, this.school, it's a boarding school somewhere in Europe -Which is really cool, because I've never been to Europe- and it's called, (Ok, Diary you just WON'T believe this!) Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Then I remember that Sister Rita said to go to her with all my questions, so I pack up my letter and hid it in you, and I walked to the door as calmly as I could, but I find Sister Rita, already standing there, by my door! Like she was waiting for me! She goes to me, she says: "Ms. Potter, I suppose you have many questions. Not all of them, I'm afraid can be answered by me, but I will do my best. Come with me, Helena." So she starts walking and I follow her out to the school yard. We walk out the chain link fence and down the street. It turns out she was taking me to this park at the end of the street. It had all these trees, and she takes me and sits me down by the tree. Then, she does the scariest thing! She takes out this long stick thing with a rubber handle and she waves it. All of a sudden, this tall backed wooden chair appears! I am not even kidding! It must have been a wand! This must be real! I was so excited! Anyway, she just sits down as if that was as normal as blinking, and she sits down. I'm like, woah! What in the hell just happened? So she just starts on talking. She tells me, that my parents were killed when I was one. Murdered by, -you won't believe this- an evil wizard name Voldie.something. Oh right, Voldemort. Anywho, she goes on to tell me that I'm a witch and that my parents were Lily and James Potter and they lived in England, in a place called Godric's Hollow. They went to this Hogwarts school too. This isn't even the weirdest part. You know that scar that I told you about? It's really a mark. Not just any mark, but the mark of where the evil curse hit my brother and I, and couldn't kill us. That's right, my brother and I! It turns out, that I have a twin brother, and he's at that school right now! Learning all sorts of magical things! His name is Harry James Potter and he's really famous! Actually, we're really famous! Because we are the only living people to have ever survived this curse, er.Avada something.hold on, I'll check this Wizarding book that Sister Rita gave me.(it's so cool! The pictures MOVE!) It says: "The only known living people to have survived the Avada Kedavra curse, are Harry and Helena Potter." How just.WOW is that? I'm in an encyclopedia! Not just any encyclopedia, a Witch's Encyclopedia! It's called: "The Wizarding Encyclopedia Britannica" and I never even knew anything like this existed! Oh my god, it's already like, half-past ten! I need some sleep! I'll tell you more tomorrow, Diary!
Um, Thursday September 20th 1993 4:56 PM Feeling Very Torn
Dearest Diary, I have a problem. It's not just a little problem; it's a big, big, very big problem. Sister Rita just talked to me again, and it turns out that this other world, my world, has a big, big problem too. Its name is Lord Voldemort. That evil guy I told you about? Well it turns out that these Wizarding people have got a secret society to fight him. They are called "The Order of the Phoenix" and they have heard that he's gaining power again. There's more, Diary, oh there's more. He wants to take over the world, and he wants to kill certain people. Certain people meaning my brother and I. I don't want to die Dairy! I don't no I don't! I'm only 14! I might have to fight him, and I don't think I can do it! Let me explain. There's a prophecy. It was made at my (our) birth and it says something to the effect of, the children born to a witch and a wizard at the end of July, are going to have to kill the Dark Lord or be killed trying. Cheerful message, no? It doesn't say when, either. Couldn't these stupid phsycos or soothsayers or whatever come up with something more precise? Can't this whole wizard world just keep a handle on these bad guys, or turn them into toads, or something? I don't want to be killed, but I don't want to be a murderer either! I have never, ever had to decide something so hard. The prophecy also says that the one born at the end of July would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord. I don't know what the power is, and if it can defeat this evil maniac then I don't know if I want to know! Wouldn't killing him just make me no better than all these other bad guys? She told me a lot more, too. Like that we're heroes, my brother and I, and that the Dark Lord (no one says his name, I've been told) fled with his powers diminished after he couldn't kill us! She handed me a stack of books, and ton of things like Potions ingredients and scales and all sorts of crazy things! I will have to tell you, that she bought me and Owl as well. His name is Zeus and he's a lovely Tawny. I said thank you, but she said that the money was mine, and not to thank her. I have money?? Not just a bit, she says, but a lot! Tons! Piles! And I've been living in this orphanage for my whole life? I'm starting to think that these witch and wizards are just crazy. They're nuts, and I don't know if I want to be one of them! Maybe I'll just take my money and run, and live a normal life, and not have to be one of these freaks! I'm so scared! Wait, that was a horrible thing to say! I couldn't just run away! The whole wizarding world depends on me! I'm writing in pen, so I'll have to scratch it out. I feel so messed up. I have to pack, because tomorrow someone is coming to take me to Diagon Alley to pick up the rest of my things. And my wand, can you believe it? Me neither! What if all of this is some sick joke? But Sister Rita showed me magic, so it must be real, it has to be! I.I just feel so messed up. I need to put you away now, because I might forget you here, and I certainly, most definitely don't' want that to happen. You are my only, best and truest friend. I love you.
Tuesday, September 18th, 1993 4:47 PM, After Class
Dearest Diary, I forgot to tell you about me! I was so upset at my horrible, rotten, smelly day yesterday, that I forgot to tell you anything! I'll start at the beginning. My name is Helena Mary-Jane Potter, and I have jet black hair that comes to my shoulders. I can never get it tamed, so I have it just in a pony-tail or a braid. But I like it straight the best. Anyway back on topic. My eyes are bright green, and everyone says they're nice, but you can't really tell, because they are always hidden behind my glasses. Nothing to say about them, really. I have no freckles or anything, but I do have a really weird scar on my forehead, that's shaped like a crescent moon. (No idea where I got that, either) I have two earrings on each of my ears. The Sisters frown upon it and say that I, "Shouldn't disfigure my body, because my body is God's temple, too." Whatever. They aren't my mothers. I've never actually known either of my parents. They died before I was born. I don't know how, and I probably never will. Some do-gooder relative dropped me off here, at the Salem Home for Girls. That's where I live. Salem, Oregon. There is supposed to have been a lot of witches here back in the day. Hey, I wonder if that's where I get my weird 'powers'? But that's stupid. Witches don't exist. Anyway, back about my family, or lack there of. I don't have any living grand-parents, and I don't have any other relatives, except an uptight aunt somewhere in Surrey, England. I have no clue as to what happened to the relative who dropped me off. The Sisters forbid questions like that because we are too young to know. Since when is fourteen too young to know about our families? That's just the way it is around here. I've been living here as long as I can remember. The Sisters took care of me and took me to the nursery until I was able to go to classes. I've learned to accept things for what they are. Like my life. I don't have a family, and it's just the way it is. I have only one friend, and strange, whacked out powers, but that's the way it is. My best friend Amelia and I, we hang out together. The other girls don't hang around her much, because she's Anemic and Diabetic. They think they can catch it, the stupid cows. I am excluded because, well, I'm me. I'm the weird girl with the glasses and the funny scar, who hangs around with the sick girl and can make things fly around when she's mad. Yep, that's me, strange to the last drop of my blood. Oh man! Here comes Sister Abigail again, she's calling us for dinner. Sometimes I think I can't have any time to myself. Oh well.
Tuesday, September 18th 1994 7:32 PM After Dinner and Later
Dearest Diary, It's me again, Helena. I've decided just to call you Diary. I'm not going to give you silly names like Amelia and Lisa do. They call their diaries things like, "Michelle" and "Amy" and "Daisy". Not me! I'm different and unique, just like everybody else. I heard that line somewhere once. I can't remember where.AH! No! Now Sister Rita is calling me. She's nice though. I wish I had her for lessons but she teaches the younger students. I'll be back soon!
Wednesday September 19th 1994 9:43 PM Receiving Shocking News
Dearest Diary, As I hold this pen I am so excited I can hardly write! I got a letter yesterday! Not just any letter, but an official looking letter, written on thick, yellowing parchment, addressed in green ink, and sealed with a fancy wax seal, stamped with an "H". I'm getting ahead of myself, so I'll start at the beginning. Sister Rita calls me, right? So I ran out of my room and walked a bit down the hall (we aren't supposed to run) to where Sister Rita was standing, smiling.
"There's a letter, come for you. If you have any questions, come to me afterward." I took it out of her hands all puzzled. It was heavy, and I wanted to ask what it was, but I just nodded and thanked her. Rushing as fast as I could down to my room, I locked the door and bounded onto my bed. With shaking hands, I broke the seal and looked at the address written in loopy green writing on the front. It said:
Ms. Helena Mary-Jane Potter
The Bed on the Left
Room 154 The Salem Home for Girls Salem, Oregon U.S.A. So of course, I'm freaking out, right? I'm like, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! How did they (whoever 'they' may be) know exactly where I am, and everything?" So at first I'm thinking it's a joke, but I need a laugh, so I open it up and I look inside. (Here's where it gets REALLY freaky.) It has my exact name, and birthday, (July 31st) and my age and all this stuff on it, and it says.Ok, prepare yourself.that I'm a witch! Ok, first I'm thinking is that Lindsay McAffee did this as a joke about my powers. A really sick joke, mind you, but a joke. Until I look at the bottom, and there is a list of things I'll need. Things I'll need for Witch and Wizard school! I'm like, totally freaked, right? It also has an exact location of where I can find these shops! And guess what? It's some place in London called Diagon Alley! It says.hold on let me check.It says that I need to "tap the third brick from the left on the brick wall behind the pub called "The Leaky Cauldron" with your 'wand' and thus opens an archway to Diagon Alley!" I like, can't even breath and I'm sitting there dumbstruck! There's a list of all these books, like, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration" (whatever that is) by some dude named "Emeric Switch. Plus all these other books like, "The Standard Book of Spells, level Four". I don't know what to make of this! Anyway, this.school, it's a boarding school somewhere in Europe -Which is really cool, because I've never been to Europe- and it's called, (Ok, Diary you just WON'T believe this!) Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Then I remember that Sister Rita said to go to her with all my questions, so I pack up my letter and hid it in you, and I walked to the door as calmly as I could, but I find Sister Rita, already standing there, by my door! Like she was waiting for me! She goes to me, she says: "Ms. Potter, I suppose you have many questions. Not all of them, I'm afraid can be answered by me, but I will do my best. Come with me, Helena." So she starts walking and I follow her out to the school yard. We walk out the chain link fence and down the street. It turns out she was taking me to this park at the end of the street. It had all these trees, and she takes me and sits me down by the tree. Then, she does the scariest thing! She takes out this long stick thing with a rubber handle and she waves it. All of a sudden, this tall backed wooden chair appears! I am not even kidding! It must have been a wand! This must be real! I was so excited! Anyway, she just sits down as if that was as normal as blinking, and she sits down. I'm like, woah! What in the hell just happened? So she just starts on talking. She tells me, that my parents were killed when I was one. Murdered by, -you won't believe this- an evil wizard name Voldie.something. Oh right, Voldemort. Anywho, she goes on to tell me that I'm a witch and that my parents were Lily and James Potter and they lived in England, in a place called Godric's Hollow. They went to this Hogwarts school too. This isn't even the weirdest part. You know that scar that I told you about? It's really a mark. Not just any mark, but the mark of where the evil curse hit my brother and I, and couldn't kill us. That's right, my brother and I! It turns out, that I have a twin brother, and he's at that school right now! Learning all sorts of magical things! His name is Harry James Potter and he's really famous! Actually, we're really famous! Because we are the only living people to have ever survived this curse, er.Avada something.hold on, I'll check this Wizarding book that Sister Rita gave me.(it's so cool! The pictures MOVE!) It says: "The only known living people to have survived the Avada Kedavra curse, are Harry and Helena Potter." How just.WOW is that? I'm in an encyclopedia! Not just any encyclopedia, a Witch's Encyclopedia! It's called: "The Wizarding Encyclopedia Britannica" and I never even knew anything like this existed! Oh my god, it's already like, half-past ten! I need some sleep! I'll tell you more tomorrow, Diary!
Um, Thursday September 20th 1993 4:56 PM Feeling Very Torn
Dearest Diary, I have a problem. It's not just a little problem; it's a big, big, very big problem. Sister Rita just talked to me again, and it turns out that this other world, my world, has a big, big problem too. Its name is Lord Voldemort. That evil guy I told you about? Well it turns out that these Wizarding people have got a secret society to fight him. They are called "The Order of the Phoenix" and they have heard that he's gaining power again. There's more, Diary, oh there's more. He wants to take over the world, and he wants to kill certain people. Certain people meaning my brother and I. I don't want to die Dairy! I don't no I don't! I'm only 14! I might have to fight him, and I don't think I can do it! Let me explain. There's a prophecy. It was made at my (our) birth and it says something to the effect of, the children born to a witch and a wizard at the end of July, are going to have to kill the Dark Lord or be killed trying. Cheerful message, no? It doesn't say when, either. Couldn't these stupid phsycos or soothsayers or whatever come up with something more precise? Can't this whole wizard world just keep a handle on these bad guys, or turn them into toads, or something? I don't want to be killed, but I don't want to be a murderer either! I have never, ever had to decide something so hard. The prophecy also says that the one born at the end of July would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord. I don't know what the power is, and if it can defeat this evil maniac then I don't know if I want to know! Wouldn't killing him just make me no better than all these other bad guys? She told me a lot more, too. Like that we're heroes, my brother and I, and that the Dark Lord (no one says his name, I've been told) fled with his powers diminished after he couldn't kill us! She handed me a stack of books, and ton of things like Potions ingredients and scales and all sorts of crazy things! I will have to tell you, that she bought me and Owl as well. His name is Zeus and he's a lovely Tawny. I said thank you, but she said that the money was mine, and not to thank her. I have money?? Not just a bit, she says, but a lot! Tons! Piles! And I've been living in this orphanage for my whole life? I'm starting to think that these witch and wizards are just crazy. They're nuts, and I don't know if I want to be one of them! Maybe I'll just take my money and run, and live a normal life, and not have to be one of these freaks! I'm so scared! Wait, that was a horrible thing to say! I couldn't just run away! The whole wizarding world depends on me! I'm writing in pen, so I'll have to scratch it out. I feel so messed up. I have to pack, because tomorrow someone is coming to take me to Diagon Alley to pick up the rest of my things. And my wand, can you believe it? Me neither! What if all of this is some sick joke? But Sister Rita showed me magic, so it must be real, it has to be! I.I just feel so messed up. I need to put you away now, because I might forget you here, and I certainly, most definitely don't' want that to happen. You are my only, best and truest friend. I love you.