Dear World,

I'm really sorry, but I just am the way I am. I try to act normal. I really do. The only problem is that things always turn out bad. Well, except for that one school field trip. I was very fortunate not to have anything blow up on me that time, seeing as I have a bit of a record for that kind of thing.

I've made all sorts of guesses as to why things tend to explode around me. They range from the ordinary (having extremely bad luck) to the extraordinary (being the reincarnation of a supernatural being dedicated to explosives). My best guess, however, is that there's a barometric pressure fluke that surrounds my life aura.

Okay, I lied. That last one isn't my best guess, it's just the one that I would like to be true. I probably just have bad luck.

Ugh.

I hate being strange and boring at the same time.

-Seamus

Dear World,

Something odd happened today. Mum dropped by! Dad was so angry that he told me to go to my room as soon as I had said hello to her. He said he needed to "talk" to her, and I could see her once they were done.

Only problem was, they didn't just talk. They were yelling so loudly that I could hear snatches of it, even through our thick walls. I think Mum said something like "old enough now, needs to know" and Dad said something rather quietly. Then he yelled "He's NOT going to be like you!" and mum stormed out the door without even waiting to talk to me. That was really odd. Whenever I get to see her, she always seems so eager to talk to me. Did I do something wrong? Did I make her mad?

And I wonder what Mum wanted me to know. Dad's always wanted me to learn things. Why not this? Does it have something to do with Mum's family?

I'm getting a bit frustrated just thinking about this. Maybe I should just go to bed.

-Seamus

Dear World,

It had really been bugging me what Mum and Dad had argued about the other day, so I finally asked Dad about it. He got all nervous and started babbling about getting the turkey in the oven for dinner, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet! When I told him this, he just said that there were things he needed to get done and to ask him later.

Problem is, he avoided me all day. Even at dinner, he ate as fast as he could and started in on the cleaning up. Then he read in his study until late. When I was getting ready for bed, he came in and told me I would be spending the day tomorrow with Mrs. Darthin while he went to London for a few new books and things for his class. I tried to ask why I couldn't go with him, but he was already gone. This is getting extremely annoying.

I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow.

-Seamus

Dear World,

I got a letter today! This is HUGE! I don't usually get mail. Nobody at school writes to me usually, and Nick and Lenny live right in the village. Apart from me not usually getting mail, there was something else odd about this letter. Dad got the mail, so he brought it in. He was sorting through it at the breakfast table, and he pulled out my letter. His face went a sort of grayish color at first, then it turned green, which I had never seen anybody's face do before.

"Great God above!" he said. That was the absolute closest he ever got to swearing.

"What is it, Dad?" I asked. He didn't answer. I tried again. "Dad?"

Eventually he sat up out of the slump he had fallen into when his face turned gray.

"You're going to see your mother." His tone of voice told me right off that this was non-negotiable. I nodded.

"But, Dad," I asked "what's in the letter?"

It took him a moment to answer, and I could tell that we was thinking about telling me. "She'll explain it. Now finish your breakfast and go get ready.

He got up and went to his study. Moments later, I heard the tapping of telephone keys. This, I could not take. I went to go put my shoes on.

When she arrived, I asked her repeatedly to tell me what was going on, but she just kept the knowing smile on her face and wouldn't tell me. She took me to a small cafe in the next, slightly larger, town. Once I had finished my sandwich, she put down her forkful of fettucine alfredo.

"So I'm guessing you have some questions." She sounded as though she had a great secret to tell and couldn't wait to get it off her chest.

"Yeah." I told her about how Dad wouldn't talk about what they had argued about, and then he wouldn't see my letter "...And I'm pretty sure that's a federal offense. " I finished.

Mum grinned "I was just like you when I was your age" she said. "Impatient, always working the system. And... things just tended to happen around me." I perked up at this. So I wasn't the only one! "Do odd things ever happen around you, Seamus?"

"All the time!" I exclaimed. This made her smile get even wider. If it kept growing at this rate, her face was going to split in half.

"What kinds of things?" And so I told her everything I could remember, from the time my maths homework spontaneously compusted to the incident with Tommy Fickle's pet mouse.

"Well." she said. She did seem slightly surprised, but not as much as the things I had just told her would warrant. "Seamus, you're very special. And I've wanted to tell you this for a long time. I'm a witch." My mouth dropped open.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

"That's right." she confirmed. "I'm a witch. And you're a wizard. The things that happen around you and used to happen around me are magic."

This was getting more confusing by the minute. "But I don't understand what this has to do with my letter, Mum."

That wicked grin reappeared. "That letter is an acceptance letter into the finest school of magic in all of Britain"

Darn. I had hoped that being a wizard would get me out of school.

"There are some things you're going to need for school. We can get those today, if you want. Your dad gave me the list from your letter."

And so my adventure as a wizard going to a wizarding school called Hogwarts(I know, freaky name, huh?) began.

-Seamus

Dear World,

Wow. I just found this journal today when I was going through some of my Dad's old stuff. I guess he kept it since I wrote it.

A lot's happened since I wrote it. The Battle of Hogwarts, for instance. Only a small happening. Not even worth mentioning.

I've married Lavender. We've got Hope(she's five) and another kid on the way. I'm convinced it'll be a Joshua, but she insists it's a Kathleen.

Dean and I are still good friends. We do still get together and plan the occasional party. The main difference between these and our parties at school is that we can legally buy Firewhiskey now. It's very nice not to have to pay the Weasley twins to get it for us.

It's been a long time since I got that letter, but I still have it. It changed my life.

And it was definately for the better.

-Seamus