"Lucinda! Come back here this instant or you will not be going back to that boarding school this year!"
I turned around in the dimly-lit grey hallway, defeated. I had just used accidental magic on 13-year-old boy, Matthew, because he was being a prick. He was a muggle, and I'm a witch, but nobody knew that of course except the caretaker of the orphanage, Miss. Hill.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I really didn't mean to."
Miss. Hill walked up to me. She leaned down and whispered: "Well going to that magical Hoggywarts boarding school of yours, you should know better!"
I was then sent to my room, with the A4 piece of paper bearing my name, Lucinda Foster, with the ink slowly fading and the paper crumpling and breaking at the edges. My orphanage was in the countryside of Chesham, close London, but too far away to visit my friends. I was going back to school in two days, and before that I was going to meet with Hermione, my friend, to go to Ron's house with Harry to see the Quidditch World Cup today.
You might think it's jargon: muggle, quidditch, Hoggywarts (it's supposed to be Hogwarts). It sounds strange, but yes, I am a witch, and those friends' names I mentioned are magical. It's real, so deal with it and read on.
I packed all of my necessary items into my school trunk: school books, personal clothes, toiletries, money, sets of uniforms and other things that I would need. I held my wand on me. Once I put the last of my items in there, I shut my trunk and closed the door to my room and wheeled it down the stairs, trying not to cause a ruckus.
I walked towards the entrance hall of the orphanage, where I was unceremoniously placed here 13 years ago. "Miss Hill, I'm leaving!" I yelled out. She came down the hall to where I was standing. I placed my scarf over my neck. "I'm seeing my friends before school starts to go to a sporting event, so I won't be back until next year. One of my friends' parents are picking me up soon." I said in a normal speaking voice.
Miss Hill strangely liked me, I guess since she has known me the longest. So, whenever there were no other kids around, she was nice to me. "I'll miss you Lucinda. And that is great that you are going to see your friends before school! What event are you seeing?" Miss Hill asked me.
"A magical sport, but I'll just say soccer to be normal." I snickered.
"You never fail to impress me. Have a great time and-" Miss Hill was cut off by a honk from outside. "That must be them," She hurried me outside the door, waving to Hermione's parents, in which they waved back through the window.
"You've got your umbrella? Okay, good." She looked down at me and smiled before hugging me. "I want you to come back for Christmas, but I know it's not wise. I'll see you next year, then."
"See you later, Miss Hill." I smiled. I then opened my umbrella and walked down the steps. Mr Granger, Hermione's Dad, ran out of the car and briefly said hello to me in the rain, taking my luggage and putting it in the back. I then opened the car door and ungracefully launched myself into shield from the rain, sitting in the back with Hermione. Hermione's parents were muggles, not magical like her and I.
"Hello Lucy! I'm so happy that you could come with us! I'm ever so excited to go!" Hermione smiled, hugging me.
I hugged her back, then I buckled in my seatbelt and we drove off to London, where we would Floo to the Weasley's house from The Leaky Cauldron, an Inn and Bar exclusively for witches and wizards. "Me too Hermione! How many people will go, do you think?" I asked her.
"Thousands, since it is the finals! I've been writing letters to Harry and Ron all summer, and they are very excited!" Hermione exclaimed. I smiled, faking it. I looked down. "You couldn't write to them, could you Lucy?"
"Nope." I replied, looking out the rainy window, watching trees and buildings fly by as Mr. Granger was driving. "Nothing happened. No news, only your muggle mail and that's it. I can't get anything from the wizarding world. I'm trapped in the muggle world for three months." I sighed.
Hermione grabbed my hand. "You are going to have the time of your life. I am positive." She promised. I squeezed her hand in agreement.
We finally arrived at The Leaky Cauldron and I thanked Mr. and Mrs. Granger for taking me there with Hermione. Hermione and I grabbed our trunks and her backpack (I put mine in my trunk) and we went into the bar, immediately Flooing to the Weasley's house. It was just about dinnertime when we arrived, and Molly (Ron's mother) was setting the large table.
"Lucinda! Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley smiled. She walked over to us and gave us both a bone-crushing hug. "How are you both?"
"I'm fine, just tired from the journey. Sitting in that car for hours makes you tired." Hermione replied.
"I'm sure it does. And how are you, Lucinda? I hope that muggle boy didn't give you any grief this summer." Molly said, putting her hands on her hips.
I laughed. "Nothing I can't handle, Mrs. Weasley. I can manage. Thank you for the concern though. And yes, I'm pretty well too, thank you for asking." I answered. I could hear the instructor at my orphanage nagging me on and on to always answer confidently and clearly. Her words, not mine.
"That is great girls! Well you both can sleep with Ginny. Harry is here too, with Ron in his room. You can go up now if you'd like." Mrs Weasley offered. We generously accepted, asking her if she needed any help. She didn't want any, and I felt bad for not helping, walking up the rickety staircase to Ginny's room. "Dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes!"
Hermione and I travelled up the staircase, saying hello to each of Ron's brothers. After we said hello to Ginny and placed our trunks next to our beds, we walked into Ron's room, which he was sharing with Harry. Ron and Harry were sitting on the floor, talking. They noticed us walking into the room.
"Took you long enough! You missed lunch! Mum makes these amazing tomato and cheese sandwiches, and-" Ron started.
"Can you talk about something else, Ronald?" Hermione huffed. "Merlin, it's like all you talk about is food!"
I sat down next to Harry on the floor, beside Ron and opposite Hermione. "Hey guys, how was your summer? Beside the sandwiches, of course." I snickered.
"We didn't do much since Egypt was last year." Ron started off for the four of us. "We had to just de-gnome the garden. Dad worked a lot, though. Raids are becoming more common since this muggle company released an-an operating thingy."
"Oh yes," Hermione commented. "My dad has the new Windows computer system. It's too hard to explain, but it's on every advert in the city. Anyway, me and my parents went on a trip to Paris, and it was beautiful! The pastries, and art, and everyone on their bikes. I loved it!"
There was a brief silence, so I decided to talk. "Nothing happened for me. I mostly stayed inside and read. And I'm sorry we took so long, Ron, where I live it's like a billion miles away! I hope you didn't catch the storm, Chesham was pouring for weeks, so I couldn't go outside. I couldn't do magic anyway, so it was drowsy…" I trailed off. "Harry? How was your summer?"
Harry was about to answer when Mrs. Weasley called that dinner was ready. You could hear multiple pairs of feet making a dash to the kitchen, because let's face it, Mrs. Weasley's cooking was the best. We walked in and Hermione and I sat next to each other. But before we dug in, some other people came into the room.
"Sorry we're late. Blasted rain that is, isn't it?" Someone said.
"It's England, what do you expect?" The other replied.
They sat down near Harry, and slowly everyone was here, with Mr Weasley appearing out of the blue from the Ministry. I looked to Harry confused. "Lucy, you already know Remus, but I would like you to meet Sirius, my Mum, Lily, and my Dad, James. The four of them are teaching this year."
I looked over to who Harry was referring to. I smiled at my ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who gave me a small nod in greeting. I then looked over to the other three. Their faces went pale when they saw me, just like Remus' did when he first saw me on the train exactly a year ago. I found it strange, but nevertheless, I smiled at them. Remus looked at the other three warily then back to me, like something was up.
"Hello professors, I'm Lucinda Foster, Harry's friend. It's nice to finally meet you! Harry has told me a lot about you. Now I can finally put the name to the face." I smiled.
You could hear a pin drop. Everyone was looking at me, then Harry's Mum and Dad, then back to me. Harry was doing this too. Remus was even shocked. Finally, Harry's parents and Sirius broke out of their trance. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Lucinda." Mr Potter said, drawing out my name, confused.
The tension was in the air, but luckily, Mrs. Weasley was able to break it with her cooking. Soon after, everyone forgot about the awkward meeting between Harry's family and me and ate their dinner. But Remus, Sirius, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter were still giving me glances as I chatted with Ginny.
Something was up, and I didn't like it.
An owl then flew to the window sill from the night sky. It was holding a letter. Fred went up and got it, and the owl flew away. "It's your Hogwarts letter, Lucy. Hang on, why didn't you get yours last month?" Fred asked me.
He handed me my letter and sat back down. "I can't receive wizarding letters, only muggle ones. It's so that there is no attention on me, and no exposure from our world. It sucks, it really does." I sighed. I opened the letter, looking at the normal listings that Hermione had sent me earlier. I had the books and all that, but one thing that she forgot to mention was: "A dress?" I asked to no-one in particular. "Why in Merlin's name do I need a dress?"
"What is it, sweetheart?" Mrs. Weasley asked me.
I read out the letter. "'This information is in regard ONLY to students in years four, five, six and seven. These year levels listed will be required to have a dress/dress robes given to them or bought themselves from Hogsmeade or other no later than the middle of December. This is for an important event that is happening before Christmas break. This is not compulsory; however, it is encouraged that students attend the event.' Have I missed this? What is happening this year?"
"It should be something fun." Mrs. Potter smiled.
"But I don't have dress robes. Where am I going to find any?" Ron said.
"I know your Great Aunt Tessie had some." Mrs. Weasley spoke.
Ron looked outraged, making all of us laugh. "You're joking, right?! I'm not wearing that!" Ron yelled.
"I'm sure she is, Ron." Mr. Weasley smiled, looking at all of us before eating a potato. Ron huffed and slumped back into his seat.
This was going to be a great year; I could feel it.