Prologue
My stomach was clenched with nervousness. All my dreams were held up in this moment. I held a letter in my hand. Elizabeth had gotten one of these letters to tell her that she was going to Hogwarts. That she was a witch. Mum and Dad were so proud. Of course, they expected it. As a pure-blood Elizabeth was obviously destined for greatness in the magical world. And I was too. But as I opened the letter, peeling back the wax that held the letter closed, I sensed something was wrong. The envelope wasn't as full as Lizzie's had been. I read the hard-to-read cursive handwriting on the parchment.
Dear Mr. Argus Filch,
I am sorry to say that you have not been admitted in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You do not possess the amount of magical ability we, the Professor's of the school, are looking for. But, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Armando Dippet, and our Transfiguration professor, Albus Dumbledore, would like to give you an opportunity for your future. Please send any convenient times and/or dates for this meeting so that we can plan this out for you.
I am very sorry,
Minerva McGonagall
I stared blankly at the piece of parchment in my hands. I looked up at the smiling, hopeful faces of my parents, crumpled up the parchment, and sobbing uncontrollably, ran up the stairs, to my bedroom. I was a Squib.
Chapter 1
Mum came up to bring me dinner after a while. She assured me that Dad nor her were not mad about me being a Squib. She declared that it was okay having just one magical child in the family. Of course, this made me cry even harder. It was okay? I didn't even have a choice! No one even gave me the option of being a wizard. I began to hate this Headmaster, this Armando Dippet. It was his fault I wasn't a wizard. I despised him with all of my heart.
Dad had written back this McGonagall character, telling her that this meeting should be set for a date "not in the near future," so that I could calm down. But I could not calm down. I started to despise magic in general. If Mum came into my room in the morning and cleaned my closet by using magic, I would scream at her for ten minutes at a time and then mess up my closet all over again so that later on in the day, she would clean it by hand. When Elizabeth's O.W.L.'s came the next summer and she came showed me that she passed every class, I tore up the parchment and told her she was a freak, going to a freak's school, and that I never wanted her to talk to me ever again. After a while, I sank into a deep depression. I stopped working hard in Muggle school, I stopped talking to anyone, and I even stopped eating. I had no interest in life anymore. Mum decided it was time for a meeting with Professor Dippet and Professor Dumbledore.
I walked into the restaurant my parents had chosen for the occasion. It had many private rooms, so the professors and I would not be heard. My blood boiled as I walked down the hallway and opened the door. Two men, dressed in long velvet robes stood up to greet me. The first looked tired, as if he would rather be anywhere but in a fancy restaurant in the middle of London.
"Hello Argus," he said quietly, "I am Armando Dippet."
I only nodded my head in return. The other man had a silver beard that almost went down to his knees. His piercing blue eyes were covered by half-moon spectacles.
"Hello Argus," he smiled, "I am Albus Dumbledore."
I shook his hand but refused to say anything. We sat there, Professor Dippet staring at his hands and twiddling his thumbs, Professor Dumbledore watching me, me watching the floor. Finally I spoke.
"Why?" I asked.
"Why what, Argus?" Dumbledore answered calmly.
"What do you mean, why what? Why can I not go to Hogwarts? Why can't I be a bloody wizard? Why did you make come to this stupid restaurant when I am no longer important to you or the stupid Ministry of Magic? Why do you care? Why can't you just leave me alone? Why can't magic just not exist?" I screamed at him. Didn't he get it? All of my dreams were destroyed by his letter. I hated him.
Dumbledore just looked at me intently. Of course this got me madder than ever, "Why can't you leave me alone?" I repeated. I was crying again, shaking in anger and sadness. "I hate everyone! I hate you two stupid professors, I hate Mum and Dad, I hate Elizabeth! I hate anyone that can do magic instead of me. I hate me! I'm a freak, a bloody Squib! Why aren't I good enough?"