I looked around awkwardly, petting Jax. Jax looked up at me with his huge puppy eyes. We sat staring at each other for what seemed like hours. Suddenly, Jax whipped his head around; the sound of wind was getting louder, but there was no breeze.
A small tawny owl perched on a tree branch right in front of me, a letter tied to its left foot. I got up and untied it curiously, looking at the letter. My heart started to pound as I noticed a seal with a lion, badger, snake and eagle with an "H" right in the middle. "Hogwarts…" I whispered in awe. There was no return address, only my address. I read it aloud, 'Miss K. Scamander, The Doorless Bedroom, Number 140 Cootey Lane, Wallingford, Vermont, United States.' "Scamander? What? I'm a Newton!" I reread the address over and over before I opened the letter.
I tore the letter open eagerly, imagining leaving this excuse for a home. After power-reading through the letter, I bent down to grab my notebook I had been drawing in earlier with, ripped off a page and scribbled with the sparkly pencil I found on the ground, "Have my word, I will be there!- Kacie Newton," and tied it to the owl's foot, watching it take flight.
I stuffed my hand in the envelope, looking for my first-year shopping list, but only to find a piece of folded up parchment. I opened it, my hands trembling. Jax yipped, mimicking how I felt. "Miss Kacie, due to the fact you live in America, there are no wizarding stores near you and you have no wizard money, I will lend you the books, quills and robes you will need for this year- if you do wish to come. I hope to see you having fun at Hogwarts! – Headmaster Professor Albus Potter," My heart suddenly went out to the headmaster as I read. Then my mind stopped dead. "P-Potter?! No way! Albus Potter, son of Harry Potter, is the Headmaster of Hogwarts!?" I shouted unbelievingly. "Grace's grandfather!"
I grabbed Jax in my arms, ran inside the house and went to my room to start packing. I heard the door open and voices minutes later. I heard the thump of each footstep, gradually growing. "Kacie!" Mom called out. I sighed and replied with a loud, "Yes, Mother?" She stepped into my room, her eyes falling on my luggage bag. "What are you doing?" Mom asked in an annoyed tone. Innocently, I said, "Packing for school." "You don't need to pack for Wallingford Elementary."
"I'm not going to Wallingford, Mom." I told her, stuffing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in my bag. Mom had a disgusted look on her face, "Just because you had a hard time with your teachers last year doesn't mean you're going to this year. Unpack all of your stuff. I'll wake you up at 7 like I usually do on the 26th. Do you understand?" I kept packing things. "I don't need to understand anything. You need to understand that I am never going to Wallingford or Mill River. I have proof I am not going to Wallingford this year. Here," I handed her the letter from Hogwarts. She took it resentfully. Mom skimmed over it and sighed, "This is a fake letter, Kacie, and Hogwarts doesn't exist." I shoved Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in my bag. "Mom, an owl landed on a branch right in front of me! It had that letter tied to it." Jax yipped in what seemed like agreement. "It also had this," I basically threw the folded up piece of parchment Professor Potter gave to me specially. I stuffed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in my bag as Mom looked over the note. "Kacie, cut the crap! This is obviously a prank. You are not going to London! HOGWARTS DOESN'T EXIST!" Mom got in my face, yelling all of this. I tried not to look affected by this at all. I continued to shove things in my bag.
Then I remembered my favorite song, Don't You Dare Forget the Sun by Get Scared. I burst out in song.
"You're a mess, tangled with your confidence.
You think you haven't sinned.
Well, you're unstoppable,
Your walls are impassible."
Mom started to yell again. I sang louder as I shoved Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my bag.
"Oh, I think that you're better off looking alone,
'Cause the boys that chase your hips can just go find their way home.
And at the end of the day you think to yourself,
"My body is a product being sold on a shelf."
Tell me I can change,
Tell me I can change."
I saw Mom's boyfriend, Allen, for about one-tenth of a second before the world went black.
I woke up in what looked like a hospital. I stared at the white walls. A nurse rushed over to me, seeing I was awake. I lifted my head, "What time is it?" The nurse put an ice pack on my head and pushed my head down, "It's 2:46. Keep your head down and rest, okay?" I nodded slowly. "What happened?" The nurse acted like she didn't hear me, so I repeated it, only a bit louder, "WHAT THE FUDGE MUFFINS JUST HAPPENED TO ME!?" The nurse was clearly taken aback at this, for she hurried out of the room. I sighed. I started humming my song again. I had gotten through the song 2 ½ times before the doctor came in. He smiled, "Nothing is wrong with you, except two broken teeth; the dentist should be able to fix that. You can go home today, and schedule a dentist appointment." "Can someone tell me what happened to me?!" I really wanted that answer, and I don't care how I get it. "You were knocked out for an hour, approximately. The personal things will be explained by your mother, I'm sure." The doctor smiled again, making the situation seem more awkward.
The doctor opened the door and walked out, leaving the door open for me. I stepped out and into the waiting room, where my mother and sister were. Kim, my sister, continued to text, as if I wasn't even here. Not like that is new… My mom had jumped up and ran right over to me. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Don't worry, Allen is gone. He's in jail, and he will never be near you again, I don't know what happene-" "Mom, I'm fine! I only need to go to the dentists'." I gasped for breath as Mom squeezed the life out of me. She let go of me and pulled out her phone, dialing a number. "Hello? ...Yes, I need to set up an appointment for Kacie Newton… Yes, the 21st will work. What time? …1:30 PM, yes, that'll work… Okay, bye." Mom closed her flip-phone. I let out a big sigh of relief.
Kim looked up, "I think this is worthy enough to go to Friendly's and get some ice cream, right?" We all agreed and signed out. Kim and I had a race to the front seat, me having a head start and winning. I got sat on until I begged for mercy. Mom drove down Allen Street and onto Route 7. We had no red lights for our whole 3 minute drive. When we got to Friendly's, we sat down in a booth near the kitchen. Five minutes later, the waitress walks out with a Build Your Own Sundae with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow sauce and M&M's (Mine), Mint Chocolate Chip Double Scoop Cone (Kim) and a medium vanilla ice cream with caramel (Mom). We took our sweet, precious time. Each time we laughed at a joke, people would turn to stare at us ("We must be famous! Probably for our weirdness…" I laughed, almost choking on an M&M).
The drive home was short. I ran inside the house, greeted by Jax, Ghost, our cat, and Sonya, our other dog. In three days I'd be going to the dentists'. Then I'd need a way to get to London.
I looked at the watch on my wrist I had gotten from Kim when she went to Boston in 6th grade. 8:56. I gave Mom a hug and a kiss, grabbed a Kool-Aid and headed to my room. I took a swig from my juice and put it on the bedstand. Almost the moment I laid down in bed, I fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning, sunlight coming out the window brightly. I check my watch, which I forgot to take off last night. 1:32. I looked up at my clock on the bedstand. 10:35. I turned my watch to the correct time.
I got out of bed, continuing my packing for school. How am I getting there? I thought, stuffing some socks in my bag. I can't send any letters to Professor Potter, no owls. I finally finished packing an hour later.
Mom was at work and Kim was next door at my grandparents so I decided to call my friends. Annabell was most likely to be asleep or very, very tired, Aurora, probably doing something educational, Grace, I don't really like calling her much because her little sister keeps interrupting her and doing stupid things, so Ivy was my best choice. I dialed her number in the phone quickly. I sat there until I got her voicemail. I sighed and hung up. I dialed Aurora's number next. Same results when calling Ivy happened to Aurora, Annabell and Grace.
Maybe they already went to London. I thought sourly. Annabell is a Longbottom, Ivy is a descendent of Cho Chang, Aurora is a Weasley and Grace, the luckiest of all, is a Potter. Of course, their parents had to sign their last names differently so they wouldn't get caught by the Ministry of Magic. They all obviously made it into Hogwarts. I can't believe I'm the only Muggle-born out of all my friends! I hope there's no Malfoy this year or for the next seven years! I groaned, imagining being called a Mudblood for seven years.
I ran back into my room to grab Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I opened up to page 290 where I left off.
"'All right, Ron?' said George, winking at him.
'Yeah,' said Ron, who had become quieter and quieter all the way down to the pitch.
'Ready to show us up, Ickle Prefect?' said Fred, emerging tousle-haired from the neck of his Quidditch robes, a slightly malicious grin on his face.
'Shut up,' said Ron, stoney-faced, pulling on his own team robes for the first time. They fitted him well, considering they had been Oliver Wood's, who was rather broader in the shoulder.
'Okay everyone,' said Angelina, entering from the Captain's office, already changed. 'Let's get to it; Alicia and Fred, if you can just bring the ball crate out for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out there watching but it I want you to just ignore them, all right?'
Something in her would-be casual voice made Harry think he might know who the uninvited spectators were, and sure enough, when they left the changing room for the bright sunlight of the pitch was to a storm of catcalls and jeers from the Slytherin Quidditch team and assorted hangers-on, who were grouped halfway with the empty stands and whose voices echoed loudly around the stadium.
I read at my normal tempo, which was way above my grade level. I started to read books in Kindergarten, but I was capable of reading 100+ page books at age 4-5.
I put down the book, not sure what to do anymore. Jax started to whine, clawing at the bathroom door. I got up and opened the door, figuring that Mom put him in there while she was gone instead of his cage. Jax came trotting out, his tail wagging madly. I bent down to pet him and Jax bit me playfully, but it was painful.
I pulled my hand back, a small hole in my index finger where blood was dripping from slowly. I stood up and went to grab a band-aid from the bathroom. It wrapped around my finger tightly.
When I went back out, Jax had gone elsewhere. I started thinking about how I would get to London in time for Hogwarts. I sat on the couch with my laptop and searched the plane times for Rutland Airport, Albany Airport and Boston Airport. "Rutland heads to Albany on the 3rd… Nope. Rutland goes to Boston on the… The 22nd! That might work… Hm…" I headed to the Boston website, "24th to London! Perfect!" Then I remembered about the money. "Prices… Rutland to Boston for one child… $110, not terribly bad. Boston to London… $730!? Snap! Together that would be… $840! Wow…" I stared unblinkingly at the screen.
I shut off the laptop and plugged it into the charger in my bedroom. I ripped off the couch cushions, looking for money. After 15 minutes of searching I found a quarter, 2 dimes and a penny, 46 cents total. This is no use… I thought desperately. I ran into Mom's room to find Jax curled up on Sonya's dog bed. I searched the whole room, left and right, up and down, inside and out and only found a dollar. $1.46 with a goal of $840. Great. I sighed, flopping down on the bed. I looked at my watch. 1:33. I pocketed the money.
Then I remembered. "I have $50 in the bank! $1.46 plus $50 equals $51.46. Ugh! No way is that getting me to London!"
I stayed there on the bed until I can't sit there anymore, what with evil, nasty thoughts creeping inside my skull. I sighed, picked up the phone, and dialed Ivy's number, again. 802-446-7689.
I waited until I got voicemail. Hello, this is the Clark's. Please leave a message
after the beep. (Clark is their fake surname.)
"Hi, this is Kacie. Call me ba-" "SHUT UP!" I winced and held the phone away from my ear. "I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU." "Uhh, Ivy?" I'm stunned. "Yes, this is Ivy," she says. "IVY THE SQUIB!" Now I'm really stunned. "Ivy?" I ask again. But all I get is a beep in response.
I flopped back on to Mom's bed. Ivy can't be a Squib. She's a Chang! But then I remember Filch and . Crap. Ivy Chang, a Squib.
I checked my watch again. 2:07. Mom should be back any moment now. As if my thought brought her in, Mom walked through the door. She walked into her bedroom and stared at me, laying on her bed. "Honey?" Mom asked. I could hear the hesitation in her voice.
"Hi, Mom." I grunt. It's pointless to try and hide what I'm doing, so I don't try. "Kacie, Hogwarts doesn't exist." I rolled off the bed, landing on the floor.THUNK. "Kacie, get up!" Mom shouted. I groaned helplessly. "Kacie. Get. Up." I slowly stood up, staring Mom dead in the eye. "Honestly, Kacie. Get a grip!" I winced, so close to telling Mom who all my friends are.
I broke."Guess what!? You know who Ivy is? Ivy Chang! Aurora, Aurora Weasley! Grace is a Potter! Annabell is Annabell Longbottom! And I'm not lying!" I saw a look of shock and horror mixed on Mom's face. I started to laugh. "Kacie…" Mom was hot-headed, "You are to never go near those girls again by choice." "But Mom!" I yelled. "I am not having my daughter listen to such lies!" and with that, Mom stormed out of the house.
I wasted no time. I picked up the phone, dialed Aurora's, Grace's, and Annabell's numbers. I left a message for Grace and Annabell telling them 'See you at Hogwarts' and explaining what had just happened. Aurora picked up. "Kacie?" she asked."You okay?" "Fine," I grumble. "You don't sound fine." I explain what just happened to me. Aurora listened quietly, making 'Mhm' noises in all the wrong places.
"Isn't that ridiculous?" (Another "Mhm," from Aurora) "My mother is a wacko!" We were silent for a few moments after that. Then the lightbulb went off in my head.
"Aurora!" I said excitedly. "We could carpool!" "T-" "When do you leave!?" "Wh-" "To London, yeh idiot!" "Tonight. I was going to call to say goodbye." said Aurora timidly. "Will your parents mind?" "No. You know them." I did. Aurora's parents treated me like a second daughter. "I'll be over."