A Magical Story

Part Two

Second year at Salem University

By Ellen Russell and Susan Thieme

Chapter 1: Jo Rowling created Harry Potter… It evolved…There are many copies…

Ellen paced her room. She sat on her bed. She got up. She paced. She looked out the window. She sat on her bed again.

She had been repeating this procedure since her best friend had informed her of an invitation to her house. Apparently, her friend would come to pick her up before the end of the week to spend the rest of the summer at her house.

It was August already, and although Ellen enjoyed her time at home, she couldn't wait to see Susan again.

Fawkes was on top of her bed, merely cleaning his ruby red feathers. He had done a lot of flying to compensate for Susan's family owl, which could never mail a letter without crashing into something.

Upon Ellen's arrival back home, her parents were slightly alarmed about having an actual phoenix in their home, but they quickly grew to accept Fawkes into their home. He was, after all, an extremely gifted pet. Occasionally, he would help Ellen's father with the yard work like carrying heavy boulders to the other side of the yard. Luckily there was a green hedge to hide the yard from the neighbors.

Ellen sighed and looked back at her things. They were all packed up and ready to go. She had all her school things, with the exception of the new books they would need for next year. But she could get that while visiting Susan.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Ellen yelled excitedly, practically jumping four steps at a time until she reached the door. She swung it open, grinning madly…

Only it wasn't Susan. It was Jake.

Ellen's smile quickly vanished. "Jake? What are you doing here?"

"You have the nerve to ask that? After all the funny stuff that happened last year?" Jake snapped. He was of course referencing Ellen's spell at the train station. For Ellen was indeed a witch. Last year she floated Jake's books out of the train station in an effort to get him and his friend Ed out of the magical world she was now a part of.

Ellen cocked an eyebrow. "Funny stuff? Whatever are you talking about, Blake?"

"Jake," Jake corrected, folding his arms. "Ellen, we were friends. You, me, Ed, and Susan. We were all friends. What happened last year? Why are you two spacing away from us?"

"We grew up." Ellen replied, careful not to mention her connections to the magic world. It had been on the news for a long time, her doings with the man who tried to drain her power. Although her identity remained a secret, it appeared the general public was starting to have the idea that wizards exist.

"We're twelve years old. You're lying." Jake responded.

"Girls grow faster than boys." Ellen added.

"Even so, that was a fast way to drop our friendships," Jake countered.

Ellen scowled. "What do you want, Jake?"

"To come with you to see Susan…and her family."

Ellen stared at him. He knew he had her there. She had to think of an excuse to distract Jake from the thought of Susan and her pureblood family. "Can't. She invited me, Jake. Not you. Or Ed."

"Come on… surely you can—" Jake started.

"NO!" Ellen yelled. Jake was blasted backward. He fell on his back.

Ellen held her head in her hands. That had been happening a lot lately. Magic without a wand. It's a good thing Salem University didn't outlaw magic for minors. Nonetheless, Ellen didn't like the loss of control.

She rushed over to Jake's side and helped him stand up.

"You're a witch," He panted. "I knew it."

"No I'm not," Ellen lied. "I pushed you with my hands."

"With a door between us? No thanks. Take me to Susan's house." Jake demanded again.

"No. You're not invited." Ellen gritted her teeth. Jake smirked.

"Fine. I'll leave you be. Just remember… nonmagic folk are the ones who started the Witch Hunt." Jake stalked off back to his house.

Ellen stared after him. What did he mean by that?

"Ellen! Hey Ellen!" Ellen heard her name being called from far away. She looked around everywhere, but couldn't see where the voice was coming from. The road was empty. The yard was empty, save for a dog that was sniffing around. Where was the voice coming from?

"Up here!"

Ellen looked up. Sure enough, there was a hot air balloon floating down to her level. The balloon itself was full of prime colors, but Ellen had no eye for the balloon. Susan and her father were standing in the basket of the balloon.

Ellen grinned when she had recognized her friend.

Eventually, the balloon landed on the soft plush grass. Susan unhinged the basket door and hopped out.

"You ready to come over my house?" Susan asked, excited.

"Yeah…" Ellen gestured at the balloon. "What's with the hot air balloon?"

Susan shrugged. "It's one of Dad's inventions. He wanted to take it for a spin."

A head appeared from the trap door in the basket. Ellen recognized him as Susan's brother, CJ. There was also a younger girl right next to him, who could only be Susan's sister.

"We're here!" CJ shouted. He hopped out into the open air as well. "Hey, can we get your things?" He gestured to his little sister who was also jumping with delight. She had to be at least seven, whereas CJ was nine now.

"Sure…they're upstairs in my room, which is the first room you see up the stairs." Ellen directed CJ.

CJ and Susan's little sister (later introduced as Kimberly) rushed back into Ellen's house.

"How have you been keeping since school ended, Ellen?" Susan asked.

Ellen shrugged. "Pretty good. I finished my homework."

Susan rolled her eyes. Of course. Should have known. "Well, I've been preparing for the oh-so-brilliant Harry Potter to come over. Probably tomorrow. Also, my grandparents are at our house right now as well."

CJ and Kimberly came back with a couple of Ellen's suitcases. Fawkes flew majestically out the window and landed on Ellen's shoulder.

"You've trained him," Susan remarked.

"A bit," Ellen admitted.

They all boarded the hot air balloon, which was starting to gather a lot of attention. CJ and Kimberly quickly disappeared into the trap door again.

"All aboard?" Susan's dad asked jokingly. "You might want to go down there as well. People are starting to stare at us."

Susan and Ellen did as he said and disappeared below deck as well. The balloon was already in the air by the time they finished climbing down the ladder.

The room was huge, and full of video games and other magical games like wizard's chess and exploding snap. The ride would definitely seem too short for this kind of entertainment.

"I love magic," Ellen whispered.