George's Story: The tale of an Orphan. Chapter 1: The letter On a cold, quiet morning, around 5:00 A.M., in a small, ratty, white house, George and seven other children were asleep. This house was in the middle of a field, just on the outskirts of the town London. It was on August 15th when George's life changed. George was the oldest of 8 in the orphan house. He was 16, a tall, skinny person. He had flaming orange hair and pale skin with freckles covering his face and body. He woke up first and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. He wore black pajama bottoms with a red, long-sleeved shirt. When he was done, making eggs and toast, the kids started coming in. In total, there was ten people in the house hold. The 'Parents', if you could really call them that, and the eight kids. There was George, Jacob, Mary, Mason, Hannah, Sarah, Gavin and Hope. "Morning guys and gals." George said as the kids walked out and sat at the table. They said a small hello back and ate as if they haven't eaten in months. It was Friday and a school day. George felt bad cause half the kids here were not old enough to go to school yet. George, Jacob, Mary and Mason were old enough to go. George was in 11th grade, Jacob and Mary were in 6th grade and Mason was in 2nd grade. Hannah, Sarah, Gavin and Hope were 4, 3, 3 and 2. George knew they all were abused and neglected, all eight of them, so he felt terrible about leaving them alone. "All right team, go get ready for the day!" George said, smiling at everyone. They cleaned their dishes and then went to get dressed quietly. George was done first, so he went and helped the little ones. "Ok Hope, what do you want to wear?" George said holding up a red dress and a pink shirt with white shorts. Hope pointed at the shirt and shorts and smiled while giggling. "Okie Dokie then little one." George said, smiling. Once everyone was dressed and ready, George set the younger ones up with a movie to distract them and the rest got in the car and drove to school. George dropped off the kids then got to the high school. The day dragged on with nothing interesting going on. "Hey George!" A girl's voice said. It was around 2:55 P.M. Jackie was a popular girl who loved to party and always was mean to George cause he didn't like to. "Hi Jackie." George said, still reading his book 'The Book Thief'. "Want to come to a party tonight?" Jackie said. "I can't." George said, getting up and walking away. "This is why no one likes you George! Your just a loser!" Jackie yelled at him. George shook his head and drove away. When he picked up the other kids and got home, something was different. There was an owl at the living room window. It dropped a note, then left. "How did that owl get it?" George asked, looking around. 'I though I patched all the holes.' He thought. "It came in the window!" Hannah yelled, pointing at the open window. George picked up the letter. It was addressed to him. He raised an eyebrow and opened it. When he read it, it shocked him to the core. He was a... wizard? "No, I can't be. This has got to be a joke." George said. The kids looked at him funny. "You guys go sit down ok? And start on your homework." George said, sitting down and re-reading the letter. 'Ok so it say I got accepted to a wizardry school here in London. Can I trust this?' George thought to himself, then glancing to the kids. Hope ran up to him and climbed into his lap. "Hey Hope, how was you day?" George said, while glancing at the door where the 'Parents' stayed. Hope nodded her small head and hugged him. George hugged her back and decided he would check out this 'school'. If this was true, maybe this will give them all a better life. "Guys I have to go somewhere, so Jacob and Mary are in charge. Be good and quiet ok? I love y'all." George said, putting Hope down next to Mason and rushing out the door, the letter in hand. After a hour of driving, he made it to the address on the note. It was a pub of some sort. He walked in with doubt in his mind. He walked up to the guy who looked like the owner. "Hello, how can I help you son?" The older man asked, then saw the letter. "Oh your looking for Diagon Ally? Let me show you." He said, guiding the young man to a brick wall in the back. He man tapped the code in and all of a sudden, it disappeared! "Wow..." George said. "Well, there you go son, have fun." The man said, walking back inside. There many people in odd clothing walking around. George walked around, then looked at the letter where a list appeared. First on the list was a place called Gringotts. George walked around confused until he finally found it. 'Looks like a big bank.' George thought as he walked in. George gasped at all the goblins around. George walked to the front. "Um... Excuse me?" George asked, looking around. The goblin kept writing then looked up at George. "Can I help you?" He said. "I was told to come here, from this letter." George said, holding up the letter. "Yes, Do you have any money?" The goblin asked, looking up at George with his black eyes. "Yes?" George said, questioningly pulling out $20. The goblin grabbed the money and pulled out a small bag of assorted coins. "Here, buy your supplies with this." Was all the goblin said, before ignoring George and getting back to his writing. George left, confused. His first stop was what looked like a clothing shop. When he found it, he walked a foot in and a woman stopped him. "You must be new! Follow me." The older lady said, pulling him aside. An hour later, George walked out with a bag of clothes. The lady had to explain the whole situation to him, the school, letter, how to count money and what is going on. So now he wasn't too confused. George went to the book store next. There was a decent amount of people there, not to many but not deserted. George grabbed all the books he needed, but then bumped into someone. "Oh I'm sorry." the shorter red head said. "Sorry." George replied, helping pick up the guys fallen books. "Fred? What are you doing here? I though you were with Ginny." the shorter red head said confused. "Fred? My name's not Fred." George said, looking at the boy confused. "But..." The younger red head said, when George left to pay for his books. George left the store and walked to the next place. 'I guess I have one of those faces...' George thought as he walked in to the last place he needed. "Need a wand, young sir?" and older gentleman asked. "Yes sir." George said, as he walked up to the counter. The older man handed him a wand. "Try this on. Just flick it at the flower pot." He said, pointing to the yellow flower pot. George did so, but it did do anything. "Here." The older man handed George another wand. George did the same movement, but this time the wand exploded. "Oh Gosh! I'm sorry." George said, setting the wand on the counter. "There, there my boy, it's quite alright. Here try this one." He handed George one more wand. George flicked it and the flower pot changed colors, like it was supposed to do. "There we are! Found it." The owner said, putting the wand in a box and a bag. "Thank you." George said after he paid. "Your welcome, George." The man said. "How do you know my name?" George asked, looking at the man. "I know everyone who comes and goes." Was all the man said, before going to the back of the shop. George left with all his bags. 'I can't believe this is real!' George thought, as he left. He walked through the pub, waving at the owner who helped him before and got into his car. George sat his bag in the back seat. His car was as ratty as the house, a light red with a window duct taped at the top. George noticed a golden ticket, lying on his letter. He read it and it said '9 3/4 Train Ride to Hogwarts.' George laughed. 'Hogwarts? That's a funny name.' He thought as he put the ticket in the pocket and started the car, going home. When he drove up, he knew that 'Parents' were up. There was yelling and throwing of bottles and drunken slurs. George parked the car and snuck in through the window at the kids bedroom and hid his bags under the bed. "Are you guys ok?" George asked, checking all of them for marks, scratches or bruises. "Yeah, we're ok." Jacob said. "I'm so sorry guys." George said, sitting against the door in case they tried to bust into the room in a drunken rage. "What this, Georgie?" Hannah asked, pulling out his bags. "I had to go out and get some stuff." George said quietly and putting the bags on the top shelf in the closet. He could still hear them yelling in the living room for hours, until 8:00 P.M. That was when it quieted down. George got everyone ready for bed and tucked them all in. "Can you sing us a song, please?" Sarah asked, pulling the puppy dogs eyes. "Ok, What song?" George asked looking at the lying kids. "Can you sing 'Tomorrow' Please?" Mary asked. "Ok." George said, sitting on a chair in between the three beds the all shared. George started singing 'Tomorrow.' from the broadway musical 'Annie'. As the kids started falling asleep, George started letting some tears fall. 'What am I going to do?' George thought as he laid down next the Hope and Gavin. He finally fell asleep, dreaming of a better life for them all.