The Letter
Dear Miss Mahogany,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
I read the letter through a few times but I still couldn't put together the meaning of it. Obviously it was some sort of acceptance letter for a school, but I had certainly never applied for anything as interesting as this. It actually looked quite good and proper except for the one little phrase that bothered me.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Really?
"Posy are you playing a trick on me again?" I called up the stairs to my little sister.
"Yes. It was me, I did it!" she called down to me. A few moments later, my irritatingly adorable little sister flounced down the stairs and gave me a dazzling smile. I looked at her sternly before kissing her cheek and throwing the letter back on the pile of mail.
"You really are stooping to new lows," I told her, pouring her a bowl of cheerios and milk.
"What exactly is it that I'm taking credit for doing?" she asked pleasantly as she took a bite of her breakfast.
"You know, the fake acceptance letter from the witch school," I said.
"Somebody sent you a fake letter asking you to come learn how to be a witch?" she asked excitedly.
I glared at her for a moment before standing up to retrieve the letter and throw it in her direction.
"I thought you said you sent it to me," I said, reaching over to poke her shoulder.
"I wish I had. This place sounds awesome. Just don't let Mum see it," she said.
"Don't let me see what?" our mother asked, running into the room as she stuck pins in her hair. Posy quickly hid the letter under the table as Mum stooped down to kiss on the cheek.
"It's a surprise. You're not allowed to know, Mum," Posy said.
"Alright. Where's Iris?" She asked.
"I'm here," the middle child of the family said, stumbling down the stairs and plopping herself in her seat across the table from me. She looked like she was about to pass out but that was Iris for you. For some reason she enjoys reading academic books more than sleeping. I'm at a loss, but I think she got it from Dad. It's rumored that he used to read the dictionary as a child.
"Good. I'm going in to have lunch with Denise. Daddy's out back in the shed. Let him know if you need anything." Mum reached over and gave both Iris and me a kiss on the head before whisking out the door.
"Iris, would you like some breakfast?" I asked.
"An omelet please," she said, not raising her head.
"Iris–" I started but she immediately interrupted me.
"Two eggs, make sure you don't forget to add milk, cheese, peppers, and if we have some sausage that would be lovely."
"Iris," I sighed again, about to tell her that I wasn't allowed to cook without supervision, when a thought stuck me and a smile spread across my face. What my parents didn't know wouldn't hurt them. "Alright, Iris. I'll cook you an omelet. Would you like one, Posy?" I asked sweetly.
"You know you're not supposed to cook right? Mummy and Daddy will be really mad at you," she said worriedly. I laughed at the cute little frown lines that cut into her brow.
"Well they won't know because you're not going to tell them, right?" I asked sweetly.
"But–" she started
"Posy, please!" I asked, using my best whining voice. "I really want to be a good big sister and make Iris and omelet. Mum and Dad would be very proud of me if they knew what I was doing."
Posy thought about it for a moment before nodding sweetly.
I skipped into the kitchen, thrilled to be cooking without help. I cracked the eggs and mixed them ingredients into the bowl before pouring it into a skillet on the stove. While I was watching excitedly for the eggs to cook, the doorbell rang.
"Posy, will you watch the eggs, I'm going to answer the door."
I walked over to the front door and pulled over a chair to look out the peep hole. All I could make out was a very large decorative hat. Nothing about the hat looked overtly threatening so I took a chance and unbolted the door before opening it.
The owner of the hat was a very old looking woman who wore a strange dress made out of a tartan plaid material. I couldn't imagine how she wasn't dying from heatstroke in that strange getup, although she didn't even look phased by the heat of the summer sun that was shining down around her.
"Are you Miss Rose Mahogany?" She asked me in a sharp voice. I nodded quickly, trying not to look frightened of the fierce woman in front of me.
"I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. May I come in?"
I almost laughed aloud when I heard where she was from.
"You have got to be kidding me," I said.
I stared at the woman, trying to decide how to handle the situation. Obviously this lady was off her rocker. Probably suffering from dementia. In fact, it all made sense now. The letter was sent by a crazy old bat who was stalking me thinking I should come to her imaginary magic school.
"Miss Mahogany I assure you–"
Suddenly, an earsplitting scream pierced through the air causing every hair on my body to stand on end, and the old lady went silent.
"Crap," I said, turning and sprinting into the kitchen. The sight that met my eyes made my stomach drop into my toes.
Where my beautiful omelet had been cooking moments before there lay a dark charred lump of burnt egg. Next to it, Posy stood clutching her hand with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Posy what have you done!" I cried.
"I-I'm s-sorry!" she blubbered, tears spilling from her cheeks.
"What happened?" I asked firmly, taking hold of her shoulders. She continued to cry for a few moments before she was able to speak clearly.
"It wasn't cooking fast enough so I turned it up higher but then it got all dark and hard so I decided to take it off and then I burned my hand," Posy said, holding out her hand to show me the angry red mark swelling on her palm.
"Oh, Posy. You're so stupid sometimes," I said, standing up to get a bowl of cool water for her to soak the burn in.
"May I look at it?"
I turned around to see the old lady standing in the doorway, looking at Posy's hand. I bit my lip, not wanting anything more to happen to my sister, when Posy walked right up to the old lady and stuck out her hand for it to be examined.
"That looks quite nasty," the old lady said. She reached into her dress, pulled out a stick of smooth wood, and pointed it at the burn on Posy's hand. She mumbled something I couldn't quite hear and then stood up and looked down at Posy.
"How does it feel now?"
Posy inspected her hand thoroughly before smiling up at the old lady.
"It's perfect! Thank you!" She threw her arms around the woman who looked shocked and very uncomfortable as Posy clung to her legs.
"Alright Posy come over here and let me see your hand," I said, reaching out for her.
Posy skipped over to where I stood and held her hand out for me to look at. Where her hand had been red and swollen before, the skin had completely healed and was white and smooth.
I looked up at the woman and frowned.
"What did you do?" I asked her.
"That, my dear, was magic. Something you will learn to do if you choose to come to Hogwarts."
Before I could answer, the back door opened and I heard my dad's voice call out through the hall, "Is everything alright? I heard someone scream."
"Oh, no," I said. I picked up the pan of burned eggs and tossed it quickly into the cupboard under the sink.
"Posy just keep your mouth shut and let me explain," I said.
Our dad came around the corner dressed in his dirty work clothes that he wore to work in his shed. Right now he was building a new dresser for Mum but it seemed like he always had some sort of project going on. He glanced at us before looking at the old woman.
"Is everything alright?" he asked us quickly.
"Yes," I answered before Posy could open her mouth. "Posy was just upset because I wouldn't make her an omelet. She was having a fit."
He just nodded at me before turning to our guest.
"Hi, I'm Lewis Mahogany," he said, extending his hand to shake hers.
"Professor Minerva McGonagall," the woman answered.
"Professor?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm here to discuss a potential schooling option for your daughter, Rose, this coming year. We believe she shows great potential for our school."
"Really?" Dad asked, looked at me quizzically.
"Yes. I'm sure you received our letter of acceptance this morning. I'm here to further explain the purpose of Hogwarts."
"Rosie did you get a letter this morning?" he asked me.
"Um, yes, but I didn't think it was important. I thought it was a joke," I said.
"I assure you, Miss Mahogany, this is no joke," the professor said to me.
"Why don't we all go sit down in the living room?" Dad suggested. "Rose, go fetch the letter so I can see it."
I picked up the opened letter and brought it over to Dad before sitting next to him on the sofa. As he read through the letter his eyebrows slowly crawled closer and closer together until he was frowning so much his eyebrows were almost touching.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" he asked finally, looking up at the professor.
"Yes. Our aim is to train the next generation of young witches and wizards. Your daughter shows great potential for joining our community."
"Your community?"
"Yes, the magical community," she said.
"I'm sorry but how do you expect me to believe anything that you're saying?"
The professor looked at my dad and smiled for a moment before taking out her stick of wood, pointing it into the air, and clearly saying "Avis."
A flock of birds exploded out of the end of her wand and began flitting around the room, landing on the television, the couch, and the bookshelf. Posy began chasing them around the room, squealing in delight as she reached out to stroke one that was sitting particularly still. Just as she was about to touch the soft feathers, the bird took off again to join its friends.
"Would you like to hold one?" Professor McGonagall asked Posy.
"Yes, please," she said, bouncing on her toes in excitement.
The professor whistled to one of the birds who obediently flew over to land on her hand.
"Hold out your hand," the professor instructed and placed the bird on one of Posy's fingers.
"Daddy!" she cried, "look, Daddy! The bird is resting on my finger!"
The whole time Posy and I had been marveling over the birds, our dad had been sitting silent, mouth open in shock.
"Unbelievable," he whispered.
"It's magic," I said happily, reaching out the touch the bird on Posy's finger.
"I want to go!" Posy cried, startling the bird which flew away. Professor McGonagall waved her stick and all the birds vanished from the room.
"You're not quite old enough, young lady," she said to Posy who stuck out her lower lip.
"Can I go when I'm as old as Rosie?" Posy asked.
"Maybe. If you've got some magic in you we'll see what we can do."
"Yay!" Posy cried, dancing around the room.
Professor McGonagall looked at Dad, who was still recovering from his shock, before reaching into the folds of her dress and extracting a thick, handwritten brochure.
"I understand it will take some time to comprehend and come to a decision about everything I have told you today. If you have any further questions this brochure should answer them. Please send us your reply in the muggle post before the deadline stated in the letter. We will send someone to take you and your daughter to buy her books and supplies."
When Professor McGonagall was almost to the door, Dad stood up and called, "Professor."
She stopped and turned around to look back at him.
"Thank you very much for coming by. We will send you our answer as soon as we can."
Professor McGonagall's lips seemed to press up as if she was trying to smile and she nodded before turning and walking out the door.
"Well, there's no way I'll be able to get any work done now," Dad said, rubbing his chin with his hand.
"Dad," I said, turning to look at him.
"I want to go."
A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of Rose Mahogany: The Witch. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter universe.