The Decision

Rubina read the letter again. She was just sitting on her kitchen counter waiting for the kettle to boil when a large brown owl swooped through her window (which made Rubina shriek) and dropped a wax-sealed letter into her lap. The owl gave a light hoot and left just as swiftly as it came.

The envelope was addressed to:

Ms. Rubina Naik
Sitting atop the kitchen counter
315 Brockley Road, Abbey Woods
London SE4 2QZ

The back of the envelope had a crest with four animals (a lion, a snake, a bird, and ... it looked like a ferret but that was probably wrong) and ribbon below reading Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus. Whatever that meant.

…During the period roughly between 1970 and 1995, countless records of muggle-born witches and wizards have been destroyed by the vanquished Dark Lord Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters. In the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts it has taken years of work to track down the witches and wizards who were erased from our records and never afforded a chance to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You, Ms. Naik, are a find from the Ministry of Magic's Lost Children project and we would like to extend an offer to begin classes this fall semester.

Typically our students attend school throughout the ages of 11 to 17, but special arrangements have been made for our Lost Children. We have accommodated space for your boarding and extended teaching hours. Night classes are available on campus for students over the age of 17…

The letter was long and detailed, explaining briefly the history of Lord Voldemort and his campaign against muggles (and the fact that "muggle" is their word for non-magical people). From the looks of it, these "Hogwarts" people are offering her some sort of magical GED program because some evil wizard Nazi wanted magic to stay among purely magical families. It was certainly a colourful story, and she didn't quite disbelieve it.

Rubina had remembered a few incidents where she just couldn't explain how she was able to do something. When she was six, she remembered playing in the back yard. They had a huge tree that Rubina loved to climb and swing from the branches. Her mother kept an eye on her from the kitchen window while she rolled out her chapatis. When young Rubina fell from a high branch she let out a shrill scream as she watched the ground get closer, until she slowed just inches above the roots and dropped with a light thunk. Her mother never mentioned the pause before the drop, she just ran outside and scooped the crying Rubina up in her arms. She said it was a miracle that Rubina wasn't hurt. Rubina assumed she missed the whole spectacle and never mentioned it again.

The train departs from King's Cross at 11am sharp on September the 1st. Please find your ticket enclosed.

She poked inside the envelope to see a shiny train ticket.

Hogwarts Express
Departing 11AM, September 1st
Platform 9¾, King's Cross Station, London

The following is a list of items you will be needing during your stay at Hogwarts. You will be able to purchase all of these in Diagon Alley, London. Though due to the security keeping Diagon Alley difficult to find, we have arranged tour dates for new students to find the Alley with ease and to meet one another before the start of term.

Rubina looked over the list of magical tools, books, and garments. She tried to imagine herself with a wand, spinning it about singing "abra kadabra!" or hunched over a cauldron like the witches on television but it just seemed too silly.

So why wasn't the letter in the trash?

She quietly debated herself over the existence of magic. The starry-eyed fantasy junkie in her was sure this had something to do with the tree incident, but the rational adult was saying none of this was real. But something about it felt plausible, as if she could will magic into existence if she just played along. She could probably throw out the letter as well and it could just as easily not be real. But as she took the whistling kettle off the stove, she began to think about her life.

She was 24 and living alone in East London. She could make rent well enough but she led a penny-pinching way of life. She had an okay job as a secretary at a small office; a job she would have to quit in order to pursue this...education. (It seemed less fake to call it an education rather than wizarding school). It wasn't a job that she particularly loved, but it was a lifeline to the real world. Quitting a job for something made that something seem so grand and important. But ultimately, she decided that there are other jobs and she wouldn't miss the monotony, shitty coffee, or dress pants.

She picked up her phone and scrolled through her frequent contacts. She swiped across the name Sunny Mae and waited for her best friend to pick up.

"Hello?" Sunny's voice was light and sweet.
"Hey, Sunny it's Ruby, I have a thing happening and I need your help."
"A thing?"
"Yeah, a weird thing, but I gotta show you in person."
"Ok, I'm just leaving the library. You want kimchi?"
"Have I ever said no to that?"
Sunny let out a laugh that sounded like bells. "Yeah, fair enough. Ok, half an hour?"
"Sounds good. See ya then."
"See y-" Sunny suddenly began yelling in Korean to what Ruby assumed was probably a discourteous driver. She hit the call end button.

Half an hour and one cup of tea later, Ruby's phone buzzed. I'm here, said the text message. Ruby went down the stairs and opened the door to the lobby then the front door (the lobby was a tiny "room" with three doors: the front door, Ruby's door, and her downstairs neighbour's door). A petite Asian girl stood on the welcome mat carrying an overfilled backpack and holding a white plastic bag that definitely had kimchi in it. Sunny — which is the Anglicized version of her Korean name Sun-Hee — was a grad student at the University of Greenwich studying for her MSc in Environmental Sciences. Ruby (and her parents) were a little jealous of Sunny's academic success but Ruby knew with one look of the school books and the bags under Sunny's eyes that she definitely didn't want to be getting a Masters in anything. Her communications degree was good enough.

"Hey!" Ruby said when she swung the door open. "You gotta see this letter I got." Sunny gave a quizzical look and followed her upstairs, locking both doors behind her.
"So this came through my window today," Ruby said handing the thick envelope and letter to her friend.
"Through your window...?" Sunny asked. She placed her backpack on the floor with a dense thud and made herself comfortable in Ruby's kitchen.
"Yeah. Not through regular post, through the window. With an owl." Sunny examined the envelope.
"Were you on top the count-"
"Yup."
"Interesting." Sunny read through the letter. She gave no sign of scoffing or disbelief. Ruby loved that about Sunny. She never judged her even when she thought she was being really crazy. Nothing was outrageous, only interesting.

Sunny was silent for a few minutes after reading the letter. Ruby let her sort out her thoughts while she stuffed her face with spicy vegetables and rice.

"So are you gonna go to a tour date?" Sunny finally asked.
"Been thinking about it," Ruby replied. "I thought if it were a prank, all of this would just amount to a wasted Saturday. The meet-up locations are all in public spaces so I doubt I'll get mugged. Or murdered."
"Hm," Sunny said. There was another few minutes of silence.
"Hey do you remember when we were kids and I fell out of that tree?" Ruby asked suddenly. Sunny thought back.
"You mean when you didn't break your arm?"
"Yeah, do you remember what I told you?"
"That you just stopped yourself," Sunny said matter-of-factly. Ruby nodded. Sunny continued, "There was also that time you sneezed confetti. I mean, everyone at the party thought you just sneezed on confetti but I saw it, you weren't by confetti and it came out of your nose." Ruby was internally extremely relieved that Sunny had thought of the same instances she did. Those little unexplained mysteries that happened to her, and just her.
"I don't know how that happened, and I think following this letter might lead to answers."
"I don't think it will hurt just to go to this Alley, nobody's going to make you quit at Rez or to buy all these school supplies."
"So you think I should give it a shot?"
"I think you should go see if this is real life..." Sunny turned dramatically towards her friend, "or is this just fantasy..."
"Caught in a landslide..." Ruby joined in.
"No escape from reality..." they sang in unison.
Ruby didn't need to say it out loud, but she felt in her gut that she'd made a decision. She may not end up going to Hogwarts, and she may not be ready to believe in magic, but she was going to try. Try to be open, try to believe. And try not to get murdered. But for now she was head-banging through a killer duet of Bohemian Rhapsody.