CHAPTER 1: AND SO IT BEGINS
EVALLE'S POV:
I'm sitting in my room trying to concentrate on my summer homework when I hear my bedroom door open.
"Evalle? Your friend, Lanna, is on the phone for you," my mother says.
I sigh. Looking out the window I feel the familiar itch to be outside doing, well, anything. I get up from my desk, dropping my pencil in my math book, and turn towards my mum.
"Thanks mum."
My mother hands me the phone and I can hear Lanna's CD player in the background.
"Don't be on too long. You need to study. You have plenty of time to chat later," mother warns.
"Don't worry, I won't be."
I wait for my mother to shut my bedroom door completely before greeting my friend on the other line. It's not that I have anything to hide from my mum, I just don't need her listening to my responses to whatever Lanna has to tell me, which is usually gossip about some of the seedier kids at our school.
"Hey, Lanna!"
"Hey! What are you up too on this gorgeous Friday afternoon?"
I groan. "Summer homework. I got an A- on my final grade for science. Mum's kinda miffed."
Lanna cracked up on the other line. I roll my bright violet eyes knowing what she'll say next…
"You're mum is a piece of work. She's miffed about an A-? She'd stroke if I was her daughter. I got a D."
This time I had to laugh. Stroke? My mum would die if I came home with a grade like that.
"Anyways… I called to tell you I'm going on vacation for the last two weeks of summer vacation. Last minute thing on my dad's part. I just wanted to call and let you know I'll be gone until school starts."
I was silent. I didn't really know what to say. Lanna was, in all honesty, my only friend. I'm an ordinary girl with all-one-length, blonde hair. I have not-so-ordinary violet eyes and a nose that can be described as strong. I'm also shy and uncomfortable around people. Lanna on the other hand is gorgeous. She's tall, and has a figure most girls would starve themselves for, except Lanna eats everything and thinks dieting is for lemmings. I envy Lanna because she's popular, confident, and everyone adores her. We were two of the only people at our school who managed to be close despite belonging to different groups. She would be gone for a whole two weeks, without me. What was I going to do without her?
"Hello?"
"I'm here," I hear myself say. "That's great, have fun. Listen I have to finish my summer homework but be sure to call me every couple days and tell me how you're doing okay? Bye."
I hang up in a hurry. I feel an overwhelming sadness knowing she'll be off having fun without me. Of course, I know this is selfish but I can't help it. I take the phone back downstairs when I get a strange feeling.
"Mum! Mrs. Dunlap is here!" I holler.
"She is?" My mum asks coming around the corner from the kitchen.
The front door bell rings and I blink. Wait… How did I know that? My mum answers the door and sure enough Mrs. Dunlap, our next door neighbor, is standing there holding a measuring cup.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" My mum asks her politely.
"Hello, Mrs. Kincaid! I was hoping to borrow a cup of sugar. I'm baking a cake but realized I forgot to buy some at the market."
"Of course, come in."
I sneak back to my room unheard and drop into my desk chair in a daze. I hadn't seen Mrs. Dunlap out a window, I hadn't been told she was coming, so how did I know she was here before she was even, well, here?
I decided it was just a lucky guess and focused on my science homework until I forgot the whole thing. I was so focused on finishing all summer assignments that I didn't even notice what time it was until my mum came to tell me it was time for supper and to wash up. I glanced at the clock then and shook my head. It was six o'clock. I'd been doing homework for six hours now. At least all I had left for the last two weeks of summer vacation was a sheet of math problems.
I got up from my chair and stretched. Man my back was sore. I walked to the bathroom, washed up, and went down to dinner. It was a normal supper. Mum and dad discussed their work, I talked about all the homework I'd finished, and my little sister Anna talked about playing at the park with her friends.
I can't help but admire my little sister who's only nine. Stuff just comes easily to Anna—her hip but not-too-hip clothes, her naturally pretty face, her good but not perfect grades, her wide circle of friends. She's a genuinely nice person, and everyone adores her, even me. You can't help it with Anna.
After dinner was over we watched a movie and then went to our respective rooms, it would be bedtime in a couple hours. All in all a pretty good day. But little did I know there wouldn't be a lot of those for me in the final week of the summer.
ALBUS'S POV:
"Maybe you'll be a Slytherin, Al!"
"No, I won't!" I say defiantly.
"Hey! Don't glare at me! I'm not the sorting hat," my brother, James, says.
James has been tormenting me ever since he got home from school for the summer. This September, a couple weeks actually, I'd be going to school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry just like my brother, just like my parents, just like their parents before them. They'd all been sorted into Gryffindor, but what if I didn't get sorted there too? What would they all think?
"Slytherin isn't all bad, Al! At least you'll get special treatment in Potions!"
"Shut up! I'm not going to be a Slytherin!"
"Boys! James stop tormenting your brother! Don't you have a bedroom to clean?" My mum asks with her hand on her hip.
"Ugh! Mum!" James groans.
"Go on! And put your dirty laundry in the hall. I'll come by to get them in a bit."
I watched James disappear up the stairs and I sighed. My little sister Lily sat in the corner of the living room glancing at me over the storybook she'd received as a gift from their aunt Hermione. Hermione was always gifting them books. Uncle Ron on the other hand was always gifting them candy or toys from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
"You know you shouldn't take what he says so seriously, Albus," My mum says.
"I know. He just irritates me so much sometimes!"
"Believe me, I understand. I grew up with six brothers, all older. Imagine, me the only girl," Mum says for what feels like the hundredth time.
"Did we remember everything from Diagon Alley, mum?"
"Albus," my mum says exasperated. She rolls her brown eyes and pulls back her long red hair. "We went to every store and got everything on the school's list. You know we did, stop fretting."
We'd went to Diagon Alley a week ago. I kept checking my trunk to be sure everything was still in its proper place. I kept having terrible nightmares where I got to school and something would be missing. A text book, my robes, my cauldron. It was exhausting, really. I decided I needed some air.
"Mum, I'm going for a walk."
She frowns at me for a second then nods.
"Be careful. No fighting. Take your sister if she wants to go…"
I groan. Always the same motherly speech about safety. My sister looks up at me hopefully and I smile. She jumps from the chair and drops her book in it.
"Be back before it gets dark! And watch out for your sister!" Mum hollers after me on my way out.
We pass our dad on the way out of the house. His dark hair is flying in all directions in the wind and he smiles at us while he takes his glasses off for a quick cleaning.
"Where are you two off too this late?" dad asks.
Lily hugs him about the waist and I just shrug.
"For a walk. As long as I can get some space from James."
My dad slides his glasses back on and frowns at me while he pets my sisters red hair, she looks adoringly up at him, looking like a mini duplicate of my mother.
"You shouldn't let him wind you up. Your brother likes a good laugh."
"Yeah, I know. That's what mum keeps saying too."
"She's right," dad says with a grin.
"Well, be back with your sister before dark!" He warns me.
I sigh and nod my head. Taking my sister's hand I lead her down the road of Godric's Hallow. Maybe we'll visit the cemetery. It's quiet and peaceful and I could say hello to my grandparents. Maybe that's where dad has just come from.
"Al? Do you have to go to Hogwarts?" Lily asks startling me.
"What? Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world. Why?"
"Will you miss me?" She asks in a quiet voice.
I stop walking and look at my little sister a minute. She won't be able to go to Hogwarts for another two years. I forget that when I go Lily won't have anyone at home to play with besides mum and dad. Granted she'd have Hugh when aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron brought him over. And I was positive Teddy would still visit like he always did, and he adored our little Lily Luna. But I felt kind of sad leaving her behind.
"Of course I'll miss you! I won't have you to make me your pretty little flower pendants."
Lily looked up at me tearfully. She hadn't said anything about my going away to school until now. I hadn't even thought of how she might feel about it.
"I'll still make them for you, Al. I'll have mummy mail them okay?"
"I'd like that Lils, I'll feel more at home that way. I'll be less lonely."
That seemed to perk her up a bit more and she wiped the tears from her face.
"Let's go see nana and papa," she says.
"Yes, lets."
We take off for the cemetery in the slowly setting autumn sun hand-in-hand.
EVALLE'S POV:
On Sunday morning I woke up feeling like my head was packed with wet sand. Anna stuck her head in my door.
"Better get up. Church."
My mum brushed past her into my room.
"Get up, get up, you lazy pup," she said.
She threw open my curtains, flooding my room with bright autumn sunlight that pierced my eyeballs and stung the back of my head.
"Ugh," I moaned, covering my face.
"Come on, we'll be late," said my mum. "Do you want waffles?"
I thought for a minute. "Sure."
"I'll put them in the toaster for you."
I swung my feet over to the chilly floor. It was really autumn, finally. My favorite time of year. The air crisp; the leaves change color; the heat and exhaustion of summer are over. It's cozier.
When I stood up, I swayed a bit, then clawed my way to the shower. As the water streamed down on my head, I closed my eyes and leaned against the shower wall, shivering with headachy delight. Then something shifted almost imperceptibly, and suddenly I could hear each and every drop of water, feel each sliding rivulet on my skin, each tiny hair on my arms being weighed down by wetness. I opened my eyes and breathed in the steamy air, feeling my headache drain away.
Fifteen minutes later I slid into the backseat of my dad's Volvo, my wet blonde hair sleeked into a long braid and making a damp patch on the back of my dress. I struggled into my jacket.
"What time did you go to bed, Evalle? Didn't you get enough sleep last night?" my mum asked brightly.
Everyone in my family except me is obnoxiously cheerful in the morning.
"I never get enough sleep." I moaned.
I popped the top off a Diet Coke and took a life-giving sip. My mum turned around and gave me a mum face.
"Honey, you should drink some orange juice in the morning."
My dad chuckled. "That's our owl."
I'm a night owl, and they're larks. I drank my soda, trying to swig it all down before we got to church. I thought about how lucky my parents are to have Anna because otherwise it would seem as if both of their children were total aliens. And then I thought how lucky they are to have me so that they'll really appreciate Anna. And then I thought how lucky I am to have them because I know they love me even though I'm so different from the three of them.
Our church is beautiful and almost 250 years old. It was one of the first Catholic churches in this area. The organist, Mrs. Lavender, was already playing when we walked in, and the smells of incense were as familiar and comforting to me as the smell of our laundry detergent.
As I passed through the huge wooden doors, the numbers 117, 45, and 89 entered my mind, as if someone had drawn them on the inside of my forehead. How weird, I thought. We sat down in our usual pew, with my mum between Anna and me so we wouldn't cut up, even though we're so old now that we wouldn't cut up, anyway.
Mrs. Lavender began to play the first hymn, and we stood as the processional trailed in, the altar boys and the choir, Father Jones and Deacon Byron, Joey Marks carrying the heavy gold cross.
Mum opened her hymnal and began flipping pages. I glanced at the hymn board at the front of the church to see what number we should be on. The first hymn was number 117. I glanced at the next number—45. Followed by 89. The same three numbers that had popped into my brain as I first entered the church. I turned to the correct page and began singing, wondering how I had known those numbers.
After church we stepped out in the bright sunlight again, and I blinked.
"Lunch at the restaurant?" asked dad, as usual, and we all agreed, as usual.
It was just another Sunday, except that for some reason I had known the numbers of the three hymns we would sing before I had seen them.
On Tuesday I heard the mail slot clink while we were at the breakfast table. My dad dropped his napkin beside his plate and made a groaning sound as he got out of his chair.
"I'll get the mail. I'm waiting on that bonus check."
A couple minutes later dad walked in and exchanged one of those telepathic parental looks with my mum. She got out of her chair and followed him into the kitchen. Okay, that's odd.
"What are mum and dad doing?" Anna asks me staring curiously at the kitchen door.
"I don't know. Must have to do with the mail."
A couple minutes later they came back out and sat down to finish breakfast. Dad looked uncomfortable as he polished off his eggs and toast while mum acted as if nothing in the world was going on.
"What was in the mail?" I ask curiously.
Mum and dad exchange glances.
"Bills, junk mail, fraudulent letters. Nothing out of the ordinary." Mum says casually.
Okay, now it's mine and Anna's turn to exchange glances. We both know that was a lie. I'm about to pry a little more when my dad catches me by surprise.
"So, you haven't mention Friday at all. Have you thought about what you want to do?"
I think about it. What on earth is so special about this Friday? I glance at the calendar on the wall and see the date, Friday August 27th.
"MY BIRTHDAY!" I squeal jumping out of my chair and running over to it.
Mum and dad crack up and my little sister looks at me like I've sprouted horns.
"How could you forget your own birthday?" Anna makes fun of me.
"I haven't paid any attention to the date all break. I always feel like I'm just counting down to misery."
"Oh, come now, school is not misery."
Easy for my mum to say. She was a straight A princess. Grandma has every report card, every award, every everything. Mum was perfect in school. Me? I'm a decent student if I work hard for it.
"You're going to be eleven. What do you want to do to celebrate?" Mum asks.
I think for a minute. Eleven. In eleven years what have I never gotten? It hits me suddenly. The one thing I've always wanted but never thought to ask for.
"Can we get a pet? Something small?" I ask.
Mum and dad look at each other. Mum blinks a couple times and dad shrugs. Finally they look back at me.
"Evalle," mum starts. I sigh and sit back down at the table. "Pets are a big responsibility…"
"But you may be old enough now… how about a cat?" dad asks.
I look up at my parents and I can see they're serious. I can have a pet! A cat!
"When can we go get one? Can we do it today? Please?" I plead.
"Yeah can we go get one today?" Anna asks just as excited.
"I don't see why not. I've got the day off work today…" dad says thinking.
Mum laughs as my sister and jump in circles.
"Alright you two. Go up and get dressed and we'll go find us a kitten."
Anna and I dash upstairs to our rooms and half an hour later we're wandering the aisles of pets and pet supplies. I'm momentarily distracted by the hamsters spinning on their wheels. Anna is feeding the brightly colored birds sunflowers.
I hear my mum call for us. "Evalle? Anna, come here."
Mum and dad are bent over a small fenced area on the floor of the pet shop. Inside seven kittens are padding around mewing and playing with each other's tails. They're so fuzzy and cute. I don't know how I'm supposed to pick just one out.
"Oh, mummy! Can we get this one?" My sister is playing with an all white kitten.
I watch Anna wiggle her fingers and the kitten tries to pounce them. We both giggle as it rolls on its back and wiggles. The other kittens crowd around me and my sisters hands all fighting for our attention. That's when I realize there aren't seven kittens, there are eight.
A tiny black kitten is sitting in the center of the pen watching the others. Something tears at me as I watch it wanting so terribly to join the others but too afraid of rejection. Kind of like…me, I think. I reach in and lift the kitten into my arms. It's much smaller than the other kittens I notice as I cuddle it to my shoulder. Wondering what its eyes look like, I lift its chin with a careful finger, and smile. The black kitten's large eyes are as purple as my own.
"This one," I say.
Mum and dad lean in to look it over. I hear my mum gasp as dad lifts the kitten's tail and checks its sex. Satisfied he was a male, and ignoring his protests against the indignity, I settled him on my shoulder again.
"How peculiar, he has your eyes," dad says.
"Yes, I know."
"Well, are you sure that's the one?" Mum asks looking back at the other kittens.
"Uh-huh, I'll name him… Faithful."
"Well, then. Let's go get Faithful his food and litter," Dad says cheerily.
"And a kitty bed right, daddy?" Anna asks gazing adoringly at Faithful who's curled up in my hair.
"Right. And a litter box… and toys… and well, what else do they need?" dad asks looking at my mum.
"We'll need to get him a collar and a tag. Probably some flea medicine, just to be safe." Mum says.
Mum and dad head for the cat department while I sit down on a bench a couple aisles over. Anna joins me and together we watch Faithful sleep until it's time to go.
ROSE'S POV:
"Rosie! Come down and say hello!" I hear my dad holler.
Ten more pages. That's all that's left of my book. Can't they wait just a moment longer? Thursdays are always family night. Only our family get together includes me, mum, dad, my little brother Hugh, Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, my cousins; Lily, James, and Albus, and Grandma and Grandpa Weasley.
"Rose!"
Ugh. Fine! I snap my book closed and drop it onto my desk on my way out the door. Downstairs mum is leading Aunt Ginny to the kitchen where Grandma and Grandpa Weasley are cooking dinner. Dad is talking about some wizard they brought in for selling illegal teacups that poison people when they drink from them. Uncle Harry is trying his best to pay attention but Hugh and Lily are both clung to his knees fighting for his attention.
"He's my daddy!" Lily yells at Hugh.
"Exactly, you always get to see him."
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Honestly would you two grow up a bit?" I scold them as Aunt Ginny comes back in the room.
Ginny cracks up as she always does when she's sees the two of them arguing on Uncle Harry's legs. Harry looks at her pleadingly. She arches an eyebrow and winks. Aunt Ginny is my dad's sister. Uncle Harry, my mum, and my dad were best friends all through Hogwarts and still are.
"Alright you two. Come and help me set the dinner table!" Ginny calls.
"Yes, Aunt Ginny," Hugh says pathetically.
I roll my eyes at my little brother. You'd think she'd ordered him to skin a puppy not help with dinner.
"Yes, mummy," Lily says just as pathetically.
Dad laughs as we watch them leave the room, heads hung low. I roll my eyes.
"Well, we obviously know who spoils them in the family," dad teases Uncle Harry.
"I do not! They just don't see me all that often…" Harry argues, knowing full well that's a lie.
"Rosie! There you are. I thought you'd hide out all evening," dad says just noticing me.
"Hello, Rose!" Harry greets me and gives me a hug. "Are you ready for school?"
Now this is my topic of discussion!
"Oh, yeah! I've already read through my Herbology book and my Defense Against the Dark Arts. I've been practicing quite a bit on my own, what I'm allowed to anyways, what with being outside of school. I've already packed away all my parchment and my quills. I'm afraid I'll need mum to extend my trunk again though. I'm running out of room for my books. I wish I could take my broom. I abhor the rule that first years can't have brooms! I mean how am I supposed to practice Quidditch so I can try out next year if we don't have brooms to practice on this year?"
Uncle Harry and dad are keeled over laughing at me. I don't see what's so funny about anything I just said. I plant my hands on my hips and glare at them as they catch their breath. Harry eyes me and shakes his head, a large grin on his face.
"Rose, you are more and more like your mother every day, y'know that?"
"She's got her brains. Not to mention her obsession with books." Dad tells him.
"On the bright side she didn't get Hermione's fear of flying. She loves quidditch, too." Harry added.
"Yeah, but she has Hermione's glare too, it's a bit unnerving I tell ya."
"Yeah," Harry laughed again. "And your temper!"
I sigh and leave the room to go see what James and Albus are doing. Typically I find them out in the garden torturing the garden gnomes. Albus has a fat one in his dirty hands and begins to swing him around. They seem to be having a competition to see how far they can throw the poor creatures.
"I wish you guys would be a bit gentler!" I call as I approach.
"You can't be gentle with garden gnomes, Rosie. They'll bite your bloody fingers off!" James says as he chucks another one a good fifty yards.
I sigh and take up my usual spot on the grass to watch. I look around and realize that I won't be back here to see this place until Christmas. A bit of homesickness starts to set in. This will be the first time away from home for more than a day or two. In just six days I'd be on the Hogwarts Express on my way to Hogwarts. I was excited and terrified at the same time.
"What's the matter Rosie?"
I look up as Albus sits down next to me. His hands are filthy and his dark hair is a tousled mess from the wind. His bright green eyes are the exact same as Uncle Harry's. I forgot Albus would be starting Hogwarts too. This makes me feel a little better.
"I was just thinking how much I'd miss being at home once I got to school."
"Yeah, me too. But we'll have loads of fun in classes. And we'll make loads of friends too. From what mum and dad have told me there are plenty of cool places to check out, even if we aren't old enough for Hogsmeade. Dad even told me about a room in the school that's hidden. But if you find it, it'll do whatever you need it to do."
The idea of it intrigued me. Mum and dad had never mentioned such a room to me.
"What do you mean by whatever you need?" I ask curiously.
"Well, say you needed a quiet place to sit and just read. The room would create just that. If you envision a nice comfy couch surrounded by walls of books that's what you'll get…Doesn't that sound cool?"
"It does! I wonder if it would get me any books I wanted. Or maybe even let us practice quidditch inside it," I said thinking of all the possibilities.
We sat there silently for a few moments watching James wrestle with a garden gnome. It was putting up quite a fight and James kept getting kicked in the head. Albus and I laughed as the thing bit him squarely on the nose.
"Oh, shut up!" James yelled as he headed for the house and someone who could mend his bleeding nose.
"Rosie…" Albus voice was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.
"What's the matter?" I ask worried.
"What house… what house do you think you'll be in?"
I thought for a moment. Which house would I be in? Hmm…
"Well, mum and dad were both in Gryffindor. So maybe I'll be put there too. But then again I'm also very smart and love to read, so maybe the sorting hat will put me in Ravenclaw. I'm not sure. I guess I'll see when I get there."
"You're not worried you'll be put in Slytherin?" Albus asked his eyes wide.
"No. Should I be?"
"Well, yeah. A lot of witches and wizards put in Slytherin have gone bad," Albus said as if that answered everything.
"Don't be ridiculous. So Slytherin hasn't had the best track record in the past. That doesn't mean it's still that way. Every house has some bad people in it. It's just that those that are sorted into Slytherin are quite often overzealous, power hungry, and overambitious. Bad luck, that's all."
"Bad luck…" Albus repeated.
"Hey, you two! Dinner!" James hollered from the house.
Albus and I headed in to wash up. I took another look behind me at the pink and orange sky and smiled. I was ready for Hogwarts. No matter which house I was in.
EVALLE'S POV:
The rest of the week had gone by smoothly for me aside from a few odd occurrences. On Wednesday I knew who was calling before the phone even rang, confusing my mother. I'd somehow dyed all the whites purple in the dryer, mum and I were equally confused considering she was standing there when I did it. I went to get my hair cut to my shoulders but when I woke up Thursday morning it was fully grown to my waist again. After breakfast that day I asked dad to ask our neighbor not to clean his gutters that day. Which dad didn't do saying it was none of his business when the neighbors did their chores and then our neighbor broke his leg after falling off the latter on his way down from cleaning the gutters, of course. When I talk to Faithful I swear I can hear him talk back. The other weird thing, that has nothing to do with me, is that every day this week mum and dad have raced for the mail and disappeared into the kitchen every time. They won't tell us what's in the mail and despite looking all over the kitchen neither Anna nor I can find a single letter or bill that would be so important or secret.
I woke up on my eleventh birthday feeling like someone had put me in a blender and set it to chop. Sleepily I blinked and checked my clock. Nine. Dawn had come at six. Dad would have left for work at seven. Anna's supposed to be at her friend's birthday party. Under the covers, I felt a small warm body creeping cautiously along my side. When Faithful poked his little black head out from under the covers, I stroked his ears.
"Hi, little guy," I said softly.
I swore I actually heard him say good morning when he mewed at me. Maybe I'm getting sick.
Downstairs I hear the doorbell ring. That's odd, I think. We never get visitors. I get out of bed, carefully avoiding bumping Faithful, and head out of my room. I hear voices in the entryway and then the door closing. By the time I get downstairs the entryway is empty.
"Who was it?" I yawn entering the living room.
"Eh-hem."
I realize my mum isn't alone in the living room and wish I'd thought to get dressed before coming down. I glance embarrassingly at my purple pajama pants and matching cami. The older woman sitting on the couch across from my mother smiled warmly at me. Once the smile had faded away I realized she was a rather severe-looking woman. She had piercing eyes behind square glasses that seemed to see inside of you. She had dark grey hair that was drawn into a tight bun.
"You must be Evalle?" The woman asked.
I didn't seem to be able to find my voice so I simply nodded. I looked at my mother who refused to look back at me. Okay, I think. That's not normal.
"I understand it's your birthday today, is it not?" The woman asks.
"Umm, yes. I'm eleven."
The woman reaches into a bag I hadn't noticed and pulls out a tiny wrapped package. There was an envelope stuck to the top of the package. The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.
"No!" mum hollered coming out of her chair.
"Mrs. Kincaid… Might I remind you of the agreement made eleven years ago?" The woman asked with a warning tone.
Mother gaped at her in horror but dropped into the chair again. I had never seen mum back down from anyone. I didn't understand her worry. It was just a birthday card. I looked at the older woman and a question popped into my head.
"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" I asked.
The woman lifted an eyebrow and smiled. "Forgive me. My name is Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You may call me Professor McGonagall."
I don't know how long I stood there staring at her. Headmistress? Of witchcraft and wiz…
"Perhaps you should open the envelope, dear." She said noticing my confusion.
I did as she suggested and pulled out three folded sheets of paper. I opened the first and read aloud.
"Dear Ms. Kincaid, 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, Headmistress."
I looked at my mum and then at the headmistress. What did this mean? I had so many questions. I didn't even know where to start or which to ask first.
"I didn't apply to go to this school…" I said.
"My dear, no one signs up. You just are. All magical beings will show up on their respective schools registry."
"She can't…" mum finally spoke up quietly. "She can't go. I won't let her."
The headmistress looked at her sternly.
"Mrs. Kincaid, you have no say in the matter. Her father has already made preparations for her to go. All funds have been transferred to her bank account and she'll be leaving today, with me."
"Dad said I could go?"
"No your father did not say you could go!" Mother yelled.
Now I was really confused. But there was one question that bothered me the most.
"You said this is a school for witchcraft and wizardry… I'm not a witch… I'm a catholic. I can't study witchcraft."
Professor McGonagall laughed as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. My mother seemed to swell with fury.
"How dare you! I think we're pretty open-minded parents, but we're Catholics. That's our religion. We are part of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church does not condone witchcraft or people who study witchcraft. I'm telling you that we will not have witchcraft in this house. I have raised Evalle since infancy; I'll not have you corrupt what godly morals I've raised her with!"
It was like my mum had been replaced by an alien duplicate. This sounded so unlike her that I just gaped. She glared at me, the lines around her mouth deep, her eyes angry and cold and… worried? I didn't know what to say. My mum was usually incredibly reasonable.
"She is coming with me." The headmistress looked almost apoplectic, the veins in her neck jumping out. I suddenly realized she was much taller than my mother. "You may have raised her until this point, but you did so knowing this day would come. I explained all this to you when we handed her into your willing arms. She will return to the world in which she belongs and she will receive the best education that can be given to a young witch."
My mouth dropped open when it hit me. Raised from infancy…
"I'm adopted?" I ask looking at my mum.
I can feel the blood rushing through my veins, the thudding of my heart, as she turns to look at me. I can see the agony and pain in her eyes as she drops her head to stare at the floor.
"I hate you…" I whisper as the first tears fall down my cheeks. "I hate you!"
I run up the stairs to my room still clutching the letter and package the headmistress had given me. I throw myself on the bed and cry. How could they lie to me? How could they not tell me? I realize just how big an idiot I really am. I should have known.
Mum, dad, Anna… Anna isn't really my sister? Of course… they all have brown hair, I have light blonde. They're morning people, I'm a night owl. They're tall and I'm short. They're vegetarians, I could live off meat alone. They're fun and happy all the time, I'm serious and moody. Such subtle differences yet such a big reason for them. How could I have not known?
I don't know how long I lay there crying but I'm startled when a hand gently rubs my back. I look up into the sad face of Professor McGonagall.
"I'm sorry, dear. I hadn't known that you grew up not knowing. She wasn't supposed to keep that from you specifically for this reason."
"Am I really a witch?"
"Yes, Evalle. You really are a witch. So were you're parents."
My parents… so she knows who my real parents are!
"Who are they? Why did they get rid of me if they would want me back later?"
The headmistress looked uncomfortable for a minute. I waited in silence watching her judge just how much she could tell me.
"They never got rid of you, dear. You're parents were in a complicated situation. They came to me for help knowing they could not care for you at the time of your birth. So we found a wonderful home with a couple who had not been able to have a child in the four years that they'd tried and they took to you from the start…"
"Mum and dad? That's why they took me?" I asked. I suddenly felt guilty for telling my mum I hated her.
"Yes. As soon as we'd shown you to them they couldn't look away. We explained to them that when you grew up you'd most probably be a witch. We left them with instructions to prepare you for the day when I would come to take you to Hogwarts. So that there was no confusion."
"So Hogwarts is a school that will teach me to… to do magic?" I asked slowly.
It was starting to make a little sense. All the weird things that had been happening to me these past two weeks. I wasn't going crazy, it was magic.
"Yes. First, of course, we'll have to take you to Diagon Alley and buy the necessary school supplies. Your uniform, your wand, you can get…"
The headmistress was momentarily distracted by my small kitten clambering to sit on my shoulder. He stared at the headmistress with bright violet eyes, seemingly inspecting her from head to foot.
"… a pet." The headmistress finished.
"This is Faithful. I got him for my birthday a few days ago." I introduced him.
"His eyes are quite unusual…"
"They're the same as mine. Are mine unusual too? Even for a… a witch?" It felt awkward thinking of myself as a witch.
The headmistress looked at my eyes and I noticed the look of surprise on her face. She stared at my eyes another moment and then shook her head with a smile.
"No, my dear, they aren't common at all. It's not unheard of for a witch to have an unusual shade of eyes or hair, though. When I went to Hogwarts there was a girl in my house that had hair as pink as cotton candy. Strange as it was, it was her natural shade."
"You went to Hogwarts too?" I asked startled.
The headmistress frowned at me.
"Of course, Hogwarts has been around for hundreds of years."
I felt my face flush from embarrassment.
"Um, will I be in the same 'house'?" I asked.
Professor McGonagall smiled. "Well, I'd certainly hope so. Gryffindor is a wonderful house. But there isn't anything particularly wrong with Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. I simply have a personal attachment to Gryffindor house."
I opened my mouth to ask what these houses were but she interrupted me before I had the chance.
"We'll buy you a book that will teach you all you need to know about Hogwarts, the wizarding world, and any other books you need to make sense of things. Now, we should get going while the day is still fresh," she said.
"Wait! When am I going? When will I be back? What should I bring?" I blurted.
She looked at me and sighed. She sat down beside me on the bed and took my hand.
"Evalle, Hogwarts is a year round school. You will live at Hogwarts for seven years. You can come home on Christmas and for the summer. If you'd like to pack a bag of important things you may but everything you need to be at Hogwarts will be purchased for you today."
"Just a bag?" I asked quietly looking at all my favorite things.
"Where is the present I gave you?" Professor McGonagall asked.
I reached behind me and grabbed it from my pillow. I'd forgotten about it in my anger. I opened it now and found a tiny silk drawstring black bag. I could tell it was an expensive bag despite its simplicity.
"You can put everything you want to bring with you in that bag."
I looked at the woman and laughed. That's all I can bring with me? That would hold… what? A fistful of candy?
"Maybe I can just take my backpack?" I asked hopefully.
"Evalle. Reach your hand into the bag."
I opened the bag and looked inside it. It looked empty. I reached my hand in anyways feeling stupid. First went my fingers, then my hand, then my wrist, and then…. Wait… I pushed further still all the way up to my elbow. I couldn't find the bottom to the bag.
"I cast an extendible charm on it for you. You'll be able to fit as much or as little as you want into it," she told me.
"Magic," I said in awe.
"Magic," she agreed. "Pack up and come back downstairs. You can bring your cat with you."
I watched her leave and looked around my room. What should I bring? What would I miss? What would I need? I headed for my closet and pulled out only my nicest dresses and jackets. Opening my dresser I grabbed my newest and most favorite clothes. I reached down under my bed and grabbed the few pairs of shoes I owned.
What else? I went to the bathroom and grabbed my personal items. Back in my room I grabbed items of sentimental value or general importance I just couldn't bear to leave; photos, awards, medals. I picked Faithful up and sat him on my shoulder as I headed for the door. Looking back at my room it felt strange to think I wouldn't be back until Christmas. I could feel my heart thudding from just the thought. Closing the door behind me I braced myself for what was bound to be ahead.
AUTHORS NOTE: A little note… I'll spend about a month writing a single chapter. Planning, writing, reviewing, editing, rewriting, adding, etc. Then when I've changed the chapter half a dozen times and I'm finally sure there's no spelling mistakes I upload it. (By the time I upload it's probably been at least 3 months, I'm a little OCD about writing.) So please be sure to review my story, even if you don't like it, anything can help me better my story.