I do NOT own anything! These characters belong to two separate stories that are magnificent in every way and I could only dream to write like J.K. Rowling and draw like Hiro Mashima!
Chapter One: I Receive my First Letter by Owl
BANG!
The thick oak door slammed shut in my face, stinging my eyes. I stood glaring at the door fighting the tight knot in my chest with my ears burning and hands in a fist down at the pressed on the sides of this stupid stupid dress. From the other side of the door I heard low mutterings of frustration and the soft rustle of paper being shifted. I imagined my father red in the face with a throbbing vein apparent on his forehead. Just remembering the events that led to this made my face hot with frustration and my heart beat wildly...but... who am I kidding? It's always been like this, father the great Jude Heartfilia, wants me his only daughter, when I'm old enough to be wed to a man I don't even know to strengthen his business. And I'm only 12 and he expects me to willingly prepare! The knot in my chest grew tighter and tighter as I thought of the injustice. CRACK! Panicked I turned around and to my horror dad's prized horse statue had a long jagged scar running through it. The noise in the room stopped, bringing a new round of heart palpitations to me. Quick footsteps drew nearer to the door and so I ran as fast as I could to the end of the hall. Pressed against a wall my heart beat against my tight dress and I heard my father yell "LUCY!" I hitched my skirt and ran to my room passing many curious faces of the servants who work here. Reaching sanctuary, I shut my door and locked it in two quick motions. Even so, the door can keep out my father but I have to go out sometime. Feeling my knees slowly giving way I slowly slid down the door and used my weight to push against it. My head pressed against the door, I heard faint footsteps drawing nearer and nearer. Fearing the worst I mentally prepared myself for the fact that he may have the key to unlock my bedroom door. I strained to hear for any of my father's heavy footsteps and to my amazement I heard silence. Tap. Tap. Tap. Startled I looked wildly around for the source of the noise and uneasily skimmed my room for anything unusual. The soft noise came more from my right side near my bed; my windows. Slowly I got up from my place at the door and cautiously approached the window. My finger trembled as I grasped the curtains fabric and slid my curtains away to reveal a...Owl? A barn owl. It looked excited and started tapping at the window rapidly. It's yellow eyes widened and stared at me through the glass flapping its wings and trying to stay aloft at the windows level. I turned towards the door that looked dark and ominous to me and turned back towards the window where soft light colored everything in a faint gold as the sunset approached. The barn owl looked irritated and started beating at the window. Finally putting the pieces together I warily opened the window and with a gust of cool air the owl glided right passed me and delicately landed on my desk disturbing some papers I had laid out. The owl lazily lifted its leg to reveal a letter. Curiously I approached the owl and reached over to grab the thick brown envelope attached to its leg. Written in emerald green ink my name and address glowed faintly in artistic loopy writing. Turning the envelope a purple seal with four animals a lion, snake, raven and a badger all surrounding a large letter H stood out. Gently I turned it over again to see if my name was actually printed on it. As sure as the sun rising in the morning my name printed in emerald ink was clearly printed on it. My father began beating at my door. I jumped a bit. Much enraptured in the letter I found the mysterious letter of much more importance. I've never received a letter before and to think that the first letter I've ever received was sent to me by owl! I stared dumbfounded at the envelope my heart beating like a child who plays with drums for the first time: wildly and erratically. Filled with curiosity, I lowered myself down to sit on the floor. The owl started exploring my room hopping and poking around. Thud! Thud! Thud! My father didn't stop knocking on my door. My fingers trembled as I opened the envelope. Two sheets of parchment slipped out and the first one with the same loopy green writing as the envelope said:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mrs. Heartfilia,
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 await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"What?" I stared at the letter from a different world…from a different life…that is apparently addressed to me. Am I a wizard?! By then the knocking on the door had stopped and I was left in silence the only sounds in the room was my breathing, the low hooting of the owl and the soft gusts of air coming in. In all my life I had never felt this feeling… I don't know…this feeling of hope that there is someplace better than where I'm living now. I started to laugh because how do I know that this letter isn't a prank?! How do I know that this is a legit letter…I mean it's so brief and its telling me that there is a school god knows where that teaches magic! Magic. A soft rustle sounded above my head and the owl landed gracefully in front of me, a piece of paper in its mouth. I tentatively grabbed the paper and tilted my head. "Do I need to do something?" I asked it. The owl looked at me and then the letter and hooted loudly. I grabbed the letter again and saw that I need to reply to the school. Instead of the original beatings at my door there now came a soft knock. I shoved the two papers inside the envelope again and stuffed it beneath the pile of letters on my desk written to my mom. I walked towards the door and heard a woman ask in a motherly tone "May I come in Lady Heartfilia?" Recognizing the voice I opened the door to see a plump woman with bushy brown hair stepped in my bedroom. She closed the door behind her and worry lines were already apparent on her kind face.
"Excuse me Lady Heartfilia, your father is not in the best of moods today he…" she trailed off and looked behind me.
"I understand Clementine" I replied not trying to worry the woman who is like a second mother to me. I then noticed that the reason she trailed off was the fact that she noticed the owl behind me. "Err…You probably won't believe me if I told you that this owl delivered an acceptance letter from a magic school to me."
"May I see your letter?" Clementine suddenly inquired
I grabbed the letter hidden beneath all the others and handed it to her. As she read it her hair shaded her eyes and when she looked up her eyes glazed over and a look of pure joy filled her eyes.
"Are you okay?!" I asked shocked by her reaction.
She whispered happily despite the fact that no sound escapes the room and said "This is fantastic! Oh, I've waited a long time for this! Your mother asked me many times to be sure to send you to this school and now…Wow!" she started crying. She placed the letter on my desk and leaned down for a moment using the desk to support her. I began to reach over to help her when she straightened up gaining her composure again. She wiped her eyes with the brim of her sleeve and blew her nose. Many questions overflowed within me like a bucket out in a downpour; before I could even let one slip Clementine started dialing something on her cell phone. I watched as she slowly walked away with her head down and the phone to her ear. Her head jerked up and then she started speaking softly and rapidly. Her voice would crack sometimes or rise up with excitement. Feeling my stomach turning over with new information about my mom left me feeling weak and so I sat down at my desks chair. Absent minded I fiddled with the edge of a piece of paper to keep my mind occupied. I watched the sun set over the horizon and the golden light slowly turn light pink to violet to navy and then the sky began to welcome the night sky and all it brings. Thoughts of constellations ran through my mind but my musings were interrupted when Clementine suddenly appeared beside me and grabbed a blank piece of paper and scribbled something on it with one hand as she held her phone with the other.
"Hold on a sec." Clementine whistled at the owl and motioned for it to come to her she then rolled the paper up and tied it to the owl's leg. Grabbing it gently she went to the window and tossed it out into the night. "Okay, what did you say? 7:00? All right, we will be ready." She hung up her phone did a little hopping dance and then ran out of the room. Great.
I glanced at the time and 5:45 p.m. blinked lazily in and out. I watched the time and tapped my fingers lightly against the desk. 5:46. who in the world was Clementine speaking to? Maybe this Albus Dumbledore? Or…maybe Minerva McGonagall? I grabbed the letters again and turned to the second paper; on the other sheet were a bunch of supplies…Since I've been home schooled all my life I always had the vaguest idea that school supplies didn't involve things like cloaks and cauldrons or even a wand. But that is magic school for you. My heart started beating fast with excitement I began to pace around my room thinking of where I would buy my supplies and how much money I would need and who my teachers are going to be and who my friends are going to be… I stopped in front of my mirror and stared at a girl with long blond hair and brown eyes that haven't glowed this much since…well let's just say it been a while. I smiled a bit and then looked at my dress and then a flash of angry eyes and a scowl filled my thoughts. I watched as my face paled and my eyes lost their excitement and were replaced by the pain of many years of loneliness and of being neglected. Just then Clementine walked in with a large trunk half her height. She kicked the door close with the back of her foot and "thunk" she dropped the trunk unceremoniously on the floor muttering something about "if only I could've used magic to carry this bloody thing…" she then stretched and stood a with her hands on her hips and said "presently your father is sleeping" she said with a mischievous smile…"so, with the time remaining now please change into one of these outfits and grab any personal items" she directed while opening the wooden trunk "and I'll explain everything to you afterwards." She exited the room once more. Walking over to the trunk I shuffled through the clothes and saw that there were t-shirt and jeans of all colors. In a daze I changed into one of the pair of jeans available with a red top. I slipped on my shoes and quickly grabbed my writing journal, my box of letters to mom, and my family photo. I feel like everything is taking place in a dream: you just let everything unravel and go along with it. Safely placing them in my trunk pressed between articles of clothing. I opened the door for Clementine to enter again. She strolled in and said "great, um where to begin." She sat at an empty chair crossed her legs and I mimicked what she did and sat across from her. "She checked the time before she began:
"Before your mother passed she would often remind me that if anything were to happen that I was to be responsible of your attendance to Hogwarts." She paused and looked down at her hands "And so that's what I'm doing now…" She looked up at me and tilted her head as if welcoming any questions. The one question weighing on my mind was "am I really a wizard?" She smiled and said "Of course, have you not noticed odd things happening whenever you feel frustrated or mad?" Many occurrences came to mind such as the most recent one today when my father's statue got a gash in it. I began to ask another question but was interrupted when her watch beeped. "It's time." She ran to my trunk and then pulled out a stick from within her boot. She pointed her stick at the trunk and murmured something softly and the trunk disappeared. No, that's not a stick that's a wand!
"Awesome!" I exclaimed.
She smiled in reply and said "come on we have to go." She signaled for me to wait she looked out the door on both sides of the corridor. And then she shut the door. She looked at me and said "Eventually you will get all your supplies for school, just trust my friends." She then approached the fire place in my room and began to light a fire. When the fire was a hearty one she dropped some powder in it and then in a flash the fire turned a bright emerald green. The fire became the only bright thing in the room over powering the light that my electric lamps gave off. She wiped her hands together and still facing the fire and said "Repeat after me and say: The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley." I repeated what she said and she said that was pretty good.
"This is going to sound crazy but I want you to walk into the fireplace and say The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley as clear and loud as you can." She looked at me then and beckoned for me to go up to the fireplace.
And so began, the longest night of my life.
Author's note: This is my first ever fanfic that I'm actually posting so any feedback would be much appreciated! I want to thank iJustLostmySanity because you helped me convince myself to pick up this story again. Her fanfic Crossing Boundaries is one to really check out!
