Chapter 1: Escaping the park and letters to Arden House

Dasha sighed with satisfaction as she opened the window to let Greywing in. She had been out hunting for the night. Once she was sure that her owl was comfortable, Dasha left the house, and went over to Jai's house. As she knocked on the door, Dasha glanced towards the park in the middle of the square. There was a group of kids their age sitting around on the swings. Dasha turned to face the door as it was opened. "Hey! Wanna go to the park?" she asked Jai. Jai shrugged. "Sure, just a second, I need to get my coat," she said, disappearing for a moment and then reappearing holding her red puffer jacket. "Okay, let's go," she said, closing the door. As they crossed the street, one of the kids at the playground yelled, "Oi! You weirdos! Where you goin'?" causing them all to fall into hysterics. Jai opened her mouth to reply but Dasha grabbed her arm. "Don't. Those saddos aren't worth it," she said as they entered the playground. Jai nodded, but Dasha could see she was still angry. "Let's go to the lake," suggested Dasha. "Fine." To get to the lake, they had to pass the kids and as they did so, Dasha put herself on the side closest to them so that she could hold Jai back, just in case. "Weirdos. Where're are you guys goin'? The weirdo club for mental patients!" jeered a girl, wearing a bright pink crop top with super short jeans. "At least we dress like normal people," said Dasha walking past the girl. The girl jumped up. "Calm down Macey! They're crazy, why bother?" said a tall boy, wearing a baseball cap the wrong way round. Dasha was about to reply when Jai made a sudden movement and in a flash, had her wand pointed at the boy. The kids stood still for a second before bursting out laughing. The boy sneered. "What're you going to do? Poke me with a stick? Ha ha!" Dasha put her hand on Jai's wand and gently lowered it. "Jai, they're worth it, but remember, we're not allowed to do magic out of school," she whispered to Jai. She smirked. "You're right. But they're worth a punch," she replied in whisper and coming up to the baseball cap boy, she reached out her hand silently. He smiled smugly and made to take it but with lightning speed, before he could cry out in surprise, Jai pulled back her hand and brought it back with tremendous force, punching him squarely on the nose. He fell backwards onto the sand and flashing the stunned group a small smile, Jai grabbed Dasha by the arm and sprinted away toward the trees. Dasha didn't look back when she heard one of the bullies shout "Get them!" followed by the pounding of feet.

Thanks to their head start, Dasha and Jai managed to hide just in time, in some bushes that were a bit off to the side of the entrance to the tree park. They held their breath a stampede of big kids charged past them and towards the lake. Jai waited for a few moments before signalling the all clear. The playground was empty and the two girls got inside Dasha's house safely. They watched out the window as the girl called Macey charged out from the trees and searched the entire playground, while they giggled and rolled round with laughter.

Still occasionally snickering, Jai followed Dasha up to her room. There they sat chatting and playing with their owls. Suddenly Dasha remembered. "Look! Here's Patrick's post address. I've already written it down so take it," she said, handing Jai a piece of parchment. Jai smiled. "Thanks. You know, I think we should write him a letter, I feel bad," she suggested. Dasha made a noise of agreement and pulled over some ink, a quill and parchment.

"Dear Patrick.

Hi, it's Dasha and Jai! How're your holidays so far? Ours are going good. Do you want to meet up during next week?

From,

Dasha and Jai."

She read while writing it. Jai nodded. "That sounds good. Wormy!" she called, putting out her arm for him to fly to. As he perched on it, Dasha rolled up the parchment and tied it to his leg. Jai smiled. "Take it to Patrick," she said, opening the window and releasing him out. He flapped his wings and flew off into the distance, soon becoming a dark speck and then completely disappearing. "Should we send one to Theo?" asked Jai, sitting down on the bed again. Dasha nodded. "Of course."

"Dear Theo,

It's Dasha and Jai!

Are your holidays good so far? Our's are going good. Do you want to meet up all together sometime?

From,

Dasha and Jai,"

dictated Jai. This letter was also sent off, with Greywing flying in the opposite direction. "Hey, Dasha, I was wondering, could you help me with my holiday homework?" Jai asked as she took it out. Dasha grinned. "Sure. You do mine, I'll do yours," she said, trading her bigger stack for Jai's. "On second thought, I think I'll do mine myself," said Jai, hastily taking hers back. As they got started on their work, Jai frowned. "How come you have more homework than me?" Dasha shrugged. "I dunno. I don't really care, it's more fun for me," she said, putting aside a few sheets of parchment. "Typical," said Jai, rolling her eyes.

After a while, Jai gave up on her work and took out her wand from her back pocket and rolled it around her fingers. She sighed. "I wish we could use magic, or that we were already seventeen. Then I would show those bullies," she said bitterly. "You would go to jail for that, and not just any jail. Azkaban Prison, where the Dementors suck the happiness out of you," said Dasha, pretending to be a ghoul. Jai grinned and making sucking noises. The two friends collapsed onto the bed, laughing heartily, unaware of what was going to happen this year at Hogwarts.