A.N- This is another story written by me and my best friend. This is just a little side project that we're working on so it may not be updated in a while. Please read and review. We would really appreciate it. :)
Disclaimer - We don't own anything to do with Harry Potter, they belong to the amazing JK Rowling. We do however, own anything you do not recognise from the series.
Chapter One
"Mum!" shouted the voice of a young girl. Following the voice was a surge of loud footsteps, as she descended the stairs.
"Artemis! What have I told you about running down the stairs?" the woman in the kitchen demanded.
The thundering stopped, "Not to?" said the meek voice, getting steadily closer.
The other little girl that sat at the dining table rolled her eyes in exasperation, drifting her blue eyes back to the rather large book that sat on the table.
"Yes. Now, come eat." The pretty woman said placing two plates on the table, one in front of the already sitting girl and the other near the empty seat adjacent.
A zoom of blonde hair entered the room. Artemis Kalliope Westbrooke had arrived, finally, much to the annoyance of her twin. She sat on the stool, with such confidence. 'Can you even sit on a chair with confidence?' Echo Orion Westbrooke thought, taking a bite out of the golden toast, rolling her eyes softly. Even though they were twins, they had major differences in personality. While Artemis (or Artie, as she demanded to be called), was loud, confident, outgoing and hot tempered, Echo was quiet, bookish and calm… most of the time, if someone insulted her friends, her wild temper would emerge. They looked identical in appearance. The only difference was the length of their hair. Artie demanded to keep hers long and wavy. Echo preferred hers short, so it didn't get in the way. The sisters got along, most of the time. There was the odd day when they couldn't stand the sight of each other, but other than that they did everything together, despite their differences. Echo was the oldest, by ten minutes and Artie always liked to state that fact a lot, claiming that she was 'old'.
Once their mother had left the room, the girls sat in silence, a very uncomfortable silence at that. The only sound audible was the crunching of toast.
Their mother wasn't really their mother by blood. Penelope Westbrooke adopted the girls when they were the tender age of two. The girls had always known they were adopted. For one, they didn't look anything alike. While Artie and Echo had blonde hair, Penny had greying brown hair that was always kept in a tight bun, held together by a small hair grip. Penny had large brown eyes while both of the icy blue eyes. Also, Penny was quite a tall, regal woman, while the girls were small in stature.
"Girls, come on! We have to get going." shouted Penny, as she descended the stairs, after dressing into a floral dress.
The slamming of the letter box alerted the three that the post had arrived. Penny calmly walked to the front door, retrieving the post that was in the letter flap in the door. Two of the letters were bills but two of them were off-white envelopes… that had her children's name on. The lettering was fancy, almost like calligraphy, also written in a blue ink. The envelope was sealed with a strange red seal. Above the seal was a coat of arms with the letter 'H' in the middle, around this was four animals, a snake, a lion, a badger and a raven. 'Obviously, this is some kind of joke.' thought Penny, walking into the kitchen, still clutching the bogus letters.
Echo looked up from eating, as she heard her mother enter, grumbling to herself, Artemis carried on munching, although listening.
"What's wrong, mum?"
Her mother snapped her head from the letters, "Nothing, nothing, dear. Just have some post. There's one for each of you, it's a joke letter. I don't know who from though." she said, hesitantly passing each girl their respected letters.
Echo scoffed a little, before opening the envelope.
It read, 'The kitchen,
4 Linage Close,
Oxforth,
Tiverton
Dear Miss Echo Westbrooke,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed with this letter is a list of books and equipment that you will need during your time at the school. Term begins on September 1st. Please send your reply by owl at the earliest convenience.
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'
Echo stopped reading. 'Who would play such a mean joke.´ she thought. 'It was probably Liam Houser.'
Liam was in the same year as her and Artie. He was a bully, to put it mildly. Armed with his little 'posse', he thought he was the king of year seven at Baker Street Secondary School. He was a chubby lad with light blonde hair and dewy blue eyes that always seemed to unforgiving. There were two other members of the posse, Mark Titchberg and Wallace Matthews.
Artie, on the other hand, looked at the letter in excitement. She couldn't help but have a little optimism in her heart that what she was reading was, in fact real and that there was another world out there, full of magic.
She moved to the second piece of paper and read:
'FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
UNIFORM:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)One plain pointed hat (black) for day wearOne pair of protective gloves (dragon-hide or similar)One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)'
She squinted to read the fine print underneath. 'Please note that all pupils should carry name tags.'
There was more on the sheet, including a list of books. From, 'A History of Magic' written by 'Bathilda Bagshot' and 'The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection' by 'Quentin Trimble'. Another piece of off-white parchment bore the words 'OTHER EQUIPMENT' in large, bold lettering. She read on…
'1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass crystal phials
1 telescope…' the list went on and Artie was starting to doubt this letter. 'It seems legit, but could magic really be real?' she thought, almost slamming the letter on the table top, startling her mother and sister.
"Is this a joke?"
"I would suppose so, dear. Who would pull a joke like this?" Penny asked.
The ever-quiet Echo spoke up. "I bet any money that it was Liam Houser. He hates me!"
"That little twerp! Ohh, he's gunna get when school starts." Artie said, ripping the letter into small pieces, before throwing them in the bin. Echo did the same.
Penny clapped her hands once, before grabbing her purse, "Artie, calm down! Now, let's not let these letters ruin our day! Come on, girls." she added after seeing the girls were less than enthusiastic to go out. Penny had planned for them to go for a fancy dinner, just the three of them. She had told the girls to wear something nice.
Artie had chosen to wear her signature dark blue skinny jeans with some small white heels, a white top and her beloved leather jacket, which she had received for her eleventh birthday, two weeks ago. Echo had chosen to wear something softer, a white dress paired with floral leggings and some open toe sandals.
After locking the front door, Penny made her way to the small car, followed by the twins. The drive to the 'Blue Orchid' was short, they could have walked it, but frankly, they all couldn't be bothered.
Dinner was a quiet affair and by the time they made it home, the girls were tired. They hadn't just been to the restaurant, but also to the beach with some of Penny's friends that had children who were friends of Artie and Echo.
The sun shone brightly three days later, small drops of dew lingered on the grass from the rain that showered the night before. In the first bedroom on the right, Artie awoke with a groan of annoyance. The light was shining right into her eyes. The sun rose in the direction that her bedroom was facing, so even though the curtains were closed, every day she was greeted with the bright morning sun in her sleepy, vulnerable blue eyes. She sat up blearily and looked around the bedroom she shared with her sister. Echo could sleep through anything, it took nothing less than a douse of freezing cold water to wake her up, Artie loved to do that.
The room was large enough for two single beds that sat on opposite walls, a dressing table for each of the girls and a vanity with two stools, so one of them didn't have to wait for the other to finish. There was also a small en-suite bathroom, equipped with a toilet, sink and a shower. The main bathroom was situated downstairs, next to the living room and dining room. Penny's room was adjacent to theirs and slightly smaller, seeing as there was only one of her. The house had a study and a small attic that was only useful for storing junk that the Westbrooke's had collected over the years. The house itself was a semi-detached house, a little on the small side, but it was plenty big enough for the three of them. They only had one neighbour, that was Mrs Grisham and her three dogs, Dory, Oscar and Bennie, all of them were small West Highland Terriers. Mrs Grisham was a nice woman, with white hair that was curly from the use of rollers and wrinkled blue eyes. The Westbrooke's didn't really know anything about her, except that her husband had died in the second war.
A loud cuss from downstairs alerted Artie, causing her to jump out of bed and run downstairs. "What's wrong?" she asked, skidding into the lounge area. Her eyes zoned in to the familiar washed out parchment, widening.
Penny looked up from the letters, "Just another prank. Forth day in a row! This is getting ridiculous."
They were silent for what seemed like forever, "Could it be real?" asked Artie bluntly.
"Pardon, my dear?"
"Could it be real? Magic, I mean."
Penny scoffed, "Of course not, dear."
"How do you know?"
"Stop asking questions!"
Artie was silent, normally she would have retaliated, but she saw how exhausted Penny was and left it be. Small footsteps disturbed the angry silence. Echo happily bounced into the room and stopped abruptly, felling tension in the air.
"What's goin' on?" she asked, slowly walking further into the room.
"Nothing, dear." Penny replied, walking into the kitchen and making some green tea for herself.
In the living room, Echo turned to her sister, "What did you do?"
Artie laughed slightly, "Me? Nothing! Why do you always think it's me?"
"'Cos it normally is." Echo stated, taking a seat on the chair opposite Artie, who was lounging on the two-seater sofa.
"Well, this time, it's not me. Another 'Hogwarts' letter came today and Penny is getting really annoyed."
Echo glanced back to the woman that had taken it upon herself to raise twin girls and smiled softly. The older twin opened her mouth to speak and was interrupted when a tune of knock on the front door.
"Would you get that, please, girls?" Penny said.
Without replying, both girls answered the door, almost hesitantly. The feeling they began to receive when they got closer and closer to the door was indescribable. Artie turned the doorknob and pulled open the dark blue door. The woman in front of them was a severe-looking woman, with black hair drawn into a tight bun, brown eyes covered by square spectacles. She wore emerald green robes and a very prim expression.
"Echo and Artemis Westbrooke, I assume?" the woman said with a Scottish accent.
The girls were awestruck, 'Who is this strange woman?' they thought simultaneously, nodding cautiously.
The woman's upper lip twitched slightly, as if she wanted to smile, "Good, good. I am Professor McGonagall."
"Professor?" Artie asked.
The woman hummed and nodded. "Yes, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
The two young girls groaned, "Is this another prank?" Echo asked this time.
The Professor looked at them in confusion, "Prank?" she said, just as Penny walked up behind the girls and stood in the doorway.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Professor McGonagall lips tightened, "I am Professor McGonagall. May I come in?" she asked.
Penny knew it was wrong to refuse the woman, "Of course. Girls, why don't you wait in your room, while I speak with Ms McGonagall."
"This concerns the girls, also." McGonagall said.
Penny was hesitant, but the hard look in this new woman's eye was enough for her to decide.
"Okay, let's move to the living room."
The four moved to the cosy room, taking a seat on the sofa and chairs. It was an awkward silence for several minutes. Professor McGonagall looked around the nicely designed room with appreciative eyes. The far wall was painted soft beige, while the others were covered in floral wallpaper. The carpet was also a beige and very soft to the touch. The furniture matched the room perfectly and the medium sized TV wasn't too big for the room. Ornaments lined the walls, along with some pictures. One of them was Penny, Artemis, Echo and another man, McGonagall assumed to be Penny's husband.
"Are you really from Hogwarts?" Artie asked, leaning forward in her seat.
"Yes." The stern woman said.
"Cool!" said the twins in unison.
"Yes, it is… cool." She said the word 'cool' hesitantly, as if she didn't want to say it. "Our records indicate that you haven't replied to the acceptance letters in four days, why is this?" she arched an eyebrow.
The Westbrooke family looked ashamed, "We thought someone was pulling a joke." Penny replied, with a slightly shaky voice.
To their surprise, the older Professor smiled a little, "I assure, it is not a joke."
"Prove it," Echo said, "please." She added after seeing the woman's stern gaze turn to her.
With that, McGonagall whipped out a piece of wood from her emerald robes and pointed it to the floor. Muttering a word, a small beam of light emitted from the tip. The white mist began to form a shape, an animal, a cat. At the end of the transformation, the smoke form of a cat, roamed through the living room of the Westbrooke household, casually running along the walls and ceiling.
"That," McGonagall pointed to the happy cat, "is a corporeal patronus." she was met with silence as the other three occupants stared in awe and slight fear for seeing something so abnormal.
"It's real. Its real." muttered Penny, taking a deep breath.
Artie and Echo looked at the white being in excitement, "Magic's real!" they shouted, both reaching out to touch this white smoke creature. As they inched closer, as fast as it appeared, it disappeared and back into the still outstretched stick, or what the girls assumed was a wand.
"Do you believe me now?" McGonagall asked, slyly, before reaching into her robes and replaced her wand. She pulled out a letter, the same letter that the twins had obtained four days in a row. "Now, do you accept?"
"Yes." Echo and Artie almost shouted.
"Will they be safe?" asked a small voice. Penny saw how happy her girls were. It was then she realised that they weren't her little girls anymore, but nearly teenagers. They needed to be with their own, even if that meant leaving her.
"Yes. I assure you they will be."
Penny nodded to herself. "Alright, you can go." With that, the young girl's shrieked in excitement, hugging each other and then squishing Penny.
McGonagall looked at the small pocket watch that she kept in the pocket of her robe. She flicked her wand again, after retrieving it from her robes, yet again. Two large suitcases flew down the stairs, before landing in front of her. "Come along girls, we must get going."
Artie and Echo removed themselves from Penny's grasp, "We'll be back for Christmas, I'm sure." Artie asked, looking at the Professor in validation. She was surprised to see hers and Echo's suitcases, Artie bet they were filled with their respected clothes.
"That's correct. The students are permitted to return home for Easter and Christmas, for two weeks each. The year ends on July 19th and starts again on September 1st."
Penny hugged the girls one more time, "Have fun, okay." She whispered in a choked voice. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry but it was becoming impossible from stopping the onslaught of tears that were beginning to make their presence known.
"Come now, girls." The stern voice said.
They retracted themselves from Penny's vice like grip, once more and picked up the handle of their luggage, only to find that they weren't there.
"What the…?"
"Miss Westbrooke, I have placed a shrinking charm on your belongings and they are safe in my pocket." Professor McGonagall said, tapping said pocket on the front of her emerald ensemble.
With one last look at the woman who had raised them as if they were her own, the twins left the cosy home, not knowing that their life would change forever.