Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, BUT THIS PLOT AND AMA IS MINE.
We road in complete silence and in fact my mum has only spoken 4 words to me today - 'Are you hungry Ama?' she asked earlier without even looking at me. Me, being the rebellious donkey I am, gave her the silent treatment.
I showered, I dressed, and packed this morning, as if it were going to be a normal run-of-the-mill school day, but unfortunately, there will be nothing normal about today...or any other day for that matter (I will not know the meaning of normal for 3 years).
It is 10:45 a.m., August 31, and we are heading toward London King's Cross. Although, unlike my other ventures to LKC , this ride is different. I am heading not to my NORMAL school, like any other NORMAL 15-year-old, nope-not happening. I'm heading to some Freakazoid Magic School. Magic, MAGIC--like pulling rabbits out of hats and flowers out of sleeves magic, bollocks.
* * *
It all started two weeks ago. We received a strange letter addressed to me, first by NORMAL post, than delivered by creepy little owls that slipped those bloody letters under our front door or down our chimney. My mum, who thought it was me just having a laugh, blew them off, but eventually she slowly realized I had nothing to do with such complex deliveries. Owl's, different shapes, colors, and types, gathered around every inch of our yard---front and back.
Finally, after days of this, my mother decided enough was enough. The letter that broke her was one that flew in from the chimney landing directly into her soup bowl (we were eating dinner). With this delivery, I couldn't help myself and burst out laughing. My mum, viciously grabbed the letter and flung it out her bowl with so much force that soup contents splattered all over my face. The letter was like none I'd ever seen before, it was beautiful, it looked like a work of art. The antique-looking parchment had beautiful emerald green ink writing that sparkled and shimmered. It was addressed to me: Miss Amalie Dierld.
My mother, still with the letter clutched tightly in her hand, walked over to the sink and cried, mumbling what seemed like profanities. She looked at the letter one more time before trying to shove it down the disposal.
Not again, she had whispered. I rose from my chair and quietly walked over to her. She was struggling with the letter trying to shove it in the disposal. This must be horrible news. Was it news about my deserting father? Was this news from family I have never known or met?
"What is it mummy?" I placed my hand on her back and she jumped up startled. She turned to look at me and her eyes screamed/pleaded for help. She turned her back to the sink and looked down at her wet hands.
"You're 15 now love, I guess you have a right to chose yourself." She robotically walked away from the sink and headed toward the living room without another glance at me.
I carefully and slowly pulled the parchment out the drain and opened it.
What I read made no sense to me...
....bollocks...
....rubbish....
It all seemed like a joke, it had to be a joke----it had to be.
Accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?? What in bloody hell...where in the hell??
I flipped the parchment over looking for writing that read *MADE IN CHINA*. Nothing??
I then looked at the second sheet: Work robes...what the hell?? Books needed---Potions, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms..The Standard Book of Spells Grade 3...The Standard Book of Spells Grade 4...Where the hell...?
Finally, reading no sense in the letter, I shoved it in the disposal, turned the water on and flipped the switch. The letter quickly shredded down into its dark wet grave.
Witchcraft....Wizardry.
...me...is that why I'm so...
Maybe...just maybe...this is the reason why I'm different. This is the reason I have to struggle to maintain normalcy...maybe this is why I am different from the rest of my mates... Maybe I'm not mental after all.
A warm hand touches my back and I turn toward my mom. She reaches over to the disposal switch and turns it off.
Was I daydreaming?? For how long??
"You okay love?" My mum's blood-shoot red eyes quickly gave her away, she was crying .
"What does this mean mum? I thought you said I was normal..."
Normal, what is normal? Ever since my 10th birthday, I have had strange incidences happen. My mum told me to hold it in...hold in my desires, my wishes, my wants. She would tell me to think of something else...think of happy thoughts. It mostly worked, but at certain times, I would still move objects without touching them, and the most frightening occurrences happen when I am angry.
This was also the time my mom told me I had received this same letter four years ago, when I turned 11. She told me of the strange man that visited us. She told me he was a professor from this wizarding school. My mother, at that time, denied him access to me. He adamantly wanted to see and talk to me, but she refused his advances. She wanted nothing to do with him or his nonsense. She threw him out and to her wonderful surprise he left and the letters stop coming.
How do I take such news? How do I take such a secret?
Soon after she revealed this delicate news, they came.
They came dressed like medieval pirates. It was a man and a woman. They wore ridiculous outfits that reminded me of extras from a Pirate movie. The woman also wore too much perfume, so much that my mum had to open every window in the house.
They first wanted to speak with my mother alone, and I had to wait upstairs in my room. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I pressed my ear to the door, I heard nothing. They were down there for 2 hours, which worried me. When it was my turn, they both seem ecstatic, as if I was leaving that instant with them.
Before they even officially greeted me, I flat out refused anything they offered and wanted to hear nothing of this make-believe school. My mum who sadly stood behind me the whole time, shushed me and ordered me to sit and listen. Bloody freaky pirates.
They went on and on about the benefits of such a school and emphasized how it wasn't safe for a witch at my age to be untrained in the wizarding-arts. They spoke of the danger that bottled up inside me.
Did they know about my scary dreams and how I sometimes wake up and am floating mid-air with bed, side tables, and all also floating around me? Am I dangerous?
NO I WILL NOT GO - I screamed.
Unfortunately for me, I had no choice. My mum had the final word but little did she know that that day was etched in stone for me before she even officially agreed. The two pirates had purchased everything I needed and had my belongings en-route to the LKC station. They knew my mother wouldn't disagree...because evidently I am a walking time-bomb. BOLLOCKS! So, it became official, my arse would be on the next train to Freaktown, which unfortunately for me was the next day.
* * *
I turn to look at the clock in the car, 10:48. I start to pinch myself all over my arm, hoping this is a nightmare.
OUCH!
Nope, I'm not sleeping. The car slows to a stop causing me to look up. My mum found prime parking near the entrance. She turns off the ignition and instantly my heart starts to pound madly in my chest.
"No mum. I will do this on my own. You don't have to walk me in." I reach out to touch her hand still on the ignition key. I give her a pleading look and she instantly realizes that I can do this on my own.
"Oh Love. I'm so sorry that I'm making you do this...but they told me....they said..." She cut herself off. She was in deep thought, maybe analyzing the appropriate thing to say to me--she was probably re-living what the pirates told her last night. Maybe, I am a walking time-bomb. She is truly struggling for words. Her gaze fell on me once again and the look she gave me was intense and I noticed pools of water accumulate in her eyes.
"You have to do this Love...it...it's crucial that you know what you are, who you are, and where your blood comes from..." She cut herself off again...but the disdain of the word blood was not missed by me.
"Blood." I whispered. I quickly look down at my wrists where my veins are most clearly visible. What is wrong with my blood?
"AMA..." Her loud, urgent tone snapped me into reality. "AMA, IT'S 10:58. HURRY LOVE OR YOU'LL MISS IT." She leaned over and kissed me. She gave me one of her tight firm hugs and whispered she loved me.
"I LOVE YOU TOO MOMMY." I pull away and stare at her for a split second before reaching in the backseat grabbing my small rucksack and bolt out the door, slamming it behind me.