Emilia Anderson was what her neighbors would call "an abnormally normal type of human being". Nothing in life was much of a surprise to her, and when she did get a slight surprise it was a rare occasion. So when a man dressed in a suit showed up at her house and asked for her eleven year old son, she was in a large state of shock to say at the least.
"May I ask who you are?" She replied with a shaky yet seemingly friendly expression on her face. She was raised by two lawyers, giving her the ability to put on a mask of her choosing in any situation.
"Mrs. Anderson, I'd first like to see your son if that's alright with you. You can stay with us while we explain if you'd like," the strange man replied, trying his best to seem confident.
"Mom? Can I talk to the man? I want to see what this is about," a tiny boy with a mess of curly hair on his head crawled out from where he was hiding behind the grand piano. The boy's name was Blaine Anderson, and he was eleven years old as of that day. Or at least that's what the adoption agency assumed. Blaine had been found in an ally way in the strange part of town where men in black cloaks used to roam. It was a miracle that he was alive, and the Andersons decided to have that miracle as part of their life.
"Hello, Blaine. My name is Harry. I have some things to talk to you about that are important," the man in the suit waved at the small child with a soft expression on his face. Blaine reminded him slightly of his ten year old son at home with his small frame and messy hair, but he was significantly quieter than his Tasmanian devil that was probably driving his nanny insane with his antics.
"Mom, I'll talk to him. You can stay here. He doesn't look like a bad guy at all! Don't throw him out, Mom! I trust him and he looks like this could be important," Blaine waved his arms at his mother in an attempt to emphasize his words while sending his mother a pleading gaze.
Finally, after listening to her son's three minute speech while receiving nervous glances from the stranger, she gave in and let Harry explain himself. Soon they were seated in the living area, feasting over afternoon tea.
"First of all, Mrs. Anderson, my name is Harry Potter. I have some information about Blaine's biological parents that I think that you would like to know. Blaine's birth parents and myself come from a world different from yours. A world where there are people who have special abilities. In our world, we have the ability to do magic." Harry began, prepared to give an example of the magic he spoke of.
And so, after ten minutes of convincing the woman and her son that he was not insane, he continued while Blaine still stared at him in awe.
"About eleven years ago a long war ended in our world. This war didn't only affect us, but also non-magical beings like yourself. You may have heard some weird things happening like bridges falling and unsolved murders during this time. That was all due to an evil wizard who had his minions causing terror. During this war, a group of minions entered the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dibolt. The couple unfortunately did not survive the attack, and their son was left in the ally way to die. Their son was found by an orphanage and nursed back to health. We have recently made the connection that the son is Blaine Anderson, and I am currently scanning him right now for signs of magic. Although, it seems like your son is what we call a squib, a human with magical parents but doesn't have the ability to do magic. It's nothing to be ashamed of, though. The wizarding world is very accepting of squibs. We even recently built a school for squibs." Harry luckily got out the entire story before the woman could interrupt him.
"So what does this mean for my son?" Emilia asked, giving the wizard an uneasy look.
"It means that you have the option to enroll your son in our school squibs, which is a boarding school, or you could simply send your son to a non-magical school but still give him some sort of connection to the wizarding world. It's important that he holds on to his heritage, for squibs sometimes have hidden magical talents such as potions and the ability to see the future. Eleven is the age that magical children get sent to school, and if he would like he could take weekend visits to a school for magical students called Hogwarts. I'm working as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher there this year, although my main profession is auror, which is sort of like a policeman. I am here giving you this information on auror duties," Harry explained calmly, trying his best to convince the woman that giving her son a connection to the magical world would open him up to good opportunities.
"Well, you see Mr. Potter, we are actually planning to move to the United States of America in a few months. We are from there, which is why we have an American accent. My husband works for a company that occasionally sends us to England for long periods of time. My husband is actually there right now, in fact. We won't be able to visit your school," Emilia responded truthfully, hoping that it was a good reason to not have her son visit the magical world. She didn't like the idea of her son leaving to go to some sort of parallel universe for periods of time.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Anderson. You'd simply have to visit the wizarding world in America and hand them a signed letter from the Britain Ministry of Magic. They will register your fireplace for travel through a network called the Floo Network, and they will supply you with Floo powder. They will also fill you in with instructions on how to operate the Floo Network, and your family will have the ability to visit plenty of places in the wizarding world," Harry responded, giving the woman a smug look when he saw the boy's face light up at the possibility of visiting a magical world.
"Mom, I believe this is my decision. It's my world after all. It's where I'm from! You told me on my tenth birthday that it is okay for me to try and research who my biological parents were. Now I have all of the information laid out for me. I want to see the world that I almost grew up in. I'm an outcast in this world, Mom. Maybe I'll even make friends!" Blaine sternly dictated this to his mother, and Harry was shocked that a tiny eleven year old boy could seem so intimidating.
It was true that Blaine was an outcast in school. When Blaine was nine years old, the Andersons decided to put an end to his homeschooling and expose him to other children in an attempt to give him proper social skills. The children had bullied the boy for anything under the sun, for example, his American accent and curly hair. The Andersons had tried putting him in every private school they could find nearby, but Blaine was always treated like an outcast wherever he went.
"Blaine, honey, I guess I can't stop you," Emilia sighed, yet her face got a bit brighter when she saw her son's face light up. "Just don't get disappointed if you don't like this...place."
Blaine just nodded and automatically began learning from Harry about the exciting new world that he would soon be a part of.
And so it began.