Letter of Acceptance
It was the night of the 29th of June and magic had been on the mind of Frederek Tendash once again. Tomorrow morning, on the 30th of June, a little over a hundred children would receive their Hogwarts Letter of Acceptance. Frederek, of Witherbeak Close in Little Norrington, was one of these children. Taught for 6 years in a local Muggle school, Frederek had been counting down the days until he received his Hogwarts Letter for quite a while now. Just the thought of Hogwarts would get Frederek excited - he'd dreamt almost nightly about which house he'd be sorted into and would wonder daily about which subject he would excel at. It wasn't very obvious to himself which house he would be sorted into as his parents were both from different houses. His father, Florin, was a Hufflepuff and his mother, Charlotte, was a Slytherin. Frederek was completely at a loss to which house he'd be sorted into. Either Hufflepuff or Slytherin would make sense as the characteristics of these houses would already be in his blood. But what about Ravenclaw? he thought, well I certainly value intelligence more than anything else; then his mind slipped to Gryffindor. Gryffindor had always seemed to him like a 'misfit' house; those with no ambition, thirst for intelligence, or kindness would end up in Gryffindor. How could bravery set you apart from someone else? Everybody is brave, he thought.
These thoughts had kept him sleepless for a number of nights now, so Frederek resolved to ask his parents about the Sorting tomorrow morning and went back to sleep.
The morning came and Frederek woke up, and remembering the day, gave a cautious smile to himself, slipped on his slippers and walked downstairs for breakfast. He made himself a bowl of Exploding Coco Snaps and sat down at the table, his fingers shaking slightly, waiting for an owl to come through the window. His mum and dad were at the table eating their porridge and drinking from their self-refilling teacups - an invention of Mrs Camellia who lived opposite them.
"Mum, Dad. I was going to ask you how the Sorting Hat works" said Frederek, and even though he hadn't really posed a question, he knew his father would reply with an essay.
"Well, nobody's really sure how it works, but the hat seems to get it right most of the time" replied his Dad; and, as expected, he continued on - "me, for example, well the hat got me perfectly. I'm very ambitious myself, and willing to go far enough to achieve what I want to - that's why business is suited to me; but, and I think this is key, there's nothing I value more than kindness and acceptance, hence why I'm a Hufflepuff and, hence, why I am in love with your mother!"
"And what about you, mum?" Replied Frederek.
"The hat got me well enough too, I suppose. As you know, my parents, your grandparents of course, were Muggles, so I didn't know too much about each house before I joined. I could have ended up in Hufflepuff like your father, but I have always believed that if you want something enough, you should do everything in your power to get it."
Frederek pondered on these words from his parents for a few moments before he responded.
"I think I'll trust in what the hat chooses for me, then" said Frederek, but before he could continue with his sentence, an owl had flown through the window and propped a letter next to his cereal.
Frederek had frozen, his mouth still full of cereal, in shock that he'd finally received his letter. It had felt like a thousand years, but, finally, his Wizarding career could begin.
"Open it up then, dear" cried his mum "I wonder what books they have on the curriculum now?"
"I read in The Printed Owl that they're adding a new subject this year" replied his father, "but nobody is sure what it'll be. I hope it's Business Studies, most wizards haven't got a clue when it comes to running their own business."
Frederek hoped that it wouldn't be Business Studies. With his father owning Tendash Quidditch Apparel, he'd heard enough about business to last him a lifetime. Turning back to the letter, he removed the seal wax and started to read his Letter of Acceptance and the books and tools needed for his first year at Hogwarts.