The cold winds engulfed me like the icy fingers of a giant. I shielded my eyes from the harsh blizzard, all the while frantically searching for my sister, Galya. I felt myself shiver in my thin robes, and I had a creeping feeling it wasn't all due to the cold. Suddenly, I froze. A bone-rattling moan echoed off the shimmering glaciers, causing a terrifying feeling to course through my body. Instinctively I reached for my wand, when my sudden lapse of judgement startled me.
Stupid! I must have left it back at the dorm when I was- I cut my thought off midsentence. I didn't have a wand, nor have I ever slept in a dorm. What in Merlin's shaggy gray beard was going on here? The creature howled again, a bloodcurdling roar that would have caused even the greatest monster in the pit of Tartarus to cower in fear. A painfully bright flash of light stung my eyes, causing me to yelp in pain. Just as quickly as it came, it disappeared, revealing a very unappealing sight. A pale white figure stood in front of me, casting a massive shadow over the snow covered ground. Just one thing was racing through my head as I stared at the black robed monstrosity in front of me. Voldemort.
I awoke with a start, gasping for air.
"Luka!" My sister, Galya, bellowed in my ear. We shared a small room, so pretty much everything we say is considered "Yelling". I slowly sat up, peeling my sweat soaked pyjamas off of my chest.
"LUKA!" Galya yelled again, causing me to jump. I reluctantly put my dress clothes on, grumbling angrily. Mom and Rodya were already waiting in the car, and I did a mental face-palm when I realised where we were going.
"Now, I don't want any trouble from you two today. Getting your wands is a big deal." Mom said as I entered the car. I scowled when I noticed Rodya with a smug grin on his face. He had always been Mom's favourite, and he loved it when she treated us like little kids. He was turning 17 this year, and Mom was always obsessing over every little thing he did. I mouthed Shut Up to him and turned to face the car window. We were almost there already (Our car is, like, super freaking fast) and I realized with a jolt how busy it was.
"Hey, where is this place anyways? All I see is a brick wall." Galya informed. Rodya scoffed, as if he'd done this a million times, causing Galya to turn a bright shade of red. "Rodya, I swear I will- She stopped midsentence, gaping at the scene unfolding in front of us. The brick wall was changing its shape, as if forming a doorway. Even I was confused. Had Mom done this? Surely she didn't know enough about magic to-
"Come along then." Mom said calmly, as she stepped into the bustling marketplace. Suddenly, a thought that didn't belong to me burst into my mind.
Is Mom a wizard? I thought that only Dad knew magic.Galya asked mentally, although she showed no change in her expression, staring blankly ahead. I pondered this question for a moment before answering back:
Maybe she just…never told us. It sounded stupid when I said it. Mom never lied to us. NEVER. I got jolted back to reality when I heard the creak of a door and realized we were at the wand shop. When I actually stepped inside, I stopped in my tracks. There were wands everywhere, covering the walls, piles of them on the floor, even in the washroom. I did a complete 360, taking in the sights and smells of this wonder of a shop, when I realized that Galya was already testing a wand. It took me around 10 tries before I finally got the perfect wand. It was a mix of Sakura woods, and had a dragon tongue core, which the shopkeeper described as "The finest of all cores." After the rest of our shopping was complete, we left Diagon Alley (That's what Mom called it, don't ask me) and prepared to drive home, but found our car surrounded by random bystanders.
"What is going on here? Excuse me, I'm trying to- Mom got cut off midsentence as a middle eastern man shoved her aside, trying to fight his way to the front.
"Regulas Potter! Can I have your autograph? Please!"
Regulas Potter? What kind of a name is that? It then occurred to me that anyone with a name like Serious Potter would be bound to name their kid something preposterous. When we finally got to the front of the angry mob of fans, we realized what everyone was screaming about.
In the middle of the mob was an exact twin of Harry Potter. I kid you not, they looked identical. Even Rodya looked baffled, as he stood his with his jaw wide open.
"Don't worry, you'll all have a turn to get my autograph!" Regulas yelled to his adoring fans, causing them to scream even louder.
Oh brother. Galya's thought flashed through my mind. I just nodded in agreement, seemingly unable to detach my eyes from the Harry Potter replica in front of me.
"This may take a while." Mom said with a sigh.
It, indeed, did take a while. Around two hours is when Mom started to really blow her top.
"IF SOMEONE DOESN'T GET OUT OF THE WAY IN THE NEXT 5 SECONDS, I WILL SEND YOU ALL TO THE REALM OF DESPAIR!" Mom howled at the top of her lungs. "NOW GET THE FREAKING HADES OUTA MY WAY BEFORE I AVADA KEDAVRA ALL YOUR BUTTS TO TARTARUS!" The lucky part was the last half of her sentence was drowned out by everyone getting the flip out of here.
The car ride home was less than pleasant, as no one dare talk to Mom when she was in one of her moods. When we got home, the atmosphere turned from cold to "I'm going to freaking get hypothermia" in a matter of seconds.
"Hey guys! How was the trip out?" Dad asked cheerfully, only to be answered by one of Mom's death glares. "Was it something I said?" Dad asked innocently, forcing me to crack a smile and answer with:
"Yes dad, it was."
No one talked at all throughout dinner, which shocked me. I don't think there had been a night we had spent in this house where Dad hadn't said something completely idiotic, causing even Rodya to joke around.
Galya and I retired to our rooms early, hoping to get some reading in before bed. We had, of course, bought some books in Diagon Alley, and I almost did a double take when I realized what she was reading.
"Why are you reading…" I studied the title more carefully. "A book about Becoming an Animangus?" I asked curiously. She looked up from her book and replied with:
"Because I want to." I rolled my eyes. She knew how much I hated it when she said that, I was sure of it. A few minutes later, she asked:
"What pet are you going to get tomorrow?" I snorted.
"As if Mom would ever get us a pet." She looked at me.
"Are you really that stupid? Mom and Dad have been talking about getting us pets for weeks!" She exclaimed, acting like I was the stupidest person on earth. I sat up quickly, shoving my sheets off of me and running to my closet.
"What are you doing?" Galya asked curiously.
"Mind your own business!" I snapped, grabbing my book of animals. Galya looked hurt, but continued on reading, acting like she didn't care. I sighed, opening up my thick, leather bound book. I had a lot of research to do.
It was getting light out when I finally finished choosing my pet. It was an American Copperhead snake, and it shone like a penny. Rodya, of course, was getting an Owl (I had tuned out what type it was, I didn't care).
It was around 11 in the morning when we got to the Pet Shop. Galya was also getting a snake, though she was getting a "More sophisticated species." Whatever that meant.
As I searched for the snake I wanted, a sudden wave of nausea overcame me, and I heard strange tongue clicking noised emerge from my mouth, even though I had no idea what they meant.
And then I blacked out.
When I came to, I was lying on the cold stone floor of the shop, surrounded by the concerned faces of Galya and Mom. (Not Rodya, he couldn't care less).
"Luka! Are you okay? What were those horrendous sounds you just made?" Mom asked frantically as Galya helped me up, staring at me with a look of sheer confusion. I made an inaudible grumbling noise and continued my search, ignoring my frantic mother's rapid questions.
When we finally got our pets, (My looks pretty awesome, by the way) I got a mental message from Galya.
What happened back there? Her voice rang out in my head, full of concern. I waited a few minutes before answering with:
I honestly have no idea. It- I stopped when I realized that Galya was lost in one of her deep, deep thoughts. She was probably racking her brain for books she'd read about snakes, or a different language, or something like that to figure out what had happened in the pet shop.
When we entered the house, the next question that emitted from her mouth was:
"What house do you think we'll be in?" She asked, examining her snake. I stopped dead in my tracks. We had never, EVER talked about Hogwarts before. We knew we were going there, of course, we had just never talked about it.
"Slytherin, of course." I answered, ignoring my snake's frantic hissing. Everyone in our family that had gone to Hogwarts had been in Slytherin, plain and simple. Except for Uncle Bill, but no one talks about him anymore (He was kind of a nutcase).
As I got ready for bed, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened that night. Me talking to snakes is obviously not something I usually do, and I still couldn't believe I had actually gotten a pet. A pet!
I put the incident in the Pet Shop out of my head, and for the first time in many, many months, I felt happy. Right when I was about to fall asleep, I heard Rodya call out one last thing;
"See you at school tomorrow!" Galya and I instantaneously thought the same thing, at the same exact moment.
Uh Oh.