A/N: This takes place after Hogwarts is fixed and the war with Gaea and the giants occurs
disclaimer- j.k. rowling and rick riordan came up with the basic ideas and some teachers and I that credit obviously all goes to them
Being normal is hard enough, especially when you are about to go into middle school. When you throw in the fact that I have a single mother that was left by my father, and a dead-beat step-father, nothing is ever easy. I was finally coming to face the fact that I was being shipped off to some boarding school in England, when my mother dropped another bomb on me.
"You're a witch, Leila," my mom said to me.
"Sorry, don't think I am. I don't have a pointy nose or a wart. I don't relly fit the description," I said in a joking way. I thought that she had to be kidding, until I looked into her eyes. They were dead serious, which they never are. She held out a piece of paper with fancy writing on it. I looked at it warily, and took it from her grasp. I read the paper, but barely made out a quarter of the words because of my dyslexia. It came to a point where I had to ask her to read it out loud.
When she finished I laughed at the name "McGonagall" wanting to break the tension. It didn't work at all, and it made the situation more awkward.
"You expect me to believe this," I asked desperately. I wanted her to say it was a joke, but it made too much sense now. I thought of all the weird occurrences in my life, and the memories all concluded with the same ending. "I am really a freaking wizard."
"Yes you are." The question of "aren't there any wizarding schools that are closer?" popped into my head. I realized that I asked that out loud when my mother answered it.
"Yes hon, there are. But this school seems especially interested in you and has clarified it with the other schools. They all agree with Professor McGonagall that you should attend Hogwarts."
More questions flooded my mind. What is a wizarding school? What will I learn? What is the time difference? Who will I meet? What will their favorite ice cream be? My mind shuddered to a stop as I registered my ADHD meds wearing off.
My mom soon answered all of my important questions and gave me a rundown of what would be happening when I arrived in London in two weeks. She showed me a list of what I would need after she told me about a man named Publius Flannigan whom I would meet at the airport. I soaked it all in, listening to every last detail, or at least trying to, when I was not having an ADD moment.
Two weeks flew past too quickly. I was soon packing everything into my falling apart suitcase and saying my goodbyes, or rather, giving my glaring. I walked past my gross stepfather Bobert and gave him a menacing stare while sticking my tongue out at him.
I threw my bag into the trunk of my mom's old VW bug and hopped in next to her. She then started the rickety old car and headed off towards the airport in an awkward silence. It seemed as if only a minute had passed when we reached the terminal.
I looked over to my mom and into her sad, but happy eyes. She look so proud of me, which was rare saying I never really did anything to make her proud. The only reason that I recognized this look was because she gave it to me on the morning of the last day of school. I had stayed in that school for the whole year, which was a first. This looked spread across her face, and she reached over to give me a hug. A single tear slid down my cheek as we said goodbye. She told me to write her loads and to tell her every detail about my life at Hogwarts. I then proceeded to hop out of the car and grab my bag. I looked around and saw an oddly dressed man with my name on a sign. I assumed it was Publius. I gave my mom one last wave and then took off towards the man hurriedly so that I did not have time to be sad.
"Hello lassie, you must be Leila," the man said with a heavy scottish accent.
"Yup, that's me sir," I replied. I fidgeted with my clothing and looked everywhere but at him. I only looked at him when he spoke again.
"Well then, come on, we best hurry 'fore we miss our flight." He picked up my suitcase took off at a hurried pace. We passed through security with ease and were soon on our way to London. I eventually nodded off during our flight, feeling surprisingly at home in the sky.
We stepped out of the large airport into a crowded metro station and pushed our way through to the gates. Several times I stepped on peoples feet, and several times people stepped on mine. A very heavy man put his boat of a foot on mine and I yelped in pain. In the distance I heard thunder rumble. We finally reached the gate and stopped.
"I never know how to use these muggle passes," Publius said, holding a plastic card that must have been for the metro. "I don't suppose you know how to use this?" I took the card from him and swiped it across the scanner wondering how he could not know how to use this. We then hopped into a car and headed to the center of london.
We wandered down the street until we arrived at a bar called "The Leaky Cauldron." While Publius talked to the bartender, I wandered around excitedly. I meandered over to a picture on a wall and stared into it. I thought that earlier I had seen it move, and when I went to poke it, the man in the paint yelled at me.
"Oi! Quit starin', it's rude." With that he walked off and appeared in another picture next to it. My eyes were still widened in surprise when Publius escorted me to a door in the back of the room. He pulled open the door and we stepped into a brick walled area. I thought he was mistaken, that we were in the wrong bar, until he pulled out his wand. He tapped several bricks in a sequence that I did not bother to remember, and suddenly the bricks moved aside. Behind the wall was a whole town! People bustled around, with their cloaks billowing out behind them. Everything was so spectacular. Lined along the street in front of one store was an assortment of animals. There were bats, cats and several owls. I noticed one owl that was pure black. It looked so majestic and regal sitting there on it's perch.
Publius pushed me past the storefront and we came to a crooked bank looking building. He led me inside and I looked around in wonder. I stole a glance at everything trying to take it all in. We strode up to a tall counter and over the edge peered a dwarfish looking thing.
"Name and key," he said looking down at me. When he spoke, sharpened teeth appeared. I stuttered trying to find something to say. What key? What are we here for?
Publius pulled an old silver key from his front pocket and held it up. "Publius Flannigan, vault 274." The Goblin took the key in is long and crooked fingers and stepped down from his desk. He led us through a door and into an old mine-cart. The cart took off quickly and our journey into the abyss started.
When we finally arrived at the end my face felt stretched and my hair probably looked like someone had taken a leaf-blower to it. We stepped out of the cart and the goblin led us to a door. The door had swirls all over it, and when he put the lock in, they all moved in a synchronized pattern. He pushed the door open gently and reveal a wonderful sight. In front of me was a massive pile of bronze, silver, and gold. It glittered in the lamplight as Publius moved to gather several piles of coins. He managed to fit a large amount of coins into a small pouch that looked like it could barely hold five dimes.
"This money is from the school, which is to be used when a muggle born student comes to Hogwarts. Eventually we will open your own vault, when you exchange some of your muggle money for our money." He then proceeded to explain what types of coins these were and how much each coin was worth. This is going to take me forever to memorize, I thought exasperatedly. All the numbers got jumbled up in my head and I eventually stopped listening to him when he started explaining the history of the silver sickle.
When we finally came out into the place that was apparently named Diagon Alley I breathed a sigh of relief. Being underground for so long gave me an eerie feeling, and I felt like I was going to get in trouble for being down there. Hm, I wonder why? Oh well, at least now we could get to the fun part of this trip... the shopping.
A/N: there is more to come soon. Just to let y'all know, this is on a website called wattpad, too. Same title, same author(me). Updates will be happening there first, up to chair sixteen is already there, so if you want to check it out, feel free.
KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON BROCHACHOS!
Thanks again and toodaloo!
