Despite the stormy weather, an owl flew through the sky. It struggled against the wind and the rain, and seemed determined to get to its destination. Lightning flashed through the sky, which only showed the piece of parchment rolled up on the owl's leg. Although it was raining, the parchment was still stiff and not wet and soggy. After a while, it began to descend as it circled a particular house. That house was in the middle of the country, with no other homes in sight. A child sat in the window, watching the weather. His dark hair framed his young face.
"Mum! There's an owl!" he shouted excitedly.
A brunette woman came in from the kitchen as she adjusted the straps of her apron. She joined her son by the window and looked out of it. She, too, saw the owl that was coming straight down to their home.
"I think it's caught in the storm," she said worriedly. The woman went over to the front door, and still in her apron, she began to put on her shoes.
However, she didn't have enough time to get outside before her son decided to take the initiative to beat her out the door without so much as a jacket. Within seconds, the boy's black hair was flattened against his head. Instead of the owl struggling down, it landed rather elegantly onto his shoulder. The boy's mother shrieked: she thought that perhaps her child was being attacked. The boy was not frightened: instead, he calmly laughed and then noticed the parchment tied to the bird's leg. He untied it, and the bird did not get scared. It merely stuck out its leg willingly. The moment the boy had it, the boy jumped off his shoulder and flew into the house through the still-open door, much to the woman's displeasure.
"Mum," the boy said as he approached her. His eyes were cast down on the envelope in his hand. "What's Hogwarts?"
The woman was surprised by the term. She had no idea what it meant, but the word for some reason, sounded familiar.
"Astin, go to your room," she instructed as she took the letter from him.
"No, I want to know what it says. It's addressed to me!" Astin exclaimed with a frustrated tone.
The woman bit her lip. "Yes… yes, I suppose you're right."
She put the envelope that was suspiciously dry onto a table near the front door. She went and fetched her son a towel, and although he seemed suspicious, he stayed where he was. She threw him the towel and he dried himself enough to the point where she thought it was okay to bring him into the kitchen. She opened the letter and read it out to her son, despite her bad feeling about doing so.
"I'm a wizard?" Astin asked in surprise.
The woman looked over her shoulder at the owl that decided to perch on top of her fridge.
"I'm not sure," she admitted with a small bite of her lip. She didn't understand it, nor did she want to take a random letter as affirmation. As she had her doubts, a cracking noise came from outside. She rushed back to the door to see a man standing just on the outside. He was tall, thin, with a long silver beard and hair. He wore half-moon glasses that framed bright eyes, and he was dressed peculiarly in robes.
"May I come in?" he asked. His voice was a little hoarse, but kind.
"Who are you?" she inquired.
"I'm Professor Albus Dumbledore," he said with a warm smile. "Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"From the letter?" she asked, perplexed.
"Yes," he replied.
They stood there in silence for several moments. The woman's expression showed that she was thinking deeply. When she looked back up at him, she nodded and moved out of the way to allow him in.
"Now, Emilia, where is young Astin?"
She pointed wordlessly towards her kitchen. He strode past her comfortably as if he had been in her home before. She was confused on how he had known her name. She had never met anyone like him before in her life. Emilia followed the man into the kitchen, where he was crouched down in front of her son. They had already begun to talk.
"Is this… is this letter true?" Emilia asked. She folded her arms across her chest. The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable it made her feel.
Dumbledore took out a stick.
"Is that supposed to be some sort of… wand?" she demanded.
"Yes," he answered softly. He pointed his wand at a nearby candle, and it lit up. He then pointed at her sink full of dishes, and they began to do themselves.
"Woah! Cool!" Astin exclaimed, his grey eyes wide and excited.
"Astin explained to me that he can sometimes make things happen that he can't explain," Dumbledore said. He paused as he watched the dishes clean. "How much do you remember of your father, Astin?"
When he glanced up, however, Emilia shook her head violently.
"I don't have a father," Astin said as if he had accepted it a long time ago.
"Astin, do you mind if the nice man and I talk alone?" Emilia asked.
"Do I have to?" Astin whined.
"Yes, please."
Astin groaned and headed out of the room. After a few seconds, Emilia called out, "And away from the door!"
Moments later, both Emilia and Dumbledore heard footsteps on the staircase. When Emilia was certain that her son was in his room, she turned back to the older man.
"His father died," she said, rather bluntly.
"Are you sure?" Dumbledore replied. His looked at her over his half-moon glasses in a way that made her feel like he was looking right through her.
Emilia shrugged. "No. No, but I don't care where he is now." She paused. "His father is in jail. For murder."
"You don't say," Dumbledore said.
There was another silence. Emilia had so many questions, but she didn't know which ones to ask first.
"How is he a wizard? I'm not a witch or wizard or whatever the phrase is for a female."
"It can go through blood, but not always. Sometimes they can be through Muggle, or non-magical, families."
"Oh." Emilia replied. "So it's a pure coincidence."
"It can be."
There was a way that he said that sentence that made Emilia suspicious.
"Why did you say it like that?"
"How well did you know Astin's father?" Dumbledore wondered.
"Very well. We weren't married, although at the time I would have liked to, you know, marry him. Sirius was… he was funny. But I couldn't accept that no one could tie him down, not even me. I guess it's for the best. I guess I didn't know as much about him as I thought – I would have never guessed he would have it in him to kill someone."
"So you can accept that there may be things about him that you didn't know?"
Emilia nodded. "Did you know him?"
"He was a pupil of mine."
It took a few moments, but it suddenly hit her. "Sirius was a wizard?"
"And as far as I was aware, quite a skilled one. Sherbert lemon?" he offered her a candy, which she declined. She hardly thought this revelation was in need of one.
"I had no idea. And all of his friends…. Would they not have told me? James? Lily? Remus? Peter?" Emilia felt sick to her stomach, particularly due to the look on Dumbledore's face after. "They were all wizards, weren't they? Why didn't they tell me?"
"One can only speculate," Dumbledore commented. "I'm assuming they thought it was for the best. We do, after all, have to keep up a veil of secrecy."
"We had a child together," Emilia said. She wanted to sit down, and Dumbledore was aware so he waved a wand and one of her kitchen table chairs flew to behind her. She took the seat. "He still didn't trust me?"
"I can't speak for Sirius," Dumbledore said. "Will you allow Astin to attend Hogwarts?"
"Yes, of course, I just… I don't know how to go about getting the things on this list."
"Don't worry. I'll help you through it all. You've made a wonderful decision."
Emilia smiled weakly. "I certainly hope so."
