Chapter 1: Kindergarten
Pearly Puff and her sister Luhrmalleen had been orphans since they were five years old. Well, actually, from when Pearly Puff was five and Luhrmalleen was four, but such things were mere technicalities. However, no one had done anything about their living situation because they were considered to be very capable toddlers, and they were allowed to continue residing in their mansion and attending preschool in a small town in Delaware. Since their parents' death, a year had passed, which was an excessively long time for a toddler. Pearly Puff was supposed to have attended kindergarten, but refused to go to school and leave her younger sister at home, so this would be the first day of school for both of them.
Pearly Puff Delaware walked into her first grade class with all the confidence of a first grade girl who had lived on her own for the past year. She seated herself next to a boy with untidy black hair and a rather serious grin on his face. Pearly Puff was rather incensed by the oddity of a serious grin, and was compelled to pinch the offending boy. The boy grimaced for a second, but quickly looked toward the teacher when she began to take role.
"Afbetoqui, Gerald."
The boy next to Pearly Puff raised his hand, and stated, "Present." The first grade teacher looked at him sharply, and asked him if he was any relation of the famous ventriloquist, Richard Afbetoqui. The boy with the untidy hair gave a flush of pride, and answered,
"He's my father."
Now it was Pearly Puff's turn to grimace – how could she have offended the ventriloquist's son? And what on earth was a ventriloquist? She sighed audibly, but waited patiently for her name. The quick first grade teacher had gotten up to "Chang, Connor" and soon continued,
"Delaware …" and paused for a second. The teacher paused and continued,
"What name would you like to go by, Miss Delaware?"
Pearly Puff opened her mouth to answer, but before she could reply, she heard a high pitched voice speaking for her, "Harold." The first grade teacher raised her eyebrows until they could reach no higher, and prompted once more,
"Now, what name would you like to go by, Miss Delaware?"
Pearly Puff was faster this time, she started,
"I would like to go by my given name…" but was once again interrupted by a high pitched voice coming from her right side – "Harold", it repeated once again. Pearly Puff was shocked – who would be so unkind as to change her name? She gave a glance to her right side and knew – Gerald Afbetoqui, the ventriloquist's son.
Eleven years had passed since her first day of school – or perhaps to be more precise, eleven years and three months. It was nearly the winter holidays, and Pearly Puff – or Harold, as she had been known for the past eleven years, was worried about how much money they had left. True, they were the so called "Heir of Delaware", but what were they heirs to? Luhrmalleen had just come up the stairs, or Lummy, as she had been known since her first grade teacher had mispronounced her name five hundred times ten years ago.
"What's eating you, Harold?" she asked nonchalantly.
"We haven't got much money left, and I don't know what being an heir of Delaware means."
"Well, let's go open that trunk in the basement, with all the stuff in it."
Lummy didn't bother to wait for her sister, and pelted down the stairs on her own. She arrived at the trunk and threw it open. Inside, were two buttons, one of which said the following:
Identification Button: Luhrmalleen, Heir of Delaware.
Harold arrived, panting,
"It doesn't say much, does it?"
"We've got to find our fortune; we must be heirs to something."
Lummy absentmindedly turned her button over, and read the note on the back:
"To find out more about your fortune, call our toll free number: 1-800-MY-4-TUNE"
Harold decided that this was as good an idea as any, and dialed the number on the button. Minutes later, an annoyed voice queried,
"Hullo?"
Harold cleared her throat, and asked,
"I'd like to know more about being an Heir of Delaware."
"Wrong number, ma'am."
"No it can't be – it was on the button."
"Sorry, just kidding, it's only that no one ever calls-"
"Well, I'd like to know more about being an Heir of Delaware."
"Delaware, eh? Lemme check the file."
Harold waits impatiently by the phone while gesturing excitedly to Lummy. The lady on the other end, finally returned,
"Well, it says here that you need to drill a hole in your basement – and that'll bring you here, and …the rest of the instructions are for me. G'day."
The woman had hung up.
Harold was incensed by her lack of information, and grumbled incoherently for a moment. Lummy looked at her expectantly.
"I'm going to call Gerald."
Gerald Afbetoqui arrived at the Delaware mansion, as untidy haired as the day that he had met Harold. He smirked at the thought of her real name. Gerald glanced at his watch and nodded – it was just the right day. Harold opened the door and engulfed Gerald in a bear hug –
"…and the lady was no real help at all, but I thought you would be good at drilling holes in our basement."
Harold was waiting expectantly for Gerald. Gerald Afbetoqui, the ventriloquist's son, did a little tap dance over the floor of the basement and heard a hollow sound in one corner. He nodded, and took the drill from a very confused Lummy, and drilled a very precise six inched into the floor. This enabled him to find the end of a very thin string from the floor, and took a strange boot from the floor. Harold looked at him, clearly surprised.
"Where did that come from?"
"This, my dear Harold, is a Portkey that will enable you to travel to Hogsmeade."
Harold was very excited, considering that she did not understand head or tail of Gerald's previous statement. Instead, both she and Lummy stared at him blankly. Gerald looked at both of them, exasperated.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
On the count of three, the three of them touched the old boot – Lummy gave a little shriek as she felt a pull around her navel – and then the three of them fell in a strange location. Only one of them recognized their new locale for what it was – the inside of the Shrieking Shack at Hogsmeade.
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My sister says that I should ask everyone to review, because otherwise I will not fathom how bad my story is. That said, please review.