"You've got to be kidding!"
"No, we are not. The academy has given you the chance to study in England, "
Alexander McKenna said in an exhausted voice. For the last hour he had been trying (unsuccessfully) to convince his daughter that she had been accepted into the International Magic Exchange Student Program.
"Dad, they sent a letter last week saying that I wasn't accepted. They cant have changed their minds."
"Well they did. And you are in." "Really?"
"Really."
"You aren't kidding then?"
"No. I'm not. Catharine, I do not joke around when it comes to serious situations like these," Alex stared at his daughter, his grey eyes meeting her golden brown.
"Wow..," Catharine said sinking into a chair nearby. "Wow, I cant believe it. Your joking."
"Catharine, " her father warned.
"All right, all right. I believe you. So, Im not going back to Salem this year?"
"No," Alex said, sitting down in a chair beside his daughters. He was amazed at how bad she was taking this. After all, she was fifteen years old, a fifth year at the Salem Academy, the top school for magical learning in the United States. "You are going to." he stopped and pulled a letter out of his pocket, opened it and read:
" Dear Miss McKenna, You have been accepted into the International Magic Exchange Student Program. You, along with five other youths from the Salem Academy will be spending the school year at one of three prestigious magical institutes located around Europe: Beauxbatons in France, Durmstrang in Bulgaria or Hogwarts in Scotland. You have a choice to which of three schools you wish to attend. Included with this letter are the supply and craft lists for each of the schools. Please owl us with your decision no later than July 2nd. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Boris Thorosip"
Alex watched his daughter run her hand through her long brown hair.
"Wow..so dad, where do you want me to go?" she said hesistantly.
"Uh uh, this is your decision. Take a look at these lists. Your mother had a pen pal who attended Beauxbatons, and Ive heard only good things from Brown about Hogwarts." Brown was a man who worked in the International Magic Cooperation office. He had been a friend of Alex's for a long time and had been the one who had told Catharine about the Exchange Program.
" Well, Beauxbaton's has excellent charm classes, according to this paper, but it lacks in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Durmstrang teaches nothing but Dark Arts and well, looks like Hogwarts is the best choice for me," she said grinning. "Ill go owl the Program with my decision." She scanned down at the letter. "Says we need to get all the proper supplies for Hogwarts by August 30. Term starts on September 1st. Kings Cross Station. Platform.." She looked up, with a confused look. "Platform 9 ¾." She stood up and set the letter down on the coffee table.
"Better use Orion. Pegasus still is sick." Catharine nodded and went into the other room. There was a loud hooting, the sound of a window being opened and then silence. Catharine returned a few minutes later looking a bit harassed.
"Pegasus is feeling a lot better. When I went to tie the letter on Orions leg, he grabbed it in his beak and set off." She sat down in her chair. "And Orion flew out after him."
"They'll be back within the week. Those two. I swear.", Alex said not looking up from the paper he was now reading.
"Dad?"
"What?"
"Can I take Orion with me when I go to Hogwarts?"
"Look at your paper. Does it say you can bring an owl?"
"Yeah"
"Well, he's yours now. An early birthday present."
"I turned 15 last week."
"Oh well. A late birthday present. And don't bother me anymore. I need to figure out when we cant get to London to buy your supplies." Catharine nodded and left the room. As she went upstairs she could hardly contain herself. It was too good to be true. Ever since she had first heard about the Program she had been wanting to go. And when she had gotten the letter saying that all the slots were filled she was heartbroken. But now she was off to Hogwarts. And she had an owl!
Catharine opened the door to her bedroom and flopped on the bed. She reached over to the bookshelf beside it and selected a volume entitled Appraisal of School in Europe. Her father had given it to her for her birthday. She flipped to the table of contents and then to the section for Hogwarts. It gave her a brief description of what the school excelled in, what it lacked and a page about the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
"Dumbledore." She said to herself. "Bit of a funny name." Suddenly the telephone in the hallway rang. She jumped off her bed and ran to it.
"Hello, McKenna residence."
"Hello? Catharine? Is that you?"
"Yes..who is this?"
"Aw, don't remember your old pal Colin? Im hurt. And I walked all the way up to the muggle village so I could call you on this confounded thing."
"Well now I can owl you. Dad's given me Orion."
"That's wonderful. So, anything exciting happened with you? Looking forward to the start of the school year?"
"Um, Colin, Im not going to Salem this year." There was a pause, a sound as if the phone had been dropped then;
"WHAT?"
"Calm down. Im just going to Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts? What the hell is that?"
"It's a magical school in Scotland. Supposed to be one of the best in Europe." It took Catharine the better part of an hour to calm Colin down.
"All right, well I hope your doing the right thing. Ill owl you tonight. "
"Bye Colin."
"Bye."
Catharine hung up the phone and went into her bedroom once more. She yawned and lay down her bed, barely noticing when she drifted asleep.
AUGUST 16th The streets of London were crowded the day that Alex and Catharine arrived. Catharine had pleaded with her dad to use the Floo Network but Alex would have none of it. Being muggle born, he liked to get back to his roots once in a while by using the bus. Finally, they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron where they were met by Alex's friend Luke. Alex handed Catharine a handful of muggle money to go exchange at Gringotts and sat down with Luke for a beer. They were chatting about taxes when she left. Tom, the innkeeper, was nice enough to show her into Diagon Alley. She stepped through the stone alleyway and it closed behind her.
"Woah," were the only words that escaped her mouth. Both sides of the street were covored with shops and people. After exchanging her money, Catharine struggled through the crowds as made her way to a shop called Ollivander's. Once inside, she was relieved to find that it was empty.
"Good lord," she gasped, breathing heavily. She turned to look out the shop window.
"May I help you?" a thin reedy voice asked from behind her, causing her to jump. Catharine spun around and found she was being stared at by a tall, old man with pale eyes.
"Um.yes..what do you sell?" The man stared at her as if she were crazy. He lifted his hand and indicated to the walls of the shop which were covored in wand boxes.
"Oh, sorry. I ducked in here to get away from the crowd and didn't really notice your shop. But since Im here I guess Ill get a new wand. My old ones been acing up recently." The man nodded. Ten minutes later Catharine emerged from the shop with a long thin box. She looked down at her supply list once more. She would need a lot of books, but one look at the line outside of a shop called Flourish and Blotts and she decided that the books could wait until another day. She followed the alley down a bit until she came to a place called Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. She looked down at the list and found that Hogwarts students wore black robes. She scanned it again.
"I guess all years at Hogwarts have the same robes." She said thinking about Salem's uniforms. "I guess my new blue robes will have to serve as dress robes." She entered the shop and looked around at all the different colored robes. A short, plump witch greeted her cheerfully.
"Hogwarts, dearie?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Catharine said matching the witch's grin. The witch wasted no time. She pulled out a silver measuring tape and started taking Catharine's measurements, all the while telling Catharine about the quality of the robes.
"Do you buy robes? Or, would you like some robes?" Catharine interrupted. "I bought some robes for my term at the Salem Academy before I found out I was going to Hogwarts."
"Oh yes. We do buy robes. How many sets do you have? We pay 5 galleons per set."
"I have 4 sets. I am not really good at potions and sort of go through robes rather quickly." Soon, Catharine had bought her school robes and had returned to the Leaky Cauldron. She dropped off her purchases and brought her blue robes back to Madam Malkin who payed her 20 galleons. With money in her pocket she set off back towards the Leaky Cauldron. It was mostly empty except for her father who was sitting alone at a table reading a newspaper called The Daily Prophet.
"Dad? Where are we going to stay?"
"Catharine, we are not staying anywhere. You are staying here. The innkeeper has generously offered to watch out for you." He set his newspaper down. "You will room here until September 1st. Then you will take a cab to Kings Cross Station at 8 o'clock, arrive at 8:30 and board the train at 9."
"And your really trusting me with all this?"
"Yes. However I feel it necessary to make two rules. The first one is that you may not go out into muggle London until September 1st. The second is that you must stay to Diagon Alley. Do not wander onto any of the other connecting alleys. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Catharine said disbelieving. Alex stood up and kissed his daughter on the cheek.
"That's a good girl. Ive left 30 galleons in your room, room 13, for emergencies and have had all your belongings placed in your room. I'll see you at Christmas." Alex strode across the room and towards the door. In a moment, he was gone.
"No, we are not. The academy has given you the chance to study in England, "
Alexander McKenna said in an exhausted voice. For the last hour he had been trying (unsuccessfully) to convince his daughter that she had been accepted into the International Magic Exchange Student Program.
"Dad, they sent a letter last week saying that I wasn't accepted. They cant have changed their minds."
"Well they did. And you are in." "Really?"
"Really."
"You aren't kidding then?"
"No. I'm not. Catharine, I do not joke around when it comes to serious situations like these," Alex stared at his daughter, his grey eyes meeting her golden brown.
"Wow..," Catharine said sinking into a chair nearby. "Wow, I cant believe it. Your joking."
"Catharine, " her father warned.
"All right, all right. I believe you. So, Im not going back to Salem this year?"
"No," Alex said, sitting down in a chair beside his daughters. He was amazed at how bad she was taking this. After all, she was fifteen years old, a fifth year at the Salem Academy, the top school for magical learning in the United States. "You are going to." he stopped and pulled a letter out of his pocket, opened it and read:
" Dear Miss McKenna, You have been accepted into the International Magic Exchange Student Program. You, along with five other youths from the Salem Academy will be spending the school year at one of three prestigious magical institutes located around Europe: Beauxbatons in France, Durmstrang in Bulgaria or Hogwarts in Scotland. You have a choice to which of three schools you wish to attend. Included with this letter are the supply and craft lists for each of the schools. Please owl us with your decision no later than July 2nd. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Boris Thorosip"
Alex watched his daughter run her hand through her long brown hair.
"Wow..so dad, where do you want me to go?" she said hesistantly.
"Uh uh, this is your decision. Take a look at these lists. Your mother had a pen pal who attended Beauxbatons, and Ive heard only good things from Brown about Hogwarts." Brown was a man who worked in the International Magic Cooperation office. He had been a friend of Alex's for a long time and had been the one who had told Catharine about the Exchange Program.
" Well, Beauxbaton's has excellent charm classes, according to this paper, but it lacks in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Durmstrang teaches nothing but Dark Arts and well, looks like Hogwarts is the best choice for me," she said grinning. "Ill go owl the Program with my decision." She scanned down at the letter. "Says we need to get all the proper supplies for Hogwarts by August 30. Term starts on September 1st. Kings Cross Station. Platform.." She looked up, with a confused look. "Platform 9 ¾." She stood up and set the letter down on the coffee table.
"Better use Orion. Pegasus still is sick." Catharine nodded and went into the other room. There was a loud hooting, the sound of a window being opened and then silence. Catharine returned a few minutes later looking a bit harassed.
"Pegasus is feeling a lot better. When I went to tie the letter on Orions leg, he grabbed it in his beak and set off." She sat down in her chair. "And Orion flew out after him."
"They'll be back within the week. Those two. I swear.", Alex said not looking up from the paper he was now reading.
"Dad?"
"What?"
"Can I take Orion with me when I go to Hogwarts?"
"Look at your paper. Does it say you can bring an owl?"
"Yeah"
"Well, he's yours now. An early birthday present."
"I turned 15 last week."
"Oh well. A late birthday present. And don't bother me anymore. I need to figure out when we cant get to London to buy your supplies." Catharine nodded and left the room. As she went upstairs she could hardly contain herself. It was too good to be true. Ever since she had first heard about the Program she had been wanting to go. And when she had gotten the letter saying that all the slots were filled she was heartbroken. But now she was off to Hogwarts. And she had an owl!
Catharine opened the door to her bedroom and flopped on the bed. She reached over to the bookshelf beside it and selected a volume entitled Appraisal of School in Europe. Her father had given it to her for her birthday. She flipped to the table of contents and then to the section for Hogwarts. It gave her a brief description of what the school excelled in, what it lacked and a page about the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
"Dumbledore." She said to herself. "Bit of a funny name." Suddenly the telephone in the hallway rang. She jumped off her bed and ran to it.
"Hello, McKenna residence."
"Hello? Catharine? Is that you?"
"Yes..who is this?"
"Aw, don't remember your old pal Colin? Im hurt. And I walked all the way up to the muggle village so I could call you on this confounded thing."
"Well now I can owl you. Dad's given me Orion."
"That's wonderful. So, anything exciting happened with you? Looking forward to the start of the school year?"
"Um, Colin, Im not going to Salem this year." There was a pause, a sound as if the phone had been dropped then;
"WHAT?"
"Calm down. Im just going to Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts? What the hell is that?"
"It's a magical school in Scotland. Supposed to be one of the best in Europe." It took Catharine the better part of an hour to calm Colin down.
"All right, well I hope your doing the right thing. Ill owl you tonight. "
"Bye Colin."
"Bye."
Catharine hung up the phone and went into her bedroom once more. She yawned and lay down her bed, barely noticing when she drifted asleep.
AUGUST 16th The streets of London were crowded the day that Alex and Catharine arrived. Catharine had pleaded with her dad to use the Floo Network but Alex would have none of it. Being muggle born, he liked to get back to his roots once in a while by using the bus. Finally, they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron where they were met by Alex's friend Luke. Alex handed Catharine a handful of muggle money to go exchange at Gringotts and sat down with Luke for a beer. They were chatting about taxes when she left. Tom, the innkeeper, was nice enough to show her into Diagon Alley. She stepped through the stone alleyway and it closed behind her.
"Woah," were the only words that escaped her mouth. Both sides of the street were covored with shops and people. After exchanging her money, Catharine struggled through the crowds as made her way to a shop called Ollivander's. Once inside, she was relieved to find that it was empty.
"Good lord," she gasped, breathing heavily. She turned to look out the shop window.
"May I help you?" a thin reedy voice asked from behind her, causing her to jump. Catharine spun around and found she was being stared at by a tall, old man with pale eyes.
"Um.yes..what do you sell?" The man stared at her as if she were crazy. He lifted his hand and indicated to the walls of the shop which were covored in wand boxes.
"Oh, sorry. I ducked in here to get away from the crowd and didn't really notice your shop. But since Im here I guess Ill get a new wand. My old ones been acing up recently." The man nodded. Ten minutes later Catharine emerged from the shop with a long thin box. She looked down at her supply list once more. She would need a lot of books, but one look at the line outside of a shop called Flourish and Blotts and she decided that the books could wait until another day. She followed the alley down a bit until she came to a place called Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. She looked down at the list and found that Hogwarts students wore black robes. She scanned it again.
"I guess all years at Hogwarts have the same robes." She said thinking about Salem's uniforms. "I guess my new blue robes will have to serve as dress robes." She entered the shop and looked around at all the different colored robes. A short, plump witch greeted her cheerfully.
"Hogwarts, dearie?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Catharine said matching the witch's grin. The witch wasted no time. She pulled out a silver measuring tape and started taking Catharine's measurements, all the while telling Catharine about the quality of the robes.
"Do you buy robes? Or, would you like some robes?" Catharine interrupted. "I bought some robes for my term at the Salem Academy before I found out I was going to Hogwarts."
"Oh yes. We do buy robes. How many sets do you have? We pay 5 galleons per set."
"I have 4 sets. I am not really good at potions and sort of go through robes rather quickly." Soon, Catharine had bought her school robes and had returned to the Leaky Cauldron. She dropped off her purchases and brought her blue robes back to Madam Malkin who payed her 20 galleons. With money in her pocket she set off back towards the Leaky Cauldron. It was mostly empty except for her father who was sitting alone at a table reading a newspaper called The Daily Prophet.
"Dad? Where are we going to stay?"
"Catharine, we are not staying anywhere. You are staying here. The innkeeper has generously offered to watch out for you." He set his newspaper down. "You will room here until September 1st. Then you will take a cab to Kings Cross Station at 8 o'clock, arrive at 8:30 and board the train at 9."
"And your really trusting me with all this?"
"Yes. However I feel it necessary to make two rules. The first one is that you may not go out into muggle London until September 1st. The second is that you must stay to Diagon Alley. Do not wander onto any of the other connecting alleys. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Catharine said disbelieving. Alex stood up and kissed his daughter on the cheek.
"That's a good girl. Ive left 30 galleons in your room, room 13, for emergencies and have had all your belongings placed in your room. I'll see you at Christmas." Alex strode across the room and towards the door. In a moment, he was gone.