The stars are beautiful, but they are also very helpful. In ancient times, people used the stars to navigate and find their way home when they were lost.

Your Assignment: Write about a character who is lost (physically or emotionally) and finds their way. Use these three prompts: night, eternity, void.

Who Am I?


Alex had been a metamorphmagus for as long as she could remember. It was natural to her, just as how breathing was natural. She still remembered the first time someone other than her family knew what she was. She was ten.

It had happened near the forest that surrounded their home. Her little brother, Magnus, was trying to catch Alex and her friend Adele in the muggle game of tag. Adele came from a family of muggles. Her older sister was a witch, and she was trying to teach them the muggle games she and her sister played.

"Got you!" shouted Magnus, tackling Alex to the floor.

"Hey!" she shouted, trying to shove Magnus off her. He wouldn't budge, so she resorted to tickling him on the neck.

"Alex!" he complained. "That tickles!" Alex ignored him, and he rolled on the floor, laughing. But as soon as she stopped, Magnus reached up and started to tickle her. They were in a tickle war, with both of them laughing as each tried to get the other back.

"Guys? Are you okay? Um, guys, I don't…" Adele trailed off as she caught sight of something.

"Something the matter, Adele?" asked Alex. Adele didn't answer, and just backed slowly away. "Adele?" Alex took a step forward as Magnus hung back, watching the two of them from where he was.

"GET BACK!" shrieked Adele. Fear was etched on her face as she continued to back away.

"What's wrong?"

"YOU, THAT'S WHAT! YOU'RE A FREAK, ALEXANDRIA!" Adele gestured wildly to Alex's head. Alex turned her head to look in the window. Her hair wasn't the blonde it usually was. It was a bright pink.

"Why are you freaking out? Your sister's a witch too," said Magnus, speaking for the first time.

"I'M FINE WITH PEOPLE LIKE HER! I'M ONE TOO! YOUR SISTER, HOWEVER, IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM ALL OF US! SHE'S NOT NORMAL! THERE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE PEOPLE LIKE HER!"

Alex felt tears threatening to spill, and tried desperately to hold them in. No one had ever treated her like this before. "I'm not the only one. I was born like this, the same with others!" she exclaimed.

"AND IT'S UNNATURAL! I'M LEAVING." And Adele spun on her heel, leaving them to stare at her rapidly departing back.

"Alex…"

"Don't. Just don't." She ran into the forest, hot tears dripping down her face as she stumbled over rocks and broken branches until she no longer recognized where she was. There was a large pond in the middle of the clearing, and it reflected the black void that was the night sky. Had she really run for so long?

Alex just sat there for a while, gazing at the star-littered sky for what felt like an eternity. She kept replaying the words that Adele had heatedly thrown at her over and over again. Why did Adele react like that, though? Was it because of how she grew up with muggles as parents? Yes, thought Alex, that must be it. Adele probably never grew up knowing about metamorphmagi.

But she couldn't stop thinking about one particular phrase. Was that really what people saw her as? A freak? A freak that could change what she looked like?

They were right, in a way, she supposed. She didn't even know who she was, or what she looked like. She was nobody, and yet everybody at the same time. She just kept shifting and changing.

Who am I?

That was the question she kept asking herself. But no matter how hard she tried she could never answer herself.

Alex certainly wasn't normal. She didn't have one "look", but instead had many. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to figure out who she was? Was she a blonde, brunette, ginger, or pinkette? Did she have green, blue, or brown eyes? Was she kind and caring, or thoughtless and cruel? Could she even describe herself?

Who am I?

Was she a freak, or not? Normal or abnormal? Young or old? What did she like? Was she even a girl?

She was thrown into a whirlwind of emotions as she kept thinking, and her appearance matched that. Alex looked in the pond, which was reflecting her ever-changing appearance.

She heard footsteps, and shook herself out of her thoughts. "Alex." She spun around, and saw Magnus approaching her.

"Go away, Magnus." He settled himself down besides her. "Leave me alone!"

"What's the matter sis?"

"Nothing."

"It doesn't matter what Adele said, you know. You shouldn't let it bother you."

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?" They sat in silence as she considered the answer to his question.

"Magnus," Alex said, her voice soft. "Who am I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who am I? Because I don't know. I don't even know what I look like."

"You know who you are? You're the kindest person I've ever met. You're my best friend, and you're always there for me. You are so many things, Alex. It doesn't matter what you look like. It shouldn't matter. You are who you are. And no matter who you are, you'll always be my sister, and I'll always love you." There was a passion in his words as he spoke.

Alex felt something stir inside her. She was just worrying unnecessarily. Magnus was right.

She smiled and hugged him close. He always seemed to know what to say. "You're pretty smart for a nine year old."

And they sat there by the pond, brother and sister, starlight on their faces.


(For those readers who have just read this and are thoroughly confused as to why I wrote this because for some reason they skipped the summary)

I have joined this forum, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There are classes, and you have to write these assignments for them. This is the one I wrote for Astronomy.

I guess this one can be considered a bit of a back-story for Alex from my story Metamorphmagus. But since the prompts and assignments are always different, they aren't always going to be related to each other.