"So I'm not going to college." I stared blankly at my uncle, trying to piece everything.
Water dripped all over the floor in his living room. There was a small pool around my feet by now, I was absolutely soaked to the bone.
"No unfortunately not, sweet pea." Uncle Sam grinned at me sheepishly, twirling a wooden stick in between his fingers.
"You're telling me that my scholarship, my full ride through college, was terminated by some law set by the Government of Magic." I slowly crossed my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes at my uncle. This was a load of bullshit and it wasn't funny. "This has to be a joke."
I wasn't exactly in the greatest of moods. Being teleported from my house in sunny California to a rainy cold London England street after simply grabbing my keys wasn't the best experience.
"Bare with me, Thalia. You know that I'm terrible at jokes but I talked to the headmaster of the college and your place is still going to be there after this year. You can still go if you still want to." Uncle Sam explained to me.
"What do you mean if I still want to?" All my hard work was not going to go down the drain. I was going to go to college. I mean what was I going to do? How was I going to find a job without the proper credentials and education?
"Well…Magic is a great thing and maybe after learning about it, you'd want to stay in the magical community. Going back into the muggle community would be a big change." Uncle Sam fidgeted under my gaze, he scratched the back of his head nervously. "I know this is probably really confusing but Thalia, sweetheart. You have magical abilities just like me, your mom, and your dad. You need to be taught how to use and control your magic in case of emergencies. Plus it won't be so bad, Hogwarts is a lovely school."
Right. Apparently Mom and Dad were magical too and I had no idea. The people that I was suppose to know everything about had this huge secret that involved me too. I didn't exactly know how I felt about the topic. Deception, anger, sadness, confusion, and denial were a few. This seemed to be a pretty big deal and I was only being told now.
Everything that I was feeling inside made tears collect in my eyes and eventually they fell down my face, adding themselves to the pool of water on the floor.
"Why am I only being told now? Why didn't they tell me?" I hiccupped.
My uncle ran over to me and took me in his arms, rubbing my back. "We were scared…When you were finally showing signs of having magic, there were bad things happening. People were dying. Your mom and dad decided to move away from everything, hoping that it'd be safer for you. We waved off anything that you did that was related to being magical as an accident or a fluke. They wanted to protect you, shielded you away from anything dangerous that was happening. Thalia, please understand that they didn't tell you because they love you and wanted you to have a normal stress free life." Uncle Sam held me tight as if he was holding me together.
"And now they're gone." I said in a quiet voice.
He gave me a quick squeeze but letting go and looking me in the eyes. "But you still have me, sweet pea. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be here for you no matter what."
I smiled, wearing my tears away with my wrist. "Thank you."
"Its not a problem, sweet pea. This is what great uncles like me are for. Now let's get you some clean clothes and rest because we're going to have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
-:-:-:-:-:-:-
There I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, waiting for an old man to finish muttering to himself. I looked around the old store. Boxes coated all the walls where ever you looked. Dust and spiders seemed to thrive here, one of the two covered every inch of the store. This place needed a cleaning desperately.
"Try this." I hopped up to the front desk and took the stick from his hands, inspecting it. I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it but it looked pretty. "Try flicking it." He beckoned. I nodded and did what I was told. A warm sensation ran down my hand to my body, giving me a weird but good feeling inside. I looked back to him to see him grinning ear to ear. "Congratulations Miss Newton. Your wand is a twelve inch, oak with dragon heart string."
"Thank you." I smiled back to him. I paid him before going off to meet Uncle Sam outside. He was also smiling ear to ear. "Did something good happen while I was gone?" I asked him. I've only been gone for like fifteen minutes at most. No one could possibly perk up that quickly after just waking up from just standing outside.
"Do you know who I just ran into?" He yelled, grabbing my hands and jumping around.
"A hooker."
"Harry Potter!" He and I both said at the same time. I looked at him confused while he looked at me offended. "No! That's disgusting, Thalia. But anyway, can you believe it? I just met the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One!"
"That's nice, Uncle Sam."
"He's the most famous wizard in history, Thalia!" He looked at me with disbelief when I rolled my eyes and walked off towards the bookstore. I barely cared about celebrities. They were all boring to me. So why would I care about one that was a wizard? They were probably just the same.
I took out my school supply list out of my back pocket, rolling over whatever I already got. Most of it were things that I never thought actually existed, like eye of newt or troll drool. I already had my wand, potion tools, and I was suppose to get some quills but I preferred my lead pencils and pens. All I needed were my textbooks and if I wanted, a cat, toad, or an owl.
"I'll be right back, Thalia. I need to run a quick errand. Do you think you can managed to find your books ok without me?"
"Yeah, I should be alright. I mean how many books could I possibly need." I walked into the store and looked over my list one more time and groaned. "Why do I need some many books for?" I grumbled, trudging in deeper into the aisles.
After what seemed to be like hours, I finally found everything I needed. They were carefully stacked on top of one another in my arms as I carefully tried to make my way up to check out. I took small and careful steps, everyone around me was smart enough to keep out of my way. It looked like it was going to be a smooth trip to the counter but to my luck, someone just had to run into me.
I was shoved backwards on to my back, all the air in me knocked out. My books were thrown into the air. I watched in horror as my books began to rain down and of course all the sharp corners were pointed down. I quickly brought my arms up to protect my face. The heavy ones fell first, landing on top of my body. How they managed to line up perfectly with my bones was a mystery to me. I hissed out in pain as each one had its turn.
"Sorry!" Whoever ran into me whispered. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you and-"
The longer he didn't help me up, the worse my temper got. He was literally just standing over me, not even bothering to help me. I pushed over the mountain of books on top of me and grabbed the biggest one and chucked it at him. The raven haired guy skillfully dodged it, much to my irritation, and stopped talking.
"If you're going to knock someone down, at least try to help them up afterwards!" I snarled before getting up myself and dusting the dirt of my clothes. "And watch where you're going next time, it would help everyone out."
He looked taken back. He opened his mouth to say something but a flash interrupted him.
"Potter!" Men and women with cameras rushed around him, flashing and shouting him right and left. My books were being trampled by dozens of feet.
I frowned, positively livid. "Get the fuck off of my books!" I shrieked, causing all commotion around me to stop. Everyone looked at me, shocked from my outburst. "Move!" And liked a well trained army, all the reporters stepped away from my books. I huffed and knelt over to pick them up, carefully trying to balance them in my arms. No one bothered to help me and honestly I was happy they didn't. They already caused me enough trouble. After I got everything, I tried to cautiously storm away but before I could I caught a pair of green eyes before I left and made sure that I glared at him. This was his fault.
"What happened to you?" Uncle Sam took my bags from me and dusted off my shoulders.
"Someone ran into me inside and all my books fall over." I grumbled.
"Sorry to hear that, sweetheart." He shrank my books into his pocket and I had to admit it was pretty cool. "But here, I got you something. I know you've been wanting one ever since you learned the word. Hope it cheers you up a bit." He picked up the covered cage by his feet and handed it to me. I looked at it suspiciously, it could be one of his infamous uncle jokes that he played on me at least three times a year. I gave it a light shake, making sure it didn't rattle or hiss. He rolled his eyes and carefully uncovered it.
Inside was the smallest and cutest kitten I've ever seen. A smile instantly grew on my face and I was bubbling over with excitement. Practically tearing the cage open, I brought it close to my body and gave it a gentle hug. "Thank you thank you thank youuu, this is the best present I've ever gotten!" The small grey creature rubbed itself against my neck, purring.
"I figured you'd want a cat more than a toad."
"At least now, I wouldn't be alone at school now." I quietly said as Uncle Sam walked ahead of me.
What did you guys think? Was it a good start? Please let me know, your feedback is always appreciated c: