Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, places, ideas,
or such used in this story.
Author's Note: I had a lot to cover in this chapter, and I had to get through a lot of stuff. The upcoming chapters will be more exciting, I promise! :-)
Chapter 1
The Mystery and the Letter
Amee Rowess looked outside her bedroom window and sighed. It was about this time 10 years ago that she had lost someone very dear to her - her best friend from school. She thought about her friend. She wondered about her friend's son. What had happened to him? "Oh, why didn't you listen to me?" she asked aloud. But there was no answer. It was too late now, too late to talk to her friend ever again. She thought about her and her husband's argument a few days ago. Maybe he was right. Maybe her daughter, Faye, should know. She just wanted to protect her daughter. She didn't know what to do. It was hard being a parent.
Faye Rowess looked outside her bedroom window and sighed. It was a beautiful late July day. The sun was shining, the neighborhood children playing outside with the water hose, the birds singing. But she wasn't as happy as the others outside her window. She desperately wanted to know what her parents, Amelia and Aaron Rowess, were hiding from her. Whatever it was, it was, it was important. The other day, she had eavesdropped on them arguing in the kitchen.
"Aaron, do you really think we should tell her?" asked her mom.
"Yes Amee, I do," said Aaron, her dad. "I think she should know. You told me! What is it that you think you'll gain from keeping this, this part of her life and family, away from her?"
"Nothing, really. I just want to save her from a possible disappointment."
"What do you mean, disappointment?" her dad asked angrily. "It's about that school, isn't it?"
"Aaron, it's not just any school." she began.
"Oh, seriously! I mean, she's not dumb. She's going to figure out sooner or later and then how will you explain all this? It will be easier for her to take it if you just tell her," her dad persisted.
"Alright. We'll wait and see if she gets her letter. If she doesn't, I'm not telling her. If she does, I'll have to." Her mom said.
"If that letter doesn't get here in three days, I'll tell her myself!" her dad said, storming out of the kitchen. Faye then had to pretend that she was reading in the living room so he wouldn't know she had heard..
Faye wanted to know what this was all about. Zoë, her dog, leaped onto the bed. She petted her.
"Oh, Zoë, I wish I knew what all this was about." She said. Zoë licked her face. "I wonder what school they were talking about? A new middle school? Surely it isn't that important," she added. Zoë jumped off and started chasing her tail. Faye smiled. Her dog could be really cute sometimes. She reached for her camera and snapped a picture. Zoë was a golden retriever, only three years old. She had gotten her around this time of year last year.
Then her mom's cat, Sorrow, slunk into the room. Zoë hid under Faye's bed. Zoë had never liked Sorrow. Sorrow, Faye thought, what an awful name for a cat. But, Sorrow was a black cat, walked slowly and sorrowfully, and they had gotten her when Hope, Faye's older sister, left. Her mom never spoke about her, not anymore. Hope had run away from home because she was afraid that her mother would disapprove of the man she was going to marry. Her mom didn't know that, and anyway, her mom didn't disapprove, at least her mother never showed any disapproval of that man anyway. What was his name? Faye asked herself. Oh yeah! George was his name. Hope had left when Faye was really young.
Faye remembered little about Hope, but she knew that there was something different about her, that she could never place. It wasn't like she could ask her mom or anything. Whenever anyone said anything about Hope or even the word "hope", tears would come to her mother's eyes and she turned away. So now, nobody said anything about hope, in her house or around her mom. Faye wondered why her mom never accepted it or got over it. She had asked her mom once, but she had just said that she felt guilty about it. Faye didn't know why. It wasn't her mom's fault Hope ran away; her mom had never even yelled at Hope for wanting to get married early in life, nevertheless who she wanted to marry. Faye stroked Sorrow's fur. But Sorrow didn't like her much, and she jumped up and ran out the door. Zoë poked her head out from under Faye's bed.
Faye made up her mind. She was going to find out what this was all about. "Zoë," she said, "I'm going to get up early tomorrow morning to check the mail, and every other morning until that letter comes!"
~~~~~ Actually, Faye slept through her alarm clock and woke up at 8:15 AM. "Shoot!" she said to a sleepy Zoë. "I'm probably too late!" She trotted down the stairs with Zoë and crept towards the door, silently. There was a letter for her. She tore it open without looking at whom it was from. It was from her Aunt Mary. She impatiently grabbed all of the letters and dashed upstairs to her room. She read her Aunt Mary's letter and quickly wrote a reply. Then she dumped the letters on her bed and started sorting them into little piles. "Bills, bills, bills, more bills, ads from K-Mart; how can adults stand this stuff? A letter from Samantha for Mom, and a letter for me!" She didn't know whom it was from, because it didn't have a return address. It was written in emerald green ink, and had a very strange seal on the back. It was divided into four portions, one yellow, green, red, and blue. The green one had a silver snake on it, the yellow had a black badger on it, the red portion had a gold lion, and the blue one had a silver raven.
Faye opened the door and ran down the stairs. She threw the bills at her dad, who was making coffee. "AIR MAIL!" she shouted.
She ran past her very-surprised father, into the hall, colliding with her mom, who was carrying tea. It spilled all over the floor. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Faye said, bending down to help her clean up the tea.
"That's OK, but watch where you're going. Why are you running around like a fool?" her mother asked.
"I - um - got the mail. Here are some K-Mart ads and a letter from Samantha," she said, giving them to her suspicious mother.
"I doubt that's why you are so happy." Her mom said slyly.
"Well, there is another letter; it's addressed to 'Ms. F. Rowess'," Faye replied slowly.
"Let me see it," her mom said, reaching out and taking the letter in Faye's outstretched hand. She took one glance at it, and a grin spread over her face. "The same old green ink, the same old seal. Yup, that's Hogwarts alright," her mom said.
"Hogwarts? What's Hogwarts?" Faye asked. "A new store or something? Or is it that school you and Dad were talking about the other day?" she added slyly.
Her mom looked at her dad. He gave her an obnoxious "I-told-you-so" look. Faye knew that she had guessed right.
"Come over here, Faye." Her mom said, walking over to the purple couch. "There's something important I have to tell you."
"About Hogwarts," Faye said triumphantly.
"See, I told you she wasn't dumb." Her father said as he walked by, sticking his tongue out at her mother behind her back.
"Oh, shut up Aaron! Oops! Did I really say that?" her mom asked. Faye tried hard not to laugh.
"Yeah," Faye replied.
"Well, anyway, this letter is very important," her mom replied.
Duh! Faye thought. Like I don't know that already! Little did Faye know, this letter would change her life forever..
~~~~~
"You've got to be kidding me!" Faye said, looking at her mom.
"Nope." Her mom replied.
"Let me get this straight: Magic runs in your family, you're a witch, I'm a witch, and I have to go to this magic school, Hogwarts?" said Faye, recapping everything that her mom had said in the past hour.
Her mother nodded. "Unreal!" Faye exclaimed. "This is so cool! Wait until I tell Emily about this!"
"No," her mom said, making Faye's smile fade. "You can't tell anyone who isn't magical. They won't understand."
"Oh," Faye said, "that stinks. But anyway, how do they know who are and aren't witches and wizards? I mean, even I didn't know until now!"
"With magic, everything is possible. Almost everything, I mean." Her mom said, smiling. "Remember when you were really mad at Mr. Bayovar for giving you a 'B' on your social studies test?" her mom asked.
"Yeah! I wanted him to make a fool of himself or blow up, and all of the sudden he started swelling up like a balloon!" Faye said, chuckling at the memory of it. That had been the talk of the school for weeks afterwards.
".And the time when you wanted to win the long jump contest really badly, and you jumped 30 feet? And the time when." her mom begun.
"OK, OK, I get the point. So do young wizards and witches get to practice magic anytime they want?" Faye asked, hoping her mom would say she yes.
"Unfortunately, no. Normally, for young witches and wizards, magic just 'happens' when they have extreme feelings, especially when they're very angry or sad." Her mom replied. "All of the times you made magic was when you were angry or sad."
"So, what about Hogwarts?" Faye asked.
Her mom smiled. "Read this," she said, handing the letter back. Faye opened the letter. It read: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ~*~ Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. , Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Rowess, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no late than July 31. Yours Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress
"Wow," was all Faye could say. This was a dream come true. She was a witch and had magical powers!
"Magic runs in the family," her mom said.
"Is Dad a wizard?" Faye asked.
Her mom laughed. "No, he's a Muggle."
"Muggle?" Faye questioned.
"Oh, I'm sorry. A Muggle is a non-magic person." Her mom replied. "But sometimes I wonder about your father.. But no, he is not a wizard."
Faye reached over and took the list of supplies from her mother. There was lots of interesting things on there. "Wow! Look at all this stuff! Where do we get it all? I've never seen any wizard stores before." Faye exclaimed.
"You'll find out soon enough." Her mom replied.
Faye's dad came in. Faye asked, "what do they mean by 'we await your owl by no later than July 31'?"
"Owls are to wizards and witches as postmen are to Muggles," her mom said. "I didn't use them because. well, just because." She added.
"Which reminds me, why did you keep this a giant secret from me for all the 10 and a half years of my life?" Faye asked.
Her mom started to stutter, "W-well, I-I just didn't want. well, never mind." She ended.
"Amee, grow up. Faye, we kept it a secret because your mother didn't want you to be disappointed." Her father said.
"Aaron!"
"Please don't fight. I just wish that you had told me before. Yes, I would have been disappointed," Faye began, and her mom gave her dad a look of superiority, "but, I would have gotten over it," she finished, as her mom gave a sigh of exasperation. All of the sudden, Faye asked, "Do we really fly on broomsticks?"
Her mother chuckled. "Oh, yes! There's a sport, called Quidditch, played on broomsticks. I love Quidditch, but I must confess that I cannot play it very well." She said.
"Cool," Faye said. "Anything else I should know?" she asked.
"Well," her mom said, rocking back on the couch, "there is one thing.."
Author's Note: I had a lot to cover in this chapter, and I had to get through a lot of stuff. The upcoming chapters will be more exciting, I promise! :-)
Chapter 1
The Mystery and the Letter
Amee Rowess looked outside her bedroom window and sighed. It was about this time 10 years ago that she had lost someone very dear to her - her best friend from school. She thought about her friend. She wondered about her friend's son. What had happened to him? "Oh, why didn't you listen to me?" she asked aloud. But there was no answer. It was too late now, too late to talk to her friend ever again. She thought about her and her husband's argument a few days ago. Maybe he was right. Maybe her daughter, Faye, should know. She just wanted to protect her daughter. She didn't know what to do. It was hard being a parent.
Faye Rowess looked outside her bedroom window and sighed. It was a beautiful late July day. The sun was shining, the neighborhood children playing outside with the water hose, the birds singing. But she wasn't as happy as the others outside her window. She desperately wanted to know what her parents, Amelia and Aaron Rowess, were hiding from her. Whatever it was, it was, it was important. The other day, she had eavesdropped on them arguing in the kitchen.
"Aaron, do you really think we should tell her?" asked her mom.
"Yes Amee, I do," said Aaron, her dad. "I think she should know. You told me! What is it that you think you'll gain from keeping this, this part of her life and family, away from her?"
"Nothing, really. I just want to save her from a possible disappointment."
"What do you mean, disappointment?" her dad asked angrily. "It's about that school, isn't it?"
"Aaron, it's not just any school." she began.
"Oh, seriously! I mean, she's not dumb. She's going to figure out sooner or later and then how will you explain all this? It will be easier for her to take it if you just tell her," her dad persisted.
"Alright. We'll wait and see if she gets her letter. If she doesn't, I'm not telling her. If she does, I'll have to." Her mom said.
"If that letter doesn't get here in three days, I'll tell her myself!" her dad said, storming out of the kitchen. Faye then had to pretend that she was reading in the living room so he wouldn't know she had heard..
Faye wanted to know what this was all about. Zoë, her dog, leaped onto the bed. She petted her.
"Oh, Zoë, I wish I knew what all this was about." She said. Zoë licked her face. "I wonder what school they were talking about? A new middle school? Surely it isn't that important," she added. Zoë jumped off and started chasing her tail. Faye smiled. Her dog could be really cute sometimes. She reached for her camera and snapped a picture. Zoë was a golden retriever, only three years old. She had gotten her around this time of year last year.
Then her mom's cat, Sorrow, slunk into the room. Zoë hid under Faye's bed. Zoë had never liked Sorrow. Sorrow, Faye thought, what an awful name for a cat. But, Sorrow was a black cat, walked slowly and sorrowfully, and they had gotten her when Hope, Faye's older sister, left. Her mom never spoke about her, not anymore. Hope had run away from home because she was afraid that her mother would disapprove of the man she was going to marry. Her mom didn't know that, and anyway, her mom didn't disapprove, at least her mother never showed any disapproval of that man anyway. What was his name? Faye asked herself. Oh yeah! George was his name. Hope had left when Faye was really young.
Faye remembered little about Hope, but she knew that there was something different about her, that she could never place. It wasn't like she could ask her mom or anything. Whenever anyone said anything about Hope or even the word "hope", tears would come to her mother's eyes and she turned away. So now, nobody said anything about hope, in her house or around her mom. Faye wondered why her mom never accepted it or got over it. She had asked her mom once, but she had just said that she felt guilty about it. Faye didn't know why. It wasn't her mom's fault Hope ran away; her mom had never even yelled at Hope for wanting to get married early in life, nevertheless who she wanted to marry. Faye stroked Sorrow's fur. But Sorrow didn't like her much, and she jumped up and ran out the door. Zoë poked her head out from under Faye's bed.
Faye made up her mind. She was going to find out what this was all about. "Zoë," she said, "I'm going to get up early tomorrow morning to check the mail, and every other morning until that letter comes!"
~~~~~ Actually, Faye slept through her alarm clock and woke up at 8:15 AM. "Shoot!" she said to a sleepy Zoë. "I'm probably too late!" She trotted down the stairs with Zoë and crept towards the door, silently. There was a letter for her. She tore it open without looking at whom it was from. It was from her Aunt Mary. She impatiently grabbed all of the letters and dashed upstairs to her room. She read her Aunt Mary's letter and quickly wrote a reply. Then she dumped the letters on her bed and started sorting them into little piles. "Bills, bills, bills, more bills, ads from K-Mart; how can adults stand this stuff? A letter from Samantha for Mom, and a letter for me!" She didn't know whom it was from, because it didn't have a return address. It was written in emerald green ink, and had a very strange seal on the back. It was divided into four portions, one yellow, green, red, and blue. The green one had a silver snake on it, the yellow had a black badger on it, the red portion had a gold lion, and the blue one had a silver raven.
Faye opened the door and ran down the stairs. She threw the bills at her dad, who was making coffee. "AIR MAIL!" she shouted.
She ran past her very-surprised father, into the hall, colliding with her mom, who was carrying tea. It spilled all over the floor. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Faye said, bending down to help her clean up the tea.
"That's OK, but watch where you're going. Why are you running around like a fool?" her mother asked.
"I - um - got the mail. Here are some K-Mart ads and a letter from Samantha," she said, giving them to her suspicious mother.
"I doubt that's why you are so happy." Her mom said slyly.
"Well, there is another letter; it's addressed to 'Ms. F. Rowess'," Faye replied slowly.
"Let me see it," her mom said, reaching out and taking the letter in Faye's outstretched hand. She took one glance at it, and a grin spread over her face. "The same old green ink, the same old seal. Yup, that's Hogwarts alright," her mom said.
"Hogwarts? What's Hogwarts?" Faye asked. "A new store or something? Or is it that school you and Dad were talking about the other day?" she added slyly.
Her mom looked at her dad. He gave her an obnoxious "I-told-you-so" look. Faye knew that she had guessed right.
"Come over here, Faye." Her mom said, walking over to the purple couch. "There's something important I have to tell you."
"About Hogwarts," Faye said triumphantly.
"See, I told you she wasn't dumb." Her father said as he walked by, sticking his tongue out at her mother behind her back.
"Oh, shut up Aaron! Oops! Did I really say that?" her mom asked. Faye tried hard not to laugh.
"Yeah," Faye replied.
"Well, anyway, this letter is very important," her mom replied.
Duh! Faye thought. Like I don't know that already! Little did Faye know, this letter would change her life forever..
~~~~~
"You've got to be kidding me!" Faye said, looking at her mom.
"Nope." Her mom replied.
"Let me get this straight: Magic runs in your family, you're a witch, I'm a witch, and I have to go to this magic school, Hogwarts?" said Faye, recapping everything that her mom had said in the past hour.
Her mother nodded. "Unreal!" Faye exclaimed. "This is so cool! Wait until I tell Emily about this!"
"No," her mom said, making Faye's smile fade. "You can't tell anyone who isn't magical. They won't understand."
"Oh," Faye said, "that stinks. But anyway, how do they know who are and aren't witches and wizards? I mean, even I didn't know until now!"
"With magic, everything is possible. Almost everything, I mean." Her mom said, smiling. "Remember when you were really mad at Mr. Bayovar for giving you a 'B' on your social studies test?" her mom asked.
"Yeah! I wanted him to make a fool of himself or blow up, and all of the sudden he started swelling up like a balloon!" Faye said, chuckling at the memory of it. That had been the talk of the school for weeks afterwards.
".And the time when you wanted to win the long jump contest really badly, and you jumped 30 feet? And the time when." her mom begun.
"OK, OK, I get the point. So do young wizards and witches get to practice magic anytime they want?" Faye asked, hoping her mom would say she yes.
"Unfortunately, no. Normally, for young witches and wizards, magic just 'happens' when they have extreme feelings, especially when they're very angry or sad." Her mom replied. "All of the times you made magic was when you were angry or sad."
"So, what about Hogwarts?" Faye asked.
Her mom smiled. "Read this," she said, handing the letter back. Faye opened the letter. It read: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ~*~ Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. , Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Rowess, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no late than July 31. Yours Sincerely, Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress
"Wow," was all Faye could say. This was a dream come true. She was a witch and had magical powers!
"Magic runs in the family," her mom said.
"Is Dad a wizard?" Faye asked.
Her mom laughed. "No, he's a Muggle."
"Muggle?" Faye questioned.
"Oh, I'm sorry. A Muggle is a non-magic person." Her mom replied. "But sometimes I wonder about your father.. But no, he is not a wizard."
Faye reached over and took the list of supplies from her mother. There was lots of interesting things on there. "Wow! Look at all this stuff! Where do we get it all? I've never seen any wizard stores before." Faye exclaimed.
"You'll find out soon enough." Her mom replied.
Faye's dad came in. Faye asked, "what do they mean by 'we await your owl by no later than July 31'?"
"Owls are to wizards and witches as postmen are to Muggles," her mom said. "I didn't use them because. well, just because." She added.
"Which reminds me, why did you keep this a giant secret from me for all the 10 and a half years of my life?" Faye asked.
Her mom started to stutter, "W-well, I-I just didn't want. well, never mind." She ended.
"Amee, grow up. Faye, we kept it a secret because your mother didn't want you to be disappointed." Her father said.
"Aaron!"
"Please don't fight. I just wish that you had told me before. Yes, I would have been disappointed," Faye began, and her mom gave her dad a look of superiority, "but, I would have gotten over it," she finished, as her mom gave a sigh of exasperation. All of the sudden, Faye asked, "Do we really fly on broomsticks?"
Her mother chuckled. "Oh, yes! There's a sport, called Quidditch, played on broomsticks. I love Quidditch, but I must confess that I cannot play it very well." She said.
"Cool," Faye said. "Anything else I should know?" she asked.
"Well," her mom said, rocking back on the couch, "there is one thing.."