THank you for choosing to read this piece, I know you have many options for stories, but thanks for choosing this one! I really like feedback (please don't be too harsh) because I am a younger writer and it wont just make reading this better, but also writing in the future. This is only my second story and I'm still trying to figure this out so expect as chapter every week to every other week. Thank you once again and I hope you enjoy :)
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS, SETTINGS, ETC
Chapter 1: Up at Dawn
The sun was just rising, but I had been sitting out in the vines for much longer. I guess my insomnia combined with my excitement didn't help me get anymore sleep, instead I crept out of my house and down to our grape vines where there was an old wooden gazebo that was in good shape. I set up my camp there. In my favorite pair of denim shorts, knee socks, white converse, and an oversized hoodie that covered my tank top, I sat there and read using my flashlight, until now when the sun was coming up. I watched until it was bright enough for me to continue reading without the flashlight, but as soon as it is my focus goes out the window. The idea I was finally going to Hogwarts was taking up every piece of my mind. What it looked liked, what classes were like, and everything else I would guess that goes through someone's mind if they are going to a new school, but I still couldn't focus. Instead I opened the book and pulled out the letter that I used as a bookmark and examined the back instead.
The my name was written neatly in cursive across the back of the envelope and I traced the ink with my finger before I turned the envelope over and opened it to pull out the 3 pieces of paper I had been studying since I got it. They were folded on top of each other and I reread my acceptance letter and supply list quickly, but when it came to the third I put everything else down and held the piece of parchment with both my hands as I read every word carefully.
Dear Ms. Auden Pendergast,
I am so happy you will be joining us this year at The Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and am delighted to meet you in person. Your letter convinced me to invite you to this school, but also your heart and spirit. Believe me when I say you can tell much from a person by so little, however I shall still add that that judgment should not be a conclusion. I will warn you; in the history of Hogwarts we have never accepted a student from the United States, let alone the student entering the 5th year. This should make you even more extraordinary; nevertheless this year will not be easy. I'm not saying your parents are bad teachers, on the contrary they are wonderful for teaching you when there wasn't a school around, but their priority is not in magic and you have not followed the curriculum.
Coming to Hogwarts during an already difficult year and having to fill in the missing pieces of your learning will be a far greater challenge then the rest of your classmates will face. However, I trust that you will exceed my expectations as well as your teacher's and colleague's. In addition to the work load because this situation is out of the ordinary, there will be talk, but I do trust that you will handle it all with the grace and knowledge that you posses.
I am looking forward to our year together and we will have a meeting after the feast. On the back of this letter I included some of the additional books and supplies you will need for your extra studies as well as the details on the family you will stay with before term starts. It is will not be easy, but I know you can do this. Just remember that no matter what happens this year, it's our choices that show us who we truly are, far more then our abilities.
Albus Dumbledore
By this time, I didn't even need to read through it, I had it practically memorized. However I still was tempted to read it again, but before I even got through the first sentence a silhouette of a man was walking up one of the vines. The only thing I could tell was that he had his hands in his pockets, but as he got closer, details became clearer and I could now recognize him as my dad. I refolded all the letters and returned them to the envelope with great care and as my dad took a seat on the stairs. I moved to sit next to him after tucking the envelope between the open book, acting again as a bookmark.
"Hard time sleeping?" My dad asked staring down the row of grape vines he walked down.
"Yup." I said, picking at my nails. "You just know me too well."
"Remember all the times you couldn't go to sleep, you would sneak down the stairs and work on puzzles. Your mom never caught you, but every so often I'd hear your footsteps and join you." My dad recalled, finally looking at me. Apparently, we had the same clear, grey eyes and the color of my hair was the same as my moms, a coppery auburn, but I never thought I looked like either of them. "But now it's different, your either out here reading, practicing spells, or dancing in the studio. I'm not saying anything is wrong with that, it's just hard to see you grow…and now you're off to the other side of the world doing things your mother and I can bare to do."
"Dad." I started, not wanting him to ramble on, but it didn't work.
"Auden, I'm not done." He interrupted and then carried on. "You are just so brave and smart and beautiful and strong, everything that we wish we could be and here you are, following your dreams, going to the best wizarding school in the world and becoming less active in the muggle world. No matter how far you travel you will always be my kind, amazing, graceful, intelligent-."
"You done?" I asked, really wanting him to shut up now.
"Almost, although interrupting me will only make it last long." He said. "Courageous, magic little girl."
I leaned over to him and rest my head on his shoulder. The comfort of his arm around me never felt better and calmed my nerves. "I'm not little anymore, dad." I said, "but thanks."
The sun was growing high now and the light was getting brighter, I knew I had so much to do before I left today, but in this moment I didn't want to rush it, so I wiped the things that might stress me from my mind and enjoyed ever bit of it. However my dad knew that is was only a few hours till I had to leave, so he squeezed me closer and kissed the top of my head, and then started to get up. I followed his lead, grabbed my book, and ran to catch up with him walking through one of the vines.
"There is one requirement." He said, as we got closer to the house. "You must write us everyday."
I slipped under his arm and supported it over my shoulder. I was about a half a foot shorter then him and the difference became significant when I looked up at him a smiled. "I will write you twice a day and send pictures and trinkets from gift shops, I will write you so much you will be sick of me, you will be begging me to stop."
"I will keep you to that." He smiled back. "Now come on they are expecting you by floo at 11."
We raced back the house to find my mom cooking in the kitchen, but even with her making my favorite breakfast, a Nutella and strawberry crepe with whipped cream, I was not hungry. Instead I went straight up the stairs into my room and finished packing my trunk which my mom and dad just got me as a going away gift because apparently it's a must have in the wizarding world. I don't get what the big deal is, if it weren't for the spells my parents put on it, it could hold just as much as a regular suitcase and suitcases are a lot easier to move around.
Still I wont let a trunk hold me back, ever since I was little my dad told me about his time in the wizarding world in London before he moved to Healdsburg to be safer. He described all the strange things you could buy in Diagon alley, his stories of adventures he had at Hogwarts, and all the other tales that seemed to come to life for me. My mom just wanted me to go to Oregon, where The Humboldt Academy of Magic is located, but I wanted to be a great wizard and I knew Hogwarts would get me there, besides I'm only a quick Floo trip away. I can't blame her though, it's the first time I'm really getting out of the house and I'm going farther then the vines, I couldn't even protect myself, since I didn't have a wand of my own and normally just used my moms to practice with. On the Brightside I learned a bit of magic without needing a wand.
I closed up my trunk knowing that I was completely packed. With my backpack handing off one shoulder, I made my way down the stairs assuming my mom would force feed me, but to my surprise she said nothing as I set my trunk and backpack by the fire and instead stared at me with tear filled eyes. She opened her arms and I gladly took the invitation. She squeezed me and refused to let me go, until my dad showed up and I was released.
"I love you so much, Auden." My mom said weakly, holding back her tears, "and I am so proud of you for being brave and taking this journey. You will never disappoint me, remember that, no matter how hard things might seem we are here to support you."
"Chill mom, I'll be fine. It's only a school and I'll be writing you so much, it's like I've never left."
"Don't tell me to chill." Her voice firmed up, then softened again when she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "I just love you so, so much."
She pulled me into her arms again, making me unable to move any body part other then my head and neck. My dad, on the other hand, kept his cool. He wasn't bawling like my mother nor was he giving me advice about Hogwarts. Instead he stood there silently, standing in a strong pose with his arms crossed. I knew he didn't mean to seem insensitive, but my mom losing it and producing enough water to create her own lake, something she's begged for since we moved here, it was his way of dealing with the both of us. When my mother finally released me, my dad gave a loose hug with his signature 2 pats on the back.
"If there is a cute boy, I hope we can meet him during the winter break or at least send me a picture and description." My mom said and at that moment I desperately hoped she was joking.
"But there isn't going to be a cute boy, is there Auden? In fact there will be no boys at all, right?" My dad teased.
"You can count on that." I played along and even though the odds of me having a boyfriend or being interested in one, let alone having a boy interested in me, was zero, part of me really wanted to prove them wrong.
"You leave in a few minutes, so we need to get this down quickly." My dad said holding out a necklace. "You have a Gringotts bank account, just let us know when you are going so we can alert the bank and get you all set. Spend it well and if you run out, just let us know and we'll add more. And this is a necklace that has been passed down throughout our family, we believe it's time that you had it."
He slowly lowered the necklace down till all of the chain was in my palm. The brass finished chain was clean and polished, it seemed to show no age. At the end of a chain was a two toned octagon emerald jewel. It was held to the chain using ornate and intricate, yet small prongs that grasped the corners. My thumb ran across the smooth surface of the gem and felt the bumpy texture of the chain.
"I don't…" I started, speechless and hypnotized by the necklace. "I don't exactly know what to say…well, um, thank you, but I can't take it, you know how I lose things."
"And that is why we have a box for it as well." My mom said, handing a small bock box over, which I carefully placed the necklace in. "We know you can take care of it."
"Thanks…again." I tucked the box into one of the pockets in my jacket.
"Also, you might want some snacks, just incase you don't like the food there." She said handing over a stuffed paper bag. "Let me just make it easier." She flicked her wand and the large paper bag condensed down to a small box. "Don't worry everything is still the same, that's just easier to carry. I also included some of your favorite sweets, you know everything's different in that world."
"Yeah, mom, I know." I said taking the box. "I think I should be going, they're probably expecting me right about now."
"And you have you phone, and iPod, and enough books." My mom said, her anxiousness becoming more apparent.
"Most of those things wont work in Hogwarts, I don't know why she would need them." My dad said tying to calm her down, little did he know it would have the opposite affect.
"I don't see how books wouldn't work." My mom snapped back.
"You know what I meant." My dad rolled his eyes.
"Guys." I intervened, right as my mom opened her mouth to say more. "Can we not fight right as I'm leaving?"
"Honey, we weren't fighting, we were just-" My mom started, holding the sides of my head.
"Sure, Auden." My dad interrupted her.
My mom turned around and starting yelling again, but I closed my eyes. "Please, just stop." I said and opened my eyes, to them quiet and looking at me.
"Right, I'm sorry." My mom hugged me again and kissed my forehead multiple times.
"It's alright mom." Irritation tinged my voice. She got the message loud and clear as I gently pushed her away.
Before the cycle started again, I got closer to the fireplace a grabbed a handful of Floo powder and tossed it into the fire, turning it a beautiful green. I turned to say goodbye to my parents one final time.
"Remember just as I taught you." My dad said and I nodded. "Good. Now don't forget your backpack and trunk. Ready?"
I nodded again and against logic I walked into the fireplace, in the middle of the dancing emerald flames, with the trunk by my side and backpack securely hanging over both shoulders. I waved goodbye for a final time and watch my mom start sobbing again.
Then, just as my dad taught me, I stood up straight and shouted clearly, "The Burrow."
