"Wake up Tony, it's breakfast time.", Melinda called out as she crossed Tony's room.
"I'm up, mom. I'm up!". In all the lethargy of the morning, Tony realized what day it was and sat up like a bolt of lightning had struck him. Tony was eleven! He sprung out of his bed and got dressed in his spanking new navy-blue suit. He neatly parted his hair on one side and combed it over to the other. Fixing his red star-studded tied, tony
"Come on down, Tony", Melinda's voice called out.
Tony raced down the stairs and saw his parents decorating the living room. His dad was swishing his wand around making a lot of coloured bits of paper fly up and stick to the walls and the ceiling. At first it looked to Tony like a complete wreckage, but when he went closer, he recognized a lot of shapes that were forming – the Chudley Cannons' crest had materialized and parts of his favorite players were floating towards each other onto the ceiling. When Brandon Stark realized his son had woken up, dressed and was looking as handsome as he thought any little man could ever look, he went and gave Tony a big hug and wished him a happy birthday.
Tony ran to the kitchen and did the "special handshake" with his mom as she handed him his breakfast and kissed him on his forehead. The Starks were always a very tight, cozy little family and their son Tony's eleventh birthday was a happy event they were looking forward to as a family. His friends would come over, as would some of Bran's and Melinda's. The adults would sit and talk about politics, sport and fashion while the little kids would run around racing each other on miniature flying broomsticks and prodding each other with fake wands that sparkled. It was the perfect picture of happiness.
This birthday was a lot of sugar and a pinch of salt for the Starks because they realized that while their Tony was really growing up to become a model young man, it was about time that he would get the Hogwarts letter sometime around his birthday and he would go away to school. They would then spend lesser time with him. They were always aware the day would come, but when it loomed so close, the thought of spending lesser time with little Tony made them pause whatever they were doing, sigh, and go on.
"Mom, when did you get your letter?", Tony asked Melinda as they sat down for a quiet dinner. The party had been a blast and Tony had had a really good time.
"On my eleventh birthday, dear. I was exactly as old as you are when I got the letter.". Melinda replied with a nostalgic smile.
"And you, dad?", Tony frowned.
"I got it a week before my eleventh. Your grand-pappy opened it. He was overjoyed, of course, not that it was news to us.", Bran replied, winking at Melinda.
"Why haven't I got mine yet? Am I not a wizard like the two of you?". Tony's voice had a distinct sense of concern in it that his parents immediately caught on to.
"Now, now, dear. It's nothing like that. The letter will come, don't you worry. Go on, now finish up and go change into your pajamas, it's past bedtime!".
Over the next few weeks, Tony, who was knee deep in his summer vacations, had put the letter out of his mind. His mental abilities were mainly exercising on the latest release of his favorite comic book, "Tintin". Melinda and Bran had taken Tony out and bought him his own Pewter cauldron, robes, a set of his first textbooks and other provisions for his first year at school. As each day went, however, they began to become increasingly nervous. The letter from Hogwarts hadn't arrived yet. It was one week to the beginning of both the Muggle school Tony was enrolled into as well as Hogwarts, when Melinda finally cracked. She wrote to Hogwarts telling them that the letter hadn't arrived yet and it probably had been misplaced. She got a reply saying that there was nobody named Tony Stark on their list.
Melinda was shattered. This couldn't be true! Bran worked at the Ministry. He pulled some strings as got a colleague of his to look at the books that had the names of potential candidates for the wizarding school Hogwarts. That had been one of the longest days in Melinda's life as she waited at home to bring news of her son's abilities or their lack.
The clock struck five as Bran walked in. He didn't make eye-contact with Melinda as he came in, but when he looked Melinda in the eye, she knew. She had never been this rattled, and now that she was, she let out a shriek and sank to the floor. "It's okay", she said in a high-pitched voice, "my baby will do absolutely fine in the Muggle world.". Tony ran out when he heard the shriek. His mother was sitting on the ground and his father hung his head. Melinda repeated, completely oblivious to Tony's presence, "He will do absolutely fine in the Muggle world.". "Dad, what's Mom talking about? And why is she sitting on the floor?" Tony was a little concerned.
"Son, we have got to tell you something about Hogwarts, actually more than that, much more", Bran uttered, slowly but surely, "You're not like your mother and I, your talents differ from our talents".
Tony's eyes widened. "What do you mean, dad?"
"Son, different people are gifted in different ways…" "Dad?" "Yes, Tony?"
"I'm not… I'm not a Squib, am I?"