Hi everyone, this is my newest story, hope you guys like it! I do not own Harry Potter all credits go to JK Rowling
Chapter 1: A strange man
It was a foggy afternoon; I had just finished running an errand for my mother. Starting up the slippery hill, I felt my way through the fog; I saw something shiny in the ground, I walked right past it, it could have just been a fake gem or emerald some silly girl just dropped. Through the fog, I saw the outline of a man at the top of the hill; he seemed to be waiting for someone. When I got to the top of the hill, he was just sitting there, squinting at me through the fog, he looked about 70 years old, wearing a big black coat, he looked so sad, I turned my back on him and continued walking.
As I was walking, it started raining. I ran, but slipped in a mud puddle, I got mud all over my clothes and face, and I felt dirty and frivolous. Swearing and feeling embarrassed, I got up, and then I saw him, the man in the big black coat just standing there holding an umbrella over his head, simply staring at me. He came over, helped me up and gave me his umbrella.
"Now run home quickly," he said in a hoarse and croaky voice. I nodded and set off. On the walk home, I regretted turning my back on him when I first saw him, could I have helped him? I slowly made my way home.
"Did you get a shower already?" that was my sister, Arianna; she smirked, knowing that I definitely was not in the mood for jokes and if I didn't hold my temper, I would be in trouble with my mom for sure.
"Stop it!" I hollered as I grabbed her shirt, "stop it, or else" I gasped for breath, "you will pay for it" I threatened, feeling satisfied.
"Lindsey, you come right down here!" my mother screamed, I glared at Arianna, this was all her fault, I blame her one hundred percent. I had to force my feet to move down the stairs, they felt as if they were stuck to the stairs. I grunted and lifted my foot with great effort and pain as I stumbled down the stairs. My mother was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. The look on her face was not pleasant. "Lindsey, what do you think you are doing?!" she screeched the minute I slumped on the couch. She continued, "Just who do you think you are, going around threatening people?!" she paused for breath, and stared at my filthy clothes.
"Lindsey Nichole Starchy!" she bellowed, I gulped, she only uses my full name when she is super mad, that means I am in big trouble. "First you go around threatening people, and now you sit on my grand couch in your filthy clothes acting like you don't have a care in the world!" Ooops! I had completely forgotten that I was still covered in mud. "What a disgrace! I thought that having one girly girl was bad enough, but if I had to choose between a girly girl and a tomboy, I would prefer, girly girl," wait, does that mean she chooses Arianna over me?! How could she?! A mother being a mother should not have favorites! Then, Arianna came striding in; I bet she had been eaves dropping the whole time. She seemed pleased with herself, proud, I would say. I, meanwhile am feeling extremely down, not just because my mother chose Arianna over me, it was because, Arianna herself had heard the entire conversation and I have a feeling that she would be spreading it around to the entire world tomorrow at school.
"Hey, Lindsey!" shouted big Ben at the bus stop. "Is it true that your mother hates you and is planning to get rid of you?" he sneered, "well, I don't blame her, who would want a Miss Goody Goody Two Shoes in their family anyway?" he continued, "My mom says that good children are bad children, that's why she is so proud of me," Big Ben beamed, he seemed so proud of himself. I couldn't stand it, I reached over and punched his ugly, round, and teeny face. It happened so fast that I didn't even know what had just happened. All I could see now was that Big Ben was sprawled on the ground and ad a bloody nose. His two mates, Nathan and Timothy, were helping Big Ben up, Big Ben looked like teeny mouse between Nathan and Timothy, they towered over him, and it was a wonder how he got them to worship him. "What are you two waiting for?!" Big Ben hollered at Nathan and Timothy, "Do something! I let you guys tag around me because you guys are big and strong, so put your energy into use! I did not let you guys tag around me to be gentlemen! So why don't you guys hurry and beat this girl up!" he finished by kicking Nathan in the leg, Nathan gave a tremendous yelp, and then pulled Timothy behind him. Then, they approached me, arms and legs in fighting position; hands curled into fists, Timothy ran forward and then-….
"Leave this girl alone!" shouted a hoarse voice behind me. Hey, I heard that voice before. I spun around, it was the man in the big black coat, the one I turned my back to, the one that helped me when I did not help him, was he going to help me again? I hoped so, because right now, I am about to get beat up by two gigantic boys that weigh the same as a baby whale. But even if I had a grown man helping me, he looks weak and worn out, how could the two of us win two massive boys?
I am now on the school bus, safe and sound. It turned out that everyone on the bus had just seen what had happened. We were going to start fighting when the bus monitor, Ms. Pearly, finally stopped the fight. As we climbed on the bus, I was quickly rejected by the people I asked to share me a spot on the bus. I wasn't surprised, Big Ben and his two cronies were very popular, and they were well respected by everyone in the whole school. So I took a seat right next to the bus monitor. From the back of the bus, Big Ben had started an activity that includes throwing banana peels at me, luckily, one banana peel hit the bus monitor, and she turned red with fury. She marched up the aisle; Big Ben's banana peel was in midair when she turned around.
"Benjamin Parkinson!" she hollered, "just what do you think you are doing?!" I turned to look; Big Ben's head was lowered with embarrassment. Everyone seemed to feel sorry for Big Ben, except for me.
"But Ms. Pearly!" cried Pansy in a high sickly sweet voice, "Benjy did not start it! Lindsey started this whole fight!" she pretended to look sad; it was obvious that she had a crush on Big Ben. Our bus stopped, we had reached our destination, school, and the place where torture really begins…
"Last day of school, I can't wait!" my best pal, Grace whispered excitedly, "I can't believe we will be in middle school after summer vacation!" she nearly jumped out of her seat when she said that.
"Miss Grace, do you have something to share with the class?" our teacher, Mr. Eastellariata, asked Grace, "you look very excited about something," he did a smirk, like he was sure she would be embarrassed. The rest of the class giggled silently.
"Oh, sure, I could share if you want me to," Grace said confidently, paying no attention at the rest of the class.
"Can you please come up here and share with all of us?" Mr. said with a slight edge in his voice.
"Sure!" Grace said popping right up, "Should I use my super loud lecture voice to announce it?!" she asked in a mischievous voice.
"Whatever," answered Mr. Eastellariata, "just hurry up and announce it, you are wasting our class time."
"I can't wait until we get to middle school," started Grace in a voice that made me squirm in my chair, "I could just imagine the privileges we get, the attention we have from the lower school, walking around and having free period, all those things just come right at us, when we go to middle school, we gain knowledge, but lose recess," her last words brought all of us back to life, everyone talking at once, about the good things and bad things of middle school." She raised her hands, as if expecting applause. We clapped hard, some people even stood up on their seats and stomped, "Go Grace!" we roared, only Mr. Eastellariata did not join in the applause. Instead, he wrote on the whiteboard in big and bold letters:
Our whole class stared at the whiteboard, and started arguing at once. But all Mr. Eastellariata said was told us to read the instructions again, and said that he wrote very clearly:
No one bothered to argue after that, we knew that we had lost the battle with Mr. Eastellariata for once, and every single person in that class, including me, blamed Grace. There she was walking down the corridor, independent and alone, but still confident…
Clink! Clank! Clonk! Then I kicked the tin can harder, crunch! It just got stepped on by a man passing by. Wait a second; it was that man that helped me up from the mud, even when I turned my back to him!
"Hey! It's me, the one you helped up from the mud! Hey! Where are you going?!" I waved my arms frantically, trying to get him to turn back, but he just stopped for a while and then raced away. How do people think these days? I wondered…
I felt depressed, how could he ignore me? Surely he would have heard me, or was he in such a big hurry that he hadn't bothered turning back? All these questions formed in my head as I headed up Maple Street, then walked into the house. My house was an old and frivolous mansion; we had just moved in, my parents said in a couple of weeks we could make this house as good as new. My sister and I are excited, but we are also very impatient, I mean, who wouldn't be? At night our house is as dark as midnight without the moon, as quiet as the graveyard at night, and as spooky as a trip to the haunted house on Halloween night with only you and your friend. I am telling no lies here; our house is a dream come true for ghosts and ghouls, monsters and ogres, villains and crooks. This was no house for an eleven year old like me; it was no place for a jolly good family like our family. I want to move, my sister wants to move, but my parents said
NO！Disappointed, we went along with the plan and did not complain. Grace's house was across from our house, her house looks like a palace compared with my house. If you go inside her house, you could first see a grand staircase, and if you looked at the ceiling, you would see a sparkly chandelier glimmering in the sunlight (if you went in the morning). Don't even let me talk about her room, Grace is so lucky, her bedroom is the size of my bedroom and my sister's bedroom put together! She even has her own flat screen TV right in front of her bed! Grace's bed is as big as my parents' bed, I mean, even bigger! Her family is super rich, I heard. That is why it is a good thing Grace is my best friend, her parents always let her bring money to school, so she can get whatever she wants on the way home (and she always shares). In the summer, Grace's parents let her throw a big "summer is here!" party and invite the whole grade, that is what makes Grace so popular, even kids older than us want to attend this party. Just because Grace has a mega swimming pool with a water slide! Can you imagine how lucky she is?! Good thing I am her best friend, because if you were not Grace's best friend, you would just go straight home after the party. But I get a sleepover with Grace and we can eat the party leftovers. I don't know about this year, after everyone blaming Grace about this situation we are in, I wonder if they still want to go to her party.
"Lindsey!" my father called, "dinner time!" I groaned I was not in the mood for eating; I was especially not in the mood of facing my dad. Don't ask me why…