The fog blanketed the window in a thick sheet. I closed my eyes and sighed. I could hear the wind rustling in the trees, as if it were a drumbeat waiting for a song. I turned my head away from the window and looked back towards my book in the candlelight. I had to keep the light level low or my dad would come in and nag me. The lightning crackled with a streak through the sky. The following thunder sang against my ears and I smiled. The reverie was short-lived. There was a loud knocking at my door, and after a minute my dad came in.
"Bed. Now" He said firmly. I shuffled toward my bookshelf and neatly fitted the book in its place.
"Why do you care?" I asked irritated.
All I received was a scowl as the door slammed shut behind him. I returned to the window again, watching the rain pour down. It was as if I was searching for some sort of escape from this place. The stars sparkled against the midnight sky. My eyes started drooping, and I shook it off. I hopped off the window sill and chugged a few horse-size pills down my throat. I took one last, bleary-eyed look at the window. Just before my eyes closed, a faint green glow broke out beneath the clouds and disappeared again.
"Amelia!" My dad yelled up the stairs. I opened my eyes hesitantly and rubbed my face. I was still unsure whether the glow I had seen was merely fantasy, or part of a dream… a trick of the light? Whatever it was, it doesn't matter now.
"Amelia, get down here NOW." Confused and exhausted, I stumbled out into the hallway. I slowly made my way downstairs to the living room.
"What's wrong now?" I called out as I turned around the corner to face my father. "This." He replied curtly as he tossed a letter into my hands. I stared at him with a questioning look, before I looked at the mail I held in my hands. 'Amelia Rayden' was written in neat green cursive. The letter was held together by a fancy red seal, and there was a large crest stamped on the back.
"Where is this from? This isn't a medical bill right?" I asked.
My dad stayed silent, staring at the ground and shaking his head. He walked briskly out of the room. I'd never seen him that upset before, and it worried me. My dad was the only solid rock I had here, and he seemed sad. I looked away quickly and trudged back to my room quietly. Nothing that made my dad that sad was any good. When I got back to my room I crawled back in bed, placing the letter gently on top of the nightstand.
Drawing my knees up, I grabbed my book and set it on the lap. The pages fluttered lightly, as the book floated a few inches in the air. It wasn't much, but it was certainly something. This didn't happen that often, but when it did I made sure no one could see me. Just because this was normal in my books didn't mean it was normal in real life. I caught the book as it fell back down again and frowned at its contents; within the very next page… another letter. I set the book down on the bed and stared at it wide-eyed.
"What the?!" I looked over to the nightstand to find… nothing. It was the same one that had been sitting on my nightstand just a moment before. I fumbled around for my phone and dialed the number I knew best.
"Mom!" I cried out in relief as she answered the phone.
"Amelia? Sweetie what's wrong?" "Mom…Dad is acting weird." "What about? Do you need me to come home?"
"Well…" I started hesitantly. I looked down at the mysterious traveling letter again and sighed. "I got this letter today. I haven't opened it yet but dad seems upset by it. I think its stalking me." My mother sighed sadly on the other end.
"Amelia, I know what you can do. I've known it for a very long time. Your book, you can float sometimes yes? But you can't control it; I know that for a fact. I couldn't either when I was your age, there's nothing to worry about. I should have told you sooner and I'm sorry."
My hands were shaking. I could feel myself tremble into the phone. "What are you talking about? What does it mean?" I shook my head; this conversation was getting weirder and weirder.
"You have magic in you Amelia. You're a witch, like me. Your father has always been bitter since your Aunt Leila died… You will learn about her in time. I have to go now, but Amelia, open the letter okay? I love you, I'll see you soon."
"Wait, Mom!" The phone beeped as my mother disconnected. This had to be a dream… It had too. And yet, my eyes settled on the sealed letter in my lap. I took it in my shaky hand and pried it open.
"Dear Ms. Rayden,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…"
This can't be happening. It's not real. All those stories I'd read, of medieval times, and heroes and magic and spells and adventure… Magic was real? I tossed the letter onto my bed and wrung my hands through my pale blonde hair.
"I can't believe this. I can't." My ears started to ring. I grasped a hold of my bed and coughed. My whole body shook as I took my pills and sat on the bed again. I couldn't stop staring at the letter.
"We await your owl by no later than July 31st." Hmmm. Where does one get an owl? I suppose I had a month to figure this out. The was nothing that could change my mind now, all my life I had laid sick in my bed reading my books, hoping that one day adventure would find me. Gandalf would knock on my door; the T.A.R.D.I.S. would sit, waiting outside my window. I have to do it; I have to go on my adventure. I was going to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and nothing could stop me now.
"No. She's not going under any circumstances." My mother stepped forward.
"Arthur, be reasonable here. We've hidden this from her for far too long. It has to end." My mother reasoned calmly.
"No, she's not going and that's final! She's too sick Helena, it's not safe!" My dad argued angrily, "I can't,"
"No, Stop!" My mother interjected quickly. "You can't keep controlling her life Arthur. The Battle is over now; it's been 10 years since Leila died. You can't hide her from the world any longer. You know better than I she will do no good locked up in this house." My father grumbled incoherently and stomped off. My mother looked weary. She rubbed her face and sighed. I stepped from my hiding place on the stair well and walked down to her.
"Hey, are you alright mum?" She looks at me with a confused look.
"Yeah, of course sweetie. But what about you, this is your future Amelia. I think it's time you have a say in it." I shook my head and paced across the room.
"Of course I want to go! Why wouldn't I? But I don't want to upset either of you. I don't like seeing you this upset, and I don't really know half of what you were talking about." I replied with a worried tone. My dad came back into the room then. He walked up to me and rubbed my head affectionately.
"I'm sorry you heard that Lia. I just want you to be safe. I'm only worrying because I care. And all that stuff you don't know doesn't matter, it doesn't affect you anymore. I'm sorry."
"I know you care Dad. But I can take care of myself, you know that. I don't want to live sheltered from life because of my illness. I still have life left to live; I want to use it to the fullest." He looks at me sadly and nods his head. I know my dad can be intimidating sometimes, but times like these make me remember how sensitive and fragile he can be as well. My mother smiles and claps her hands together.
"Well that's settled then! I'll take her to Diagon Alley next week to get supplies." She winked at me and headed into the kitchen. My father called out to her nervously,
"Are you sure she's ready for that? That's a lot to handle in one trip."
She chuckled and replied, "I'm sure she's read crazier things in those books of hers." I laughed at how true that was. I found it rather frightening all the things I didn't really know about the world, but I couldn't wait to find out.
The next week passed by in a blur. I could barely sleep; I sat at the window for hours until my medicine forced my hyperactive mind to settle down. Nothing this exciting had happened since before my illness took hold. My dad tried his best to be supportive and it showed. He definitely got angry less often, and I made sure to thank him for that. By the time Monday came around I was practically hopping up and down in anticipation. For most of the ride there I read in the car for most of the way there, so I was shocked when my mother hopped out of the car and opened up an entryway into Diagon Alley for us. The enormity of seeing everything at once was overwhelming, and yet I had only just started to reach the surface of it. There were witches and wizards everywhere, even little goblins and house elves shuffled about. The amount of crazy garb and robes that I know was incredible. The strange atmosphere was welcoming, and my feet stepped above the cobblestones of Diagon Alley.
"How are you doing Amelia, do you need to rest?"
"No I'm alright. Thanks Mom."
"No problem sweetie." We made our way through the crowds of witches and wizards in front of Ollivander's Wand Shop. I hesitated as my mom walked inside confidently. I looked up at the displays of wands and smiled to myself as I stepped over the threshold. There were clusters of students milling about, looking at the displays with equally awe-struck looks on their faces.
My mother waved at me then, and gestured towards the shopkeeper. I walked over, excited. "Do I get to pick my wand now?" I asked anxiously.
"Now little girl, not so fast. The wand chooses you, not the other way around." He said in a grumpy tone. He handed me a sheet with a list of questions and went off to help another student. My mother shrugged when she saw it. "The process has changed a lot since my day and age." I sighed and filled out the questions, handing them to Ollivander when I was done.
"Ahh, I see. This is the one for you." He goes back into his storage and brings out a box, handing it to me. This is a rosewood wand with a dragon heartstring core. I'm sure it will serve you well." I opened the box carefully and gasped. "But there's a crack in it! I don't think this is the right one." Ollivander frowned at me. "It will hold up, just a bit of a flaw. It seems you two are very similar that way. He looked at me with a knowing look. I stared back at the man surprised. "Well, if you say so." I say hesitantly. "Good, good. Next!"
My mother paid for the wand and we proceeded to do the rest of our shopping. Getting the robes and books didn't seem to be a problem, (though my mother was not happy with the books that bite back.)
"One last stop! Everyone needs a pet." My mother stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh, really?!" I cried excitedly. I had always wanted a cat, but dad had never let me get one. We stepped into the pet shop and were immediately bombarded with squawking, hooting, and basically any strange noise you could think up, it was here. I traipsed along the aisles passing the toads, rats and lizards without a second though. I stopped when I got to the owls. There were hundreds of them, and my mother opened up a cage to pet one. I turned toward the nearest cage, and a snowy owl stared back at me.
"Owls are the best pets to have. You should get one of these, they're very reliable mail carriers." I raised my hand towards the one on the shelf… SQUAWK!
I jumped back in shock and stepped back. "I'm not sure about that…" I said anxiously. My mother proceeded to go on a tangent about how useful they were. I walked past her and started tuning her out. I started to walk around mindlessly, until I caught something move out of the corner of my eye. A white tail whisked past, and I ran to follow. By this time I was all the way in the back of the store, and the aisles were vacant. I turned around the corner and saw a cat as white as snow perched on the shelf above me.
"Hey there, what are you doing up there?" The cat meowed at me, its red eyes glinting in the fluorescent light. Suddenly, it hopped down and ran across to the other aisle and disappeared.