CRACK.
A gunshot rang through the air. No, wait. It wasn't a gunshot. It was the sound of a baseball bat, connecting with the ball. There it goes. Going… going… gone.
"She does it again!" cried the announcer. "Ginger Yanikowski, the only girl on the Tidal Waves, smacks that ball outta here!"
The crowd roared as a tall, pale, skinny, black-haired girl jogged around the bases following the three other boys ahead of her. She had barely stepped across home plate when the rest of her team enveloped her.
"Ginger, way to go!"
"This is our 9th win in a row because of you, Ginger!"
"Wicked!"
"Brilliant!"
Soon the whole team was chanting their name.
"TIDAL WAVES! TIDAL WAVES!"
Ginger sighed. This was the only good thing in her otherwise horrible life. Ginger Yanikowski was an orphan. Her parents were believed to have been killed in a plane wreck. She was one of the only survivors.
Soon, grumbling and shooting Ginger dirty looks, the other team, the Thunderbolts, trudged from the field. The crowd filed out soon after that. The rest of Ginger's team had left to walk home or had been driven home by their parents.
"Night, Ginger," coach said slapping her back. "Nice job out there," Ginger grinned weakly and with that Coach left her.
Ginger sighed again. Yep, baseball was awesome all right. It was the only thing that kept Ginger from packing her bags and running away. Ginger threw her gear into her bag. Her batting helmet, her bat, her cleats, her pitching hat. She zipped the bag shut and plopped down onto it. She sat watching the sun set until the sky was a vivid hue. Then she stood up, swung her bag over her shoulder and began walking from the field. She locked the gate from the inside. She threw her bag over the top of it and began to climb. She was about halfway up when she suddenly landed softly on the other side next to her bag. She blinked. She looked around. Yes, she was on the other side of the fence alright. But how had she gotten over there? She didn't remember jumping from the top like she usually did. I'll think about it later. She thought. So she shrugged, picked up her bag, and walked forward. Back to the orphanage. Back to the teasing about the oddly shaped cut on her shin. Back to torture.
"Where in the blazes have you been?" shouted Mrs. Setchell.
"Baseball," Ginger answered casually.
"Well take a shower!" Mrs. Setchell looked disgusted.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Ginger trudged up the stairs. 4 flights of stairs to be exact. She went down to the end of the hallway. Toward the room that had a sign nailed into the door that said Yanikowski on it. She grabbed the doorknob and turned it. But it wouldn't move. Ginger groaned and banged her forehead against the door. How could she have been so stupid as to forget her key? She stared hard at the lock willing it to open. There was a small, but audible, click. Ginger looked at the lock. Then, cautiously, she grabbed the doorknob and turned it again. This time it moved. She pushed against the door with her shoulder. It swung open. Her door had always been difficult to open, but this time it was easier. She blew through her lips so that they drummed against each other. So many weird things happening today! She stepped into her room and clicked the door shut behind her. She scuffled over to her window and sat down on the sill. She threw her bag, and it landed on her bed. Then she turned to look out her window. She opened it a tad to let some cool air in. She sighed and let her head fall back against the wall behind her. A gust of wind blew steadily through her window barely lifting her hair from her shoulders. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. This was one calm, peaceful moment she rarely had. Then she remembered she had to take a shower. Muttering to herself she stood up and left.
After a very quick shower, amid a girl named Cassie banging the door and yelling at her to hurry up, Ginger quickly locked herself in her room again. Alone. Until she realized that she wasn't alone. An owl was perched on her window sill. When it saw Ginger it gave out a muffled hoot. Muffled because it had a small white piece of paper in its mouth.
Ginger stared open-mouthed at it. Now she wished that she didn't leave the window open. She took a step forward, but that seemed to trigger the owl's attention. It stretched its wings and flew straight at Ginger's head. Ginger screamed and ducked. She felt a rush of air as the owl swooped over her. She straightened up and ran at the owl.
"Get out! GET OUT!" she screeched waving her arms trying to scare it. It seemed to have worked. The owl gave an irritated sort of hoot and flew out of the room. Ginger quickly slammed the window behind it. Breathing hard she turned around and slid down the wall to a sitting position. Okay, this was getting a little out of hand. First the fence, then the door, and now this? What next? Time travel? Something fluttered to the ground and landed at her feet. It was the white piece of paper the owl had been holding. Ginger kicked at it angrily; it burst into flames.
"HOLY CRAP!" Ginger screamed her mouth wide open in horror. When the flames finally died away Ginger stared. She had expected there to be a scorch mark at the very least but nothing was there. There wasn't any smoke or any sign that there had been a fire at all. Something gleamed there instead. Ginger leaned forward to get a good look. It was an amulet. It looked like a dragonfly and seemed colorless. Ginger held out a finger and, with some hesitation, prodded it gently. As soon as she did her room gave a sudden lurch and Ginger was thrown headfirst at the amulet. She somehow seemed to be going straight through it into something. Then suddenly she was falling through inky blackness. She tried to scream but no sound came. I'm gonna die! She thought. She hit the ground but felt no pain. Slowly, trembling from head to toe, she stood up. She was in the middle of a field. She could hear a loud groaning in the distance. she looked up and gasped. And airplane was careening straight towards the ground. Towards her. Ginger backed away, but the airplane went over her head. Ginger spun around. There was an earsplitting crash as the plane made contact with the ground. Not thinking, Ginger sprinted over to it. Someone came crawling from the wreck. Someone with long black hair that was down and had a small braid on the side. Someone wearing shorts and a t-shirt that looked awfully familiar. Then Ginger realized; she was looking at her seven year-old self. Present Ginger gaped at her past self. Then someone else came dragging themselves from the plane. It was a boy. He had black hair too and it was very messy. He had glasses which he was clutching to his face. Present Ginger guessed that they were broken.
"A-amy!" the boy sobbed and he latched himself to Past Ginger.
"It's all right, Harry," she said rubbing his back. "We're okay. Everything's gonna okay."
"Oh, will it?" came a cold voice. The sobbing Harry and Past Ginger looked up. A man in long, black robes had appeared and was coming toward them.
"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted. There was a flash of green light and screams. When the green light disappeared the man was gone. Harry was clutching his forehead. Past Ginger was holding him close and grabbing her shin. Both looked like they were in immense pain. Two people suddenly appeared out of thin air with a crack.
"Obliviate!" they both shouted pointing something at Past Ginger and Harry. Then everything went black. Present Ginger gasped as she felt her feet leave the ground. Suddenly she was back in her room. She gasped again. Her shin felt as if it were on fire. Her shin. Past Ginger had been holding her shin after the green light had disappeared. Very slowly, Present Ginger rolled up her pant leg. There it was; the oddly shaped cut. It was a bright, pumping red. Ginger had always thought that it looked like the scratchy outline of a raindrop. Ginger felt something bump against her chest as she leaned forward. Her eyes dropped down to see the amulet hanging from a thin silver chain strung over her neck. The amulet looked the same; except that it wasn't colorless anymore. It was a bright red and when Ginger touched it, it was quite hot. The boy, Harry, had called Past Ginger, Amy. What was that all about? Maybe it was just her nickname when she was younger. And why couldn't she remember any of that happening? She remembered the two people yell something at Past Ginger and Harry. It had sounded something like oblivious. Maybe it was something that made you lose your memory?
There was a knock on Ginger's door. She quickly pushed down her pant leg and dropped the necklace in between her shirt and her ribs. She wasn't totally ready for people to know about it yet. She pushed herself to her feet.
"Come in," she said. The door creaked open as Mrs. Setchell grunted with effort to get it wide enough for her to slip in.
"You have a letter," she panted holding out a white envelope and waving it in front of her.
"Okay, just- wait, what?"
"A letter. For you."
Ginger blinked.
"You sure?"
"Pretty sure,"
"But, how?"
Mrs. Setchell was getting irritated.
"Look, just take your bloody letter already or I won't let you open it!"
"Alright, sorry!" Ginger leaped forward and snatched the letter from Mrs. Setchell.
"Now, I'm leaving to talk to a man. I'll be downstairs in my office if you get deathly injured or something that involves attention! Other than that do not bother me!" she said furiously. She edged from the room again and pulled the door shut behind her.
Hands shaking with excitement, Ginger examined her letter trying not to drop it. On the front in loopy, green handwriting, was her name. Ginger Yanikowski. In parentheses it said Amy Potter. Ginger decided to think about that later. There was no stamp; no return address either. Ginger flipped the letter over to look at the back of it. There were four animals; a badger, a raven, a snake, and a griffin all encircling a letter H. Ginger carefully broke the seal on the envelope and slowly took out the paper inside of it. She unfolded it and read the letter eagerly. It read:
Dear Ms. Yanikowski (Potter), 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. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Deputy Headmistress
Ginger gaped at it. Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry? What was Hogwarts? Wasn't witchcraft and wizardry, like, magic or something? Ginger shook her head and looked at the other paper. HOGWARTS SCHOOL UNIFORM COURSE BOOKS The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection OTHER EQUIPMENT 1 wand Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad. PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
First-year students will require:
sets of plain work robes (black)
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
by Miranda Goshawk
by Phyllida Spore
by Newt Scamander
by Quentin Trimble
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Wands?! Broomsticks?! Magical herbs and fungi?! What was Mrs. Setchell playing at? Ginger stuffed everything back into the envelope and threw it from herself. She slowly backed away. She felt very dizzy all of a sudden. Her legs hit the side of her bed and she sank down onto it. She couldn't be magic, she just couldn't be! She wasn't special. The only thing she was good at was baseball! That wasn't very magic at all!
There was another knock on her door. It opened much easier than it should've. It wasn't Mrs. Setchell this time. Instead it was a bearded man. Ginger raised her eyebrows as the man entered her room.
"Who are you?" she asked cautiously. At first the man didn't answer. Instead he came and sat down on Ginger's bed. Ginger stood up.
"I remember coming in here 30 years ago. It was in this exact room too."
Ginger didn't have the faintest idea what he was talking about.
"Who are you?" she asked again. The man stood up. Ginger took a step backwards.
"Forgive me. I am Professor Dumbledore. I am a professor at Hogwarts."
"Is Hogwarts a madhouse? For mental people? I'm not mental! I swear I'm not! No matter what that git Setchell tells you, I assure you that I'm not crazy!"
Dumbledore held his hand up to quiet Ginger. She snapped her mouth shut her fists clenched.
"You do remind me of what young Riddle said,"
"Riddle?" Ginger said. "Is that a person? Or is Riddle just a joke? Was that letter just a riddle? Were you trying to get me to believe that there is magic? You were weren't you! Yeah, you were! You're friends with Setchell! You are! You-!"
"Please," Dumbledore said. To Ginger's dismay, he didn't seem to be getting annoyed with her. She glared at him.
"Let me speak please,"
Ginger glared at him angrily.
"There is a thing such as magic. But you have not been told this as you have grown with Muggles,"
"What?"
"People, who do not possess magic."
"I'm a Muggle then."
"Actually, you are not. That is why I came here. To tell you that you are a witch."
"That's offensive,"
"Not that kind of witch. A girl who has magical powers. You had magic parents."
"And I'm supposed to believe you? How can I? I don't remember anything about my family. In fact," Ginger added as something dawned upon her. "I can't even remember anything about anything past age seven."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Exactly," he said. "You had magic done on you so that you wouldn't remember anything about your parents."
Ginger stared.
"But, I can't be magic. I just can't be."
Dumbledore smiled.
"Has anything ever happened to you Ginger? Anything that you couldn't explain?"
Ginger opened her mouth but shut it again. She couldn't deny it. Strange things had been happening to her. The fence, the lock, the door, the owl, the memory, the amulet. Dumbledore smiled again. This was getting creepy. Ginger frowned.
"Prove it," she snapped. "Prove to me that there is such a thing as magic, and I'll go to that 'school'." She put air quotes around school. Again Dumbledore smiled. Stop smiling! Ginger thought angrily. Dumbledore snapped his fingers. There was a creaking sound. Then Ginger's bed was lifted off of the ground. Dumbledore chuckled as he looked at Ginger's face of astonishment. Dumbledore snapped his fingers again and the bed crashed back down; yet it made no noise. Ginger blinked.
"O-okay," she stammered in disbelief. "I believe you,"