Hello again! Here is my second chapter. Enjoy reading!
I do not own Pokemon or Harry Potter.
Sunshine poured into my bedroom. That's the best way I like to wake up. I got up and stretched. After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I headed towards the kitchen to have a nice, simple breakfast: a bowl of peppered avocado and a cup of orange juice. According to Reggie, and everybody else, I have a really strange taste. I just think it's normal. Everyone knows I'm different from most people.
Reggie was leaning on the kitchen counter, waiting for me as I silently went and sat on the counter with my breakfast.
"Hey," he called out casually, acting the way he did when he wanted to get me to say something specific. "What's up?"
I looked at him. "What do you want?" I sighed exasperatedly.
"So did you decide whether you want to go to that school or not?" he asked eagerly.
I pressed my lips tightly together. I hated when he asked me such personal questions. It was my choice and I didn't have to tell him everything I decided to do or not do.
My brother seemed to read my mind.
"You don't have to tell me," he said shortly as his eyes lit up. "I see that you want to go to Hogwarts."
"I never said that." I was starting to get really annoyed.
"Oh, I know you well," Reggie chuckled. "When you don't want to go somewhere, you say no right away. But when you do want to go, you remain silent."
His behaviour at the moment was tantalizing me ever so much. Okay fine. Even if I did make it so obvious, why did he have to say it to my face?
"Hn," I replied focusing back onto my avocado.
"Do you still have the letter?" he questioned me.
Making a glum face, I pulled out the letter out of my pocket. It was now slightly crumpled because I probably rolled onto it while I was sleeping. My brother took it out of my hand and took out the supply list. He made a funny face as he read it.
"Where in the world are we supposed to get this stuff?!" exclaimed Reggie as he pushed the paper in front of me. I grabbed it and, as I read it, my expression changed.
It would make sense that I'd need a wand but, why the robes? Ugh! I can't even imagine myself in a robe. It would be way too awkward for me.
"I'll just skip the robes," I grumbled.
Reggie shook his head. "You can't do that," he explained to me as if I were a little kid. "It's probably part of the uniform. You can't go to the school without your uniform."
I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, fine. But what about the rest of the stuff?"
My brother looked very stressed. "Um, I don't know. And you can't go to the school without your supplies either."
"Did you figure that out by yourself? Of course I can't. I know where to get some stuff, though..."
"Like what?"
I made a face. It was so obvious. How could my brother not get this? This time, I explained to him as if he were a little kid.
"We could get the ink from any regular shop. It says I need a Noctowl, Purlion, or Froakie. I could go and just catch one from somewhere and if not, I could go to the all regions Pokemon shop. For the quill, there are lots of big feathers in the art store. We could get the robes from the Halloween shop down the street or get it sewed by a tailor. We just have the wand and the books left. Otherwise, we've got everything."
By the time I finished, I was slightly out of breath. I usually didn't talk so much. Reggie just stared at me looking speechless but impressed.
"That's the most you've said all at once in your entire life!" he cried.
"Hn," I mumbled looking back on my avocado feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Wow," whispered Reggie."Hogwarts must really mean something to you."
"Forget about it," I said wishing that I had not said so much at once. Now he seemed to think it was because I was eager to go to the school or something.
"Let's get started with the robes first since it's the closest," suggested Reggie.
And that was where we headed abandoning my avocado. When we got there, there was nobody except a chubby, pink-cheeked man. The tailor.
"Good morning, young men!" exclaimed the jolly voice of the tailor. "How may I help you?"
"Go ahead, tell him," Reggie said to me with a smile. I think he was more excited of me going to Hogwarts that I was. I suddenly felt a wave of awkwardness. How was I supposed to say that I needed robes. The tailor would probably think we're crazy. It wasn't even near Halloween or anything. I didn't say anything. Reggie's smile slightly faded.
"Just tell him," he repeated. I looked at Reggie and Reggie looked back.
"Fine," sighed my brother."I'll tell him." Then, turning back to the tailor he said,"My brother, Paul, needs some black robes for his school—" Reggie stopped talking as he noticed my glare. How could he just go on saying that I needed it for school?
"For school?" the tailor asked turning to me as his voice turned more serious."Which school are you going to?"
"Um, oh nothing really," I replied as casually as I could. "It's—"
"Hogwarts?" the man interrupted speaking in a lower tone of voice.
"Hey! How did you guess?" cried Reggie smiling again.
The tailor suddenly looked really serious and the shine in his eyes went away. I started feeling a bit creeped out as the man stared at me straight into the pupils.
"Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry?" demanded the tailor.
"Uh, yes..."I replied awkwardly. Although I wasn't the type of person who'd get awkward that easily, who wouldn't feel awkward if some stranger was staring at you as if he's trying to pull something out of you. Unless it were my imagination (although I don't have one), the lights turned a bit dimmer. That's when I noticed that the tailor was standing in front of the light switches and had turned one out of three lights off.
The man leaned closer to my face without blinking. I just stood there frozen. Just then he back away again and gave a little smile. In my opinion, it was a rather evil smile. I knew it well for I would sometimes use that smile on Reggie when I kept him in suspense, which I knew he hated. I started getting a bad feeling about this. It wasn't just the man, it was the place.
Usually when Reggie took me to new shop or something, something unpleasant would happen there. For example, the time he took me to the barber shop, I had the worst hair day ever.
Anyways, so the man looked at me for a while, then he spoke up again.
"That's really nice, Paul," said the man in his normal voice again. "I myself used to go there back at the time of Tom Riddle. I'm sure you've never heard of Tom, have you?"
"Um, no. I haven't," I replied.
"Ah. Tom and I used to be good friends. Both in the same house, Slytherin, and both in the same dormitory." The tailor told me and Reggie."We would both share our plans and secrets. Both were into the same sort of things, you see." The tailor stopped talking when he noticed the blank expressions on my and my brother's face.
"Never mind," he said shaking his head. Then, he asked me a really unexpected question. "Have you gotten your wand yet?"
I shook my head and the man's smile seemed to have gotten bigger and more evil. Just then, Reggie spoke up.
"Hey, wait. If you used to go to Hogwarts, you probably know where we could get a wand and magic books!" my brother exclaimed to the tailor.
"Of course I do. You want to know?" the man asked looking at Reggie.
"Yes, please,"
"Then I'll tell you. You haven't heard of Knockturn Alley, have you?"
"Uh, no. Never actually."
"Well, er, that's where you could get all your supplies. Everything you need for the school." The tailor started fiddling with the bottom of his shirt a bit. Then, he leaned close to my face and, in a whisper he said, "Meet me there boy, and I'll show you where everything is! Mwahaahaa!"
I took a step back. No, I wasn't scared. I just didn't like it when people got too much into my space.
"How?" I asked in my usual voice when I talked with juvenile weirdos (like Ash). This guy was seriously acting so childishly lame.
"Huh?" the tailor's face twisted in confusion. "What did he say?" he asked my brother.
"I think what he means is that we have no clue where Knockdoor Alley is," explained Reggie. "How are we supposed to get there?"
"Knockturn Alley, you mean? By the Knight Bus, of course!" was the reply. "Come here, at this very tailor shop, at midnight and you'll see."
I think Reggie wanted to exchange glances with me, but I didn't look back. Just then, I felt my brother's hand grab me by the wrist.
"Let's get out of here," he whispered in my ear as he started pulling me to the door.
"Don't forget to come at midnight!" the tailor called out behind us.
Once we got out, I forcefully managed to free my hand. Why couldn't he just tell me 'let's go' instead of embarrassing me like that?
"Quick," Reggie assured me as he guided me into the van. He looked as if some monster were chasing us. He jumped into the car and started driving back home.
"Why are you acting like this?" I asked.
My brother's expression turned serious.
"Don't trust that guy! He's evil!" he cried dramatically.
"Hn?"
"No, really. There is something fishy about that Knockdoor Alley he was going on about. I've never heard—"
"Knockturn Alley," I corrected him. Sometimes I feel like he's the younger sibling.
"That's not my point." he said crossly. "Paul. I'm not letting you go there. And no ifs, ands, or buts!" Yeah, like I would.
"I don't care. I'm still going,"
"I can't let you go. What if the man was lying about Knockdoor—"
"Knockturn—"
"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT'S CALLED!" I had never seen Reggie so angry before. His face was bright red.
"Okay! Okay! No need to yell," I mumbled. Reggie took few deep breaths.
"Fine. What if there were no such thing as Knockturn Alley?" said my brother. "You could be in big trouble for believing the tailor's lies."
"You're the one who said I should get all my supplies. I'd rather risk it."
"Sorry bro. I'm not gonna drive you there. And that's final."
We soon arrived back home and we got out of the car.
"Fine. then I'll walk there." I said stubbornly as I slammed the front door on my brother's face and went up to my room.
"Hey! Respect your elders!" I heard Reggie shout.
After a while, as I stared at the sun set out my bedroom window, Reggie entered the bedroom with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Listen, Paul," he said. "Yes, I'm sure Hogwarts means a lot to you, but, I can't let you go to that alley. It may not be the same with you but, I don't want you to get hurt or anything."
"I'm still going," I told him without looking at him.
"Please, Paul. Won't you listen to me just this once?"
"I'm going to go no matter what."
"Okay. If you want to go to get the stuff so badly, let's make a deal."
I turned around. "Fine. What's the deal?"
"If you are going to the alley, I'm going to come with you and we'll have to stick together."
I thought about it for a while. This was the only way to get my stuff...
"Fine," I finally sighed. "But don't do embarrassing things."
"I never do!"
"Sure," I said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.
Hours passed and now it was 11:36pm. About half an hour more until midnight. I shook Reggie back awake who had started snoring softly.
"We better head out now so we'd get there on time!" I pointed out.
"Oh yeah. Sure. In a minute," mumbled Reggie as he closed his eyes again. In a few seconds, he started snoring again.
I groaned. This would never work. He would keep going back to sleep. I needed something that would wake him up completely. I looked around and spotted a cup filled with water. Who wouldn't be tempted to do what I did? The moment I saw it, I grabbed the cup and poured the water onto Reggie's face. My plan succeeded.
"W-what?" cried the 'victim' of the water cup. "The waterfall moved!"
I just stared at him for a while until he realized what had just happened.
"Paul!" he exclaimed angrily. "You just woke me up from the best dream ever!"
I shrugged.
"It's almost midnight. Get the car started."
"Fine! Fine!" my brother sighed.
"We can't be late. Hurry."
"Oh wait. I forgot something!" Reggie went back to our room and opened one of the drawers of the chest of drawers. He pulled out something that made me groan. A pair of metal handcuffs. I knew what was next.
"When we get there, Both of us would put one hand in one of the cuffs so we won't get separated in Knockdoor Alley!"
I didn't even bother to correct him this time. The idea of the cuffs was too horrible at the moment to think of anything else. It was bad enough with him just coming.
"Don't just stand there!" cried my brother. "Unless you changed your mind about going now..."
"No. I'm going," I told him sharply as I climbed into the van. Sighing, Reggie joined me and we drove off to the tailor's shop.
When we got there, we realized that we were a bit early. It was 11:51 am and we were supposed to be there at 12. Luckily (luckily?), the tailor was still there.
"You have returned, my dear boys!" laughed the man. An evil laugh. "Although I'm pretty sure I said midnight, no?"
"Sorry we're early," said Reggie as I noticed he pulled my hand behind his back to put on one of the cuffs without the man seeing.
"No need to be sorry, young men," replied the tailor unaware of the silent commotion behind my brother's back as I tried to pull my hand away. I suddenly the felt the metal cuffs clasp around my wrist and heard a clink. I knew there was no way out now. Reggie had won.
"It's for your own good," he whispered in my ear as I scowled. The tailor continued talking.
"Have a seat!" he cried waving at a sofa nearby. My brother and I sat down. Actually, Reggie went to sit and I was forced to come along. The man kept talking and soon, Reggie's head fell upon my shoulder and he started to snore softly. I made a face.
"Ah!" exclaimed the tailor after a while. "Look at the time! Midnight already! Are you ready, boy?" he asked turning to me.
I stared blankly at him in return. Couldn't he see the situation I was in? The man looked a bit uncomfortable and looked back for a while until he noticed the handcuffs. A strange smile spread across the tailor's face. I noticed he pulled out a thin, black stick from his pocket and tapped it on the metal cuffs. He mumbled something under his breath and something unexpectedly astonishing happened! The handcuffs clicked open and my hand was free! He really was a magician. Now that I had witnessed the magic, I knew for sure Hogwarts was no joke. I knew a 'magic trick' when I saw it, but this was no ordinary magic trick. It was real magic. I could tell the difference.
The tailor pulled me up to my feet.
"Let's go," the tailor whispered. I looked back at the sleeping Reggie. Should I just leave him like that?
"Don't worry about your brother," said the man. "You're old enough to take care of yourself, no?" Finally, somebody understood me. I did not need protection everywhere I went. I was old enough to take care of myself. I thought it over then gave a nod. The tailor smiled.
Knockturn Alley, here I come...
Another chapter finished. Sorry for the late update. Hope you enjoyed it. Have a magical day!
