A/N: Third chapter! Things start happening here, I promise!
Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up! Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling
"Well, there's nothing serious here," said Mr. Allendale, straightening up. Theodore Allendale was the landlord of Damia's apartment house. He was a rather small, slightly hunched man in his late 40s, with thin brown hair and comically large grey eyes (Naomi sometimes called him the 'Owl Man').
"There's nothing wrong with the wiring. It must have been a random power surge."
Damia nodded, pressing an ice compress against Gabriel's head. Bryan was snivelling miserably from his spot on the couch. "I made the lamp explode," he whimpered. Naomi, sitting beside him, put her arm around the little boy. "No, you didn't Bry. You were waaaay across the room. You heard Mr. Allendale; it was a power surge."
"I – I pointed at it an' I shot it." Bryan insisted. Naomi shot a worried look at Damia.
"Bryan, you didn't have a real gun. You didn't make the lamp explode." Damia explained slowly.
Mr. Allendale was staring intently at Bryan, his smoky eyes wide. "Do things like this happen often?" he asked.
Bryan looked terrified. "N-no." he managed to get out. Damia narrowed her eyes at the landlord. "Thank you, Mr. Allendale. I think we'll be all right from here."
Mr. Allendale blinked. "Of course. Have a good night, girls."
Damia waved politely after Mr. Allendale before locking the door behind him. Naomi sank back onto the couch and tried the TV. It flickered on like nothing had happened and started blaring the end credits of the soap opera. There was a small moment of confusion until Naomi found the volume button and turned the TV down.
Damia turned to Gabriel and Bryan wearily. "Okay you two," she sighed. "Time for bed."
The usual whines were slightly muted as Damia sheparded her two brothers into the bathroom and then into their bedroom.
"Do you need any Aspirin?" she asked Gabriel, who shook his head. Bryan sadly tucked himself into his bed. Damia knelt by his bedside. "Bryan, don't worry about it, okay? You didn't do anything."
Bryan nodded, looking unconvinced. Damia leaned closer to her brother. "When I was little," she whispered. "Sometimes strange stuff happened to me too. But it was all coincidences. Sometimes these things happen. 'Kay, Bry?"
Bryan nodded again. Damia squeezed his hand reassuringly and started towards the door.
"Do you guys want me to plug in your old nightlight?" she teased before she left.
"Damia-a!" came two identical whines. "We're not babies!"
Damia laughed and snapped off the bedroom light.
The doorbell rang and Nathan opened the door to find Lee Owen on his doorstep, a sling bag on her shoulder.
"Hey Nathan!" she chirped. "Sorry for not calling, but my mum was visiting a friend in the area so I thought I'd drop by.
Nathan took a glance over his shoulder. Gabriella took this time to walk towards the stairs levitating her old textbooks with her wand. She noticed the front door open, squeaked, and made the books disappear with a pop.
Lee leaned to the side to look around Nathan. "What was that?"
Nathan put his arm out to block her view. "My sister…is moving her stuff around. She just graduated, remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Lee grinned. "So you're probably busy then? Never mind, I'll call tomorrow."
"No, Lee, wait," Nathan grabbed her shoulder. "It sucks that you came all this way for nothing. I have a few minutes before – ah – before I have to help my sister with stuff. We could sit outside and talk?"
Lee's pretty face lit up. "Sure! You're the first friend I've talked to since I got back."
The two friends sat down on Nathan's doorstep. It was already dark, but the light from the street lamps and Nathan's living room gave the warm outside air a cozy feel.
Nathan liked talking to Lee. Though sometimes incredibly immature, Lee could talk about anything and everything, be it about family or music, books or politics. For a while they talked about nothing in particular, until Lee brought something up.
"When I was at my aunt's house," she started, drumming her fingernails. "I was trying to balance on her fence when I lost my balance and fell. I hit the ground on my head…but I bounced!"
Nathan stared. "You…bounced?"
Lee's face started to flush. "Yeah! I just…hit the ground and bounced right onto my feet! It didn't hurt or anything!"
"That's weird. Maybe the ground was really mushy." Nathan suggested. Lee looked down at her hands thoughtfully.
"Maybe. I dunno. It was…really weird."
Nathan had a sudden flashback to him standing at his door, pointing his finger and whispering forbidden words at his doorknob. A strange feeling came over him – he almost wanted to ask Lee if she was a witch. He caught himself at the last moment as a battered station wagon pulled up outside Nathan's house. Lee's mother, Delilah Owen, leaned out the window and honked the horn.
"Liana!" she howled. "We're ready to go!"
In the back of the station wagon was Lee's one-year-old brother Aaron, who plastered a chubby hand against the car window.
Lee heaved herself onto her feet. "COMING!" she yelled back.
"I've got to go," she told Nathan.
"I can tell." Nathan replied dryly. Lee pulled him into a hug and then dashed down the walk to the family's station wagon. Nathan waved after her and then went back into his house.
"Is it all clear yet?" Gabriella asked irritably from around the living room doorframe. Nathan blinked.
"Oh! Yeah, it's OK Gabby. Lee left."
Gabby rolled her eyes at her brother as she walked back towards the staircase. Her trunk and her cauldron followed dutifully behind her.
The world of magic works in mysterious, yet sometimes well-timed, ways. For example, on June 31st, 1994, a man known as Professor Albus Dumbledore was just finishing up the paperwork regarding the famed Triwizard Tournament being held at one Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
At 10:32pm of the same day, several employees of the Ministry of Magic (Nathan's uncle included) were tirelessly going through a long list of the locations of several hundred Portkeys.
An hour later, Professor Minerva McGonagall Apparated into her office and in the course of seven minutes, sealed six letters into six envelopes.
At 11:39pm the envelopes were travelling (through different means and methods) across the shadowy city of London towards their intended destinations.
Laura was half-asleep, her face smooshed awkwardly against her arm when she heard the tapping on her window. Misako jerked awake from her spot on the floor and brushed hair out of her eyes. "What is that?" she groaned.
Laura pushed herself up onto her elbows. There was an odd shape on the other side of her blinds. As she swung her legs over the side of her bed to investigate, she stepped on Eeyore and Ernie's squeaky chew toy. The dying sound of the squeak echoed through the silent house. Laura winced as, down the stairwell, she heard the padding of large, furry paws.
"What's going on?" Misako asked sleepily. Ernie and Eeyore thundered into the room with the grace of twin avalanches. Laura threw up her blinds to reveal…
…a small spotted burrowing owl with a letter tied to its leg, tapping the glass with a small brown beak.
The two girls stared at it, bemused. The owl paused to stare dolefully back with luminous yellow eyes. Once it saw they weren't going to do anything, it resumed its tapping. Eeyore and Ernie added to the noise with sharp whining, thumping their tails anxiously in unison against the floor.
"…Should we let it in?" Misako asked, as it became clear the owl wasn't going away. Laura thought for a moment and then shrugged. "If that will make it stop that annoying tapping."
Quickly, the caramel-haired girl unlatched the window and pushed it open. The owl shuffled backwards to allow her to do so and then squeezed through the small opening into Laura's room. Instantly, the owl found itself accosted by two large, furry canine faces.
Ernie gave a particularly threatening bark and the owl panicked, flitting to the other end of the room. In doing so it excited Eeyore and Ernie, who began howling – Misako was bowled over by Eeyore as he reared up on his hind legs to snap at the owl's tail feathers.
Eventually the owl noticed Laura's bedroom door ajar and escaped into the hallways. Eeyore and Ernie followed, barking up a storm. Misako and Laura exchanged panicked glances. Laura's mum was going to kill them for letting a wild owl into the house.
When Sheila Taylor came barging out of her bedroom, wrapped in a fuzzy bathrobe and sporting curlers in her honey-coloured hair, she found a scene of total chaos. The two family dogs were bouncing around in the already cramped hallway, pink tongues wagging enthusiastically.
There was an owl flying frantically above all their heads in various directions, getting tangled in the light fixture, the curtains and the banister.
Her daughter and her friend were in their pyjamas and making desperate grabs at the owl as it flew past, all the while trying to quiet the dogs down.
"Laura Taylor!" her mother shrieked. "What in the world is going on out here?!"
Laura and Misako flashed sheepish grins.
"Oh! Hi Mum!"
"Hi Mrs. Taylor…"
Mrs. Taylor reached up and captured the owl by its leg – once she had it in her arms and Laura and Misako had restrained the two dogs, the owl became much more calm and allowed Laura's mother to slip the letter off its leg. Once the owl was relieved of its burden, it flew back into Laura's bedroom and sought refuge in her closet (last Laura saw of it, it was burrowed somewhere in the sleeve of Laura's school uniform).
Mrs. Taylor's eyes passed quickly over the writing on the front of the letter and then flipped it over to stare at the wax seal. Her eyes widened and all colour drained from her face.
Laura and Misako exchanged worried looks. "…Mum?" Laura asked finally. "What's wrong?"
Mrs. Taylor turned to Misako. "Misako, dear, why don't you take Ernie and Eeyore downstairs and put the kettle on?"
Misako nodded and led the two big dogs down the staircase.
Wordlessly, Mrs. Taylor passed the enveloped to her daughter. Laura stared at the spindly green writing on the front:
Ms. L. Taylor
The Upstairs Room Facing the Garden
Sheldon Square
London
"Mum?" Laura looked up at her mother's anxious face. "What's this about?"
"Just…open it, Laura." Her mother replied.
Laura split the wax seal with her fingernail and unfolded the thin paper inside.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Taylor,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The owl that delivered this letter was meant as a gift – please keep it. As your acceptance into our school is an unusual and late case, you will be required to attend weekend study classes to catch up on the four years of school you missed. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1st. Please be at Platform 9 ¾ at 11 o' clock sharp to catch your train.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Laura refolded the letter. "Mum, what is this? Is this a joke? What kind of school is named 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'?"
Mrs. Taylor's joyful shriek could've burst Laura's eardrums if she was standing any closer. "Oh, LAURA!" she screeched, and pulled her daughter into a rib-cracking hug.
"AUGH! Mum! What the hell?!"
"Oh, I always knew you were special sweetheart!" Mrs. Taylor wiped tears from her face. "I just knew it! And now look at you – you've got your Hogwarts letter!"
"Would you mind explaining? Please?" Laura asked (secretly, she wondered if her mother had lost her mind).
Mrs. Taylor composed herself, straightened a few of her curlers, and then replied, "Laura…you're a witch."
Silence.
"Sorry? I'm a what?"
"You're a witch dear! Same as your grandma and grandpa."
Laura continued to stare at her mother. "So – you're trying to tell me that Baba and Grandpapa are witches?"
"Well, your Grandpapa's a wizard, but…never mind! I know you're a bit confused right now, but I don't want to explain this to you while there's a Muggle in the house…"
"A what?"
"Your friend Misako. She's a Muggle – that's what witches and wizards call non-magical people. That's what your grandma and I thought you were a Muggle too. Well, until now, obviously…OH Laura, I'm SO PROUD!"
"MUM! Stop hugging me!!!"
"Mrs. Taylor?" Misako's voice drifted up from downstairs.
Laura's mum leaned over the banister. "Found the kettle all right, dear?"
Misako's voice sounded hesitant. "Yeah, it's just that – Mrs. Taylor, there's a rabbit sitting on your kitchen table."
A/N: Yay! My story is not so boring anymore!
