Chapter 4 – The Mysterious Letter
Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything -
Stand aside – stand aside, girl –
Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –
This is my last warning!
Not Harry! Please... have mercy! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything!
She woke up with a start, gasping for breath. Half covered under a blanket in a messy room. The windows were open, letting the sunlight in and a large clock just above the door showing the hour hand on ten and the minute hand on five. Heaps of papers and piles of books rested upon the desk and shelves were filled with books of different shapes and sizes. Fiction, non-fiction, paperback, hardcover, leather-bound, and many more versions. It was obvious that the person living in this room loved to read. The walls were bare and were painted in baby blue with designs of flowers and leaves upon it. No matter how beautiful and comfortable the room seemed the person living in it at the moment didn't quiet feel like she belonged.
For the past eleven years Rose Lily Potter, now Rose Thomas Richard, has had the same dream almost all her life. And the odd thing is that she doesn't even know any of those people. She doesn't know who Harry is, or why is the woman pleading or who is the one threatening to kill him. All she know is that the dream always ends with a terrible green light.
Reluctantly she got out of her blanket and went downstairs for she was starving. The dining room was twice as large as her room with a fire place and a large table in the middle with almost all of its seats occupied by the Richard family. Rose's aunt Regina (Rose's mother's sister) had come over along with her two children, Christina and David. Cristina had a fair face, blue eyes and brown hair and was like every other girl that had teased Rose in school. No matter where she is, what the time of day it is or even if she's sleeping she always wears make up and the most fashionable clothes anybody has seen. She talks on her phone with her stupid friends and gossip all day long. All she does is eat, sleep, text and gossip. In fact Rose had almost never seen her eyes away from that pink phone of hers or without a bit of lip-gloss or eyeliner. Her brother had short brown hair and like her sister, blue eyes. Rose and David never really talked much but it was better than the occasional remarks passed by Christina now and then.
Servants rushed in and out of the room with dishes in their hands placing it on the table and refilling their glasses with water. This wasn't usually how they started their mornings but the time when aunt Regina comes by to visit and stay for a few days she leaves only after she has had every bit of food that is stored in the house.
Her father who had sat on the couch reading newspaper looked up at Rose and said, "Ah, Rose. You're awake. Good. Good. Do get the mail, please." Her father was a rich man who went to the office at about 10.30 am and came back around midnight. He had broad shoulders, neat black hair and was quite tall and handsome.
So ignoring the mess of her hair and still in her pyjamas she obeyed her father and walked towards the door and bended down to pick up four letters that lay on the doormat. Walking back slowly towards the table she leafed through the letters. Two of them were for her father, one was a card from a friend of her mothers and – a letter for Rose.
Rose delivered the rest of the letters to their owners and stared and the one that was in her hand, excitement building up inside her. No one ever in her life had sent her a letter. Who would? She had no friends. Everybody teased her and called her a freak. Yet here it was a letter addressed to her in her hands. It was written so plainly that there could be no mistake:
Ms. Rose Richard
The Third Room on the Second floor
2 Grace Street
Little Aderyn
Himlen
She wanted to open it in a quiet place away from prying eyes. She rushed up to her room and closed the door and locked it just to make sure that nobody could barge in.
With trembling hands she turned over the envelope and saw a strange symbol pressed upon on purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.
With trembling hands still she pulled out and opened the letter that was folded inside and read:
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. Richard,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Rose read it over and over, not believing anything that the parchment had printed on it. Question after Question exploded in her head. What do they mean by 'awaiting my owl'? Is this a joke? What in the world is a 'Mugwump'?
She dug in the envelope and pulled out a second piece of paper and unfolded it. It was a list of books and a load of other things and she read it in a soft voice to herself:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform
First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
Set Books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
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 by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
Rose read it over again, questioning herself whether this was a trick or something else. Well it couldn't possibly be real. Could it? It could be. Rose wasn't sure. When she was younger, about the age of five or so, she was very fond of gardening, she still is at the moment, and she spotted a dead flower at the corner of the garden, a white lily. She was very sad and wanted more than anything to bring it back to life. And right before her eyes the drooping lily with brown petals stood up and turned white again and bloomed right before her eyes. And there was this other time, just two years ago, when she was eight, Rose was in her bedroom in the presence of her maid who was cleaning up the room accidentally knocked the flower vase. Before the vase could smash on the ground it stopped abruptly it mid-air and floated safely onto the ground. The maid was driven mad and quit her job shortly afterwards. What other explanation could there be? Even though the idea of Rose being a witch was bizarre, there was simply no other reason of these weird things happening wherever she went.
Her thoughts were disturbed by a sudden knocking on her door and an annoying voice that belonged to her cousin Christina shouted, " Rose! Open the door!"
Quickly she stuffed the letters into the drawer the bedside table and got out of the bed and rushed toward the door ignoring the continuous banging on her door. Unlocked it and opened it to see the face of her cousin and asked," What?"
Cristina looked at her as if she was some filthy beggar and eyed her messy hair in a disgusted way and spoke," Your mom is calling you downstairs" with that she turned her back toward her and walked away.
Reluctantly Rose followed her downstairs and approached her mother. Her mother's name was Aliza Beth Richard and her profession was teaching. She had light blond hair half way to her waist and had a beautiful smile. Rose and her mother had a special relationship between them. She was kind and not to mention her only friend and they shared every secret with each other. She was wearing a nice black shirt with a red jacket and a pair of jeans. She was only thirty-two years old and was still more fashionable than her daughter. She said with a smile," Hey, you! You better get ready if you want to come to the book store with me. It's almost ten past eleven."
"No, its okay. I'll go some other time."
Her mother sensed that something was wrong and asked her in a low voice," What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"Don't lie. You know you're a terrible liar. Come on. Tell me. We shouldn't keep secrets from each other."
"I-" Rose looked around and knowing that there were still other people in the room she took her mother's hand and took her to her room and shut the door. She dug in her drawers and pulled out the letter that was mailed to her and handed it to her mother and continued," I got this letter today and I thought that this was just a prank or something... but I thought about it for a long time but I just wanted to ask."
Her mother didn't reply. Instead she just stared at the letter with a look on her face with told that the day that she didn't want to come had arrived.
"Mom? Is- is there something you want to tell me?"
Her mother just signed and started to say," There is something I have hidden from you for a very long time. I didn't want this day to come and I should have told you this sooner," she bushed the hair off her face and continued," You aren't really... normal. You're different. I found out that you were special since the day you arrived at this house."She took a deep breath and looked straight into Rose eyes and said," I don't know how to say it so I'm just going to spit it out... Rose, you're a witch."
