An Unfortunate Miracle

Chapter Four

Truth


Author's Note: Please ignore the fact that I totally screwed up with the whole time zone thing. Also, I have never left North America, so please don't trust my account of Charring Cross Road. Oh, and since I've quoted stuff from the book, I might as well say it: all Harry Potter-related stuff belongs to J. K. Rowling. Except for Lee's mother. I made her up. By the way, I like reviews. They make me feel loved!
Shakily, I set The Sorcerer's Stone back in the box. It couldn't be, I told myself. I was imagining things. But it all added up. The names, the tarantula, the Fred and George. I picked up my book and ran into Scott's room.

"It's him!" I whispered loudly, after closing the door. "It's him!"

Scott gave me a look, and put down his guitar, which he had been playing. "Who's who?"

"Lee! Haven't you figured it out yet? Lee is Lee Jordan, from Harry Potter!"

He stared. "Who?"

I sighed. "Best friend of Fred and George Weasley, does the commentary for the Quidditch games..."

"Oh...Wait a minute, have you lost your mind?"

"It all adds up, don't you see? His name is Lee Jordan, he has a giant tarantula, his best friends are twins named Fred and George, and I'm not supposed to eat anything they give me!"

"It's probably just a–"

"It's not just a coincidence! It can't be!" I searched every bit of Harry Potter knowledge I possessed. There had to be something that couldn't be considered a coincidence...

Then it hit me. I turned for the door. "Get your coat, and any money you have left."

He stood up. "Where are we going?"

I opened the door, turned back, and smiled at my little brother. "Charring Cross Road."


After telling Aunt Becky that we were going into London, assuring her that were wouldn't get lost, and hesitantly accepting the 20-pound bill she gave us to buy ourselves something, Scott and I set out for Charring Cross Road. Aunt Becky's house wasn't very far from London, so we walked. As soon as we got there, we bought a map of London and slowly worked our way toward our destination. At about 5:30pm, we finally reached Charring Cross Road.

"Here we are!" I announced, ecstatic that I was finally here. "Charring Cross Road!"

Scott was not as excited as I was. "So why are we here? You never told me."

I rolled my eyes. "Have you read the first Harry Potter book?"

He sighed. "Yes."

"Do you remember the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Yes."

"Well, in the book, this is where the Leaky Cauldron is. If we find it, we'll know I haven't lost my mind. If not, then you can send me to the loony bin."

"I thought only witches and wizards could see it."

I pulled out my book and opened to a page I had marked. "'The people hurrying by didn't glance at it,'" I read. "'Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all.' It doesn't technically say that; any one of those people hurrying by could be Muggle-borns. Anyway, we need to find a big bookshop and a record shop next to each other."

So we set off down Charring Cross Road, and just like Harry and Hagrid did, we passed book shops and music stores (which I made a mental note to stop at on our way back to buy clarinet reeds), hamburger restaurants and cinemas, until I began to worry that Scott would have to send me to the loony bin. After about five minutes of walking, I finally saw what we were looking for: a large book shop called Anderson's Books, located next to Bob's Records. Between the two shops was a dark alley.

"Look!" I exclaimed, pointing at the dark alley. "A bookshop and a record store!"

Scott suddenly got a funny look on his face. "Who buys records these days anyway?"

I rolled my eyes. "People with record players, but that's not my point! We found it!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Ivy, but there's nothing between them. Just an alley."

I pulled my little brother across the street and stared down the alley. There had to be something there, besides the innocent-looking alley. I continued to stare, as people passing by began to stare at me, though I took no notice. I believed there was something there. And then...

"I can see it," I whispered to myself.

Scott looked at me funny. "What?"

"I can see it," I repeated, louder. I pointed to the pub that had just appeared in the alley. "It's right there!" Scott looked back down the alley for a few seconds.

"OH MY GOD!" he shouted suddenly. Everyone in the surrounding area turned and gave us a good glare. One man muttered, "Lousy Americans."

I hit Scott over the head. "Could you be any less subtle?" I hissed. He gaped at Leaky Cauldron. I frowned. "Scott?"

"But...We're Muggles..." He looked at me. "Aren't we?"

"I dunno." I thought for a moment. Then I realized something. "Wait. Has anything...strange happened to you?"

His eyes suddenly widened. "Yes." That's all he said.

I waited. "Well? What was it?"

"Oh, you remember that day we left when I broke the lamp? Well I was packing, and I started thinking about Mom and Dad, and my skateboard suddenly lifted up and flew into the lamp."

I stared at him. "Oh. Wow."

He nodded. "Yeah. What about you?"

"When I was unpacking, I discovered I left my flute at home and brought the case, which, of course, pissed me off. Later I knocked the case off my bed. My flute was inside."

"Weird. So why did you need to know that?"

I sighed. "Call me crazy, but I think it might be accidental magic."

My comment was met with a blank stare. "Accidental magic?"

"It means we did magic. Accidentally."

"So that means we're..."

I nodded. "I think so."

He stared at me for a moment. Then he began walking toward the Leaky Cauldron.

"Whoa!" I grabbed the back of his shirt. "Where do you think you're going?"

"In there," he replied, pointing at the pub. "If we're magical, then they can help us."

"No. No, no, no, no, no!"

"Why? Don't you want to go in?"

"Well...Yeah," I admitted, "but we need to do some research first."

"Research?" Scott repeated incredulously. "You want to do research on a magical pub?"

"No, I mean if I'm right about everything, Lee is Lee Jordan, from Harry Potter."

"This is insane," said Scott as we began making our way back down the street.

"You're telling me."

"So what should we do with the twenty pounds?"

"Let's stop at a music store. I need clarinet reeds."


Every night for the next week and a half, Scott and I were on our guard. I made sure my Harry Potter books were in plain view in my room. I played Harry Potter music often, half hoping that Lee would ask me what I was playing, and I would be able to judge their reaction. Although we did this, we didn't need to, because at the end of those two weeks, we got quite a surprise.

"Three twos."

"B. S."

"Sorry Scott. Take it."

Scott and I were sitting on the floor of my room playing BullShit. We were really bored. Lee suddenly appeared in the doorway as Scott reached for the pile of cards.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked, looking over my shoulder.

"Playing B.S.," I said. "Wanna play the winner next game?"

"I don't know how."

"You can watch us finish." Lee sat next to me. "Just don't say anything about my cards," I warned him.

Scott and I continued our game. Lee laughed when I told him that B. S. stood for BullShit. It had been about ten minutes more when we heard it.

Tap.

Scott and I looked up from our cards.

"What was that?" asked Scott.

Tap tap.

I looked out the window, and saw a Great Horned Owl sitting on the ledge.

"It's an owl!" I exclaimed. Was this what we had been waiting for? I looked at Lee. His eyes were wide, possibly with horror. I gave Scott a look.

He recognized it, and played along. "What should we do?"

I put my cards face down on the floor and walked to the window.

"Its probably nothing..." said Lee.

"There's something tied to its leg!" I announced, and opened the window. The owl circled above our heads once before landing on my shoulder and sticking out its leg. Carefully, I untied two letters. One was addressed to me in green ink, the other to Scott.

"Scott. They're for us." He put his own cards down and walked to me. I handed him his letter and opened mine.

Dear Miss Wolfe,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. You will begin your seventh year with the other students, and will be tutored in simpler magic by another student. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I looked at Lee, who looked like he had been backed into a corner. "You're a wizard." His eyes widened. "Aren't you, Lee?"

He sighed. "Yes," he admitted reluctantly. "But I didn't know about you guys. I swear." Then he suddenly grinned. "So are you going?"

"What do you think, Scott?" I asked my brother.

He shrugged. "Sure. Whatever."

I rolled my eyes, grinning. "Then I guess we're going to Hogwarts."


Author's Note: There you go. It's three in the morning, and I'm tired.