Writing
When Mandy popped us back home it was to the complete darkness of the attic. At first I thought I had gone blind, but Mandy quickly reassured me I was alright. There was a rush of magic all over my body before I was popped out into the forest. Mandy instructed me to start walking home before popping away.
Not really knowing what just happened I started walking towards the house like Mandy told me to.
It was about ten minutes before the cottage came into sight, and a few moments after breaking through the tree line the front door burst open and mother cam flying through the door. Barney ran alongside her before easily taking her over.
He barreled towards me, but this time I was able to sidestep him. He flew right passed before scrambling back at a much slower pace than before. By the time mother reached me Barney was happily licking at my face with his paws on my shoulders.
Mother shoved him off of me before sweeping me into her arms, "Where have you been?" She pressed her mouth to my forehead for a long moment, "I was worried."
"Sorry mother," and I was because I knew the type of panic a mother goes through when their child is out of sight when they shouldn't be. "I was…" I remembered the forest, "checking out the forest. You hadn't been home, and I had nothing else to do."
Mother exhaled heavily, "Alright, just–leave a note next time so I know."
I nodded, "Of course."
We spent the rest of that night watching tv. It only worked because there were no wards around the house. The first TV we got ended up fizzing out from the magic mother used on it, and we had to get one delivered the mundane way.
The next morning I woke up before my mother (like always), and remembered telling Sirius I would write to him. I ripped out a piece of paper from the journal I used for spell ideas and used a mundane pen to write out the letter. I could live with parchment, but there was no way I would be using a quill and ink. Not even in Hogwarts.
Sirius,
I told you I would write, so here you go. I'm not too sure what you expect to come from this. A pen-pal? I don't know, but you seemed pretty upset at the thought of me leaving, and since I'm not sure exactly how long it will be until I see you again I decided letters would be second best.
I do know one thing–I won't be flooding for awhile.
Lucky for me my mother doesn't know where I really was. Mandy used her elf magic to clean the soot off of me, and then brought me to the forest around my house. I used the whole "went for a walk" excuse.
Your pen-pal,
Alex
Hooter was more than happy to finally be sending letters to someone. It seems just letting him roam around the forest wasn't enough for the intelligent bird. He needed to have some sort of purpose, and sending mail was it.
Sending mail soon became a regular thing for me and Sirius. We found out a lot about each other through our letter, but unfortunately we hadn't seen each other face to face since my tumble through the Floo.
Our letter became such a common occurrence that I hadn't realized mother didn't know about it until she said something. "Who keeps sending you letters honey?"
I looked up from Sirius' most recent letter. His mother just realized he was sending regular letters to someone, and he didn't know what to tell her. It seemed I was in the same boat, "What?"
"I've noticed you've been getting letters every day now for the past week. I was wondering who they were from."
"Just…someone I met from Diagon Alley," I prayed to God mother wouldn't see through my lie. I didn't do it very often, so hopefully she wouldn't be able to tell the difference just yet.
Mother looked thoughtful, "Did you meet them when you insisted on going to Diagon alone?"
I remembered that day. I had finally gotten around to reading that Animagus book, and the information inside was so intriguing, a magic so amazing, that I knew I wanted to be an animagus. To be able to shift into an animal that represented my personality. The only problem with figuring out what my animal was, was that I needed to make a potion.
Naturally I didn't want my mother to find out what I was doing. Considering I wouldn't be registering it was a very illegal thing to do.
In order for her to not find out about anything I was doing I needed to go to Diagon Alley by myself, so I could collect everything required to find out what my inner animal was. It was actually a rather simple potion to make, but it was supposed to take several days.
All in all it was the perfect concoction to start testing my potion making skills.
"Yeah. I met him in the apothecary."
"He?" Mother waggled her eyebrows.
Had it been anyone else doing that to me I would have played along, but this was my mother. That made it disturbing, "Gross, mother."
She chuckled at me, "Go reply to your boyfriend."
Grimacing in disgust I left the dining room table to go up to my room. The messenger hawk followed me up to my room. Hooter was staying at Sirius' house to recuperate, so he sent his family bird instead. The hawk was rather intimidating, and both Sirius and I agreed to try and refrain from using him.
On my reply I told him my mother asked me as well, and my excuse was that we met in an apothecary in Diagon.
In his response letter he told me that he did not enjoy potions. Another thing he enjoyed rubbing into his family's face. As the heir to the Black family he was supposed to be prim, proper, good at everything. If there was something he didn't like then he kept it to himself instead of bothering somebody with his personal problems.
After my spontaneous visit it seemed he enjoyed taking every chance he could get to act out against his parents. He told me they hadn't understood what was going on at first, thinking he was ill, but healers had no diagnosis–saying he was just hitting a defiant stage in his life. A stage that's been lasting for about a year now.
Sirius took immense pleasure in telling me everything he's been doing to antagonize his family. He changed his rooms colors from silver and been to red and gold, put up posters of famous mundanes on his walls, and even began showing signs of his devilish pranking that he would exhibit in Hogwarts. Something I was looking forward to seeing for myself.
Something started feeling real to me when Sirius said he met the Potter family. Charles and Dorea Potter who had a son named James. The day before their meeting Sirius confessed his worries about the boy being just another stuck up snob-in-the-making, and from what I could remember that definitely was not the case, and I wrote as much.
That "real" feeling turned out to be me realizing that, in less than a year, I would be going to Hogwarts. A magical school that was part of a fantasy story in both of my previous lives. I might have felt different had I just been born with some sort of gene that gave me magical abilities. Even accept there being a school to help me develop them. But I'm in England about to go to Hogwarts with characters from films and books.
My life has become part of a fantasy story.
And I loved it.
Once I sent Hooter off with my latest letter I contemplated what I would do once I got to Hogwarts. I was pretty sure Sirius went into Gryffindor, where the Marauders would be born. But where would I go? Should I try to get into Gryffindor as well?
No, I decided, I'll let the hat put me wherever he wants. As long as it isn't Hufflepuff.
From our letters I noticed Sirius had no idea I was living in Britain. I couldn't understand why at first until I remembered my accent was decidedly not British. It was American with a French hint to it.
This also meant that he had no idea I would be coming to Hogwarts. I had yet to tell him otherwise, and I wasn't sure why I hadn't said anything yet. I was going to tell him in my last letter but decided against it. It would serve to be a nice surprise for him to see me again after several years apart.
I also haven't told him about my quest to become an animagus. He would become one later on anyway, so there was no need to rush him. Besides he was actually his age, so he could botch up his transformation and the potion. Of course I could do it as well, but it wasn't as big a possibility.
When I finished my potion it looked exactly like it was supposed to, and I thanked my lucky stars it worked on the second try. The first time I added something too early and it blew up. Thankfully Mandy loved me and cleaned it all up.
When I took the potion my surroundings had immediately changed into an illusion. I had been wandering in the middle of the forest on four legs. I'd been pretty slow, sometimes stopping to dig into the dirt with my claws. My vision evaporated when my creature-self wandered up to a dark cave.
With a little research I learned I had been a bear of some kind. I didn't understand why until I started reading more about them. They could be considered as a symbol of rebirth. After that I thought it fit me rather well.
I also added any books I found about bears to my growing collection of reading topics. Mother thought I was an absolute genius. Reading and understanding everything I read. Though she doesn't know I can only understand them because of my technical age, and for all we knew I wouldn't be able to actually do the magic the books describe.
Of course by now I could wandlessly form a ball of light while I struggled to wandlessly loft anything. It seemed I had some trouble with charms. Once I got the feather to touch the ceiling I deemed it a success and moved on to a bit of transfiguration. So far my match had a wonderful silver shine.
Now I was waking up on my eleventh birthday. The age I would be eligible to go to Hogwarts. At first it was like any other day. I got my letter from Sirius first thing in the morning, fed Hooter and went downstairs to feed Barney.
Going downstairs was when things became different. Mother made me a special breakfast like she always does when it was my birthday. Chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, strawberries, and sausage links on the side. Usually I didn't eat breakfast because I was never hungry, but I ate these for my mother. She liked making meals on my birthday. It gives Mandy a break.
When lunchtime came around my day became even better. A tawny owl with wild feathers pecked at the kitchen window. There was a letter clutched in his talons, and when mother opened up the window he flew inside and dropped the letter next to my plate. The owl didn't stay to wait for a reply letter before flying back out the window.
Blinking down at the letter in astonishment I carefully picked it up, and held it lightly between my fingers. Written in elegant script on the back of the envelope was my name, Alex S. Palmer, my bedroom, and the address of our cottage. Flipping it over revealed a wax seal of a shield with a lion, snake, badger, and raven surrounding the a capital H. Beneath it, on a banner, was the Latin phrase, "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus".
It reminded me of the phrase engraved on mothers ring. That was Latin for "Know your strength, keep your courage". At least that's what it would be interpreted as. Definitely wasn't a direct translation.
"Well," mother commented when I was left staring dumbly at the wax seal, "aren't you going to open it?"
Closing my gaping mouth I meticulously cut through the seal and opened the flap. I took out the pieces of parchment and unfolded them.
Dear Ms. Palmer,
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. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later then July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva Mcgonagall
Deputy Headmistress.
The other piece of parchment was the list of all the school items I would need for the school year.
Uniform
First-year student 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.
Course 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 Beginners Guide to Transfigurarion 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 Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass chrystal vials
1 telescope
1 set of 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
I looked up from the pieces of parchment with excitement and apprehension written across my features, "It's my acceptance letter to Hogwarts."
Mother held out her hand in a silent request for the papers, and I readily handed them over. She took a few moments to look through everything before sighing, "It looks like a shopping trip is in order."
I smiled giddily, "I've already got a few of the books on that list."
Mother smiled as well, but she wasn't as excited as I was, "Alright. Now we just need everything else."
I giggled, "The authors of the books have weird names."
"That they do," mother agreed. "Now why don't you go send them a response. We can get everything tomorrow."
Readily agreeing I raced up to my bedroom where I wrote a formal letter of acceptance with my pen and parchment. Slipping it into an envelope I set on writing a response for Sirius. It took everything in me not to write down about my acceptance to Hogwarts, still wanting to keep it a surprise.
"Here you go Hooter," I handed him Sirius' letter first before holding up my response for Hogwarts, "Drop this one off first. Give it to Minerva Mcgonagall at Hogwarts."
Hooter, well, hooted and held one letter in his talons and the other in his beak. He took off out the window and I watched him until he was well out of sight. The smile on my face widened. I was going to Hogwarts.
AN: This chapter went by super fast. She basically went from nine years old to eleven like that *snaps fingers*. On the plus side she'll be in Hogwarts by, I believe chapter 12. Next chapter is a trip to Diagon where a certain Dark Lord makes his presence known to the Wizarding World. Poor Alex.