2038, 6 August: 148 Kenmure Avenue, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow
"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Arthur! Happy Birthday to you!" Sang the small Crowd standing in front of me. I couldn't help but smile.
Taking a deep breath, I blew out six candles, managing the other five with a second one.
Cheers went up, and my friends came round to hug me.
"Here ye go, ye little niffler." My uncle said, handing me a package.
"What's that mean?" I asked, looking at him with an eyebrow raised.
He was about to say, but my mother elbowed him in the ribs, trying to be subtle, but failing.
"Och! Just a weird word that came tae me head. Don't worry 'bout it." He muttered, walking away with a limp. That limp had always been there ever since I remembered him. He never talked about it. That and his accent.
Some of my friends came next, giving me a box that rattled as I took it.
"Thanks, guys! You shouldn't have gotten me something." I said, looking at them.
"Why wouldn't we?" Fin asked.
"Ah come here," I said, giving them a group hug.
Finally came Aunt Anita, the actual Sister of my Mother. Uncle Stewart was only her Half-Brother. Her Posh accent was weird to hear next to Uncle Stew's strong Scottish one. It was like they were from a whole different family.
"Here you go Arthur, but don't open it till your mother says so."
"Och aye, same for mine. Forgot tae say..." He said.
All of them were acting quite skittish, though I didn't understand why. This birthday wasn't that big of a deal.
After that, my mother opened up the cake with an extremely large knife, handing me a piece first, before serving everyone else.
"Chocolate..." I thought in my head, enjoying the intense taste of my favourite treat.
The Bang of a car door came from outside, and both Uncle Stew and Aunt Anita jumped, with Uncle reaching into his coat instantly. I didn't understand why.
Mum calmly placed a hand on his arm and looked at him sternly.
He shook himself and nodded at her.
Fin's father walked inside and looked at the partying crowd.
"I'm really sorry for spoiling the party this early on."
"Come in, Gary, eat some cake. There's still some left."
"Really can't, Cathy. I'm sorry to say, but Fin needs to leave. As soon as possible really."
"Why?" Me and Fin asked at once.
"You know the Check-up at the hospital, that we said you'd only have in a few months. They managed to find a date and time for Half Past Four. Someone else couldn't make it."
"Why can't we go another time?" Fin Moaned. "I'd rather be here than there."
"There's literally no other time for the next year. The waiting list is Packed. Come Fin, you can finish your cake in the car." He turned to mum, "If that's okay, that is. I'll bring back the cleaned plate the next time I can."
"Sure." She said, shrugging.
I looked at Fin sadly. "Bye then."
"Bye dude. Have a good birthday." He walked outside, and I heard the car pull out of the driveway.
"Well, it's sad that Fin's left, but this is still a party, so let's party!" My mum said enthusiastically, everyone else cheered.
"Well spoken," Uncle told her, pulling a party popper out of his coat, and setting it off. It seemed too large to be an actual party popper, but it was back in Uncle's Coat pocket before I could inspect it more.
My Mum gave him an angry look. She didn't like cleaning if she could help it. Only on special occasions did she make any serious exceptions. My Uncle shrugged.
I started talking and dancing with the rest of the Gang that still stayed, and time flew by in no time.
All too soon, I was saying my goodbyes to them, as they left one by one.
Finally only Mum, Uncle Stew and Aunt Anita remained.
"Now?" Uncle asked, poking Mum in the back while she was cleaning the plates. He meant to whisper it, but with his voice, that was quite hard.
Mum hissed at him, and my Uncle stepped back one step, whispering something into my Aunt's ear, who barely held back a laugh.
"What's the thing that's going to happen now?"
My mum looked at me, throwing Uncle a withering stare on the way. "We've got to talk with you about... Something. You haven't gotten my Birthday present yet, and there's a good reason for it." She took a deep breath, "It's much more important than you currently think, but all in good time."
"Come on..." I moaned impatiently.
"Be patient, all in good time. I'll finish cleaning, and then we can sit down for a bit, yeah?"
"Fine," I said, sitting down on the Sofa.
Waiting for them to finish was the exact opposite of how the party went. Slow and painfully boring.
In my hand, I held the Rubik's Cube I had gotten from my friends, trying to figure out how to complete it.
With a sigh, mum sat down beside me. Uncle Stew and Auntie Anita sat down on my other side.
"Oh come on. Stop delaying." I groaned, hardly containing the excitement in my voice, "What is it?"
"What you're going to hear and see will be a secret you'll have to keep for the rest of your life Arthur."
"What?"
Uncle Stew whipped out something from inside his coat, and before I could properly see it, all the curtains closed, and the lights turned off.
Only a dim light glowed in the hand of Uncle Stew, but the shape of the torch was weird.
"Look at me, Arthur..." Mum whispered.
I looked at her, and her eyes were tearing up.
"You're a Wizard."
Absolute silence in the room.
I started laughing, but the look on my mum's face told me this wasn't a joke. The Laugh died in my throat.
"I- I..."
"Let me explain."
I nodded.
"Wizards and Witches have always existed in the world, but they've lived far from people that aren't magical, we call them muggles. The rumours that Wizards and Witches exist, they are nothing more than Fairy Tales, and the occasional muggle thinking he can play a wizard."
"So I'm able to do card tricks, and-"
"Och, ye can do much more than that, Arthur." Uncle Stew said.
"There are many things I could tell you, but I'm sure you'd learn of them soon enough, now that you'll get involved with this world."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Me and your Father, we lived in Oxford. Its where I met him. But I kept it a secret that I was a witch, not wanting to scare him off. You were born, and everything was good until your sixth birthday."
"What happened?"
"Your first tendencies of magical prowess started to show, and lying to your Father was becoming more and more harder, and he believed less and less of them. I knew this wasn't something I could keep up for long. Sitting him down, like I'm doing with you now, I told him who I was, and who you'd become. Something broke in him that day, and his only thoughts were to publicise us, to reveal us to the muggles. He wanted to be the man who showed the world that we existed. The Ministry of Magic couldn't let that happen. They gave me a choice."
"What was the choice?" I asked.
Uncle Stew continued, seeing as how my mother was crying and Aunt Anita was comforting her.
"Obliviate him. Take away his memory. Either yer Mother did it, or the Ministry would. Cathy, she could do it gently, knowin what memories to take without causin harm. The Ministry? They wouldnae care too much 'bout which memories were bad, and which weren't. They just wanted it gone."
"Did you do it, mum?"
"I did." My Uncle muttered. "Twas better that way."
"I still don't understand why you didn't tell me about this... Wizarding thing. I still can't exactly believe it."
"It's a lot to process, especially for one who grew up around mostly muggles." My Aunt said.
"I did it to allow you to fit in. To get to know the Muggles, instead of becoming one immersed in the Wizarding world. Seeing your father every day, I couldn't bear that, so we moved here. Closer to your Uncle Stew. Your memories, I decided to take those of Oxford and your father. But today, you became eleven."
"Does that mean anything?"
"It means Hogwarts, lad." My Uncle said.
"Hog Warts? How does that come here now?" I looked at all of them, still thinking that this was a well planned out and executed prank.
"It's a School for Wizards and Witches. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Anyone capable of Magic in the United Kingdom gets a letter sent to them by the Ministry when they turn Eleven." My mum told me.
"Then why haven't I gotten one yet?"
"Cause yer no eleven yet. No yet."
"You were born at night, ten past two to be exact. You'll be getting the letter then. Now open your presents."
She wiped away her tears and handed me the two packages that I had gotten from my Aunt and Uncle.
Starting with Uncle Stew's, I found a box of coins in it.
They weren't pennies, in fact, they looked like they had been made of gold rather than copper.
"How many are in there? Easily more than two hundred! Stewart, you can't-" Mum started.
"The lad deserves some good gear. Seein as how ye don't have much money left, I decided tae give ye some."
"This is wizarding money?" I asked, picking one up.
"And quite a large amount too. It's a generous gift." My mum muttered, looking at Uncle Stew with wide eyes.
I said thank you, before putting it to the side and picking up the other package.
Opening that, I found a slip of paper. It was a letter, written by someone named Hermione Jean Granger. It was stamped by the Ministry of Magic. I looked at it quizzically.
"Showing that letter should allow you to get stuff done faster. Most people know me well in Diagon Alley, but that name will help. They might give you a discount too."
Uncle Stew huffed, "O' course, the Word of an Auror ain't the same as that of the Minister of Magic."
"Why would it be Stewart?" Aunt Anita muttered. "Mrs Granger was quite helpful when I put forward my request. After being there for so long, she knows me well."
"Well, at least I can say I know Harry Potter."
"Stop Bickering!" My mother told them, and they listened.
"Thank you for all these presents," I said, giving them each a kiss on the cheek.
"Now-"
"Wait, Cathy. How'll the lad know we're not just pullin his leg? Let me show him somethin."
"Fine. Something harmless Stewart."
He grabbed the flashlight firmer and pointed it forward. I noticed it was made out of wood, and way too thin to be a functioning torch. A... Wand?
"Expecto Patronum!" He exclaimed, and instantly a white veil appeared from the end of the stick, forming a wall at first before the form of an animal also became clear.
A dog, or rather a Wolf ran across the living room, looking at all of us.
Then it disappeared. I just stared at the spot where the wolf had stood, gobsmacked.
"My God..."
"Yes, yes. Magic is definitely something Arthur, but you've just gained a whole lot of information, and we've given you little time to think about what this means. Sleep on it a bit."
"How could I sleep? This is Amazing! I'm a Wi-"
I felt the tip of Uncle Stew's stick touch my temple, and my eyes instantly felt heavy.
The last sensation I had was being caught mid-air as I quickly fell asleep.
I awoke to a knocking sound on glass. Sitting up suddenly, I stared at my window. It was dark outside, but the outline of a bird was clearly visible sitting on my windowsill. In its beak was a letter.
"Holy Cow. Yes!" I yelled, punching the air above me. I couldn't believe what I had found out today. The entire discussion had returned to me.
Jumping up from my bed, I ran over to the window and opened it.
The Owl marched in, very comically, and shoved his head forward. The letter was sealed with red wax.
I took it, and he actually bowed, before flying outside.
Not opening the letter right away, I thought about how my life was changing. In the span of half a day, I learned things I thought were only true in fairy tales.
Reading the letter, my eyes widened.
Dear Arthur Lucas Graham. We are proud to inform you that you have been invited to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to start your first year there. Due to your lineage being Half-Blood (Part Magical, Part Muggle Parents) we will make sure you are properly informed by a Hogwarts member of staff. Furthermore, you will find enclosed a list of Text Books and other items that are needed for starting your school year.
Best of Regards, and a happy start to your first year.
-Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Minerva McGonagall.
The list really was attached to it, so I skimmed through it.
Magical Drafts and Potions; The Standard Book of Spells Year 1; The Dark Forces: The Guide to Self-Protection; One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi; A History of Magic; A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration; Magical Theory; Fantastic Beasts and where to find them; Wand; Uniform (Minimum of three Sets); Protective Gloves (Dragon's Hide); Cauldron;
The Last sentence was as followed: No Items with Dark Magic, Prank Items or others deemed unfit by the rules of Hogwarts. Breaking said rules will result in detention, House Points being removed, or, if severe enough, expulsion. Please keep this in mind.
The doorbell rang, and I put the letter on my desk.
Who'd be at the door at this time of day?
Silently opening my bedroom door, I crept down the stairs. From the top of it, I had a clear view of the door and Uncle Stew, who was walking over to open it.
Laying down, I had less chance of getting spotted.
"State yer name." He said, pointing his wand at the door. I was now absolutely certain it was a wand.
"Minerva McGonagall. Let me in Stewart, you oaf." Came the reply.
"Och! Headmistress. Sorry 'bout that." He opened the door, and an elderly woman dressed in robes stood there.
"Your Paranoia always annoyed me."
He smirked.
"Where's Cathy? Have you told him?" She asked, stepping inside.
"O' course headmistress. Was the final thing we did 'fore he went tae sleep."
"Was it that boring?"
Uncle Stew snorted, "Nay, we just wanted him tae relax a bit."
"I never understood why you'd hide this fact for so long. All of the other letters had been sent in June. June, for goodness sake. But out of my own kindness, I honoured your wish to wait a bit."
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that."
"It's already done, no? Where is the boy now?"
"Up in his room. Sleepin."
"You continue to amaze me, Stewart."
She pulled out a wand, much different to Uncle Stew's, and flicked it towards me.
Suddenly, the stairs turned to a ramp and I found myself sliding down it like a Penguin on ice. Totally shocked, I sat in front of the Headmistress of Hogwarts and my Uncle, who was looking at me with wide eyes. All whilst being in my Pyjamas.
"Ummmm. Good evening Mrs McGonagall." I said.
"It's good we've finally met, Mr Graham. I'm surprised you know my name." She smiled.
"Stand up, Boy," Uncle said, grabbing my forearm and hoisting me onto my feet.
"I believe you've gotten your letter of invitation. Am I correct?"
"Yes, Ma'am. It's where I read your name."
Before she could say anything more, my mother walked in.
"Professor McGonagall. What a pleasant surprise!" She exclaimed.
"Cathy Graham. I am not willing to say the same. Rarely do I make such exceptions for people, and each time I only do it grudgingly."
"Well, I'm sorry you had to come. There's not really much to tell him. We've given him most information that we thought necessary, and the rest he can learn through interacting with his peers."
"I do not doubt that you've given him the proper information, however, it is my duty to come here. You haven't been near any wizards apart from your siblings for the last few years. I can offer up one of my colleagues to help your son with buying his supplies. Unless your Brother here, or your sister, assuming she's close by, is willing to take him."
"Anita's Gone back to London, but Stewart, do you want-"
"Sure thing! I'll happily take him along with me. Haven't been in Diagon Alley since... Since-"
"A long time ago. I can't care less, there's still much for me to do. This year is busier than I had first thought. If you need help, contact me. Hagrid'll happily help with anything, though he's not like he was in his prime." The Headmistress said, "As for Mr Graham, I hope you'll enjoy Hogwarts." She looked at me.
"What about my current school?"
"Your Muggle School? We've got that covered, don't worry. However, there was one thing your Mother, Aunt and Uncle were right about. Such information in one go is never good to dwell over for long. You've been sleeping for a while, I suggest going back. Your life will be changing from now on. You can't get over that fact in one day or even a month."
I looked up at her. Stern, but I could also see a motherly sort of gaze in them. I understood why she was angry at my family, but she didn't seem that bad.
"Thank you, Ma'am."
"Also, from now on, call me Headmistress, or at least Professor. You're now a student of Hogwarts." She smiled, before literally disappearing into thin air.
"Wh-"
"Apparition. Advanced magic. Something you can think about some other day. Go to sleep Arthur, you'll be travelling to London tomorrow." Mum said.
I nodded slowly and walked back up the stairs. My heart was thumping so fast I was scared it would jump out of my chest. God knows how, but my eyes closed, and I was drifting into a dream.
A Dream about Magic.