Chapter 2
While Harry and Elya were flying high over the trees to get to Linli's house, Linli herself was getting ready for bed. She quickly changed out of the clothes she had worn that day, into plaid pajama pants and a fuzzy sweatshirt. She went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, took down her short, thin, curly, dark red hair, and brushed it.
She went back into her room and sat on her bed. Glancing out her window, she noticed an odd shaped thing that was heading in her general direction. Curious, she moved closer towards the window. (She wasn't quite as trusting as Elya, and wouldn't open her window. Who knew what that thing was?)
The light was on in the backyard and the "thing" was illuminated as soon as it approached her backyard. It turned out to be a boy, with a girl holding onto his waist on a broomstick? What made it even stranger was that the girl looked just like Elya Mlinn, her best friend. Wait a minute! It was Elya Mlinn, her best friend!
Elya and this boy stopped outside of her window and before she gave any of them a chance to speak, Elya said, "Hey, Lin! Can we land in your room? It would be sorta hard to land down on the ground and explain to your mom what we're doing here with a broomstick." Elya grinned knowingly at her. (Linli knew just as well as Elya did that her mother did NOT like Elya.) Linli just stared.
"Come on Lin! We've been tryin to find our way here for the past hour, and my butts startin to hurt!"
Linli found her tongue and said "Sure El, I don't care, just be kinda quiet, 'cause I don't wanna wake up my mom."
"No prob, Bob, or should I say Bobbie?" Elya answered in a funny voice. Harry, meanwhile, had been watching this affair with interest. Wow, he thought to himself, American girls are really… strange.
Harry quickly maneuvered his Firebolt with precision into Linli's room. The Firebolt stopped just at the right level for him to get off, which he did, then he realized Elya was having a bit of trouble getting off, so he put out his arm, to assist her descent. Elya, however, was very independent, stood up by herself, and jumped off, landing catlike on the floor.
"Um…Hi," Harry said to Linli, "My name is Harry Potter." Linli just stared at him. If this was supposed to explain why he and Elya had just arrived here by broomstick, it wasn't working.
Harry obviously realized this, and began "We're here because-" but Elya cut him off.
"Let me handle this, please. It's easier to understand coming from a person you know," Elya said calmly as if she had known Harry for ages. Harry nodded his agreement, and she took over. "Well Lin, first things first. Your real name is not Linli Ketzel, its Linli Carrata, and my real names not Elya Mlinn, its Elya Halliwell. We're not sisters, but we're close: we're cousins. We're also witches, which is like the most awesome thing in the world. And we're both going to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England! How wickedly cool is that?!"
"Excuse me, but I don't remember saying that I would go to this school, and I don't understand what your saying," Linli said, unsure of whether to believe her friend or not.
"Of course you don't, and neither did I when I first heard this from Harry. But when I remembered that he had been flying on a broomstick, I believed. 'Cause I mean, what could make a broomstick fly, except magic? Nothing! The rest of it I don't really know or understand so I'll let Harry take over."
"Er… well, Elya pretty much explained the basics of your…er situation, and the more complicated matters will be explained to you at Hogwarts, probably." He smiled at them both, and then turned to Linli. "Well, if you are choosing to go, you had better get ready, and leave a note for the people you live with, telling them that your real family picked you up, and your going to live with them. Does that sound alright to you?" Harry asked her.
"That sounds fine, I guess, " Linli said. "I'll be ready in a minute or two."
"Ok," Harry replied turning to the window so that the girls could have a little bit of privacy. American girls are so different. They're quite chatty, and they seem to be lots of fun.
While Harry was thinking this, Elya was helping Linli pick out something to wear.
"El, I have absolutely no idea what to wear. Is it cold out, or warm? Oh, please help me, Oh fashion goddess!" Linli joked. It had been an inside joke for many years, and made Elya start laughing hysterically.
But it was true that Elya looked pretty good. Her long, thick, wavy, red hair was pulled into a normal ponytail, and she had minimal make-up on. She was wearing a black, hooded, tee shirt and dark blue, jean, capri pants.
"Oh, Lin, you know you don't need my help!" Elya said modestly, but began searching in her friend's closet anyway. She quickly pulled out a yellow tank top and khaki pants. Both girls then proceeded to the bathroom, where Elya coaxed Linli's thin, short, curly, dark red hair into ½ up ½ down.
They're so nice to each other, Harry thought, they must really be best friends. I wonder if Ron and Hermione will like them, because they would be fun to hang out with at school.
The girls came back to the room; they had just left the note for Linli's "parents." "We're set, and ready to go!" Elya said enthusiastically. She smiled at Harry, who couldn't help thinking; She's sorta pretty!
