I decided to spend the night at Jenny's. Her family would be happy to see me.
I let myself in the front door, which was unlocked. "Jenny?" I yelled.
Sue, who is Jenny's little sister, appeared, chasing Brian, Jenny's little brother. "I'm telling!" she screamed. Her hair was tousled and she had a lollipop sticking out of her mouth. Brian had a pink plastic trinket in his hand.
Peggy, Jenny's older sister, slouched into the foyer with a cell phone. "Will you brats shut up?" she yelled, covering the speaker with her hand. "Yeah, sorry, the brats are making noise again…"
Jessie, the littlest girl, waddled into the hall. She grabbed the trinket from Brian as he ran around the staircase a second time, and put it in her mouth. Brian immediately started wrestling with her, trying to get it back.
Meanwhile, Sue was pulling Brian's hair. Steve, Jenny's older brother, threw his helmet at them. Sue caught it and clanged it over Brian's head.
"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP DOWN THERE?" Nat, Jenny's nerdy older brother raged from upstairs in his room.
I grinned. This was a pretty quiet day, actually.
Jenny came running down the stairs. "Rachel! What you doing here? Didn't Tammy need you home?"
I shrugged. "She kicked me out."
Jenny gasped. "Mother of Gods. Why?"
"Cause I'm going to Hogwarts." I held the letter up proudly.
Jenny clapped her hands and giggled. "Ooh, just great!" She hugged me.
I giggled. "Oh yeah. I'm going to Hogwarts!"
"We gotta celebrate," Jenny insisted. "Come on. There be some ice cream in the freezer, if someone ain't eaten it all yet."
Jenny's Aunt Sue was sitting at the kitchen table, a gallon of Genocide By Chocolate ice cream in one hand, and a huge spoon in the other. She was licking the spoon vacantly, staring off into space.
Jenny sighed. "Aw, I was saving that!"
Sue started. "Oh, Jenny. Didn't see you there." She waved the spoon. "Sorry 'bout that. There still be some left, though."
Jenny opened a drawer, took out two spoons, and tossed me one. "Rachel here got into Hogwarts."
Sue smiled. "Fantastic. Dig in, babes. We got enough for three."
We ate ice cream until the sun set, talking about Hogwarts and guys. Then Ric and Ella came home.
Ric and Ella are Jenny's two oldest siblings. Ric's this really cool gay guy. He works in a record store downtown. Ella's a fey rights activist. Right now, her main thing is getting feys into Hogwarts.
Ella slammed the door. "Jenny! I want to talk to you."
Jenny sighed. "Great." She got up from the table.
In the foyer, I could hear Ric arguing with Ella. "Look, it ain't her fault she be going to Hogwarts. Just leave the poor girl alone."
"Yeah, well it ain't our fault we be banned from all the good schools, either," Ella yelled back. "You know it be the only thing to do, Ric."
Ric sighed. "Fine. Fine. But if Rachel gets in trouble for this, it ain't on my head."
Jenny sat down.
Ella came into the kitchen. She's a tall girl, with short dandelion-colored hair sticking out from her head. She always looks like she's eaten something gross and is trying not to show it.
"Rachel, what's this I be hearing about you going to Hogwarts?" she asked me.
I shrugged. "I don't know. What did you hear?"
Ella frowned. "You be going to Hogwarts. That right?"
I nodded. "I only just got the letter an hour ago."
"Yeah, yeah. Look, I want you to bring Jenny with you," Ella told me.
Jenny started. "What? I can't be going to Hogwarts. They kick me out in a second."
Ella shrugged. "It's a protest. Besides, it be the only chance for our little Jenny to get a good education."
Jenny shook her head. "Come on, we got the public schools right here. They ain't that bad."
Ella rolled her eyes. "Not that bad, she say. Look, the public schools around here got forty kids in each class and only two teachers for each grade. We got to get you some real education, or you be stuck at home taking care of the kids."
Ric came into the kitchen. "Please, Ella. You be getting Jenny and Rachel both in trouble."
I shook my head. "Oh, no. It wouldn't be any trouble at all. I could take Jenny."
Sue laughed. "Right. What, she gonna hide in your luggage?"
I shrugged. "If I have to."
Ella grinned. "See, Ric?"
Ric shook his head. "It ain't gonna work out."
Jenny crossed her arms. "So I be going to Hogwarts."
I nodded. "Yeah, if you want to."
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Do I want to? Of course I want to, girl. I be the first fey going to Hogwarts!" She giggled.
The next morning, I snuck over to my house and woke up Andrew.
"ANDREW!" I yelled, throwing stones at the window.
Andrew stuck his head out of the window. "What now?" he grumbled.
"Andrew, I need some Floo powder," I said.
Andrew snorted. "What the hell do you need that for?"
"Diagon Alley," I said. "I gotta go shopping for school."
The window slammed.
I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Andrew, if you don't get me some Floo powder, I'm going to call up Gwen and tell her that you still wet the bed!"
"I DON'T WET THE BED!" Andrew yelled.
"But she doesn't know that," I said.
Andrew opened the window again. "Isn't there any at Jenny's house?" he asked.
"Feys don't use Floo powder," I said.
"Tammy's going to be really pissed if I give you some," Andrew said. "You know she counts exactly the number of every freakin' magic thing we have in the house."
I shrugged. "Do I care? Just throw down a package."
Andrew sighed. "All right, but it's on your head if Tammy finds out it's gone."
He disappeared again, and came back carrying a small red tin. "Catch!"
I caught it. "Thanks!"
Monkey, Jenny's mom, was waiting for me at her house.
"I heard the good news!" she cried, hugging me. "You be going to Hogwarts! Ooh, this be so happy!"
I squirmed out of her embrace. "Jenny's going with me."
Monkey abruptly dropped her arms. "What? Jenny can't go with you. We need her at home."
I shrugged. "Ella suggested it. And Jenny really wants to go."
Monkey sniffed. "Fine. But aren't feys not allowed at Hogwarts?"
"Not anymore," Ella said from the kitchen. "I just got this." She waved a letter. "Cornelius Fudge has just made an announcement. Listen."
I listened.
"As of this day forward," Ella read, "all feys are considered to be the equal of human beings. Human law will apply to feys, and feys are not to be discriminated against for any reason whatsoever." She folded the paper, grinning.
Jenny screamed. "Oh my God!"
Jenny's dad, Ratsnickle, grunted. "Right. The only that's gonna change is that a few fey kids are gonna get to go to Hogwarts, and we're gonna get paid a few cents more. Humans still look down on us."
"That's not true," I said. "I don't look down on you, and neither does Andrew."
Monkey waved her hand. "Ah, that be different. You kids practically honorary feys. Hell, you hang around with us enough. We talking about the other ones."
I raised one eyebrow. "'Other ones'? What 'other ones' are we talking about here?"
"You know," Ratsnickle said. "The other humans. The ones that live in them big houses they got from their grandparents. The ones who say they have history."
I shrugged. "What, like that one family…uh, what're they called, the Malfoys?"
Ella nodded. "Precisely. They be working to maintain the status quo, you know? They such snobby bastards."
"Screw them," Jenny said. "We don't need them."
Monkey nodded. "That's the spirit! And we gotta be shopping."
The Greenteeths don't have a fireplace, so we had to go into the backyard. They have a fire pit there.
Jenny and I waited while Ric, who had promised to take us, kindled the fire. Finally, it was a roaring blaze and we could go through.
Ric tossed a pinch of powder into the fire. "Diagon Alley," he said, and stepped into it.
Jenny went next. "Diagon Alley!" she yelled, jumping through.
I was about to go when I heard Sue behind me. "Diagon Alley," she giggled, and stepped through my legs.
"Oh, shit," I muttered. "Sue, don't you dare—" But she was gone.
I took a deep breath, muttered "Diagon Alley," and went through.