American Witch
A\N: Hi. This is Chapter 2 of my strange chapter fic. Anyway, could you please read and review! All of you that reviewed are SO NICE, even if you flamed ^_^ Anyway, thanks to everyone that liked it.
Disclaimer: So...So far, all the characters belong to me, and Floo Powder and the Knight Bus belong to J.K. Rowling. I also own the Knight Bus' route.
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Chapter 2: Preparations
5-27-01
When I told my mom that I was a witch, she freaked out and she didn't believe me.
"You're a WHAT?!?"
"Uma witch."
She took a few deep, calming breaths. "No, you're not. What's a house-elf? When did you make that up?"
I sighed. My mother had never read the Harry Potter series. I handed her the letter and ticket, saying, "J.K. Rowling introduced house-elfs in the Harry Potter series, and they're not made up, since Binky gave me this."
She took the letter and ticket suspiciously. "Who's Binky?"
I sighed again. "The house-elf, Mom."
"Right." Obviously, she still didn't believe me.
She read the letter, and her eyes widened slightly. First, she checked to see if it was really written on parchment. It was. Then, she checked that you couldn't get parchment in San Antonio. You couldn't. Next, she checked that it wasn't toxic or anything. It wasn't. Finally, she believed me.
(A\N: Now, if anyone here knows that there is a place where you can get parchment in San Antonio, sorry, because I don't actually know much about San Antonio.)
"So, you admit it?"
She just stared at me in shock with those brown eyes.
"Obviously, you do. Now, we have to inform Small that I am transferring to an English boarding school, contact Jorge Bustamente, go to Diagon Alley and change some of our money to wizard money in Gringotts before buying anything, and finally, Hogwarts."
(A\N: I meant to say Bustamente in the last chapter too, not Bustamante.)
"Why do they await our owl?"
Well, see, wizards send their mail with tame owls, and so we have to get an owl at Diagon Alley and send them acceptance. And then, we have to keep the owl when it comes back for future mail correspondence." It was a small setback of being a witch when your mother knew nothing about the wizarding world. However, thanks to the fact that a house-elf showed up instead of an owl, she now got an owl of her own.
"Right. Well, how do we know that this is a good school?"
I coughed in slight impatience.
(A\N: Well, you wouldn't want me to sigh AGAIN, would you? No.)
"Mom, Hogwarts is the safest place in the world. People have said so countless times."
"Oh, fine. I wasn't really comfortable about you going to Small anyway. First, we'll e-mail Small. Knowing that school, I'm sure they will not answer, so we don't need to wait for that."
"Okay. Remember, just tell them I'm going to an English boarding school. No specific information."
So, my mother's gone off to send Small an e-mail, and I decided to take some time to write about it to you.
Now I have to go make sure there are absolutely no other people named Bustamente in the phone book for San Antonio.
Noon (A\N: I thought the actual time would be more accurate than "later".)
I'm done checking and my mom's done e-mailing. There are no other people named Bustamente in the phone book for San Antonio! Now, all we have to do is get in touch with Amanda's dad.
12:20 PM
I told my mom Amanda's phone number, and she dialed it on her office phone, so they wouldn't know who we were at the chance that he wasn't a wizard and he thought she was crazy. Then, when she got him on the phone, she asked him if he knew a quick way to Diagon Alley from San Antonio, because her daughter was starting at Hogwarts.
I wished very much in that moment that he really was a wizard and that he didn't think she was crazy.
It seemed that she got a good answer, like, "Yes, I know a quick way and I am a wizard," because she started asking him things such as, "What's Floo Powder?"
I groaned. Floo Powder. Why hadn't I thought of that? Oh, yeah. We don't have any.
I started making signs to her that I wanted to talk to him, and she handed me the phone, after saying, "I'm going to put my daughter on the phone. She knows much more about this whole wizarding thing than I do."
"Hello," I said calmly. "I've guessed from my mother's side of the conversation that you say we could use Floo Powder."
"Yes."
"Well, then, I have a question. Since we don't have any Floo Powder, because we're all muggles in this family except me, is there another way? Say, the Knight Bus?"
"Well, actually, I'm not sure if the Knight Bus goes through the United States.I think it's just an England thingLet me check it's routeExcuse me a minute."
"Okay."
I waited in excitement. He was a wizard! Maybe Amanda was a witch!
In a minute, he came back, and said, "Actually, I've found a part of the route I hadn't known about. It'll go through England all day, but it'll also go through other countries at the same time in time brackets. For example, it'll go through America from 2 PM to 2:30."
"Oh. Thank you. You have a daughter named Amanda, right?" I asked.
"Yes, but-"
"Is she a witch?"
"Yes, actually. She just got her letter yesterday. She should have gotten it last summer, but she was a year late"
"Can I speak to her?"
"Do you know her from somewhere?."
"She's a friend from school. Small Middle School. I was a year late too. We're in the same grade."
"Yes, she goes there. All right, then. Wait."
"Thank you."
Then, a new voice came on the phone. Amanda's. "Hello?" she said.
"Hi Amanda. This is Kara," I said.
"Hi! I thought so."
"Did you hear from your dad?"
"Hear what?" she said in confusion.
"I'm a witch too."
"What?!? Oh, that's so great! We can go together!" she said enthusiastically.
"Yes, and actually, I was wonderingcan we go to
Diagon Alley with you?" I asked slowly.
"Sure, I guess"
"Thanks, because my mom's totally lost, even she admits it, and we'd be fine alone, with me there, but going with you would probably be better, because you're a half-blood, at least, andyeah. Are you a half-blood or a pure-blood, anyway?"
"I'm a half-blood.Wait a sec."
I waited until Amanda informed her dad and said it was okay and that we were going on the Knight Bus tomorrow, and to be at her house by 1:45 PM, and then I hung up.
"Mom!"
"Yes, I know, we're going to Diago Alley or whatever it is with them on the Knight Bus, because Amanda's a witch too."
"Exactly. And it's Diagon Alley, mom. We're leaving for their house tomorrow at about 12:30 PM, and we have to be there by 1:45."
So, now I'm writing this, and next I'm going to stare at the ceiling and think about Hogwarts until my dad comes home so I can tell him, since there's no one to talk to at the moment, or maybe read my list of things to bring. I wonder what Diagon Alley will be like.
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Hi again! Did you like it? Please, please, pretty please, like it! Anyway, at least review -Hermione2