Author's Note: If anyone has a suggestion for who Harry should be hooked
up with, feel free to tell me! I'm starting to think he needs someone
OTHER than Cho, but I don't know who. Heck, if you have a character that
you want Harry to be hooked up with, email me a bio/description at
nicki_dm@hotmail.com THANKS!!!!
Nikai's mom fidgeted in her chair, glancing at the owl, who had swooped onto the table and was now eating the bacon rinds on Talon's plate.
"Umm.well.what exactly do you want explained?"
"First off," Nikai picked up the tickets from the floor. "Why are we moving to England?" Her mom nodded slowly, thinking her answer over carefully.
"Well, I guess the main reason we're moving is because your dad and I want you kids to have the same education we had."
"What's that, St. Mary's Big Old British Academy?"
Her mom scoffed at the idea. "No. Those powder puffs wouldn't be able to teach you anything useful. No sir, you kids deserve what we were given at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Slightly amused at Nikai's amazed expression, she continued. "You're dad is a wizard, I'm a witch."
This piece of information hit Nikai hard. She had always known her parents were different than most.they never mentioned their own family, and Nikai had never seen a single picture of her relatives.they had hundreds of locked trunks in their attic with no keys.Nikai had even heard them whispering about "Muggles" once. But this, no, this topped them all. A witch and wizard?!
A small smile spread across Nikai's face as an idea popped into her head.
"So, if I were to dump water on you, would.??" Her mom smiled.
"No, I would not melt. Sorry dear!"
"Nah, that's okay. So what kind of magic can you do?"
"All sorts. Anyone can do magic if they're taught how," her mom said gently. "And that's just what they'll do at Hogwarts. They'll even teach you more than you would ever dream."
Nikai nodded slowly, thinking all this over. The owl, who had let out a reproachful hoot, suddenly caught her attention. Her mom held her hand, and the owl hopped over, perching on her wrist. "Sorry Jauncey, I almost forgot to thank you! You did a wonderful job, bringing us our mail. I'll get you some food." Her mom carried the owl, (who's name was Jauncey), over to the kitchen counter. Jauncey hopped off her wrist, and waited patiently as she poured some oats and milk into a bowl. She set it down in front of Jauncey, and then walked back to the table.
"So, what kind of mail do wizards and witches get?" Nikai asked curiously. Her mom picked up the stack of mail Jauncey had dropped on the table, and sat down in her seat.
"Oh, nothing too different from normal Muggle mail."
"Muggle mail?"
Her mom laughed slightly. "That's right, you don't know what Muggles are! Well, simply put, Muggles are non-magical people. They don't believe in magic, or have no idea it exists. And believe me when I say that it takes a heck of a lot of effort to keep them from finding out about magic." She picked up the newspaper, looking at the front page. At first, her face went into a surprised expression. Then it changed into a totally satisfied smile, and she opened the newspaper up. Nikai didn't think much of the front page. The headline was about something she didn't quite understand. "Arthur Weasley, New Minister of Magic." And there was a black and white photograph of a slightly aged man underneath the headline.then it caught her. The man in the photograph was moving. He was actually smiling and waving his hand energetically! Nikai stared at the photograph, until the man finally burst into silent laughter.
"M-mom?"
"Yes dear?"
"Why is that photograph moving?"
Her mom glanced at the photograph of the man, who was still laughing uncontrollably. Then, she started to laugh a bit herself. "I almost forgot.wizard photos don't hold still like Muggle photos. They actually move around." Nikai nodded slowly, catching on to something.
"So, that's why we've never seen any pictures of our relatives? Because they're all moving around?"
Her mom smiled proudly. "I told your dad you would be the one to catch on quickest! Now he owes me those five Galleons." Nikai was about to ask what Galleons were, but decided against it. Her mom now picked up the three letters, looking over the addresses on them. "One from Cho and Harry.wonder what they've got to say?" She picked up one of the knives on the table, and then carefully slit open a slightly dirty envelope. She pulled out a sheet of parchment, and started to read the letter. "Hmm.they're excited to have us move back.remind me to send them an owl when we get to our new home, all right Nikai?"
"Sure mom, send them an owl." Nikai leaned back in her seat, looking at Jauncey. He stared back at her, his eyes unblinking. Nikai, determined not to let some owl beat her, continued to stare at him while her mom continued to comment on the letters out loud.
"You know, they've got a boy your age.as a matter of fact, so do Ron and Hermione."
*Wonder who Ron and Hermione are.in fact, I don't know any of these people she's talking about.* Her mom had put down that letter and opened another one.
"Ron wrote, says they were going to have a party to celebrate Mr. Weasley's new position.I guess they postponed it just for us." Nikai's eyes were watering, but she refused to break eye contact with Jauncey.
*I think.yep, he's definitely getting weaker.* Jauncey suddenly blinked, causing Nikai to blink as well. As she smiled happily, he glared at her sullenly. Now mom was reading another letter.
"Hmm.Fred and George have another idea they want to run past your dad. Remind me to make sure he sends them an owl."
"Yeah, owl to Cho and Harry; owl to Fred and George, gottcha." There was now only the package to be opened. As her mom picked it up and read the address, a look of surprise mingled with appreciation came over her face. She handed the package to Nikai.
"It's for you." Surprised, yet excited, Nikai took the package and looked it over.
It wasn't everyday she got something by owl post, and she was going to enjoy this. She ripped open the brown wrapping paper, and a large, silver envelope fell onto her lap. There was also a small silvery box, which she carefully placed on the table. Taking one of the knives from the table, she carefully slit the envelope open. As she pulled out the card, there was a slight shower of shimmering dust. Her mom smiled.
"Pixie dust! Whoever sent you that card must have really wanted to make it special for you.pixies aren't exactly the nicest creatures." Nikai looked over the card. It was very different from most birthday cards she had received before.but then again, she had never gotten a card from a wizard before. It was the same silver color its envelope was, and there was no writing on the front. As she opened the card, jets of colored light shot out. They noiselessly shot up to the ceiling, and then exploded like fireworks. Her mom laughed loudly, her smile even wider.
"Now I know who sent you that card.only one person has ever been able to put a Silencing Charm on the Weasley Twin Fireworks." Nikai smiled.
Suddenly, music came out of the card. It was obviously four people singing "Happy Birthday to You", and a couple of the voices sounded like they were being forced to sing. When they had finished singing the last line, the voices shouted "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKAI!!" One of the voices began to speak. It was an obvious male, around her dad's age.
"Now that you've heard our ear splitting rendition of "Happy Birthday to You"."
"RON!"
"OW, Hermione you didn't have to nudge me so hard!" Nikai's mom stifled a laugh. Another voice, female, interrupted the bickering.
"We're taping you two."
"Oh!" A different male voice began to speak.
"Happy birthday Nikai! You're probably wondering who we all are by now. Hopefully, this will help you." A hologram image projected itself out of the card. In the image was an adult, another man about her dad's age. He had a mess of black hair, sticking up at all ends. Round glasses framed his bright green eyes, and the lightning shape scar on his forehead was barely visible through his hair. He smiled brightly at her, although Nikai was sure he couldn't possibly see her. "I'm Harry Potter, one of your parents' friends from Hogwarts." A Chinese woman came to stand beside him. She smiled as well.
"I'm Cho Potter, another friend from Hogwarts. Maybe you've already heard of me by now, if your mom read the letter out loud again." Nikai's mom blushed slightly. The hologram widened, and two other adults entered. The man with bright red hair spoke first.
"I'm Ron Weasley, and yeah, I'm one of your parents' friends from Hogwarts too." The woman with a bush of brown hair spoke next.
"I'm Hermione Weasley, yet another friend. Hopefully we'll be able to see you again soon." Their voices matched those of the two who were fighting earlier. Cho began to speak again.
"We wanted to be the first to send you something by owl post. We all got to see you before your family left for America, and we've wanted to talk to you ever since. To see how you've grown up, you know." Hermione smiled.
"And if your parents have stayed the same since they left, then you've probably grown up quite well."
"Of course she has!" Ron interrupted. "This is Jay and Allora McKinnon we're talking about!" He turned back to face Nikai. "Harry and I talked these two birds (he gestured to Hermione and Cho) into getting you a little present."
"We really hope you enjoy it Nikai," Harry said quickly before Hermione and Cho could protest against Ron. "And I've got a little tip for you.things really start to change once you turn eleven. And trust me, no matter how hard or impossible they seem, you can turn them into something good."
"C'mon Harry, don't start scaring her now!" Ron added. Hermione seemed to be looking at something below them.
"We've only got a few more seconds!" Everybody looked up at Nikai and waved energetically.
"SEE YOU SOON!" they all shouted together. The hologram disappeared, and Nikai slid the card back into its envelope. Her mom was smiling at her.
"So? What did you think?" Nikai appeared to be thinking deeply about this. Then she smiled broadly.
"I can't wait to meet them in person." She picked up the small silvery box on the table and opened it up. Inside was a bag labeled "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans", several large golden coins, and a few smaller boxes labeled "Chocolate Frogs". Her mom started to laugh when she saw the Beans.
"You might want to be careful with those," she said, pointing to them. "When they say "Every Flavor", they're quite serious. You can get normal flavors like strawberry, chocolate, lemon, and orange. But they also throw in flavors like curry, ear wax, grass, and herring." Nikai glanced at the Beans.
"So, they do that all by magic?"
"I think so," her mom said with a slight nod. Nikai grinned widely.
"I think I'm gonna like this magic stuff after all."
Nikai's mom fidgeted in her chair, glancing at the owl, who had swooped onto the table and was now eating the bacon rinds on Talon's plate.
"Umm.well.what exactly do you want explained?"
"First off," Nikai picked up the tickets from the floor. "Why are we moving to England?" Her mom nodded slowly, thinking her answer over carefully.
"Well, I guess the main reason we're moving is because your dad and I want you kids to have the same education we had."
"What's that, St. Mary's Big Old British Academy?"
Her mom scoffed at the idea. "No. Those powder puffs wouldn't be able to teach you anything useful. No sir, you kids deserve what we were given at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Slightly amused at Nikai's amazed expression, she continued. "You're dad is a wizard, I'm a witch."
This piece of information hit Nikai hard. She had always known her parents were different than most.they never mentioned their own family, and Nikai had never seen a single picture of her relatives.they had hundreds of locked trunks in their attic with no keys.Nikai had even heard them whispering about "Muggles" once. But this, no, this topped them all. A witch and wizard?!
A small smile spread across Nikai's face as an idea popped into her head.
"So, if I were to dump water on you, would.??" Her mom smiled.
"No, I would not melt. Sorry dear!"
"Nah, that's okay. So what kind of magic can you do?"
"All sorts. Anyone can do magic if they're taught how," her mom said gently. "And that's just what they'll do at Hogwarts. They'll even teach you more than you would ever dream."
Nikai nodded slowly, thinking all this over. The owl, who had let out a reproachful hoot, suddenly caught her attention. Her mom held her hand, and the owl hopped over, perching on her wrist. "Sorry Jauncey, I almost forgot to thank you! You did a wonderful job, bringing us our mail. I'll get you some food." Her mom carried the owl, (who's name was Jauncey), over to the kitchen counter. Jauncey hopped off her wrist, and waited patiently as she poured some oats and milk into a bowl. She set it down in front of Jauncey, and then walked back to the table.
"So, what kind of mail do wizards and witches get?" Nikai asked curiously. Her mom picked up the stack of mail Jauncey had dropped on the table, and sat down in her seat.
"Oh, nothing too different from normal Muggle mail."
"Muggle mail?"
Her mom laughed slightly. "That's right, you don't know what Muggles are! Well, simply put, Muggles are non-magical people. They don't believe in magic, or have no idea it exists. And believe me when I say that it takes a heck of a lot of effort to keep them from finding out about magic." She picked up the newspaper, looking at the front page. At first, her face went into a surprised expression. Then it changed into a totally satisfied smile, and she opened the newspaper up. Nikai didn't think much of the front page. The headline was about something she didn't quite understand. "Arthur Weasley, New Minister of Magic." And there was a black and white photograph of a slightly aged man underneath the headline.then it caught her. The man in the photograph was moving. He was actually smiling and waving his hand energetically! Nikai stared at the photograph, until the man finally burst into silent laughter.
"M-mom?"
"Yes dear?"
"Why is that photograph moving?"
Her mom glanced at the photograph of the man, who was still laughing uncontrollably. Then, she started to laugh a bit herself. "I almost forgot.wizard photos don't hold still like Muggle photos. They actually move around." Nikai nodded slowly, catching on to something.
"So, that's why we've never seen any pictures of our relatives? Because they're all moving around?"
Her mom smiled proudly. "I told your dad you would be the one to catch on quickest! Now he owes me those five Galleons." Nikai was about to ask what Galleons were, but decided against it. Her mom now picked up the three letters, looking over the addresses on them. "One from Cho and Harry.wonder what they've got to say?" She picked up one of the knives on the table, and then carefully slit open a slightly dirty envelope. She pulled out a sheet of parchment, and started to read the letter. "Hmm.they're excited to have us move back.remind me to send them an owl when we get to our new home, all right Nikai?"
"Sure mom, send them an owl." Nikai leaned back in her seat, looking at Jauncey. He stared back at her, his eyes unblinking. Nikai, determined not to let some owl beat her, continued to stare at him while her mom continued to comment on the letters out loud.
"You know, they've got a boy your age.as a matter of fact, so do Ron and Hermione."
*Wonder who Ron and Hermione are.in fact, I don't know any of these people she's talking about.* Her mom had put down that letter and opened another one.
"Ron wrote, says they were going to have a party to celebrate Mr. Weasley's new position.I guess they postponed it just for us." Nikai's eyes were watering, but she refused to break eye contact with Jauncey.
*I think.yep, he's definitely getting weaker.* Jauncey suddenly blinked, causing Nikai to blink as well. As she smiled happily, he glared at her sullenly. Now mom was reading another letter.
"Hmm.Fred and George have another idea they want to run past your dad. Remind me to make sure he sends them an owl."
"Yeah, owl to Cho and Harry; owl to Fred and George, gottcha." There was now only the package to be opened. As her mom picked it up and read the address, a look of surprise mingled with appreciation came over her face. She handed the package to Nikai.
"It's for you." Surprised, yet excited, Nikai took the package and looked it over.
It wasn't everyday she got something by owl post, and she was going to enjoy this. She ripped open the brown wrapping paper, and a large, silver envelope fell onto her lap. There was also a small silvery box, which she carefully placed on the table. Taking one of the knives from the table, she carefully slit the envelope open. As she pulled out the card, there was a slight shower of shimmering dust. Her mom smiled.
"Pixie dust! Whoever sent you that card must have really wanted to make it special for you.pixies aren't exactly the nicest creatures." Nikai looked over the card. It was very different from most birthday cards she had received before.but then again, she had never gotten a card from a wizard before. It was the same silver color its envelope was, and there was no writing on the front. As she opened the card, jets of colored light shot out. They noiselessly shot up to the ceiling, and then exploded like fireworks. Her mom laughed loudly, her smile even wider.
"Now I know who sent you that card.only one person has ever been able to put a Silencing Charm on the Weasley Twin Fireworks." Nikai smiled.
Suddenly, music came out of the card. It was obviously four people singing "Happy Birthday to You", and a couple of the voices sounded like they were being forced to sing. When they had finished singing the last line, the voices shouted "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKAI!!" One of the voices began to speak. It was an obvious male, around her dad's age.
"Now that you've heard our ear splitting rendition of "Happy Birthday to You"."
"RON!"
"OW, Hermione you didn't have to nudge me so hard!" Nikai's mom stifled a laugh. Another voice, female, interrupted the bickering.
"We're taping you two."
"Oh!" A different male voice began to speak.
"Happy birthday Nikai! You're probably wondering who we all are by now. Hopefully, this will help you." A hologram image projected itself out of the card. In the image was an adult, another man about her dad's age. He had a mess of black hair, sticking up at all ends. Round glasses framed his bright green eyes, and the lightning shape scar on his forehead was barely visible through his hair. He smiled brightly at her, although Nikai was sure he couldn't possibly see her. "I'm Harry Potter, one of your parents' friends from Hogwarts." A Chinese woman came to stand beside him. She smiled as well.
"I'm Cho Potter, another friend from Hogwarts. Maybe you've already heard of me by now, if your mom read the letter out loud again." Nikai's mom blushed slightly. The hologram widened, and two other adults entered. The man with bright red hair spoke first.
"I'm Ron Weasley, and yeah, I'm one of your parents' friends from Hogwarts too." The woman with a bush of brown hair spoke next.
"I'm Hermione Weasley, yet another friend. Hopefully we'll be able to see you again soon." Their voices matched those of the two who were fighting earlier. Cho began to speak again.
"We wanted to be the first to send you something by owl post. We all got to see you before your family left for America, and we've wanted to talk to you ever since. To see how you've grown up, you know." Hermione smiled.
"And if your parents have stayed the same since they left, then you've probably grown up quite well."
"Of course she has!" Ron interrupted. "This is Jay and Allora McKinnon we're talking about!" He turned back to face Nikai. "Harry and I talked these two birds (he gestured to Hermione and Cho) into getting you a little present."
"We really hope you enjoy it Nikai," Harry said quickly before Hermione and Cho could protest against Ron. "And I've got a little tip for you.things really start to change once you turn eleven. And trust me, no matter how hard or impossible they seem, you can turn them into something good."
"C'mon Harry, don't start scaring her now!" Ron added. Hermione seemed to be looking at something below them.
"We've only got a few more seconds!" Everybody looked up at Nikai and waved energetically.
"SEE YOU SOON!" they all shouted together. The hologram disappeared, and Nikai slid the card back into its envelope. Her mom was smiling at her.
"So? What did you think?" Nikai appeared to be thinking deeply about this. Then she smiled broadly.
"I can't wait to meet them in person." She picked up the small silvery box on the table and opened it up. Inside was a bag labeled "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans", several large golden coins, and a few smaller boxes labeled "Chocolate Frogs". Her mom started to laugh when she saw the Beans.
"You might want to be careful with those," she said, pointing to them. "When they say "Every Flavor", they're quite serious. You can get normal flavors like strawberry, chocolate, lemon, and orange. But they also throw in flavors like curry, ear wax, grass, and herring." Nikai glanced at the Beans.
"So, they do that all by magic?"
"I think so," her mom said with a slight nod. Nikai grinned widely.
"I think I'm gonna like this magic stuff after all."
