I was a normal girl just like everyone else until I found out who I
was. Just like anybody else my age, I went to high school, and had homework
that took me hours to do, friends to hang out with, and a nice normal
family. My dad, just like any other dads out there, went to work from
morning until six at night; my mom, just like any other, tried to balance
between her children and a part-time job, and my little brother, just like
any other, was from planet Xenon and loved to drive me up the wall on
special occasions, which was all the time. Just like any other average
teenager or young adults, my life was a big and long roller coaster ride.
Life for me was great at one moment in time, and in another it was as bad
as it could be for a fourteen years old. Yes, I led a very normal life, as
normal as a teenager in an average family with a below average income could
be anyway.
The story, or my story, began one mild, summer morning at the beginning of July when I woke up and prepared to leave for my babysitting job that day. It was such a fine and beautiful morning that it was hard to believe that my life was going to change completely after that day. My dad was the first to rise as usual, because he had to make morning coffee for mom and him, and hot chocolate for my brother and me. At exactly seven thirty in the morning, my dad drove me to the Carmichael for house my babysitting job. We had to go that early because it took half an hour to get from my house to theirs. The drive was exceptionally quiet because we both were still sleepy; his coffee wasn't working and neither was my chocolate though I didn't think chocolate had much caffeine in it. I yawned a lot and also did my father.
Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael were impatiently waiting for me outside their front door. My father left me and drove back home as I approach the Carmichaels. Mrs. Carmichael told me that her children was still sleeping upstairs in the bedrooms-the longer they stayed asleep the better for me- and a few other usual reminder,
"Remember the baby should only be fed twice when she woke up and in the afternoon! And she should-"
"Have as much to drink as possible. The same goes with Brian." I finished for her. "Yes, Mrs. Carmichael. I won't forget."
"Yes! Our cell phone numbers are on the fridge should you feel the need to call us, and the emergency telephone numbers are in a sticky note next to the-"
"The telephone in the living room, which is next the table beside the couch by the window. This is not my first time babysitting here Mrs. Carmichael. I know where most everything is, and you've never come home with anyone of your children missing, have you? So, you don't have much to worry about, except maybe that you might come home and find Brian worn-out because he were misbehaving and I was chasing him around to get him to behave himself."
"Oh, I know! I trust you. I do, but I'm a mother. I always have something to worry about, especially with a child like Brian." Said her with a little laugh. "Take good care of them! Bye!"
With that she climbed in the car with Mr. Carmichael, and they drove away.
The kids were still as sleep. So, I took the liberty to take a little nap before they woke up. When I woke up, it was already nine o'clock. I gave a jump, rushed upstairs to check on Brian and the baby, and saw that the baby was still asleep in her crib, but Brian, the seven years old was nowhere to be seen. My heart was thumping hard, and my mind was filled with worries of what could and might have happened to him. I rushed downstairs to check every nook and cranny of the house and shouting, "Brian! Brian, where are you?" Finally, I was relieved to find him in the bathroom trying to reach the medicine cabinet to get the toothpaste to brush his teeth. He saw me, and I laughed out right when he looked up to me and said innocently, "Can you get the toothpaste for me?"
"Of course," said I still laughing, "You scared me to death you little rascal."
That little rascal proved to be most frustrating and stubborn all that morning and early afternoon because he refused to listen to me meanwhile the baby was crying because she just had a new tooth and she missed her mommy. I was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Brian didn't stop screaming and kept shouting at me to play with him, but I couldn't because I have to calm the baby down. So, he started to cry too, and when that didn't work, he started to throw things around.
"Brian, you stop that, and I mean now!" I shouted. But he cried, "No! You like that baby more than Brian. You don't like me any more. You won't play with Brian."
I tried to run after him with the baby, who was still crying, in my arms, and when that didn't go to well, I put her down in her crib and started after Brian. For some reason, she found me chasing Brian amusing, because she stopped crying. That lasted for a few minutes, and then she started crying all over again. I couldn't stand it anymore: the baby crying, Brian screaming and throwing things around and breaking everything insight. I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't stand the noise. They were trying my very last bit of patient. I stopped chasing after Brian, and kneeled down on the floor in the middle of the living with all the papers and broken things around me holding my head with my hands covering my ears, "Argh!" I yelled, "STOP-THE-NOISE!" I let go of my hands. For one full minutes, everything went quiet all of the sudden. I could still see the baby mouth opened wide crying, and Brian screaming and bringing the vase down, but I couldn't hear them or the vase when it crashed down to the tiled floor. I could still hear the birds chirping outside and the random cars passing by, but I couldn't hear anything inside the house. Then, everything was back to normal. I now could hear the baby and Brian. I didn't know what to do anymore. I was at my wit ends. Luckily at that time when all things seem hopeless, I heard someone screamed, "Brian! What are you doing?" It was Mrs. Carmichael. The Carmichaels was at the door. My watch told me it was three o'clock already. I gave a loud sigh.
Half an hour later, Brian was in his room having a time out, the baby stopped crying and was resting peacefully in her mother's arms, and Mr. and Mrs. were apologizing for all the troubles Brian and the baby gave me.
"You don't have to apologize. I knew that it would happen sooner or later. That's one of the down sides of this job."
So I came home from the babysitting job by using the bus, and I was very wearisome and very frustrated. With much relieves when I was walking toward my house. I took the mails in and flopped down on the couch to see if there was any mail for me. Since no one was home, I didn't have to wrestle my brother to be the first one to go through the stack of mails. There were the usual bills, ads, bills, credit card approvals, and many, many more junk mails. Also, there was something else among the usual mails, the most unusual letter for me. It was made of a thick yellowish brown paper, and it didn't have a return address or even a receiving address just my name. Curiously, I turned it over with the intention of opening it, but what I saw gave me a jolt of shock, a wax seal coat of arm bearing a lion, a snake, a badger, and an eagle surrounding a letter "H". My first thought upon seeing this was that it might be just another junk mail full of advertisements for Warner Bros., so I turned it around a couple of times to look for Warner Bros.' Trademark somewhere on the envelope but didn't see any. This made me even more curious than before. I hastily opened the envelope with much impatient to see what was inside. There were three pieces of paper: two folded ones, and a tore up short piece of not, and all three was made of the same kind of thick paper material as the envelope. I took the biggest piece of folded paper, opened it, and read it. The letter was written in the kind of purple ink you would use with a fountain pen same as outside the envelope. On the very top of the piece of paper imprint the same wax seal of the coat of arm. Beneath it written, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry". Upon seeing this, I didn't know what to think I was too stunned. All I could do was read on,
" Dear Ms. Tamy, We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcrafts and Wizardry. The school year will start on August 31st. Enclosed is a list of necessary supplies and accessories for school.
We hope to see you soon meanwhile we await your owl to confirm the receiving of this letter. Professor Gonelle,
Headmistress of Hogwarts
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandos
"
I stared at the letter for a long time not knowing what to think, but luckily my concentration and thoughts was broken when I heard my parents at the doors. "Hey there! How did the babysitting go?" my dad asked.
"Well, the baby was screaming; the bay was yelling, running, and didn't listen to a word I said," I replied, "Need I go on?"
My dad gave a little laugh and pick up the mails. After, throwing several of them in the garbage and frowning at the bills, he noticed me. I was turning over the letter to see if anything was written on the back. He saw the confused and shocked look on my face and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" I lied. "Nothing at all."
That night, after everyone was asleep, I lay wide-awake thinking about the strange letter. I wanted so much to believe that the letter was genuine, but I knew that it couldn't be true. It was a very silly thought. Somehow there's a tiny speck of hope that in some mysterious way the letter could be genuine. Quietly not to make too much noise, I got out of bed and took out the envelope. From the envelope, the tore up note fell out. I turned on my table lamp and read it,
" All school supplies can be bought at Diagon Alley in London. They can also be bought in Saleem Alley, the nearest wizarding's market place near you. If you have any difficulties don't hesitate to send us and owl."
On the back, it wrote "Merlin's Goblet 22B Hillside Rd.". I began to wonder about the possibility. The speck of hope inside me grew. I knew that I was being silly, but something inside me was pulling me in. There was something else, my curiosity-I had the biggest curiosity- and I knew that I had to check this out to see if this was real or someone's lame idea of a joke, but how?
I began to pace about my room trying to think of something, something like a good idea of an excuse to take me to wherever this place was. While I was pacing, stepped on something, a map. I was looking at a map yesterday to find a museum. I need to do some research for an essay contest I entered. I brought the map to my desk and began to search for Hillside Road. Luckily, it didn't look to be too far from the museum. This was working out better than I thought, but it still had a flaw. My Dad was driving me there because it was too far for me to walk there, and my dad didn't trust the bus, which meant that I only had a certain amount of time to do my exploring. Deciding that I would worry about it in the morning, I went back to bed.
Next day, my dad dropped me of at the gate of the museum. Before he went, he gave me a couple of reminders; "We'll be back for you at 2:30. Be sure you're going to be here at that time and not a moment later. Alright?" I nodded. Then, he drove out of sight. Now what, I told myself. I went to the information desk to ask for directions to Hillside Road. After much hustling since the lady at the information desk didn't live anywhere near her and that meant she called several people for help, I finally go my directions on a piece of paper. The paper was full of eraser marks and crossed-outs, but I could still read it. As I walked out of the museum, I looked at my watch. It told me that it was 10:50. I got almost two hours before I have to be back here again to wait for my parents. So, I walked fast following the instructions on the paper and looking at signs with various places I was supposed to look for. Once, I got lost and had to stop a passerby to ask for directions.
Half an hour later, I arrived at Hillside road. I watched the number on the buildings very cautiously. Some of the buildings were missing the number signs, and that made it a lot harder for me. "Hmm! Forty-four, forty- two, forty," I read out loud, "this way!" I ran quickly down the road and passed a set of lights. When I ran past number twenty-eight, I slowed down and look for the "Merlin's Goblet" sign. I had to ran up and down the street about two or three times before I found a small white sign with green letters that said "Merlin's Goblet" above a small and narrow door. In between the sign and the door was a tiny engraved number "22B". It was so small that if you just glanced at the door you wouldn't be able to notice it at all. Nervously, I walked toward the door and turned to knob to see if it was locked. Evidently, it was not. Peering inside, several people were drinking, sipping, and talking to each other like this was just another café. A couple of heads turned as I walked inside and then resumed their conversation; obviously, no one cared much to take any notice of me. The room seemed bigger than it looked on the outside, but it looked just as quaint. Walking further into the place, I saw several more people, and they dressed very strangely, too. One lady wore a long dark red gown, and another man wore a dark maroon gown with a black cloak. He also had a pointed wizard's hat beside him on the table.
"Can I help you, dear?" said voice behind me. A middle-aged lady was standing behind me smiling kindly as I turn around. "Hi!" I said nervously. "Um.I was, um, wondering where the, um."
"The Saleem Alley, my dear?" she finished the thought for me. In truth, I was thinking of the bathroom, but this was even better. This proved that there was such a thing as Saleem Alley.
"Yes!" Answered I.
"This way, please, and follow me!" said she while turning and walked toward the end of the room. I followed. There was a back door, and it was twice as big as the one in the front. After I step through the door, I saw mass of people who wore funny clothes as the two that I described. Everyone was dressed in gowns, robed, and cloak, and just a few kids and teenagers dressed like me, in T-shirts and jeans. A few had a robe over their clothes. "I'll see you soon, dear." The kind lady said and waved. I waved back and saw a big green sign that had the words "Merlin's Goblet" painted in white. I looked at my watch and saw that I only had a little more than an hour left. "I'd better looked around for a little while," I told myself, "Then I had better walk back to the museum and fast."
So, I walked up the road. There were a lot of shops and restaurants like a downtown. People were exchanging some kind of golden coins; it must have been money. At an intersection, there was a stone building with huge, gold, engraved letters "Gringrotts Bank". There were two small creatures standing guard, grunting as people went inside. The creature were no more than three feet high, and had long fingers, rough skin, and white hair, which was very little. Both were holding a long pointed stick, and I bet those are weapons.
Curious, I went inside despite the knot in my stomach. Inside, there were more of those creatures sitting behind a long high desk. Each of those creatures was about two feet apart. People were lining up talking to the creatures on the high desk and then being led by another into a door behind the high desk. I was too busy looking this way and that to notice that I was lining up with the rest of the people here. When I finally notice what was going on, it was almost my turn. There was only another man in front of me, and he was dressed in normal clothes: a tie, a blouse, and khaki pant; but he has a dull yellow robe over them. I only noticed his normal clothes when he turned around and shouted at the door. She wore the most beautiful sky blue gown with a laced dark blue robe with two imprinted white flowers over it. "Is Morgana with you?" he shouted at her.
"She is with some friends at the ice-cream place." The lady replied.
"Alright! I still need to exchanged the rest our new Muggles money into our money."
Muggle money? I thought. Before I even have time to think about this it was his turn. "Yes?" the creature, which I bet was goblins, said.
"I'd like to exchange the Muggle money." The man in the yellow robe said and gave the goblin a bunch of dollar bills. I saw several $50 and $100. Those gold coins must worth a lot. I thought. After it carefully counted the dollar bills, the goblins handed him a sack-full of jingling coins. The sack was roughly the size of a cantaloupe. The man in the yellow robe took the bag and joined his wife out of Gringrotts. Now, it was my turn. I looked up at an ugly face with a hooked, pointed nose. "Yes?" it said with a gloomy, mistrusting voice, which scared me. "Um," I whispered nervously. "Just a second." Something told me that if I just came in, stepped in line, and then walked out without doing anything, I'm going to be in trouble. So, I took out my wallet and forty dollars, reached out, and gave it to the goblin. The goblin took the money with its long crooked fingers and laid the bills down one by one carefully and slowly. When it was satisfied, the goblin put the bills someplace behind the desk, took out small money a bag made of cloth, and gave it to me. I took the sack and muttered feebly, "Thanks!" After I was safely outside, I let out a loud, long sigh full of gladness to be out of that gloomy place. Checking my watch again, I only had a little more than fifty minutes more until my dad arrived at the museum to pick me up. The bag contains a few gold coins, some silver, and a bundle of copper ones. With a bag full of money, I walked around looking for some place to spend these "money". In a corner of a street lay a quaint little shop. The sign that was place on top of the shop was very battered and across the beat-up sign was written "Words of Wisdom". Curious, I walked up to the shop and went inside. A bell jingled as I stepped in. This was a bookshop. There were some new books, some old with pages yellowed and turned brown with time. The shop was quiet and empty; a dusty wonderful smell of old books mingled with new permeated the air inside this shop. The quietness of this shop reminded me of the library.
Then, I remember the letter saying something about a list of supplies. I pulled out the letter from my bag's pocket and took out the letter, the note, and the third piece of paper. It was a list, and it read,
"All students starting school in August needs the following:
3 Black gowns
1 Black hat
2 Maroon robes
1 pair of protective gloves (preferably dragon hide)
1 cloak or any winter wear
1 telescope
1 wand (preferably from Ollivander)
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size)
1 metallic scale
and the following books:
Basic Transfiguration by G.E. Darce
Early History of Magic by Dawn Thoreau
A guide to basic Potion making and mixing by Pat Poise
Common Herbs and Fungi by Herman Fudge
Collective Charms and Spells by Sabetha Spellman
Stars and Planets by Estella by Estella Stowe
Early Magic Theory by Henry Baffling
Common Magical Creatures by Bennett Draco
A potion kit for Beginners
Students are also allowed to bring one pet to school."
I looked closely at the titles of books and then scanned around for the books listed in the list. I walked up and down isles after isles. For a quaint little store, it had a lot of books. I looked around the store at the many shelves of books hopelessly lost. "School books are stacked by the windows." I spun around immediately and saw an old man. He was very old with little white hair and kind sparkling eyes behind his thick glasses. This must be the shop owner; he was dressed in a maroon gown with dark purple robe. The old man was carrying several books in his arms,
"What books do you need?" he asked leading the way to the shelves by the window. "I have every books that have ever published from a century ago until here."
Instead of reading the list, I gave him it. He read off one book at a time and then pointed them out for me. At last with the books under my arms, the old man led me to a counter. As he muttered the price, a pencil scribbled furiously on a piece of paper. The pencil must have done the calculation for him too, because when he was done saying the price, he took up the piece of paper, looked at it, and then told me, "Five Galleons and sixteen sickles." Hoping I was correct, I took out five gold coins and counted sixteen silver coins. I must have been correct because he took it without a word of complaints. When I handed him the coins, my eyes fell on a book with a green cover. It looked so inviting with a pink rose in the center, and a luminous scent of morning dew, which seemed like it was from the rose. "It was my favorite book." The old man said. "A very good book, it is."
"What's the book about?" I asked. "It doesn't seem to have a title."
"It does," he said pointing to the space above the rose. "It's in invisible ink. You need to tab it three times with your wand. Watch!" Words in bright yellow ink began to appear. "Defender of the Rose" it wrote. Even its title seemed mysterious and inviting. "How much do you sell this book for?" I asked when I couldn't resist much longer. "How much?" he asked sounding sad and full of regrets. "Oh! I'm sorry, but I don't think I have the heart to part with it. A very dear friend gave it to me. He wrote this book in memory of us, and dedication to our long lasting friendship. I love this book very much with all my heart and soul; it got me through very tough times. I don't think I could ever let it out of my sight."
"Oh!" said I with much disappointment. "You have good reasons, though. If I have a book that has that much meanings to me, I don't think I could give it away much less sale it. I understand, but it looked like a very good and exciting book, though."
"Tell you what!" he must have seen the disappointment in my eyes and the sadness in my tone, "I'll let you borrow this book. You can keep this book until next year when I'm sure you'll come here again to buy your new set of school books." He took the precious book from display, took one good and final look at his greatest treasure, and then handed to me with a loud sigh. "Please take good care of it for me."
"Are you sure? It means so much to you, I mean, it was from your old friend. It's the only thing that keeps you going when you feel down in the dumps. You're giving it to a complete stranger."
"A stranger who knows the value of books, and realize the significance of the book even though it is not her own. I can see it in your eyes. You love books as much as I do, and you treasure them as if it was your very own life. I think I can trust you with this book. One lone wolf knows another." He pushed the book toward me. "Take extra special care of it for me."
"I will! I promised."
I carefully put the book inside my bags along with the others. Then, I headed for the door. I gave the kind old shop owner one more wave at the door, and walked back down the street. With the list supplies in my hand, I looked around for shop that I could by stuffs from. I was looking for one particular shop; the shop I had to go in before I leaved today. Then, I found it, Ollivander wand shop: makers of fine wands since 350 B.C. This was the shop I wanted to go to; it was the shop that I looked forward to, hoping to find. Like the bookshop, it was very quaint and quiet. Like the bookshop, it was small, empty, and filled with shelves, but the shelves were not filled with books. But unlike the bookshop, it only have one small window and very dark. There was not light, except for one candle at a far corner of the shop. They were stocked with long small boxes in various sizes. A short dumpy man appeared from one of the shelves with a smile on his face and a gleam if excitements in his eyes. He wore a black gown with many small stars on the rim of the bottom and a long pointed dark gray hat. "Hello and good afternoon!" he said giving me a little bow.
"Good afternoon!" I replied.
"My name is Guy Ollivander!" he said and then commanded. "Please, put out your wand arm!"
I did as instructed and put out my right arm although I don't even know what he meant by "wand arm". The man took a measuring tape and started to measure my arm. Then, he went off to a table and picked up a pencil and a piece of parchment paper. To my surprise, the tape measure was still measuring. Mr. Ollivander wrote something down while the tape measure was still measuring. When he was done writing, he went to the shelves take down several of those long boxes while the pencil was still scribbling furiously on the paper, which was in mid-air. The shop owner walked back and shouted,
"Stop! That's enough!" Immediately, the tape measure, the paper, and pencil dropped to the floor motionless.
Mr. Ollivander opened a box and took out a short black stick and gave it to me. "Now child, try this," he said, "Ebony, phoenix feather, ten inches. Give it a wave!" Accordingly, I did as told. Nothing happened, therefore he immediately took it out of my hand and gave me another. "Ash, Dragon's Heartstring, twelve inches and three quarters." This time a tiny spark came out of the end of the stick, which made me jumped a little. I was very pleased with the result; he on the other hand wasn't satisfied with it at all. Mr. Ollivander just shook his head and gave me another, and another, and another. "Hmm! A difficult customer, eh?" he said merely when I tried all of the wands in the pile of wand's boxes he brought over. The shop owner walked to a small shelf and took out a rather long box longer than all the others I tried. When he brought it over, I could see that it was covered with dusts. He blew the dust off the box and filled the shop's floor with gray powders. Inside the box was many, many wrapping papers amidst those paper was a long wand, longer than the usual ones that I've seen. "Now let's see if this one is compatible with you." He said with a sigh and gave the unusual wand to me. "Sycamore, Mermaid's golden hair, twenty-two inches long." I gave the wand a wave; it felt wonderful. Something like a streak of electricity surge through me from the tip of the wand up my arm and through out my body. At that moment the most wonderful thing happened, from the tip of the wand came a stream of violets sparks that illuminated the darken store. A ball of lights soared up from the stream and burst like a fireworks display. I stood there marveled at what I had done with just a wave of a long wooden stick. "Well, well, well," said Mr. Ollivander with a big, bright, satisfied smile, "So, it had finally chosen an owner."
"It had finally chosen an owner?" I repeated.
"Yes, I've had this wand for a long time." Said he. "Mermaid's hair is a very rare wand core, because it's uncommon that merpeople will shed their hair. It's even more extraordinary that one will find a mermaid with golden hair. Thus, you can see how rare the core in your wand is. It is a great wand, and it is only meant to for your use only. Because it is so rare and valuable, not many people are compatible with it. That means that you are a very special girl. I may be a little sad to be parted with it because I had bonded with it, but I am happier now that it had finally chosen an owner. Take good care of it."
"Wow!" I said amazed. "Is it really that special?"
"Yes!"
"Awesome! It's mine, and it's special. So that makes me special. I'm special." Mr. Ollivander laughed heartily at this.
I looked at my wand with awe knowing how special it was and that I was the owner of such a thing. Special as it was, my wand cost me three gold coins and two copper ones. I thanked Mr. Ollivander and tucked the wrapped wand box safely in my bag pack. When I looked at my watch, it told me that it was 2:05 already. Hastily, I dashed out of Ollivander wand shop and ran down the cobbled stone street as fast as I can. People looked at me with the strangest looks when I burst into Merlin's Goblet and immediately stormed out of the small door then into the street. I ran and ran as quickly as my feet could carry me. I stopped at the gate panting out of breath. I looked at my watch and it told me that my dad would arrive in approximately two minutes. True to his words, my dad car appeared on the horizon at exactly two-thirty. "Hey there! Did you have to wait long?" he asked as I got into the car even though he was on time. It was out of habits because he was never late anymore.
"Did you find all you need?" he asked as we drove down the street.
"Yeah!" I answered.
"What's in that bag?" he asked. "It looked like you put the whole museum in there."
I took out one of the book and handed to him. "They had some really good books in the gift shop of the museum. So, I thought I bought it for later references in my essays and for some light reading. The school summer reading list has books that are so boring." Said I holding up a book called "Early History of Magic". "Early History of Magic," read he during a red light, "Hmm! Interesting title."
When I got home and went to my room, an owl was hooting outside my window. Immediately, I opened the window and the screen and allowed the brown owl in. Tied to its leg was a letter. I was a little scared of it, and it must have sensed my fears because it perched on my chair and held out it leg. Seeing how this owl was so well trained, I approached the owl cautiously. The owl was very still when I untied the letter from its leg. "Thank you!" I told it the owl and stroke it. It hooted happily. I looked at the envelope; it had a Hogwarts seal, and this envelope was particularly big and thick. I opened it and found a letter and another envelope. I opened the letter first, and it read:
" Dear Ms. Tamy,
Hi! My name is Alberto Wheeze, the Head of the Muggle and Wizard Transportation Department from the England's Ministry of Magic. I am writing on behalf of Professor Gonelle Headmistress of Hogwarts. I've been keeping in touch with the Head of the Muggle and Wizard Transportation Department from the Council of Magic in America during the beginning of the summer. Arrangements had been made, and it is decided that you should take a plane to London, and someone will meet you there to take you to the Hogwarts Express. Her name is Ariel Gladstone. Your plane and train's ticket are enclosed in the second envelope. We apologize for the inconvenients, but as of right now we cannot find another way to get you to London. We are working around the clock to find an easy way to take students from faraway country to Hogwarts! Please be patient! Have a nice summer!
Alberto Wheeze
Head of the Muggles and Wizard Transportation"
I picked up the bigger unopened envelope and found that inside was two tickets. One was an airplane pass, and the other was a train ticket. It said that I'd be leaving on August 30th at 3:45pm. Everything seemed to be in order. I knew where I was going, how I was to get there, and how to get everything I needed, but there was one tiny problem still. How was I going to tell my parents that their precious little princess won't be going to high school next and be a doctor or a lawyer? How was I going to tell my parent that I would be going to a witch crafting school? They had so much great visions for me about all the great things I was going to be. What I was going to tell them wasn't going to be pretty because it meant that all their hopes and dreams were going up in smoke. Looking down on the pass, I knew that I had to tell them. How else would I get to New York according to the pass? But I still have almost two months to worry about it, it's still the beginning of July, and I won't be leaving until the end of August. Therefore, this meant that I had ample of time to think of something, one whole month more.
The story, or my story, began one mild, summer morning at the beginning of July when I woke up and prepared to leave for my babysitting job that day. It was such a fine and beautiful morning that it was hard to believe that my life was going to change completely after that day. My dad was the first to rise as usual, because he had to make morning coffee for mom and him, and hot chocolate for my brother and me. At exactly seven thirty in the morning, my dad drove me to the Carmichael for house my babysitting job. We had to go that early because it took half an hour to get from my house to theirs. The drive was exceptionally quiet because we both were still sleepy; his coffee wasn't working and neither was my chocolate though I didn't think chocolate had much caffeine in it. I yawned a lot and also did my father.
Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael were impatiently waiting for me outside their front door. My father left me and drove back home as I approach the Carmichaels. Mrs. Carmichael told me that her children was still sleeping upstairs in the bedrooms-the longer they stayed asleep the better for me- and a few other usual reminder,
"Remember the baby should only be fed twice when she woke up and in the afternoon! And she should-"
"Have as much to drink as possible. The same goes with Brian." I finished for her. "Yes, Mrs. Carmichael. I won't forget."
"Yes! Our cell phone numbers are on the fridge should you feel the need to call us, and the emergency telephone numbers are in a sticky note next to the-"
"The telephone in the living room, which is next the table beside the couch by the window. This is not my first time babysitting here Mrs. Carmichael. I know where most everything is, and you've never come home with anyone of your children missing, have you? So, you don't have much to worry about, except maybe that you might come home and find Brian worn-out because he were misbehaving and I was chasing him around to get him to behave himself."
"Oh, I know! I trust you. I do, but I'm a mother. I always have something to worry about, especially with a child like Brian." Said her with a little laugh. "Take good care of them! Bye!"
With that she climbed in the car with Mr. Carmichael, and they drove away.
The kids were still as sleep. So, I took the liberty to take a little nap before they woke up. When I woke up, it was already nine o'clock. I gave a jump, rushed upstairs to check on Brian and the baby, and saw that the baby was still asleep in her crib, but Brian, the seven years old was nowhere to be seen. My heart was thumping hard, and my mind was filled with worries of what could and might have happened to him. I rushed downstairs to check every nook and cranny of the house and shouting, "Brian! Brian, where are you?" Finally, I was relieved to find him in the bathroom trying to reach the medicine cabinet to get the toothpaste to brush his teeth. He saw me, and I laughed out right when he looked up to me and said innocently, "Can you get the toothpaste for me?"
"Of course," said I still laughing, "You scared me to death you little rascal."
That little rascal proved to be most frustrating and stubborn all that morning and early afternoon because he refused to listen to me meanwhile the baby was crying because she just had a new tooth and she missed her mommy. I was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Brian didn't stop screaming and kept shouting at me to play with him, but I couldn't because I have to calm the baby down. So, he started to cry too, and when that didn't work, he started to throw things around.
"Brian, you stop that, and I mean now!" I shouted. But he cried, "No! You like that baby more than Brian. You don't like me any more. You won't play with Brian."
I tried to run after him with the baby, who was still crying, in my arms, and when that didn't go to well, I put her down in her crib and started after Brian. For some reason, she found me chasing Brian amusing, because she stopped crying. That lasted for a few minutes, and then she started crying all over again. I couldn't stand it anymore: the baby crying, Brian screaming and throwing things around and breaking everything insight. I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't stand the noise. They were trying my very last bit of patient. I stopped chasing after Brian, and kneeled down on the floor in the middle of the living with all the papers and broken things around me holding my head with my hands covering my ears, "Argh!" I yelled, "STOP-THE-NOISE!" I let go of my hands. For one full minutes, everything went quiet all of the sudden. I could still see the baby mouth opened wide crying, and Brian screaming and bringing the vase down, but I couldn't hear them or the vase when it crashed down to the tiled floor. I could still hear the birds chirping outside and the random cars passing by, but I couldn't hear anything inside the house. Then, everything was back to normal. I now could hear the baby and Brian. I didn't know what to do anymore. I was at my wit ends. Luckily at that time when all things seem hopeless, I heard someone screamed, "Brian! What are you doing?" It was Mrs. Carmichael. The Carmichaels was at the door. My watch told me it was three o'clock already. I gave a loud sigh.
Half an hour later, Brian was in his room having a time out, the baby stopped crying and was resting peacefully in her mother's arms, and Mr. and Mrs. were apologizing for all the troubles Brian and the baby gave me.
"You don't have to apologize. I knew that it would happen sooner or later. That's one of the down sides of this job."
So I came home from the babysitting job by using the bus, and I was very wearisome and very frustrated. With much relieves when I was walking toward my house. I took the mails in and flopped down on the couch to see if there was any mail for me. Since no one was home, I didn't have to wrestle my brother to be the first one to go through the stack of mails. There were the usual bills, ads, bills, credit card approvals, and many, many more junk mails. Also, there was something else among the usual mails, the most unusual letter for me. It was made of a thick yellowish brown paper, and it didn't have a return address or even a receiving address just my name. Curiously, I turned it over with the intention of opening it, but what I saw gave me a jolt of shock, a wax seal coat of arm bearing a lion, a snake, a badger, and an eagle surrounding a letter "H". My first thought upon seeing this was that it might be just another junk mail full of advertisements for Warner Bros., so I turned it around a couple of times to look for Warner Bros.' Trademark somewhere on the envelope but didn't see any. This made me even more curious than before. I hastily opened the envelope with much impatient to see what was inside. There were three pieces of paper: two folded ones, and a tore up short piece of not, and all three was made of the same kind of thick paper material as the envelope. I took the biggest piece of folded paper, opened it, and read it. The letter was written in the kind of purple ink you would use with a fountain pen same as outside the envelope. On the very top of the piece of paper imprint the same wax seal of the coat of arm. Beneath it written, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry". Upon seeing this, I didn't know what to think I was too stunned. All I could do was read on,
" Dear Ms. Tamy, We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcrafts and Wizardry. The school year will start on August 31st. Enclosed is a list of necessary supplies and accessories for school.
We hope to see you soon meanwhile we await your owl to confirm the receiving of this letter. Professor Gonelle,
Headmistress of Hogwarts
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandos
"
I stared at the letter for a long time not knowing what to think, but luckily my concentration and thoughts was broken when I heard my parents at the doors. "Hey there! How did the babysitting go?" my dad asked.
"Well, the baby was screaming; the bay was yelling, running, and didn't listen to a word I said," I replied, "Need I go on?"
My dad gave a little laugh and pick up the mails. After, throwing several of them in the garbage and frowning at the bills, he noticed me. I was turning over the letter to see if anything was written on the back. He saw the confused and shocked look on my face and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" I lied. "Nothing at all."
That night, after everyone was asleep, I lay wide-awake thinking about the strange letter. I wanted so much to believe that the letter was genuine, but I knew that it couldn't be true. It was a very silly thought. Somehow there's a tiny speck of hope that in some mysterious way the letter could be genuine. Quietly not to make too much noise, I got out of bed and took out the envelope. From the envelope, the tore up note fell out. I turned on my table lamp and read it,
" All school supplies can be bought at Diagon Alley in London. They can also be bought in Saleem Alley, the nearest wizarding's market place near you. If you have any difficulties don't hesitate to send us and owl."
On the back, it wrote "Merlin's Goblet 22B Hillside Rd.". I began to wonder about the possibility. The speck of hope inside me grew. I knew that I was being silly, but something inside me was pulling me in. There was something else, my curiosity-I had the biggest curiosity- and I knew that I had to check this out to see if this was real or someone's lame idea of a joke, but how?
I began to pace about my room trying to think of something, something like a good idea of an excuse to take me to wherever this place was. While I was pacing, stepped on something, a map. I was looking at a map yesterday to find a museum. I need to do some research for an essay contest I entered. I brought the map to my desk and began to search for Hillside Road. Luckily, it didn't look to be too far from the museum. This was working out better than I thought, but it still had a flaw. My Dad was driving me there because it was too far for me to walk there, and my dad didn't trust the bus, which meant that I only had a certain amount of time to do my exploring. Deciding that I would worry about it in the morning, I went back to bed.
Next day, my dad dropped me of at the gate of the museum. Before he went, he gave me a couple of reminders; "We'll be back for you at 2:30. Be sure you're going to be here at that time and not a moment later. Alright?" I nodded. Then, he drove out of sight. Now what, I told myself. I went to the information desk to ask for directions to Hillside Road. After much hustling since the lady at the information desk didn't live anywhere near her and that meant she called several people for help, I finally go my directions on a piece of paper. The paper was full of eraser marks and crossed-outs, but I could still read it. As I walked out of the museum, I looked at my watch. It told me that it was 10:50. I got almost two hours before I have to be back here again to wait for my parents. So, I walked fast following the instructions on the paper and looking at signs with various places I was supposed to look for. Once, I got lost and had to stop a passerby to ask for directions.
Half an hour later, I arrived at Hillside road. I watched the number on the buildings very cautiously. Some of the buildings were missing the number signs, and that made it a lot harder for me. "Hmm! Forty-four, forty- two, forty," I read out loud, "this way!" I ran quickly down the road and passed a set of lights. When I ran past number twenty-eight, I slowed down and look for the "Merlin's Goblet" sign. I had to ran up and down the street about two or three times before I found a small white sign with green letters that said "Merlin's Goblet" above a small and narrow door. In between the sign and the door was a tiny engraved number "22B". It was so small that if you just glanced at the door you wouldn't be able to notice it at all. Nervously, I walked toward the door and turned to knob to see if it was locked. Evidently, it was not. Peering inside, several people were drinking, sipping, and talking to each other like this was just another café. A couple of heads turned as I walked inside and then resumed their conversation; obviously, no one cared much to take any notice of me. The room seemed bigger than it looked on the outside, but it looked just as quaint. Walking further into the place, I saw several more people, and they dressed very strangely, too. One lady wore a long dark red gown, and another man wore a dark maroon gown with a black cloak. He also had a pointed wizard's hat beside him on the table.
"Can I help you, dear?" said voice behind me. A middle-aged lady was standing behind me smiling kindly as I turn around. "Hi!" I said nervously. "Um.I was, um, wondering where the, um."
"The Saleem Alley, my dear?" she finished the thought for me. In truth, I was thinking of the bathroom, but this was even better. This proved that there was such a thing as Saleem Alley.
"Yes!" Answered I.
"This way, please, and follow me!" said she while turning and walked toward the end of the room. I followed. There was a back door, and it was twice as big as the one in the front. After I step through the door, I saw mass of people who wore funny clothes as the two that I described. Everyone was dressed in gowns, robed, and cloak, and just a few kids and teenagers dressed like me, in T-shirts and jeans. A few had a robe over their clothes. "I'll see you soon, dear." The kind lady said and waved. I waved back and saw a big green sign that had the words "Merlin's Goblet" painted in white. I looked at my watch and saw that I only had a little more than an hour left. "I'd better looked around for a little while," I told myself, "Then I had better walk back to the museum and fast."
So, I walked up the road. There were a lot of shops and restaurants like a downtown. People were exchanging some kind of golden coins; it must have been money. At an intersection, there was a stone building with huge, gold, engraved letters "Gringrotts Bank". There were two small creatures standing guard, grunting as people went inside. The creature were no more than three feet high, and had long fingers, rough skin, and white hair, which was very little. Both were holding a long pointed stick, and I bet those are weapons.
Curious, I went inside despite the knot in my stomach. Inside, there were more of those creatures sitting behind a long high desk. Each of those creatures was about two feet apart. People were lining up talking to the creatures on the high desk and then being led by another into a door behind the high desk. I was too busy looking this way and that to notice that I was lining up with the rest of the people here. When I finally notice what was going on, it was almost my turn. There was only another man in front of me, and he was dressed in normal clothes: a tie, a blouse, and khaki pant; but he has a dull yellow robe over them. I only noticed his normal clothes when he turned around and shouted at the door. She wore the most beautiful sky blue gown with a laced dark blue robe with two imprinted white flowers over it. "Is Morgana with you?" he shouted at her.
"She is with some friends at the ice-cream place." The lady replied.
"Alright! I still need to exchanged the rest our new Muggles money into our money."
Muggle money? I thought. Before I even have time to think about this it was his turn. "Yes?" the creature, which I bet was goblins, said.
"I'd like to exchange the Muggle money." The man in the yellow robe said and gave the goblin a bunch of dollar bills. I saw several $50 and $100. Those gold coins must worth a lot. I thought. After it carefully counted the dollar bills, the goblins handed him a sack-full of jingling coins. The sack was roughly the size of a cantaloupe. The man in the yellow robe took the bag and joined his wife out of Gringrotts. Now, it was my turn. I looked up at an ugly face with a hooked, pointed nose. "Yes?" it said with a gloomy, mistrusting voice, which scared me. "Um," I whispered nervously. "Just a second." Something told me that if I just came in, stepped in line, and then walked out without doing anything, I'm going to be in trouble. So, I took out my wallet and forty dollars, reached out, and gave it to the goblin. The goblin took the money with its long crooked fingers and laid the bills down one by one carefully and slowly. When it was satisfied, the goblin put the bills someplace behind the desk, took out small money a bag made of cloth, and gave it to me. I took the sack and muttered feebly, "Thanks!" After I was safely outside, I let out a loud, long sigh full of gladness to be out of that gloomy place. Checking my watch again, I only had a little more than fifty minutes more until my dad arrived at the museum to pick me up. The bag contains a few gold coins, some silver, and a bundle of copper ones. With a bag full of money, I walked around looking for some place to spend these "money". In a corner of a street lay a quaint little shop. The sign that was place on top of the shop was very battered and across the beat-up sign was written "Words of Wisdom". Curious, I walked up to the shop and went inside. A bell jingled as I stepped in. This was a bookshop. There were some new books, some old with pages yellowed and turned brown with time. The shop was quiet and empty; a dusty wonderful smell of old books mingled with new permeated the air inside this shop. The quietness of this shop reminded me of the library.
Then, I remember the letter saying something about a list of supplies. I pulled out the letter from my bag's pocket and took out the letter, the note, and the third piece of paper. It was a list, and it read,
"All students starting school in August needs the following:
3 Black gowns
1 Black hat
2 Maroon robes
1 pair of protective gloves (preferably dragon hide)
1 cloak or any winter wear
1 telescope
1 wand (preferably from Ollivander)
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size)
1 metallic scale
and the following books:
Basic Transfiguration by G.E. Darce
Early History of Magic by Dawn Thoreau
A guide to basic Potion making and mixing by Pat Poise
Common Herbs and Fungi by Herman Fudge
Collective Charms and Spells by Sabetha Spellman
Stars and Planets by Estella by Estella Stowe
Early Magic Theory by Henry Baffling
Common Magical Creatures by Bennett Draco
A potion kit for Beginners
Students are also allowed to bring one pet to school."
I looked closely at the titles of books and then scanned around for the books listed in the list. I walked up and down isles after isles. For a quaint little store, it had a lot of books. I looked around the store at the many shelves of books hopelessly lost. "School books are stacked by the windows." I spun around immediately and saw an old man. He was very old with little white hair and kind sparkling eyes behind his thick glasses. This must be the shop owner; he was dressed in a maroon gown with dark purple robe. The old man was carrying several books in his arms,
"What books do you need?" he asked leading the way to the shelves by the window. "I have every books that have ever published from a century ago until here."
Instead of reading the list, I gave him it. He read off one book at a time and then pointed them out for me. At last with the books under my arms, the old man led me to a counter. As he muttered the price, a pencil scribbled furiously on a piece of paper. The pencil must have done the calculation for him too, because when he was done saying the price, he took up the piece of paper, looked at it, and then told me, "Five Galleons and sixteen sickles." Hoping I was correct, I took out five gold coins and counted sixteen silver coins. I must have been correct because he took it without a word of complaints. When I handed him the coins, my eyes fell on a book with a green cover. It looked so inviting with a pink rose in the center, and a luminous scent of morning dew, which seemed like it was from the rose. "It was my favorite book." The old man said. "A very good book, it is."
"What's the book about?" I asked. "It doesn't seem to have a title."
"It does," he said pointing to the space above the rose. "It's in invisible ink. You need to tab it three times with your wand. Watch!" Words in bright yellow ink began to appear. "Defender of the Rose" it wrote. Even its title seemed mysterious and inviting. "How much do you sell this book for?" I asked when I couldn't resist much longer. "How much?" he asked sounding sad and full of regrets. "Oh! I'm sorry, but I don't think I have the heart to part with it. A very dear friend gave it to me. He wrote this book in memory of us, and dedication to our long lasting friendship. I love this book very much with all my heart and soul; it got me through very tough times. I don't think I could ever let it out of my sight."
"Oh!" said I with much disappointment. "You have good reasons, though. If I have a book that has that much meanings to me, I don't think I could give it away much less sale it. I understand, but it looked like a very good and exciting book, though."
"Tell you what!" he must have seen the disappointment in my eyes and the sadness in my tone, "I'll let you borrow this book. You can keep this book until next year when I'm sure you'll come here again to buy your new set of school books." He took the precious book from display, took one good and final look at his greatest treasure, and then handed to me with a loud sigh. "Please take good care of it for me."
"Are you sure? It means so much to you, I mean, it was from your old friend. It's the only thing that keeps you going when you feel down in the dumps. You're giving it to a complete stranger."
"A stranger who knows the value of books, and realize the significance of the book even though it is not her own. I can see it in your eyes. You love books as much as I do, and you treasure them as if it was your very own life. I think I can trust you with this book. One lone wolf knows another." He pushed the book toward me. "Take extra special care of it for me."
"I will! I promised."
I carefully put the book inside my bags along with the others. Then, I headed for the door. I gave the kind old shop owner one more wave at the door, and walked back down the street. With the list supplies in my hand, I looked around for shop that I could by stuffs from. I was looking for one particular shop; the shop I had to go in before I leaved today. Then, I found it, Ollivander wand shop: makers of fine wands since 350 B.C. This was the shop I wanted to go to; it was the shop that I looked forward to, hoping to find. Like the bookshop, it was very quaint and quiet. Like the bookshop, it was small, empty, and filled with shelves, but the shelves were not filled with books. But unlike the bookshop, it only have one small window and very dark. There was not light, except for one candle at a far corner of the shop. They were stocked with long small boxes in various sizes. A short dumpy man appeared from one of the shelves with a smile on his face and a gleam if excitements in his eyes. He wore a black gown with many small stars on the rim of the bottom and a long pointed dark gray hat. "Hello and good afternoon!" he said giving me a little bow.
"Good afternoon!" I replied.
"My name is Guy Ollivander!" he said and then commanded. "Please, put out your wand arm!"
I did as instructed and put out my right arm although I don't even know what he meant by "wand arm". The man took a measuring tape and started to measure my arm. Then, he went off to a table and picked up a pencil and a piece of parchment paper. To my surprise, the tape measure was still measuring. Mr. Ollivander wrote something down while the tape measure was still measuring. When he was done writing, he went to the shelves take down several of those long boxes while the pencil was still scribbling furiously on the paper, which was in mid-air. The shop owner walked back and shouted,
"Stop! That's enough!" Immediately, the tape measure, the paper, and pencil dropped to the floor motionless.
Mr. Ollivander opened a box and took out a short black stick and gave it to me. "Now child, try this," he said, "Ebony, phoenix feather, ten inches. Give it a wave!" Accordingly, I did as told. Nothing happened, therefore he immediately took it out of my hand and gave me another. "Ash, Dragon's Heartstring, twelve inches and three quarters." This time a tiny spark came out of the end of the stick, which made me jumped a little. I was very pleased with the result; he on the other hand wasn't satisfied with it at all. Mr. Ollivander just shook his head and gave me another, and another, and another. "Hmm! A difficult customer, eh?" he said merely when I tried all of the wands in the pile of wand's boxes he brought over. The shop owner walked to a small shelf and took out a rather long box longer than all the others I tried. When he brought it over, I could see that it was covered with dusts. He blew the dust off the box and filled the shop's floor with gray powders. Inside the box was many, many wrapping papers amidst those paper was a long wand, longer than the usual ones that I've seen. "Now let's see if this one is compatible with you." He said with a sigh and gave the unusual wand to me. "Sycamore, Mermaid's golden hair, twenty-two inches long." I gave the wand a wave; it felt wonderful. Something like a streak of electricity surge through me from the tip of the wand up my arm and through out my body. At that moment the most wonderful thing happened, from the tip of the wand came a stream of violets sparks that illuminated the darken store. A ball of lights soared up from the stream and burst like a fireworks display. I stood there marveled at what I had done with just a wave of a long wooden stick. "Well, well, well," said Mr. Ollivander with a big, bright, satisfied smile, "So, it had finally chosen an owner."
"It had finally chosen an owner?" I repeated.
"Yes, I've had this wand for a long time." Said he. "Mermaid's hair is a very rare wand core, because it's uncommon that merpeople will shed their hair. It's even more extraordinary that one will find a mermaid with golden hair. Thus, you can see how rare the core in your wand is. It is a great wand, and it is only meant to for your use only. Because it is so rare and valuable, not many people are compatible with it. That means that you are a very special girl. I may be a little sad to be parted with it because I had bonded with it, but I am happier now that it had finally chosen an owner. Take good care of it."
"Wow!" I said amazed. "Is it really that special?"
"Yes!"
"Awesome! It's mine, and it's special. So that makes me special. I'm special." Mr. Ollivander laughed heartily at this.
I looked at my wand with awe knowing how special it was and that I was the owner of such a thing. Special as it was, my wand cost me three gold coins and two copper ones. I thanked Mr. Ollivander and tucked the wrapped wand box safely in my bag pack. When I looked at my watch, it told me that it was 2:05 already. Hastily, I dashed out of Ollivander wand shop and ran down the cobbled stone street as fast as I can. People looked at me with the strangest looks when I burst into Merlin's Goblet and immediately stormed out of the small door then into the street. I ran and ran as quickly as my feet could carry me. I stopped at the gate panting out of breath. I looked at my watch and it told me that my dad would arrive in approximately two minutes. True to his words, my dad car appeared on the horizon at exactly two-thirty. "Hey there! Did you have to wait long?" he asked as I got into the car even though he was on time. It was out of habits because he was never late anymore.
"Did you find all you need?" he asked as we drove down the street.
"Yeah!" I answered.
"What's in that bag?" he asked. "It looked like you put the whole museum in there."
I took out one of the book and handed to him. "They had some really good books in the gift shop of the museum. So, I thought I bought it for later references in my essays and for some light reading. The school summer reading list has books that are so boring." Said I holding up a book called "Early History of Magic". "Early History of Magic," read he during a red light, "Hmm! Interesting title."
When I got home and went to my room, an owl was hooting outside my window. Immediately, I opened the window and the screen and allowed the brown owl in. Tied to its leg was a letter. I was a little scared of it, and it must have sensed my fears because it perched on my chair and held out it leg. Seeing how this owl was so well trained, I approached the owl cautiously. The owl was very still when I untied the letter from its leg. "Thank you!" I told it the owl and stroke it. It hooted happily. I looked at the envelope; it had a Hogwarts seal, and this envelope was particularly big and thick. I opened it and found a letter and another envelope. I opened the letter first, and it read:
" Dear Ms. Tamy,
Hi! My name is Alberto Wheeze, the Head of the Muggle and Wizard Transportation Department from the England's Ministry of Magic. I am writing on behalf of Professor Gonelle Headmistress of Hogwarts. I've been keeping in touch with the Head of the Muggle and Wizard Transportation Department from the Council of Magic in America during the beginning of the summer. Arrangements had been made, and it is decided that you should take a plane to London, and someone will meet you there to take you to the Hogwarts Express. Her name is Ariel Gladstone. Your plane and train's ticket are enclosed in the second envelope. We apologize for the inconvenients, but as of right now we cannot find another way to get you to London. We are working around the clock to find an easy way to take students from faraway country to Hogwarts! Please be patient! Have a nice summer!
Alberto Wheeze
Head of the Muggles and Wizard Transportation"
I picked up the bigger unopened envelope and found that inside was two tickets. One was an airplane pass, and the other was a train ticket. It said that I'd be leaving on August 30th at 3:45pm. Everything seemed to be in order. I knew where I was going, how I was to get there, and how to get everything I needed, but there was one tiny problem still. How was I going to tell my parents that their precious little princess won't be going to high school next and be a doctor or a lawyer? How was I going to tell my parent that I would be going to a witch crafting school? They had so much great visions for me about all the great things I was going to be. What I was going to tell them wasn't going to be pretty because it meant that all their hopes and dreams were going up in smoke. Looking down on the pass, I knew that I had to tell them. How else would I get to New York according to the pass? But I still have almost two months to worry about it, it's still the beginning of July, and I won't be leaving until the end of August. Therefore, this meant that I had ample of time to think of something, one whole month more.