Chapter 10: Flash

The three walked out of Ollivanders together, with Katherine and Charlotte's newly purchased wands. The girls were quiet, but kept smiling at each other as they stood in the road. Katherine suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and gave a small gasp.

"Agh! I forgot- my mom wanted me to meet her at Eeylops!" She cried.

"Oh..." Charlotte sighed.

"I've gotta go... right now! She's probably worried sick or something," she rushed. "Mr. Talon, it was nice meeting you. Oh, and Charlotte..."

"Yes?"

"Let's sit together on the train tomorrow! I'll save you a seat," Katherine said with a smile.

"That sounds great," Charlotte replied.

With a wave, Katherine took off in the other direction, and soon could not be seen.

Mr. Talon looked over at his daughter, and thought of how proud he had become of her. Many a time he had thought about how far away his job kept him from seeing her and Laura. Mr. Talon sighed as he pondered whether he was a good father or not. He decided that the two of them should have some fun before Charlotte would have to leave for Hogwarts in the morning.

"Charlotte," he started, "How would you like to have your own pet?"

Charlotte looked over at him in delight; her eyes sparkling. "Are you serious, Dad?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he beamed.

"This is so cool! What can I get?"

"Take out your supplies list; you tell me!"

Charlotte reached into the pocket of her sweater, taking out her Hogwarts supplies list. Under where it stated to purchase one set of brass scales, it said, "Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad."

She already had what she wanted in mind. Just like on the day she found out that magic was real after all.

"Dad... how about an owl?" she requested.

"If that's what you want," Mr. Talon replied.

"Alright! So we're going to Eeylops?" she asked, thinking Katherine might still be there. With a nod, Mr. Talon showed Charlotte the way to the shop.

With all of the pets that she had ever owned, this one was special. Even compared to her lizards and fish, it was more important than that.

***

Charlotte peeked inside the cage again. There, under the cloth covering the metal bars stood a small, grey-spotted owl. She had picked him out specially, and he reminded her of her introduction to the magical world.

"Hey, Flash," she cooed, "You get some sleep now. We've got a big day tomorrow."

And, as if Flash could understand her, he tucked his head underneath his wing and began inhaling deeply; soon asleep.

The bedroom at the Inn was fairly quiet, aside from her father's slight snoring. Downstairs, a man named Tom was still running the bar, though he said that he would wake both Mr. Talon and her when it was time to leave for the train.

Over in the corner was Charlotte's school trunk, already filled for the day ahead. It actually belonged to her father as a child, and to her, that made it special. Why wouldn't it? Charlotte gazed lazily at the ceiling, wondering about a few things. Would Katherine be her only friend? What if she failed her classes? What were they even like?

These questions and more consumed her thoughts. Some were important, and others were quite stupid, such as what she would do if she lost her toothbrush.

But what about Deanna? Her best friend? Although Charlotte had promised to keep in touch and come home for Christmas, there would be things left undone, and she didn't think anyone at Hogwarts could do them for her. Things Deanna could only do.

Deanna had to keep her end of the secret, too. Due to the Wizarding Code of Secrecy that Mr. Talon had explained to the both of them, muggles weren't even supposed to know about magic. Deanna had to pretend Charlotte had only gone to a boarding school, nothing more. And that was fine with her.

But Charlotte wanted something else. For the first time, she wanted someone to tease her and call her "Charlie" again.

She got up from the lumpy bed and stared at herself in the mirror. What a sight she was- her red hair was stringy and needed to be washed, her hazel eyes looked tired and had bags underneath them. She could tell how awful she looked at the moment. The only thing was, she didn't need someone else to tell her so.

"Dear, you look terribly fatigued. Try and get some sleep. I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning," said a voice.

"Huh? Who said that?" Charlotte asked, bemused.

"Only the mirror, dear. Nothing to worry about. Now, please go to sleep."

Charlotte was indeed very tired; too tired to wonder how a piece of furniture was talking to her in the first place.

"Yeah, good night," she yawned, walking over to her bed. After she crawled in, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. The mirror sighed with relief as Charlotte began to snore. Too many residents that had used this room had not been able to sleep after discovering that the mirror could talk. The last thing anyone needed was a screaming little girl thrashing about a mirror.