Revolutions
Chapter 1: The Second Letter
By Seadragon
~
"James! Wake up!"
Groggily, I opened my eyes. I stared at the ceiling for a minute, trying in vain to remember why my dad would be waking me up early on a Sunday morning. Football was over for the season, school didn't start till late next week, and certainly not on a Sunday! I hadn't made plans with any of my friends, or with my parents.
I couldn't think of a single reason for my dad to wake me up on Sunday, September 1st, 2013. But, never the less, he was doing just that.
"JAMES!"
"Calm down Dad! I'm up!"
I groaned and rolled out of bed, ending up in a heap on the floor, with my blankets still tangled around me. I rubbed my elbow, having just whacked it on the floor, and stood up, leaving the blankets where they were.
Walking over to my closet, I stopped in front of the mirror. I frowned at my reflection, I still had that black eye Roger from down the street had given me on Thursday. Other than that, I looked the same as usual. Actually, I suppose the black eye could be counted as regular, Roger and his friends gave them to me on a regular basis. They said they did it because I wasn't normal.
People are always telling me I look exactly like my dad, and I suppose it's true. We have the same mess of black hair, the same shockingly green eyes, and are both small and slight. We even both wear contacts.
Sometimes it's a little spooky, but I like looking like him, he's pretty cool for a dad.
Roger says I'm not normal a lot, but looking in the mirror, I just don't see it. I look like all the other kids, albeit skinnier and shorter. I guess he means it in some other way.
Before I went to school it never occurred to me that having two dads was anything less than normal. What I thought was strange was that I didn't have any other relatives to speak of. It was as though my parents had just appeared on this earth one day.
While I look exactly like one of them, I look nothing like the other, it's kind of weird sometimes. But I don't let it bother me, the only thing that bothers me now is Roger, and only because he is such an aggravating person.
"James! We're going to be late!"
I was tempted to shout back 'for what?', but figured that if they hadn't told me by now, they weren't going to until they wanted to, and if I hurried up, that might be sooner rather than later.
I tore myself away from the mirror, and continued on to my closet. Inside were enough clothes for all of England! Well, at least our town anyway. I rifled through them for a minute before pulling a pair of black cargos and a green t-shirt out. I got changed relatively quickly, shoved some socks on my feet, and ran out of my room.
I ran into the bathroom and brushed my teeth quickly. I didn't bother even trying to brush my hair, it wasn't going to do anything. Glancing at the clock before I raced downstairs, I wondered once again just what was going on. The clock told me it was only nine o'clock in the morning.
"James!"
I rolled my eyes and bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen. One of my dads was sitting at the table. He's the one I look almost exactly like. Only one thing is different, he has a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his forehead. Whenever I ask either of them about it, they change the subject. I gave up asking a long time ago.
It used to bother me that my parents kept secrets from me, but I realized that I do the same thing. Neither of them knows that Roger Telhan and his buddies beat on me whenever they can.
"Finally, the sleeping giant awakes." My dad grins as I sit down across from him and take an apple from the basket in the middle. It's his last name I use for school, for some reason they didn't want me to take the other. It's mine legally, but for casual things, I'm just James Potter. I wish they would let me use both, I like being James Sirius Potter-Malfoy.
I'm not quite sure where my middle name came from, whenever I ask, my dad gets a sad look on his face, and my da has to cheer him up. Again, I stopped asking a long time ago.
Things used to get quite confusing having to dad's, but now, one is Dad, and the other is Da. It makes a lot more sense, then having them both come running.
Now, Dad's looking at me with an expression of longing on his face. Before I can ask him about it though, Da comes into the room, a little out of breath. In his hand, he has the mail.
Now I'm getting a little confused, usually I go to get the mail, and kick my football around while I do it, it's quite a run to the mailbox.
"It's here." He says, and I look at him, my brow furrowed. Before I can ask them what is going on, Da hands me a beige envelope, with my name on it.
In green ink, it says,
Mr. James Sirius Potter-Malfoy
Godric's Hollow
16 Falcrest Lane
Gwynedd, England
Curious, I open the letter carefully. So carefully, I didn't even notice Da slip his hand into Dad's and squeeze it reassuringly. I unfolded the letter and started to read.
~
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter-Malfoy,
We are please to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
~
I think I dropped the letter, I'm not entirely sure. But who on earth can blame me? You don't learn that you're a wizard every day after all. But something on the letter bothered me, and I didn't remember until I looked at the calendar.
"But that's today! And we never replied."
"We did, a while ago." Dad said, the sad look on his face gone. Now he was just beaming.
This didn't seem quite right for some reason. I looked at them, the letter, the envelope, and back to my parents. I realized why that didn't make sense. "The envelope was sealed." I said stupidly.
"We knew what it was, and got your stuff, except for your wand." Da said.
"My what?" Something was going on here. How would they know what it was? How could they know what I needed? I got the feeling that Dad's scar and my middle name weren't the only secrets in this house.
Dad smiled. "Your wand, you will need one. But we planned ahead for that." He stood up and dropped Da's hand and took mine. I got to my feet slowly and he pulled me out of the kitchen and into the living room.
Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't this.
Sitting on our couch, was a wizened old man. Around him, at least a hundred long, thin boxes were scattered. His only acknowledgement of us entering the room was one word.
"Sit." He said firmly, and I didn't doubt he was talking to me. I sat on the couch opposite him, Dad on one side, Da on the other. The man raised his head and looked me in the eye. "You're a year late."
Was it just me, or did my parents suddenly look defensive?
He gave them a curious look, and then nodded in what appeared to be understanding. "I am Mr. Ollivander, and your parents," He looked pointedly at Dad and Da. "Have asked me to make a house call so you can get a wand."
This man frightened me a little, his eyes seemed like they could see everything, even what you were hiding. I watched him nervously as he picked a box at random from the pile. He handed it to me and motioned for me to open it.
I did and took out the thin piece of wood. I looked at it curiously, what could this thing do? It seemed too flimsy to have any real power.
"Willow and dragon heartstring. Ten inches and a half inches. Go on then, give it a wave." Mr. Ollivander said impatiently.
Feeling more than just a little foolish, I did just that. I jumped a little as a lamp was blasted into bits. Mr. Ollivander snatched it away, just to hand me another.
And on it went, by now, most of the living room was demolished. Dad and Da were both trying to keep from laughing, Mr. Ollivander shot them a disapproving look when they gave up and laughed as a jet of red light ricocheted off the walls.
Finally, Mr. Ollivander got a strange look in his eyes, and began digging through the boxes that now covered the couch, table, and most of the floor. At last, he sat up again, holding yet another box. He handed it to me with a triumphant look on his face.
"Try this one, mahogany and phoenix feather. Tweleve inches, quite pliable." As soon as I touched it, a kind of warmth spread through me. The wand began shooting off green and gold sparks before I could even 'give it a wave' as Mr. Ollivander said.
My parents stopped laughing, and both had happy smiles on their faces.
"That's the one then." Da said, looking at me with pride. He turned to Mr. Ollivander. "How much?"
"Nine Galleons, Mr. Malfoy."
Da stood up and took a handful of big gold coins from his jacket pocket. He handed them to Mr. Ollivander and shook his hand. "Thank you for coming. We appreciate it."
Mr. Ollivander looked like he wanted to say something, but settled instead for a nod, and then he, and all the wands, disappeared.
As for me, I am getting more and more confused every minute.