Chapter 2
A Whole New Life
Chris decided to go to the washroom first and changed his look. The washroom was very clean. He locked himself in one of it and faced the mirror hanging on the washroom door. He lightened his eyes color a little and changed his hair color into black. His hair was still very messy, but it was better because Chris tied it up. He also changed the photo in his passport. Chris decided to stay with Christian Farandole as his name because he hadn't told anyone about his new name.
After finished changing his look, Chris headed to the immigration and gave his passport to the officer. The man was tall and muscular.
"Mr. Christian Farandole?" the officer asked as he scanned Chris' passport.
"Yes," Chris said and looked up.
The officer finished inputting his data and said, "Okay, here you go,"
"Thank you. Can you tell me where can I find a good place to live?" he asked politely.
"Are you going to stay here?"
"Yes," Chris said, looking straight at the man's eyes.
"You can ask in the information desk over there. I'm sure they'll suggest you some good ones," he said and pointed at the information desk near the way out.
"Thank you," Chris said and left.
Chris went straight to the information desk and saw a blonde woman sitting at the desk.
"Can I help you, Sir?" she asked.
"Yes, please. I'll need a place to live, which is good and not too expensive," Chris stated.
The clerk gave him some alternative and Chris was busy looking through all of it.
"Is there any apartment with a college nearby?" Chris asked. He was planning to attend a college, but wasn't very sure about it.
"Ah, yes. This one, Saint Virgo building has a quite good college nearby. It has just been opened last week and the price isn't too high, $250 a month, you'll get access to the facilities, such as the swimming pool, fitness center, and clubs. With the low price, the room isn't too large, but I think it's big enough for one person to live. Electricity and water service will be charged monthly. The community isn't too crowded yet and the security is good. Most of the residences are college students. I think it's perfect for you if you want to attend the college," she smiled at Chris and gave him another brochure.
"I'll take it. Can you give me the address, please?" he said after taking a good look at the brochure.
"Okay. Here you go," she gave Chris a piece of paper. Chris looked at the paper.
St. Virgo Building
#756 Harrington Street
New York
Chris looked at the clock. It was 12:45 p.m. there. Chris set his watch and walked to a taxi stand. He queued for a while and got his taxi. Chris went into the taxi and showed the note to the driver. After forty five minutes journey, the taxi stopped by a security gate.
"Are we there?" Chris asked the taxi driver.
"Yes, young man. We'll be there in no time," the driver answered and chuckled.
The security gate opened and the taxi headed toward the main building. It was a black, three floored building, surrounded by five high towers. Chris took his wallet from his bag and paid the taxi driver.
"Thank you," he said as he handed the money to the taxi driver.
The taxi driver nodded and smiled at him. Then he drove the taxi away.
Chris stepped into the main building and scanned the first floor. The room was in a black marble floor and milky white painted wall. Chris headed to the reception desk.
"Excuse me, I would like to rent a room, please," he said.
The receptionist looked up and said, "Welcome, if you want to rent a room, please fill all fields in this form. The fee is $250 a month, you can use all the facilities."
"Oh, okay. Just a moment, I'll be back," Chris said and left to the washroom. After he made sure that no one was there, he conjured an ID card, exactly like Dumbledore's and changed his information. Then, he slipped it on his wallet and went back to the reception.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Ah, yes," the receptionist said and handed Chris the form.
Chris filled the form up and handed it back.
"May I see your ID Card, please?"
Chris pulled his card out of his wallet and handed it to the receptionist. The receptionist was matching the information and when she finished, she gave Chris back his ID Card.
"Okay, Mr. Farandole. About the payment, do you want to pay by cash or credit card?" she asked patiently.
"Credit card, please," Chris said and gave his new credit card to her.
"Okay, please wait for a moment," she said and gone to another room behind the reception desk. Chris took a seat on a sofa nearby. He clutched his hand together and put his chin on it, staring at the ceiling through his spectacles. Chris had transfigured his glasses to a rectangular shape on the day he left. Five minutes later, Chris noticed the door behind the reception desk opened and he walked back to the reception.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," the receptionist said.
"It's okay," Chris replied.
"Your room is in tower three, room 711. Here is your key and credit card," she handed Chris his credit card and room key.
"Thank you. I heard there is a college here nearby. Where is it?" he asked.
"It's near your tower. Just follow the path and there will be directions," she stated and smiled.
"Thanks," Chris cried and smiled at her.
"You're welcome. Enjoy your stay!"
Chris stepped outside the main building and followed the direction to tower three. Tower three was in the same shape of other towers. Milky white painted wall and some light blue shade on it. Chris walked to the lobby and scanned it. The lobby was covered by peach colored marble floor and the same milky white paint on the wall. Chris pressed the elevator button and soon, the door opened and he went inside. Chris read the information of every floor and went to the seventh floor, where his new room located. The elevator started moving and stopped when he reached the seventh floor. Chris stepped away and the door closed.
The seventh floor corridor reminded Chris of Gryffindor Common Room. But instead of Gold, the color was peach, and there was a dark red carpet on the floor. Chris headed to room 711 and inserted his key. The door was unlocked and Chris went inside the room, closing the door behind him.
The room was likely the same size of his former dormitory, but was divided into four different parts. There were a living room, a kitchen, and one bedroom bathroom. The room was well furnished and looked very comfortable
After exploring his new home, Chris collapsed himself to the comfortable sofa and fell into a dreamless sleep.Six hours later, Chris woke up. Where am I? Oh, right, New York.. he thought. Chris looked at his watch, which showed eight o'clock. He walked to the window and looked outside. It was already dark and he his stomach had started rumbling.
"Oh, my… I'm starving, let's see if there's something in the kitchen," he said to himself.
Chris walked to the kitchen and searched for food. But he didn't find anything. Well, time for magic! he thought. Chris clapped his hand and conjured some toasts and a glass of milk. He sat at the small dining table and began eating the toast.
"Hmm, not bad… But I'll have to go to the supermarket tomorrow," he said to himself again. I feel strange, no body's here… It's so quiet. I know, I'll buy a dog tomorrow! he thought.
Chris cleaned the dishes with a wave of his hand and then began to unpack his belongings. After finished arranging everything up, he went outside for a walk. Chris headed to the poolside. There were a few people, seemed like college students, in the poolside. He walked around and someone called him.
"Hey, you!" said an unfamiliar voice.
Chris turned back and saw a man, around his age waved his hand and approached. The man had a shimmering blue eyes, raven short hair, and a muscular build. He wore a sleeveless white body-tight tee shirt, which showed his great body shape.
"I've never seen you before, are you new here?" said the man.
"Um, yeah. I've just arrived this afternoon. I'm Christian Farandole, nice to meet you," Chris replied cheerfully and offered his hand. The man shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm John Claymore, you can call me Joe. Come, let's take a seat," he said and pointed at the bench nearby.
Chris sat down and continued, "You can call me Chris too." Chris smiled at him warmly.
"I've been here since last week. It's really nice here. I live at tower two. Which tower are you in?" Joe said.
"Tower three," Chris replied.
"You sound like British," Joe said quietly.
"Uh, yeah, I've been living in London until yesterday," Chris explained uneasily.
"Oh, I see… Are you going to the college?"
"I'm planning to, but I haven't applied yet," Chris said.
"Ah, me too. How if we apply together tomorrow?" Joe offered.
"Sounds great. Anyway, what's good in the college?"
"Hmm, you don't know? Well, it has the best soccer and basketball club in New York," Joe explained.
"Soccer? Do you mean football?" Chris asked, looking confused.
"Yeah, in British you call it football. Ever played soccer?" Joe asked.
"Um, yeah. I happened to play once in Elementary School, but my cousin kicked me out of the field. I don't know why, but he hated me so much. I've never played soccer since that day. But I really want to try," he admitted.
"Poor you, I can't see anything of you that make your cousin hate you so much," Joe said.
"How long have you played soccer?"
"I've played since I was five. My father was a professional player. Oh, right, I'll teach you how to play if you join the club. I've planned to join it for a long time, that's why I want to go to this college," Joe said again.
"Hmm, okay, I'd love to," Chris said.
"Great! Well, want to see my room?" Joe asked and began to walk away.
"If you don't mind," Chris yelled and followed Joe to his room.
The furniture in Joe's room was pretty much the same as Chris' room. The only difference was the color. Tower two was furnished in a blue and silver theme.
"You live alone?" Chris said when they dropped themselves on the sofa.
"Yeah. I've always been alone in my life," Joe said sadly.
"Same then," Chris muttered.
"Don't you feel lonely?"
"Sometimes. But in London, I got some friends. So I don't feel as bad as here… I've just woken up after a long nap this evening and found it was so quiet without anyone around me. Hey, I think I heard you say your father taught you playing soccer when you were five…" Chris said.
"Yeah, but when I was seven, we had a car crash, and I'm the only one who survived. And then I lived with my uncle, but he didn't really care of me, so I left his house. Anyway, what about your parents?" Joe asked.
Chris released himself to the sofa and mumbled, "They… they died when I was only one. I lived with my mum's sister and her family, but they never like me."
"I know how it feels, Chris. Anyway, better go to bed now. It's late and we'll have to apply for the college tomorrow," he said.
"Yeah. Okay then, tomorrow at 11 at the poolside?" Chris said as he rose from the sofa and headed to the door.
"Sounds good. Good night then," Joe stated and smiled.
"G'night," Chris said and closed the door.
Chris made sure that no one was around and disapparated right to his room. He went to his bedroom, changed his clothes and slept.The birds chirped a beautiful song as the sunlight filled Chris' room. Chris opened his eyes slowly and watched the beautiful view from his bedroom window. A moment later, he grabbed his glasses and put it up. The room view started to be clearer. Chris took his towel and headed to the bathroom. After taking a long shower, Chris dressed on his casual black shirt and pants he bought last summer. His watch showed 7:30 and that meant he got three and a half hour to spend before meeting Joe at the poolside.
Chris disapparated to the first floor emergency stair that had never been visited by anyone and opened the door to the lobby. There weren't anyone at the lobby. Chris went out from the tower and took a look at the map. He noticed there were a café and some shops nearby, so he decided to have breakfast and do some shopping first.
Chris headed to the café and took a seat near the window. He ordered a cup of coffee and pancake. As he waited his order to come, he stared outside. His mind was gone thinking of London. He really missed his friends, but he also didn't want to go back. A loud crash disturbed him. Chris turned to the source of the crash. It was Joe! Joe had a crash with a waitress, which made the dishes dropped. Chris saw Joe apologized to the waitress and then waved to him. Joe approached Chris' table.
"Hi, Chris. Sorry, for the noise. I saw you from outside and walked in. But then, I hit the waitress," he said.
"Oh, it's okay. Want some breakfast? It's my treat," Chris said and smiled at Joe.
"Oh, okay," Joe sat in front on him. "What are you doing so early?"
"Nothing. I'm used to get up early and I also need to do some shopping. Wanna come by?"
Joe nodded and ordered his meal. After that they talked a lot about their life. Joe was a nice and friendly person.
"Hey, your amulet is really nice! What creature is it?" Joe asked as he saw Chris' amulet. It was carving of a large snake, painted in silver and got two sapphire eyes.
"Oh, it's a basilisk. I found it in an antique shop last year," Chris said. Actually, he bought it in Knockturn Alley last summer.
They continued to chat and had breakfast. Chris paid their meal and they went outside to do some shopping.
"So, what do you want to get first?" Joe asked.
"Hmm, let me see…" Chris pulled a list he had made and read it, "I'll need to buy some snacks, tea, coffee, sugar, tee shirts, shirts, pants, books supply, pens, and a cell phone," he said.
"Seems we get a lot thing to do then. Follow me," Joe said.
Chris followed Joe to one shop to another, getting all his things. He bought four new tee shirts, three casual shirts, and a formal one, some pens, books, food supply, and a cell phone. Chris gave his phone number to Joe and so did Joe.
"Anything left?" Joe asked.
"I don't think so, except… Um, can we have a dog here?" Chris asked back.
"Yeah, as long they don't disturb the neighborhood. You want to get a dog?" Joe said.
"I think it's a good idea to have a dog to keep me company," Chris said and smiled.
"Yeah. Okay then, let's go to the pet shop. There were some new puppies there yesterday," Joe said and started walking away. Chris followed him and arrived at the pet shop.
Chris explored the huge pet shop to take a look at the dogs. He stopped in front of a black puppy. It had a shimmering black eyes, looked exactly like Sirius' eyes. He took the dog from its place and started playing with it. The black puppy licked his face.
"Joe, don't you think he's cute?" Chris turned to Joe.
"Yeah, you want to buy it?"
Chris nodded and Joe was gone to call the shopkeeper. A few moments later, Joe arrived with the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took the dog from Chris and led them to the cashier.
"It's $50 and please fill this form," the shopkeeper stated.
Chris took his wallet and gave $60 to the shopkeeper.
"Give him a silver collar and some dog food, please," he said.
Chris filled the form as the shopkeeper put the silver collar on the black dog. He handed the form back and the shopkeeper handed him a box of dog food and said, "Thank you for buying. Please take a good care of it."
Chris and Joe left the pet shop with a black puppy on Chris' arm.
"Have you name him?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, He's Padfoot," he said and handed Padfoot to Joe.
"Hey, Padfoot!" Joe said and petted it and handed Padfoot back to Chris. Padfoot barked slowly and licked Chris' arm.
"It's 10:30 now. How about if we go to my room before going to the college?" Chris asked to Joe.
"Yea, that sounds great. Besides, I don't want to go there taking these things," he nodded to Chris' things.
Chris punched him lightly on his arm and they headed back to his room. When they reached Chris' room, Chris placed Padfoot down. Padfoot was excited and started exploring the room, running from one side to another.
"Want some tea?"
"No, thanks. Let's apply now, then I'll spend my day here with you, okay?" Joe said.
"Good idea. Wait, I'll give Padfoot some food first," he said and poured some dog food in a bowl.
"Okay, let's go. Bye, Padfoot," Chris said and left. Padfoot howled quietly like if he understood what his master was saying.
Chris and Joe headed to the college. The college was painted in white. It had a large stadium and a soccer field. There was a long queue outside the main building.
"What are they doing?" Chris asked.
"It's clear, isn't it? They're applying, just like us," Joe explained and laughed after he saw Chris' confused face.
"What?! But, there won't be enough room, will there?"
"Of course not. There will be an audition. We're here to take our number," Joe said, still laughing so hard.
"Come on, stop laughing me, Joe. Oh, okay, let's take a queue then," Chris said and queued.
Five hours later
Chris and Joe were already in front of the application desk. The queue was getting longer and longer after they came. There were only three people left in front of Chris and Joe was behind Chris. Five minutes later, Chris approached and took his number. The number was 1499. He walked off from the building and waited for Joe outside.
Just a minute later Joe showed up and shouted, "I can't believe my luck! Number 1500! It's the last number and the application is closed now."
"Really?! We are so lucky then," Chris said and laughed.
"Yeah. Okay, let's see when is our audition. Bet we are in the same day and time," Joe said and they walked to a big whiteboard near the entrance to the main building while the crowds began to spread up and leave.
"Our audition is… next Wednesday starting at nine and it will end at five in the afternoon," Chris read.
"Oh, alright… Come on, let's buy some food and eat it in your room! It's my treat now," Joe ran to a café near the college and Chris ran after him.
Joe bought two sets of Chinese and walked back to Chris' room. When the door opened, Padfoot ran to Chris and licked his trousers. Chris picked him to his arm and petted him.
"Take a seat. I'll be right back," he said to Joe.
Joe sat on the sofa while Chris went to the kitchen. Chris placed Padfoot on the floor and made two cups of tea. Then, he brought the tea to the living room. Padfoot followed him back to the living room.
"Here," he said as he placed a cup of tea in front of Joe.
Joe nodded and Chris sat next to him. Chris took his tea and slurped some of it.
"So, what will the audition turn to be?" he asked and put his teacup back to the table. He took the Chinese food Joe had bought earlier and started eating it.
"Uh, I don't know… I think they'll test our ability in basketball or soccer, depend on which one we choose. I heard from my friend that they also test us in general knowledge, but it's not really important. And there will be an interview, just usual one, I think," Joe mumbled.
"Hey, I need to pass and I can't play soccer! What a joke!" Chris yelled, making Padfoot jumped from his lap. "Sorry, Padfoot, come back here," he said patiently and Padfoot climbed back to his lap.
"Calm down… There was still a week left. I'll teach you to play starting tomorrow. How's that?" Joe said, trying to calm Chris down.
"Hmm, yeah, I can do it in just a week," Chris said sarcastically.
"Just try it first. But I believe you are very talented, Chris."
Chris ignored him and took another gulp from his coffee.
"Oh my God, I need to go now. I promise to meet someone at six. Thanks for the tea, Chris. I'll see you tomorrow at…" Joe said and took a look at his sport watch, "Nine o'clock by the poolside, okay. Good bye, then."
"Yeah, I'll meet you tomorrow and thanks for the food," Chris said and he left.
Chris spent the rest of his day petting and playing with Padfoot. At seven, he brought Padfoot for a walk outside. At nine, he went back to his room and took a rest. He was very exhausted after queuing for five hours, only to apply for the college.
"I must pass the audition, right, Padfoot?" Chris said quietly to his new friend.
Padfoot only gave him a small howl and both of them fell asleep.One week later
Chris had spent a week full of training with Joe. They were getting along better. Joe had been Chris' best friend since the day he started training Chris. He taught Chris to be a keeper and after five days, Chris had been able to catch all Joe's shoot.
The bird orchestra woke Chris up from his beautiful sleep. Chris putted his glasses on and sat on his bed. Padfoot was still sleeping beside him, snoring loudly.
"Bet Sirius used to sleep like this too," Chris said and chuckled a little.
He walked to the bathroom and took a quick shower. He put a black casual shirt on with black trousers those had silver linings on them. He tied his shoulder-length black hair in a light blue ribbon and left to the kitchen.
Chris poured some milk to his glass and drank it. After that, he added some dog food to a bowl and placed it near Padfoot then he disapparated to the first floor. His watch already showed 8:30. Chris hurried to the college front gate to meet Joe. Joe was wearing a light blue shirt and a pair of black pants.
"Come on, let's go inside," Joe called him.
Chris followed Joe to the main building and took a seat on one of the empty chairs. There was a large door in the room.
Time passed and finally it was Chris' turn. There were only Chris and Joe left.
"Number 1499, Mr. Christian Farandole," said a voice behind the door.
Joe mouthed good-luck and Chris entered the room. The room was huge, with a goalpost and a ring at each side of the room. There were three people in front of Chris and they seemed somewhat like professional soccer and basketball players.
"Please take a seat, Mr. Farandole," said the man in the middle as he nodded to a chair in front of his desk.
Chris sat on the chair and looked up to the examiners. The man in the left was really familiar, but he couldn't remember who he is.
"Okay, Mr. Farandole. My name is Isaac Gregory, headmaster of this college. Here is Aidan Lynch, the football instructor, and Andrew Kyle, the basketball instructor. Will you please introduce yourself?" the man in the middle said.
Oh my God! Aidan Lynch, the Ireland seeker? No wonder he's somewhat familiar. But what is he doing here? Chris thought but decided to end it and introduced himself.
"Thank you. My full name is Christian Harrison Farandole, or Chris for short. I've just turned 18 by the end of July and I've just arrived from London last week and decided to attend a college. I've never knew about this college before until I moved to the Star Virgo Building next door and my new friend, Joe told me that this college is famous because of the football and basketball team. I've only played football once, when I was just in elementary school, but my cousin kicked me out of the field. I've never played again since then. I can't believe my luck. I got number 1499 when I applied and that's the second last number. Joe told me that there will be an audition, but I can't really play football. After that, Joe started training me as a keeper and I think I've made a really good improvement. I managed to block all of his shoot yesterday, and so I think I'm good enough now," he explained clearly.
"Hmm… Interesting. So, tell me, why do you want to go to this college?" Isaac asked again.
"I have no specific reason. But I'm here to continue my study and I think I'm quite talented at sports," Chris stated.
"Okay then, now, I'd like to see how is your improvement as a keeper. Please stand at the goalpost and Lynch will shoot the ball. Catch as many as you can," he said.
Chris walked to the goalpost confidently and waited for Lynch to kick the ball. The first shoot was easy to stop and Chris managed to stop it just on time. Lynch kicked the ball five times and Chris caught all of them.
"Brilliant!" Lynch said to Chris.
Chris nodded and went back to his seat as Isaac told him to sit.
"Okay, I've seen your great performance, and now, Lynch will test you how much you know about strategy," he said.
"Stand up and come here, please," Lynch said as he headed to the other side of the room which had a blackboard.
Lynch drew a football field and placed each player from every team in a position. Then, he questioned Chris how to make a way for the center forward to headed to the goal post. Chris was used to do this, because he had been the quidditch captain since his sixth year. Chris explained it clearly. After that, Lynch changed the position of each player and asked Chris for some more strategies.
"Okay, great strategies, Mr. Farandole," Lynch said.
"Thank you, Sir," Chris stated.
"Okay, I think that's enough. Thank you for your attendance, Mr. Farandole. You can leave," Isaac said.
"Thank you very much. Excuse me," Chris said and went out from the room.
He huffed and sat next to Joe.
"How is it?" Joe asked.
"Not too bad…" Chris was very relieved.
"Number 1500, Mr. John Claymore," Isaac's voice came through the door.
"Good luck. I'll wait for you," Chris said to Joe and rested his head on his clutched hands.
Thirty minutes later, Joe walked out of the room and sighed loudly.
"Huff… Let's wait for the result. It's just 2 hours away," he said.
"Want to eat something? My treat," Chris asked.
"Okay, sounds good. I'm starving," Joe said.
When they were about to leave, Aidan Lynch showed up.
"I need to talk to him for a while. Wait for me outside," Chris mumbled quietly to Joe.
Joe nodded and left.
"Mr. Lynch?" Chris called.
"Yes, Mr. Farandole?"
"Um, I have something to talk to you. But I don't think anyone should hear about this," Chris said hesitantly.
"Okay, follow me," he said and walked away to an empty corridor. "What do you want to say?" he asked.
"Err, why do you leave quidditch? What about the Ireland team?" Chris asked quietly.
"You… How do you know? Are you a wizard?" Lynch asked, his face started to grow paler than usual.
"Um, yeah. Actually, I used to play as a seeker too," he said.
"Oh, I'll tell you later, okay? It's a long story and it seems your friend is waiting for you outside. I'm sure you'll pass," Lynch said and gave Chris a weak smile.
Chris smiled back and went outside to meet Joe.Two hours had passed. Chris and Joe were standing in front of the huge whiteboard outside the main building. Chris was trying to find his number in the soccer part.
Soccer
091
157
238
379
552
698
793
870
1000
1385
1476
1499
1500
"Great! Joe, we pass!!! Over here!" Chris yelled excitedly.
A/N. I'm still not sure about
continuing this story or not, but I admit, I enjoy writing it. This chapter
took a day and a half for me to think about the idea. Sorry (dedicated to
TomFoolery), I don't want to make it this long, but… Well, I got so many things
to write… Oh, all characters belong to JK Rowling, except some. ;;
PLEASE REVIEW!!! (05/10/04)