Hogwarts: Before Cho

The wind swept high. The moon sent its crescent beams peeking through the darkened clouds. The trees blew back and forth. There was no sound. A lurching figure ran out of the woods and collapsed in a heap before a cloaked creature. Many more of the demon spawn came. 'No,' mouthed the man. 'No...' A child ran forward from the woods. Another soon followed. The first child raised a weapon of some sort, a dagger of some sort, no, a rod of some sort. He opened his mouth and cried out some sort of outrage. 'Ex... ex peri... no, expect... part...expect a partro...' What was he saying? It was too dark to see. The demon spawn enclosed on him. His rod was emitting a faint feeble light. The other two were already unconscious. The fiends were pulling back their hoods. The silvery light was fading...

Daxius opened his eyes.

"Huh?" he said to himself.

Why had he risen so early? He peeked at the calendar through blurry eyes.

"August 23rd," he mumbled.

Rrrstllllll.

What was that?

He sat up, listening intently.

There it was again. A faint rustling sound. He closed his dark brown eyes, listening for the source. The rustling subsided. It had come from the foot of his bed. Carefully, he peeked under his bed.

'Hooh!'

"Ahh!" Daxius cried, leaping about a foot in the air.

'Hooh?' It was a grey owl, looking very old and ruffled, holding a letter in its beak.

"Jeez, what's an owl doing in my bedroom?"

What was he dreaming about before? He struggled to remember when, to Daxius' surprise, the owl replied, saying,

'I am... Errol, and I have... a letter to deliver to you from... from...'

However, at this point, the grey owl keeled over and fainted. Daxius gaped.

A talking owl?

Was this a dream? Again?

He pinched himself just to be sure.

Ow! A letter lay in front of the owl. Daxius picked it up and saw that it proclaimed:

To Mr D. Chang

7 Ilex Crescent

Orphanage of the Shaolin Arts

"It's for me," said Daxius, rather surprised.

He cracked open the seal (which had a shield showing a Lion, Snake, Raven and a Badger on it) and pulled out two pieces of parchment.

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. Chang,

We are pleased 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 1st September. We await your owl by no later than then.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

July 31st, 1971

About twenty things went through Daxius' mind at that point:

Mr. Chang? Since when did people call him that?

Witchcraft and Wizardry?

Mugwump? What the heck was that?

But most importantly..

1st September?!? That was 8 days away! If this was for real, he had to hurry!

"Master?" asked Daxius.

"Yes, young Daxius?" answered an old man, dressed in Gold and Red robes.

"I woke up and found an owl, and it..."

But the old man cut him off, saying "So you have received your letter. Very well. I was beginning to worry," he said with a charming smile.

Master stood up and turned around to face a trunk, which he opened. He extracted a small gold key and a carpet, which had the words 'Aurora Billion' framed upon it.

"You must hurry, Daxius, else you'll miss the train. Ride to London and look for a place called the Leaky Cauldron. I have a friend there who will help you with the rest."

"Uhh, you want me to ride to London on a carpet? I'm not Aladin last time I checked. Sir," he added as an afterthought.

"It is easy, just sit atop and ride it in your mind. Focus on it moving. Here, try it. It won't bite."

He laid the carpet on the ground.

"Step beside it and say 'Up'." Daxius stepped up to it.

"Up." said Daxius.

The carpet lifted itself. Daxius checked to see if there were strings, but after finding none, he sat atop of it cautiously.

"Bye, Master." said Daxius, waving awkwardly.

"Fly," he thought, and fly he did.

He rocketed upwards at 60 mph and, putting the key in his pocket, steered it towards London in the far distance.

'Wow,' Daxius thought.

This must be what it's like to be in heaven!

It was truly a beautiful sight, clouds moving along gently, birds in flocks. The sun was rather hot, though, so he had to fly down under the clouds, his movements jerky at first, but soon becoming smooth. He amused himself by flying through the clouds. Soon he was at London. He landed in an isolated alley and rolled up the carpet. He walked about quite nervously as people kept giving him looks saying that they thought it was ludicrous to walk around with a carpet. What was the name of that place? Scanning the shops, he found the Leaky Cauldron and slipped inside.