Chapter 11

The twins found Kayla in Mother Tree's clearing.  She was throwing rocks into the air and then using her telekinetic powers to blow them up.  They took one look at her eyes and decided that they never wanted to be the ones to make her made.  Her normally emerald eyes had turned this eerie icy green color and she looked positively livid.  Her long, black hair was unbound and blowing in the wind.  Kayla was standing in front of Mother Tree and throwing rocks away from them so that she didn't accidentally hurt the tree.

Tori and Keri knew that Kayla could sense them, but they decided not to say anything until she had calmed down.  They didn't want to risk her turning that anger on them.  After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, Kayla leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes.  The twins took this as a signal that she was calmer now and walked up to her.

"What do you guys want?" she asked, not snapping at all but more as if she was really tired.

"Um…Hope sent us to bring you back…" Keri said carefully, she didn't want Kayla to accidentally kill the messengers.

"Yeah," Tori continued, "We thought it would be best if we came to get you since this is our spot.  We didn't want to tell either the guys or Hope where you were.  She was pretty pissed though."

"Alright," Kayla sighed, pushing herself off of Mother Tree's trunk.  "Let's go, I will have to go back eventually."

The twins looked at each other, amazed that Kayla was so calm so soon after being so furious.  They shrugged and all three girls teleported back to Kayla's basement.

When they reappeared with a pop, the others looked up clearly expecting a good argument between Hope and her daughter.  "What do you think you were doing, young lady?  Leaving without telling anyone where you were going?  Do you realize what could have happened to you?"

Kayla assumed one of those looks that we are all so familiar with.  She assumed the look a teenager uses when their parents are being unreasonable but they don't feel like getting into it with them.  "Tori and Keri knew where I was," she stated the obvious.

"That is besides the point!" Hope looked at Kayla and sighed audibly.  "Whatever, you will do what you want.  I guess there is too much of me in you.  I might as well tell you the real reason I didn't want you going to England…"

"I have never told another soul this before.  Charles was born in England, but he came here when he was a teenager because he didn't get along with his twin brother.  I mean they really didn't get along.  Charles had gone to Hogwarts along with his brother, until they would have been entering their 4th year.  That was when things started to get ugly.  The reason why Charles was sent here and not his brother was that his brother had a long-term relationship with a girl and their parents decided not to split them up because they were very smitten with each other.

"So, Charles came to live with his aunt and uncle here in the states and went to Bridgeton for high school.  When he was done, he went to a non-gifted university where he met a British wizard.  In case you didn't know, a wizard in a British term for the gifted and they access their powers differently but that isn't what I wanted to talk about.  This wizard, however, was not a very nice person.  He was in the habit of going around England and killing anyone who he didn't like.  Charles knew this, and didn't care.  And, to my dismay, the two stayed in touch even when Charles transferred schools so that I could live with him.

"After I left him, I kept a close watch on both gifted and non-gifted news to see if he was doing anything.  Nothing happened until the year after you were born.  Charles' brother's family was attacked.  The only one to survive the attack was Charles' one year-old nephew.  I can only assume that Charles' had sensed more of the future.  He must have sensed that the one person to stand up to him would be closely related by blood.  Since he didn't know that I was pregnant, he must have assumed that the person who was going to stop him would be his nephew so he asked his friend to kill him while he was off killing so many other people.

"Unfortunately, Charles' nephew defeated his friend.  But, I have this feeling that he isn't really gone and will come back to kill your cousin just like Charles' wanted.  I don't want either of them to find out who you really are."

Jason took it upon himself to voice the question that they all wanted to ask, "So what are all of these people's names.  You conveniently didn't mention them.  But if we are to keep them from figuring out who Kayla is, we first need to know who they are."

"Yeah, I guess you are right," Hope sighed. "Anyways, you would run into your cousin at Hogwarts. He was sent to stay with his mother's sister since everyone knew how well his father and Charles got along. Charles' brother's name is James. They are both potters. James' wife was lily Evans and incidentally, she was the one he was seeing when Charles came to the United States. Your cousin's name is Harry. And the man who killed his parents calls himself Lord Voldemort. And since harry somehow seems to run into him every year, I didn't want you to be put into that kind of danger. Since you so adamantly stated that you were going to England, don't you think we should practice a lot before you leave since you will be gone for a year…"

They all groaned but got up and continued where they had left off when Kayla blew up at her mother.

Before they knew it, spring break was over and it was time for it to be anounced who was to be going on the trip. They were all called to the auditorium again and when Mrs. Rosenthal stepped on stage, an excited hush fell over the students.

"It was difficult to decide who was going to go to England next year and I would like to thank all of you who turned in applications. Without any further ado I would like to announce who is going to England on our exchange program. When your name is called, please come up on stage."

"It was difficult to decide who was going to go to England next year and I would like to thank all of you who turned in applications. Without any further ado I would like to announce who is going to England on our exchange program. When your name is called, please come up on stage."

The musketeers all looked at each other hopefully. They really, really wanted to go on this trip. It would be the chance of a lifetime.

"I will be calling you up according to the grade you are in currently," Principal Rosenthal continued. "Juniors: Rachel Mitchells, Tani Flyn, Josh Gold, Jeff Tacy, Rebecca Yuland, and James Johnson!" Wild clapping sounded by the juniors' friends as the 6 selected ran up to the stage. "Sophomores: Nina Rosen, Sara Jacobson, Mark Rogers, Michael Sampson, George Wilson, and Julia Alberts." The musketeers turned to each other and the girls all grabbed each other's hands and closed their eyes. "And finally, the freshmen. With these students something interesting happened. A group of friends all turned in their applications together and I am pleased to say that we didn't have to separate them. This is the only year that all six people going are good friends. So, I am pleased to announce that going to England from the freshman class, are Kayla Osborne, Jason Clayborne, Tori and Keri Rose, James Curtis, and Jacob Rogers!" The musketeers all looked at each other and then as one stood up and ran onto the stage amidst the thunderous applause. It turned out that everyone (even other freshmen that applied) had secretly hoped that the 6 musketeers would make the qualifications to go on the trip.

Once Mrs. Rosenthal dismissed the other students, she talked to the 18 selected exchange students. "As you know, British schooling is different than American, and not only the gifted curriculum. They have 7 years of study starting at the age of 11 in the same school. Freshmen will be going into the 5th year, sophomores will be going into 6th, and juniors will be going into 7th.

"The school is divided into 4 houses that you live with for the entire year. You will gain and lose points for your houses. You, too, will be sorted into houses as soon as you get there. They also use their powers differently. They call themselves witches and wizards and seem to channel their magic through a piece of wood with a magical core that they call a wand. They also seem to need some kind of incantation to make their spells work. You will learn how to use this kind of magic so that you will know more than one way to use your powers if you ever need to.

"Now, I suggest that you get back to class. You will be receiving information packets in the mail about Hogwarts. I suggest that you read them before you leave so that you know what to expect. You will not be starting term here, but rather, you will be spending the entire summer in London, so that you will be more accustomed to their style of magic. The information about your flight will come with your packets. I hope you enjoy yourselves."