It was a gloomy rainy late fall afternoon. Huge dark gray thunder clouds threatened 1881 Lunes Drive where a middle aged man was struggling to carry his lawn mower down a flight of stairs and into the sump pump room to store for the coming winter. Along with this task his daughter Mattie was arguing with him about going to live in London countryside with her mother's (she just passed away) mom whom she has never met before.
"But dad," Mattie huffed to her father, "I don't even know this woman, and neither do you. How do you know she is safe to be around, and how do you know that she'll look after me? Trust me I need some looking after you know. Oh and-"
But before she could finish her dad cut in, "She raised your mother for god sake and look how she turned out. Just fine, now if you mind helping me."
"I am a burden aren't? It's because I'm a witch, and you don't want Vanessa to find out cause then she would break up with you."
"It's not that. Well, the finding out about your powers is, but not about the break up," he quickly answered noticing the look on his daughters face go sour, "Besides Hogwarts is a much better place for you to go. There are better more advanced teachers and classes, and you will be around more kids your age all the time."
"What about you? Are you just going to not use your powers, and go through the rest of your life wasting them on nothing?"
By now Mattie's father was half was down the stair case, "You know very well I am refusing to use my powers because of what happened to you mother."
"But you'll let me use mine. I bet your hoping I'll get killed by You-Know-Who so, then you wont have to care about me at all, and get on with your Muggle life."
"No, that's not it at all. I just want you to be safe-"
"Oh, yeah and I'll be perfectly safe over in England with an evil murderer out still at large. Which by I doubt will ever get caught."
"He would never dare enter Hogwarts. Not well Albus Dumbledore is still the headmaster."
"And another reason you want me gone is so, you don't think about mom ever again. I know you can hardly look me in the eye anymore with out grief taking over your eyes."
This was true whenever Mattie's father looked into her eyes. Like the first Christmas that the two celebrate together with out her. If you could call it a celebration, Mattie and her father got done exchanging presents. He said thank you without looking even making eye-contact.
Mattie's father was silent.
"I knew it you don't like me anymore. You'd rather start all over with you life than try to live with the grief that would soon pass. Getting married only after a few months after she was dead was a little suspicious. Well you know what? There's only one flaw in your little plan to redeem yourself of this sadness, and that is the memories that are stored in your head. Yes, those happy and sad will always be there. I guess this is good bye dad. I hope to see you later in life."
Mattie turned to leave but before she could she turned one last time to say, "Have a happy new life," and with that she walked to her room with tears welling in her eyes.
Trying not to cry until she was well away from her home she packed all of her most precious assets including her spell books, and journal. She put all of her dog's toys in the traveling cage, and put that on top of her trunk; she wheeled it out to the front of her house.
"Midnight," Mattie called and the dog came trotting to her masters call and sat down next to her.
She clipped the dogs leash on to her collar and said, "This is it girl, we are leaving are only home forever. We are going to go live with Grandma Bones now in London."
Mattie and Midnight heard claps of thunder in the distance and they looked at each other, "Well, if it rains I have an umbrella and I now a spell that will keep you dry."
Mattie started to walk down Lunes Drive with her best friend beside her wonder how long it will take her to reach her destination; which was of coarse London.