"Across the Pond"
Chapter Three
The weeks passed by, and soon fall had began in earnest. Showers of red, gold, and brown leafs blanketed the plinths of the statues in Monument Circle. Indianapolis was beautiful at this time of year: children played in the parks, the very last picnics and weenie roasts were had, and everyone seemed to be at peace. It wouldn't last; Uriel knew that for sure. Soon, winter's icy chill would come. The snow would be piled up on the side of the road so that disgruntled, mid-management pen-pushers could get to work on time, and the only reward for their haste would be that its dazzling radiance and beauty be transformed into dirty, brownish-black slush.
These thoughts passed through Uriel's head as he packed his trunk. He would be leaving tomorrow, and he needed to bring his books and equipment to Hogwarts. As he walked down the stairs that would lead into the Entrance Hall, Uriel was confronted by his arch-nemesis, Ptolemy Anderson.
"Be careful around those Limeys, Inkfingers," spat Ptolemy. " I heard they like to eat pig kidneys! I don't know why I wanted to go to that stupid island anyway."
Uriel bit back a comment about Anderson's bigotry, in favor of a cool-headed comeback. It didn't even have to be particularly devastating, since Anderson probably wouldn't understand it, anyway. "Tell me, Anderson," said Uriel, "have you ever heard the fable of the fox and the grapes?"
"The what?" demanded Anderson. Uriel wasn't surprised that Ptolemy hadn't heard of it. After all, he was a nitwit.
"Of course you've not heard of it. Those 'letter' things confuse you, and you have trouble with multi-syllable words, don't you? Tut-tut. Anyhow, 'The Fox and the Grapes' is a fable by Aesop. All of Aesop's fables have morals, and the moral of this one is that people often ridicule things that are beyond their reach. 'Ridicule' means 'make fun of', by the way. In this scenario, you are the fox, and the trip is the grapes: since you are a dumb-ass to whom no one would vote any privilege whatever, you lost the contest, and now you mock it because doing so bolsters your self-confidence. Now, think on that a while. Good day!" Uriel then departed. However, as he was doing so, Ptolemy Anderson cast a disrobing spell at him—one that would rip off Uriel's pants in front of the assembled students. However, it is unlikely that the magical energy even left Ptolemy's wand. He was a highly inept wizard (practically a squib), and he was only accepted into St. Malefecent's because he belonged to a very rich, "pure-blood" wizarding family. Uriel chuckled as he walked away, contemplating this fact.
Ptolemy, he thought. Anderson's named after Claudius Ptolemaeus, one of history's most powerful wizards!
In the great hall, he ate a quick breakfast and then spent the rest of the day preparing for his trip. After that, he fell asleep, not knowing that soon, he would be swept away into a grand adventure of huge historical importance, and not knowing that, just a few months later, he would be heralded as : "Uriel Inkwell, the Yank who saved the Boy Who Lived."