The summer was slipping by quickly. All too soon, our vacation was over and once again I was faced with the choice of what school I would attend for the next seven years. Slowly, I reread my acceptance letters. Destiny had already made the choice for me, I knew. The second I received the letter from Hogwarts my fate had been sealed. How could one turn down acceptance into a school like that?
With more determination than ever, I set out to find my mother and explain to her the choice I had made.
"Mom?" I called. "Mom? I've made up my mind. I know that I've always wanted to go to the Susan B. Anthony School, but… Well, you've got to understand, Hogwarts is the-"
"I know," sighed Christine. "The best school in the world. I just… Well, I'm so proud. And I realize that you can't turn down an opportunity like this. But, I'll miss you so much!"
"I'll miss you too, mom. So much. Thanks for understanding."
So, an afternoon was set aside for a shopping trip. After watching a thrilling quidditch match between Massachusetts's Fitchburg Finches and the New York Sky Scrapers, we set off to pick up everything on the list. The Finches had had a winning streak for quite a few years now and the ever growing rivalry between the top teams, New York and Massachusetts, made every game they played against one another even more thrilling.
I was in high spirits after Massachusetts's amazing seeker, Maximus Brankovitch III, or "Vitchy" as he was fondly called by fans, came through once again, beating New York. So off we went to Willow Park, the largest fully magical city in the area. Willow Park was just outside of Boston. A plain building with a sign reading 'Snartch, Harold & Co' was the hiding place of the city.
We entered the clean, but bleak and dreary place. No one in their right minds would go in here, unless of course, they knew about Willow Park. Through a door in the back with an "Employees Only" sign on it was a small room with several cluttered desks and an oddly large brick fireplace, looking quite out of place.
For years the wizards of the area had complained about poor security, but still the gate to Willow Park was as accessible as always. With a whisper of the wizard's last name, assuming that he or she was registered, the bricks would open to the long, paved, Bay Street of Willow Park.
After saying "Starell, three guests," clearly but quietly, we entered and began our search for the items on my list. First up was the bookstore, I'd been to Willow Park several times before, but it never failed to astound me. Everywhere there were people. All of them were hurrying about their own business, just like in any city, but all of them were wizards.
Magic was everywhere, a young witch with a tight black bun called out to my moter,
"Smell!" she called, waving a steaming bottle. Business men and women swept through, calmly discussing smugglers with secret cauldron compartments, illegally imported potions, spells that should not be practiced near water and so on.
Everywhere there were families, just like mine. It was strange, but somehow I felt more secure having been reminded how many other magical people there were.
We hurried down the street, looking for Porter's Pages, the bookstore. On the way we passed Feathers, Papyrus and Polka Dots, a stationary store. We had to stop in, parchment in every shade and hue lined the walls. Shelves were filled with extravagantly decorated journals and stationary sets. Boxes of fancy plumed quills and pens lay everywhere.
I bought several new rolls of parchment and three, plain, new quills. I also bought a set of stationary to write home on and a very fancy automatic quill that didn't need to be periodically dipped into ink.
Finally, my mother managed to drag Anna and me away and we continued our search for school things. Porter's Pages was very friendly with my school. They had funded book fairs and set up a program where students could sign up to review books for them. I had quickly joined and gotten to know most of Porter's employees.
Carol, the witch behind the desk when we entered immediately came to greet us. "Picking up books for school, are you? Where are you going next year? Have you decided?" She asked. "We've got the lists of books you need for the Susan B. Anthony and for the Spelladry here. We've got Riverside Academy too, though it's a bit of a hike from here. I think we also have the lists for the area's public schools… Anyway, what do you need?"
"Um, well actually…" I replied, "I've been accepted at a, well a school overseas…"
"Sarah's going to Hogwarts!" my mom informed, proudly. I guess she'd just sort of needed time to think about. Now I could hear the pride in her voice, and she flashed me a smile as she explained to Carol about my decision.
Carol was obviously surprised. "Oh! Well, congratulations!" she exclaimed, "What books will you be needing then?" she asked, beaming.
I handed her my list and she bustled about, piling all the necessary books into a heap on the front counter.
"Standard Book of Spells," she muttered, "We've got that… And, oh a classic, A History of Magic, Oh yes, yes of course, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Oh, transfiguration… hmmm… We might have that in the back…"
Finally when she seemed to have acquired all the necessary books, she came back and began loading them all into bags.
"Well, I couldn't find this one. You may have to order it… I'm not sure if we can get it in the U.S., but if I find out how to get it, I'll call you."
"Thanks," I said, lifting the heavy bags and checking to see which book she was referring to. Preparing Yourself: A Guide to Dark Magic. Strange, I reread the title. Was it referring to preparing yourself against dark magic, or preparing yourself to do dark magic?
"Come on!" my mother called, "We're off to find robes next!" I hurried after her, forgetting about the book for now.
As we hurried toward Zurdle, the robe place, I caught site of one of my friends. "Veruna!" I called, "Veruna!" she turned and smiled.
"Hi Sarah!" Veruna was Nepali and she was the only other in my group of friends who would not be going to a nearby school. She was going to a very good school in Nepal called something like the Dparry Hgware. At least, that was what the name of the school sounded like to me when she said it. I'd tried to repeat the sound, but I couldn't.
"So, where're you going for school next year?" she asked.
"Well, actually, I'm going to Hogwarts, in England." I hadn't yet told any of my friends this yet, I wasn't sure how they'd react. I wasn't nervous about telling Veruna, though. She was going overseas too, so I knew she wouldn't be too upset.
"Wow! Congratulations!" she said.
"Well, the um, Par- Parra Gwarha is a pretty good school too, right?" Veruna laughed,
"You can't even say it! How would you know if it was a good school?"
"Well I'm sure it is, if you're going to it!" Veruna was at the top of our class, if there was anyone who I knew would get into a good school, Veruna was sure to be it.
"Where are you headed next?" she asked,
"I'm going to Zurdle for robes. You?"
"Frindle and Snize, you know, potion stuff… Nepal is big on potions. Do you want to meet at the Chocolate Café for sundaes afterward? I just saw Camille… I can tell her to come too,"
"That sounds great, I'll see you there, er… Three-ish?" she nodded, and we both set off on our various shopping quests to find potions and robes, once again. Camille, Veruna and I, along with our other friend, Sylvia, were four of the best friends possible. We always did everything together. My heart ached as I thought about leaving again. I wouldn't know a single person at Hogwarts…
We all had plenty of other friends too, Rebecca, Jackie, Carmen, Alycia… Shannon, whom I'd seen today, but Veruna, Sylvia, Camille and I were inseparable. All of us were headed to different schools. I wasn't sure where Sylvia was going, but I knew Camille would go to Spelladry. They didn't know yet where I was going and I was a little nervous about telling them.
After purchasing several plain, black, uniform robes, a hat, a cloak, dragon hide gloves, and an adorable pair of jeans with a matching denim cloak to go with them (I'd had to beg my mother for the last), we set out for potion ingredients and a cauldron, which we found at Frindle and Snize. I then left to find the Chocolate Café and join Veruna and Camille. As I wandered down the street, I bumped into Sylvia, carrying several bags. After I helped her pick them up, I told her about our plans at the Chocolate Café. I arranged with my mother to meet her at Phoenix and Dragon for a wand afterward.
Together we set out toward Pewter Road to find the Chocolate Café. We quickly found the sunny outdoor table where Camille and Veruna sat and went in to purchase our ice cream. It seemed as though fate had chosen to unite us one last time, before we finally split apart, perhaps forever.
Did anyone catch the bit about New York and Massachusetts? Being an avid Red Sox fan, (therefore also very anti-Yankees) I couldn't resist slipping that in, lol, please forgive me!
Anyway, please review, everyone!