Chapter 2: Con Artist
Sunlight streamed through the window, and Daelin couldn't ignore it any longer. Grumbling he sat up in his bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, glaring at the window as if it was the window's fault for letting the sunlight disturb his slumber. Daelin got out of his bed and proceeded to do his daily morning ritual, such as making the bed, brushing his teeth, taking an early morning shower, and of course, go to the kitchen and get breakfast.
Daelin could already smell the sizzling bacon and eggs, however, he stopped cold when he reached the kitchen. Instead of his father behind the stove it was a large metallic box, which was holding a frying pan and had a spatula sticking out of it which would regularly flip the food in the pan. Daelin didn't know whether to sit down, or run for cover.
"Ta da!" Daelin's father yelled, jumping from behind the machine, "It's my new invention I've been working on. After the last few failures I think I've finally got it. The automatic chef!"
"W..wow dad.. I'm impressed…" Daelin admitted, sitting down at the dining table but still keeping a wary eye on the machine. His father looked at auto-chef with pride,
"It seems to work pretty well, but it eats up energy like crazy… so I'm not sure if it's really worth it after all. It also needs a lot of oil… maybe I can fix that …" He mumbled.
When the food was finished the machine made a loud noise, released a large amount of black smoke which set off the fire alarm, and turned off. After apologizing to the firemen who came moments afterward, and also offering them some bacon eggs and toast, Daelin and his father enjoyed a nice breakfast together.
"Hey son, would you like to come with me to work? You can check out some of the new books we've got in, and also keep an eye on those kids who always come in and put books in the wrong sections… I swear, they do that just to annoy the staff." His father asked. Daelin nodded, it'd give him time to read his book… which reminded him of the strange dream he had. The one with the talking owl who gave him a letter… or wait, maybe the owl didn't talk… and now that he thought about it, was it a dream at all. With a start Daelin remembered putting the letter on his nightstand. If it was there… then it would prove that it wasn't a dream after all.
Daelin excused himself from the table and walked to his room, pausing at the door. He took a few deep breaths, then slowly opened the door and looked at his nightstand. Daelin's heart stopped; it wasn't there.
Sighing, Daelin flopped upon his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was disappointed and sad. That was the one thing that showed that life in his neighborhood wasn't so… dull.
Rolling over Daelin let his head dangle over the side of his bed. It was then that he noticed the letter on the floor, between the bed and the nightstand; he must've bumped it in the night and made it fall down there. Daelin quickly grabbed the letter and looked at it. There was emerald green writing on the front that said,
Mr. D Soren
Smallest Bedroom in a Small House
8 Garden Road
Midland
Surrey
The envelope was thick, heavy, and made of yellowish parchment. Daelin looked at it for a while, and then suddenly tore open the letter, letting the contents spill onto his bed. Daelin picked up the first letter and opened it, reading,
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Gerald Marcus
(Order of Merlin: First class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supremem Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Soren
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Dalia Morgan
Deputy Headmistress
Daelin just stared at the letter for a long time. He lost track of how long he had been re-reading the letters on the paper. Ideas, questions, possibilities all came streaming into his head. He didn't know whether to jump up and down on the bed or even just faint.
Finally Daelin shook off his paralysis and ran down the hallway, where his father was getting ready for work. He looked up questionably, wondering what was happening. Daelin pressed the letter into his fathers hands and looked up at him eagerly,
"An owl delivered it last night! I didn't know if it was a dream or not so I put it on my nightstand to see if it was still there in the morning and I just checked and it was still there!" Daelin exploded, saying all of this very fast. Daelin's father shook his head,
"What... what?" He asked, then gave up trying to understand what his son was trying to say and just read the letter himself. He was quiet for a while, reading the letter a few times himself. He then handed the letter back to Daelin.
"It's not real Daelin…" He said silently, looking away, "There is no such thing as magic… someone must be playing a trick…"
Daelin stood silently for a while, his smile slowly fading. Geeze, I've been so stupid! I get a prank letter and think that I'm actually a wizard… how stupid can I be? Daelin thought miserably heading back to his room and grabbing all the contents of the package and tossing them into the trash.
Daelin somberly returned to accompany his father to the Library thinking, wishing it was true…
………….
A couple hours later Daelin was sitting in one of the chairs in the library, watching the slow traffic within the library. His father was off elsewhere checking in books and doing other duties.
Daelin stared at the table. He was surprised how far someone would go to trick others. He had believed… and now things seemed a little less bright today already. Daelin felt a hand on his shoulder, it was his father.
"Want to help me put away some books?" He said with a soft supporting smile, "It helps to get your mind off things. I've been tricked by things like that before, but science is the law of our universe… trust in that."
Daelin nodded and followed him to a box of books in front of an empty rack. Daelin got to work, putting books on the rack. It took a while but he found he was nearly completed; the rack was now laden with books. He reached up to put one of the last books in the rack at the very top when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Standing just at the end of the isle was a tall but thin man dressed in a black suit. He had a small mustache and wore a top hat which sat atop carefully combed blonde hair. His stature was very proper and he looked serious. On his right hand was a gold wristwatch and he checked it once and then looked back at Daelin.
Suddenly Daelin's foot slipped and he fell to the ground. His fall caused the shelf to wobble and slowly it started to topple forwards towards Daelin. Time seemed to slow down, Daelin put his hands above his head, knowing he was gone for, books raining down around him, and the fall of the heavy rack.
With a crash the rack hit the ground, and slowly Daelin realized that he didn't feel pain, he wasn't crushed, and as he looked around him he realized that somehow he was sitting on top of the fallen rack.
He looked over and saw that the mysterious man had vanished. Puffing behind him Daelin's dad rushed over,
"Daelin, are you alright? What happened!" He cried, looking at the scene, "… Um, Daelin… why are you on top of the rack?"
Daelin was still in a state of shock, so all he could do was shrug hopelessly. Daelin's father helped him off the rack and together they set it back up and put the books back in place. Daelin looked around him often, but the man in the top hat didn't return.
………….
It was about five in the afternoon when Daelin's father managed to get off of work. Daelin helped his father all day with his bookwork, still wondering how he survived the accident. As they walked towards the exit Daelin suddenly noticed the strange man again. He was standing at the door, watching the two of them, and casually looked at his watch again then waited; it seemed like he was waiting for them.
As they reached the doors the man stepped in front of them,
"Excuse me sirs, my name is Humphrey Magnus." The man said politely, reaching inside his jacked and giving Daelin's father a card. He took off his top hat and bowed to them before righting up and standing at his usual very proper stance. "I am here to offer my assistance to help young Daelin find his proper supplies for school."
Daelin's father nodded absentmindedly as he read the card, "… wait, Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts?" He asked, Daelin's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the name of the school.
"Yes sir, Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry…" Humphrey offered. Daelin's father finally caught on,
"Oh, no. There is no such thing as magic; you should be ashamed of tricking a boy into believing in this." Daelin's father said with a scowl. Humphrey looked a little surprised,
"Oh, sir, but there IS such a think as magic," Humphrey said, "If you'd take example of your son. He's been performing small acts of magic for a while now. Even today he accidentally apperated himself atop the bookcase which was about to crush him. Or if you'd take for example how this tea set suddenly appeared in my hand. Would you like some tea?"
Indeed, a silver platter with cups and tea did appear in his hand. Daelin's father accepted the tea, then suddenly realizing what happened he dropped the cup, which shattered on the floor.
"Oh dear, That will be easy to clean up." Humphrey said, his free hand reaching into his coat to whip out what looked like a wand. The tea set in his hand disappeared with a small pop! Humphrey swished the wand, and the shattered pieces disappeared into vapor along with the splattered tea. "I would prove it to you more, but I cannot do much in such a public place as this, and I have a schedule to keep tonight."
Daelin's father just nodded numbly, trying to prove all the things that happened scientifically in his head. Daelin's heart was beating very fast, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It IS true! He thought in triumph.
"Well, I am here to offer my support in leading you and your father around Diagon Alley tomorrow morning to shop for your books and other supplies." Humphrey said, "And please don't throw away any more letters, you'll need them." He continued, pulling another letter addressed to Daelin from his coat.
"T..thanks.." Daelin stammered.
"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock sharp." Humphrey said tipping his hat politely. And with another pop, he was gone. Daelin's father didn't say anything for a while, then looked at Daelin weakly,
"Well… I think we should head home… apparently we're going to have a long day tomorrow." Daelin's father said sounding strained, "I don't believe it yet… but, we'll see where this leads us…"
Daelin was overjoyed. Later that night he couldn't sleep from anticipation. He kept his letter on his nightstand again and fell asleep thinking about the next morning…
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Disclaimer: (See chapter 1) Anything recognisable is J.K. Rowling's not mine. Everything new is mine however.
As I promised, two Chapters for your enjoyment. I hope you like the new characters, please review, I could use all help that's offered. I will update probably tomorrow. And have a new chapter for you fresh on Monday
Onihawk