Chapter 1 Muggles and Magic

It was a cold, windy day and everything around Nova seemed to be lacking in colour. Even the wildflowers and weeds, which usually bobbed their brightly coloured heads in the wind, seemed washed out and pale. She had had another depressing day at school where no one seemed to like her. She wore ragged clothes because her mother didn't earn enough money to support five growing children, and her father had died three years ago.

It was not as though she wasn't happy at home. Indeed, she was happiest around her family, because she felt they were the only people who truly appreciated her existence. There were a lot of people in Nova's family that she could look up to. There was Alice, eldest of the family at seventeen. She tried to help out her mother as best she could; taking a job while studying for her exams. She always appeared to be happy, her watery blue eyes never letting on the pain of helping to raise a family at the age of seventeen. Then, there was Murdoch, two years younger than Alice. He too aimed to help out their mother by taking a job, but refused to do anything that he claimed was 'girly stuff'. This meant that the girls would do his laundry, and clean his room and Nova knew he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then there were Brenna and Adrian. They were twins, which was about the only thing they had in common. Adrian was a sincere boy, who looked out for others, especially his family. Though he had a bad habit of pointing out mistakes that annoyed everybody he was considered wise beyond his age by everyone. Brenna was the opposite. Her main priority was to look out for herself, which made Nova think (more than once) that she may be adopted. She didn't do anything unless she could see there was something in it for her, and she blatantly refused to help their mother.

But most of all, Nova looked up to her mother. She was a hard working woman, and the weather, time and all her working sessions had drained her face of all colour and much of her happiness. She felt proud of herself when people pointed out that she looked much like her mother; thin, brown eyes and jet black hair.

Nova was walking against the wind and was progressing very slowly. It felt to her as though she was pulling an invisible truck all by herself. She suddenly stopped. A soft, silky cloth had just been blown on to her face by the wind. She ripped it off as if it was going to burn through her face. She let out a wail as she saw the cloth wrapped around her hand. Or rather, didn't see the cloth wrapped around her hand. She felt for her right hand with her left hand; it was still there… but not there. Nova didn't seem to understand and began to feel dizzy. She almost lost control of her feet and waved her arms in the air frantically, attempting to regain her balance. Once again the wind raged on and blew the cloth right off Nova's hand. She could see it again. She examined every inch of her hand carefully; from the wrinkles of her knuckles to the lines on her palm. She sighed in relief as she passed the verdict that nothing had ever happened to her hand and that she had just been hallucinating. Moments later, she received another shock.

Up ahead she saw a fallen tree, which looked as if it had been struck by lightning. It looked pretty normal, if you failed to notice the fact that it had a whole trunk missing and that it was eerily cut off at one point. Nova stared at it, wondering what had happened, and walked cautiously up to it. Her eyes darted along the road, noticing that she was alone on the quiet street.

Heart beating wildly, Nova put out her hand to feel where the trunk should have been and drew in a sharp breath. Not only could she could feel the trunk but its texture was not normal. It was smooth and soft, not harsh and dry like tree trunks usually are. Nova gasped in surprise as the light shone in dazzling colours, dancing lightly in the dying breeze. She reached out for the cloth and slipped her hand underneath it. It felt smooth and silky and soft to touch. As she did so, she saw yet again her hand disappear completely. But this time she did not react in her previous manner. A smile began to draw upon her face. "It's just like...just like magic," she cried to herself.

She resumed her walk while staring at the cloth. To passers-by she had only one arm and it seemed to them that she was delighted about it. They shook their heads in pity and in bewilderment. Suddenly it went remarkably black. The sun had been blocked out once again and the clouds growled in anger. They let themselves loose, pelting the people below with buckets of rain. Swiftly, individuals began to pull out umbrellas, run like the wind or hide under trees which isn't such a trendy idea in a storm. Nova, however, pulled the magical cloth above her head as if she had always planned to. Then she ran, forgetting that the cloth turned anything it was placed on invisible as she ran into people and cried hurried apologies. These people were later seen waiting to be seen by a psychiatrist.

Nova rushed under the tin roof of her pergola, which amplified the rain ten times. She whipped off the cloth and crammed it into her bag and waltzed into her house leaving muddy footprints in her trail. Her mother wouldn't be back till late and the boys wouldn't give a second thought to Nova's arrival. The girls would though. Brenna in any case would. Nova and Brenna shared a room together. No, Nova remembered, Brenna usually comes home late anyway.

She rushed into her room, shut door and locked it from the inside. Soaked from head to toe, she took the cloth out of her bag and began examining it carefully. After careful deliberation, she reached the conclusion that it was a cloak. Inside the cloak there was a tag with fading lettering: 'Cecil's Sorcier Vêtement'. And underneath there was a name written in an untidy scrawl: 'J. Potter'.

She placed the cloak carefully about her and examined not being in the mirror. All of a sudden there was a rap on her window, which made her drop the cloak. She stood gaping at the window as an owl tried hard to keep from being blown away by the merciless storm. Nova came to earth after a while and stood on Brenna's bed to open the window. Immediately, she was sprayed by water as the owl flew gratefully inside. Nova had seen owls at the zoo before but they were usually sleeping sound. Never were they flying about, especially in a storm. She wasn't an expert on owls, but she was almost positive owls weren't normally in the habit of delivering letters. The owl dropped its letter on Brenna's bed and flew right back out into the raging storm.

On the envelope, which was suspiciously dry despite the rain, it clearly stated whom the letter was meant for: Nova. It was addressed with the exact room she was in (second smallest bedroom) to her house number (17 Indigo Place, Plymouth). She stood stunned, subconsciously shivering from the cold. With shaking hands, she opened the envelope. What came next blew her away. The letter was written on parchment and the black ink shimmered on the parchment and waited eagerly to be read;

Miss Nova Jennings,

We would like to confirm your discovery of an object that you found today at three-thirty pm on the 21st day of August.

We would like to inform you that this is the complete property of Mr. James Potter and we would appreciate it greatly if you stayed within your housing premises while Ministry officials come to collect the cloak. We would also appreciate it if you did not mention this incidence to anybody. This is for your safety as much as ours, as nobody is likely to believe your story and would result in your admission in Intensive Care.

The officials will arrive within an hour, please be prepared.

Regards,

Minister of Magic

Mage Dias

Nova couldn't believe what she was reading. She read it over and over again and doubted the information more and more.

"What the…?" she said to herself "What's going on? This can't be real. But the cloak and the address on the front..." At this she held her head in her hands and slumped onto the bed. For a while she sat in silence in this manner, taking it all in and trying to comprehend everything. Then without warning she jumped up, determination blazing in her eyes.

"Well…well they're not getting this back. This is going to change our lives. We can be rich, and they're not taking that away from us." She quickly dried herself and changed into warmer clothes. She unlocked the door quietly and stuck her head out to see if anyone was around. When she got the clearance she needed, she grabbed the cloak and put it on. Though she was invisible, she constantly looked around for any sight of her family. As quietly as possible, she yanked open the front door and stepped into the seething storm. Then she ran. She had written a short note to her mother, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty and sick in the stomach. Many times she had wanted to turn around and go back home, but the possibilities her family could gain from this cloak pushed her to go on.

For days she ran, stealing food whilst under the cloak and not knowing in which direction she was headed. 'Just a few more days,' she kept muttering to herself, and willed her to go further from her house.

For seven days she had been drenched to the bone in rain, not daring to stop at a place for more than a couple of hours. On the eighth day, she came to a house, lured by the light of the fireplace. As she peered in through the window, she saw a family, sitting in front of the fireplace. Stomach rumbling and disliking the family more by the minute, her last thoughts before blacking out was of her own family.