Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter! If I did, I wouldn't be on this site writing Harry Potter fan fictions. J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and his universe. I do not.
Author Note: Sorry this one isn't as good as the first one…
Tyler slowly walked out of Magical Menagerie and surveyed the familiar scene. Witches and wizards strolled around each doing their own thing.
Unfortunately right now, most were talking about how Voldemort had expanded his territory into the states. It seemed no longer that he just wanted Europe for his tyranny but the whole world. But the U.S. Ministry of Magic had tried to keep life as normal as possible.
Tyler approached the wall that lead out of Phoenix Alley. She brought up her wand and before tapping the bricks to leave stared at her wand.
It had been almost been 10 years when she first stepped into Aliver's store. As she had grown, she knew the day would come when she would enter schooling. It was early August before school started. Her parents had taken her to Phoenix Alley but this time with the need to get a wand. She was over 11 (the international wizarding magic age) and entering Phoenix Academy later that month.
Aliver had come up to her and smiled but it only turned his face into a bunch of wrinkled paper. "Ahh... Miss Stanfield… I knew you would show up soon." He had disappeared behind the shelves then brought out five different wands.
Each one didn't fit. And the next twenty hadn't worked either. When he had finally brought out a 10 inches, ash-wood handle with a leech shaft, and a griffin feather, it had fit her perfectly. The feeling of being combined with this simple piece of wood made her become what she was now. An honorable member of wizarding society, not just a kid.
When Aliver told her that a griffin was the sign of courage, pride, curiosity, and honesty; she understood why it had chosen her. When she entered school, Tyler learned to live up to her wand. A griffin.
Tyler tapped on a few bricks and it disappeared to reveal a small archway. A glass paned door stood to her right and she entered then dropped her bags. The room was full of knickknacks. A Japanese screen cut off most Tyler's view of the room but it did not matter. Off to one side was a pile of old junk. Directly across in front was an old fashioned bicycle.
She knew this place by heart. This was her home. Actually this was the downstairs. This was the section that her parents made just to make sure that neighbors did not get the idea that they were a magical family. It was known as The Oldies but Goodies.
Tyler's mom was a Muggle born with Muggle friends. Because she loved her friends, when Mrs. Stanfield married Argos she did not just all go and become a witch a disappeared. So Tyler's family ran two different lives. One was her father, Argos, was a librarian—which he was. He actually worked in Phoenix Alley's library of spell books. But the neighbors did not know that. Her mom, Amy, worked as a journalist for the local newspaper. That also meant inside and outside the wizarding world.
So there were only a few times they were all home.
Tyler's mom called from upstairs. She grabbed her bags and ran up the flight of stairs. The kitchen table was piled high with the evening mail. Amy sat beside with an open notebook and a pen. Her light brown hair had been pulled back into a small pony tail and her green eyes were reading a sheet of paper but when Tyler entered she looked up.
"You have a letter in the Muggle mail." She reached in the pile and dropped a few official looking envelopes onto the ground. "Should be here somewhere. Here!" Amy handed over a small envelope and handed it to Tyler.
As Tyler looked at the mail, she became confused. She never got letters in Muggle mail. Then it accorded to her. She had put her address down in some magazine.
Grabbing her bag, she ran into her small room. In the corner was her pile of school supplies along with a small box that contained all her Quidditch stuff, along with her Nimbus xXx. On her wall hung the flags of her favorite Quidditch and also some of the cards she had gotten when she was elected class president. And her small American Barn Owl, Maize, twittered from above her head. The rest of her room looked pretty normal at first glance. Beside her small bed was a large bookcase that might have held regular books, but if looked upon as close glances showed titles such as, Jinxes for the Jinxed Defenses for Dark Arts and Which Charm? She fell on her bed and went to read her letter. The front of the envelope contained only her address and the stamp. There was no return address. Then she began.
Dear Tyler Stanfield,
You've never met me. But I was looking for you. I was told to by someone and it's a long story.
So to begin things off.
My name is Athena Elladora Black …
Tyler continued to read it until she got to the end and gasped. Athena was a witch and did not know it. What could happen to her if she never trained? She threw herself off her bed and ran back into the kitchen then shoved the letter into her mom's face.
Amy calmly took it away and read it. "This is not good, baby. I'm sending a letter to your principal. Right away. Something needs to be done." She whirled her seat around and opened a small counter drawer. After rummaging through it, she pulled out a piece of parchment paper. Quickly she began scribbling
Monday, June 16
Dear Athena Elladora Black,
I understand everything. For some reason, your fire knew to reply to me. You see, Athena, I have the same power.
I go to Phoenix Academy where I train to control my fire, as you say, most just say magic. It seems as if in your case of magic, you never went to a school to control it, so little by little you found it growing. Until it just burst.
My mother is sending a letter to my headmaster to see about open spots. But I'm not sure if there is one. I am sure we can find some way to get you into a school.
I am sending this our way. In 'our' I mean the wizarding way. By Owl. This is Maize, by barn owl. She will be our transportation for sending letters. That way the letters will not be able to be intercepted in the mail. Wizarding owls also can track without knowing an address. I don't know how… but they can.
And I can write and not worry about not getting to you.
Athena, this is very important! I don't know what could happen if you don't get some schooling! Either your fire will just consume you, or maybe you could be come another dark wizard.
You should be getting a letter, quite soon from a wizarding school. Please tell me everything from there on.
Tyler Stanfield
