Chapter 2:

The Leaky Cauldron

Finn stared at the building in front of him with a raised eyebrow. 'The Leaky Cauldon? Who would name their place of business that?' Finn thought to himself as he followed the woman inside. When he entered he noticed that the place was very dark and shabby. The outside of the place wasn't much better, it looked like it was some stinky, old, dirty hole in the wall. Finn got a whiff of something cooking when he entered. He couldn't determine what he was smelling, but what he did know was that it was better than how the food at the orphanage smelled. Finn looked around as he followed the orange haired woman up to the counter where a man and woman stood.

"Mister Barrett why don't you go have a seat while I talk to Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom" she said.

Finn nodded his head turned and walked over to a nearby table and took a seat. When he looked over his shoulder he saw three adults enter through a doorway behind the counter. Finn turned back around and noticed that besides himself, there were four other people sitting in seating area. This normally wouldn't have made him uncomfortable but one of the patrons had been staring at him since he entered. He tried his best not to look in the man's general direction as he started to feel more uncomfortable. He glanced down at the table and tried his best to ignore the feeling of the man's eyes on him when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder making him jump. He turned his head to see Mr. Longbottom standing there with a reassuring smile on his face.

"Why don't you follow me lad" he said.

Finn quickly got up and followed Mr. Longbottom to the staircase. They made their way up to the second floor. Then walked in silence as they made their way down the hall coming to a stop in front of a door with the number eleven on it.

"Normally we keep this room reserved for a friend of ours, but I don't think he'd mind that you stayed here for a while until everything is ready" Mr. Longbottom said with a warm smile.

Finn looked at him quizzically.

"Until what is ready?" he asked the older man who's smile faltered a little.

"Oh, um…. I'm sure you'll find out soon" was all Mr. Longbottom said followed by an awkward silence filling the room.

Finn's stomach rumbled which made Mr. Longbottom chuckle.

"You must be starvin' I'll go down to the kitchen and make some food for ya" he said before walking out of the room closing the door behind him.

Finn stood there even more confused than he was before arriving there. He looked around the room he was standing in. There was a bed in one side of the room, a fireplace, a mirror and one window which allowed him to peer out onto the street below. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, so Finn turned his head just as the door to the room opened and the orange haired woman walked in.

"Why are we here?" Finn asked her as she closed the door behind her.

She walked towards the bed and sat on the edge of it.

"Have you ever done something that you could never explain? Almost like it just happened, …. magically?" the woman asked him ignoring his question, gazing around the room.

Finn furrowed his brows in confusion, he thought back to a few instances when he was about to be bullied by other boys only for them to end up on the floor without him touching them, so he looked up and nodded his head.

"Yeah so?" he replied.

The woman smirked before answering.

"The reason why that happened is because you're a wizard Finn Barrett" the woman said excitedly leaning towards him.

"A what?" Finn asked.

"A wizard" the woman responded as she got up again then walked over and took a seat on the only chair in the room.

She motioned for him to have a seat, so he walked over and took a seat on the bed across from her.

"A wizard is someone who has the ability to cast magical spells…" she started to say.

"Spells? Wait so magic is real?" Finn asked completely baffled at what she was saying.

"Yes, I'll show you an example" The woman said as she got up then pulled her wand out from underneath her robes.

She looked around the room then stopped when her eyes landed on a small vase sitting on the ledge next to the window.

"I want you to take that vase and smash it on the ground" she said.

Finn looked at her like she was crazy.

"You want me to do what?" he asked her hoping that he had heard her wrong.

"Take the vase and smash it on the ground, trus' me it will be al'ight" she said eagerly waiting for him to do it.

Finn got up off the bed and made his way over to the vase. He picked it up and with one last glance he looked over at the woman who gave him an enthusiastic nod. He shrugged his shoulders then proceeded to smash the glass vase down on the ground, breaking the vase into a million pieces. Finn moved away quickly so as to not accidently step on any of the pieces. The woman raised her wand then spoke.

"Reparo" she said with a clear voice and a flick of her wrist and the wand.

Finn watched in shock and amazement as the vase began to repair itself right before his very eyes. When it was done The orange haired woman flicked her wrist again and the vase moved towards Finn. Finn launches caught it. He lifted it up in front of his eyes and inspected the vase seeing no cracks or anything which completely made him awestruck. He placed back down on the spot he had taken it from and turned back to see the woman was once again sitting down so he again took his seat on the bed, looking at the floor and then up at the woman again he couldn't believe what he had just seen. "Magic is real!" He thought to himself.

"Now, there are many different kinds of wizards. There are the good wizards like Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, and Severus Snape who despite his faults was a good man, but there are also dark wizards such as Grindelwald, someone only known as R and of course Voldemort" the woman said.

"What am I?" Finn asked.

"That my boy is entirely up to you and the choices you decide to make on your journey and time at school" the woman said.

"School?" Finn asked with raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but we'll save that for tomorrow" the woman said then before Finn could say anything else there was knock at the door.

The door opened and Mr. Longbottom poked his head inside.

"We have food ready for you downstairs if you're hungry" Mr. Longbottom said smiling and nodding his head towards the stairs.

Finn didn't move. He was still replaying the scene of the vase magically fixing itself before his eyes over and over again. He jumped a little when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see the orange haired woman standing next to him looking at him understandingly.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but you'll get used to it." She said with a warm smile.

Finn got to his feet then followed the woman out of the room. They made their way down the steps going back into the lobby of the pub. Finn looked around and didn't see the man from earlier which was a small relief to him. He walked over and took a seat at one of the tables and the woman took the seat across from him. Finn looked around then a few minutes later Mr. Longbottom emerged from the back of the pub carrying a tray of food which he placed down on the table between Finn and the woman.

"Enjoy" Mr. Longbottom said kindly before making his way back into the kitchen.

Finn looked at the food in front of him with wide eyes. He had never seen so much food before. He could feel the drool forming at the corners of his mouth. He quickly wiped the drool away then looked up at the woman who had an amused smile on her face.

"I take it they didn't feed you like this at the orphanage?" she asked.

Finn shook his head.

"Well go on, eat" she said.

Finn smiled wide then began piling food onto his plate. He picked up the fork then started eating, the woman watched with a growing smile on her face. As the woman watched Finn eat, she wanted to share everything she knew about him to him, but she had been asked not to do so. She didn't agree with it but knew that in the end it probably was the right thing to do, at least for now. She reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope which she placed on the table then slid it across to him. Finn looked at the envelope then up at the woman with a confused look on his face.

"Go on, it's addressed to you" the woman said.

Finn placed his fork down on the plate, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and as he finished chewing what was already in his mouth, he reached over and picked up the envelope. He opened it and pulled out a letter. He slowly unfolded it then started reading it out loud.

"Dear Mr. Fergal Barrett, We are pleased to inform you that you have accepted to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students will be required to report to the Chamber of Reception Room upon arrival. Please find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment…." Finn read then stopped when he noticed another piece of parchment in the envelope. He took it out before continuing his reading. "Please use the entrance located at Kings Cross Station Downtown London, on Platform 9 3/4. We look forward to having you at our school. Sincerely Filius Flitwick" Finn said before putting the letter down on the table.

Finn couldn't believe what he had just read. He thought back to what the woman had told him earlier about him being a wizard and now he could possibly go to a school that could teach him how to use magic? He looked up at the woman again for some clarification.

"Hogwarts is a school where you can learn magic. It is the safest place for someone like you to be trained to cast spells so that once you complete your seven years you will have all the skills you will need to be qualified for one of the many jobs out there for wizards" the woman said matter-of-factly.

"Did you go to the school?" Finn asked her.

"Yes, It wasn't easy for me, but I made it through all seven years and now I have a job I love" she replied with a huge grin.

"What do you do?" he asked her.

Totally ignoring his question, she said,

"Tomorrow you will be going to Diagon Alley. I won't be able to accompany you tomorrow, but Mr. Longbottom has gracefully agreed to help you gather what you will need for school" the woman said.

"Will I see you again?" Finn asked.

"Yes" was all she said as she started to put food onto her plate to eat.

Finn opened his mouth to speak but decided against it then started eating once more. He didn't know why but for some reason he could sense that tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day. What he didn't know was that tomorrow was going to be the first day of a brand new life.