Chapter 6, Feelings Feigned No More:

"Haruto passes it to Stevens…Stevens passes it to Elena…and Elena sends the Quaffle RIGHT PAST THE KEEPER FOR ANOTHER GOAL! The Kensington Kestrels now lead the Sweetwater All-Stars by only 10 points! Clearly it's still anyone's game!"

Jacob turned up the volume on the radio and put his last pair of socks into his trunk, right next to his brass scales. It was a tight squeeze, but he only just managed to fit all of his textbooks, clothes, robes, and other supplies inside. Slamming it shut, he grabbed his trunk and propped it up against the door to his bedroom before double-checking that he had packed everything on his list.

"Three sets of plain work robes…one pair of protective gloves…" he muttered. He was a bit distracted by the radio on his dresser, which continued to narrate the Quidditch game.

"Ooo and that's a penalty! It looks like it was called on the Sweetwater All-Stars! A case of Blatching done by Number 27. He'll have to sit this out for a while! How can the All-Stars stop the Kestrels now that one of their Chasers has been called off the field!? Whoever wins will go on to face the Fitchburg Finches in the Finals! Folks, this is quite the nail-biter!"

Jacob shoved his list back into his pocket, turned the radio off, and went downstairs to the Kitchen, dragging his trunk along with him. His mom was sitting in the Living Room watching TV, while his dad was busy making pancakes in the kitchen.

"Good morning Jacob!" he called out. Jacob waved back and set his trunk down near the front door.

"Hey Dad!" he replied. He set his trunk down near the front door and walked back into Living Room. He gave both of his parents a hug and sat down in the Living Room with his mom.

"You all packed for your big day?" his mom asked.

Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I should have everything"

His mom grabbed her mug of coffee from up off of the table next to her and took a sip. Jacob had walked over to the kitchen and was getting himself a glass of orange juice. She turned and watched him with concern, firmly gripped her mug. She took another sip before setting it back down on the table.

"Jacob?" she called.

"Yeah?" he called out back to her.

His mom sighed. "I was wondering…have you've told Lisa or Carson about how you're transferring schools?"

He hesitated before replying. "…No" he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Don't you think it would be good to?"

Jacob set his glass down on the kitchen counter and began starting off into space. His eyebrows furrowed at the thought and he ran his hands through his hair. He turned towards his Mom, who was now looking at him steadily, waiting for an answer. Jacob took out his phone and started idly scrolling through social media. He didn't want to answer this question, because he knew the answer would be a solid No.

"Jacob?" his Mom asked again.

"Umm…" he muttered. "I dunno. Do I have to…?"

"Jacob, honey…" she sighed. She then stood up and walked towards him.

"Listen, I know that you were hurt when you heard that both Lisa and Carson were dating. I know it's hard, and I know how miserable you must be…but they were your friends for as long as you can remember. Surely that must be enough for you to tell them about this?"

Jacob huffed and slid his phone back into his pocket. "Well what do you want me to tell them? The International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy states that – "

"I know what the Statue says" she interrupted him. "And I wasn't going to suggest that you tell them that you're going to a school for magic instead of a college".

"So what do you want me to tell them then?"

"Say that you went to another school, one out on the East Coast. Maybe tell them that you transferred there at the last minute. What did you tell the other people in your friend group?"

Jacob frowned. "I told them exactly what you said just now. I guess I could them that too…" he muttered as he pulled out his phone again.

"Jacob, honey…why haven't you told them this yet?"

"I don't know!" he answered angrily. "I've spent the past two months having fun and hanging out with my other friends. Nothing has gone wrong, I haven't been reminded about Lisa or Carson, and I've been happy. Why should I go back to talking with them after all of this time?"

"Because they were your friends" his Dad answered, setting down his spatula onto the kitchen counter. "I'm sorry Jacob, but please don't throw away your friendship with them like this. When you go to Ilvermorny, you won't have the opportunity to talk with them until Winter Break. This is your one chance of making amends with them before then. So please…just say something" he walked away from the griddle towards Jacob and folded his arms.

"Trust us. Both me and your mother know you better than anyone…so we know that you'll regret it if you don't"

Jacob looked at his Dad, and then back to his Mom. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew, deep down, that they were right. Still, he didn't want to discount his own feelings and act as if his heart wasn't broken by what they did. Even months later after he heard about their relationship, just the thought of them sent a twang of pain through his heart. Still, he took out his phone and opened his group chat.

"Fine" he told them. He then typed out a message to the group chat with both Lisa and Carson in it.

"Hey guys" it read. "Just wanted to make sure that everyone knew that I transferred to a new school out East. I'm leaving in a couple of hours, and I won't be able to talk or hang-out with you guys until Winter Break" he paused.

"Have a great semester everyone!" he typed out begrudgingly. He then turned his phone towards his parents.

"There. Are you happy now?" They nodded and smiled.

"Yes, thank you Jacob" his Mom said with a smile. She then wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. "I love youuuu!" she said with a smile.

Jacob stiffly wrapped his arms around her too before he loosened up and let himself be enveloped in her warm embrace. He sighed as all of the tension and anger left his body.

"Thanks Mom. I love you too"

Jacob shoveled the last piece of pancake into his mouth before he began licking his plate clean of all the excess syrup.

"Thanks for making breakfast, Dad!" he told him. "I loved it!"

"I'm glad you did!" he replied with a smile.

Jacob picked up his plate and went to go slide it in the dishwasher. As he did, his eyes caught a glimpse of the most recent issue of The Seven-Lakes Times newspaper on the counter. The headline read: "DISAPPEARANCES ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY BAFFLE MACUSA". Curious by what the headline meant, Jacob opened the newspaper, leaned his back up against the counter, and he began reading the article.

"MACUSA officials trudged through the abandoned tunnels of City Hall Station in New York City, the site where Gellert Grindelwald was apprehended by Newton Artemis Fido Scamander and other MACUSA officials almost a century ago. Now used by Witches and Wizards as an entrance to the Underground Railroad, this location had become a hotspot for all magical folk living in New York City. They had been called there for one purpose: to solve a missing person's case, one that has now been unsolved for two whole weeks"

"24-year-old Fintan O'Dingle (known to his friends as Finn) is an American-born wizard of Irish heritage. He's a self-employed wizard that provides color-changing Quills of all shapes and sizes to his customers at a small shop in Brooklyn, New York. On August 21st, he had passed through the City Hall Station on his way to the Underground Railroad Station where he would board a train that would take him to Upstate New York, where he'd be spending the weekend with his grandparents ridding their yard of Leprochauns (not to be confused with their Irish cousin, the Leprechaun). The only problem is, he never reached his destination. As a matter of fact, no one knows if he ever boarded the train to begin with"

"After consulting with various eyewitnesses, most of them reported seeing a man with long black hair, an unkempt beard, and stark grey eyes following Fintan as he walked through the City Hall Station. After they both passed into the station for the Underground Railroad, no one saw either of them again since then. It's suspected that this grey-eyed man is the one responsible for his disappearance, but no wizard registered under a Wand Permit matches eye-witness accounts of the suspect. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is baffled by this event, but it appears that cases similar to these have only been growing in number"

"In the Northeastern regions of the United States alone, over fifty missing person cases have been filed in these states over the past three months, and MACUSA appears to be no closer to solving these mysteries than they were three months ago. These strange events appear to be bolstered by the appearance of various extremist groups, which have been popping up all over the country in recent years. Groups like these claim that these disappearances should be attributed to No-Majs, who they believe are capturing Witches and Wizards to traffic them to No-Majs that despise all magic, No-Majs that want to see these innocent people tortured. The same groups believe in Wizarding supremacy and in No-Maj enslavement, the same philosophy preached by both Voldemort and Gellert Grindelwald many decades before. Some historians are drawing comparisons between these movements to the rise of the Scourers, a corrupt and brutal organization that terrorized the magical community in the colonial era of America's past"

"While these historians believe that groups with extreme beliefs such as these aren't new in America, they believe that this string of disappearances bears a striking similarity to the events that led up to first and second Wizarding Wars in Europe, two of the most famous conflicts in the history of the Wizarding World. Historians and MACUSA officials alike implore all Witches and Wizards across the country to be on the look-out for these missing individuals, and to report any suspicious behavior to their local authorities. It appears that if we want to prevent history from repeating itself, it would be best if we locked our doors and remained vigilant. Thank you for reading!"

Jacob set the paper back down on the counter and stared at it for a couple of seconds. It was an odd article, one that he wasn't too keen on reading a second time. Knowing that there were people who'd eagerly jump at the chance to enslave others…in the modern age? What sort of sick joke is that? It…wasn't something that he wanted to think about. Not only that, but people who believed in such radical ideas were dangerous. Not only because of their extreme devotion to such dangerous ideas, but to extremely dangerous people as well. The worst of the worst, the ones who have completely lost touch with what it means to be human.

Jacob turned away from the newspaper and walked back towards the kitchen table. He then sat down and stared out the window, deep in thought. The leaves on the trees rustled in the wind as orange clouds drifted by aimlessly overhead in the yellowy-orange skies. The sun still hadn't yet emerged from over the tops of the trees behind their house, so most of the yard was still hidden in shadow. Plenty of birdsong could be heard echoing throughout the yard. This serene environment seemed to be at a stark contrast for what the entire world was going through right now. Not to the chaos created by Jacob's presence in the Wizarding World. For as long as anyone could remember, children would begin showing magical abilities by the age of 11, not 18. In some ways, they thought of Jacob and others like him as an anomaly. He couldn't help but wonder…Why am I here? Why…after all of this time, is magic being given to people like me?

"Jacob?" his Mom asked. "Are you okay?" She was the only one left in the kitchen with Jacob. His Dad had left the kitchen and walked off somewhere in the house.

"Yeah…yeah I'm fine" he nodded in reply. "Just thinking about all of this. It's a lot to take in, you know?"

"Yeah. I bet it is" she said.

Just then, Jacob's phone began to ring. He slid it out of his pocket and read the name of the person who was calling him. It was Lisa. Jacob sighed.

"Who is it?" his Mom asked.

"It's Lisa" he said. Reluctantly, he stood up from the kitchen table, walked into the Living Room, and answered her call.

"Hello?" he called.

"Hi" a voice answered. "How's it going?"

"I'm good. Who is this…?"

"Jacob" the voice said. "It's me, Lisa"

"Oh hey Lisa. How are ya" he said.

"Eh. Could be better"

Silence. Neither Jacob nor Lisa said anything for an entire minute. A look of contempt was spread across Jacob's face, but Lisa's face was filled with sadness and sorrow.

"So I heard that you're transferring schools" she said.

"Yep"

"Why?" she asked.

"Well you see, things came up that I had to deal with, and this is how I'm dealing with them"

"Jacob, that doesn't answer my question" she told him.

"Well that's the truth" he answered coldly. "I can't tell you more than that"

Silence again, but it didn't last nearly as long this time.

"Why have you been avoiding me for the past two months?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You know what I mean"

"No, I don't"

"Yes, you do!"

"Fine" he told her. "I have been avoiding you. Are you happy now? And have my motives really been that big of a mystery to you?"

"Yes! As a matter of fact, they have!" she said.

Jacob sighed. "Lisa, listen…I have always had feelings for you, so hearing about how you're now in a relationship with Carson was hard for me"

"WHAT?!" she yelled back. "IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?!"

"Yeah?" he said, startled by her voice. "It was really hard for me to handle. Do you understand that?"

"No! I don't understand this, not even in the slightest!" she told him. "What, have you been angry with me for being in a relationship with Carson now? Not talking to me is a pretty terrible way of handling that, Jacob"

"And who ever said that I've been avoiding you out of anger?!"

"Well what is it then? Are you embarrassed?"

"No!"

"Jacob…" she sighed. "To think, after all of this time, you've been avoiding me because you couldn't date me. That I was taken. I WAS WORRIED THAT I HAD DONE SOMETHING MEAN TO YOU, SOMETHING THAT OFFENDED YOU! And now y-you're just going drop me as a friend after all of these years because of that?! Is just being friends with me really not good enough for you?!"

"No! That's not it at all! Lisa, are you even trying to understand how all of this has been making me feel?" he told her.

She scoffed. "Nice try, but you already asked me that question. Not only that, but you STILL haven't been thinking about how all of this makes me feel!" she responded. Now she was quietly sobbing. This sent a twang of pain through Jacob's heart.

"Jacob…the times that we spent hanging out together as friends was amazing. They were some of the most cherished memories of my life. It's only because of you that I'm a part of our group of friends, remember?"

Yes, Jacob did remember. Back in Middle-School, Jacob was paired with Lisa for a science lab. After talking with her for a while, they found out that they had a lot of things in common with each other. Jacob liked reading fantasy books, and so did Lisa. She liked playing video games, and so did he. Eventually, Jacob introduced her to the other friends in her group. They all got along really well, and soon after, she was friends with all of them as much as Jacob was a friend to them.

"Yeah I know. Those were some really good times" he said gently.

"Don't…don't those times mean anything to you?!" she asked, sobbing even louder now. "And changing your tone with me now that you've realized your mistake is extremely rude!"

Jacob's Mom could now hear her on the phone and was looking over at him from the Kitchen in concern. Jacob's Dad had also come back. He was also visibly worried about Jacob. In his hands, he held a long thin package covered in paper and wrapped up together in twine. He set it down on the counter and looked at Jacob. Jacob, seeing how both of them were now staring at him, he turned his back to them and kept talking to her.

"Of course they mean something to me" he answered. He then swallowed his pride and opened up to her. Jacob has never wanted to be mean to anyone, at least, not for as long as he had been giving Lisa the cold-shoulder. "Lisa…I'm sorry but being around you is very hard for me right now. In some ways, it would be a constant reminder that you never saw me in the way that I see…no, saw you"

"What?" Lisa asked.

"After I broke up with Andrea, I felt more alone than I ever had before in my entire life. Then there was the Graduation Party, which on the other hand, was amazing. Sitting and chatting with you guys by the fire-pit was the best. I felt like I had people, outside of my family, who cared about me and who I was" he leaned up against the wall. "I then remembered how I felt about you before Andrea came into my life. I saw you the same way that I did when we first met. All of it came flooding back to me, the affection that I wanted to give you, the way I wanted to spend time with you and be happy with you, it all was just as amazing as it was when I first dreamed about it Middle School. You're amazing, Lisa, and knowing that you never saw me, or will ever see me, in the same precious way that I saw you, is heartbreaking".

Lisa fell silent. After pondering what he just said, she answered, saying: "Jacob…I love Carson, and I always have. Ever since you first introduced me to him! Is it really that hard for you to accept that?" Jacob also fell silent for a while before responding.

"So what do you want me to do then?"

"Can we just be friends again?" she asked. "That's all I've ever wanted"

Jacob stood there in shock. He never had the intention to change her mind or be mean to her because of this, but after opening up to her about how he was really feeling, only for her to ask that he push his feelings aside? Hot tears began streaming down his face. As they dripped off of his face and onto the Living Room carpet, he began to sob.

"So you want me to forget everything I just told you" he said. "L-like nothing ever h-h-happened? I can't take back what I said, Lisa. And you know that!" His Mom walked over to him and beckoned to hand the phone to her. Jacob, wiping the tears out of his eyes, shook his head vigorously. He would be the one to finish this conversation, and no one else.

"No, you can" Lisa replied to him. She had finished sobbing now. "I've heard about many different guys who were able to swallow their pride and go back to being friends with the girls they fell for. Eventually, these guys were happy again, and life went on for them like it always did when they were friends. If they could do it, why can't you?".

"BECAUSE I'M NOT LIKE OTHER GUYS, LISA!" he shouted back at her, sobbing loudly now. "Do you really think that I'm the type of person that can just stuff his feelings away as if they mean nothing to me?! I've confessed my feelings to you! I can't take that back!"

"Jacob…" she answered gently.

"You know what, Lisa?" he responded back, tears still streaming down his face. "Maybe by the time I get back from school I'll have learned how to keep my feelings in check. Maybe that school can work it's magic on me and turn me into something I'm not, but until they do, I can't go back to the way things were!"

"Jacob…" she whispered. "I'm sorry"

"…and so am I" he replied back. "Goodbye Lisa"

"Goodbye Jacob. I hope things can go back to the way they were"

"We'll see" he said angrily. He then hung up the phone and collapsed onto his knees, where he cried and cried. Both of his parents approached him and hugged him as he continued to cry, letting all of the pain and suffering that he's endured over the past couple of weeks flow out of him until there was no pain left, just an overwhelming feeling of tiredness.

Magical Creature Profile, The Leprocaun:

The Leprocaun is a small humanoid magical creature native to Ontario, Canada. They're also often seen in upper Ottawa, northern Michigan, and Upstate New York. Originally brought over from Northern Ireland, the Leprocaun started out just like any other normal Leprechaun. As time went on, however, the Leprocaun became much more aggressive and fearsome than it's Irish relative. They developed large claws and sharp teeth, and they're known for attacking Witches and Wizards without hesitation. Gold, shoes, and other things have long left their minds. Should an untrained Witch and/or Wizard meet a Leprocaun in the wild, it is highly recommended that they run as fast as they can and hope that the Leprocaun becomes bored of them.