The Mysterious Benedict Society Goes to Hogwarts
A/N: Hey guys, welcome to my first fanfic ever! Our pals in the Mysterious Benedict Society are all wizards and are heading to Hogwarts. In this version, Kate is eleven like Sticky and Reynie, and Constance is so prodigious they invite her at three. The beginning is just like the beginning of The Mysterious Benedict Society, but obviously it branches off once they learn they're wizards and such. There is no Voldemort (I guess this is when Harry is little and living with the Dursleys) and no Curtain-induced Emergency. Let's see what I can do!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, I am a mere dabbler. Trenton Lee Stewart is the mysterious master of the Society and J.K. Rowling is the supreme creator of Hogwarts.
CHAPTER 1: Newspapers, Tests, and Letters
In a city called Stonetown, near a port called Stonetown Harbor, a boy named Reynie Muldoon was preparing for an important test. He was told in a newspaper advertisement to come here, to the Monk Building on Third Street, and to bring nothing but the newspaper he'd seen the special advertisement in. Curiously enough, these were the only instructions given. Reynie thought the locked doors of the Monk Building at noon in Stonetown's busiest district seemed a little peculiar, but then, what hadn't been peculiar about this whole affair?
To begin with, his tutor at the Stonetown Orphanage, Miss Perumal, didn't even notice the strangeness of the newspaper advertisement. This was odd, as Reynie and she thoroughly read the newspaper every morning together. Miss Perumal didn't quite know what to do with Reynie, but neither did anybody else. Himself included, Reynie observed solemnly, but he had nevertheless grown fond of sharing the morning newspaper with her over breakfast and tea.
The newspaper that morning had been filled with the usual headlines, but nothing compared in Reynie's mind with the bold-printed words, "ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES?" The most unusual aspect of this ad was that it appeared to be moving. He blinked, trying to clear his mind, but the green ink still grew and shrunk in a most eye-catching manner. When he showed the advertisement to Miss Perumal, however, she merely asked if he'd be interested. Reynie was surprised that she couldn't see the moving words, but then he reconsidered. The question was addressed directly to children, not to parents or any other adult guardians. Reynie had never known his parents, who died when he was an infant, and he was pleased that the advertisement seemed to take this possibility into account. But still, how odd. How many children read the newspaper, after all? Reynie did, but he had always been alone in this, always considered an oddball. If not for Miss Perumall he might even have given it up by now, to avoid some of the teasing.
"I suppose I might be interested," he said to his amiable tutor, not mentioning the moving words again. And so it was organized that Miss Perumal would drop him off at Stonetown Harbor on the way to her mother's house. The night before, he was far too eager and anxious to sleep. Special opportunities, he kept thinking, over and over again. He would have been thrilled to get a crack at plain old regular opportunities, much less special ones with letters that moved when only he was looking.
Just before dawn he rose, dressed in the dark, and hurried down to the kitchen, where Miss Perumal was likewise too excited to sleep. She turned then, took one look at him, and said, "You'll not make a good impression dressed like that, I'm afraid. One mustn't wear striped pants with a checkered shirt, Reynie. Also, it appears that one of your socks is blue and the other purple."
Reynie looked down at his outfit in surprise. Usually he was the least noticeable of boys, but this morning he would stand out in a crowd- unless it happened to be a crowd of clowns. He grinned at Miss Perumal and said, "I dressed this way for luck." After changing into more sensible attire, Reynie joined Miss Perumal in a drive across the sleepy city to the Harbor. Miss Perumal tried to investigate, but there was no more information outside the Monk Building than there was in the advertisement. So, with words of encouragement and a hug, Miss Perumal set off to her mother's, and Reynie sat down to wait.
As other children with their parents began arriving, a line formed outside the strangely locked doors. Finally, they were ushered into the building to take a curious test. The first section was rather what Reynie would have expected. The second section, however, was written in the same mysterious green ink as the advertisement, and the words wiggled on the page. The first question was: "Do you like to watch television?"
This certainly was not the sort of question Reynie had expected. It was only a question of preference. As he started to mark down the answer, that everybody liked to watch television, he hesitated. The more he thought about hit, the more he realized that he didn't, in fact, like to watch television at all. I really am an oddball, he thought with a feeling of disappointment. Nonetheless, he answered the question truthfully: NO. He answered the same regarding "Do you like listening to the radio?" and continued with the test. When he reached the end, and was preparing to turn it in, the words in the second section began to twitch and grow. They morphed into a third section. Glancing around to see if anyone else was noticing this, Reynie took a shaky breath and answered the questions: "Do you know who your parents are?" "Do you believe in magic?" "Do you feel that you don't fit in with everyone around you?"
He laid down his pencil once more and looked around. Most of the other children had already finished the test, including the girl next to him. She had bright green hair and was wearing a poofy white dress. But her face, and the faces of everyone else around them, did not betray that something out-of-the-ordinary occurred. At the front of the room, munching rather loudly on an apple, the test administrator was keeping a close eye on them to ensure they didn't cheat. She was a thin woman with a yellowish complexion, short-cropped, rusty-red hair, and a stiff posture. For some reason she was wearing a long mustard-yellow robe, and overall effect reminded Reynie of a giant walking pencil. Between the girl next to him and the pencil suit, Reynie was reminded of his own clown outfit from that morning. He suddenly wished he was with Miss Perumal, but the green cloud and pencil would have to suffice.
"Pencils!" the woman suddenly called, as if she'd read his thoughts. The children jumped in their seats. "Please lay down your pencils now," the pencil woman said. "The test is over." "I want more time!" a few children cried. The woman's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry if you haven't finished, children, but the test is over. Please pass your papers to the front of the room, and remain seated while the tests are graded. Don't worry, it won't take long."
After all the tests had been turned in, the pencil woman stepped out of the room, leaving the children to bite their nails and watch the clock. Only a few minutes passed, however, before she returned and announced, "I shall now read the names of children admitted into the second phase of the test."
The children began to murmur. A second phase? The advertisement hadn't mentioned a second phase.
The pencil woman continued, "Very well, if there are no questions, I shall read the list. Reynard Muldoon!"
Reynie's heart leaped, and there was a grumble of discontent from the seat behind him. As soon as the room grew quiet again, the woman glanced up from the sheet.
"That is all," she said matter-of-factly, folding the paper and tucking it away. "The rest of you are dismissed."
The room erupted in outcries of anger and dismay. As the children filed out the door, Reynie approached the woman. For some reason, she was hurrying around the room checking the window locks. "Excuse me. Miss? May I please use your telephone? My tutor said-"
"I'm sorry, Reynard," the woman interrupted, tugging unsuccessfully on a closed window. I'm afraid there isn't a pheletone."
Reynie, ignoring the mixed-up word, continued, "But Miss Perumal-"
"Reynard," the woman said with a smile, "I'm sure you can make do without one, can't you? Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be disap -pearing now"
"Excuse me! Miss, uh-Miss? I'm sorry, you never told us your name."
"That's fine, Reynard," she said, stepping into the room. "You've nothing to be sorry for." Reynie waited for her to give her name. Instead she took a large bite of a doughnut and chewed very rapidly. She said "You have another question?"
"Oh yes. If I don't telephone Miss Perumal, my tutor, I'm afraid she'll be worried."
"Very good of you, Reynard, but don't worry. We've already called Miss Perumal, so all is taken care of." The pencil woman once again began to retreat.
"Miss? Excuse me, Miss? Forgive me for asking this. I wouldn't ask if it weren't important, but… well, you wouldn't happen to be lying to me, would you?
"Lying to you?"
"I'm sorry to ask it. But, you know, you did tell me there was no phone, and then later you told me you already called her. So you see why I'm concerned. It's just that I don't want Miss Perumal to worry."
The pencil woman seemed unperturbed. "That's a perfectly reasonable question, Reynard. A perfectly reasonable question." She gave him an approving nod and made as if to leave.
"Miss, but you didn't answer my question!"
The woman scratched her head, and Reynie began to suspect that she was either a little daft or a little deaf. After a moment, however, she said, "I suppose you want the truth?"
"Yes, please!"
"The truth is I haven't called Miss Perumal, but will do so immediately. In fact, I was about to call her when you asked me if I called her yet. Does this satisfy you?"
Reynie hardly knew what to say. He didn't wish to offend the woman, but he could hardly trust her now, and it was more important to know that Miss Perumal's mind was at ease. "I'm sorry, Miss, but may I please just call her myself? I'll only take a minute." The pencil woman smiled. When she spoke this time her voice was quite gentle, and she looked Reynie in the eyes. "You are very good to be so concerned about Miss Perumal. What would you say if I told you that I have in fact contacted her already? No, don't answer that. You won't believe me. How about this? I'll relay her message to you: 'Do you see now that you didn't need luck? I'm glad you wore matching socks.' That is what she told me to tell you. Are you satisfied?"
Before Reynie could make up his mind how to answer, she handed him a piece of paper and vanished, leaving him to puzzle over her mystifying behaviour. The message from Miss Perumal was obviously real, so why hadn't she told him in the first place? He unfolded the paper and read it. It directed him through the halls of the Monk Building to a room crammed with full bookshelves. There he sat down to wait, and pondered everything that had happened so far today.
An hour later, Reynie heard footsteps in the hall, followed by a timid knock at the half-open door. A young boy's face appeared in the doorway. "Hello," the boy said, adjusting his spectacles, "is this where I'm supposed to wait?" He spoke so softly that Reynie had to strain to hear him.
"I have no idea. It's where I'm supposed to wait, though, so maybe it is. You're welcome to join me, if you like. I'm Reynie Muldoon."
"Oh," the boy said uncertainly. "My name is Sticky Washington. I'm just wondering if this is the right place. The yellow lady told me to come down the hall and sit with someone named Reynard."
"That's me," Reynie said. "People call me Reynie for short." He put out his hand, and after a moment's hesitation Sticky Washington came and took it.
"Stick was a notable skinny boy (which Reynie suspected was how he got his nickname -he was thin as a stick) with light brown skin the very color of the tea that Miss Perumal made each morning. He had big, nervous eyes like a horse's, and, for some reason, a perfectly smooth bald head. His tiny wire-rimmed spectacles gave him the distinguished look of a scholar. A fidgety scholar, though: He seemed quite shy, or at the very least anxious. Well, why shouldn't he be anxious, if he'd been through what Reynie had been through today?
Reynie asked Sticky about how long he'd been waiting, and they started a conversation about the strange events of the day. Reynie, uncertain if he should say anything, cautiously mentioned the newspaper advertisement, asking, "How did you discover the 'special opportunities?'"
Sticky took a thick piece of cotton cloth out of his short pocket and polished his spectacles with it. He blinked his big, nervous eyes, and said, "I saw it in the newspaper, and…" He stopped, and polished his spectacles again. Reynie, deciding to risk it, said in a whispering voice, "I was the letters move. But my tutor didn't seem to notice it!"
Sticky's eyes grew, and Reynie cringed in preparation for Sticky calling him crazy. But instead, Sticky breathed a sigh of relief. He replied, "I noticed it too! But nobody else could see it! I thought I was going insane."
Reynie, glad he was no longer alone in his inexplicable observations, continued to converse with Sticky. He learned that his new friend got his name because everything he reads sticks in his head. They talked about the peculiarity of the test, and became more and more comfortable with one another. Soon enough, the sun was starting to set. When Reynie mentioned the pencil woman's sneakiness regarding the phone call to Miss Perumal, however, Sticky shrunk back and stammered, "Oh, yes. Yes. I tried to call my parents, too. Same thing happened. But in the end it was fine. She called them, nothing to worry about."
Reynie nodded politely, knowing Sticky was trying to hide something, but he decided not to press the matter. They continued conversation on different subjects, when all of a sudden the door flew wide open, and a girl raced into the room carrying a bucket. She was extremely quick; One moment she was busting through the door, golden-blond hair flying out behind her like a horse's mane, and the next she was standing right beside them. Sticky leaped back in alarm.
They asked what she was running from, and learned that the girl, Kate Wetherall, was eleven and just liked to move quickly. Kate, who preferred the name The Great Kate Weather Machine, had very bright, watery blue eyes, a fair complexion, and rosy cheeks, and was unusually tall and broad-shouldered for someone her age. Reynie and Sticky asked Kate about her bucket, which was solid metal and the color of a fire-engine. In it she carried tools, including a Swiss Army knife, a flashlight, glue, a slingshot and marbles, twine, a pencil, a kaleidoscope, and a horseshoe. She explained that all those things came in handy all the time; including when she helped the 'Old Yellow Suit' escape crowds of angry parents. They also learned her father abandoned her as a young girl, she used to live at an orphanage, and ended up running away to live at a circus. The three children got along very well, and speculated at length the nature of the second phase.
Finally, the pencil woman returned and brought them to the supposed second phase. She instructed them, while nibbling on almonds, to go through the door she brought them to, and to reach a staircase at the back of the house. They were supposed to ring the bell and the top of the staircase to let the next person know when to go.
Reynie was asked to go first, so he took a deep breath and went through the door. He was in a small, square room with a door on each wall. He went into the door opposite him, and entered a room exactly the same as the one he'd just left. Reynie realized he was in some sort of maze, and noticed a panel on the other side of the room. On the panel there were three arrows pointing in three different directions. He wasn't sure which one to follow. But when Reynie touched the panel to study it closer, a bright light shone from behind the panel, and a larger arrow made of light shone above Reynie's head. It pointed to the left, and Reynie, amazed, went through the left door. He entered another identical room, and walked to the panel and touched it again. A similar arrow appeared, and he continued through room after room until he reached a staircase. He raced up the stairs with a shout of triumph, and rang the bronze bell at the top.
Somehow the pencil woman was there all of a sudden (Reynie didn't see her enter), and she smiled at him. Rapidly eating a cracker, she asked him to wait for the others to finish their tests. Without giving him time to ask about the floating arrows, there was a loud crack and all of a sudden Reynie was alone again. He waited, and soon enough Kate and then Sticky made it the top of the stairs as well. The pencil woman asked them to wait once more, and zipped away, leaving them soup and sandwiches. As the three hungry friends devoured their food, they wondered where the pencil woman could be disappearing to. Finally, she returned with a small, pudgy girl, wearing a bright red raincoat and a cross expression. The pencil women, introduced the girl as Constance Contraire, and told them finally that they had passed all the tests. She had them follow her into another room, filled to the brim with books and other gadgets. The children, bewildered and excited, complied, and sat down to wait again.
Through another door, an elderly man and a young woman entered. Reynie realized with a start that the woman was in fact the green-haired girl he'd been sitting next to during the first test, but now she had a sharp pointed nose and royal blue braids. The man was dressed in a strange plaid-green robe, half-moon spectacles. He had a long beard, twinkling eyes, and a lumpy and crooked nose. He spread his hands to meet them, and said in a kind voice, "Hello, children. I am sure you have many questions. There is much to explain, of course, but first I offer you congratulations, for you have all passed the tests. My name is Benedict Dumbledore, and I am the headmaster of Hogwarts. Please start with reading these letters, he said, producing four thick envelopes. Reynie opened the envelope, and started to read:
Dear Mr. Muldoon:
We have the pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
By this point, Reynie was bamboozled. Were the floating arrows and the moving letters witchcraft? Sticky had already read through the thick packet with incredible speed, and his expression was full of shock, fear, and wonder. At this point Constance exclaimed, "Just tell us what's going on already! Stop wasting our time!"
Professor Dumbledore responded, seemingly without perceiving the disrespectful spite in Constance's shouts, "All right, children. I can explain everything. Hogwarts is a school for magic. You four are witches and wizards, and at Hogwarts you can learn magic. Number Two, Rhonda, and I," he said, gesturing to the pencil women, the no-longer green-haired woman, and himself respectively, "sent that advertisement so that only magical children could see it. It was the same with the third section of the test, and the maze arrows. All of you have demonstrated great magic in different ways. We are recruiting because you four did not have anybody to enroll you. Reynie, your parents were muggles, meaning they were non-magical. Sticky, you are also non-magical, but your parents were receiving your letters as you were in hiding. Kate, your father was an Auror, meaning he protected wizards against dark magic, but he sadly lost his memory. We are working with him, and you will be able to meet him soon if you wish. And finally Constance, my dear, we are not sure yet who your parents are. However, you have potent magic, and are being invited to attend school at only three years old." Dumbledore proceeded to explain everything to the children, and humored them in answering seemingly endless questions. The children, all brimming with questions to ask, but simultaneously exhausted, finally decided they could wait till tomorrow to get more questions answered. They were given clothes, toothbrushes, and bedrooms, and they all collapsed into a deep sleep. As owls hooted over the city of Stonetown, the four children dreamed of the fantastical world of magic. Reynie dreamed of a world in which he belonged, in which he had three friends and didn't feel so alone.
A/N: All right, that's chapter 1. Let me know what you guys (if anyone reads this) think, and give any suggestions as to what should happen. What house should Reynie be in?