Chapter 4
Jack was seven years old when he realized that he could change his appearance at will.
It started when the orphans were all playing charades, and Jack was supposed to pretend to be a pig. He got on all fours and started snorting and squeaking, and everyone was laughing. Then one girl, red-haired Cathy Ames, screamed and said, "He has a real pig-nose, look!"
"Don't be silly, I'm just pretending to be a pig," laughed Jack. He looked around and saw that nobody was laughing.
"Wait…" Ernest Giordano said, peering at Jack's face. "It's gone."
"What?" asked Jack.
"The pig-nose," said Ernest.
Nobody seemed to want to play charades anymore.
Jack started spent some time at the mirror each morning messing around with his appearance. He would turn his eyes green, make his hair grow and become curly, splash some freckles on his face, and give himself a huge nose. But before he put the mirror back under his bed, he always turned his appearance back to his brown-haired, blue-eyed, pale self. He didn't want to give Cathy any more reason to call him a weirdo.
One May morning, he climbed down the stairs to see his group of friends waiting for him. "Cheerio, lads," he said, smiling at them. "What's the Dragon up to?"
"Cooking breakfast," said Bunny, the youngest of the group.
"Which means…" Jack said, cocking his eyebrow mischievously at the group.
"Time to fly from the Dragon's den!" crowed Isaac. Jack shushed him with a look, and they all moved towards the door.
"Jack," yelled Miss Wool from the kitchen. She came out into the hallway. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to!"
"Oh, dear Miss Wool," said Jack. "I'm being naughty again, aren't I?"
"Yes," she snarled. "And annoying, as usual. Get your behind into the kitchen this instant and help me with breakfast."
"As my lady commands," said Jack, bowing low to the ground. His friends behind him sniggered. Miss Wool sneered and walked back into the kitchen. Jack turned to his friends and said, "Ladies and gents, I am afraid I cannot come with you on this fine adventure. You are free to leave without me, however."
"It wouldn't be any fun without you," said Eliana hurriedly, blushing.
He smiled at all of them and then made his way into the kitchen to help the Dragon.
"Jack, come down, please," called Miss Wool. Jack was lounging on his bed and cracking jokes with his friends. He sighed and went and slid down the staircase rail.
"Oh, dear Miss Wool," Jack said. Then he stopped short. Standing next to Miss Wool was a massive man with a large white beard. The man looked at him under bushy eyebrows and asked, "Is this Jack?"
"Yes, Mister Frost," said Miss Wool, smiling (and looking as if it were painful to do so, Jack noticed). "Jack, come this way."
Slightly mollified, Jack followed Miss Wool and Mister Frost into the kitchen.
"Sit down, Jack," Miss Wool instructed. She gave Mister Frost a smile and went about making tea.
"So, Jack," Mister Wood said, leaning forward. "Want to leave the Dragon behind?" He cocked his eyebrow the same way that Jack did that always made Miss Wool annoyed. Jack smiled at him.
"This is where I get to live?" gasped Jack, looking up at the large metal gates with awe.
Nicholas Frost (Order of Merlin, Second Class, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot) smiled at the boy and patted him on the shoulder. "This is where you get to live," he said.
The gates opened and they walked in together.
"What did you just call me?" asked Jack, taken aback.
"A Metamorphmagus," repeated Nicholas. "You can change your appearance at will, right?"
"I didn't know there was a name for it," muttered Jack, running his hand through his hair. "I thought I was just weird."
"You are weird," said Nicholas, nudging Jack softly. Jack lightly punched him back and laughed. Nicholas added, "You can do other things too, you know. You're a wizard, just like me."
"A wizard?" laughed Jack. "Now you're just messing with me."
"Most certainly not!" boomed Nicholas, standing up. From his pocket he took out a stick of wood.
"Let me, guess that's your 'magic wand,'" said Jack.
Nicholas waved the stick and a smoke-like reindeer flew from it and trotted across the room.
"Okay, a real magic wand," Jack said, frowning. "No big deal. I'm nine years old and I just learned that magic is real." Jack looked up at his adoptive father and smiled. "This is the best day ever!"
When Phil, Nicholas's owl, brought Jack's Hogwarts acceptance letter, Jack was in the mirror, messing with his hair color. Phil dropped the letter on Nicholas's lap, and Nicholas shouted down the hallway for Jack to come. Jack ran down the hallway.
Upon entering the living room, Jack realized he forgot to turn his hair back to its normal color. Nicholas looked up at him. "White?" he asked. Jack shrugged. "I like it," laughed Nicholas. "Now, what did I call you here for? Ah, yes, I have a letter for you."
Jack took the letter from Nicholas's hand and ripped open the envelope and read the sheet of paper inside. He looked up, his eyes shining with excitement. "I get to go to Hogwarts!" he crowed, and ran around the house as Nicholas watched him with a large smile on his ruddy red face.