Chapter 2 – The Dancing Monkey
The door opened to show Minerva the person she was seeking. She looked down to see the young man. He was fairly skinny with a round face and kind grey-blue eyes. However, the feature that made him stand out more than anything else was his long sky-blue hair. Despite his odd appearance, he wore simple jeans and a t-shirt.
"Hello Adam. My name is Professor McGonagall. May I come in please?"
"Sure." The boy smiled up at her before moving away from the doorway to allow her entrance.
Minerva stepped inside the room and looked around, taking in the room. Unlike Mrs Newton's dingy office, Adam had clearly done his best to make his room as comfortable as possible. His bedspread was very messy and the few possessions he had, mainly toys designed for children about five years younger than himself lay strewn across the floor. He sat down on the bed, his legs dangling slightly above the floor as Minerva took a seat opposite him in a small wooden chair.
"Adam, do you know why I'm here?"
"Nope." He smiled at her, clearly not disturbed by her strange fashion sense. She was slightly irritated by how cheerful this child was.
"I am Professor McGonagall," she repeated, "and I have come to tell you that you've been accepted for the school I work at."
"Really? Which school is it?"
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She stated simply. The child's smile faltered and he looked slightly sympathetic for McGonagall, as though she was a senile old woman.
"Sorry? Witchcraft and wizardry?" he questioned.
"Yes. Mrs Newton has told me about some of the strange things that have happened," Professor McGonagall shot a look at Adam's hair, "and these things have happened because you are a wizard." Adam looked blankly at her, deep in thought, before reaching up and taking some of his hair to have a closer look at.
"But, how can I be a wizard? Wouldn't my parents need to be wizards?"
"Not necessarily. There are a lot of children like you, who are called muggle-borns." McGonagall could still see a shadow of doubt in his face. "Would you like me to prove that I'm a witch?"
Adam thought carefully. He wondered exactly what this woman would try to do, but ultimately decided she wouldn't do anything to him in a building where everybody would realise if something happened to him.
"OK." He watched as she pulled a long, thin stick of wood out of the inner pocket of her tartan jacket and pointed it at a toy monkey on the floor. If jumped up into the air and floated over to Adam's bed where it landed next to him and proceeded to perform a very complicated tap dance, before collapsing lifeless once again next to him. Adam was still staring wide-eyed at the monkey when the professor spoke again.
"Convinced?" Adam nodded weakly before turning to face her. He saw her stow her wand back in her jacket pocket before pulling out a thick enveloped and handing it to him. "That contains details about exactly what Hogwarts is and also a list of all of the equipment you will need before term starts." Adam opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, unable to comprehend exactly what was happening. Suddenly however, he was brought back to earth by a sudden realisation.
"Er, professor, where am I going to buy all of these things?" He was sure that he couldn't buy one of those magic wands anywhere in London.
"Ah, I will escort you to Diagon Alley in London tomorrow to get all of your shopping done. I will also give you the details for the train to Hogwarts tomorrow as you will need to make your own way there."
"But," Adam spoke again, seemingly determined to find a fault with what she was telling him, "I don't have any money to pay for any of this stuff." Once again however, McGonagall had an answer for him.
"For students in circumstances such as yours a small allowance is provided by the school. As I will be accompanying you, I'll be looking after your money." Adam was still struggling to comprehend everything that she had just told him. He opened his mouth once again to ask a question, but this time he was interrupted.
"All of the basic information about the magical world is inside that letter." McGonagall stood up to leave, but Adam called her back once more.
"Wait, er, professor. Could you help me to change my hair back to normal?"
"Ah yes, I believe that you are a special type of wizard called a Metamorphmagus. These wizards can change their physical appearance at will into anything that they like. You must have wanted your hair to change for some reason, and thus…" McGonagall trailed off, feeling little need to explain what the result had been.
That night, having read and memorised the details in the letter about the magical world, Adam experimented with his powers, changing his hair colour multiple times. Originally, he had just returned it to the normal chestnut brown, but since then he had been through various colours including bright yellow, silver and lime green. Currently, it had settled on black as he tried to go to sleep but his head was buzzing with excitement about what was going to happen tomorrow.
