Chapter 2: A very strange day

Alexander West had never peddled so fast in his life. Houses in the neighborhood whipped past him in what seemed like lightning speed.

"You can't keep running forever, West!" shouted a boy behind him.

Three of the neighborhoods largest and cruelest kids were tailing him on their own bikes and gaining ground. Alexander had been living in this neighborhood for a year now, and these bullies had made every day of his life an absolute terror. They were the reason that he tried to never leave his room.

Today, his father had insisted that he go out and try and make friends.

"You can't always be sitting in your room. It's not right for a kid your age. Go out, make some friends, have some adventures," his father had told him.

Alexander had never been a big fan of adventures. In his mind, they always ended in disaster. Besides, he hadn't made any friends in the entire year he had been living here and he had doubts that it was going to happen for him now.

"Once we catch up, you're dead!" shouted one of the boys.

"Leave me alone!" Alexander shouted back meekly.

He knew it wasn't going to do any good. These were not the type of boys that listened to reason. They were led by Benjamin Rowe, the son of the gas station owner. He was not known as the smartest kid in their school and often the teachers seemed to like to point it out. He had caught Alexander smile when he couldn't solve a problem on the board and had sworn to end him after class. The bus ride had been a terror with Ben and his friends watching him the whole ride back. As soon as the bus screeched to a stop he had thrown on his backpack and sprinted for the safety of his house. Of course, today would be the day his father would make him leave the house for a few hours.

Just ahead of them, the neighborhood shifted into a construction zone. The city had been planning on extending the neighborhood but a union strike had left the zone completely empty. This was the bullies stomping ground, everyone in the neighborhood knew it and they were corralling Alexander right into it. It was a minefield of pot holes and ditches. Thin slabs of wood covered the edges of the holes so the workers could walk across but they had long been abandoned. It was treacherous terrain for a bike chase, to say the least.

Ben had managed to gain some ground, and had peddled his way up to Alexanders side. He reached out for him, and grabbed on to the strap of his backpack.

"Get off of me!" shouted Alexander, terror rising in his voice.

Ben grunted something in reply but tightened his grip. They remained tangled together but still peddling as fast as they possibly could. Bens bodyguards came to a sudden stop behind them, a look of panic shot down their face. Alexander realized too late that Ben and him were flying right toward one the abandoned ditches.

They both flew down in an instant and the bikes crashed underneath them. Ben groaned and grabbed onto his arm but Alexander was more concerned with his bike. The handle was broken and the chain had come off completely. He had no idea how to fix it.

"I think my arms broken," Ben said, tears streaming down his cheek.

They were both completely covered in dirt and the fall had scratched them both pretty badly. It was just barely too tall for Alexander to jump, even though he stood a few inches taller than most eleven year olds.

"Tom? Eric? Get my mom! Are you guys there?" Ben shouted frantically.

"I think they ran off," Alexander said.

Ben turned his attention back to Alexander, "Are you kidding? They wouldn't leave me here with you."

Ben continued to shout for his friends for the next hour while Alexander sat down to rest. It was getting dark, and his head was pounding and he was sure it was going to bruise. It wasn't much longer before the sun would go down, and he did not want to spend the night in this ditch with the one person who was constantly trying to ruin his life. This moment just seemed to some everything up since he had moved. His parents were always fighting and asking him to go play outside and as soon as he stood out the door Ben and his crew were there to chase him down. Things were so much better back when his dad was working in London. He remembered how much his mom had cried when his dad announced the family was moving to America. Alexander had been born in America, but he couldn't even remember the last time he had been there before the move. London had been his home his entire life, up until his dad's stupid job had moved him here.

"This is all your fault," Ben said glumly.

"My fault? You were the one grabbing onto my bag!" shouted Alexander.

"You shouldn't have laughed at me in class! Everyone always laughs at me," Ben said.

It was true. Ben barely could keep up in class and he was already a grade behind everyone.

"I shouldn't have laughed at you. I'm sorry about that," Alexander said.

"I don't care if you're sorry or not. I just want to go home," Ben said.

For the first time, Alexander truly felt sorry for him. From what his mother had told him, Ben's home wasn't a very safe place to be either. Perhaps that was why he was always chasing down Alexander, to get out, even for a bit. In that moment he looked more like a sad little chubby boy, and less like a menacing bully.

"What if you stood on my shoulders? You could climb out," Alexander suggested.

Ben looked down at his arm, "Not like this I can't."

His arm didn't really look that bad, and Alexander doubted that it was broken. He did seem rather fussed about it though.

"Come on, give it a go. Then you can pull me out with your other arm," Alexander said.

Ben grunted in agreement and started his trek up Alexanders back. He was heavier than Alexander remembered and his sneakers dug into Alexanders shoulder blades. He struggled for a big, but Alexander reached up and managed to push him over the edge.

"Alright! Now pull me up!" shouted Alexander.

Ben didn't say anything.

"Are you okay? Can you reach down at all?" he shouted once more.

He was once again met with silence.

"The fat boys run off, you know," spoke a voice behind Alexander.

Alexander nearly jumped out of his skin. Standing above the ditch was a cloaked man. He couldn't quite make out the face, but he seemed to be holding a strange stick in his hand.

"Who are you? Why are you standing over a ditch?" asked Alexander.

The man chuckled, "Why are you standing in one?"

Alexander wiped some dirt off of his pants, "I fell in, obviously. It wasn't intentional."

"Well, let us remedy that," the man said, "hold very still. No more jostling about."

The man quickly stood, and pointed his stick at the boy,

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted and a tremendous light came out of the stick.

Before he knew it, Alexander was being lifted into the air. It was a sensational feeling, almost as if he were flying on his own. It didn't hurt in the slightest and despite himself, he wasn't scared. He felt very much like Peter Pan, if only for a moment.

Soon, his feet touched the ground the sensation came off of him and as he found sure footing.

"How did you do that?" he asked, excitedly.

The man seemed shocked, "Has your father really not shown you magic before? Do you know any spells?"

Spells? Surely this man couldn't be serious. Then again, he had just witnessed it himself.

"I'm afraid that I don't. Did you say my father knows about this? Do you know him?" Alexander asked

The man reached into his cloak and removed a letter, "It's best, I think, if your dimwitted father explained this himself. Here, boy, take this letter and return home as quickly as you can. This explains why we hadn't heard of your acceptance yet."

Alexander reached out and took the letter, his mind still racing of the possibilities.

"Who are you? What should I tell my father?" Alexander asked.

"Tell him an old friend sent this to you, and that it's time for him to stop running away," the man said and turned to walk away.

"Who are you, really?" shouted Alexander.

The man removed the hood from his cloak. He seemed a jolly man, with curly black hair with hints of grey fighting their way slowly on his head. He sported a thin goatee and a finely groomed mustache that looked like it was combed on the daily, and he wore a pressed suit underneath his cloak.

"He'll know who I am, trust me on that," the man said.

Before Alexander could respond, the man disappeared into the night. Alexander ripped his flashlight from his backpack and turned it to the letter. It was addressed to him, specifically, and had 'urgent' scratched heavily on the envelope. The return address said Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.