Chapter 3: Met by a very strange letter

Alexander ran home as fast as he could, even outpacing Ben Rowe (whose arm looked far less broken now that he was out of the pit). His father was in the kitchen making supper when Alexander burst through the kitchen door.

"You alright, Alex?" his father asked.

His father hadn't shaved this morning and he had a tired look about him. Alexander always thought his about father looked tired and often guessed that he wore the thick rimmed glasses to cover the bags under his eyes. A lot of people said they looked alike. Both thin and tall, with a mop of curly blonde hair resting on their heads. Both were often quiet and considered, by some, to be alarmingly reserved. Not the life of the party, his mother often said, but the two sweetest boys I know.

She often joked that she did more than enough talking for the both of them combined. She as an American her father had met while visiting New York. Alexander didn't know the whole story, and lately felt that neither one of them was ever going to be in the mood to tell it. They were Percival and Rachel West, and that was all Alexander knew about them other than Mom and Dad.

Rachel ran up to him and wiped the dirt off his cheek. She had dark black hair and sweet, confident smile always stuck right on her face. She worked for some marketing agency, but Alexander hardly understood what she did. It seemed very important though.

"It's probably those that awful man's son, oh-what's his name?" she started.

"Ben," Percival yelled from the kitchen.

"Yes, Ben. Was it Ben, dear? Did he do this to you?" she asked.

Alexander had forgotten about the bruises and dirt that he was covered with. His meeting with the cloaked man and the magic he had seen had complexly jostled his memory of the bike chase.

"No, I'm okay, mom. I promise. I just fell off my bike, but I'm okay," he said.

Rachel surveyed him, concern burrowing on her brow.

"What's this you have here?" she asked, reaching for the letter.

She grabbed the letter and held it under the kitchen light.

"What's Hogwarts, Perce? Why are they sending Alexander letters? Is it some sort of prank?" she asked, turning to his father.

His face had gone white as he dropped his knife on the cutting board.

"Do you know these people?" Rachel asked again.

Percival sprang forward and grabbed the letter from her and let out a small, squeaky chuckle,

"Yes, of course I know them. It's a work thing, a little prank going around. I'll take care of it, don't you worry about it," he said, stuffing the letter in his coat pocket.

"I don't understand, why are they sending it to Alexander?" Rachel asked.

"Well," Percival stumbled, "like I said, it's a prank. A few guys at the office thought it would make a good laugh. It's making fun of me, you see. It's really not a big deal, I'll give them a call tonight and ask them to stop sending them here. It's really not even funny, so I won't even bother reading it."

He turned and gave Alexander a knowing glare.

Supper was quiet as Rachel talked about work and the clients she had brought in. They ate meaty pasta that his father had under cooked.

Percival stayed quiet and a few times she had to get his attention.

"Are you even listening? It's important, Perce. This is my life," she said.

"I am listening, I swear I am," he said quickly.

Alexander remembered what the man in the cloak had told him,

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

He had never seen his father look this scared before.

After dinner was over, Rachel excused herself to make a conference call with her boss, leaving Percival and Alexander alone to do the dishes.

"Where did you get the letter?" Percival asked calmly.

"It's hard to explain, but he was amazing! He just said a few words and I flew into the air! Just lifted me up like it was nothing, it was like magic. He said you'd know who he was, that it was time to stop running away," Alexander blurted out.

Percival sighed and turned off the sink water.

"What's going on, Dad? I don't understand why you won't tell Mom," Alexander asked.

"There are things that I've been avoiding telling you both. About my past-about all this. It's been very difficult, you see. But it is for the absolute best that you don't tell your mother about this," Percival said firmly.

Alexander had never seen his father so adamant or emotional. Usually he was like a statue while Rachel spoke for the both of them.

"Why can't we tell her? What's Hogwarts?" Alexander pressed.

"Let's go on a drive, and I'll explain everything the best I can," Percival said.

They left a note for Rachel:

Gone for Ice-cream, be back soon- The boys.

And were out the door.

At first Percival just gripped the wheel in silence, and Alexander waited for him to talk. They drove around town in circles, taking block by block until his father finally broke the silence.

He explained things that Alexander could hardly believe. Of Wizards and Witches, magic and monsters and stories that sounded far too fantastical to be true. That there was a secret to this world, and there are those that practice magic in secret from the rest of us. There were wars, and heroes and villains that the rest of the world would never know about. That young wizards and witches from around the world were taught how to harness their magic and help the world without anyone even knowing they were helped. His dad told him that he had gone to the very same school that Alexander had now gotten an acceptance letter from.

"I've been throwing them away ever since you turned 11, but I should have known that they'd make their way to you," Percival said with a heavy sigh.

"Why did you throw them away? It all sounds so wonderful, just like one the stories I read," Alexander said, brimming with excitement.

He had always escaped into books. Flying to Neverland with Peter Pan, or walking the road to Mordor with Frodo and Sam. At the very least, this Hogwarts was far away from the kids who terrorized him every day.

Percival stopped the car, and pulled off the side of the road, a shadow cast upon his face and his voice grew somber.

"Hogwarts is a wonderful place, and I realize now that I can't keep you from that world, no matter how hard I try," he said.

His father put his hand on his shoulder, "You're a wizard, Alex. Just like me, and just like the man you met today."

A wizard.

"Are you sure? I don't feel much like a wizard," Alexander said.

"I didn't either when I was your age, but there is magic in you. I know it to be true. Think about all the times somethings happened that you couldn't explain," Percival said.

Alexander remembered, when he was a very young child, how he used to always could read faster than others, as if he could take in a whole page at a time. Whenever he got excited, books would come flying off the shelf. His father used to blame the uneven floors, but Alexander knew he was covering for him.

"So, does this mean I'm going to Hogwarts? To learn to be a wizard like you?" Alexander asked.

Percival sighed and brushed his hands through Alexanders hair.

"It seems that way, it would be a shame to take that away from you just because I was scared."

"Scared of what?" Alexander asked.

"Hogwarts," Percival said, "is one of the most magical places in the world. It can be just as dangerous as it can be beautiful. When I was there, in my fifth year, there was a powerful wizard named Voldemort. He tried to kill one of the students and enslave the rest of us."

"What happened?" Alexander asked.

"He was defeated, by a wizard named Harry Potter. I didn't really know Harry very well. Just by reputation, really. Even though we won out, I wanted nothing to do with Hogwarts, or even magic, after that. I ran away," Percival confessed.

"You didn't finish school?"

"No, I moved back in with Grandma, met your mother and tried to forget it all. That's why I never told her, that worlds not for me anymore, Alex. It's for you," Percival said.

Alexander felt a strange sense of excitement overtaking him. For once in his life, he wanted to do something other than stay at home and read. For the first time in his life,

Alexander wanted an adventure!

"So who was the man that I met today? He said you'd know who he was," Alexander asked.

"Well, from what you told me, it could only be one person. The only man I can think of that would come all the way here just to make sure you were trained as a wizard," Percival said, a small smile spreading across his lips.

"Who is it?"

"I knew who it was as soon as you told me what he said. That idiot is my brother, Ivan, and your uncle, and he'll be the one to get you to Hogwarts on time."