Michael Brown
It took us a few minutes to calm down enough to talk to the mysterious intruder, who, after entering our home and frightening us with her casual disregard for the laws of the universe, sat down on one of the armchairs located in our living room and waited patiently for us to collect ourselves. The fact that she did this so casually probably meant that doing such a thing was a common occurrence for her. If that was the case, it had several disturbing implications.
Until I had time to investigate the situation more, my leading theory was that she was a program sent by the system to get rid of abnormalities that took place in our living room. That meant that she was something akin to agents from Matrix, sent by our synthetic overlords to purge any glitches and mistakes in the code. I actually think that Matrix, though it wasn't released in this "world" yet, was a brilliant plan on the part of machines. It normalized the idea of being locked in the simulation in our minds, meaning that when people would discover the abnormality in the system, they wouldn't rebel against the programming with all their strength, only thinking "wow, it's like in the Matrix", stopping them from breaking free. It was a devious, ruthless method, which honestly both impressed and terrified me.
Of course only if it was true. Simulation Theory was only one of the theories I was considering at the moment, though it was very plausible.
However, it was probably not a good time to unravel the true reason for creating a movie Matrix, as I should instead focus on a reality warper/Agent in front of me. It really wasn't something I could forget about, as her being in my house most likely meant I was in grave danger. Was she there to kill me for awakening my psychic abilities? Or maybe she was going to delete me for creating a mistake in the code? Would that extend to my family? After all I didn't know if they were just programs or other subjects, kept imprisoned in the system by cruel machines. I didn't have enough information to be sure. Unaware of my thought process, the intruder spoke, seeing that everyone was able to collect themselves and ready to carry a conversation with.
"First of all, I would like to apologize for startling you. I should have been more tactful with my entrance" said the old woman with a slight regret in her voice. Her appearance suggested she was about seventy years old, with grey hair and wrinkles on her face, but her posture was straight and her eyes were sharp, suggesting she still had a lot of energy, despite her advanced years (or she was just a robot). She was wearing a long, black robe and huge, pointy hat, giving her a quite unusual appearance, which was probably the point.
Knowing what I knew about human perception, I realised how frightening the woman before me really was. Human mind was built to ignore certain abnormalities. The fact that she was dressed like a typical witch and was able to enter our house without raising any suspicion most likely indicated that she possessed an intimate knowledge about human perception, using it to travel through crowds unnoticed and most likely to assassinate her victims without anyone spotting her. The fact that my parents reacted with panic after seeing her meant that they either didn't know her, meaning that she belonged to the third party, capable of infiltrating the organization my parents belonged to, or they recognized her, meaning she was someone so dangerous that just seeing her made my parents afraid. Both options were equally bad.
There was also something at the back of my mind, whispering to me that I should recognize that woman, but I was too stressed by the situation I found myself in to care. Hearing the woman's calm tone seemed to make father a little more confident, as he gathered courage and spoke.
"E-excuse me, but who are you?" He asked with a trembling voice, standing protectively between us and the potential hitwoman. I could only admire his courage and determination to complete his mission, despite the fact that he was facing a possible Esper. But I wished he would be careful, as one wrong move and we would end up as red stains on the wall. "And why are you in our house?"
"I apologize for my lack of manners, I am Minerva McGonagall, one of the teachers in Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. I came here because of your son, Michael. The unusual sight from earlier was actually caused by Michael unknowingly casting a spell, making every small object in the room float. It's a clear sign that he is a wizard." She said, making everyone look at her in disbelief. The rest of my family probably because they were just told the magic is real, me because what the actual fuck. Hogwarts?! I knew that I recognized her from somewhere! That woman was trying to make me believe I was in the world of Harry Potter! How could such a thing be possible?!
Okay, think Michael, think. The only thing I saw so far was some random objects floating and a person coming to my home unannounced, pretending to be a teacher from a fantasy book. Levitation itself wasn't proof that magic was real. There was probably some logical explanation for this phenomenon. For example, it could have been just some psychic power. Or it could be Their plot. Mechanical overlords wanted to make me believe that the abnormality I just saw wasn't a glitch or a mistake in the code, but magic. They wanted to use it to make me stop investigating further. I saw things float into the air? Magic. How did that work? Who cares, it's magic! What a simple but devious solution! If it was anyone else like me, they would get tricked into believing it!
"Did you say magic? I admit I can't really explain what happened earlier, but to say it was magic is…" Started mother dubiously, but stopped when McGonagall took out her wand (or some sort of mechanical device in the shape of a wand, used to cause hallucination or optical illusion) and created a large ball of pure light In the middle of the room. Then she swung the wand, making the ball move, changing shapes and doing circles, most likely to prove her claim. We were mesmerized as the ball split into several smaller balls, which transformed into various vehicles and animals. Horses, planes and birds were floating around the room, making everyone look in wonder. I however used the distraction created by the show to look at walls and ceiling of the room, searching for any holographic projectors. I couldn't find any, but If someone was competent enough to create something like this, they were competent enough to hide any device used to achieve it.
"Is this enough proof that I am telling the truth?" Asked McGonagall with a wry smile. It actually wasn't, but mother simply nodded, most likely not wanting to antagonize the dangerous woman. "I know that from your perspective it doesn't make much sense. After all, you were told all your lives that magic isn't real. That's why my goal is to explain everything, making sure you understand why your child should go to Hogwarts"
I spent the next few hours listening to an obviously fake story, meant to force my parents into sending me to an isolated facility, where I would spend time "learning spells honing my magical talents". Yeah, sure. I read Firestarter, I knew what these facilities really looked like!
And of course McGonagall was framing it like my parents had a choice in this matter. There was no way the shadow government ( which I will for now call Ministry of Magic for the sake of clarity), would allow an untrained child with magical talent and/or psychic abilities to roam the world unattended, potentially revealing the existence of supernatural forces to the ignorant masses they were controlling through disinformation. If my parents were to decline the offer, we would either end up dead or McGonagall would somehow extract a "magic" from me, leaving me as a soulless husk. I mean, even assuming that what she was saying was true and this truly was the Harry Potter world, none of the books mentioned people who rejected Hogwarts acceptance letters. Why? Because such people didn't live long enough to deserve a mention!
So I really didn't have a choice. If even my parents, who were (most likely) government agents, were scared of this woman, I couldn't really do much to stop her from taking me.
That was why, after two hours of talking with McGonagall, my parents gave up and decided to throw me under the bus. Of course they didn't say it, instead arguing that they didn't know anything about magic, so sending me to the institution where I could learn to control my talent was the best choice, but I got the message. Lily actually looked quite sad to hear that I was going away, increasing the chance that she wasn't a child actor, so I patted her on the head to calm her down. My parents acted a little sad too, but I knew the truth.
My parents were sending me to Hogwarts facility because they knew they couldn't do anything. They would however most likely use me as a spy, so that the government would be able to learn more about the Ministry of Magic, the institution hidden from the rest of the world, capable of creating an army or mages/espers. In a way, me becoming a Hogwarts student was the opening of the cold war between the real world and the shadow government known as the Ministry of Magic.
"I am happy that we were able to come to an agreement" Said McGonagall. She then turned to me, making me quickly avert my eyes, fearing she would read my mind. I didn't really know if I believed I was in the Harry Potter world, but the woman in front of me already displayed various supernatural abilities, so there was no way I would allow her to hear my thoughts. Unless she didn't need eye contact to do that. In that case I was already doomed. "I will visit next weekend and we will go together to Diagon Alley to make all necessary purchases. Does it sound agreeable Michael?"
"Of course professor McGonagall, I can't wait!" I responded with the smile on my face, inwardly panicking. I was about to spend a whole day alone with a woman, who may or may not be a magical hitwoman working for the shadow government.
I was going to die!