Harry Potter Robes and Costumes

Visit our friendly Harry Potter Forum to discuss wizarding style and more, like these posts:

Author	Message
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 26 April 2009 10 03 01 am    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks! I haven't flown first class. I flew when I was 5, but haven't flown since. Chapter 44: The Sorting I heard the door open a minute or so later and Mum and I left the kitchen to see which one of my grandparents was arriving. I reached the door to find Cinda setting her bag down on a table and gazing around at the house. "Mum," Mum greeted Cinda. "Julie, darling," Cinda smiled and embraced her, "So, this is your new house." "Yes," Mum nodded, "What do you think?" Cinda paused. "Small," she said after a while, "And kind of quaint." "I'll take that as a complement," Mum said wryly. "It's just so different," Cinda went on, "Your old house was so much grander and fancy..." she trailed off. "Yes, but honestly, we didn't need all that space, Mum," Mum explained, "We lived there because Walter inherited it and it was his childhood home. Otherwise, we would have stayed at our first house. Remember that one?" Cinda nodded. "Yes, that one was even smaller than this." "But we like it," Mum sighed. "I know, I know," Cinda replied, "It'll just take some getting used to." We wandered back to the kitchen and Mum continued cooking while Cinda set the table. Richard and Dad arrived a few minutes later and Richard told my parents how much he liked the house. We took them on the grand tour (which didn't take long) and showed them the entire place with the exception of the basement, which was still in partial disrepair. When we finished showing my grandparents the house, Ellie announced that dinner was ready. "I'll go see if Matt's up to eating dinner with us," Mum said as we entered the kitchen. "Let me, Jule," Dad said, "I haven't seen him in a few hours." I sat down at the table next to Mum, with Matt's empty seat on the other side. Ellie started serving the food, but no one started eating until Dad returned. "He's sound asleep," Dad said as he sat down at the head of the table. Mum nodded, "I figured he would be. He's been asleep ever since we got home from St. Mungo's." "When will he be all recovered?" Richard asked quietly. "Probably late tomorrow or early Thursday, he'll be feeling back to normal," Dad told him. The rest of dinner was spent discussing England and what my parents liked and disliked about it. Richard and Cinda had dozens of questions about the house, Dad's job, and England in general. After dinner, Dad enlarged a bed that had not sold at the estate sale (which actually happened to be the bed my grandparents usually slept in when they stayed at my house)and set it up in the library for them. Everyone went to bed a few hours later, but I stayed up and looked out my telescope. I woke up late the next morning. Very late. But I figured I needed to in order to adjust to the different time zone. I stumbled down the stairs and to the living room only to find that I was one of the first ones up. Only Mum and Dad got up before I did and were talking quietly to themselves. Richard and Cinda woke up shortly after I had brekkie (or would lunch have been a more appropriate word?). It wound up being a very quiet day. Matt was in no shape to go anywhere. He spent the day lounging on the couch reading and playing his DS. Cinda gave Mum interior decorating advice about the house and the two of them wound up rearranging the kitchen yet again. Richard, after hearing about Dad's microwave incident, decided to teach Dad the finer points of cooking meals in a microwave. I thought this was rather funny since Richard was certainly not a cook. But, Richard and Dad seemed to enjoy it. They even went out and bought these Muggle things called 'microwave dinners', which are meals you stick in the microwave for a few minutes and then eat. We wound up having them for dinner. I spent the day wandering from room to room, just looking at what my family members were doing. I realized how very odd it was to have my grandparents in England with us. What was even stranger was that at that moment, no one in my family was in Australia. Well, except for Clarence and his family, but I didn't really consider them family anymore. I played a few rounds of Exploding Snap and Gobstones with Matt, but then he got bored with it and we both read for a while. Dad had to go back to work the next day, but Mum decided that we could go show Richard and Cinda Diagon Alley. That was fun, especially when we went to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Both Richard and Cinda were flabbergasted by the amount of magical pranking items they had. Dad met us for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron, which was nice. Richard and Cinda left a few days later. Their visit had been surprisingly fun. They said they'd visit again soon, but didn't give an exact date. ****** The weeks went by quickly after that. The time before I would go to Hogwarts was quickly decreasing and once August arrived, I realized how close it was. I started thinking about it all the time and it was making me nervous. Sure, I was getting used to our new house and living in England, but school would be a different story. I was going to know absolutely no one, except for the headmaster. Dad finished my potions room and I was very happy with it. It looked a lot like the one I had in Australia, except it had no windows. Dad put some sort of magical ventilation system in, though. "Amy!" Mum shouted down the stairs one Thursday afternoon. "What?" I shouted back as I increased the fire under my cauldron. "You've got a letter!" Mum answered. I turned off the flame and ran up the stairs. Maybe it was from Olivia. I had owled her the previous week, but she still hadn't gotten back to me. Mum handed me the letter once I entered the living room. I turned it over and saw that it was from Hogwarts. I slit it open, pulled the letter out, and read it silently. [i]Dear Miss Eckerton, Please note that the new term will begin on September first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4 at eleven o'clock in the morning. Also, since you are a new student this term, you need to arrange to meet with the headmaster prior to the start of term. Please owl him with a time that will work, the sooner the better. Sincerely, Professor Padma Patil Deputy Headmistress[/i] "What's that about?" Mum asked. "Telling me when school starts," I mumbled, "September first. But I have to go see the headmaster soon, since I'm new there." I handed her the letter. Mum's eyes moved along the page and then she set the letter down on the table. "I'll send an owl. I could take you tomorrow, after Matt's appointment with Norlam." Matt's sessions with Norlam were going well. So well in fact, that Norlam announced the next day that he was going to start the relaxation techniques he had mentioned months ago. Norlam actually had Mum and I do them as well, which was kind of odd. He had us take deep breaths with our eyes closed while we imagined ourselves in relaxed places. I thought about walking through the bush in Australia. It was actually really relaxing and the hour went by fast. Norlam talked briefly in private to Mum and then left. "Ready to go?" Mum asked a few minutes later. "Yeah," I replied. Kendrick had said he was going to meet us at the Three Broomsticks, so Mum, Matt, and I Apparated to Hogsmeade and walked into the pub. That afternoon it happened to be filled with gossipy old witches and there were a few wizards discussing politics at the bar. "Just give it a few years," one of them was saying, "And Percy Weasley will be Minister. I'd bet my Gringotts account on it." "Naw," the other one was saying, "He's softened with age. He's just not Minister material anymore." "Julie!" Professor Kendrick got up from the bar and greeted us. He had been sitting a few seats down from the politicking wizards. "Professor Kendrick," Mum smiled and shook his hand. "Please, call me Fabius." "All right," Mum said. "Well, let's go up to the castle," Kendrick replied. I followed him out of the pub and into Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade in the summer was a lot different than Hogsmeade in the winter. People were congregating outside and talking about anything and everything. Little kids ran around chasing each other and older kids goofed off. Eventually we made it to the school grounds and then into the castle. The castle was the opposite of Hogsmeade. It seemed completely deserted. In fact, I didn't see a single person on our way to Kendrick's study. "Is Walter working?" Kendrick asked as we entered his study. "Yes," Mum answered. "How is he liking it?" "Oh, he's enjoying it," Mum said. "Good," Kendrick smiled and gestured for us to sit down. I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of Kendrick's desk and Mum sat in the other. Matt sat down on her lap. "All right," Kendrick folded his hands together, "As you know, the term starts on the first and you will arrive here by train. How did you get to school in Australia?" "Train," I replied. Kendrick nodded, "And I'm assuming the platform the train arrived at was hidden from Muggles?" "Yeah," I said, "You had to run into the barrier separating two platforms." "Ah, well, it's the same here. You will run through the barrier in between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross to get to Platform 9 3/4." "Ok," I said. "And now onto slightly more exciting matters. We need to figure out what classes you're taking. At Hogwarts, there is a core curriculum of classes that everyone must take until the end of fifth year, when the O.W.L. exams are taken. Then, you choose which classes to continue at the N.E.W.T. level for sixth and seventh years. At the end of seventh year, you take your N.E.W.T. exams in those classes." I nodded. Classes and exams had been similar to that in Australia. "Therefore, you have to take Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, History of Magic, Charms, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Besides those, you can take two or three electives. The choices for electives are Muggle Studies, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Divination, and Ancient Runes. Which would you like to take?" "Well, I did Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes in Australia," I explained, "I guess I'll just take those." Kendrick nodded and jotted something down on a piece of parchment. "Very good," he turned to Mum, "At Hogwarts, anyone in third year and above can visit Hogsmeade a couple of times during the year. If you'll let Amy participate, I'll need you to sign this form." He handed Mum a piece of parchment. "Of course," Mum picked up a quill and quickly signed the parchment. "Well," Kendrick took the permission slip, "All that remains now is to Sort you into your house, unless you want to be sorted with the first years." My house. I had completely forgotten that I'd have to be sorted into a house at Hogwarts. "I'll do it now." No way was I going to be sorted in front of the entire school with a bunch of eleven-year-olds. "All right," Kendrick stood up and then paused, "It's sort of been a tradition at Hogwarts for the first years not to know how the sorting is done." He turned to Matt, "Could I ask you not to mention anything about the sorting when you're on your first train ride to Hogwarts?" Matt nodded but didn't say anything. I was now thoroughly curious about this sorting thing. Why was it so secretive? What was so special about it? "All you'll have to do is sit there," Kendrick told me as he pulled a very old looking hat off a shelf near his desk. He held it up in front of him. "This is the Sorting Hat. It will tell you where you will go." I stared at it. A hat? A hat was going to sort me? Even in the wizarding world, that was a little strange. "But it's a hat," I said. "A wise hat," Kendrick smiled. "And I will figure out where to put you," the hat's brim opened suddenly and began talking. I gaped at it and then turned to Mum and Matt. Both of them were staring at it as well. Not only was it a hat, but it was a talking hat. Kendrick walked over to me and put the hat on my head. Immediately, the hat's voice appeared in my head. I nearly jumped out of my seat from the shock of it. 'Hmm,' the hat began, 'you're older than most of the kids I sort.' 'Yeah, well, I moved here,' I thought. 'I see that,' the hat replied. I guess it knew everything about me. 'Hmm, you're loyal. Fiercely loyal. You'd do anything for your family,' the hat said more as a statement than a question, 'Good Hufflepuff material.' 'Loyal, that's good. I guess I'm loyal.' 'Very loyal. But that's not all. You've got courage. A rare courage that I don't see every year. The courage you need to remain loyal to your family, especially your brother, no matter what the circumstances are. Yes, indeed, very interesting combination. The loyalty of a Hufflepuff, but the courage of a Gryffindor...' 'Gryffindor! Someone told me that's the best house.' 'Everyone says that about their house. They all have their good qualities. And you happen to possess the qualities of two great houses. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. But which one. Which one indeed?' I didn't really care which one. I didn't know anything about either house, except that Ted Lupin and George Weasley said that Gryffindor was the best. "Gryffindor!" the hat finally shouted. I breathed a sigh of relief as Kendrick took the hat off my head. It as over. I hadn't even realized how nervous I was about the sorting until after it was over. "Congratulations," Kendrick said as he put the hat away, "Many great witches and wizards have been in Gryffindor." "That's where Dumbledore was," Matt announced suddenly. "Yes, he was," Kendrick replied and turned around to look at Dumbledore's portrait, but it was empty. "Well, I think that's it. Oh, here's a list of supplies you'll need before term starts," Kendrick handed me a piece of parchment, "Most should be the same as what you needed in Australia, but there are a bunch of books you'll need to get as well as robes. Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley sells Hogwarts robes." "Thanks," I said. Kendrick walked us back to the Three Broomsticks. He and Mum talked about Hogwarts the whole way there, but I didn't really pay attention. I just kept thinking about how in less than a month I would be a Hogwarts student. Well, I sort of already was. I had a house. Gryffindor. The house where the brave and courageous students went. The Sorting Hat had said I was courageous, but I didn't think I was. I couldn't think of anything courageous I'd ever done. Loyal, yes, I could see myself as loyal. But not courageous. What had the hat meant anyway? Courage to remain loyal to my family no matter what? Why would I need courage for that? I guess that hat knew more about myself than I did. ****** "Where do you want to go first?" Mum asked me the next day, as we walked down the steps of Gringotts. My parents had decided to take me shopping for my school stuff, and we had just finished another bumpy ride on a Gringotts cart. It had not been any better than the first one. "The book store," I said immediately. We set off to Flourish and Blotts and my stomach started to calm down. I had felt like I was going to chunder on that cart. Matt had actually sort of enjoyed it this time. I figured it was because he wasn't recovering from jet lag this time. Neither was I, but it still made me sick. Flourish and Blotts was extremely crowded when we arrived. It didn't surprise me since it was a Saturday and only a few weeks before the start of term. Kids were running around and parents were shouting at them not to leave the shop. Mum immediately grabbed Matt's hand as we entered. There were a few shop assistants scurrying around trying to locate books for people, but I decided to just find my own. I always liked looking around book shops and finding my own books. Dad helped me and it wasn't long before we had bought them all and found Mum and Matt in the children's book section. Mum was looking at a cookbook and Matt was reading a book about a bloke who had decided to fly his broom to the moon. After we left Flourish and Blotts, we walked to Madam Malkin's, a store I had walked past numerous times but never actually entered. We walked into the cramped shop and started looking through a pile of robes. "Hogwarts?" an old witch who was busy supervising measuring tapes on two different kids. I looked up. "Yeah." "Just give me a few minutes and I'll be right with you." I nodded and continued to rifle through the pile of robes. I wasn't really interested in any of them, but there was nothing else to do. "I'm bored," Matt announced after we'd waited two minutes. "Why don't I take him to the joke shop?" Dad suggested, "Then you can finish up here and go to the Apothecary. We'll meet up with you after that." "That's a good idea," Mum agreed and Dad and Matt left the shop. Matt hated going to the Apothecary in Australia because all the smells of the various potions ingredients wafted together to make an almost unbearable scent. It made him feel sick every time he went into the shop. It didn't help that the place had Wolfsbane (the ingredient, not the actual potion) out in the open and that stuff is really dangerous for werewolves when it's undiluted. I figured the Apothecary in Diagon Alley would be no different. A few minutes later the witch who I assumed was Madam Malkin called me forward to get measured for my robes. "What house are you in?" she asked as her measuring tape magically measured me. "Gryffindor," I told her. It was definitely odd saying that. A little while later, Mum and I left the shop with three sets of Gryffindor robes. Apparently the Gryffindor mascot was a lion, as the crest depicted a lion standing on its hind legs. The Apothecary was a few buildings down from Madam Malkin's. The Apothecary in Australia was always one of my favorite shops. I could spend hours browsing the different ingredients and cauldrons. We stepped into the dark shop and sure enough I smelled the familiar sent of Wolfsbane. But I ignored it since Matt wasn't there and made a beeline for a display of solid gold cauldrons. Someday I would own one. "Amy, you know you're not getting one of those," Mum said. "I know," I replied, "But I can dream, right?" Mum sighed, "Of course. Let's just find your ingredients." "I've got a solid gold cauldron," a voice drawled from behind me. I turned around and saw a tall and skinny bloke around my age walking towards me. His hair was a mousy brown and his face was plagued with a lot of acne. "Er, ok," I said, "Is it nice?" "'Course it's nice. It's solid gold," the boy laughed, "You don't look familiar. Do you go to Hogwarts?" "Yes," I said. "Huh," the boy muttered, "Like I said, I don't think I've seen you before. Is this your first year at Hogwarts?" "Er, yeah," I said quietly. "That's weird. You look too old to be a first year. What year are you in?" "Fourth," I answered, "And to answer your next question, I just moved to England." "From where?" the boy pressed, "And why?" "Australia, and it's not really any of your business," I said as I tried to move away from him. He was quite nosy and seemed like the kind of person who bragged a lot. "Well," he said as he followed me, "Hope for Slytherin. It's really the only good house." "I'm already in Gryffindor, thanks," I said as I picked up a bag of dried beetles. "Oh," he replied, "That's a shame." "Not really," I said briskly. If this bloke was in Slytherin, I was glad I wasn't there. "Maybe we'll share classes. I'm in fourth year, too. What's your name?" "Amy Eckerton," I answered, figuring he'd find that out soon enough anyway, "And you?" "Quinton Willinson." I nodded. "I'd better go get the rest of my ingredients." "All right. Good luck in Gryffindor," Quinton said snidely as he sauntered off towards the back of the shop. I avoided him as I continued collecting my ingredients. I seriously hoped the people in Gryffindor weren't like him. In the ten minutes I'd talked to him, I realized that I really didn't want to talk to him again. I just didn't like the way he demanded to know why I moved to England. I hadn't quite worked out my answer to that yet and didn't want to elaborate on it with anyone. Mum paid for my ingredients and then we left the shop, thankfully without seeing Quinton again. We meandered down Diagon Alley and found Dad and Matt loitering near the Magical Market. I noticed Mum give Dad a significant look and then the two of them smiled at me. "Amy," Mum began, "We've got a surprise for you." I looked at them quizzically. A surprise? For me and just me? Usually whenever they said they had a surprise, it was for both Matt and I. "What is it?" I asked curiously. "We've decided to get you an owl," Mum explained, "In order for you to keep in touch with Olivia better while you're in school." "Really?" I grinned, "Thanks!" I had wanted an owl when I first started school, but my parents said no since we had Jasper. I begged them for months and then gave up. "Yes, really," Dad said, "There's a shop down the road, Eyelops Owl Emporium. We'll go right now." I took off immediately for the shop. I couldn't believe I was actually getting an owl. It was the first good thing to happen since moving to England. I arrived at Eyelops before my parents did and walked inside to find numerous owls hooting in various cages. I started with the first cage I saw, which housed a snowy owl. However, when I tried to get its attention, the owl completely ignored me. Ok, I thought, not that one. My parents and Matt showed up when I was at the second owl cage. They began to look around and kept calling me to see different owls. I wanted to pick one, though. I continued looking at all the owls until I came upon one that was black with white speckles. He was in a cage with a few other owls, but they all seemed to be ignoring him. "Just got him in the other day," the shopkeeper gestured to the speckled owl, "But none of the other owls are accepting him. I think he's lonely." Like me, I thought. True, I hadn't actually gone to Hogwarts yet so I didn't know what the other students would think of me. But they had been going to school together for years and I was the new kid. I stuck my finger in the cage and the owl came over and nibbled at it as I petted him. "I'll take him," I announced a few minutes later. The owl was exactly like me. An outsider in a new place. The shopkeeper smiled and opened the cage. I found another cage and the shopkeeper put my new owl in it. Mum and Dad paid for him and I carried him out the door with a huge grin on my face. After nearly fifteen years, I finally had a pet. I never had childhood pets like most kids did. Only Jasper, and he was the family owl. I never had fish or rats or puffskeins. "I want an owl," Matt whined as we walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. "When you're older and are going to Hogwarts," Mum told him. "But that's not fair," he muttered. I smirked to myself. Finally I was getting something he wasn't. Mum and Dad were finally not giving into his whining. Most times, they gave him what he wanted as if it would somehow make up for the fact that he had to turn into a wolf once a month. Maybe they were finally realizing that it wasn't good to give him whatever he wanted.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 21 April 2009 11 01 28 am    Post subject: Re: Life Is Good in topic:Life Is Good Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Life has been busy. (Pretend the lyrics and the Hogwarts letter are in italics. I'll fix it once the bbcode is reinstated). Chapter 4: It's Only Getting Better [i]Days are different then they were before And we both exchange It's only getting better ~Only Getting Better[/i], Jared Campbell Eleven-year-old John Malcolm Brickston was running around in a large circle as fast as he possibly could. He, along with two other boys, was spinning the merry-go-round in the park across the street from his house as fast as he could. A fourth boy was on the merry-go-round shrieking in delight. It was a daily thing for John, playing with the other boys in his neighborhood at the park. They particularly liked spinning each other until they felt sick on the merry-go-round. Other activities included trying to push each other off the monkey bars and jumping off of the swings. They often spent all day doing this, until one of their mothers called them inside. John had fun playing with the other boys from his neighborhood even though he was quite different from them. John was a wizard and all of his neighborhood friends were Muggles. John's family was the only wizarding family living in a neighborhood of Muggles. He didn't mind, of course. He was actually glad he lived in a neighborhood full of people to play with, rather than in the middle of nowhere like so many other wizards did. Most of his cousins didn't have any close neighbors. Without the neighborhood boys around, the only people John would have had to play with were his sisters. John had three of them and while he loved them, they got on his nerves. They were all younger than him and drove him mental on a daily basis. Despite having so many Muggle friends, John could not wait to get to Hogwarts where he could meet other wizards his age. He knew a couple witches and wizards his age whose parents worked with his dad, but he didn't see them too often. Then there were his cousins, but they were all younger than him. John had been trying not to think about his Hogwarts letter, which he knew would be arriving soon. Thinking about it just made the time go by slower. So, he tried to get his mind off of it by goofing off at the playground. "Enough, enough!" the boy on the merry-go-round shouted. John and the other two boys stepped back and watched it slow down. Once it had almost stopped, the boy jumped off and stumbled around, falling on the ground. John and the others crowded around him. "My turn!" John shouted as the dizzy boy sat up. "Johnny!" someone shouted from the entrance to the park. John turned his head towards the voice and groaned. It was his mother. The previous day she had made him watch over his little sisters when they played at the park and he really didn't want to do that again. But his sisters weren't with his mum, so maybe she wanted something else. "What?" John shouted. "You need to come home now!" she shouted back. John groaned again and reluctantly said goodbye to his friends. He hated it when his mum called him home without explaining why. "Why do I have to go home now?" John asked as he reached his mum, "It's not dinner time." "Your letter arrived," she said and began to walk across the street. That was probably the only thing she could have said to make John no longer mind leaving his friends. He grinned and ran to catch up with his mum. Now it was official, he was going to Hogwarts! John's house was in its usual state of chaos when he entered it. Not two seconds after they stepped in the door, his second youngest sister, Alyssa, ran up them screaming about how Cassie had taken her toy. Alyssa was six and Cassie, one of their many cousins, was five. At any given moment there were probably five or six little kids at John's house. He had a lot of cousins who were all younger than him. His mother was a stay at home mum, but a few of his aunts worked outside the home. They often dropped their kids off at John's house while they were at work. Or when they had to go shopping. It was just another reason why John enjoyed spending his free time outside, away from the little kids. That day, all his little sisters were home, of course. Plus, Cassie and her older sister, Isabelle, who was ten, were there. "Your Aunt Pam is grocery shopping," his mother, Jan, replied as she picked up Alyssa. John nodded and stepped over a pile of Wendy Witch dolls that Ashtyn, his nine-year-old sister must have left in the doorway. "Ashtyn, pick up your toys!" Jan shouted as she carried Alyssa back into the den. Ashtyn and Isabelle came running through the house, scooped up the dolls, and ran back to wherever they came from. "Where's my letter?" John asked as Jan set Alyssa back down on the floor. "It's here somewhere," Jan said as she rifled through a stack of mail, "Merlin! I just had it a second ago. Hang on." John sighed as he leaned against the wall. He couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts. Then he wouldn't have to deal with all his little sisters and cousins anymore. He would be in a place where he was one of the youngest people. That rarely happened. John had always been the oldest, the one who was expected to be mature. "Mum!" Ashtyn shrieked from upstairs, "I think John put a dung bomb in the toilet again!" John grinned. He may be expected to be mature, but he wasn't. Pulling pranks was one of his favorite things to do and the dung bomb in the toilet never got old, especially when Ashtyn was on the receiving end of it. Jan sent him a withering look. "I cringe to think about the amount of owls I'll be getting from Professor Kendrick about the mischief you get into next year," she sighed, "Ashtyn, just flush it like usual!" "Mum, she won't give it back!" Alyssa whined. Jan groaned and walked over to the two girls, who were still fighting over a stuffed dragon. Jan wrenched it from Cassie's hands and stuck it up on a high shelf. She continued searching for John's letter while Alyssa and Cassie complained. "I think I found it," John said as he bent down. Three-year-old Gemma was holding a torn envelope in her hands and giggling playfully. John grabbed it from her and she burst out crying. Jan picked her up as John took off for his bedroom, the only toddler free place in the entire house. The letter wasn't completely destroyed, much to John's relief. He had caught Gemma before she was able to do a lot of damage. The envelope was completely illegible, but the letter inside was spared from tears and baby slobber. John tossed aside the damp envelope and unfolded the letter. He grinned widely as he read it, even though he already knew the gist of what it said. [i]Dear Mr. Brickston, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of books and materials you will need to purchase. Please note that first years are not allowed to bring their own broomsticks. Please reply to this letter as soon as possible to let us know if you are attending. The Hogwarts Express will leave at exactly 11 in the morning on September first from King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4. Sincerely, Padma Patil Deputy Headmistress[/i] He was in! John laid down on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. Of course he was in. There was never any doubt. Everyone in his entire family had gone to Hogwarts for as far back as anyone could remember. As far as he knew, his family didn't have any Squibs. John had been looking forward to Hogwarts for a very long time. His parents had all sorts of stories to tell of the place. Although, their education had been interrupted due to the final battle and Voldemort's defeat. They had only been first years at the time and Hogwarts had closed for a year in order for it to be rebuilt. But after that, his parents had had a somewhat normal education. There were all sorts of things that John was looking forward to. The Sorting (although his parents refused to tell him how it was done), the feasts, exploding potions, Peeves, Quidditch, Hogsmeade trips when he got older, the Gryffindor common room. John was sure he'd get into Gryffindor even though his mum had been a Hufflepuff. His dad was a Gryffindor and everyone said he took after his dad. John's dad, Jeff Brickston, had been the Hogwarts prankster when he was in school. John couldn't wait to pull some pranks of his own. His dad had promised to get him well supplied with stuff from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, although his mum wasn't too happy about it. John remained in his room for the rest of the afternoon. A glance out the window told him that his Muggle friends had left the park. It would have been boring for him to go back. Instead, he stayed in his room and pulled out his old but trusty Nimbus Two Thousand and One. The broom had been his dad's when he was at Hogwarts. John grabbed a bottle of polish and began to rub it into the worn wood. Jeff had given it to John when he was only five and John had been flying on it ever since. If John had to pick the one thing he was most looking forward to at Hogwarts, it would be Quidditch. John had been flying for as long as he could remember and he had hopes of making it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. If he was sorted into Gryffindor, that is. He just hoped that there was a beater position open at the right time. He doubted he'd get chosen as a beater in his second year due to the fact that beaters were generally quite a lot bigger than the rest of the players. But if a beater position opened when he was in fourth or fifth year, he just might make it. Isabelle and Cassie had left by the time John left his room. He wandered into the kitchen and found his mum preparing dinner. Ashtyn and Alyssa were 'helping'. "Can we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" John asked as he grabbed a carrot out of a bowl. "I don't know," Jan replied, "Your Aunt Jodie is working tomorrow and I have to watch Stephanie as well as the twins. I don't particularly want to drag three extra kids to Diagon Alley especially when two are babies. It may have to wait until the weekend. And please don't eat the carrots." John sighed and sat down at the table. He didn't want to wait until the weekend. He wished his mum didn't watch all of his little cousins all the time. "I'm home!" someone shouted from the den. John jumped up from his chair and ran into the den. He saw his dad brushing ash off of his bright green healer robes. John grinned as he saw his great-great grandpa standing just behind his dad. "Gramps!" John shouted, "What are you doing here?" "Went to Mungo's," he replied, "Had to get this dang hip checked out. Then Jeffrey here invited me to dinner." John's great-great grandpa, Zander Brickston, was over one hundred years old but was usually healthy as a hippogriff. He was a bit senile and forgetful at times, but it never bothered him. He was often the life of the party, too, despite his age. John loved him. "I got my Hogwarts letter!" John said excitedly as he pulled the letter out of his pocket. "Congratulations," Jeff grinned and gave John a one-armed hug as he set his bag down. "Well done, Johnny-Boy!" Zander gave him a surprisingly strong clap on the back, "Great place, Hogwarts. Best years of my life, except for the times I found myself in Professor Dippet's office. You'd best stay out of there." "Professor Dippet's been dead for years, Gramps," John laughed. "Then you stay out of trouble with whoever's the headmaster now," Zander said and lumbered off into the kitchen, "Where's my girls?" Dinner was lively that evening, as it always was when Zander was there. He dominated the conversation with stories of his own years at Hogwarts. John was sort of surprised he remembered them so well. He told of the time he and his friends went for a swim in the Black Lake at midnight during the full moon in January. The nurse had not been pleased when they showed up at the hospital wing with slight cases of hypothermia. She scolded them and told them if they were stupid enough to swim in the lake during January, they could at least use cold-repellent charms on themselves. "Where would the fun be in that?" Zander laughed as he finished the story. Other stories included the many pranks he pulled on the Slytherins. 'Pranking's a Brickston tradition,' he told John solemnly. The times he snuck out of the castle and into Hogsmeade. The time he fell asleep during his History of Magic O.W.L. ("What do they expect, when Binns makes you fall asleep during class?") Sneaking about the castle at night with whatever girlfriend he had at the time. Jan had to shut him up at that point and she and Jeff began to relay their own Hogwarts stories. John was, if it was possible, even more excited about Hogwarts after hearing all of the stories. He wanted to swim in the Black Lake in the middle of winter. He wanted to sneak out of school to go to Hogsmeade. He wanted to paint half his face red and the other half gold for the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match. John didn't know how he was going to be able to wait two days until Saturday to go to Diagon Alley, let alone wait the month and a half until he'd be able to actually go to Hogwarts. It seemed so far away. He had been waiting years to go to Hogwarts, but he had a feeling the last month and a half would drag by even slower than those years had.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 7 April 2009 04 22 57 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks hprocks and Obladi! Bit of a late update, but eh, life's been hectic. Chapter 41: The Only Bank in England The doors opened on yet another identical corridor, except this one was more lively. Various witches and wizards were running in and out of a large room labeled 'Auror Headquarters'. That room was bustling with commotion. Matt edged closer to Mum as we walked inside. Dad walked up to the first desk he came across, which I assumed belonged to some sort of secretary. This witch appeared to be a bit more sophisticated than the secretary in the Floo Network place. She had her hair in a bun and seemed to be concentrating on her work. "Excuse me," Dad said for what must have been the millionth time today. "Can I help you?" she asked without looking up from her work. "I need to register my house as a wizard's dwelling. We just bought it and the previous owners were Muggles." "All right," she replied and pulled a piece of parchment out of her desk, "Just fill this out." She handed it to Dad. Dad took it and a quill from a mug on her desk. He sat down in a nearby chair and quickly filled out the information. "There you go," Dad handed it back to her. The woman took it, looked it over, and waved her wand over it. "You're all set," she said. "Thanks," Dad replied. At least it hadn't taken very long. "Mummy, what are those?" a shrill voice shouted from the doorway. I turned around and saw a frazzled looking red-haired woman with three kids. Two of them were boys, one with red hair to match the woman, who I assumed was their mother, and the other with jet black hair. They were taller than Matt, although the red-haired boy was taller than the other. The girl, the one who the shrill voice belonged to, looked about Matt's height and had the same red hair her mother and brother had. She had one hand planted in her mother's and the other one was pointing at Matt. The woman blushed. "Those are crutches, Lily, and it's not nice to point." She took the little girl's hand and gently pushed it down. "What are they for?" the little girl asked, still staring at us. "I'll explain later," the woman said quickly, "Let's go find Daddy." The woman ushered her kids into the room and muttered an apology to Mum and Dad as she passed. Mum smiled to show it was no big deal, but the woman had already taken off to follow the two boys, who were chasing each other around the room. "Could you imagine having three kids around that age?" Mum muttered as we left the room, "She's got her hands full." "Looks like it," Dad agreed, "Makes me feel kind of happy we had ours six and a half years apart." "Well, there's a plus side to everything," Mum replied, "Are we done here yet?" "Yes," Dad grinned, "We're finally done. But now we've got to go to St. Mungo's." I groaned inwardly. I'd forgotten about that. After having spent two entire weeks at St. Mungo's, the last thing I wanted to do was visit again, but I had no choice. We went back into the lift and returned to the Atrium. We handed in our badges, me being the only one still wearing mine, and then Apparated directly to St. Mungo's. By this point, the Welcome Witch at the hospital knew all of us by name and merely waved as we walked towards the lifts. We entered one of them along with a wizard who emitted a loud quack every few seconds. The fourth floor was relatively empty. A nurse hurried past us and said a quick 'hello'. I vaguely recognized her but couldn't remember her name. I followed my parents to Sterling's office and we walked inside. Natalie Caberny looked up from her desk as we entered. "Oh, hello," she smiled, "Haven't seen you around in a while. Is everything ok?" "We need to see Healer Sterling," Dad answered, "But everything is ok for the most part. We just moved here earlier today." "Glad to hear it," Natalie grinned, "Sterling is seeing a patient right now, but I think I can squeeze you in once he's done." "Thanks," Dad replied. "Feel free to wait right here," Natalie gestured to a few chairs that were alongside the wall. Dad nodded and we sat down. I read the titles of the books that were sitting on a nearby bookcase as we waited. Nearly all of them were various books about healing, potions, werewolves, and other magical creatures. I didn't think anyone could possibly have as many books about werewolves as Dad, but Sterling did. I looked towards the door a little while later as I heard footsteps. Sterling came bustling through and stopped in front of Natalie's desk. "Hey, Natalie," he greeted her, "Who's next?" "Well, you don't have another scheduled appointment for a half hour, but the Eckertons showed up a little while ago." Sterling turned towards us. "Oh, didn't even see you there!" Dad stood up and shook Sterling's hand. "Afternoon, Morris. Any chance you could take a look at Matt's ankle?" "Of course," Sterling replied, "Is it still bothering him? Why don't we head down to the exam room and I'll see what I can do." I followed everyone into the corridor and to the exam room. Dad set Matt down on the exam table and I leaned against the wall, hoping it wouldn't take too long. "How did the last full moon go?" Sterling asked as he began to look at Matt's ankle. "Worse than usual," Dad sighed, "Probably due to the incident with Lubar." Sterling nodded. "How was his ankle before the full moon? Was it healing?" "It was mostly healed," Dad answered, "He re-injured it during the most recent full moon." Sterling pulled out his wand and muttered a spell as he pointed it at Matt's ankle. "What about the therapy with Healer Norlam? How is that going?" "Slowly," Dad sighed, "But Norlam thinks he's making progress." "The emotional pain always takes longer to heal than the physical pain," Sterling said quietly, "Even in the wizarding world." "That's for sure," Dad replied, "But I think things will get better now. We moved here earlier today." "Congratulations," Sterling grinned, "I'm happy to hear that. Now, I think a few spells and another round of potions will heal his ankle. I'd have him keep using the crutches for another two days or so, and then it should be fine to walk on it." He pointed his wand at Matt's ankle again and muttered a few more spells. "I'll just get the potions." Sterling left the room and returned a short while later with a large bottle of purplish potion. He handed it to Dad and sat back down. "I'd like to see him after the next full moon even if everything appears to be fine. I just want to make sure everything is fine," Sterling said, "Just show up anytime the day after and I'll make room in my schedule." Dad nodded. "Sounds good." "I'm also going to have to do the transformation observation at some point," Sterling began, "It has to be done before the study begins in January." "And what does that involve?" Mum asked. "We have a safe room located in the basement. There are charms on it to enable people to watch what is happening inside. He'll need to spend a full moon there. He'll have to come a few hours before moonrise in order for me to perform a few pre-transformation tests and then stay a few hours after sunrise the next morning for a few more tests." Mum and Dad glanced at each other. This time, I had a feeling I knew what they were thinking. The last time Matt transformed some place other than our basement, it was disastrous. This was obviously going to be different, but Matt would probably still be afraid of it. "When do you want it done?" Dad asked, "We'd like to get him used to transforming at our new house before he transforms here. Plus, I'd rather it be done after Amy starts school." I rolled my eyes. Of course. So they could keep me out of the loop again. I wasn't going to take it this time, though. I'd just owl them until they told me what went on. "That's fine," Sterling replied, "I'd like it done in November at the latest." "All right," Dad agreed, "October or November, then. I'll let you know which will work better when it gets closer." Sterling stood up. "That'll work. Well, good luck with all the moving in stuff." "Thanks," Dad said as he stood up, "It's been an insane day. We've been all over London." "Be sure to get some rest," Sterling said, "You all look exhausted." "We will, but we're not quite done yet," Dad replied. I followed my parents out of the exam room and into the corridor. I had no idea what other places Dad had to go to, but I hoped whatever it was, it wouldn't take long. I was ready to fall asleep on my feet and was kind of jealous that Matt got to sleep in Dad's arms. "Where are we going now?" I asked as we entered a lift. "Gringotts, the bank here," Dad replied, "Can't buy anything until our accounts are switched." I groaned. "How long will that take?" "No idea," Dad sighed. "Maybe I should take Amy and Matt home and you can switch the accounts," Mum suggested. Dad shook his head. "I've already owled with the bank. If you want access to the new account, you have to be there to sign some papers. It's very secure, this bank, so they're quite strict." "All right," Mum sighed, "And after that, I think we ought to get something to eat and call it a night." "Good idea," Dad agreed and turned to me, "Amy, I think we'll have to wait until tomorrow to get the stuff to design your room." I nodded. At that point, I didn't even care. I was so tired that I didn't mind at all having to wait. Normally I would have been incredibly angry that Dad told me we could decorate my room that day and then changed his mind. However, all I wanted was to sleep for two days or so. Portkey lag was even worse than jet lag. We meandered our way through the crowded waiting room and to the little Apparition room I was quite familiar with. I closed my eyes as Mum hugged me and all four of us disappeared. I had no idea where the Gringotts bank was, but I was surprised when we reappeared in the Leaky Cauldron. I was beginning to think that my parents were so tired that they couldn't Apparate properly when Dad gestured for us to follow him through a back door. The door led us to a small courtyard with a brick wall. Dad pulled out his wall and tapped on one of the bricks. They immediately moved aside to reveal a bustling shopping district. The quaint street reminded me a bit of the wizard shopping areas in Australia, yet it was vastly different at the same time. The stores on this street were all small and old and almost looked to be taken from a different time. The shopping areas in Australia were much larger and the stores matched that. I hadn't really been shopping recently. Well, shopping at a wizard store, that is. When I was little, I went shopping with Mum all the time. Sometimes we'd shop in Muggle stores and other times we'd go to wizard ones. No matter which, someone usually recognized us, which got rather annoying after a while. After Matt was bitten, people gradually stopped recognizing us until we disappeared completely into the throngs of everyone else. I didn't really go shopping with Mum much at that point, since I was in school most of the year. She'd take Matt, though, as long as he was feeling ok. Mum almost completely stopped shopping in wizard stores after Lubar announced that Matt was a werewolf. She went out once after that and an angry mob formed while she was in the apothecary. She returned home furious and never went shopping without some sort of appearance charm after that. Shopping in England was completely different. Nobody recognized us as I followed my parents down the street. No one so much as gave us a second glance. Everyone was just going about their shopping or talking to friends. I looked from side to side and at all the stores. There was a robe shop, a wand shop, a few pet stores, a couple restaurants, and a joke shop that looked almost exactly like the one Matt and I had gone to in Hogsmeade. It even had the same name. Must be owned by the same ear-less man, I thought as we passed it. Dad led us all the way down the street and up the steps of a very large white building. We walked through the door and into the foyer. There was a long desk along either side of the room and numerous goblins behind them. The bank in Australia was run by goblins as well. To be honest, goblins scare me a little. They're just so mysterious and you never really know what they're going to do. Plus, wizards have kind of given them the short end of the wand (or not, since they can't have wands) for ages. If they wanted to, they could surely take over with the magic they're capable of. Dad went up to the first available goblin. The goblin glanced up at him and then went back to counting the pile of sickles on his desk. A few minutes later, he finished and looked up at Dad. "What may I assist you with?" he asked. Dad reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to the goblin. "We just moved here from Australia and wish to transfer our account." The goblin took the parchment and nodded. He read it carefully and then set it down. "I presume you two are Walter and Julietta Eckerton?" "Yes," Dad replied. The goblin folded his hands and stared at us. I looked away as his eyes bore into mine. I really hated it when goblins did that, and people for that matter. "I will need to see some identification," the goblin said. Mum and Dad both reached into their robes and handed the goblin their identification cards. The goblin took them and studied them carefully, glancing up at us every once in a while. "Very well," he said after a few minutes, "Everything seems to be in order. If you'll just follow me." The goblin jumped off his stool and walked around to the other side of the desk. We followed him through a door and I stared curiously at what appeared to be railroad tracks in front of us. The bank in Australia did not have any railroad tracks in it. The goblin held out his arm and a cart sped up the track and stopped in front of us. "Get in," the goblin commanded. "Excuse me?" Mum raised her eyebrow. "Get in," the goblin repeated. "Er," Dad said to Mum, "I think this is how we get to the vaults." "That," Mum said, "Is bizarre." I agreed with Mum. The bank in Australia had an odd array of lifts to take people to their vaults, not carts on railroad tracks. I eyed the cart suspiciously, but Mum and Dad got in. I reluctantly climbed in behind them and squeezed myself in. The cart was not meant to hold four people and a goblin. No sooner had I put my second leg into the cart, it took off down the track. I let out a scream as we descended a steep hill at a speed I would not thought possible of such a rickety cart. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think about how much it reminded me of turbulence on an airplane. "What the hell is this?" Dad shouted. "Can you slow this thing down?" Mum asked. "One speed," the goblin cackled. I made the mistake of opening my eyes just as we were beginning to shoot down another hill. I accidentally looked down and saw that we were meters above the nearest ground. My stomach churned and I was suddenly very happy I hadn't eaten in hours. My heart pounded and I tried to focus on the back of Mum's head. Riding in a Gringotts cart was quickly becoming one of the things I despised doing. It was right up there with flying on airplanes and on broomsticks. Matt let out a loud shriek. "Mum!" "It'll be over soon," Mum said in a voice that contradicted her words. "I don't like this!" Matt wailed. "None of us do, honey," Mum replied. I closed my eyes until the cart came to a sudden halt. I slowly opened them and saw that the goblin was already standing outside the cart. I stumbled out of the cart and tried to get my bearings. Everything seemed to be spinning. I watched my parents climb out and they didn't seem to be doing much better. Mum practically tripped and Dad had to steady himself on the wall. "This is your vault," the goblin announced. He pulled two keys out of his pocket and handed one Dad. "You'll need one of the keys every time you wish to make a transaction." The goblin stuck the other key in the lock and opened the small room. We all walked inside and I saw that it was empty. The goblin motioned for us to stay in the doorway. I watched as he muttered something in what I assumed to be gobbledegook and move his arms around. A few seconds later, piles of gold, silver, and bronze appeared. I gaped at it and turned to look at my parents. They seemed to have recovered from the cart ride and Mum walked farther into the vault. She took a handful of gold and shoved it in her pocket. "So," Dad began, "We have to ride on of those ruddy carts every time we wish to get our gold?" "Yes," the goblin replied. "Are there any other banks in England?" Dad asked. "No, Gringotts is the only one," the goblin smirked. "I suppose there had to be something we didn't like about England," Mum muttered. "If the only thing I dislike about this country is the Gringotts carts, I think I'll survive," Dad said. The return cart trip was just as horrible as the previous one. The only difference was, I knew what to expect. I made a mental note never to eat before going to the bank. I was quite happy when we departed from the large white building and returned to the quaint street it was located on. "Any preference as to where we eat?" Dad asked. "Some place close by," Mum replied. I couldn't care less where we ate. My stomach was still churning from the cart ride. "Let's just go to the Leaky Cauldron," Dad suggested. A little while later we were seated at a booth in the crowded pub. Mum and Dad were looking at menus and Matt was leaning up against the wall. I would be willing to bet a few Galleons that he'd be asleep before the food arrived. I was looking at a menu as well, but not really reading it. I figured I'd just get a sandwich. "Evening," a blonde haired witch I recognized as the lady who owned the pub appeared by our table, "Can I get you something to drink?" "Just water," Dad replied. She returned a few minutes later with four glasses and set them down on the table. "You look familiar," she said, "But I can't place it. I've seen you here a few times, but you don't come often." Dad nodded. "We've stayed here a few times. But we actually just moved to England earlier today." "Oh!" the witch smiled, "Welcome, then. Where did you move from?" "Australia," Dad replied. "Wow, that's quite a move," she said, "My name is Hannah Longbottom, just ask if you need anything." "Walter Eckerton," Dad said, "And thank you." "Julie Eckerton," Mum smiled, "And our kids, Amy and Matt." "Ah, yes, now I remember you," Hannah said, "Are you ready to order?" We all ordered sandwiches and Hannah returned to the bar. Mum and Dad talked quietly with each other, but I was too tired to bother trying to hear what they were saying. As I predicted, Matt fell asleep five minutes after we ordered and after another five minutes, I was ready to join him. The only thing keeping me awake was my grumbling stomach, which had recovered from the cart ride. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the booth while listening to the conversations of the diners around us. "Incredible sale on beetle eyes! I bought about five months worth...." "Spent the day at St. Mungo's. My husband thought it would be a good idea to mix a sleeping potion with a sleeping charm...." "I'm already eager for the kids to return to Hogwarts. They're driving me up the wall...." I opened my eyes when I heard plates being set down on the table. "Exhausting day, huh?" Hannah asked. I nodded. "Thanks," Dad said as she set down his food. "Hope you enjoy," she smiled and left. Mum woke Matt up and we all dug into our food. Nobody talked much as we ate, which was fine with me. Mum paid once we finished eating and we said goodbye to Hannah. The pub was rather crowded to Disapparate from, so we returned to the street to do so. Dad hugged me and we Apparated home. Home. Could I really call the place home yet? I opened my eyes and we were back in the living room. My living room. It didn't really feel like home yet, but it was our house. I figured it would get better with time, but it was still odd to call the place home. I collapsed onto the couch and closed my eyes. I vaguely remembered that my bed wasn't even set up yet, but even if it was, I didn't want to move. "We'll set up the beds now, Amy," Dad said, "It won't take long." "Mmm-hmm," I muttered and cracked my eyes open. Mum set Matt down on the other couch and followed Dad upstairs. I closed my eyes again and drifted off to sleep. "Amy." Someone was jostling my arm. I groaned and tried to push them away. "Amy," they whispered a bit louder. I opened my eyes and saw Dad standing over me. "Wh-what is it?" I yawned. "I've got your bed set up," he told me. "Oh, ok," I mumbled and sat up. Mum picked Matt up and carried him upstairs. Dad and I followed. I said good night to them and wandered into my room. My bed was sitting in the middle of the room. The rest of my stuff was still packed and the furniture was still under shrinking charms. The place looked rather empty and drab. It didn't seem like my room at all. I sighed and sat down on the bed. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore. I got up and rummaged around in my overnight bag, which housed a few pairs of clothes and pajamas. I changed into pajamas and climbed into bed. I stared at the canopy and then turned to look out the window. I could see a few stars, but none of them were the familiar ones I had seen so many times in Australia. I felt the sting of tears in the corners of my eyes and squeezed them shut. I felt so alone, so isolated in my empty room. Most of the people I knew, and all of my friends, were on the other side of the world. I opened my eyes again and stared out the window as tears silently trickled down my face. Eventually, I fell into a restless sleep.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 31 March 2009 11 40 52 am    Post subject: Re: Life Is Good in topic:Life Is Good Yay, you read it! I'm glad you liked it. The transformation part was the bit I was worried about, but so far everyone seems to like it on HPFF. Chapter 3: It's Not Something That She's Made Up In Her Head [i]And she knows that this is real It's not something that she's made up in her head And there's something that she feels but she hasn't found the words ~It's Love[/i], Jared Campbell Eleven-year-old Amanda Genevieve Tagger smiled to herself as she closed her book. She rolled over on her bed and set the it on her bedside table. Her bedside table was stacked high with at least ten books, most of which Amanda had already read. Amanda had always enjoyed reading. Ever since she was a little girl, books had been some of her best friends. They were great company when she was sad or bored or just wanted to escape into a different world for a while. Best of all, books never made fun of her. Amanda had always been shy and she was the first to admit it. She didn't have very many friends and kids her age tended to stay away from her. This was most likely because strange things always happened around her. She was only five when she first realized that she was different. Amanda, her older sister, Jen, who was nine at the time, and a few of her sister's friends were playing outside. They decided to play hide-and-seek and Amanda climbed the biggest tree in their backyard and hid amongst the branches. Jen, who was 'it', had the hardest time finding her. In fact, Jen never found her. Amanda didn't leave the tree until their mom called them in for a snack. That was when it happened. Amanda's foot caught on one of the branches and she lost her grip. She fell what must have been twenty or thirty feet out of that maple tree, hitting numerous branches on her way down. When she was a mere five feet from the ground, she suddenly stopped falling. Then, she glided lightly to the ground, and landed softly on her feet. Amanda looked around and saw Jen staring open-mouthed at her. Their mother, who had seen Amanda falling, ran from the house and checked her over. She was completely fine, save for a few minor scratches and bruises. No one knew why it had happened, but Amanda's mother said an angel must have been looking out for her that day. Whatever it was, Amanda knew she was different that day. It was only the beginning. Strange things had happened to her ever since. When she was six and the class bully stole her biscuits at lunch, new ones appeared out of thin air in front of her. When she was seven and forgot to do her maths homework, it somehow did itself while sitting in her backpack. A small, relatively harmless tornado had somehow descended upon a few boys who were chasing her when she was eight. That incident was what caused most of the other kids her age to steer clear of her. There was one girl who did not care that strange things happened around Amanda. Jamie House, Amanda's best friend since Kindergarten, never cared about the strange incidents. She actually thought they were funny. Amanda and Jamie were inseparable at school. However, Jamie was currently spending a few weeks with her grandparents in Scotland. Without Jamie's company, Amanda had spent most of her time reading. There wasn't really anything else to do. Jen was fifteen and the last thing she wanted to do was hang out with her eleven-year-old sister. Amanda's little brother, Max, was eight and all he wanted to do was ride his bike in the empty lot down the road with the other neighborhood boys. Amanda was left with her books for company, not that she really minded. She was getting a bit restless, though. She stood up opened her bedroom door. Maybe Jen wasn't on the computer and Amanda would be able to go online. Jamie managed to get on instant messager ever so often at her grandparents' house and Amanda had talked to her a few times over the past week. The doorbell rang just as Amanda was leaving her room. "Amanda!" Jen shouted from her room, "Could you get that?" "Sure," Amanda said as she passed Jen's room. She peeked inside and saw that Jen was in the process of straightening her light brown hair. Jen had straightened Amanda's honey blonde hair a few times, but Amanda actually preferred it with its natural slight wave. Jen hated her own curly hair, though. Amanda ran down the stairs and towards the door. She pulled it open and saw a man wearing the strangest outfit she had ever seen anyone wear on a day that was not Halloween. It looked like a black graduation gown. The man himself looked relatively sane, though. His blonde hair was neatly combed and he smiled when Amanda opened the door. "Hello," he greeted her, "Are your parents home?" "Er," Amanda began, "I think so. Are you selling something?" Her parents hated door to door salesmen. Amanda wasn't exactly sure where her parents were, but she doubted they'd want to be interrupted to listen to someone trying to sell something. The man laughed. "No, not at all." "Wait right here," Amanda said and went to find her parents, "Mum! Dad! There's some bloke at the door who wants to talk to you!" "What's he selling?" Mrs. Tagger shouted from the kitchen. "Nothing!" Amanda replied. Mrs. Tagger, a short, plump woman with flecks of grey in her dark brown hair walked out of the kitchen and followed Amanda to the door. "Can I help you?" she asked the man. "Yes," the man replied, "I'm a teacher at a private school and I'm here to inform you that your daughter has been accepted." "Jen?" Mrs. Tagger asked, "I wasn't aware she applied to any private schools." "No," the man shook his head, "Not Jen. Amanda." Amanda gaped at the man and then turned to her mother, who was now frowning. Amanda hadn't applied to any private schools. Why would she? She had already gotten into the secondary school she was attending in the fall. "I know Amanda hasn't applied to anymore schools," Mrs. Tagger said. "This isn't one she applied for," the man said quietly, "Her name has been down since she was born." Amanda was stunned. What was this about? How could her name have been down for a school since she was born? "Could I come in?" the man asked. "I think you'd better," Mrs. Tagger said in barely more than a whisper. The man stepped inside the house and followed Mrs. Tagger into the den. Amanda followed and sat down on a chair while the strange man took the couch. "Henry!" Mrs. Tagger shouted down the basement stairs, "You'd better come upstairs!" A minute later a tall man with a messy shock of blonde hair on his head walked into the room with Mrs. Tagger. "My husband, Henry," Mrs. Tagger replied, "And my name is Sarah. Who are you?" "Professor Neville Longbottom," the man replied as he stood up and shook each of my parents' hands. "Professor?" Henry raised his eyebrows. "He told me Amanda has been accepted to a private school. One that her name's been down for since birth," Sarah explained, "Did you sign her up without telling me?" "No," Henry shook his head. "I'll explain everything if you'll just sit down," Neville said. Henry and Sarah nodded and they sat down on the couch Neville had just vacated. "I teach at a boarding school in Scotland called Hogwarts-" Henry snorted and Sarah glared at him. "Sorry," he muttered. Neville grinned. "I get that reaction a lot. Anyway, Hogwarts is not an ordinary school. It is a school of magic. Mr. and Mrs. Tagger, your daughter is a witch." Amanda was glad she had been sitting down. If she hadn't, she surely would have fainted. She stared in shock at Neville. What did he mean, witch? Amanda had read many stories about witches. Some had good witches and others had bad witches. Which witch was she? How could she even be a witch? Witches weren't real. They were made up to provide entertainment. They couldn't actually exist. Magic didn't exist. "What are you getting at?" Henry said defensively, "If this is some sort of prank, it's not funny." "It's not a prank," Neville said calmly, "Magic does exist. Witches and wizards have been hiding their world for generations. I teach at Britain's only school of magic." "What do you teach?" Henry asked. "Herbology. The study of magical plants." "Prove it," Henry said, "Pull a rabbit out of your hat or something." Neville grinned and pulled out his wand. Amanda stared at it. A real magic wand. Just like the ones she'd read about in books. "Accio pillow," Neville pointed his wand at one of the pillows next to Henry. It soared through the air and landed neatly in Neville's hand. "Where's the string?" Henry stood up and grabbed the pillow. He searched all over it for a string, but didn't find one. "No string," Neville smiled. He took the pillow back and pointed his wand at it. He muttered something else and the pillow turned into a tea kettle. "That is brilliant," Amanda grinned, "Can I learn how to do that?" "When you are older, yes," Neville replied. "What else can you do?" Amanda asked excitedly. "Brew potions, various charms, disappear and reappear in a new place-" "Seriously?" Amanda gaped, "Can you show me that?" "Sure," Neville replied. He disappeared from the room with a loud crack and then was back a few seconds later. "What the bloody hell was that?" Jen ran into the room with her hair partially straight and partially curly. "Language, Jennifer," Sarah warned. "I'm a witch," Amanda grinned, "I can do magic." "What?!" Jen shouted and sat down on the nearest chair, clearly intent on staying in the room despite her hair. "Wait, wait!" Henry shouted, "What if we choose not to let her attend this place?" "You have to, Dad!" Amanda shouted. "Henry, are you really so gullible? You can't honestly think there is a school of magic!" Sarah shouted. "Magic?" Jen asked, "Like pulling rabbits out of hats?" "Of course it exists, Mum!" Amanda told her. Sarah shook her head. "No. Amanda, you just want it to exist. Magic isn't real. It's fantasy." "It does," Neville said quietly, "Can you remember a time Amanda has done something that couldn't be explained? Any time where she should have been hurt and then somehow wasn't?" Sarah's face went pale white and she turned to Henry. "Yes," she whispered, "Many times." "It can be explained," Neville replied, "It's magic." "But what if we don't let her go?" Henry asked again. "That's fine. But she won't ever learn to control her magic and she will continue to cause strange things to happen." "I'm going," Amanda crossed her arms on her chest. "Glad to hear it," Neville reached into his, what could only be described as a cloak, and pulled out a letter. He handed it to Amanda. It was addressed to her. She turned it over and carefully opened it. She unfolded it and began to read it aloud. [i] Dear Miss Tagger, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of books and materials you will need to purchase. Please note that first years are not allowed to bring their own broomsticks. Please reply to this letter as soon as possible to let us know if you are attending. The Hogwarts Express will leave at exactly 11 in the morning on September first from King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4. Sincerely, Padma Patil Deputy Headmistress[/i] There was another piece of paper that had a list of supplies written on it, including a cauldron, wand, and spell books. Amanda had about a million questions. Where could she buy a real wand? Had they gotten the platform wrong? There couldn't be a Platform 9 3/4, could there? What did the letter mean, broomsticks? Did witches really ride around on brooms like they do in books? "I'm home!" the front door slammed shut and Max ran into the room, his dark hair disheveled and his face coated in dirt. He stopped at the sight of Neville and grinned. "Nice costume, but Halloween's not for a few months." "It's not a costume," Jen said, "He's a wizard. He teaches at a school of magic and he's here to tell us that Amanda is a witch." "That is brilliant," Max grinned, "Am I one, too?" "You'll find out the summer you are eleven," Neville answered. "Max, please go upstairs and clean yourself up," Sarah groaned, "You're getting mud all over the carpet." "Oh, sorry," Max turned and ran up the stairs. "Mum, Dad," Amanda began, "You've got to let me go to Hogwarts. This explains everything! I want to learn how to control my magic. I won't be the weird girl at Hogwarts." Henry and Sarah shared a look. "I suppose you're right," Henry sighed, "We'll let you go, so long as this professor explains everything about magic to us." "I will," Neville nodded, "Actually, if you're not busy today, I could take you to Diagon Alley. That's the shopping area where you will be able to purchase everything Amanda needs for Hogwarts. It's in London." "We're not busy," Henry said, "We'll just wait for Max." Amanda grinned as she reread her letter over and over again. She still couldn't believe it. A witch. She was a real witch! Amanda always knew she was different, but she never imagined it would be like this. She pinched herself to make sure it was real. It was. She, Amanda Tagger, was a witch. It was like she had fallen into one of her books.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Monday 30 March 2009 12 16 34 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks Obladi and hprocks! Chapter 40: The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures We spent hours unpacking and setting up the house. I was completely knackered by the time the sun rose. I had helped Mum and Ellie with the kitchen and dining room and we got them set up. There were a few paintings that needed to be hung, but that was it. Dishes, silverware, and cooking implements were put away in drawers. I knew it would take a while to figure out where we put everything. The kitchen was equipped with state of the art Muggle appliances. There was even a microwave and a dishwasher, neither of which we had in Australia. The entire house was equipped for Muggles, actually, which made sense since it was a Muggle house. Electric lighting was in all the rooms and there were electric sockets everywhere. In our house in Australia, we had a few plugs (mostly in the kitchen), but now they were everywhere. I had no idea what my parents were going to do with them. Mum and Dad had a few arguments about where to put things. They both had different ideas about how to arrange the furniture in the living room and in the den. And about which furniture to put in both of the rooms. Eventually, Mum got to organize the living room and Dad got to take care of the den. Mum put the fancier furniture in the den while Dad put the more comfortable homey stuff in the den. The study of course became Dad's study and was filled with all the books he had acquired over the years. Despite the fact that his study was being set up for the first time in this house, it still looked in disarray after he finished. Mum sighed and shook her head when she saw it. Apparently one thing Mum and Dad had been thinking about was what to do with the big room upstairs. They had no plans as to turning into a playroom as the real estate agent had labeled it, since there weren't any really little kids in the house. Instead, they decided to turn it into a library and study area. They put all of the bookcases that used to be scattered throughout the Australian house in it and added a few tables and couches and desks. All in all, it looked like a very nice room when they finished. We all collapsed at the kitchen table when we finally finished the library. Mum dug around in the bag she brought and tossed a few sandwiches and bottles of juice onto the table. I wordlessly grabbed a sandwich and some juice and started eating. I was so tired I felt like I'd fall asleep as soon as I'd finished eating. I had no idea how I'd stay awake until the evening. It was only around nine in the morning. Twelve more hours until I could sleep. "I suppose," Dad yawned, "That it wouldn't hurt to take a quick nap before we visit the Ministry." "It probably would have been a good idea to set up the bedrooms first," Mum replied. I smirked. We hadn't set up any of the bedrooms yet. Mine wouldn't be set up until I painted it, but the rest of them could have been set up. "Lack of a bed didn't stop him from sleeping," I pointed to Matt, who had fallen asleep on the table. "I call the living room couch," Mum said as she stood up. Dad took the couch in the den and I went up to the library and curled up in a huge armchair. Mum and Dad left Matt at the table, since they didn't want to disturb him. When I woke up it took me a little while to remember where I was. I gazed around the library, forgetting that we had moved. I yawned and groaned. I was still tired. I knew I couldn't sleep any longer, though. I had to get used to England time. I rubbed my eyes and stumbled out of the room. I walked slowly down the stairs and into the living room. Mum and Dad were both sitting on the couch talking. They stopped when they heard me come in. "Morning," Dad said. "Morning," I mumbled, "What time is it?" "Just after noon," Dad replied, "Now that you're up, we'll go to the Ministry." "Oh, is Matt up?" I asked as I sat down on a chair. "No," Mum answered, "But he'd sleep all day, so we're just going to have to wake him up." I nodded as Dad went into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with Matt, still asleep, in his arms. "He'll wake up on the way," Dad replied and handed Mum the crutches. "We should stop by St. Mungo's as well," Mum said. "We're Apparating to an alley near the visitor's entrance to the Ministry," Dad said to Mum, "Put your hand on my arm and I'll guide you there." "Are you sure?" Mum asked skeptically, "You know it's hard to Apparate with someone while guiding another person who is also side along Apparating another person!" "It'll be fine, Julie," Dad assured her, "Just hold onto my arm." Mum sighed and motioned for me to go into her arms. I did so and we all disappeared with an exceptionally loud crack. We reappeared in a dank alley that reminded me of the pub we flooed from in New York City. It was dark and there was a stinky dumpster next to us. "Dad?" Matt yawned and looked around, "Er, where are we?" "We have to go to the British Ministry," Dad told him. "The Ministry?" Matt squeaked. "Yes, but the Ministry here isn't like the one in Australia," Dad assured him, "You'll be fine." We followed Dad out of the alley and down the street. I had no idea where we were going, but the area looked a lot like where St. Mungo's was. "We're using the visitor's entrance," Dad said, "Since the three of you are technically visitors." Mum nodded. We kept walking until Dad stopped in front of what looked like a standard Muggle phone booth. I had a feeling it wasn't that, though. Dad wordlessly opened the door and gestured for us to follow. Mum and I squeezed our way inside and I thought about how odd it would look to any passing Muggles to see all four of us inside one tiny phone booth. "This is the entrance?" Mum asked. "Yeah," Dad muttered. I have been to the Australian Ministry numerous times. Most of them were before Matt was bitten, but even after we'd occasionally visit Dad at work. Not often, though, since the entire Werewolf Control Unit would stare at us as we went by. It made all of us extremely uncomfortable. Dad picked up the receiver and punched in a few numbers. I couldn't see what they were, but they must have worked since we soon heard a cool voice in the booth. Dad put the receiver up to his ear and talked into it, despite the fact that the lady's voice was in the entire booth. I supposed he was trying to make it look believable to the Muggles. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," the voice said, "Please state your names and business at the Ministry." "Walter, Julie, Amy, and Matt Eckerton," Dad said, "We just moved here and need to complete a few registration things." "Thank you," the voice replied, "Please take the badges and proceed to the welcome desk when you descend into the Ministry." Four silver badges fell out of the coin return and Dad took them. He pinned one to his shirt, handed one to Mum, and handed one to me. It said 'Amy Eckerton- Various Registrations'. Dad glanced at Mum and then shoved Matt's badge in his pocket. Hopefully no one would ask as to why he wasn't actually wearing his badge. That would surely raise questions. I was about to ask Dad how we were going to 'descend into the Ministry' when I felt the phone booth lurch. I jumped and stared out the window as I saw the ground rising. Well, it looked like the ground was rising. Actually, we were literally 'descending' into the Ministry. The British Ministry was underground! That was the strangest thing ever. The phone booth settled into a large atrium. Dad opened the door and it disappeared once we left it. I looked around the huge place and saw fireplaces lining the sides. Every once in a while, a witch or wizard would floo into one of them or floo out. There were a few people walking through the foyer, but none of them so much as looked at us. They all looked rather busy. Dad led us through the room towards a desk that was sitting at one end. We walked past a huge gold statue of a wizard, witch, house elf, centaur, and goblin. I stared at it, but Dad hurried me along. "Excuse me," Dad greeted the old man who was sleeping at the desk. "Huh, what?" the man sat up quickly and looked at Dad, "Oh, er, visitors?" "The three of them are," Dad gestured to Mum, Matt, and I, "I work here." That was strange to think about. Dad would be working in this odd Ministry from now on. The man leaned over the table and peered at us each in turn. He eyed Matt's crutches suspiciously and I got the feeling he was just itching to ask about them. After all, crutches weren't exactly common in the wizarding world. "You work here?" the man asked Dad, "Never seen you here before." "I start in a week," Dad said, "Could we get on with it? We're kind of in a hurry." "Right, right," the man shook his head and looked at Mum, "I need your wand," then he looked at Matt and I, "And yours, if you've got one." Mum and I handed the man our wands. He examined them, used some sort of machine to find out the information about them, verified the information, and then handed us our wands back. Dad nodded to the man and we walked through a set of gold gates towards the lifts. "Oi!" the man called as we stopped in front of the lifts. Dad turned around, "Do you need something else?" "Just wondering," the man said, "Er, you're not from around here, are you? Can't quite place the accent, though." Dad sighed, "We just moved here from Australia." The man stared curiously at us. "Interesting. What made you move here of all places?" "Listen," Dad replied, "We're in a bit of a hurry. I'd rather not discuss our reasons." The old man shrugged. "All right...." One of the lifts clanged and opened and we hurried inside. I wondered how often that would happen. I really didn't want random people asking why we moved here. Dad punched the number 'four' and we waited as the lift started to move. A few minutes later, the doors opened and we followed Dad out into the corridor. As we left, a man wearing navy blue robes hurried past us muttering something about 'bloody weather charms'. His hair had a dusting of snow on it. I hid my laughter as he disappeared into the lift. The corridor was quiet. I glanced down the corridor and saw three sets of double doors that were all open. I followed Dad and we passed two of the doors, which were labeled 'Spirit Division' and 'Being Division'. Next was a single door that had a sign affixed to it that stated 'Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures'. So that was where Dad would have been working if he had gotten the equivalent job. Dad led us through the third set of double doors that was labeled 'Beast Division'. Inside of this room were six desks all situated in front of six doors that appeared to lead to other rooms. There was a witch or wizard sitting at each desk working away at one thing or the other. All in all, it seemed to be a very quiet office. Dad led us straight to the back of the room, where two doors were leading to other rooms. One was labeled 'Werewolf Registry' and the other said 'Werewolf Support Services', where Dad would be working. I didn't see any door labeled 'Werewolf Control Unit'. They must organize things differently in Britain. I did see a door labeled 'Werewolf Capture Unit' adjacent to the Control Unit, but that was it. "Well, this is where I'll be working," Dad said as we walked towards the Werewolf Support Services room. "Seems like a nice place," Mum replied. The witch who was working at the desk in front of that particular room looked up at us. "Oh, hello!" she smiled, "Mr. Eckerton, I didn't know you'd be in today." "I'm not starting work until next week, Miss Lane," Dad replied, "I'm here on family business today." He gestured to Mum, Matt and I. "This is my wife, Julie, and my kids, Amy and Matt." Miss Lane got up from her chair and walked to the front of her desk. She shook Mum's hand. "Nice to meet you." "You, too," Mum said. "Well," Dad said, "I'll show you my office." We followed him through the door and into the Werewolf Support Services room. It was completely different from his office in Australia. In Australia, he had his own office that was the size of the entire Werewolf Support Services room. Here, there were three desks crammed into the room along with multiple filing cabinets. Two of the desks were already occupied. One of them was cluttered beyond any possibility of organization and the other was as neat as could be. The third desk was bare. Both of the other occupants looked up when we stepped into the room. The messy desk was occupied by a middle aged woman who was wearing a set of scarlet robes. Her greying hair was piled into a messy bun and she was wearing a tiny pair of rectangular eyeglasses. The neat desk was occupied by a tall skinny man wearing a set of plain black robes. His dark hair was perfectly combed. "Walter," the man stuck his hand out, "We're looking forward to having you start next week. I even made Yolanda clear her clutter off of your desk." Yolanda threw the man a furtive look. "He's not starting until next week! I had plenty of time to do that." "Thanks," Dad smiled, "I'm looking forward to starting." "We're glad to have you," the man continued, "That job's been available for almost a year. The two of us have been swamped ever since the last bloke quit. Nobody seems to want this job." "Believe me," Dad said, "I plan on staying." "Good," Yolanda grinned, "Is this your family?" "That's them," Dad gestured to Mum, "My wife Julie, and my kids Amy and Matt." "Yolanda Jenson," Yolanda shook Mum's hand. "Carter Dimorio," the man did the same. "Nice to meet you," Mum replied. Mum and Dad talked with Jenson and Dimorio for a few more minutes. I stood near the wall and tried to peer at the parchment that was littering Jenson's desk, but I couldn't make out her writing. Matt stood behind Dad looking scared. Neither Jenson or Dimorio seemed to be staring at him like the man at the desk had. Both of them seemed very nice. "Well," Dad said, "We'd best be off. I'll see both of you in a week." "Take care, Walter," Dimorio replied. "Bye!" Jenson said. We stepped out of the office just as a large beefy man came barging into the main room. Matt stared at him and grabbed Dad's arm. The rest of us stopped as Mum put her arm around Matt. "I'll need that Doxy Report by Wednesday, Miller!" the man barked into a room labeled 'Pest Advisory Board'. "Yes, sir!" a voice shouted from inside the room. The beefy man turned away from the room and grinned broadly as he saw us. He walked swiftly towards us and Matt hid completely behind Dad. "Walter!" the man exclaimed, "Wasn't expecting you until next week!" "Mr. McVicar!" Dad shook his hand, "I'm actually here on personal business, but it's great to see you." "And you, too," Mr. McVicar replied, "And please, call me Rob." "All right, Rob, then," Dad said, "I'd like you to meet my wife, Julie." Mum shook his hand. "Nice to meet you." "Rob is the head of the department," Dad explained. "Although I sure am looking forward to hearing Walter's ideas about running the department," McVicar said, "He's certainly got a bit of experience himself." "Not as much as you," Dad pointed out. "Ah, but we're always looking for new ideas," he smiled and turned to me, "Is this your daughter?" "Yes, that's Amy," Dad said. McVicar practically crushed my hand as he shook it, but he seemed like a nice bloke. Definitely energetic. "Is your son here?" McVicar asked, peering around the room. Matt slowly peeked his head from around Dad. "Ah, there you are, son!" McVicar exclaimed. Matt quickly retreated again. "Shy one, eh?" McVicar said to Dad. "Er, yes," Dad whispered, "We've had certain, er, issues in Australia. I'd rather not get into it." McVicar nodded. "Well, I'll let you get on with your business. See you in a week!" McVicar barked something else into the Pest Advisory Board room and then left. Dad sighed and turned around. Matt was still staring at the main door and was ghostly white. Dad picked him up and Mum took the crutches. "He's a bit energetic," Mum muttered, "But he seems nice." "He's plenty nice," Dad replied, "Doesn't have a mean bone in his body, as far as I can tell. He's just, well, boisterous." "That's a good way to sum it up," Mum said. I would gladly take his loud and boisterous personality if it meant he was the complete opposite of Lubar. It would be a nice change of pace for Dad to work with people who didn't hate werewolves. Judging from the way McVicar treated Matt, he did not hate werewolves. "Well, let's go get this over with," Dad muttered as he turned towards the Werewolf Registry room. Mum nodded. "Never thought we'd be doing this again." Dad knocked on the door even thought it was open. Someone from inside shouted for us to come in and I followed Mum and Dad into the cramped room. This room was quite a bit smaller than the room Dad was going to work in. There were two desks sitting alongside two of the walls and a man was sitting behind each one. There was another door on the back wall, but it was closed. One of the men looked up as we walked in. He put down his quill and got up from the desk. He was a bit on the chubby side, but nowhere near as large as McVicar. There was a pair of round spectacles perched atop his bald shiny head. "Can I help you?" he looked curiously at us. "Yes, my name is Walter Eckerton," Dad shifted Matt in order to shake the man's hand. "Darian Kadmiel," the man replied, "Aren't you the bloke McVicar just hired for Werewolf Support Services?" "Yes," Dad said, "I'm starting in a week." "Ah," Kadmiel smiled, "Then what brings you in today?" "I have business with your department," Dad muttered quietly, "Could we speak in private?" Kadmiel glanced around nervously. "Er, of course, right this way." Kadmiel gestured for us to follow him towards the door in the back of the room. We followed him inside. The room was tiny, furnished only with a small desk and two chairs. Kadmiel took the chair behind the desk while Dad motioned Mum into the other. Dad set Matt in Mum's lap and turned to Kadmiel. "What can I do for you?" Kadmiel asked. "Well, my son is a werewolf, so I need to register him with your department," Dad stated. Kadmiel visibly relaxed. I stared at him curiously. I had never seen anyone relax when they found out that Matt was a werewolf. "Oh!" Kadmiel sighed, "When you said you had business with my department, I thought you had some sort of issue with us. Good to know it's just routine stuff." "Sorry," Dad said, "I didn't want to state explicitly what it was out there. I'd rather let as few people know about this as possible." "Right, right, understandable," Kadmiel said as he pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of the desk drawer. "I just have some paperwork to fill out. First, do you have his birth certificate?" "Right here," Dad pulled a few pieces of parchment out of his robe and handed it to Kadmiel. "And visas." "Visas?" Kadmiel asked as he looked at the birth certificate, "Oh, you're from Australia?" "Just moved here today," Dad answered. I was thinking the same thing Kadmiel was. Visas? I hadn't even thought about visas. Dad must have acquired them when he was interviewing for his job. Kadmiel nodded and copied some information from the birth certificate onto the paperwork. "All right. Looks good. Date and approximate place he was bitten?" "December 30, 2010. Outside of Brisbane, Australia." Kadmiel jotted down the information and looked up. "Is he on Wolfsbane?" "No," Dad sighed, "It doesn't work for him. No one has been able to figure out why yet, but he's signed up to participate in a study of the potion starting in January." "Morris Sterling's study?" "That's the one." "I'm assuming you haven't set up a place for him to transform yet?" Kadmiel asked. "Not yet," Dad replied, "But I have plans to do so shortly. I will renovate the basement of our new house and set up a safe room down there with the appropriate spells and charms." "Sounds good," Kadmiel scribbled something else and put down his quill, "I'm also assuming he's already got a registration number from Australia?" Dad nodded. "Yes." "We should be able to use the same one here. I'll just have to see it," Kadmiel stood up. Dad glanced nervously at Mum. Matt saw Kadmiel stand up and buried his head in Mum's shoulder. "Actually," Dad stepped in front of Kadmiel, "Could I perform the viewing charm and just tell you what the number is? He had a very traumatic transformation in May that I'd rather not get into. But the gist of it is, is that he's afraid of strangers." Kadmiel looked curiously at Matt. I could see a bit of concern and sympathy in his face that I had rarely seen in Dad's old colleagues' faces. "Well, it's not normally done that way, but I don't see anything wrong with it. You know the spell? What was it you said you did in Australia?" "I didn't," Dad muttered, "I was the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Kadmiel gaped at Dad. "Was? And you decided to come work for Werewolf Support Services here? That's a bit of a step down." "I was fired," Dad said, "And I don't think of it as a step down. I'm rather looking forward to working here." "Oh, er, right," Kadmiel stuttered, "You know, I vaguely remember reading about you getting fired. Just didn't put two and two together." "Well, I'm hoping most people won't. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread it around." "No problem. Anything said in this room is always confidential." "Good to hear," Dad replied, "I'll get you that number." Dad turned to Matt and pulled out his wand. "Matt," he nudged him. Matt turned to Dad. "What?" "I need to get the number from your arm," Dad pulled up the sleeve of Matt's shirt. Matt nodded and held out his arm. Dad muttered an incantation and a tiny row of numbers and letters appeared on Matt's wrist. "64XF2J3847," Dad rattled off. Kadmiel picked up his quill and wrote the number on the paperwork. "Got it." Dad waved his wand and the numbers and letters disappeared. "Is that everything?" "That's it," Kadmiel picked up the parchment and put the quill back in the drawer, "I'll see you in a week." "See you then," Dad shook his hand. Kadmiel opened the door and gestured for us to leave before him. I followed my parents and Matt out of the tiny room and through the Werewolf Registry into the main room. A few of the secretaries glanced up at us as we left, but nobody said anything. "That went well," Dad said as we walked towards the lifts. "Yes," Mum agreed, "I like it here already." "We've got to go register our place of residency now," Dad said as we got into one of the lifts, "Level five, I believe." I punched the number five and the lift rattled shut. The doors opened again on a similar looking corridor. There was a sign that said 'Department of International Magical Cooperation.' We followed Dad down it and he stopped in front of a door labeled 'International Relocation'. Dad knocked on the door. "Come in," a voice said. We entered the small room and there was a young woman with long brown hair sitting behind a desk. "May I help you?" she asked. "Yes. We just moved here from Australia," Dad pulled the visas out of his robes, "I've already got the visas, but I just need to officially change our place of residence." The woman pulled out a piece of parchment. She took the visas and copied down some information. "All right. I just need to know your current address." Dad rattled off our new address. I made a mental note of it. It would be a good thing to know. The woman waved her wand over the visas and then handed them to Dad. "You'll need to go register with the Department of Magical Transportation in order to have your house registered as a wizard's dwelling. They'll get you hooked up to the Floo Network." Dad pocketed the visas. "Actually, we'd rather not be connected to the network." The woman raised her eyebrow. "Can I ask why?" "I'd rather not say," Dad replied, "But I will stop by the department and let them know myself." The woman nodded and stared at us as we left. Well, not everyone was going to not pay attention to Matt's crutches. It had been nice while it lasted. "Mum, I'm tired," Matt sighed as we started down the corridor. "I think this next floor is our last stop, honey," Mum replied. "Yeah," Dad agreed, "Then we'll get out of here." I was definitely ready to get out of there. It was rather boring to follow Dad around while he did all these errands. I wanted to go shop for the stuff to decorate my room. We went back into the lift and Dad hit the button for level six. I leaned against the wall as the lift moved. Matt wasn't the only one who was tired. That nap I had taken earlier had long since worn off and I wanted to go to bed. Not before I got supplies to decorate my room, though. The next floor again looked exactly like the others. I was surprised Dad seemed to know where he was going. He led us to a room that was labeled 'Floo Network'. It was a large room filled with cubicles and various witches and wizards walking around. Dad went up to the first cubicle we got to. The woman inside was smacking her gum loudly and doodling on a piece of parchment. "Excuse me," Dad said. The woman looked up. "Yeah?" "I need to talk to whomever is in charge of connecting houses to the Floo Network," Dad answered. "Oh, you'll want Chuck," she pointed to another cubicle, "Chuck!" A man popped his head out of the cubicle. "What is it, Nadine?" "This bloke needs to talk to you!" Nadine shouted back. Chuck beckoned for us to go to his cubicle. There wasn't nearly enough room for all of us in there, so Matt and I waited outside while Mum and Dad went in. We could see and hear everything, though. "We just moved to England and bought a house that was previously owned by Muggles," Dad began, "But we do not want to be connected to the Floo Network." Chuck looked at Dad oddly. "Er, all right. We won't connect you, then." "The witch in the International Relocation office said we had to talk to you about getting our house registered as a wizard dwelling," Dad went on. Chuck groaned. "She's always doing that. You actually have to go to Magical Law Enforcement to do that. There's a bloke there who deals with this sort of thing. Second floor. I'll have to talk to International Magical Cooperation again. I don't know why that witch always sends people here for registering their houses...." Great, I thought, another place. We'd have gone to every department in the entire bloody Ministry by the time we were done! This was getting ridiculous. Mum and Dad left the cubicle and we followed them out of the room. Dad let out a loud sigh as we proceeded to the lifts once again. "This better be the last place," he muttered as he pushed the number two.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Monday 23 March 2009 10 31 14 am    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Ok, so I had been reading this story to my mom and Fawkes during Spring Break. I read up to chapter 28 and then realized that I either forgot to post chapter 29 or it was eaten by a forum monster. But whatever the reason, it goes from 28 to 30. So I'm going to post chapter 29 right here. I'll see if there's a way to move it to its proper place. Chapter 29: Confrontations Olivia and I sent each other more letters than usual over the next few weeks, but it was strange knowing that we probably wouldn't see each other anymore. She tried to talk her parents into letting her come to my house, but they wouldn't change their minds. I had no luck with my parents either. The two of them were very short with me and flat our refused to discuss the topic. I tried to avoid them as much as possible anyway, since I got the impression that they were still mad about me flipping out on Matt. I hadn't really apologized to him yet. Mainly because I didn't want to. I did feel bad about scaring him and being so physical, but I wasn't sorry about what I said. It was the truth. The fact remained that if he wasn't a werewolf, we wouldn't move. It wouldn't matter what the headmaster thought if Matt wasn't a werewolf. Dad probably wouldn't have lost his job either. The British Ministry had contacted Dad a few days after we got back and told him that he had gotten the job. Both he and Mum were ecstatic about this and we had a celebratory dinner in the fancy dining room. Mum and Ellie cooked steak, which was delicious. My parents seemed to be in even higher spirits after that. As the full moon drew closer, I began to wonder if I would have to go to Richard and Cinda's for it. Mum still hadn't talked to Cinda since the party and I didn't think she wanted to. At the same time, I doubted my parents would actually let me stay at home. Uncle Jack had decided to fly to Australia a few days prior to the estate sale. He wanted to pick out the stuff he wanted to keep and help Dad with the sale. He wound up arriving in Australia the day before the full moon. Dad went to the airport to meet him and the rest of us stayed at home. We waited in the living room for them. Neither Mum or Matt were really paying much attention to me, though. I was used to it by then and just kept my nose in my book. I looked up when I heard the sound of someone flooing. Uncle Jack stepped out of the fireplace with a large suitcase. "Wow," he grinned and looked around the room, "Been a long time since I've been here. Kind of hard to believe it's being sold." "Yeah," Dad said after he stepped out behind Uncle Jack, "But life changes." "It certainly does," Uncle Jack mused, "So, how is everyone?" "Better than I've been in months," Mum smiled, "Now that we've got an official move date." "Tired," Matt mumbled. Uncle Jack sat down on the couch next to him and gave him a hug. "You'll feel better in a couple days." "I'll feel worse tomorrow," Matt muttered. "But it'll get better after that," Uncle Jack said and then turned to me, "How about you, Amy?" "Life sucks," I said flatly. "Why's that?" he asked, looking at me curiously. "Olivia's not allowed to visit me anymore, since her parents don't want her around Matt," I explained, "And Mum and Dad won't let me visit her because her parents are prejudiced gits. So we're never going to get to see each other again." Uncle Jack let out a low whistle. "Wow. That is tough." "Yeah, but I can't do anything about it," I muttered. "So, Jack," Dad changed the subject, "Do you want to get started going through things or sleep?" "Might as well just get started," Uncle Jack stood up, "I've got to adjust to Australian time anyway." "Sounds good. Everything's been priced out already, but just take what you want. I'll tell you if it's something we're taking or not." The two of them turned to leave the room, but as they did so, the fireplace lit up and someone stepped out of it. I jumped and turned towards it. Ralph Lubar was standing in front of the fireplace, glaring around the room. Both Dad and Uncle Jack turned around. Dad stepped forward with a grim look on his face and Uncle Jack followed him, looking bewildered. Mum put her arm around Matt in a protective manner. I got up from my seat and went to stand farther away from Lubar. "Lubar," Dad growled. "Eckerton," Lubar growled back. "Who the hell are you?" Uncle Jack asked. "This delightful wizard is the one who now has my job," Dad said without turning away from Lubar. "Oh," Uncle Jack stepped forward and drew his wand, "You're the one making life difficult for my nephew." Lubar drew his wand as well. "I'm only passing the laws everyone else wants passed." "I don't care what you call it," Uncle Jack took another step forward. The tip of his wand was almost touching Lubar's chest, "Anyone who messes with my family is going to have to answer to me." "Is that a threat?" "You honestly need me to clear that up for you?" Uncle Jack asked. "Who in the name of Merlin are you anyway?" "Jacob Eckerton." "So you're the one from New York, eh?" Lubar sneered, "Well, I don't know how they do things over there, but here, it's frowned upon to threaten Ministry employees." "In New York, it's frowned upon to threaten kids," Uncle Jack growled, "So I suggest you quit making things difficult for my family." "What are you doing here anyway, Lubar?" Dad interrupted, "And put your wands down, both of you." Neither Uncle Jack or Lubar withdrew their wands, but Dad didn't say anything else about it. "Another inspection, Eckerton. Have you acquired a shed for your son to transform in?" "I have not," Dad answered, "Nor do I plan on it." "Then you'll face the consequences," Lubar smirked. "Another fine?" Dad raised his eyebrow, "Fine me as much as you want. I won't have him transform in a shed." "Hmph," Lubar muttered, "I guess we need more legislation. I'll be back with your fine in a few days." "Good," Dad said, "Now get out." Lubar slowly put his wand back in his robes, turned around, and stepped into the floo. A few seconds later, he was gone. "He's the bloke who took your place?" Uncle Jack asked, pocketing his wand. "Sadly, yes," Dad ran a hand through his hair. "Blimey, the Ministry is losing it." "Sure is," Dad agreed. He turned to leave the room and Uncle Jack followed. I heard them whispering about Lubar as they left. "Amy," Mum said once they left, "I'm taking you to Richard and Cinda's in an hour or so." I groaned. There wasn't anything that would get me out of going there. Even when Mum wasn't on speaking terms with Cinda, I still had to go to their house. "Fine," I muttered and left the room to pack my bag. I just didn't feel like arguing with her anymore. Mum was waiting for me in the living room when I came back an hour later. She didn't say a word as she motioned for me to Apparate with her. We left the room with a crack and appeared in the bush near Richard and Cinda's house. I wondered if Mum had told Richard and Cinda that I was coming over. Lately we had been Apparating directly into their house and I thought it was odd that Mum chose to take us to the bush instead. We walked silently down the street and to Richard and Cinda's driveway. Mum paused for a moment and then pushed the intercom button. She leaned close to it and I couldn't hear what she was saying. A few seconds later, the gates opened and I followed Mum up the driveway. Cinda was waiting for us in the doorway, her face completely unreadable. She said nothing and walked back into the house. Mum and I followed her into the kitchen. "Julietta," Cinda said quietly. "I don't want to hear it, Mother," Mum replied, holding up her hand, "I'm forever grateful that you're letting Amy stay here for the full moons, but I can't talk about it now. Not until you understand why we have to move and why you shouldn't have thrown us that party. You've been putting your reputation before your family my whole life and I just can't take it anymore." "Julietta, please-" "No," Mum shook her head, "I'm sick of it. I've explained numerous times and you just don't get it. Either Walter or I will be back Saturday morning to pick up Amy." "I don't want us to be angry with each other when you move," Cinda said quickly. Mum looked Cinda in the eye. "Then apologize, Mum, that's all you've got to do. Tell me you understand why we're doing this. Tell me you'll stop putting your reputation first." Mum turned away and left the room without waiting for Cinda to answer. Cinda sank down onto one of the stools as soon as Mum disappeared from the room. I stood awkwardly in the doorway and stared at Cinda, unsure whether to say something or not. "Cinda?" I asked tentatively, "Are you ok?" "Don't worry about me, Amy," she replied, "I'll be fine once your mother stops fighting with me." I didn't bother mentioning that all Mum wanted was an apology. Instead I nodded and left the room. The next few days were some of the most boring ones I'd ever spent at Richard and Cinda's. Kenzie's family was on holiday, so I didn't get to see her at all. I did write her a letter and stick it in her mailbox, though. Cinda was very quiet the entire time, which was odd. I guessed it was due to the fact that Mum wasn't talking to her. Richard was his usual self, but it's not like he really did much fun stuff to begin with. Half of me was happy when Saturday arrived and I finally got to go home. The other half was dreading it. The estate sale was that day and I was not entirely sure I wanted to be home for it. Mum and Dad had let me help choose what furniture we'd be saving, but it's not like they let me save it all. They let me keep everything in my bedroom, though. In fact, my entire bedroom was off limits to anyone attending the estate sale. Potential buyers of the house, on the other hand, were a different story. A real estate agent was going to be at the sale to give people tours of the house if they were interested in buying it. They would get to go in my room. Mum even made me clean it, along with my potions room, the day before I went to Richard and Cinda's. Mum and Dad had told me that I would get to decorate my new bedroom entirely myself. Well, I would plan it and they would do the spells. But I got to choose everything. I was very excited about this, because I would finally get to paint stars on my walls and ceiling. I was planning on painting the Southern hemisphere's night sky on the ceiling so it would almost feel like I was still in Australia. Dad said he could charm them to twinkle and disappear when the sun rose. I got up early on Saturday and packed my stuff. I was eating a bowl of cereal when Dad announced he was at the gate on the intercom. I buzzed him in and a few minutes later he was at the door. "Can you please tell Julietta to call me, Walter?" Cinda hurried down the stairs clad in a dressing gown as Dad and I were about to leave the house. Dad turned around and sighed. "Cinda. I agree with Julie. I'm not getting in the middle of this. But I will tell her that you want her to call you. I highly doubt she will, though. Just apologize, Cinda." Cinda said nothing as we left and Dad shut the door after us. Dad was very quiet as we walked down the driveway, so I decided not to speak either. I was curious about the fine Lubar had said he would give him, though. Was it a bigger fine than before? My house already seemed busier than usual when we Apparated into the kitchen. I noticed a few people from the estate sale office milling about as well as the real estate agent. I immediately went up to my room and stowed my overnight bag in my closet. I noticed that everything in the house had been polished and cleaned. The old portraits were sparkling and their occupants were whispering to each other, obviously wondering what was going on. As far as I knew, Dad was selling most of the pictures and portraits that adorned the walls. There were a select few that we would be taking with us and another couple that Uncle Jack wanted. But most would be sold. A few hours later, people started to arrive. They gathered in bunches on the front lawn and were greeted by the salesmen. I suspected the majority of them just wanted to see the inside of the house and gossip about it. There had been a very long article in the paper the previous week detailing the estate sale as well as the sale of the house. I had no idea what to do with myself during the sale. I spent a half hour in the living room, but felt awkward when a salesman led a group of gawking witches in, explaining about every object that was up for sale. I went up to my room after that, but left after the real estate agent brought in a couple interested in purchasing the house. Dad and Uncle Jack seemed to spend their time answering questions people had about various objects. I still hadn't even seen Mum or Matt since I returned home and suspected they were in Matt's room. My brother probably hadn't fully recovered from the full moon and Mum surely wanted to keep him away from all the curious people. Eventually I decided to tag along on one of the tours of the house. I was kind of curious as to what the real estate agent was telling everyone about it. Real estate agents always made houses sound better than they really were. I wondered what this one would say about our house. The tour group I followed consisted of a middle-aged couple, two old witches, and a young wizard. The real estate agent first led them into the kitchen, where Ellie had set out a plate of fresh cookies to make it smell nice. (It makes the house feel more inviting, the real estate agent had told us earlier.) "We'll start with the kitchen," the real estate agent said, "As you can see, it is state of the art, but still reminiscent of the age it was built in." "When was it built?" the middle-aged man asked. "1859," she replied, "The kitchen is also equipped with a few Muggle appliances, which were put in when Walter and Julietta moved in. A few plugs were installed as well." I stood in the doorway as everyone inspected the kitchen. It was kind of strange, knowing that possibly one of these people would soon own my house. A few minutes later, they finished with the kitchen and moved on to the living room. Next was Dad's study, then the formal dining and living rooms, and eventually, we had made our way around the entire first floor. The real estate agent then led us up to the second floor. She pointed out various aspects of the architecture that even I hadn't really known. Everyone in the tour seemed interested, especially the middle-aged couple. "There are ten bedrooms," the real estate agent announced, "Not all of them are on this floor, though." I noticed that the two old ladies were hanging back and whispering together. One of them then pushed the other to the front of the group and she looked nervously at the real estate agent. "So," the old lady began, "We were wondering...Where's the werewolf?" The old lady immediately retreated back to her friend and the two of them waited anxiously for the real estate agent's answer. "Uh, er," the real estate agent stuttered. "Why do you want to know?" I asked, suddenly stepping forward into the midst of the tour group. Despite the fact that I was angry with my brother, I still felt the need to defend him. "We're just...curious." "How would you like it if someone went into your house and asked where you were?" I asked loudly. "Er-" "That's what I thought," I shouted, "So why did you ask?" "Excuse me, miss," the middle-aged man tapped me on the arm, "She was just curious. In fact, I was wondering the same thing. You're being rather rude. Why are you on this tour anyway? I daresay you wouldn't be able to afford a house, especially one as grand as this." I stared at him, completely bewildered. "What am I doing here? I live here!" I shouted at him, "Thanks for calling the house grand, though. I'll certainly let my parents know what you think. I'll let them know what you all think, especially what you think of my brother." "No, no, wait!" the middle-aged man said, "I'm sorry. You're right. None of us should be asking questions like that." "Too late," I replied, "You've already asked them." "I wonder where he transforms," I heard the other old lady whisper. "Shut up!" I shouted at her, "He's a kid, not an animal!" "The Ministry disagrees," the man muttered. "Who the hell cares about the Ministry?" I asked, "The Ministry is horrible!" "Amy, could you please just let us continue the tour?" the real estate agent interrupted. "Fine," I huffed, "But I'll be telling my dad about these gits. I guarantee none of them will be buying the house." I turned and left, completely ignoring the stuttering and pleading of the middle-aged man. If he really wanted to buy the house, he shouldn't have insulted my brother. Dad was showing a man our formal dining room table when I finally found him. I waited patiently (ok, maybe not so patiently) for him to be done and then told him about the old ladies and the couple. The next thing I knew, all four of them were being escorted off the premises by Dad. The man appeared to practically be begging to stay. I smirked and waved at them as they passed me on their way out the door. The house was starting to empty out a bit. It was emptying of furniture and other items, that is, not of people. There were still plenty of people milling about. It was kind of odd to watch strangers paw through your stuff and buy it. I passed a few men wearing neat and pristine robes muttering amongst themselves about the quality of our family silver. I hadn't actually seen the stuff in years, but the idea of people not in our family owning it gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. We weren't selling all of it, though. Uncle Jack took about half of it and my parents took half of what was left. It's not like they'd actually do anything with it. They'd probably just pack it up and store it in some closet in our new house. It's got sentimental value. I still had no idea what to do with myself. Tagging along on another tour would be a bad idea. The real estate agent looked like she wanted to kill me by the end of that last one. She'd most likely hex my mouth shut if I decided to follow another tour. I wandered into the formal living room and stood in a corner as Uncle Jack and a salesman completed the sale of one of the couches. That didn't bother me in the least. I always hated that couch. It was the ugliest thing to every cross the threshold of the house. The thing was cream colored with pink and purple flowers all over it. Then there were the gold-trimmed arms, which were tacky in my opinion. Dad told me his mother had picked it out shortly after she got married. Why my grandfather agreed to it is beyond me. "Mum will be happy that that's gone," I whispered to Uncle Jack after he completed the sale. "I think we're all happy that it's gone," Uncle Jack grinned. "So I hear you got a bunch of people kicked out." I grinned, "Sure did. Dad made them leave. They weren't too happy, especially the bloke who wanted to buy the house." "I'll bet not," Uncle Jack smirked, "Well, I'd better get back to the selling." "Ok, see you later." I spent a bit more time in the formal living room and then went back to the regular living room, which was thankfully empty. My parents had decided to keep all the furniture that was in that room, which I was happy about. That furniture was what made our house seem like our home, not the fancy furniture in the other rooms. I picked up a book I had left on the coffee table and settled onto the couch to read. I had read a few pages when I noticed green light in the corner of my eye. I looked up and saw that someone was flooing into the room. That was odd, I thought. My parents had arranged for everyone to Apparate into a selected area of the yard. They didn't want a whole bunch of people flooing in and out of the house. It would have been too chaotic and messy. But I guess whoever was flooing now didn't get the message. The flames subsided and a man stepped into the room. Another man, much younger, stepped out behind him. I let out a gasp as I recognized them. It was my dad's cousin and his son. "Hello, Amy," the older one said gravely, "Long time, no see."
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 17 March 2009 09 32 17 am    Post subject: Life Is Good in topic:Life Is Good I've had this idea for a while to write a short story about how Albus, Rose, Matt, John, and Amanda got their Hogwarts letters. I started writing it a few weeks ago. I've paired each chapter with a song by Jared Campbell. Each chapter title comes from one of his songs and a few of the lyrics are before the chapter. The lyrics go along with the chapter. The whole story is named after one of his songs as well, Life Is Good. If you want to hear the songs, there are videos on Youtube. Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of Jared Campbell's songs. [b]Life Is Good[/b] Chapter 1: I Think I'm Holding Out for Something More [i]Cause fate, it's in my way and I don't have the patience to put life on hold, I think I'm holding out for something more.[/i] ~[i]Fate[/i], Jared Campbell Eleven-year-old Albus Severus Potter was standing in front of the window in the drawing room of his London house, Grimmauld Place. He had been standing perfectly still for the past two minutes, watching as a dot in the sky got larger and larger until it was recognizable as an owl. The owl was close now and it looked like it was heading straight for Grimmauld Place. It was close enough for Albus to notice its ruffled brown feathers and the letters wrapped around its legs. Albus gulped and he rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants. Watching for the morning post had become a routine for Albus over the past few days. As soon as he woke up, he would stand by the window waiting for the owl that he knew would arrive soon. The owl from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that would bring him his acceptance letter. Albus's older brother, James, had received his letter a year ago, in mid-July, and Albus was sure his would arrive at roughly the same time. Albus wrenched open the window and the owl soared inside. It stuck out its leg and Albus quickly detached the letters. The owl gave a loud hoot and then soared out the window. Albus shut it as he rifled through the letters. One was addressed to James. But the other, the other was addressed to Albus. Albus sat down on the couch and slowly turned the letter over in his hands. He swallowed hard and began to open it with shaking hands. He pulled it out of the envelop and read it. [i]Dear Mr. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of books and materials you will need to purchase. Please note that first years are not allowed to bring their own broomsticks. Please reply to this letter as soon as possible to let us know if you are attending. The Hogwarts Express will leave at exactly 11 in the morning on September first from King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4. Sincerely, Padma Patil Deputy Headmistress[/i] Albus closed the letter, grinning to himself. It had finally arrived. Albus had been kind of anxious about it the entire summer. He knew it would arrive, but after days of no owls from Hogwarts, he had gotten a bit worried. Albus stood up and ran to the stairs. He had to wake James up. James had been teasing Albus ever since he returned from Hogwarts, telling him he wouldn't get his letter. Albus knew James liked to joke, but it had gotten a bit irritating by the third week. James's bedroom door was closed, but that didn't stop Albus. After all, James always barged into Albus's room. Albus banged open the door and peered down at James, who was curled up on his bed. He looked rather innocent when he was sleeping, but if anyone could make trouble even while sleeping, it was James. Albus glanced around the room, trying to think of a creative way to wake him up. He wished he had a wand and could spout water in James's face. Albus decided to just go with the old standby of staring at James until he woke up. It usually worked. Albus peered down until he was only inches from James and waited. All of a sudden, James's eyes shot open and he jumped back. He hit his head on the wall behind his bed and winced. "What the hell, Al?" James shouted as he rubbed his head, "Do you realize what time it is?" "Nine in the morning," Albus said, "Sorry about your head." "It's ok," James muttered, "I'll get you back eventually. But why in the name of Merlin did you wake me up so early?" Albus pulled his letter out of his envelop and proudly shoved it in James's face. James grabbed it and scanned it. He gave it back to Albus and grinned. "See, you got it," James said. "I know," Albus said, "But you're the one who said I wouldn't." "I was only joking," James shrugged, "It's what brothers do. Now you get to do it with Lily." Albus shrugged. He sort of doubted Lily would believe him if he told her she wasn't going to Hogwarts. She'd been waiting impatiently for her Hogwarts letter since she was five or so. Now she was nine and she still had two years to go. "Oh, you got your book list, too," Albus handed James the letter addressed to him. "Excellent," James grinned as he ripped it open, "Maybe Mum and Dad will get me a broom as an early birthday present. Then I can try out for Seeker this year and not have to use one of those school brooms." James was entering his second year and was determined to become Gryffindor's new Seeker. He had been practicing all summer on one of their mum's old brooms. James's birthday was in November and he had been giving their parents not so subtle hints about a new broom ever since he returned home from school. "Well, I'm going to go see if we can go to Diagon Alley today," Albus said. "Then I can get my broom," James replied and laid back down. Albus looked back at James as he left, and noticed that he already had his eyes closed. Albus ran back downstairs and to the kitchen. Both of his parents were sitting at the table eating eggs and toast. "It came!" Albus said proudly as he set his letter down in between his parents. "Congratulations, Al," Harry grinned and ruffled Ablus's hair, "Told you you just had to be patient." "That's wonderful, Albus," Ginny got up and kissed the top of his head, "We can go shopping today, if you'd like." "Definitely," Albus grinned, "James wants to go, too. He wants his new broom." Ginny rolled her eyes as she put her plate in the sink. "We'll see about that." "Mummy!!!!" Lily came shrieking down the stairs. Albus turned around and saw that she had a hair brush stuck in her hair and her eyes were welling up with tears. "Mummy!" Lily cried, "It's stuck!" Ginny sighed and picked up her wand. "Lily, what were you doing?" "I was just trying to make my hair curly like Rosie's," Lily pouted as Ginny started to extricate the brush from her hair. "Lily, what have I told you about wrapping your hair around your brush?" Ginny asked. "Not to do it," Lily muttered. "Exactly," Ginny said, "Albus got his Hogwart's letter." "Really?" Lily shrieked and ran away from Ginny just as she got the brush free, "Where is it? I want to see!" Albus grabbed his letter off the table and held it in front of Lily. Lily stared wide eyed at it and tried to grab it away from Albus. Albus held it up above her head. "I wanna hold it!" Lily shouted. "No," Albus shook his head. "Mum!" Lily shouted, "He won't let me see it!" "It's his letter, Lils," Harry replied. Lily crossed her arms across her chest. "Fine. I want to go to Hogwarts, too." "You're not old enough. You just have to be patient, Lily," Ginny told her. Harry snorted into his juice. "I seem to remember someone else who was impatient about going to Hogwarts." Ginny smacked Harry playfully on the head with that morning's copy of the Prophet. "Oh, shut it, Harry." Albus poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down just as the fireplace lit up with green flames. It cleared a few seconds later and out stepped a boy in his late teens who had turquoise colored hair. "Teddy!" Albus shouted and jumped up from the table, "I got my letter just now!" Albus handed Teddy his letter. "Brilliant," Teddy grinned and scanned Albus's letter, "Merlin, I wish I still had another year there." "That's only because then you could put off deciding what you want to do with your life," Ginny laughed. "No, so I could be there when Albus is there," Teddy groaned, "But I suppose you're right, too." "Of course I am," Ginny said. "Anyway, I just stopped by to say hi on my way to work," Teddy said as he grabbed a piece of toast off Harry's plate. "And to steal my food," Harry muttered. "That, too," Teddy grinned, "I'm working at the Diagon Alley store today, so will I see you lot there later?" "Yep," Harry nodded, "We'll be there. I'm going to see if Ron and Hermione want to go as well. Rose probably got her letter today." "Sounds good," Teddy said as he stepped back into the fireplace and disappeared in green flames. ****** A few hours later (after James had woken up), the Potter family found themselves in Diagon Alley. The street was filled with returning Hogwarts students and their families. Albus had been to Diagon Alley numerous times before, but there was something very exciting about going there to buy supplies for Hogwarts. He was getting to do everything James had done the previous year. Albus was especially excited about going to Olivander's and getting his wand. They met Ron and Hermione Weasley, as well as their two kids, Rose and Hugo, in front of Gringott's. Rose was a couple months younger than Albus, but would be turning eleven in August and would be going to Hogwarts as well. Hugo was Lily's age. "Where to first?" Harry asked. "Olivander's!" Albus announced. "Flourish and Blotts!" Rose said excitedly. Albus stared at her like she had three heads. How could his cousin want to go to the book store before she got her wand? "You're mental, Rose," James laughed, "I say we go to Quality Quidditch Supplies!" "Eyelops!" Lily shouted. "You're not even going to Hogwarts," Albus pointed out. "I don't care," Lily huffed. "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Hugo suggested. "Then it's settled," Harry grinned, "We're going to the Apothecary first." Everybody groaned, but followed Harry down the street anyway. Albus sighed to himself. That was always how his dad settled arguments. He'd pick what nobody had suggested. The trip to the Apothecary was quick. Nobody really wanted to linger in there. Albus didn't particularly enjoy the place. It had an odd smell to it and there were cauldrons full of things that looked like they were decaying. After the Apothecary, they went to Madam Malkin's, which was boring as well. Albus just didn't find buying robes very exciting. It seemed like his dad was doing the most boring shopping first. Finally, after a long trip to Flourish and Blotts, Harry announced that Olivander's was next on the list. Albus and Rose ran ahead of the rest of the group and arrived a few minutes before anyone else. "Ah, Albus and Rose," Olivander turned around and greeted them with a wispy voice. "Hello, Mr. Olivander. We're getting our wands today," Albus grinned. "I thought so," Olivander smiled and walked slowly to the rows of wands that were behind him. Olivander took measurements and then walked to the back of the shop. He returned with a few wands just as the rest of the Potter and Weasley families entered the shop. Olivander greeted them and then handed Albus and Rose each a wand. Albus smiled as he held the wand in his hand. It was an unbelievable feeling; holding a wand that could be his. He waved it and the window behind him exploded. James burst out in laughter as Albus's face turned bright red. He set the wand on Olivander's desk and looked sheepishly at his family. Harry grinned and repaired Olivander's window with a wave of his own wand. "Perhaps this one," Olivander handed Albus another wand, "Eleven and a quarter inches, Ash, phoenix feather." Albus took the wand and all of a sudden a warm feeling enveloped him. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the wand actually glowed in his hand for a split second. He could feel that it was the right one even before he waved it. He gave it a wave and gold sparks erupted from it. "Excellent," Olivander grinned. A little while later, Rose had her wand as well and the group left the shop. Albus was carrying his wand with the utmost care and staring more at the box than what was in front of him. The adults decided that it would be best to visit Eyelops last since both Albus and Rose were getting owls. They didn't want to have to carry the owls around all day. James was asking to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies every five minutes or so, but Harry led the way into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes first. "Ron, Ginny!" George greeted them as they entered, "And Harry and Hermione! You've got everyone with you today." "Hogwarts shopping," Harry grinned, "Al and Rosie just got their wands." Albus proudly opened the box and showed his Uncle George his new wand. Rose did the same. "Brilliant, both of you!" George said, "And now I shall get you both ready for Hogwarts in the prank department...." Albus followed George into the depths of the shop. He was not at all surprised that his uncle was assisting him with pranks. George was the owner of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and was legendary at Hogwarts as one of the most mischievous students ever to attend. "Now, every student needs a Skiving Snackbox or two," George said as he handed Albus and Rose each a colorful box, "After all, I can't imagine you'll want to sit through History of Magic very often." Albus grinned as he took the box of sweets to make one ill. He had heard many a story from his parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and James about how boring Professor Binns' classes were. "And then you'll need some dung bombs," George said as he led them to a different display. "Last time I checked, those were still forbidden at Hogwarts," Hermione said sternly. "Oh, I'm sure they are," George winked, "But so long as Filch doesn't find out it was these two who set them off, it doesn't matter." "George Weasley!" Hermione scolded, "You should be setting a better example for these two! No wonder Fred was in detention every week last year!" Albus laughed as he took a pack of dung bombs off the shelf. His cousin Fred was George's son and just finished his third year at Hogwarts. Fred had taken after his father as far as pranking went. "Lighten up, Hermione," Ron laughed, "Let them have their fun." "Ronald!" Hermione shouted, "You're even worse!" "Harry!" Teddy burst out of the back room and joined the group, "Getting Al all the pranking products he'll need this year?" "Sure am," Harry grinned, "Although I don't think Hermione is too happy about it." "I am not buying this stuff for Rose," Hermione stated. After a few more minutes of arguing, Hermione gave up and both Albus and Rose had bagfuls of Weasleys' products. James had replenished his stash as well and Albus had a feeling he'd use everything up within a month. George closed the shop so he and Teddy could get something to eat and everyone went to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner. Albus mainly listened to the conversation but was very content. Going to Hogwarts was something he had been looking forward to for years and now it was finally happening. James finally got to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies after dinner and got his early birthday present. Albus was slightly jealous about this, but knew that he couldn't have his own broom at Hogwarts anyway. He was determined to make it onto the Quidditch team eventually, though. The last stop of the day was Eyelops Owl Emporium, which was a place Albus was almost as excited about as he had been about Olivander's. His parents had told him he'd be able to get an owl when he went to Hogwarts. "I want an owl," Lily whined as they entered the shop. "In two years," Harry replied. "That's so far away," Lily groaned. "I know," Harry said as he picked her up, "But it'll go by faster than you think." Albus began looking around at all the owls. He didn't really have any ideas about what kind of owl he wanted; he just thought he'd look around and see what owl liked him. There were owls of all sizes and colors. White ones, black ones, and speckled ones. Small ones, large ones, and medium sized ones. Albus walked slowly through the shop and looked at each owl. His eyes rested on an owl with gleaming topaz eyes and dark brown feathers. The owl had a few flecks of white on its head and it was staring directly at Albus. Albus walked over to the owl and gave the owl a pat on its head. The owl gave a soft hoot and Albus knew it was the one for him. The owl flew onto his shoulder and Albus walked back to his parents. "I've got my owl," he grinned. "What's his name?" Harry asked. "Dunno," Albus shrugged, "Haven't thought of one yet." "Name him Salazar," James smirked, "Because you'll be in Slytherin." "What?" Albus stared at his brother, "I'm not going to be in Slytherin." "You never know," James said, "There's a 25 percent chance that you might." Albus was stunned. It was so obvious. There was a 25 percent chance that he'd be in Slytherin. After all, there were four houses. But the thought of being in Slytherin had never crossed his mind. He always thought he'd be in Gryffindor, where everyone in his whole family had been. It was possible for him to be in Slytherin, though. Or Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Neither of those would be that bad, but Albus wanted to be in Gryffindor. "Ready to go, Al?" Harry asked, "Rose just found her owl." "Oh, yeah," Albus said quietly, "I'm ready. And I'm naming my owl Godric." Albus followed his family out of the owl shop and to the Leaky Cauldron. In two months, he'd be at Hogwarts. The place where his parents went and most of the rest of his family. The place he had been impatiently waiting to go to for years. He couldn't think of a time in his life where he had been more excited. All he hoped was that he would wind up in Gryffindor and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to make a name for himself.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 15 March 2009 02 14 51 pm    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks Obladi and hprocks! Chapter 38: Memories The next week passed quickly. Too quickly in my opinion. My remaining time in Australia was flying by and I didn't like it one bit. I spent most of my time brewing potions and wandering around the bush. Norlam came to the house for Matt's therapy session on Monday and it passed in the same fashion the previous two had. The only difference was this time Matt spent the whole time watching us, instead of spending the first half hour with his head buried in Mum's shoulder. Norlam said that was a great improvement. Friday's session proved to be pointless, though. Matt seemed to have regressed and clung to Mum the whole hour. Norlam wasn't surprised since it was two days before the full moon. He actually spent the hour talking to Dad about the full moon. Sterling had sent along a packet of instructions for Dad about what to do right before and right after this particular full moon. Sterling was quite worried about it, despite the fact that Matt's ankle was mostly healed. He had stopped using the crutches on Thursday. I jokingly suggested that we give them to Mari and Maddie and earned a groan from Mum because of it. Since Mum was on speaking terms with Cinda again, she Apparated with me to her house on Saturday. The full moon was Sunday. Mum seemed very anxious, as did Dad. Hell, I was anxious as well. Dad's plan to keep Lubar out of the house wasn't foolproof. In fact, it was far from it. But it was the best they could do. And it was the last Australian full moon. After this, we wouldn't have to worry about Lubar again. I called Kenzie as soon as Mum left after dropping me off. To Kenzie, this was my last visit to my grandparents' house. At least until we visited, that is. My parents had explained that I would be spending the July full moon at Richard and Cinda's, much to my dislike. I had thought that maybe they would just let me stay home after we moved, but no. The July one was so close to the estate sale that I was just going to go to Australia with Dad for that and he'd pick me up after the full moon. I had no idea what I was doing for the August one. However, my parents had told me that I wasn't allowed to tell Kenzie that I would be there. It would look extremely suspicious to her and her family. They would think that I'd fly to Australia while Matt was getting treatment for whatever Muggle disease they thought he had. I hated to have to pretend not to be there, but it was necessary. Kenzie came over to Richard and Cinda's five minutes after I called her. She was going to sleep over at my grandparents' house for the last time. Mum and Dad didn't want her staying there the actual night of the full moon just in case something happened at home and I had to leave immediately. I actually didn't mind that since I didn't think I'd be able to hide my fear from her anyway. We ate dinner with Richard and Cinda and then went up to my room. "I still can't believe this is our last sleepover," Kenzie sighed as she flopped down onto my bed. "Me either," I laid down next to her. "Are you scared?" she asked quietly. "About moving? Yeah, a little," I replied. More than a little, I thought. "I wish I could tell you you'll be fine. But I've never moved, so I have no idea." "It's just that we're moving so far away," I said, "Everything is going to be different." "Well, look on the bright side. At least you're moving somewhere where they speak English," Kenzie shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," I laughed. "Is your new school like your old one?" Kenzie asked. "Pretty much," I shrugged. Except it's in a castle. But I didn't mention that since Muggle schools weren't normally in castles. "And does your dad have the same top-secret job in England now?" "Equivalent department, different job," I replied. "So, it's like your whole life is just being transferred to a different country." "Pretty much. But our new house is totally different." "I think you'll survive in a smaller house," Kenzie laughed. "I know," I shrugged, "But I like my house." "Yeah. I know I'd hate to leave mine. Although I definitely wouldn't mind having my own room." The rest of my time with Kenzie passed way too quickly. We spent most of it talking and just hanging out. Richard and Cinda seemed to sense that we wanted to be alone and didn't bother us the whole time. "I'm going to miss you so much," Kenzie sniffled as she grasped me in a tight hug. It was late Sunday afternoon and the full moon was going rise soon. "Me, too," I cried, "I don't want to go!" "I don't want you to!" Kenzie replied, "But you'll be back to visit." "I know," I stammered, "But I don't know when that will be!" "Can't you come stay at my house tonight? Please?" I shook my head. "Richard and Cinda want to spend time with me." "Ok, well, I guess I'll call you soon," Kenzie said, "Your mum gave my mum her mobile number." I nodded, "Yeah, call me. I'll write you as soon as we move, too. I'll let you know everything." "And I'll tell you everything that's going on here," Kenzie said. We hugged for a few more minutes and silently cried into each other's hair. I reluctantly let go and we looked at each other for a few moments. "I guess this is goodbye for real now," Kenzie said as she grabbed her bag. "I guess," I said with tears running down my cheeks, "Bye, Kenzie. But we will see each other again." "Of course," Kenzie agreed, "But until then, good luck with everything." I nodded, "Thanks." "Bye, Amy," Kenzie said softly as she opened the door. She turned around as she walked outside and I waved. I stood in the doorway and watched her go until long after she disappeared behind the trees. I let the tears roll down my face and blur my vision. This was it. Kenzie and I wouldn't see each other for months. She was one of my best friends and now she was gone. I was leaving and she was staying. I was being forced to leave my two best friends in the whole world. Olivia and I were already drifting apart and now I wouldn't see Kenzie for months. Well, at least I'd see Kenzie again. I didn't think I'd ever see Olivia again. I let a sob escape at the thought of never seeing Olivia again. With the release of that first sob, the rest of them came hard and fast. My whole body shook as I cried almost as hard as I had when Matt was in the hospital. I couldn't see anything as the tears flooded my eyes. I was hardly aware of the fact that Cinda put her arm around me and led me back into the house and onto a couch in the living room. I laid down on it and let myself cry for ages. Both of my friends were gone. I didn't know when or if I'd see them again. ****** I wasn't sure how long I laid on the couch crying, but eventually, my eyes ran dry and I slowly sat up. Cinda was sitting in one of the armchairs and was looking at me. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Are you ok, Amy?" Cinda asked quietly. I nodded. "I guess." "I know this is hard," Cinda said, "It's hard to move away from your friends. My best friend, Helen, moved away when I was around your age. But we stayed in touch. We still call each other on occasion and even meet for coffee." "But I'm moving to another country," I muttered, "It was hard enough to keep all the lies straight with Kenzie living here, but it'll be even harder now. Lies and living across the world. I'm just sick of it." Cinda nodded. "Well, I won't pretend that I know what it's like to keep so many secrets from your friends. Helen and I told each other everything." "I can't tell anyone everything," I replied. "I know and it is hard on you. But you're strong. You're such a good big sister, you know that, right?" I nodded. "Yeah, but I just hate the whole thing sometimes." "We all do, Amy, we all do," Cinda said. I glanced out the window. It was getting increasingly darker. The moon would rise soon. "I'm going upstairs," I muttered. Cinda nodded. "It's going to be ok, Amy." I bit my lip and didn't say anything as I left. I wished I could just believe Cinda. But I couldn't. Everything was so up in the air. There was no way to know things would be ok. I went upstairs and crawled into my bed. I hadn't even eaten dinner, but I wasn't hungry. I laid completely still under the covers, staring out the window. I didn't do anything. I just laid there. Thinking about nothing and everything at the same time. Thinking about school, moving, Kenzie, Olivia, Matt, my grandparents, my parents, and everything in between. Yet, my mind was empty at the same time. It was strange, but it was the best way to describe it. Everything and nothing at the same time. I tossed and turned much of the night, but must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I knew I was opening my eyes to the bright sun that was shining through the window. I groggily sat up and yawned. Then it hit me. Night had passed. The moon had set once again. The sun was up. The last full moon in Australia was over! I jumped out of bed and quickly changed clothes. I ran downstairs as my heart thudded in my chest. I had no idea when Mum or Dad would tell me what happened. I assumed nothing too horrible had happened since neither of them showed up the night before, but I still wanted to know. I poured myself a bowl of cereal, but wound up just pacing the kitchen while the Lucky Charms grew mushy in my bowl. Cinda and Richard stumbled downstairs a little while later. Cinda sat down at the table while Richard poured them both mugs of coffee. I couldn't tell if they had been up all night or if they just needed their coffee. "Amy, don't you want your cereal?" Cinda asked. "No, not really," I replied as I continued pacing across the floor. "I think things went ok last night," Cinda said quietly, "They would have contacted us sooner if they hadn't." "I know," I said, "But I still need to know." "Amy," Richard said as he set down the coffee mugs, "Stop pacing. Sit down and eat something." I nodded and sat down. I picked up the spoon from my cereal and started stirring my cereal, but not eating it. Richard took it away and gave me a withered look. I didn't say a word as Richard began to cook eggs. Richard was cooking eggs. I couldn't remember the last time Richard cooked brekkie. I ate the eggs even though I wasn't exactly hungry. It had been a nice gesture on Richard's part. My mind wasn't on the food, though, it was on my brother. I was just getting up from the table when I heard a loud crack coming from the living room. I immediately ran out of the kitchen and into the living room. Mum was standing there looking exhausted, but not sad, which I took as a good sign. "Mum!" I exclaimed, "What happened?" "He's fine, Amy," Mum replied. "Is everything ok, Julie?" Richard asked. I turned around and saw him and Cinda standing in the doorway. "Everything is fine," Mum said, "Lubar did show up last night. But he had to Apparate into the bush and then come to our door the hard way. To say he wasn't happy about our wards and disconnection from the Floo Network would be an understatement, but there's nothing he could do about it. By the time he got to the house, the moon was about to rise. Matt was already in the basement. Walter was able to hold him off just by arguing with him. He was quite angry when he realized that the moon had risen before he got Matt, though. Walter told him to get out and slammed the door in his face. And that, hopefully, was the last time we saw Ralph Lubar." I breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good," I smiled. "Glad to hear it," Richard said. "What about Matt?" Cinda asked, "Is he ok?" Mum gave Cinda a weird look, but then shook her head and it was gone. I guess Mum wasn't used to Cinda asking about Matt, since they had that huge row. "As good as can be expected," Mum replied, "He had been unconscious for about an hour, but that's normal. He's got the usual injuries, and he re-injured his ankle. Depending on how fast it heals, he might have to go see Healer Sterling again. But after last month, this one has been a relief." Cinda winced at the sound of Matt's injury. "Well, I can't say I've heard anyone say a re-injured ankle is a relief, but I'm glad it wasn't anything worse." I was, too. I hadn't even realized how worried I had been until I found out that Matt was ok. Sure, I had been pacing around the kitchen, but I hadn't thought I'd been that worried. "When can I come home?" I asked quietly. Mum sighed. "I guess you can come home now. But you'll have to stay out of Matt's room. He needs to rest." I nodded and smiled as I went to get my stuff. I couldn't believe how much less strict Mum had become in the past few months. Six months ago, she never would have let me go home the morning after the full moon. ****** The next week flew by even faster than the previous one had. Mum and Dad were preoccupied with moving logistics and spent most of their time talking about packing and decorating and other sorts of stuff. With the last full moon in Australia behind them, they were both becoming increasingly excited about the move. I think Dad was excited about working again as well. He routinely talked about his new job and I got the feeling he was very enthusiastic about it. Matt seemed indifferent about moving. He spent the week resting and lounging around the house while his ankle healed. Dad brought out the crutches again and Matt hobbled around the house on them. Mum said he needed to go to St. Mungo's, but Dad wanted to just wait until after we moved and see if it healed on its own with the usual potions. Mum reluctantly agreed. He had two more therapy sessions and Norlam was very pleased with the progress he'd made. During the most recent one, he had migrated from the couch onto the floor and watched Norlam and I play Gobstones. He didn't say anything or play with us, but it was progress nonetheless. "Amy, did you clean up your room yet?" Mum shouted from the kitchen. "It's almost done!" I groaned and got up from the couch. "You need to finish it soon! The Magical Movers are coming early tomorrow morning and your room needs to be ready to be packed!" "I know!" Mum had been nagging me about cleaning my room all day. She and Dad were frantically running around the house making sure everything was ready. Matt and I had mostly been watching them. Mum of course got his room ready for him, but I had to do mine myself. Plus my Potions room, which I had done that morning. I didn't want to get my room ready. I didn't want to see it bare and empty. Once it was empty, it wouldn't be mine anymore. It would be Clarence's, and who knows what he'd do with it. I still hated the thought of someone else moving into the house. Although, part of me thought Clarence was just going to own it in name only and let it sit empty just to spite Dad and Uncle Jack. No amount of thinking about it could have possibly prepared me for packing up my room. I slowly ascended the stairs and stood in the doorway for a moment before sitting down and starting to clean. There was no feeling in the world quite like packing up your whole life and moving it to another country. I had only moved once in my life and I had been so young that I didn't remember it. This house was basically the one I had spent my life in. Even before we actually moved in, when Granny and Gramps were still alive, we spent every holiday in this house. Granny, Gramps, Mum, Dad, me, and occasionally Clarence and Gregory. We visited other times of the year, too. My memories of this house were some of the first ones I'd had. Christmas morning when I was three. Ripping open the biggest box under the tree to find my very first toy broom. I flew it around the house the entire day, until I crashed into the refrigerator and Mum declared it an outside toy. My fourth birthday. One of the only memories I had of Granny and Gramps. My last memory of them. All our family at the house eating a huge chocolate cake. My Little Hippogriffs, a toy owl, a stuffed animal dragon that breathed fake fire, and a copy of [i]The Tales of Beedle the Bard[/i] for presents. But what I remember most is walking through the bush and seeing a family of kangaroos. That had been my first walk through that bush, and I fell in love. Moving in. It had been a few months after Granny and Gramps had died. Dad couldn't bring himself to move in before that. I don't remember much about the accident, but I do remember being excited about moving. Mum carried me up the stairs and showed me my new room. I was thrilled and made a beeline for the balcony. It had been locked and it remained that way for years. I was five and I first discovered the joys of climbing the wall into the bush. Mum completely freaked out and told me never to do it again. I was out there the next day when Mum was cleaning. I promptly fell off, skinned my knee, and ran crying inside to Mum. I tried again the next day and succeeded. A few months later Mum was shrieking with joy and holding a white stick in her hand. I kept asking her what it was, but she wouldn't tell me. A few hours after Dad came home, they sat me down and told me I was going to have a new brother or sister. I was filled with mixed feelings about it, but what I remember most is wanting a sister. Six years old and peering down at Matt, who was sleeping in his crib. I remember thinking how tiny he was. Mum and Dad asked me if I wanted to hold him and I said yes. I sat down in the rocking chair and Mum placed him in my lap. I looked down at his tiny red face and wondered how on earth a baby could have been growing in Mum. Sitting in the kitchen staring at the owl that was coming closer and closer to the house. I had been eleven and spent days waiting for my Australian School of Sorcery letter to arrive. I let the owl in and couldn't get the letter open fast enough. My hands shook as I opened it and shrieked with joy when I read it. I ran all around the entire house waving it above my head. Four-year-old Matt stared at me with a mixed look of confusion and awe on his face. He immediately asked me how long it would be until he got his letter. Almost exactly a year later, laying on my bed thinking about how everything changed in a matter of minutes. It had been a few days after Matt got bitten and Dad and I came home from the hospital to get some sleep. Mum stayed with Matt. I was scared. Scared and upset. I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know what would happen to Matt. To me. To my whole family. Christmas, just six short months ago. Finally getting the twelve foot tree I had always wanted. With no way to know that it would be the one and only time we'd have a tree that tall in the house. With no way of knowing that it was our last Christmas in the house. My house. My home. Memories. I knew deep down that I'd always have the memories of my house, even if we didn't own it anymore. I knew it was the people I shared those memories with were what really mattered. But I couldn't help but feel like I was being forced to leave my childhood behind. No matter how much I reassured myself things would be ok, I knew I'd be leaving a part of myself in Australia with the house. I shook myself out of my reminiscing and stared at my room. I had no idea where to begin. Cleaning up my Potions room had been easy. Everything had a place in there. All I had to do was put everything in its place and I was done. My bedroom was different. It had never really been organized. I sighed and began by picking up all the dirty clothes and throwing them in the hamper. It was a start. But it was only a start. My room was still a mess when I finished that. I kept going and finished picking up everything else that was on the floor. I worked methodically, trying not to think about what the cleaning really meant. I knew if I sank back into reminiscing, I'd never get anything accomplished. Then came my closet. I didn't think I had ever cleaned my closet. It was packed with the detritus of my childhood. I sat down in front of it and began to pull things out. Text books from previous years, broken displays of the solar system from Astronomy, broken quills, random bits of parchment. It was like cleaning out a big school trunk. I tossed most of it into the bin. I made a pile of stuff I wanted to keep and threw the books onto it. It was like an archaeological dig. There were layers of my life piled into that closet. As I worked through the stuff, I worked farther back into the years. I found my first set of school robes, which were much too short. I couldn't bear to throw them away, though. They would remind me of Australia. A box of letters from Olivia joined them in the 'keeping' pile. Next was the stuff from before I ever went to school. Well, magical school, that is. I found my My Little Hippogriffs. I threw away the broken ones and kept the ones that were still intact. Wendy Witch dolls, toy dragons, hippogriffs, unicorns, and just about every other magical creature in the world. Dad began teaching me about magical creatures before I could talk. My toy broomstick, which had seen better days. I put it in the 'keeping' pile. Old clothes that I hadn't seen in years went into the giveaway pile. Childhood books went into the 'keeping' pile. Eventually the entire contents of my closet had been organized into three piles. The 'keeping' pile was considerably larger than the others. That didn't matter. Mum had said I could keep whatever I wanted. I grabbed a few of the boxes Mum had given me and piled everything I wanted to keep into it. The trash pile went in the bin and the giveaway stuff went in another box. I tackled my dresser and desk next. Most of that stuff I packed into boxes to be moved to England. There wasn't much I wanted to get rid of. I left my bedding on the bed since we still had one more night. By the time I finished, my room looked depressingly empty. It didn't even really look like my room anymore. It was an empty shell, a place where I had lived almost my entire life and was now just a room. I didn't like it. Not one bit. I sank down onto my bed and stared at the boxes. The boxes that contained my life.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2535 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 1 March 2009 09 35 47 am    Post subject: Re: In Moonlight's Shadow in topic:In Moonlight's Shadow Thanks Obladi and hprocks! I have wanted to kill fictional characters, too, Obladi. Chapter 36: Therapy Session I spent most of the morning half-reading a book in the living room and half-watching Matt try out his crutches. He had taken a nap right after brekkie and woke up wanting to figure out how to use the crutches. It was kind of amusing to watch as Matt was pretty clumsy when he walked on two feet, and with crutches it was like he was walking on three feet. He must have fallen over at least ten times before Mum made him stop. She was afraid he'd hurt something else. I sort of wanted to try out the crutches, too. I wasn't going to admit it to Mum, but they looked kind of fun. I'd never used them before, as wizards normally didn't need them. I broke my leg once when I was a little older than Matt. I'd fallen out of a tree. But the healers at Eastworth had it fixed within a few minutes and I was walking on it again two days later. Dad disappeared into his study shortly after he finished eating his eggs. He muttered something about sending an owl to Norlam telling him to take a portkey to the bush behind the house instead of trying to floo. Dad was still planning on having our house disconnected from the floo network. Dad also said something about having to reschedule the final estate sale. It was supposed to have been the previous day, but he'd canceled it at the last minute due to Matt's lengthy hospital stay. I wasn't really sure when he was planning on having it since we were supposed to move in only a few short weeks, but I certainly wasn't going to worry about it. I didn't really think it would take all morning to send an owl and rearrange an estate sale, but Dad didn't reemerge from his study for hours. I saw Mum sigh and shake her head as she paused by the closed door on her way upstairs. Whatever he was doing in there, Mum seemed to realize that he wanted to be alone. After lunch Matt fell asleep again and I got bored with reading. I put down my book and walked up the stairs to my potions room. I hadn't brewed anything in ages, which was kind of odd. I wasn't sure why I hadn't. Mum had long since given up on monitoring my homework since she had much more important things to worry about. I guess potion brewing had been pretty low on my priority list given the state of things in my family. I brewed all afternoon and it was incredibly relaxing. I slowly forgot about the move and Matt's injuries and Dad's stress and everything else that was going on. The only thing I was thinking about was the potion I was brewing. I didn't even have to think about Matt barging in on me since he could hardly maneuver himself with his crutches across the living room let alone manage to climb up two flights of stairs with them. I didn't even realize how much time had passed until my stomach started rumbling. I bottled up the potion and cleaned up. I was stowing my silver cauldron back in the cabinet when I heard a faint knock on the door. "Come in," I said. Dad walked inside looking worn out. I looked at him and suddenly noticed how old he looked. I hadn't really noticed my parents aging over the years, but for some reason Dad just looked much older than usual at that moment. His face was etched with lines and his eyes sunken into the purple bags that surrounded them. Maybe he just hadn't slept well in a few days. I had gotten a good night's sleep the previous night, but Dad might not have since Matt was in his room. "Hey, Dad," I said as I closed the cabinet. "Hi, Amy," Dad replied, "Dinner's ready." "Oh, good. I'm starved." "Well, Ellie's outdone herself," Dad smiled wearily, "I think she missed cooking for us the past couple weeks." "I've definitely missed her cooking," I replied. Dad and I walked downstairs together, where we found Mum, Matt, and Ellie already sitting down at the table. There were platters of food covering the entire table. It looked like way more food than my family would actually eat, but it certainly looked good. "Were you able to reschedule the sale, Walter?" Mum asked after we'd all served ourselves heaping piles of food. Dad nodded. "It's not until after we actually move, though." "Isn't your cousin moving in right away?" Mum asked. "I don't think so. I don't think he really cares about actually living here anyway. He'll be happy when we're out of the country. He'll technically own the house, but who knows what he'll do with it." Mum muttered something under her breath that sounded an awfully lot like something she'd yell at me for saying if I said it. "When is the sale?" she asked. "July twentieth," Dad replied, "I know it's close to the July full moon, but it's the earliest day I could get. I didn't want to let it wait too long. I figure I'll just come down here and you can stay with Matt in England. I should be able to finagle a porkey down here." "I guess that will work," Mum sighed, "I don't suppose we have a choice." "Not unless we want to let my dolt of a cousin get the furniture as well as the house," Dad muttered. "Then it's settled," Mum said, "And what about Norlam? Is he going to be able to porkey down here?" "Yes. He said that would be fine. And I'm going to the Ministry first thing tomorrow morning to get us disconnected from the Floo Network." Mum shook her head and put down her fork. "I've been thinking about that. Do you really think it's wise?" "To have us taken off the Network?" Dad stared at her, "We agreed to do it. It's a safety precaution. No one will be able to come undetected into the house anymore." "No, not that," Mum said quickly, "Of course I think that's a good idea. What I'm not so sure about is you going to the Ministry to have it done." I set my cup down and paid close attention to what they were talking about. "I'm not going to do anything stupid, Julie," Dad muttered. "I know you won't go there meaning to do anything stupid," Mum said quietly, "But I worry about what might happen if you accidentally happen upon him." "I am in complete control of my own actions, Julie," Dad replied, his voice getting harsher. "We'll talk about it later," Mum gave him a significant look and then slightly tilted her head towards Matt and I. I'd have to be sure to find out where they went to talk after dinner and eavesdrop. Dad nodded and went back to eating his dinner. The rest of the meal was spent in silence until Matt started complaining about the taste of the potions Mum handed to him after he'd finished eating. I lingered at the table nursing my juice as Ellie and Mum began clearing the table. Dad slowly followed Matt back to the living room. Judging by the sound of it, Matt only fell over once on his way there, which was a new record. Mum visibly winced when she heard the thump, but she just shook her head and continued helping Ellie with the dishes. Dad returned a short while later and gestured for Mum to follow him. I peered around the door as they went and saw the two of them disappear into Dad's study, shutting the door behind them. I hurried out of the room and up the stairs. I rummaged through the stuff that was on my desk until I found the Extendable Ears I had bought in Hogsmeade. I knew those things would come in handy again. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could without making too much noise. I knelt in front of the door to Dad's study and stuffed an end of the Extendable Ear into my own ear. Nothing. There wasn't a sound coming from the study. Merlin, I thought, what if they put some sort of charm on the door? It wouldn't really surprise me. "You know what I think about this." I heard Mum say. Yes, they hadn't charmed the door! "And you know my opinion on the subject as well," Dad replied. "Well, we're in a bit of a bind, then." "I suppose so. But how exactly do you think we're going to get disconnected from the Floo Network if I don't go to the Ministry?" Dad asked, "You think you'd be able to control yourself if you went and somehow stumbled upon Lubar?" "No," Mum said, "I don't think I would. I don't think you would, either." "Then how are we going to accomplish this?" "I don't know," Mum said, "I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go down there." "I know you don't. But we haven't got a choice! It's either I go down to the Ministry or we stay on the Network and risk Lubar showing up on the full moon! And do you really think I'll be able to control myself if that happens? I swear I'll kill him if he ever shows up here again." "Can't we just send an owl and request it or something?" Mum asked. "I want to be sure it's done and done correctly. I don't want Lubar getting word of this and drafting some sort of nonsense legislation that requires werewolves to be on the Floo Network. I wouldn't put it past him to do just that if I send an owl about this. "All I want to do is go directly to the Department of Magical Transportation and ask them personally to take us off the Network. I'm perfectly within my rights to do that. I haven't been banned from Ministry premises. Anyone can have themselves taken off the Network. But if we send an owl, someone could show it to Lubar and he could have that legislation passed within a day." Mum sighed. "I suppose you're right. I just don't feel comfortable with you doing this. If you so much as say the wrong thing to Lubar while you're there, you could find yourself arrested." "I know," Dad said darkly, "And that's why I'm not going anywhere near my old department." "All right, all right. I trust you. It's Lubar I don't trust." "I know, Julie, I know," Dad sighed. "Do you really think this will work? Will he not be able to get Matt if we're off the Network?" "It'll help," Dad said, "He won't be able to take us by surprise again. He'll have to Apparate outside our property and then walk to the door. I'll set some charms throughout the yard and we'll know if he enters the property. In which case, we'll be prepared for him. All we'll have to do is hold him off until the moon rises and then it'll be too late for him to do anything." "There are so many things that could go wrong with that plan," Mum replied, "We could both wind up in prison for attacking a Ministry official." "I know," Dad said, "But it's the only thing we can do. Just one more full moon here and then we'll be in England. We just have to get through one more." I listened for another minute, but neither of them said anything. I hurried away when I heard footsteps coming from inside. I was innocently reading in the living room when my parents entered a few minutes later. I stayed up half the night worrying about what my parents were planning on doing. I knew Dad wasn't planning on meeting up with Lubar at the Ministry the next day, but what if they somehow stumbled upon each other? Dad didn't sound like he was joking around when he said he'd kill Lubar. Dad normally wasn't a violent person; he usually preferred to solve problems with words rather than wands. Uncle Jack had always been the one with a temper. But this was different. I knew there was nothing Dad wouldn't do to protect Matt, and me as well. Then there was the full moon itself. My parents had come up with a plan to knowingly break the law. Nothing had changed since the last full moon. Matt was still legally required to transform at the Ministry Approved Center, even though it practically killed him the last time. To get out of the requirement, Dad would have to create a safe house that Lubar approved of. I had a feeling that Dad could create the world's safest building and it still wouldn't be up to Lubar's standards. But Mum had brought up a good point; what if they did get arrested? How did Dad suppose he'd hold Lubar off without hexing or jinxing him? I woke up groggy and still tired the next morning. I squinted at the clock near my bed and saw that it was just past nine. I rolled out of bed and headed downstairs. The rest of my family was already up. Mum and Dad were eating omelets and not speaking. They both looked exhausted. Matt was eating a bowl of Lucky Charms and leaning his head on his hand at the same time. He looked even more tired than my parents. I poured myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and sat down next to Matt. No one said anything as I began eating. "I'm off to the Ministry," Dad announced a little while later. "Be careful," Mum warned him as he stood up. "I will," he said and gave her a quick kiss, "I'll be back shortly." "Bye, Dad," I said. "Bye, Amy," Dad gave me a hug and then gave one to Matt. "Bye, Matt. I'll be back soon, ok?" He nodded. "Bye." I wandered into the living room once I finished eating. Mum had carried Matt in there as soon as Dad left. She was pacing in front of the fireplace and Matt was nodding off on the couch. I watched Mum pace for the entire time Dad was gone. The only time she stopped was when Matt woke up and complained that his ankle hurt. She brought him a potion and then went back to pacing. Mum jumped as the she heard the front door open. She quickly sat down on the couch next to Matt and grabbed the nearest book, opening it up to a random page. "We're disconnected," Dad announced as he stepped into the room. "Oh, good," Mum smiled, "And did you meet up with," she paused and glanced at Matt, who was sleeping, "Lubar at all?" "Nope," Dad replied and then lowered his voice, "Although I did pass the Minister in the corridor." Mum sighed. "Did you keep your head?" "Yes," Dad said, "There were certainly a few things I wanted to say, and a few hexes I would've liked to share, but I said nothing. He looked at me strangely, but I hurried away as quickly as I could. He has no idea why I was there." "Good," Mum replied, "Now onto the next thing. Norlam's coming at one, right?" "Yeah," Dad confirmed, "He'll be portkeying." Mum sighed. "I really hope this goes well." "Me, too," Dad agreed, "Me, too." ****** I could sense Mum and Dad's nervousness as we ate lunch a little while later. They kept looking at each other and then at Matt. He didn't seem to notice and was considerably more awake than he had been at brekkie. "Matt," Mum said quietly as she cleared the dishes, "Do you remember Healer Norlam? From St. Mungo's?" Matt stared at Mum and slowly nodded his head. I couldn't quite make out what he was thinking, but it looked to be a combination of fear and confusion. "Well," Mum continued, "He's going to come visit us today. To see how you're doing and see if he can help with your nightmares." Matt shook his head fiercely and then winced. "No. I don't want him to come." "I know you don't, honey, but he's going to help." We all migrated back to the living room once Mum finished cleaning up. Matt looked scared as he sat on the couch. Mum and Dad sat down next to him and he crawled over to Mum and leaned his head on her chest. I wasn't really sure if I was supposed to be there during the therapy session, but I sat down on a chair and pulled out a book. The door charm sounded a little while later and I got up with Dad to answer it. Mum stayed with Matt since he was still leaning against her. Dad opened the door and Norlam greeted him and shook his hand. Dad gestured for him to step into the house and shut the door behind him. "Matt's in the living room," Dad said and pointed down the corridor. "Actually, I thought I'd talk to you first," Norlam said. "Oh, all right. Amy-" "She can stay," Norlam smiled, "That's fine. I imagine she'll just listen in around the corner anyway." I blushed and grinned sheepishly. Maybe this bloke did know a thing or two about the way children's minds worked. Dad smirked. "Well, ok. What did you want to talk about?" "I can't start therapy until Matt feels comfortable around me. It just won't work if he doesn't trust me. So, today's goal is to start to gain his trust." "Any ideas as to how to do that?" Dad asked. It seemed to me like an endless loop. Matt was afraid of strangers and Norlam was a stranger. In order to overcome that fear, he had to learn to trust Norlam. "It's going to be tough," Norlam said, "And I doubt it'll happen with just one session. But we're going to try. I thought I could just sit in the living room with you. All of you," he turned to me and then back to Dad, "We'll just talk casually and maybe play a game or two of Exploding Snap. Hopefully Matt will see how at ease the three of you are and start to trust me." Dad nodded. "That sounds like it should work." "Well, let's get started," Norlam smiled. Dad led the way back to the living room. Norlam gestured for me to go in first, then Dad, and then himself. I sat down on the couch and Dad leaned over Mum's shoulder and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and Dad stood next to the door. Norlam stepped in and smiled at Mum. "Hello, Healer Norlam," Mum greeted him. "Hi, Julie," Norlam said, "Please, call me Jeff." "Jeff, then," Mum replied. Matt watched the two of them talk and inched closer to Mum. He climbed onto her lap and turned away from Norlam. Norlam took a seat on the floor, which I thought was kind of odd since there was another couch and a few chairs that were empty. But I figured he had a reason for it. "Anyone care to play Exploding Snap?" Norlam asked as he pulled a package of cards out of his robes. I looked at Dad and he gave a slight nod of his head. "Sure," I shrugged and got up from the chair. I sat down across from Norlam and he began to shuffle the cards. Dad got up as well and sat down next to me. "So," Norlam began as he dealt the cards, "Amy, you're going into your fourth year in school?" I nodded. "Yeah. I was supposed to be in it already, but well, you know the story." I thought it was odd that Norlam was talking to me when this whole therapy thing was for Matt, but I knew nothing about psychology so I didn't question anything. I wanted Matt to get over this, so I decided to just go along with it. "Indeed I do," Norlam said quietly, "But life is never predictable. Hogwarts is a great school. I attended there myself, a very long time ago. What subjects do you enjoy?" "Potions and Astronomy," I answered. "Interesting combination," Norlam said, seeming to stare off into space, "Interesting indeed...." I had no idea where he was going with this. I looked at him curiously and he gave a slight shake of his head and returned his attention to the game. "How about Quidditch?" Norlam asked, "Do you like Quidditch?" "Not really," I shrugged. I've never liked flying, whether it's on a broomstick or a Muggle airplane. Quidditch wasn't really something I enjoyed watching either. Dad took us to the World Cup once, when it was held in Australia, and that was fun. I had only been about ten at the time. "I'm a big Quidditch fan. Played Beater for Hufflepuff House when I was at Hogwarts. Do you know about the houses?" "Yes. Professor Kendrick told us about them. How do they decide which house you're in?" Norlam smiled. "That, Amy, is one of the big secrets of Hogwarts. Although it's never been discussed, nobody tells how the Sorting is done. My own brother wouldn't tell me. I asked him about five times a day the whole summer before I went to Hogwarts, but he never said a word about it. My parents never mentioned it to me either. Didn't find out until I entered the Great Hall my first day." "So you're not going to tell me?" I asked. I had been wondering about the Sorting thing ever since I found out we'd be moving to England. In Australia, you were just randomly assigned a house. "I feel I'd be betraying generations of Hogwarts students if I told you, Amy," Norlam sighed, "But I daresay you'll find out soon." "So, can I ask you questions?" I asked. "Of course," Norlam replied, "After all, I'm asking about you." I nodded. I paused before asking anything. What sort of questions would help Matt figure out that Norlam was trustworthy? I was beginning to wish I knew a little bit about psychology. "Well, are you married?" I asked. "I've been married for forty-eight years," Norlam smiled, "To the most wonderful lady in the world. We have two children and seven grandchildren. I love them more than anything in the world." That was good. Maybe if Matt heard that Norlam had kids and grandkids, he'd trust him. "And do any of them go to Hogwarts?" "Actually, yes. Three of them. One has already graduated and the other three are too young. All have been in Hufflepuff." "What were your favorite subjects there?" "Transfiguration and Herbology," Norlam answered, "Care of Magical Creatures was fun as well, but after seeing my teacher loose a few fingers one lesson, I was more apt to watch the creatures from afar than actually study them." Dad chortled and shook his head. "I think if my Care of Magical Creatures professor had lost fingers during class, I would have been even more excited about the subject. Nothing scared me as a child. I think it would have been better if I had a healthy fear of dragons, though. I obtained quite the nasty burn in training." "And that's why you went into the study of magical creatures and I went into psychology," Norlam replied. "Er, is the professor who lost his fingers still there?" "Oh, no. He retired a while ago. Although the professor they have now has no fear of any creature in the world. I wouldn't even put it past him to keep a dragon as a pet." My eyes bugged out. A dragon as a pet? Was that bloke mad? Well, as long as he didn't make me care for dragons, I didn't suppose it would matter. "Don't worry. There is no one in the world more capable of handling magical creatures more than that professor," Norlam assured me. "Do you know any of the other professors?" "Most of them," Norlam said, "Only one of them taught me, though. The Potions Master." "Can you tell me about them?" "I'd prefer not to, so as not to influence your opinion of them." I sighed and went back to the cards. We kept talking casually as we played Exploding Snap. Norlam was either horrible at the game or purposely losing to Dad and I was some sort of psychological technique. By the time the hour long appointment had ended, Norlam's face was coated in soot. He collected the cards, cleaned his face, said goodbye to Mum, and motioned for Dad to follow him into the corridor. I followed them since neither of them told me not to. "I'd like to have bi-weekly appointments, if that will work for you," Norlam said once we were away from the living room. Dad nodded. "That would be fine." "How about Mondays and Fridays at this same time?" Norlam suggested. "That should work." "I'll be here on Friday, then," Norlam replied, "Goodbye." "Bye," Dad shook his hand. "Bye, Amy," Norlam waved to me as he opened the door, "You were quite helpful today." "Bye," I replied. How had I been helpful? All I'd done was play Exploding Snap and talk about my life. I didn't think I'd ever understand psychology.