This was it. My palms started sweating and my adrenaline was at an all time high. This was the most important day of my life so far and the conclusion to all those years I spent working my ass off. I couldn't believe this was the grand finale, and all it involved was me walking across the stage and grabbing a piece of paper. Talk about being anticlimactic.
"Rose Kettle." A small applaud and a cheer from my mother erupted as I walked across the stage, shaking everyone's hands and accepting my diploma. I completed high school. It still didn't seem real.
After walking across the stage, I went to the side to take pictures,and then walked back to my seat. I could see my mother out of the corner of my eye, smiling widely in my direction. God I love my mom. She's been the most supportive and loving woman in existence. My dad died before I was born and I didn't know much about him other than his name. Charles Kettle. It was too hard for my mother to talk about him so she just kept quiet and I rarely asked questions knowing it would only upset her.
As far as friends go, all I had was my mom. I was definitely an outcast and extremely introverted, though I never really made an effort to make any friends, but I was always nice to anyone who approached me.
After the ceremony had concluded and all of the other graduates went out to go party, I had gone to get ice cream for myself and promised mom to meet her back at the house as she was tired.
The ride home was anything but ordinary. All was going well until I turned onto the back roads and went around a sharp corner and saw a doe standing in the way. I put on the brakes but it was too late. As soon as the car came to a screeching halt and I finally was able to breathe, I realized what had just happened. I hurriedly got out of the car and walked over to where the presumably dead animal laid. I wasn't worried about my car, but about the poor doe. She was still alive but not by much and I felt like the worst person in the world.
Something took over me and I raised my hands over the injured animal and a strange blueish glow transferred from my palm to the doe's wounds, healing them. After a few moments, the animal jumped off and ran away as if nothing had happened. After several minutes of sitting in complete shock, I looked over to my car and saw a huge dent and rolled my eyes, annoyed with myself for going 2 miles above the speed limit before hearing a loud pop and the dent had disappeared. Almost as if by magic. I stared at it for a while, trying to come to terms with the fact that I had gone completely mental.
I had successfully finished the two minute drive to my quaint little home, removed the keys from the ignition and made my way up the steps to the front door. I heard two voices come from inside, my mother's as well as another. An elderly man's voice. They were casually chatting away at the kitchen table, laughing and conversing as if they had known each other forever, only, I had never seen this man. He was an older man with a long silvery white beard, a tall hat, and green and purple robes. My mother caught my anxious gaze and smiled at me fondly. This caused the elderly man to turn to meet my gaze and then he stood and outstretched a hand, anxiously waiting for me to shake it.
"Hello Ms. Kettle. My name is Albus Dumbledore, I am the headmaster of Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry. I usually send a letter, however I really looked forward to meeting you, and these conditions are nothing short of ordinary. Sit my dear," he motioned for me to sit in the recently abandoned chair before he began talking once more.
"Have you ever experienced something you couldn't explain? Something that seems... magical perhaps?" I sat in silence, unsure of whether to admit to what had happened today, or to deny it. For all I knew he was there to take me to a mental ward.
"You are a witch my dear child." I sat there in silence at first, and then I started laughing. This old man was insane. My mother asked for a moment alone to speak to me. Albus left the room, obeying her request.
"Your father, Charles, he was a wizard as well... One of the most honored wizards there ever was. He died while trying to protect his friends. I know this is confusing but please, you have to trust me." Dumbledore reentered the room then.
"The doe on the way home. The dent in your car. All of that was your magic coming through. I'm not sure why it was so late, but it is strong. I think you will fit right in at Hogwarts. I already talked to your mother and she agreed. As you are older than most of your peers, the seventh years, you will be attending Hogwarts starting in less than a week so you can catch up and hopefully graduate in a year. The professors will be coming to teach you, and I will be keeping you company as well as the house elves. Your mother will be staying in an apartment, it's already been set up. Go pack your luggage, we will be leaving in an hour."
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