Seer

The Leaky Cauldron

Melody was bouncing nervously on her seat as the train chugged along. She kept sending me curious, and slightly fearful glances as if I was suddenly going to turn her into a frog or something. She wasn't the only one. My mother seemed frightened by me as well. My father didn't seem at all bothered, though.
"Grace." I heard him whisper.
My mother flinched.
"Grace, what's wrong?"
"Our daughter...she's...I...witch..." she stuttered.
"Grace, she's still the same Cadenza she's always been. At Hogwarts she'll be able to harness her power. I'm a witch too, and I'm not evil, am I?" Aunt Patricia joined in. My mother nodded, but looked unconvinced and stayed as far away from me as she could during the rest of the train journey. My father shuffled closer to me, though, which made up for my mother's lack of support. I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, though.

At last we reached London, so we leapt off the train. My mother gripped Melody's arm rather harder than she needed to, and Melody cried out as my mother dragged her off the train. The five of us continued down the crowded streets of London at an alarming pace, my aunt leading the way.
Suddenly, she stopped, and I wasn't sure why.
"Cadenza, look." she said softly. My eyes scanned the shops along the street, and what looked like an old pub appeared, startling me. I was sure it hadn't been there before.
"The Leaky Cauldron." I read quietly, excitement curdling in my stomach.
I realised that my aunt was talking and snapped to attention, although it wasn't directed towards me.
"If you spend the day in London, we can meet up later once we've done our shopping. We'll see you later, ok?" she was saying to my parents.
My mother nodded mutely and dragged Melody off towards Primark. My father, looking a bit crestfallen, followed them.

"Right, Cadenza! We're finally here." Aunt Patricia told me, leading me into the Leaky Cauldron. It looked like an ordinary pub...other than the fact that cloths were wiping tables by themselves, spoons were stirring drinks by themselves, and chairs were tucking themselves in. Everything was moving by magic, and I stared round at everything in awe.

Aunt Patricia steered me through the pub when it became clear that I couldn't be trusted to walk myself. A few different people waved to her as we wandered past, and occasionally she stopped briefly to talk with them.
She saw someone she knew, and strode over to her.
"Hello, Parvati." she greeted the other woman warmly.
"Patricia! I haven't seen you in a while." the other woman, Parvati, beamed.
"Can you believe it's 24 years this year, since the end of the last Wizarding War?" Aunt Patricia marvelled. Parvati nodded vigorously.
"I know! Which means... 16 years since we met! Hard to believe!" she exclaimed.
"That holiday seems like a long time ago." agreed Aunt Patricia.
"And James Potter is in his final year at Hogwarts! Albus Potter is a prefect, in fifth year! And Lily Potter is in her third year! Where does the time go?"
"Goodness knows. How's Ava?" my aunt inquired.
"She's fine, thank you. Really looking forward to starting Hogwarts, I must say. It's quite funny, really." Parvati answered, laughing.
"Good, good. Well, we must be off, now, to get my niece her school stuff. She's starting Hogwarts too, this year." my aunt informed her.
"Ooh, maybe she'll meet Ava!" Parvati exclaimed.
"I think you'd like that, wouldn't you, Cadenza?" Aunt Patricia smiled. I nodded, half hiding behind her.
"Are you a Trelawney? You do look like a Trelawney." Parvati commented.
"Yes, she's my brother's daughter. My niece. In fact, Sybill's great niece." my aunt laughed.
"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Miss Trelawney. I expect I'll see you at school!" Parvati told me.
"Yes, I expect you will. Goodbye, Parvati, see you soon!" my aunt said cheerily.
"Bye, Patricia." Parvati smiled. Then she disappeared with a loud crack.

"Who was that?" I whispered to Aunt Patricia as we walked on.
"That was Parvati Patil. She was friends with Harry Potter himself, although they weren't close. Parvati and I met each other on a holiday in Cornwall seven years after the last Wizarding War. She will be your Transfiguration teacher, so when you're at Hogwarts, you'll have to call her Professor Patil." Aunt Patricia explained, smiling reminiscently. She led me towards a table, deciding that schoolbooks could wait, and ordered two Butterbeers (whatever those were). When it was delivered I took a sip of mine. It was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted, but there was still something on my mind.

I was feeling very stupid at this point. I had no idea who Harry Potter was, nor James Potter or Albus Potter or Lily Potter. Everyone spoke their names in such fervent awe, especially Harry Potter's, and I felt like I was committing some kind of crime by not knowing who he was.
"Aunt Patricia...who is Harry Potter?" I asked apprehensively. She gaped at me.
"Who is Harry Potter?" she repeated. "Harry Potter is probably the greatest wizard of all time. Maybe with the exceptions of Dumbledore and Merlin...but anyway, Harry Potter defeated the most evil, sadistic wizard of all time. Lord... well, I prefer not to say his name. Harry Potter showed incredible bravery, and even gave himself up so that he could save his peers at Hogwarts. He survived the Killing Curse a number of times. So amazing. How do you not know who he is?" she lamented.
"You never told me." I snapped back at her. "You're the only witch I know, and you never told me."
Aunt Patricia looked a bit hurt.
"I'm sorry." I apologised quickly. "That was rude of me."
"No, you're right. I should have told you. Sorry, Cadenza." Aunt Patricia sighed.
"It's okay." I responded carefully.
We lapsed into silence as we sipped our Butterbeers. A few minutes passed, and only the chatter of other tables could be heard.

"Aunt Patricia, you said something about an evil wizard. Can wizards turn evil?" I said, dreading the answer.
"Unfortunately they can, Cadenza. Lord... well, him, anyway, he took pleasure in murdering Muggle-borns, Muggles and in fact all witches and wizards. Tortured them, too. Horrible. Tried to take over the entire world." she shuddered.
"That's awful." I whispered, horrorstruck. Aunt Patricia nodded.
"Yes." she said simply.
"And Harry Potter managed to kill him?"
"It's complicated, Cadenza. He got rid of him, but in all honesty I never really understood that part of it. He destroyed the Horcruxes and in order to do that, he had to allow him to kill him." Aunt Patricia told me.
"Sorry, could you rephrase that please? Too many he's and him's, I don't understand who's who."
"Oh. Certainly. Harry went into the Forbidden Forest and allowed You-Know-Who to kill him, so that he could come back to life and kill You-Know-Who."
"I don't get it." I frowned.
"Nor do I." my aunt laughed.
"Thank you for the drink, Aunt Patricia." I said gratefully.
"No problem. Now, let's go and get your school supplies." Aunt Patricia smiled.