Strawgoh: The American Hogwarts

Chapter One

Oliver Hockney was sitting on his couch, watching the news. His father was Muggle and his mother was a wizard. His mother had died when he was a couple years old, causing Oliver to never know the truth of his genes: he was a wizard.

Oliver’s sister had not been accepted to Strawgoh, being that she was a Squib. Now, you may be wondering what Strawgoh is. Strawgoh is the American Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw had also began a school for the growing population of wizards and witches in America.

“Oliver, what’s up with being so quiet?” asked his older sister Alice.

Oliver looked up. “Al, what if I get accepted to Strawgoh? I won’t see you for a whole year! And I’ll have freaky magic powers!”

Oliver’s father turned to look at him. He began to laugh at his freckled son. His father had brown hair and brown eyes, and he was tall, something that Oliver hadn’t inherited. Oliver was the spitting image of his father, except for the freckles and shortness, and he was afraid that he might have inherited something from his mother: being a wizard.

“Kiddo, you are not going to be a wizard. Trust me. I promise,” John Hockney reassured.

Oliver shrugged as an owl swooped down their fireplace, a letter in his beak. The owl dropped the letter in his lap. There was a large red seal with an intricate S on it.

“What? No!” Oliver shouted.

Meanwhile, Lottie and Laurel Hare were sitting on their beds. Lottie held her pillow tightly and rocked back and forth. On the bed beside her was her cousin Laurel, sitting on her bed and frowning.

“Laurel?” asked Lottie.

“Yeah?” responded Laurel.

“What if one of us is a wizard and one of us isn’t?” Lottie said. “I mean, we don’t have the same parents or anything.”

Laurel’s parents had died when she was a baby. She had survived, but a scar on the left side of her forehead. Ever since, she had lived with Aunt Mellie and Uncle David and their two children, Charlotte (Lottie) and Charles (Charlie). She felt as if she was the Harry Potter she had heard so much about, but luckily, her family was very nice to her.

“Lottie, if you don’t get in, there is no way that I’m going.” Laurel’s decision was final.

“Same.” Lottie smiled, and suddenly an owl with two letters swooped into the room. Screams erupted from their mouths.

States away, Madella Craddock was sitting with her grandfather, Headmaster Craddock, in a pub in Strawsmeade. Maddie had a butterbeer and Craddock sipped his firewhiskey. Maddie was a beautiful girl, with long brown hair and watery blue eyes. Her grandfather did not have the infamous white beard that Dumbledore did, but he had the white hair and same watery blue eyes as Maddie. He was tall, old, and frail. His voice was raspy and deep, and Maddie never wanted her grandfather’s comforting voice to stop.

“Maddie dear, are you excited for your first year?” he asked.

“Yes, Grandfather,” Maddie responded.

“I trust you will be in Gryffindor if you are anything like your parents,” Craddock said with a twinkle in his eye.

“I hope. If not, I’ll probably be with those no good Slytherins.” Maddie set down her butterbeer. “Why don’t you just get rid of them?”

“Oh, Maddie, Slytherin was a founder of Hogwarts and Strawgoh as much as the rest, and although his values may be different from others, we will continue to respect his wishes for a pure group of young people,” Craddock explained. “I understand that Slytherin seems a bit… what do young people call it? Oh, yes, racist.” Maddie snorted. “He had his heart in the right place and the children that the Sorting Hat says should be in Slytherin are continuously loyal to one another and their House. We cannot judge them if Slytherin changed their idea on what being pure-blood is. Somewhere along a line, they got mixed up. Honestly, I would understand why Slytherin is favored by the Ministry.”
“Why, Grandfather?” Maddie asked.