A Winter at Hogwarts

Jazz

"What's this place?" I asked.

"This is just a joke shop. It was founded by Fred and George Weasley, the ones who fought in the second wizard war." Jazz replied.

The shelves of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes were lined with all sorts of gags, pranks, and gross out toys as far as the eye could see. There was a section that was dimly lit with pink lights labeled "Love Potions", a section I wanted to stay far away from at the moment.

"Here comes George. Don't ask about his blue hair, and don't stare at it." Said Jazz.

Before I could ask not to stare at what, a voice from behind said "Can I help you find anything? We've got fainting fancies, nosebleed nougat, and just in time for school, puking pastilles."

I turned and faced the blue haired man named George. He was old enough to be a grandparent, but had a smile on his face as though he felt much younger. The one thing that stood out about him was that part of his left ear was missing. I looked into his eyes and not at his ear.

I smiled back and said "Bless you." in a joking manner.

George laughed in response and said to me "First year?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Well...all first years get their skiving snack boxes half off."

"He doesn't know what skiving snack boxes are." Said Jazz. "He's half blood. Didn't even know a thing about this world until he got his letter."

"Well follow me. I'll give you a free sample." Said George.

Jazz and I followed George to the middle of the store, where there was a statue of a boy, puking up candies into a big cauldron full of candies.

"You better take this." Said George, handing me a cauldron.

I took the cauldron, and George plucked a candy from the other one, and handed it to me.

"Just finished the new version. Eat the green end first."

I popped the green end into my mouth and chewed. It was actually like a tasty green apple gummy worm, but once I swallowed, I had a very queasy feeling in my stomach. My body went hot, my muscles locked, and I stuffed my face into the cauldron, vomiting up lunch.

"People could barely even swallow the purple end to stop the sick from coming, so I made some changes. There's a bit of a gap between waves so you can swallow the purple end before more sick comes." Explained George.

I didn't want to puke anymore, so I took the purple end and chewed. This actually tasted minty, which was good, because I didn't want to taste what I had just burped up. The illness stopped, and I felt much better once again.

"That was a puking pastille?" I asked.

"You can get a whole box of those, and it comes with other sweets that make you ill, for just five galleons." Replied George. "They'll get you out of class."

"I'll take one!" Said Jazz.

"Me too!" I exclaimed.

Jazz and I exited the store minutes later carrying a big box of sweets that would make us ill. We stopped at the broom store, and I couldn't help but marvel at a new broom model called the Blaze.

"Wow...imagine riding this thing!" I exclaimed.

"Ha-ha! I can only imagine you riding this thing. I mean it's huge. You'd be so little. They would have to fit it down to your size. A little Blaze." Jazz laughed, but then stopped. "You know...that's what I'm gonna call you from now on. Little Blaze.

I gave a soft but genuine laugh. In all honesty, I thought it would be cool to have a name like that. "Then you'll be....Alpha Blaze?"

"Ha-ha, yeah! Hey! We've got five Galleons left. Let's go get a butterbeer float at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor." Said Jazz. "I'm hungry."

Minutes later, we were sitting outside at a picnic table enjoying what Jazz called a butterbeer float. It was the most amazing thing I had ever tasted. The drink was like a cream soda, with a butterscotch dip, and the vanilla ice cream tasted like it was home made.

"This is amazing." I said.

"Welcome to the wizarding world, little blaze." Jazz replied.

"Hey, Jazz...my mom was talking about the wizarding laws earlier." I dropped my voice to a whisper. "What happens if you break the wizarding law? My mom said I don't want to know, but at the same time...I want to find out what I am getting myself into on the unlikelihood I do end up breaking the law."

Jazz paused and put her spoon in her mug. "The wizards that break the wizarding law of secrecy on purpose...they go to Azkaban prison."

"Azkaban?" I repeated. Jazz had said it as though it were worse than being in any other different prison.

"It's not like any muggle prison. It's worse."

"Muggle?"

"It's a non-magic person. Anyways...Azkaban is guarded by dementors. I haven't seen one, but my mum told me they are big, cloaked, and you know when they are around, because everything goes cold as though all the happiness is absent from the world. They feed on every living thing, every happy memory, until all you're left with is your worst experiences. It's one thing to be guarded by a dementor...but hope and pray you never receive the dementors kiss as a sentence." Jazz explained.

"What's the dementors kiss?" I asked.

"I shudder to think of what it would be like...even to see it happen, but mum told me they...remove their hood, clamp their mouth down on a person's mouth and suck out their soul. I heard that fate is worse than death." Jazz looked down at her butterbeer float and stirred it around a little. I looked at mine which was only halfway finished.

I decided to keep eating it, but changed the subject. "Just out of curiosity...why does George have blue hair?" I asked.

"Oh, that? Remember how I told you it was founded by Fred and George Weasley?"

"Yeah."

"Fred was George's twin brother. George changed his hair color, because every time he looked in the mirror...he thought he saw Fred. He died in the battle of Hogwarts. Don't ask about that. It's a long story that you'll learn in A History of Magic. Besides...I think you've had enough questions answered for one day. I'll fill you in on the train." Jazz said, diving back into her butterbeer float.

"Okay...but just one more?" I asked.

"One more."

"What train?"

"Oh, you'll see on the first of September. Just remember...don't be scared, or you'll crash." Jazz replied, smiling.