Gideon Drake and the Fire Within (Harry Potter Sequel/Spinoff)

Chapter Five: The Painful Truth

He couldn't believe the things that he would be learning and doing in just under a month. Once his eyes became too tired to continue, he placed the book and Glowglobe in his bottom drawer, and he blew up yet another animated frog with a press of a finger on his magical calendar. As he observed it, he smiled, realising that his Hogwarts letter would be arriving any day now.

Gideon woke with a start every morning of the next week. Each day he would jump out of bed, throw on his dressing gown and charge downstairs to await the morning post delivery. Tilly and Tolly worked around him without a word of objection as he paced backwards and forwards across the kitchen, staring out the window.

Each day, his excitement would peak suddenly and then drop just as quickly, as he realised only one post owl could be seen in the distance, undoubtedly bringing the Daily Prophet. It wasn't until Thursday that he saw two shapes hovering above the trees, heading towards the house.

This was it, the moment that would change Gideon's life forever. The moment he would take his first steps towards becoming a real wizard. Two brown owls clipped the top of the nearest ferns and swooped down in unison. They glided gracefully through the kitchen window and settled on the delivery perch.

Tilly went to collect the deliveries, but Gideon beat her to it. He cast aside the day's Prophet and hastily took the letter from the second owl's talons. There it was, the Hogwarts crest. He excitedly flipped the letter over, and comprehension dawned on him.

Mr A. Maxwell
Maxwell Manor
Shaftesbury
Dorset

This wasn't his Hogwarts letter. This was Anthony's letter. Gideon swore loudly for allowing himself to get caught up in the moment, scaring the birds and causing Tilly to fold down her floppy ears. He had known that Anthony would be getting a letter as well, but the anticipation had made him forget. Although, he had expected it would arrive on the same day as his.

'Master Gideon's letter must be coming tomorrow,' Tolly reassured him.

Gideon was rather grumpy for the rest of the day. He couldn't face eating breakfast with the family, especially after feeling something undoubtedly solid inside of Anthony's letter, which he felt certain was only going to vex him further.

Gideon's suspicions were later confirmed when Anthony opened his letter to find a shiny new Quidditch Captain's badge. Gideon tried to ignore the happy noises in the next room as he watched a programme on the lounge Telecrystal. When he heard his father congratulate Anthony and tell him, 'That's my boy!' Gideon turned the volume up considerably.

Anthony put the badge on immediately, wearing it for the rest of the day and drawing attention to it whenever possible. Gideon would have liked to think he didn't begrudge his brother this honour, especially since he knew that academics were not Anthony's strength, but secretly his insides were burning with jealousy.

It wasn't just that Gideon had thought today would be his special day. Anthony's achievement was just another sign of how different they were. A very shiny, visible sign at that. Gideon thought his brother might as well have been wearing one of those "I'm with stupid" t-shirts with an arrow pointed at him.

They didn't even look alike. Apart from Gideon's obvious flaws, his siblings both had light brown hair and brown eyes like their mother. Gideon, on the other hand, supposedly took after his father's side of the family, at least that was what he had been told. However, given his father and grandmother's grey hair and Gideon's odd eyes, he couldn't make a proper comparison.

Gideon had spent the rest of the day sulking, but when he woke up on Friday his excitement had returned, and it was just like every previous morning that week. He launched across the bedroom, into his dressing gown and towards the stairs. As he approached the top step, he stopped on the landing, distracted by the distant sound of raised voices.