I packed my bag and smiled as I heard Mrs. Isabelle (Forest) yell up.
"Kait! Come on, spring break never lasts forever," I laughed and shrunk my luggage, running downstairs. Mr. John stood by the door. His blonde hair was similar to mine, but he had brown eyes.
"Alright, dear, do you have everything?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. I nodded. Mrs. Isabelle walked around the corner with a plastic bottle.
"Everything but lunch," she said, handing me the smooth. I took it, rolling my eyes. After the summer I spent with them the school let Mrs. Isabelle come home for breaks and Mr. John invited me back. So I spent every break with them since then. This last spring break was two weeks. I'd spent almost two years in America and I loved my American family.
It was my last semester of school ever and I was supposed to find a mentor. Plenty would be coming but I knew who I wanted to learn under. Mr. Smith our flying instructor, I had told him about Hogwarts having a quidditch for each house and he liked the idea. With any luck, I'd be able to set it up just the same. Mr. John kissed Mrs. Isabelle and I smiled. Mrs. Isabelle and I left the house, waving.
"Bye, Mr. John," I said. He nodded.
"Bye, dear, bye darling," he said. Mrs. Isabelle blew him a kiss and we appareated. We landed hard on the porch of the school. I smiled at my second home. The tall castle that has hosted me, through ups and downs. Mrs. Isabelle placed her hand on the gate's lock and it opened. I sighed as the doors swung open.
"Come on," Mrs. Isabelle said running to the entrance. I laughed and followed. We both wore shorts and trainers because of the warm weather. We reached the school and she laughed breathlessly.
"That was fun," I said panting. She nodded and waved her wand. Her red shorts turned into long red flare trousers. She nodded and we walked in. Some students wandered with their friends and others were playing with their wands.
"Retrieve your wand and find Sage and Nora, I have a teacher's meeting to be at," she gave me a quick hug and kissed my head. "Have fun," she ran up the steps and waved to students as she passed. I walked to the recovery room and saw my wand. I lifted my hand and it rushed to it, just as it did after every break. I smiled then I ran to my room with vigor and excitement when I bumped into someone.
"Oh! I'm so sorry," I said. The boy with dark hair and eyes, Daniel. I smiled as he glared.
"You'll pay with the rest," he muttered. I shrugged.
"Fine, put it on my tab," I bowed and kept running. Part of me pitied him, always so angry. I barged into the horned serpent main room and familiar voices of younger students who I'd gotten to know, addressed me.
"Kaitlyn! Dueling club?" Lilian asked.
"Absolutely," I said, happily.
"Kaitlyn," I hugged Trish. "Good to see you," she said, walking off to her room. I waved.
"You too, Trish," I said.
"K Brit!" Josh yelled running over to hug me.
"Josh," I hugged him and swayed.
"Good to see ya. You helping me Transfiguration?" He asked pulling away and walking to his dorm. I laughed, Josh used to make fun of me but soon we became good friends when I told him about Quidditch at Hogwarts.
"Mate, classes haven't even started," I rolled my eyes.
"Just prepping," he said shrugging and meeting up with Tyler and Pax. They were a year younger than us.
"Kait!!!" I turned as a body collided with mine squeezing the life out of me. I hugged the brunette back laughing.
"Sage!!" I screamed.
"Sage!! Kait!!" We both turned and yelled running to Nora.
"Nora!!" We yelled embracing her the three of us hugged in the main room. The break seemed to long to be away. During the longer breaks we visited each other but because it was only spring break we didn't bother. We pulled away and screamed.
"The room!" Nora yelled. The three of us stumbled up the stairs to our room. We broke through and started laughing. The room was the same, the three dressers against the right wall, the beds in a row with the cave below, and the wall of memories. Over the last two years, we added more pictures of all of us. We each found the pictures we took over break and shared for hours. The room slowly turned dark until we were sharing by candlelight.
"And he was nearly caught!" Nora laughed. Sage rolled her eyes at the illegal antics.
"How in the world are you two related?" Sage laughed. Nora shrugged.
"We don't know either. Only our looks and blood connect us," she said. I smiled, wishing I had even that. Soon I would know my family. In May, so close, so far.
"Sage, you have siblings, right?" She shrugged her shoulders.
"My older sister is eleven years older than me! Basically, an only child," she said. I nodded. "What about you? I've actually in the two years I've known you never heard you say you miss your family," she said. I smiled.
"Because I don't," Nora looked at me sadly. "My parents are my adoptive parents, they don't care about me. The only reason they're still my parents is because they need an heir," I said honestly. Nora had tears in her eyes. She leaned over and hugged me. Nora was always a physical comforter, while Sage worked better with words. I sighed and patted her back.
"That's awful," Nora said, pulling away. Sage tilted her head.
"But you don't mind, do you?" She inquired.
"Why should I?" I asked. I used to be hurt that they didn't care but when I thought about it, they were never my family. "We're business partners, not family," I said. Nora shook her head.
"That's so sad," I laughed.
"Yeah, but that's why I never mention them," I tried to sum up. Then the window suddenly blew open. Nora, Sage, and I all shared a look. I slowly stood and walked over to it. The windows magically shut so the wind couldn't open them. I poked my head out and looked around. Just the peaceful scene of the country. I looked down and sighed. I shut the window and cast a locking charm.
"That was weird," Sage said, walking to stand next to me. Nora stood on my other side. She pointed her wand at the camera and it flew to her. Sage looked at her shortly.
"Nice," she complimented. Nora shrugged.
"I thought so," she said. I was about to walk away when a crash happened and the window shattered. Glass cut through our skin and our blood seeped through. A lilac cloud came through and landed in the room. It landed and an older woman appeared in our room. She had on a purple cloak and her eyes were kind. I looked at Nora and Sage.
"The Forest?" She said stepping to us, to me. She was American. We all lifted our wands. My wand hummed in anticipation.
"What do you want?" Nora asked and subtly snapped a picture. She looked at her surprised as if she didn't notice her.
"The Wand of the Fallen Wood," she said obliviously.
"My wand is the copy of Isolts," I said.
"Hmmm," she chuckled. "Is that what you're telling people?" She walked forward but stopped and tilted her head. I looked to my sides but Nora and Sage just shrugged. They knew I used Isolt's wand but still had my first wand illegally. They kept my trust and kept that a secret. "They have smiled on you," she said, disappearing into purple smoke and vanishing back through our window. We looked out the window shocked.
"I'll page Headmistress Carpt," I said. They nodded and Nora snapped another picture.
After all the investigating and questions, it was almost morning and none of us slept. The headmistress was now taking our memories. We were barely awake. She told the woman was probably from a group known as The Wand Brothers. They were criminals who stole wands from students so they could commit more crimes untraced.
I immediately thought to send Charlie a letter but remembered he hadn't sent me one since the beginning of last school year and rethought. The last one I got was from the whole Weasley family and just a small PS from him at the end. I shook my head. Sophia Ray and I always had letters in circulation but Charlie wasn't Sophia Ray.
——————
I grumbled at dinner. No letter all year from Charlie. Nora very much noticed and had asked before we left for break.
"Hey, Kaitlyn?" The green-eyed girl turned from turning in her wand.
"What's up?" She asked. Nora looked a little uncomfortable.
"Has Charlie written you?" She asked. Kaitlyn sighed as they walked outside.
"Not exactly, he writes little bits at the end of the letters from his mom," I said. It hurt her a little but she tried to shake it off. Nora tilted her head.
"Right, are you two okay?" She asked. Kaitlyn shrugged.
"I think so, if not I'll find out when I visit this summer," Kaitlyn said as they walked over to Mason, Gavin, and Sage.
We would graduate, I would visit the Weasleys and Sophia Ray, then I'd come back and work as the brand new and first Quidditch trainer and referee under the flying teacher Mr. Smith and I'd ask to start wand identification classes for upper students. They had never had official quidditch games like Hogwarts separated by houses to make teams and make a big deal out of. Hopefully, I would change that. Somewhere in there, Mrs. Isabelle would test my blood.
Our graduation was only a month away. All the 12th graders were studying hard, I was even tutoring a few. American students seemed to be a lot of fun, trouble, and sometimes danger. Mason tried to fit another grape in his mouth as I shook my head. Sage was keeping track on her notepad and Gavin was encouraging him from across the table. Nora and I rolled our eyes as he put his hand up into the air victoriously. I laughed as Sage and Gavin clapped. However, when he spit half of them back onto his plate we all cringed.
"Mason, that was impressive and disgusting," Sage said softly. Nora nodded in agreement suddenly uninterested in her food.
"Mason next time Gavin says you can't do something, you don't have to prove him wrong," Nora said. He shrugged and popped a grape he had spit out back into his mouth. I shivered. The incident at the beginning of the semester had raised concern but as it didn't repeat they didn't worry too much. I was grateful they didn't bring in any enforcement, like guards or dementors. But after freaking out for a mouth everything was forgotten.
Nora's pictures of the incident sat in her drawer. We never took them out and we never forgot. Every night we checked to lock the door and window. I, who was the most proficient in protection wards, set up wards to keep people out. The sun was setting falling behind the forest around us. The headmistress tapped her spoon on her glass and we all looked up.
"Tomorrow marks the beginning of tests so I suggest y'all start studying and sleeping, goodnight," she said. The hall emptied quickly and Nora, Sage, and I walked to bed in silence we weren't tired physically but our minds were exhausted. Hopefully, these tests would be done sooner than they started. Daniel looked at me as I passed him.
"St. James, I'm charging your tab soon," he spat. I rolled my eyes.
"I'll go ahead and pay for the whole group as well. Hope that won't cause any issues, Dan" I said, ignoring his frustrated grumbles. Nora and Sage laughed.
"I don't know what is up with him," Sage said. Nora nodded.
"He was nice but somewhere between 9 grade and now he just fell in the deep end," Nora said. "I hope he's okay," I nodded in agreement and we walked into our room. I gasped and Sage and Nora froze behind me. Our room was torn apart, and the window was broken again. A rustling came off under our beds. I pulled my wand and stepped forward. The same old woman in the purple cloak stepped out holding my old wand.
"My wand," I said. She smiled softly and cast a spell at me. Wordlessly I blocked and shot two stunners at her. She looked kind but I knew not to judge people on their looks. She blocked them easily. She flew off into the night and I ran to the window with tears in my eyes. My wand, I got it from Olivander when I was eleven. This wand may have been more powerful but I loved that wand.
It connected me to home. It connected me to Hogwarts. Sage wrapped me in a blanket as she repaired the window. Nora hugged me and summoned some tea. They, to an extent, could understand my attachment to my wand. When they found out I had an extra wand, I was surprised they weren't mad. They said it was clever, but I didn't bother saying 'Well I am a Slytherin' since they wouldn't get it. I sipped the tea, sighing.
"Are you okay?" Sage asked. I nodded, slowly.
"I got that wand from Mr. Olivanders," I said thinking of the small shop, the odd smell, and the behavior of the old man. "He gave out wands to everyone, he could tell you which witch or wizard owned a wand just by looking at it," I recalled as he told me the type of wands my parents had. I suddenly remembered how my parents had glared at him.
Maybe he was talking about my real parents. Could he be that smart? I sighed and sipped the tea again. Nora leaned her head on my shoulder and I rested my head on hers as I reached out of Sage's hand. She took it with a squeeze.
"We could try and find it?" Nora said. Sage shook her head.
"No, we wouldn't be able to," we looked at Sage and she shrugged looking at the sky. "I researched them. If the police can retrieve a wand no one remembers or even knows what their wand is made of," Sage says. I turned to her confused.
"What do you mean you don't know? Aren't you told?" I asked. She shakes her head.
"You mean you know what your wand is?" Nora asked. I nodded.
"I could probably tell you what this wand is," I said, remembering the summer I spent with Mr. Olivander as he taught me about wand making and identifying. I had never thought about it before. I held the wand in front of me and tilted my head.
"Well?" Sage asked. I looked down at it, bringing the tip to my open eye.
"I don't get it," I muttered, grasping it on either side. I looked at it for a while. "Alright," I said, sure of my answer. "It is made of serpent seeder or snakewood, very similar woods hence the names. It's 11 1/3 inches, reasonably pliable," I held it to my ear. "I don't recognize the core. It has one alliance, me," I said putting it back into my pocket. Sage took out her wand.
"Could you do mine?" She asked. I nodded and took it I followed the process, Mr. Olivamder taught me.
"Oak, jackalope antlers, 12 inches, reasonably flexible, and holds alliance to you and those of worthy intelligence," I said holding the wand out. She took it and looked at it differently.
"What do you mean alliance? Like it lets me use it?" She asked. I titled my head as I thought.
"Let me put it this way. Wand alliance and flexibility relate in two ways. The alliance is if I wanted to use your wand, it would be challenging to do," I said. "But if say, Phoebe wanted to use your wand it'd be fairly easy for her," I said. Sage nodded.
"But if anyone tried using your wand, it'd be darn near impossible," I nodded.
"Exactly, as the maker of my first wand says, the wand chooses the witch," I quoted remembering when he told me all those years ago. Sage nodded but still looked confused.
"But then the flexibility is how comfortable you are with switching wands," I said. "Mine is reasonably pliable because I don't like using unfamiliar wands, yours is reasonably flexible which signals that you're comfortable switching wands but like your wand best," I explained. Sage's eyes were slits as she thought.
"Can you do Nora's?" She asked. I turned to Nora questioningly. She nodded, handing over the wand. I repeated the steps as a habit. I raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting," I muttered, bringing it back to my ear. "Seeder wood, Wampus hair, 10 1/2 inches, unyielding, and only you," Nora had a smile on her face. I watched her face. "This wand called to you, didn't it?" She nodded.
"I thought it was crazy but the way you talked and talk about wands makes me wonder," she said, shrugging. I sighed and looked down.
"I might report the wand later," I said and we all went to bed, not ready for finals.