Chapter Two: Magic and Wizards
As I blearily open my eyes, I check the clock and see that it says 8:30, so I yawn and decide to get up. I look at the calendar and my eyes widen in excitement and surprise. It’s finally July 9th! I jump out of bed and race down the stairs and into the living room. Jake stands in the middle of the room playing Wii, as usual. I sit down in an armchair, bouncing up and down in excitement.
“Guess what today's date is?!” I ask him in a sing-songy voice.
“July 9th,” says Jake in a bored voice. “But, what does...Oh! Someone is coming to tell you about Hogwarts today!”
“Yes!” I exclaim excitedly continuing to bounce up and down.
“Stop bouncing!” he says, “You keep making me fall off the course!
I sigh and stop bouncing. Finally, I get bored by watching him win all of his races and decide to go upstairs to wake my parents.
I run up the stairs and bounce on my parents' bed chanting, “July 9th! July 9th!”
Mum groans and hides her head under pillow, but Dad gets up and starts dancing around the bedroom, chanting with me. He laughs and heads downstairs to make breakfast for us, as he traditionally does when Mum is tired. I go to my bedroom and reread the Hogwarts letter for almost the 20th time. Then I hear Dad yell that breakfast is done, so I go downstairs and eat.
Later, as I am getting dressed, an owl swoops in through the window. It has a letter tied to its leg, so when it offers me its leg, I untie it and the owl quickly flies out the window. I watch it until it fly off, until it disappears in the horizon. I wonder where Hogwarts is and what classes they teach there.
I eagerly read the letter,
“Dear Ms. Smith,
Today at 1 p.m. a Mrs. Hermione Granger Weasley will come to your house. We are very excited to introduce you to the Wizarding World and cannot wait until you arrive at Hogwarts.
Yours Sincerely,
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
I look at the clock and see that it already says that its 12:04. I should probably go and eat lunch, so I go downstairs and make myself a sandwich. Looking into the living room I see that again, Jake is playing Wii, so I being the wonderfully nice sister that I am, ask him what he wants for lunch.
“Just make me something,” he says, continuing to stare at the screen and doesn't even glance at me.
I smile evilly and go into the kitchen. He said to make him anything, so I do exactly that. I take out a leftover pancake and spread peanut butter on it, and then line up strawberries down the middle. Finally, I wrap the pancake up and place it on a plate. I take a glass out of the cupboard and fill it with chocolate milk. I place a large scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream, which I know that he hates, on top of the pancake.
I laugh and call him to the table. We eat in silence, occasionally I see him grimace because of the excessive amount of peanut butter I used, but I know that Jay will eat, because he asked for “something,” and something I gave him! After rinsing off the plates, I look at the clock. 12:46, I run upstairs to tell Mum and Dad that she’ll be here soon.
“Mum! Dad!” I yell as I run up the stairs towards the attic office.
“Yes, darling.” they answer in unison.
“I got a letter from Hogwarts, saying that a Mrs. Hermione Granger Weasley is coming at 1 p.m.” I tell them.
Mum’s eyes widen and she glances at Dad and then looks down at the time, “Oh my goodness, darling! Why didn't you tell us earlier? It's almost 1 o’clock now! Never mind don't answer that, I have to go downstairs and make sure everything looks nice!”
She hurries down the stairs and I hear her telling Jay to bring in chocolate to the sitting room.
As I walk downstairs, my stomach feels like a pit of butterflies, but I am excited. The doorbell rings and I hurry down the stairs, just as Mum is opening the door to reveal a woman with wavy brown hair. She doesn’t exactly look like the traditional image of a witch; of course witches normally look like ugly hags, so this is to be expected! The woman, who I assume is Mrs. Weasley, looks like she is around the same age as my parents.
I shake her hand as she smiles and says, “I’m Hermione Granger Weasley. And you must be Julia Smith and her parents. It's a pleasure meeting you.”
Then she leans in after looking around to see that no one is looking, she says, “I am from Hogwarts to tell you about the Wizarding World.”
“Come into the house,” says Mum.
As Mrs. Weasley comes into the house, I see her looking at Mum strangely, but she quickly looks away and smiles at me again.
We go into the sitting room and I notice that the only thing Mrs. Weasley has with her is a small beaded bag that looks as if it can fit almost nothing in it. This puzzles me because almost all the women that I know who are Mum and Dad's age always have large bags with them. I realize that I have been staring at Mrs. Weasley, so I look down at the table instead.
She clears her throat and begins by telling me everything I could ever possibly want to know about Hogwarts. She tells me about the wonderful classes, the four different houses (Gryffindor sounds like the best house! Slytherin sounds…creepy, while Ravenclaw sounds for people smarter than me and Hufflepuff doesn’t sound like the type of people I normally associate with.) Mrs. Weasley also tells me about Quidditch, which sounds awesome! All of the information she tells me is so interesting and makes me very excited to enter the Wizarding World.
After Mrs. Weasley is done talking I hesitantly say, “Mrs. Weasley...”
But she quickly cuts me off. “No, Julia, please don't call me Mrs. Weasley, please just call me Hermione. Mrs. Weasley makes me feel old and also it is what my mother in-law is called, so it confuses me.”
“Alright,” I say, “Hermione, can you show me some magic?”
“Sure!” she says and pulls a wooden stick that I assume is her wand out of her pocket. “What do you want me to do?”
“Anything you want.”
She pulls out a watch and I watch her entranced, “Lapifors,” she says and taps the watch.
The watch turns into a live rabbit and jumps over to me. He sniffs my hand and snuggles up to it. I look up at Hermione in amazement.
“Finite.” she says, pointing her wand at the rabbit and suddenly it is a watch again.
“That’s amazing.” I say.
“To get your school supplies, we need to go to Diagon Alley, but first I want you to meet someone. My daughter, Rose, is starting at Hogwarts this year like you and when I first met you, you reminded me of her, so I would like to take you to meet her, if it is okay with your parents?”
“Maybe, Hermione, might I have a word with you in the hallway,” Mum asks hesitantly.
Hermione agrees and they go out into the hallway and I hear them whispering together.
I sit at the table, staring at her bag, before quickly taking a chocolate and eating it. Mmm. Chocolate is so good. Why are they taking so long?
They come out and both look different.
“We have decided that you’re all going to come to the Burrow, which is where I live with my husband’s family. And, you are going to stay there for the rest of the summer, since we believe that it would be a good experience for all four of you. Now, I’m going to go back to the Burrow and get some people to help us transfer your luggage and such. I’ll be back in around 20 minutes or so. See you soon!”
Hermione turns on her heal and with a crack, she’s gone!
Jay and I quickly run upstairs and pack some of our stuff into our backpacks.
Soon, we’re both done and we bring our things downstairs. Mum brings down some more luggage and soon we are ready. We sit and wait for them, and suddenly the same crack sounds and in front of us stands five people.
Hermione quickly introduces them and I am soon acquainted with her husband, Ron Weasley; his sister, Ginny Potter; her husband, Harry Potter, a man with a peculiar lightning bolt scar; and Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom.”
The others get paired up together and soon everyone is ready. My parents and brother apparate away with this partners and luggage first, then Hermione takes my arm and says, “Apparating is hard to get used to, so you might be a bit nauseous when we arrive.”
I nod and she turns on her heal and I close my eyes as we turn into darkness. It feels like we’re spinning around and around, but luckily I have always been good with spinning amusement park rides and this doesn't bother me. I suddenly feel the hard ground under my feet and I open my eyes. It feels so good to be standing again on solid ground. I look around and see a tall, slightly crooked house that has a large garden behind it. It looks so welcoming and fun, I can’t wait to see the inside.
“Welcome,” says Hermione, “To the Burrow.”
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, Harry or any of the characters from the actual series, I only own the characters that I have created (Julia, Jake, and their parents).