the introductions //
July 15, 1989
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Alexa was lost in her thoughts. She was so lost, in fact, that she didn't even notice someone in her bedroom. She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear the man when he cleared his throat, patiently waiting. Alexa was so completely adrift in her own maze of thoughts, when she heard someone say, "Alexandra" calmly, she fell off her windowsill.
Crash!
All the books and loose papers perched on top of the chair next to her came plummeting down as Alexa went plunging to the floor. The small girl barely had time to register her surprise before everything that fell was put back in place, more neatly stacked and organized than it was before everything came tumbling to the floor.
Alexa took in the scene in front of her. A tall man stood in the doorway to her bedroom wearing midnight blue robes and a pointed hat, which nearly grazed the door frame. He had sparkling blue eyes and a crooked nose. The most startling detail of all was the fact his thin, withered hand was holding a magic wand.
"W-who are you?" Alexa stammered, surprised.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore," the man said swiftly. Alexa blinked, dumbfounded.
"Er... How can I help you, Mr. Dumbledore?" she said politely, because it's all she'd ever been taught, and regardless of the fact that there was a stranger in her room, dressed as a wizard, she thought she owed him some politeness. Niceties couldn't be forgotten, after all.
"Call me professor, dear," he smiled. Professor Dumbledore gave off a strange aura. One of power, and dignity, and the way he looked at her, so intensely, as if he could see right through her, made her feel like he always knew exactly what she was going to say before she even said it.
"You're a teacher?" she asked softly, the confusion evident on her face.
"Indeed. Well, Headmaster, actually- of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but that's not what I am here to talk to you about today," he said dismissively. "I know you must have questions, but I am in an awful hurry and I have several questions for you before you can ask your own."
Alexa crinkled her eyebrows, growing even more confused with every word this bizarre man spoke.
"Your name is Alexandra Lily, yes?" he asked.
"Er... yes?" Alexa responded, almost sounding unsure of herself.
"And you were born on October the first, nineteen seventy-nine?" Dumbledore continued.
"How did you-"
"And you were brought here on November the second, nineteen eighty-one?"
"Y-yes," she stuttered, in shock.
"Do you know who your parents are?" he asked.
"No," she answered immediately.
"Do you remember who brought you here?"
Alexa thought for a minute, "No, but, Professor-"
"What do you know about magic?" Dumbledore cut her off.
"M-magic?" she stuttered. "It doesn't exist, but-"
"Ah, but it does, my dear. Magic runs through your veins; it gives you the ability to do what others deem impossible... Alexandra, have you ever had anything unusual happen to you, maybe when you were overcome with a strong emotion?"
She thought for a moment. "Yes," Alexa said quietly. "I woke up from a terrifying nightmare and everything was hovering in the air- even my bed. I screamed until someone woke up and came running, but by then, everything had set itself back in it's place. Nobody even believed me, but I swear it happened."
The professor nodded. "Anything else?" he asked.
"Yes. Many other things, but I'm not strange, professor, I swear!" Alexa said anxiously. "Odd things just happen around me- I mean, they could be odd, I don't know, sometimes they're odd, sometimes they seem like random coincidences, but I swear I don't mean to do anything, they just happen. I'm not a freak, though, I swear it!
"And I swear on my life I did not mean to blow up that window and make the glass shatter everywhere! It was just that Melanie made me so angry and she was being so mean, it sort of just happened, and I only tried to fix the window after, but I guess I just made it worse, but nobody got hurt, Melanie just started yelling and glass was flying everywhere but-" He held up a hand to silence her.
"Alexandra, you did not mean to do any of these things, I understand, but you must know these abilities that you have," he said calmly.
"Was that- am I- can I do magic?" she asked fearfully.
"It is nothing to be afraid of," he said, as if reading her mind. "It's quite extraordinary, actually."
"But how- how do I- how am I supposed to control it? What if- what if I'd hurt someone?" Alexa managed to splutter out, still in shock of the whole situation.
"You'll learn how to control it soon enough- but not yet. You're nine years old, yes?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes," she said so quietly, it was almost a whisper. The girl was extremely distressed, after all.
"Well," he started. "There's a school for people who are special like you, it's called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, you have to be eleven years old to get admitted."
"So I can't go?" Alexa asked sadly.
"Not until you're eleven. Until then, you will be living with good friends of mine. They will be picking you up tomorrow at twelve o'clock sharp. Be ready."
And with that, he swept out of the room.
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At approximately eleven-fifty-eight the next day, Alexandra sat on her windowsill clutching a small suitcase. She didn't own many possessions, just some clothes and a few books she had nicked over the years, a few notebooks with drawings, and a blanket. Alexa has had this blanket for as long as she could remember. It was white (well, grey now) with light blue trimming, and a teddy bear stitched into the corner. It was covered in holes along the edges that she could have easily had sewn, but she liked it just the way it was.
Alexa was still in awe of what had happened the day before.
Was she dreaming? Was she really leaving this place? Goodness, she hated it here. Never enough food, never enough space, never enough warmth. Was she truly leaving? Alexa looked around the room one last time. Mrs. Mason, the evil caretaker who took pleasure in screaming at children, once told her—her tone steeped with vitriol— that she was extremely lucky to have her own room and the only reason she has it was because she used to scream in her sleep. (The fact that the home's solution to this was to just stick her in her own room was deeply troubling to anyone who heard Alexa's stories years later.) Goodness, she was really glad to be getting out of here.
Alexa heard the clock in the hallway chime. It was twelve o'clock.
Maybe I'm dreaming, she thought to herself. Maybe Professor Dumbledore never really came to see me. Maybe magic isn't real after all. Maybe I was hallucinating.
Alexa decided to do the only rational thing any nine year old would do when they thought they were dreaming. She closed her eyes and pinched herself. Hard.
"Ouch!" she exclaimed. Alexa opened her eyes. Nothing changed except for the fact that there was now a big red blotch on her arm.
"Is everything alright?" There was a man standing in her doorway who was most certainly not there a moment ago. Alexa did not know how many more surprises she could handle before she exploded from shock.
"My name is Arthur Weasley. I hope Dumbledore told you that I would be coming, because if not, that would be quite problematic," The man laughed nervously. Alexa took a breath. Yes, this man seemed genuine. He was really here to adopt her. She would be leaving!
Alexa almost squealed with delight.
Thirty-five minutes later, the two were out the door with the forms signed and the bags packed (because Mr. Weasley insisted Alexa bring more than what was in her small suitcase).
"Hope you don't mind a bit of walking," Mr. Weasley said. Alexa smiled, dragging her bags on the sidewalk.
The two talked the whole way. Alexa asked about where they were going ("The Burrow in a small village called Ottery St. Catchpole"), which lead to how they were getting there (something called "Floo Powder"), which lead to questions about magic. Did it really exist? ("Of course!"). What exactly is Hogwarts? ("It's a school for people with magic.") Alexa asked about Mr. Weasley's family, ("Seven kids, a wife, and a lot of other magical relatives"), his job ("Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in the Ministry of Magic."). And when Alexa ran out of questions to ask, Mr. Weasley began asking some of his own. What do you like to do? ("Read books and draw, although I'm not very good at the latter"). What's your favorite book? ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland... or maybe The Hobbit...").
Twelve blocks later, the two arrived at a tiny, grubby- looking pub on Charing Cross Road. "This is our stop. The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby inside. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was bald and looked like a toothless walnut. Nobody batted an eyelash when they walked in.
Mr. Weasley led Alexa to the fireplace in the back of the pub. "Now I want you to listen to me very carefully, alright?" he said. "When I tell you to, grip my hand tightly and do not let go. Whatever happens, do not let go of my hand. It is essential that you don't let go. Otherwise, you might end up somewhere else, and we certainly don't want that to happen."
"Er... What exactly are we doing?" Alexa asked confused.
"We are taking Floo Powder. Alright, now take my hand." Mr. Weasley stepped into the fireplace, his hand gripped tightly around Alexa's.
He dropped a handful of powder at their feet, which turned into emerald green flames. Alexa squeezed her eyes shut tightly, bracing herself for heat or something else as equally unpleasant. Yet, nothing happened.
"The Burrow!" she heard Mr. Weasley exclaim. It felt as if she was being sucked down a giant drain. They seemed to be spinning very fast; the roaring in Alexa's ears were deafening. She tried to open her eyes again to see what was going on, but the whirl of green flames were dizzying. They were still spinning and spinning, but now it felt as if cold hands were slapping her face. Alexa partially opened her eyes again to see a blurred stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the rooms beyond. She closed her eyes once more, wishing it would stop, until finally, they landed on a hard surface. Alexa released her hand from Mr. Weasley's grip and fell to the floor coughing, covered in soot.
"Oh dear. Well, the first time is tough, but you'll get used to it," Mr. Weasley said, offering her a hand. Alexa took a look around the room. They were in a small, cramped, kitchen. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle of the room. There was a clock on one wall with only one hand and no numbers. Instead, there were words around the edges that said things like "time to make tea" and "you're late". Books were stacked on the mantel piece, with titles like Charm your own Cheese and Enchantment in Baking. There were dirty dishes in the sink that seemed to be scrubbing themselves.
Magic! Alexa thought to herself fascinated.
"Kids! Molly! We're home!" Mr. Weasley called.
"Arthur, dear! We didn't expect you home for another hour!" a woman exclaimed. She was slightly plump, with flaming red hair.
"Mum! Is that dad? Is he home?" someone shrieked from the top of the steps.
"Dad's home!" someone else yelled as seven kids with flaming red hair rushed down the stairs to greet their father.
"Kids, remember last night, when Mum and I told you that we would be getting a new addition to our family soon?" Mr. Weasley began as he glanced at Alexa. "Well, Dumbledore came to me yesterday at work, and asked if we would be willing to adopt someone who needed a place to live..."
"Dad, when you told us that there would be a new addition to our family, we thought Mum was having another baby in a few months. We didn't expect you to come home with a full-grown child the next day," the eldest boy laughed.
"Well it all happened quite fast, I must admit," Mr. Weasley said. There was a very pregnant pause. Alexa took in the scene, anxiously awaiting what came next, slightly overwhelmed with the scene.
"Anyway, I think some introductions are in order. Alexa, this is Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. Kids, this is Alexa," Mr. Weasley said. Alexa tried to smile at the line of children staring at her with their mouths wide open.
"Where is she going to sleep? Oh, she can share my room!" Ginny exclaimed. Alexa blinked, pleasantly surprised at the rapid welcoming.
"And I can teach her about magic!" Percy said enthusiastically.
Alexa beamed from ear to ear as all of the children chimed in ways to help her get accustomed to her new life.
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word count: 2,290
edited on 05/19/21
:) xoxo, sophie