What I'm Looking For...

My fingers gripped the thick, heavy envelope, while I read the emerald-green ink bouncing of the yellowish parchment. My eyes skimmed over the first paragraph. The neat writing curled around on the page, like green blood moving around a body. The letter was formal; I could tell by the first sentence.

‘Dear Miss Samuels, ‘

I read the letter a couple more times; trying to make sense of it. When I failed I looked up from the paper, and had a look if anyone else was in our living room. My dad was sitting on the couch; reading the paper.

“Dad, what does this mean?” He looked up, while I read the letter out loud. He closed the paper and sighed.

“I knew this day would come” He mumbled, before he yelled out. “Jennifer! Jennifer, darling! Where are you; we need to talk. It’s important.” My dad sat back down on the couch, never taking his eyes of mine.

After a minute or two, my mum walked through the door. She’d been in the garden, and was now taking of her gardening gloves. It was July here in London, meaning that my mum took every moment of good weather that she could to be out in her garden.

“What is it dear?” She asked my dad, standing in the middle of the living room.

“You might want to sit down. Corey, would you mind reading the letter out again please?” He said once she had done what he had said, and was sitting on the couch next to him. I read the letter again, quicker this time, getting bored of the same words that never changed on the page.

My mum grabbed my dad’s hand and held it like her life depended on it. She seems flustered.

“Jerry, oh; Jerry.” She nearly sobbed. I pulled my knees up to my chest, while I leaned into the lazy-boy I was sitting in. I never knew what to do when she went like this.

“What does it mean?” I said again, but was ignored as my parents had their own conversation. I could only pick up some things like; ‘Maybe it’s time...’and ‘... bound to happen...’. I didn’t know what it meant but they soon turned to look at me.

I raised my eyebrows. “Well?” I said impatiently.

“Corey, dear, we have to tell you something important. We’ve never told you, but we think it’s time now” My mum started. “You’re eleven now and we think you’re mature enough to handle it”

“This letter” My dad continued; holding up the yellow paper covered in green ink. “This letter is very special. Only a few people get them. I myself got one when I was your age; so did the rest of my family...”

“Would you get to the point?” I said, not wanting to hear about dad’s family. My parents exchanged a quick glace before my dad started to talk again.

“Well, it’s sort of--”

“You’re a witch!” My mother cut him off. The room went dead quite. A million questions raced around in my head. No one said a word; I guess everyone was just waiting for someone else to say something.

“I’m a what?” I said confused. “Is this a joke?”

“No dear, we would never joke about this” My mum said; love filling her every word “You’re a witch and you’ll do amazing things; it runs in the blood”

“Were you a witch, too?”

“Oh god no! I’m a Muggle; dear. Your father is the wizard in the family.”

I was suddenly very interested in my dad’s family. It sort of made sense that I’d never met any of them. More and more questions were burning away in my head.

“Do you want to go to Hogwarts, sweetie?” My dad asked. I could hear the hope in his voice “You’ll meet the most amazing people there; friends for life they are.”

I thought about it. I mean, it would be cool to be able to do magic; plus it would mean no proper school. I started to nod. But one question burned my mind. “What about my friends? What do I tell them?” I asked.

“We’ll think of something, Corey, don’t worry.”

I walked over to my dad, and grabbed the envelope of the seat next to him. There was another piece of paper; a list written in the same ink on the same yellowish paper. It read;

‘HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform
First year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (Black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name tags

Set books
All students should have a copy of the following:
The standard book of spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Gagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners’ Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllids Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic beasts and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.’

“Can we get all this stuff here in London?” I asked, re-reading some of the things on the list.

“If you know where to find it” My dad smiled. “We’ll leave tomorrow”

That night I didn’t get any sleep, I kept tossing and turning; not being able to get my mind off of that letter. The emerald green ink had stained my eye lids; and was the last thing I saw before slipping off into a broken sleep