Things Will Never Be the Same Again

I wanted to get up and leave, but I couldn’t even move my arms enough to brush the hair from my eyes. Instead I stayed in my position, huddled against the bathroom wall, and tried to think through the conversation I’d just had with the red haired man.

I eventually came to the decision that the man was my only chance at finding out what had happened to my Dad, I was going to be braver than I usually was and demand an answer from him.
A small pop echoed across the bathroom as the man reappeared.
I leapt up instantly, overcome with shock once again.
“Tell me what killed my Dad” I said in the strongest voice I could conjure.
“I absolutely will, but first you need to come with me” He said quickly, walking toward me.
“Not until you give me a reason why I should”
“Well, I suppose… That does seem reasonable.” He nodded as he began pacing back and forth.
“Who was that man in my house?”
“He… He is someone people have feared for a long time; he is a very powerful… He is very powerful you see” The man came to a stand in front of me once again. “It’s rather difficult to explain when you don’t understand…”
“Don’t understand what?”
“I’m not sure if I should be the one to tell you this… That man was a Wizard Jess,” I laughed quite loudly when the man said this but he didn’t say anything else, he definitely didn’t laugh with me. I felt my laughter die as the word ran through my mind. ‘Wizard’ it seemed like such a lie.
“Then wouldn’t that make you…” I trailed of, unable to say the word out loud. The man nodded. I suddenly thought about everything that I had tried to forget, the stick like objects that produced light and obviously something much more powerful, the man in front of me who could vanish into thin air, the toilet which had been wiggling around not too long ago.
“Ok, you’re a ‘Wizard’. That man was a ‘Wizard’, what did he want with my Dad? Why did he try to kill me?”
“That’s what we need to find out, please come with me. You will find out everything I am sure”
“Can I at least know your name?” I asked, still trying to bide my time.
“Oh, of course!” He exclaimed, his features finally relaxing. “Arthur Weasley.” He held out a hand which I shook hesitantly.
“I’m Jess”
“Great, now Jess, hold onto my arm. This may not be very comfortable, but it’s the fastest way to travel, I’m afraid, and time is something we need a lot of”
I reluctantly walked forward so we were standing side by side, took a deep breath, and took a hold of Arthur Weasley’s arm.

It happened almost instantly. It felt like my body was being pushed and pulled from all different directions, I couldn’t breathe because of the enormous pressure building up through me. Just as I started to panic I realised we were standing in the middle of a street under bright sunlight. Well, Arthur was at least. The second we landed in the open again I had collapsed on the ground gasping for breath.
“Yes, it is a bit uncomfortable isn’t it” He grinned down at me and helped me to my feet. “Now please read this and commit it to memory” He took out a piece of something which looked like parchment. In dainty writing it read ‘The Headquarters of the order of the Phoenix may be found at number 12 Grimmauld Place, London’
“But there isn’t a number 12 here” I scowled down, re reading the writing again. Across from us was the house which clearly stated it was number 11 and to the right of it was number 13.
“Try memorising the address” Arthur Weasley smiled taking back the parchment. I did as he said and sure enough the houses of number 11 and 13 Grimmauld place started drifting apart and making room for another in between them.
“That’s insane” I gasped shaking my head.
“That’s magic” He beamed at me motioning me forward, toward the house.
“Well, how do you open the door?” As we reached it I noticed there wasn’t a handle or even a key hole.
“With a wand of course” He smiled at me again and took out the stick like object which was obviously called a wand.
With a quick tap on the door it creaked open and out came a musty smell.
“Now, I want you to follow me inside. Do not touch anything and try not to stray”

I did just as he had asked. I followed him into a darkened hallway which was rather cramped. All sorts of blackened portraits hung from the peeling walls, statues of serpents were scattered in crevices.
We walked along quickly, through a few doors and entered a kitchen. It was much brighter than the hallway had been and it felt a lot more welcoming. There were a few other people in here too, a middle aged woman with the same bright red hair as Arthur, a man who’s gaze I wanted to immediately avoid as his scarred face and mismatched eyes gave a fearful look about him and a man who had shoulder length dark hair and a thick moustache.

“Ah, Jess this is my wife Molly” He pointed toward the lady with the red hair who gave a warm smile “Alastor Moody” He motioned toward the man with the rugged face “And this here is Sirius Black, this is his house” The man with the dark hair scowled and looked down at his hands.
“Hi” I gave a feeble wave, feeling awkward to have all these eyes on me.
The man named Moody walked toward me, limping as though he had an injured leg.
“Show me your hand that was injured” He growled standing a few feet from me. I held out my left hand straight away. It was a little bit pink but other than that I thought it looked completely normal.
“You’re lucky” He said in a low voice, turning it around.
“Well it doesn’t feel like it” I muttered. Cringing as he touched my hand exactly where the green flames had hit.
“The killing curse was it?” He growled at Arthur, ignoring my comment.
“From what I have gathered, yes”
“Right, I’ll need to go have a talk with Dumbledore” He grumbled dropping my hand. “You lot know what to do” He stalked his way out of the kitchen without another word.
“So, uh, do I leave now?” I asked hopefully, looking at Arthur. The words ‘you know what to do’ didn’t make me want to stick around.
“Actually dear, there are still some things we need to figure out” Molly said in a soft voice, walking around the kitchen table so she was standing on the same side of it as Arthur and I. The man named Sirius continued to sit at the dining table, his attention focused still on his hands. “Here take a seat”
“Ok, uh, what else needs to be figured out?” I asked, sitting down and trying not to show the fear that was surging through me. Molly handed me a small cup of tea which I was very grateful for, I suddenly realised just how hungry and thirsty I was, I hadn’t eaten in at least 24 hours.

“Like whether anything else happened to you when your hand was connected with those flames dear” She answered in a soothing voice as she sat in the chair opposite me as Arthur slid into the chair next to her.
“But-but this kind of thing must happen all the time right? I mean don’t Wizards curse each other?” I asked trying to remember if I was using the right words and hoping that this would distract them from what they were apparently meant to be doing.
“Ah, yes, that is true. But you see Jess, the curse that Wizard attempted to put on you wasn’t a normal curse” Arthur said, scrutinizing my face. Whatever he had been looking for he was satisfied with as he carried on. “It was the killing curse he used. Unforgivable, completely illegal in our world, and since the curse wasn’t successful but you were still touched by it, something may have been passed through to you”
“When my hand was burnt it felt strange, like it was being remoulded. Whatever it was spread through my body too, I know it did, I felt it” I said quietly. Molly looked terrified; she looked away from my face and began fiddling with her apron.
Arthur just nodded “I thought so, it’s a rare thing again, but it is possible”
“What was that something? That was passed to me?” I quickly asked. I had an idea but I wasn’t sure. “Powers Jess, magical powers,” Arthur said. “If this really has happened, and you are no longer a Muggle, it means you must now be trained as a Witch, but, I’m not sure if it’ll work, maybe they won’t think so...” Arthur muttered as he left the table and started pacing through the kitchen.
“What’s a Muggle?”
“Non-magical folk dear,” Molly answered, watching as her husband continued to pace back and forth. “Arthur, there is only one way to find out,” She said calmly. She too left the table and exited through the door behind me, she returned in a few moments with a wand in her hand.

“This, my dear, is a wand; it’s what we use to cast spells, with” Said Molly as she held it out to me. It was a dark brown and very smooth. She lifted my teacup checking to make sure it was empty before placing it back on the table. “Now dear, watch what I do” Molly stood a few feet away from the table before pulling out her own wand and pointing it forward.
“Accio teacup!” She declared in a firm voice. To my amazement the teacup flew from the table straight into her awaiting hand. She took one look at me and smiled “You turn”
I stood just like she was and took her place as she set the teacup back on the table. “Accio teacup” I tried to say confidently, it didn’t sound very confident though. The teacup stayed exactly where it was. It didn’t even move an inch.
“That’s ok, it’ll take some practice. Try again, go on,” Molly smiled encouraging. Arthur stood in the corner of the room watching me with an expression that made me wonder if he wanted to see me perform the spell or not.
“Accio teacup,” I said in a louder voice, I could’ve sworn I saw it shudder slightly.
“Try to be a bit clearer dear, and flick your wand a little as you speak”.
“Accio teacup!” I managed to say loud enough to make Molly jump in surprise. And to my surprise the teacup flew off the table and straight at me, I was so shocked that I ducked to avoid getting smacked in the face. The teacup flew over my head and smashed against the door behind me.

“Uh sorry about that,” I muttered, feeling quite embarrassed as I saw Sirius trying to fight off a laugh.
“Oh never mind the cup, well done Jess, you caught on very fast,” Arthur said grinning broadly from the corner he was still standing in. “This changes things quite dramatically, we’ll need to sort out everything very quickly Molly”
“Yes, but where will we start Arthur?”
“How about by telling me what there is to sort out?” I suggested, still smiling from my triumph of moving the teacup. I could hardly believe it; did that mean I really did have these powers too? That I wasn’t a “Muggle” anymore?
“Well there is so much we will need to get you for the new school year! You can hardly turn up to Hogwarts with nothing,” Arthur said as if it were obvious.
“Hogwarts?”
“Oh right, Hogwarts is the best school there is to learn magic at. They have one of the greatest Wizards of all time as Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore”
“Why-why can’t I go back to my own school?” I stammered. “Why-“
“Dear, Hogwarts really is a very good place to go, now that you are a Witch you need to learn how to control your powers otherwise you will be a danger to other people.” Molly interrupted. I wish she hadn’t put it like that; I’d hate to make myself a danger to others, but changing schools?
The thought terrified me; I’d been at my school for the past five years. I cringed, thinking about having to start all over again and make new friends.

My head was starting to pound again as I tried to think this all through, it was almost as if my brain couldn’t deal with this amount of new information. I think Molly and Arthur must have realized as they both started wrapping up the conversation very quickly.
“Maybe that’s enough for now, let’s get you settled in,” Arthur spoke in a calm voice. It was the calmest I’d seen him since meeting him in the public bathrooms that morning.
“Good idea, come on, I’ll show you to your room,” Molly smiled signalling for me to follow her.