Another Year at Hogwarts

Summer—oh, what fond memories the summer brought. I doubt that it would be as exciting as last summer, though—the summer of my sophomore year. School had just ended, and for the next three months, I would be lying around the house with nothing to do. My parents’ summer—other than work—was pretty much the same as mine. After the event that occurred last year, my parents had stopped leaving me alone to go on trips. I guess they are scared that if they leave me alone again, something else is going to happen to me. Maybe they are scared that they will lose me, just like they lost my biological parents. Although I felt much love and felt that they are simply trying to protect me, it was a bit bothersome. I felt as if I was a child all over again, needing her parents to protect her. As a result, I started slowly pulling away from my family. There were simply some things that I could not talk to them about—things in which I just did not want to talk about. I just felt—no, knew that they would not understand.

“Violet!” my younger sister, Karen, called as she came bursting through my door.

“What?” I groaned exhaustedly as I stared at her from my bed.

“Can I borrow your Harry Potter movies?” Karen asked eagerly as she raced over to me and hopped onto my bed. She bounced up and down as she begged again and again.

“Yes!” I answered with a slight grin. “They’re in the closet.”

Karen smiled gleefully before rushing to my closet. As she opened it, I could not help but peer into the closet as well. Lying on the floor, I could see a plain cardboard box with the words “Harry Potter” written in large letters. The old Hogwarts uniform that used to hang in my closet was no longer there. The box that held my wand has disappeared as well.

As Karen opened the box of Harry Potter things, she asked, “Why did you put all of these in here anyways? Do you not want these anymore?”

“No, I still want them,” I quickly replied. Then in a softer voice I whispered, “I just don’t want to see those things.”

The truth was that after that incident last summer, I could not bear anything that reminded me of Harry Potter. Every time I say that name or anything that reminded me of it, the one thing that came to my mind was him, and that was something that I did not want to remember. He—along with anything that associated with him—simply brought back nothing but painful memories. As a result, I packed up everything. All of my Harry Potter books, the movies, the posters, autographs, pictures—anything that tied me back to my Harry Potter and that world I packed up and stored them away.

“What’s this?” Karen asked as she pulled out a small white box. Before I realized it, she had opened the box up and pulled out the silver locket with the engraved violets. At the sight of this, I rushed off my bed and snatched the necklace from her. I quickly shoved it back into its case before throwing it back into the cardboard box.

“You said you just wanted to movies,” I said as I turned my heel and walked to my desk where my laptop lied. “Just grab them and leave, okay?”

“Wow, what’s your problem?” Karen asked as she grabbed the eight DVD cases and closed my closet. “You’ve been acting so strange since that crash—“

“Are you done, Karen?” I asked as I looked over my shoulder at her. “I have some things to get to, so if you wouldn’t mind.”

“It’s summer! What exactly do you have going on?” Karen questioned. “And why do you still have that accent thing?”

“Karen—“

“And you never told me why you packed up all of your Harry Potter things.“

“Karen!” I shouted.

“Why did you—“

“KAREN!” I bellowed, immediately making her shut up. I glared angrily at her and said, “You got what you came for, now would you please just GET OUT of my room.”

“Sorry,” Karen said as she rolled her eyes. She then scurried out of my room closing the door behind her. But suddenly, her dirty blond head popped back into my room. She then asked, “Hey, can I ask you one more thing?”

“What?” I groaned as I buried my face in my hands.

“Can I have that poster of Draco Malfoy?”

The very mention of that name made my heart stop, and I forgot to how to breathe. I felt my stomach churning as the named echoed in my ear as my head shot up.

“Violet?” Karen called out. “Violet, can I have the poster? You don’t use—“

“No,” I quickly replied. “You can’t—you can’t have it.”

“But Vi—“

“Karen!” I snapped as I stood and spun around to face her. It took everything in me to hold in my tears and keep a steady voice. “I said no, Karen. If you really want one, I’ll get you one for your birthday or something. Just—just please stop asking me about Drac—“ I stopped. I sighed heavily before sinking back down into my chair. “Please just stop asking me about these things all right? You have the movies, now please go.”

Karen didn’t say anything else to me. She simply looked at me with her large green eyes. As she closed the door, she whispered an apology.

When she disappeared, I sighed heavily before turning my attention back to my laptop. I moved the mouse a little bit and the black screen disappeared. As I looked at the bottom of the screen, I could see a little message box blinking.

“Aunt Helena,” I smiled as I clicked on the message.

I loved my Aunt Helena. She was probably the only adult that I could really talk to. Unlike my parents at times, she’s more understanding and carefree. She’s like my best friend, in a way. Although I’m not saying that she won’t give me a scolding if I deserved one.

After my accident last summer, Aunt Helena had come to visit me at the hospital every day. Although I didn’t know this because I was knocked out the entire time. But even after I got out of the hospital, she came to visit me constantly. However, her visits soon ended when she found out that her husband had to relocate to the United Kingdom for a couple of months. I was deeply saddened, but she assured me that she and her husband would return by this summer. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened.

My Aunt Helena now lived in England with my uncle, Uncle Frank. It was only supposed to be a temporary move; however, Aunt Helena fell in love with England and begging to stay there permanently. Uncle Frank—being the kind of man that he was—could not resist his lovely wife, and agreed. The two of them have been living in England since. I was completely torn by this when I found out, but Aunt Helena reassured me that she would stay in contact—and that she did.

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Dear Violet,

How are you darling? Did you get the e-mails and letters I have sent? You haven’t been answering them since this month began. Your mum has told me that you’ve been a bit agitated lately, as well. I know you may think it hard to speak to me—being so far away and all—but you can always talk to me, all right?

In order to cheer you up, though, I sent your parents a little surprise for you and the family! Your parents will probably talk to you and little Karen about it. But for the moment, I have a lovely article for you. I know you will enjoy it. If you want me to send you the rest, just write back and ask.

Much Love,
Aunt Helena
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I immediately slammed my laptop down and pushed myself as far away as I could from it. I pressed my hand against my mouth to muffle the sound of my sobs. Despite the article now being in front of me, Tom Felton’s words echoed through my ears—the picture of him and Jade flashing through my mind. Although he wasn’t actually Draco Malfoy, he was the one who portrayed him. To read those words and see those pictures simply tore my heart to pieces.