A Witch Without a Wand

“What’s with the long face, Olivia?” Albus Potter asked.

“Yeah. You look like you you’re in serious need of a Cheering charm.” This time it was James Potter, Albus’ older brother, who spoke. He drew out his wand and waved it before Olivia’s face. “I could try it out, if you’d like. Can’t be too hard.”

“But I thought you’re not allowed to use magic outside of school,” little Lily Potter, the youngest of the Potter children, said.

James made a sound of disgust. “Not true. They only say that to scare little do-gooders like you from accidentally blowing off their face. A true wizard has nothing to worry about.” Yet despite his boasts, James slipped the wand back into his pocket.

“So what’s wrong, Olivia?” Albus repeated.

Olivia simply hugged her legs closer to her body, and resumed at digging at the dirt with a stick. “Nothing.”

“Her Hogwarts letter hasn’t come yet. That’s all. Now would you mind quieting down? I’m trying to create my reading schedule.”

Olivia shot her twin a look of hurt, but Rose was completely oblivious to her sister’s pain.

Rose was busy writing in a notebook she had bought in town earlier that morning. Ever since getting her Hogwarts letter last night all Rose could talking about was “Hogwarts this,” and “Hogwarts that.” Rose couldn’t wait for the school year to begin to start learning, so she decided she’d start reading through her textbooks now.

“Is that true, Olivia? You haven’t gotten your letter?” Albus asked.

Olivia felt her lips tighten in annoyance and she gave a quick shake of her head.

“Blimey. Little Albie here got his letter two weeks ago. Didn’t you, Al?” James asked, giving his younger brother an elbow to the ribs.

“Lay off it, James,” Albus said, a scowl on his face. Even though there was only a year’s difference between the two brothers, Albus was much smaller than James, and was therefore an easy target.

“So… Are you going to Hogwarts?” the question came from Lily. She looked up at Olivia with large green eyes, wide with surprise and fear.

It took all of Olivia’s might to shrug her shoulders and murmur, “I don’t know,” without bursting into tears.

Rose gave an exasperated sigh and closed her notebook, showing her annoyance that her request for quiet wasn’t met. “Honestly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. You head Mum and Dad. Your letter will get here tomorrow. There’s no reason to worry.”

Except there was reason to worry. Dad had promised Olivia that the letter would be waiting for her when she got up this morning. But it didn’t.

Olivia had woken up at the crack of dawn and crept out of the bedroom, careful not to wake Rose and Hugo. Then she practically flew down the dozen flights of stairs on her way running to the kitchen. Olivia was about to turn into the kitchen, but she stopped.

Both her Mum and Dad were standing there. They were dressed in their sleeping robes, and talking in hushed, urgent voices. Olivia felt it was best not to make her presence known, so she hid herself behind the doorway.

“I don’t know what this means, Hermione.”

“If she doesn’t get her letter, what’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

There was a moment of silence. Olivia could hear her mother sniffling.

“Ron, I can’t help thinking that this is my fault.”

“How could it be your fault?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I was born to Muggle parents. Maybe there’s less magic in my blood to be passed on, or something. I don’t know.”

“Hermione, that’s ridiculous. You know it doesn’t work like that. This isn’t your fault. Here, c’mere.”

More silence. Olivia’s mum continued sniffling, and there was a shuffle of bodies, followed by a soft hiccup. Olivia was confused. Her parents had said there was nothing to worry about; the owl had just been lost. Her letter would come. So why was her mom worrying about magic and blood?

There was something else going on. Olivia didn’t know what it was, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Olivia crept back to her room and crawled into bed. She tried to go to sleep, but she couldn’t get the conversation between her parents out of her head. Three hours later, when grandma Molly came knocking on the door, announcing breakfast was on the table, Olivia was still awake.

“Hey! We’re about to start a game of Quidditch! Anyone game?” It was Olivia’s cousin, Fred Weasley, son of her Uncle George and Aunt Angelina, who extended the offer.

“Count me in!” James, who was hoping to make the Gryffindor team this year, was on his feet in an instant and running. He ran to the clearing where the adults were setting up the Quidditch pitch, levitating hoops into the air and dusting off broomsticks.

“I’ll play Keeper,” Albus said. He followed his older brother, and Lily followed him.

With a relieved sigh, Rose stood to her feet. She was hugging her notebook to her chest. “Well it looks like it will finally be quiet enough for me to finish my reading schedule.” Rose looked down at her sister, and gave one of those rare twin-smiles. As different as Rose and Olivia were, there were moments where they could perfectly read each other’s emotions.

That smile told Olivia that Rose understood how nervous she was. That smile told Olivia that everything was going to be okay. Somehow, having that silent reassurance from her twin put Olivia’s mind at ease. She smiled back.

“Thanks, Rosie.”

Rose simply shrugged. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be able to study if I knew you were a nervous wreck. Now go play Quidditch. I know you want to.”

A genuine smile spread on Olivia’s face, and she scrambled to her feet and ran to the Quidditch pitch. “I call Beater!” she shouted, and for the first time in a day her heart felt light, and her mind was worry-free.