Chapter 2
I was woken up by the sound of the doorbell ringing. I checked the time on my bedside clock (since when was that there?) to find it was 8 am exactly. I walked out warily, hoping it wasn’t a salesman. After all, they all turn out to be monsters (literally).
“Hurry up, we have things to do today,”
I let out a startled yelp, turning to see Hecate standing in my kitchen casually. Except, she looked… different. Had I not known better, I would’ve assumed she was my mother’s long lost twin sister or something with how similar she looked to her. She even wore regular mortal clothes that my mom liked. I shot her a suspicious glare, ignoring the doorbell ringing again.
“Why do you look like that?” I asked cautiously. She waved me off dismissively.
“We can talk later. Go open the door.”
I sighed. Well you don’t ignore the directions of a god unless you wanted the rest of your existence to be even more miserable (ex: my life). I cracked the door open, revealing a tall man (?) in black robes. I weighed the pros and cons of being a regular nervous kid. I mentally shrugged. Might as well, it could be fun to pretend for a bit. Especially since this guy seemed to be a wizard of sorts. I glanced back at Hecate.
“Who’s at the door dear?” She called, her voice deceptively caring. I played along.
“I don’t know… who are you sir?” He frowned imperceptibly, before speaking.
“Let me speak to your parents, child,” He said, voice and face blank. I hesitated, before deciding that Hecate was a goddess and that this guy probably won’t cause any other worldly problems. Wait, was Hecate pretending to be my mom? Oh well, hopefully she was.
“Uhm, mom? The guy at the door wants to talk to you,” I called back at her. She grinned, a tad bit to inhuman, before taking on a soft smile and walking over to the door. She looked him over, taking in his face and dress code. She tilted her head in the perfect picture of curiosity, despite her probably already knowing who he was.
“Hello? Do you need something?” She asked, voice dripping with honey. I resisted the urge to laugh. She was so fake. The man showed no outward reaction, simply handing her a letter.
“Read this, it’ll explain better than I could. Before you do, I assure you that everything on it is completely true,” he said, voice flat. Curiosity got the best of me and I peaked over her shoulder. She opened the letter, and her eyes widened.
“Wait, what!?” She gasped, looking pale. Wow she was a good actress. The man sighed. “Your son is a wizard. If you’d allow me, I could help you both reach the necessary places to get the resources needed for the first term of school.” Hecate turned to look at me, winked, before looking back at the man. “Are you terribly sure? I’m afraid my son causes so much trouble I’m actually considering this… boarding school you say?”
The man nodded, though I noticed a hint of… something, creep onto his face. “Yes, he’ll be given the option to stay there or go home during the breaks, except for summer break where he will be expected to go home.” I froze. What? I glared at Hecate.
“What is he talking about Hec- mom?” I hissed, not faking my anger. She did not say anything about school? My face paled. Would I have to re-do middle school? What the fuck?
She gave me a kind look, though after living in the godly world for years, I knew it was more condescending than anything. “Oh honey I’m sorry, i promise it’d be for the best… we’ll still see each other during the summer…” I glared at her. Okay, I’m escalating then.
“You’re never home during summer! You’re off with your dumb boyfriend!” Suprise shot across her face, before she returned my glare. “We’ll talk later, let me speak to… I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name?” She turned her sickly sweet voice back to the man.
“Serverus Snape,” he responded, glancing between both of us carefully, “ would it be preferable I come another time? Do make sure it’s before August,”
“Oh don’t worry! My son is just being whiny, he’ll get over it and I’m sure he will agree to the arrangement,” she shot me another small glare, I sighed. I knew I didn’t really have a choice.
“Whatever…”
The man, Severus? Continued. “Then, if the time is alright, i believe you two are in need of guidance? I am here to lead you to the necessary locations to buy his school supplies, and to teach of the way the magical world works.”
Hecate sighed dramatically, “Oh how I wish I could go but I have to go to work! Can I trust you’ll show my son around?” Severus grimaced, glanced at me, then back at her. “That.. would be fine,” he forced out, looking more bitter by the second.
“Oh that’s wonderful! I’ll be taking my leave now, here you go dear,” she handed me the letter, which included a welcome note and a supply list. I glared at the writing. Why did people feel the need to write fancy? I could barely read regular text. She walked out the complex, into a car, a drive away. I briefly wondered if she would simply disappear along with the car once she turned the corner. I looked up at the man, who was watching the car pull away with disdain. He let out a sigh, before turning to look at me.
“I will be guiding you through the magical world, and you, will be quiet and pay attention, understood?” He said softly, yet coldly. It reminded me of Medusa in a way. I nodded, “yess sir.” He seemed like the type to insist on being called sir. He nodded approvingly.
“Pay attention. The magic starts now. We will be apparating to the leaky cauldron, a pub frequently used as a means to get from the muggle world to the wizard world,”
“Does muggle mean normal people?” I asked. It sounded similar to mortal, so the connection was made.
“Yes. Non magic people are referred to as muggles. Wizards with two muggle parents are called muggleborn, and one wizard one muggle parent is called half blood”
I nodded. Huh, wouldn’t it be funny if there was some sort of racism over what type of wizard you were.
“Which one are you? I’d be muggleborn right?” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Yes, you are. Remember that I told you to stay quiet?”
I really couldn’t help myself. I frowned.
“You also said you’d help me learn more of the wizard world. I can’t do that without asking questions” I snarked back. He sent me a scathing glare.
“Drop the tone you brat. Also, take me hand. I have other things to do than to play babysitter.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, taking his hand instead. Suddenly, the world began spinning and I felt as if my inside where thrown into a blender. My surroundings swirled, and suddenly we were outside what seemed to be a bar. I stumbled slightly, letting out a startled gasp. It was like shadow travel, in a way, just way more uncomfortable without the shadows.
“Hole Hera was that apparating? We just teleported!” I turned to see him watching me carefully, as if to gauge my reaction.
“Hm, most kids throw up the first time they apparate. Good job,” He suddenly began walking down the street, leaving me to have to jog to catch up. I momentarily cursed my smaller stature, seeing I was in fact, still eleven. Then what he said registered. Hole shit this guy did not care. I’m glared at the back of his head, this was going to be a long day.