Are Friends those who warn?
Luz’s school break wasn’t near as fun as she expected. Camila started to home-school Luz in subjects not covered in Hogwarts “I will not have my daughter be ignorant to the basics of History, Geography, Math or Chemistry” she said when Luz asked the reason behind her decision.
But worse than the fact that she was now being homeschooled was the fact that Luz had not received a single message the whole break, neither from Willow nor Gus, even though the first said she was going to invite Luz to her house.
“I’m sure they’re just busy cariño, maybe they went to visit a distant relative somewhere it is far to reach out” Camila tried to console her daughter on multiple occasions, though rare, Luz would find herself crying in her bedroom because of solitude.
To keep Luz focused on her studies, Camila decided to only purchase her school supplies in late August. So Luz spent most of her free time doing her homework and rereading the books. Camila took upon herself the task of studying the Magical World, so she bought many books about history.
Maybe it was the very recent encounter with Belos, but Luz became a little worried for her safety, especially because she had the gut feeling she was being watched. One morning she was sitting outside when she saw a yellow eye watching her from inside a bush, but when she reached the bush, nothing was there.
One morning on July 16, during breakfast Camila told the news to Luz “So, cariño, two weeks from now it marks the 20th anniversary of my graduation from High School, so I’ll be throwing a small party with some old friends” Luz nodded “I’ve invited the McGee family, the Stein-Torres, the Myers, the Evans and… the Hals” Luz almost got choke with her chocolate milk.
“Andrea will be here?!” Camila nodded “Mom, she almost got me expelled, not to mention that her father was my principal until last year…” Luz argued “I’m sorry cariño, but they came up with the idea and they are helping pay for everything… It’s just one evening, from 7 PM to at most 11 PM” Camila brushed Luz’s head and gave her a soft smile.
July 31 came eventually, and the house at Gravesfield Street was now decorated with pictures from high school teams and other events. In other to keep her magical background hidden, all school supplies were locked in a cupboard underneath the stairs and King and Luz’s staff were locked inside the girl’s room.
Luz was tasked with serving the appetizers to the guests. While Camila kept them entertained, Luz had a bad relationship with Andrea Hal, the girl who tormented her ever since they were 7, her father was the principal of her old school and her mother was your typical rich lady who cared little about feelings.
Violet Evans, was Andrea’s most obedient lackey, she helped Andrea do all sort of bad things, even though mister James Evans, were a policeman, committed to helping the weak and marginalized. Her mother was a defense attorney rather famous.
The Stein-Torres and Myers were the ones Luz had the least contact with, mainly because they and the McGees moved to the US after graduating. Libby Stein-Torres was a tall and clumsy girl who dreamed of being a knight and Tammy Myers was just a very annoying jock.
The McGees were the only friends of Camila that Luz liked, Pete and Sharon McGee were kind to Luz, and whenever they came and visited they brought a present to her. And Miss McGee, Pete’s mother, lived across the street and was the place Luz usually stayed if Camila wasn’t at home.
“So, how’s school?” Asked Molly, the daughter of the McGees, she was an 11-year-old bubbly girl who loved to make friends “It’s nice, a lot of new subjects and stuff” Luz said, she didn’t really have a good cover-up history, since she’s been avoiding talking with muggles so her secret wouldn’t be revealed.
“I wonder what kind of loser place would invite Noceda to study there. They must be really desperate for students if they are willing to accept someone like her” Andrea mocked her, while Violet laughed and Tammy played with Darryl, Molly’s 9-year-old brother.
“That’s mean Andrea” Molly shouted “Really Noceda? You’ll let a baby defend you?” She completely ignored Molly “I’m only one year younger than you” Molly said “Shut up twerp!” Andrea shoved Molly aside.
If there was someone Luz really wanted to hex, it was Andrea, back in Hogwarts Boscha was her main source of torment, but there she could defend herself, but in the muggle world, Luz could only frown at her.
It was already 9 PM, they already had dinner and Luz was in the blink of throwing something at Andrea and Violet, who didn’t stop teasing her and her mother, or the friends, Willow and Gus, Luz hadn’t mentioned the names.
“She won’t tell us their names, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The Luzer here didn’t make a single one in a full year!” Andrea, Violet, and Tammy laughed at Luz, while Molly and Libby tried to make them stop and Darryl watched from afar.
Luz had it; she stormed away and ran upstairs, unlocked the door to her bedroom, and shut it close angrily. She leaned against the door and sunk to the floor, tears falling from her eyes, she cried there in silence for a few moments when to her surprise, a voice called her.
“Are you okay?” Luz looked up and standing on her bed, alongside King was one of the strangest things she ever saw, she would have shouted out if she wasn’t sobbing already. The little creature jumped from the bed and stood a few feet away from Luz.
It was a red-skinned tiny creature, with three-toed, dark brown talon-clad arms and legs similar to those of a bird's. Its left eye had yellow sclera and a brownish red iris, but its most defining feature was the conjoined hands that made up its hair: one with fingers that form a fringe that hid its right eye from view, the other clenched behind her head to form a bun/fist.
Luz knew instantly that the eye she saw a few days ago was from that creature. Whatever it was, it bowed down so low that its forehead was less than a foot from the ground. Luz noticed it wore a green skirt with a golden line near its ankle, a beige shirt with puffy sleeves, and a red hood around its neck which covered its mouth and nose.
“Hum… Hello?” Luz asked nervously “Luz Noceda” Said the creature in a somewhat rusty voice, as though it hasn’t spoken in quite some time “We’re not supposed to meet… you’re supposed to stay downstairs… But it does warm my heart to finally speak to you” Luz was astonished.
“Th-thank you” Luz said, edging along the wall and sitting in her desk chair, next to King who slept in his cage covered by a black cloth. For a brief second Luz wanted to ask ‘what are you?’ but thought it would sound too rude, so “Who are you?” she asked instead.
“I’m Kiki, ma’am, Kiki the Kikimora” Luz could hear the loud laughers of the guesses downstairs “Not that I’m not pleased to meet you, but right now, it’s not a good time for me to have a Kikimora in my bedroom… Do you have a reason for being here?” She said politely.
“Yes… But it’s hard to explain…” Kiki said reluctantly “Please take a seat” Luz said pointing back at her head but to her surprise, Kiki started crying and sobbing very loudly “So polite… so, so, so polite!” Kiki set down on the bed and after calming itself it went back to stare at Luz.
“Luz Noceda is so kind and polite, it makes me happy… But also makes me sad… How strange it is” Kiki said still sobbing “I know how it feels, every time I think about my friends I get happy because I remember the adventures, but sad because… well… It doesn’t matter” Luz said looking down.
“Luz Noceda speaks of none of the triumphs over the Emperor… She’s so humble… So brave and bold…” Kiki didn’t seem able to stop the tears and sobbing “But I must stop Luz Noceda… From going back to Hogwarts” Luz stared at Kiki for a good amount of moments.
“What? No, I need to go back, terms start September the 1st… I don’t belong here; my mom is the only thing I have here, I belong in your world” Kiki shook her head “You can’t! If you do, the danger will always be near you! Here you are safe!” Luz was starting to get worried about the noise they were making.
“It’s about Be- I mean, the Emperor, is he back again?” Luz asked and Kiki shook her head “Then, who else could it be? Hogwarts has Bump and Edalyn; no one can warm someone inside with them there” Kiki shook her head again and again.
“You can’t go! Please” Kiki pleaded, bowing her head “I must… There is the only place I have… Friends” Kiki raised her head “Friends, who don’t message you?” Luz was about to answer when she realized something.
“How do you know my friends haven’t sent me messages?” Luz asked frowning “Luz Noceda must not be mad… I did for her own well” It clicked inside Luz’s mind “Have you been stopping the crows?” Kiki nodded slowly “Luz Noceda must not be angry…” Kiki said as she stood up in bed and stepped nimbly away from Luz’s reach.
“I hopped… Since my attempt last year failed… That if Luz Noceda thought her friends had forgotten her… Luz Noceda might not want to go back to school…” Kiki explained and Luz blinked nervously at Kiki “Last attempt? Wait, it was you who stole my acceptance letters from Hogwarts last year?!” Kiki nodded.
“Promise me you won’t go back!” Luz shook her head “Please!” Kiki begged “Hogwarts is as much home as this is” Luz said seriously, she didn’t like that Kikimora, not that she knew any other. Kiki, still tearfully, ran to the bedroom door, opened it, and sprinted downstairs.
Luz's mouth went dry, she sprang after her, and trying not to make any sound she jumped the last six steps of the stairs, landing cat-like on the hall carpet, looking around for Kiki. She could hear from the dining room the voices of everyone. Andrea’s mother was telling stories about one of her many visits to Paris, while everyone else pretended to care.
When Luz reached the kitchen, her stomach disappeared. Camila’s masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugar violets was floating up near the ceiling. On one corner of the kitchen stood Kiki, pointing one of her claws at the pudding with a circle made of light blue light in front of it.
“Promise me, Luz Noceda, promise me” Kiki pleaded “I-I-I can’t…” Luz said tearing up; she knew what was coming “Then… I must do it, for your own good” Kiki pointed at Andrea and the pudding silently hovered until it reached the blonde girl. In her last ditch effort, Luz quickly ran towards her trying to reach the pudding before it fell.
Everything happened too fast, the pudding fell on Andrea’s head, cream flew everywhere, and there wasn’t a single person in the dining room who wasn’t partially covered in white, purple, and green cream.
Andrea let out a high-pitched scream that was probably heard across the street. Luz turned back to where Kiki stood, her body started to become foggy, as though she was about to evaporate. Kiki soon became a mass of white, blue, green, and red smog which flew away through one of the windows in the kitchen.
The Hals left the Noceda house immediately, yelling how much of a barbaric Luz was, Mr. Hal even said that he would tell every other principal what the girl had done and Luz would never be able to enroll in a school. The Evans left after a 5 minutes lecture about misbehaving from Mr. Evans.
The Myers left the house laughing out loud and the Stein-Torres left very embarrassedly for both the Noceda and the Hals. The McGees helped clean the house and tried to calm Camila, who was both extremely mortified and livid.
By 10 PM, Camila and Luz were alone in their house, the girl set on the couch while Camila passed in front of the fire, the only sound was the tick and tack of the watch in the living room “What happened?” Camila asked calmly but visibly mad.
Before Luz could say anything, a nice-looking crow swooped inside and landed on the tea table between Luz and Camila. It carried a golden medal with a symbol Camila knew “It’s from the Ministry Of Magic” She said and Luz almost fainted, was she going to be expelled? Her heart raced as Luz gave the crow a tip, a small piece of meat.
"
Dear Mss Noceda
We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spell work on your part may lead to expulsion from said school. As stated in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, from 1875, under Paragraph C.
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community, Muggles, is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.
Enjoy your Holidays!
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
"
“Why? You know it’s forbidden, not only that, it was extremely rude” Camila said coldly “Mamá, I…” She raised her finger “I’m not done yet. Do you know what happens when Muggles see magic? They have their memories erased by the Ministry. Is that what you wanted to the McGees?” Camila continued, speaking louder with every word.
“I didn’t…” Camila widened her eyes “Are you telling me that the Ministry is lying? So tell me, what happened?” Luz looked down in silence “Who am I talking to” Camila inquired, but Luz simply cried silently “To your room, little miss, and think about what you did!” Luz did as she was told.
She fell onto her bed and cried herself to sleep that night, Luz could only ask what awaited her, was Camila going to let her go to Hogwarts? Was that the end of her life in the magical world? She cursed herself for not being able to talk back to her mother, she cursed her mother for not giving her a chance, she cursed Andrea for annoying her that night, but most important of all, she cursed Kiki, that creature who might have just cost the life of her dreams.