We Are Pleased To Inform You That You Have A Place At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Submitted into Contest #54 in response to: Write a story about someone struggling to learn a skill that in no way comes naturally to them.... view prompt

15 comments

General

 “Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa… I’m flying… I’m flying… Yeaaaaiii… I DID IT… I DID IT…”


“Oh Merlin, she is going higher! Turn it Ms. Dail. I order you to turn it right now. Ms. Dail TURN AROUND AND LEAN FORWARD. Ms.Dail- ”


“Professor she's going to clash against that wall!”

… and WHAMMM!!! …

                                        ~~~


-“What the HELL Dais? Why are you making such a racket?”


“I… I… I just…”


“You’re sweating like a Sun! Have you been seeing a nightmare? Oye wait! Are you laughing?”


“Yeah I am… No I mean I am hurt. I clashed so violently! The point is Sheri- Sheri Sheri… O Sheri I learnt how to fly. For the first time in my life! Just think ab- ”


“Wait! Stop. You learnt to fly! And I think I'm right to guess that’s not in a plane, or a parachute, or a helicopter; but on a broomstick.”


“Yes Sheri yes. I have learnt flying. For the first time in my life… on my BROOMSTICK! I clashed though. But it doesn’t matter anymore. Sad that it is a dream. I hope I will do just that good in school.”


“Yeah sad! Very sad! Too much sad! Disastrously sad! Sad because it is a question of your success and failure, and not of your fantasy and reality! Why did of all people I have to get such an odd sister, who thinks she's a witch or something weird like that?”


“SHERI! I DON’T ONLY THINK IT. I AM A WITCH. AND I AM GOING TO GET MY LETTER FROM HOGWARTS VERY SOON. Now go to your bed. Because I don’t like your face.”


                                     * * *


              Morning woke up with a big smile on Daisy Dail’s eleven years’ birth day. But Daisy did not. She had not even slept the whole night. Excitement had been creeping through her every vain, her hair had been standing most of the times. She knew that her letter from Hogwarts was ultimately coming. While fingering the white flowers of the bed-sheet, she had been wondering how they would send the letter-

“May be with an owl. Or may be through the fire place? But do they know it’s fake? Oh of course they do. They know everything. Thank Merlin that I insisted Dad to build that fake fire place. But… umm… an owl will be best. I’d just love to see old Mr. Fogg’s face to see an owl flying over his house. Ohhh! I can’t wait anymore! When will the Sun rise?”

And on the nest day, when the Sun rose and set, but no official letter from a concealed magic school of miles away reached her, Daisy fell asleep closing her two watery eye-lids. After evening, her big sister Sheri gifted her two wands and taking one herself, challenged Daisy in a duel. Till late at night they fought, but after casting a lot of jinxes and hexes, at the end, Daisy was able to disarm her sister. She was smiling. She was doing great in the Impedimenta jinx.


“Congratulations my dear sis”, cried an exhausted and relieved Sheri hugging her, “and again Happy Birth Day. I am so happy to see you smiling at last on your birth day. It’s no good crying over spilt milk actually- ”


“No! Don’t think I'm not going to get my letter. May be there is some connectivity problem. May be there’s some war going on? May be some dark wizard has emerged again! Oh how would I know sitting here what is going on in my world? I am going to wait for my letter. I just hope everyone is safe in the school.”


Sheri sighed and turned towards her bed. But Daisy called her from behind,

“And you said the phrase wrong Sheri. It’s not ‘crying over spilt milk’; it’s ‘crying over spilt POTION’. Good night.”


                                     * * *


-“Mom, are you sure it’ll be all right? I literally have doubts”, said the little girl with frowned eye-brows.


“I’m telling you for the millionth time now- it WILL be okay. I’ve fought with your aunty on my very 11th birth day. Though she only did it to please me.”


“Yeah of course; she's muggle. How can she feel our world? I sometimes think of you two as Lily and Petunia Evans and it gives me such a good laugh!”


“Stop laughing you know!”, snapped the mother with pretended fury, “Sheri is nothing like Petunia. She brought me my wand, mind you. And when I fell from my broomstick while practicing, she was the one to nurse me. Mom and dad were so angry! You're lucky that your mother is also a witch."


"That I know very well. I just wish you buy me a broomstick soon."


"What's the hurry? You can not actually learn to fly without anyone teaching you!"


"Yes, you told me how hard you tried to learn flying. But I know you'll buy me one. I'll get a Firebolt for sure and after my first yea-"


"And coming back to that topic, I think, because the muggles have advanced so much with network stuffs, the dictation of magic wave is being hindered sometimes. That was how they were unable to know I am a witch. And that is why I want you to practice some strong magic, so that they can know…”


“I understand mom. It’s just that I know there’s law against using magic intentionally in a muggle habitat. But yeah- it’s more important to let them know that here a witch has come of school age. And what’s life without a few duels, huh?”


The last sentence she mouthed while drawing a new wand from her back. It was a birth day present from her mother. Suddenly the little girl noticed her father passing across the hall, just outside the room. She called him,

“Dad, don’t you forget to remove the chair from in front of the fireplace. What if my Hogwarts letter slip behind the chair and I miss it?”


Her father with his mouth agape, stared at her daughter and her wife, both of whom were holding wooden wands- one was new and the othe one old, and sighed muttering,

“I can’t believe I love these two lunatics!”

August 11, 2020 16:52

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15 comments

Avery G.
20:22 Aug 11, 2020

This was very creative! I love Harry Potter, and you continue the magic! Great job!

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02:45 Aug 12, 2020

I'm glad that you like it.(^o^)

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Avery G.
02:49 Aug 12, 2020

My pleasure!

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Amany Sayed
17:03 Aug 11, 2020

Very creative story Hermoine! Some parts of your dialogue felt a bit static, and to fix that I would recommend making sure to use conventions. Change it will to it'll and whatnot. Also, read the dialogue aloud to make sure it sounds natural. Other than that, enjoyed it! I knew I had to read when I saw the title was related to Harry Potter, lol. Keep writing!

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18:17 Aug 11, 2020

Thank you so much. And your advice is great. I'll keep it in mind.

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Amany Sayed
18:27 Aug 11, 2020

Happy to help!

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Gopika Ashokan
07:55 Aug 12, 2020

This was so much fun to read! "Now go to your bed. Because I don’t like your face.” -haha, this sentence just summed up the entire sibling relationship lol. Thanks for writing!

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09:55 Aug 12, 2020

Thank you so much for your review.(^o^)

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D. Shikha
17:32 Aug 11, 2020

Nice story, Hermione! And is it (Hermione) a pen name or your real name? I mean you wrote a Harry Potter related story and your name is a combination of two characters from Harry Potter- Hermione (Granger) and (Luna) Lovegood.

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18:19 Aug 11, 2020

Ummm yes, it's a pen name. And I did actually combine the names because I think a combined character of Hermione and Luna will be great. You see I'm crazy about Harry Potter. And thanks for reading it.

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D. Shikha
18:29 Aug 11, 2020

I agree with you about combined personality. And I'm also a big Harry Potter fan.⚡ Stay safe and keep writing:) -D

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18:31 Aug 11, 2020

You too potterhead...

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D. Shikha
18:34 Aug 11, 2020

Yeah!!

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18:55 Aug 11, 2020

This was so good! You’re very creative. Side note: I don’t know why but I love that your pen name and your story matches. Anyways, great job! I love the dialogue and the character. Just so you know, you don’t actually need a hyphen before each paragraph, so you might want to edit those out. All in all, terrific work! ~Aerin P. S. Would you mind checking out one or two of my stories? Thank you!

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02:43 Aug 12, 2020

I'd absolutely love to. Thank you and thanks for your advice.

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