November 11, 1990.
Tunbridge Wells, Kent County.
The Massimo family home.
On this momentous day, the entire Massimo family gathered around the festive table.
Thomas Massimo, the head of the family, sat at the head of the table.
He looked slightly disheveled, perhaps because of what was happening at that very moment.
He was watching his son, who was holding the morning mail in his hands.
The second person was Sara Massimo.
The only woman in the family looked slightly anxious.
Worry swam in her brown eyes, and her chestnut hair was slightly disheveled.
Her gaze drifted between the faces of the people in the room and the letter her son was holding.
The third and final person was a boy named Kael.
He looked like an ordinary thirteen-year-old, though he had just turned eleven.
The only thing that stood out about him, besides his height, was his face.
Undeniably handsome, but utterly devoid of emotion.
His brown hair was messy.
His brown eyes, calm, even emotionless, fell on the letter in his hand.
This letter was expected and didn’t cause the storm of feelings currently raging in his parents.
Outside the window, the weather itself seemed to match the family’s mood.
Clouds gathered in the sky.
The wind seemed to be trying to tear the last leaves from the already bare trees.
The sun didn’t grace the land or the city’s inhabitants with its attention.
On a day like this, you should sit by a lit fireplace, wrapped in a blanket, sipping tea, and reading books, or telling stories to your friends and family.
You should, but not in this house and not in this family at this moment.
After all, this letter was the precursor to a new path in the family son’s life.
“So, how long are we going to sit like this?” Tom asked, breaking the silence that had fallen after the previous argument.
“Maybe if we don’t open it, Kael won’t have to go to this Hogwarts?” Sara answered, her voice trembling with worry.
She began nervously twisting a lock of her beautiful hair around her finger.
“Sara, you know we can’t do that,” the man said, barely concealing his pain.
“You remember Lord Black’s words.
And you read those books yourself.
It’s clearly stated what will happen otherwise.
Do you want to forget Kael?
Or do you want our son to die before he turns thirty, with his death blamed on ordinary cancer?
I don’t want that, and I don’t think you do either.”
“But what if he was just trying to scare us?
What if all that memory-erasing stuff is made up?” the woman said, her voice close to tears.
“Made up?” Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass raven figurine with ruby eyes.
“Is this made up too?
Or was your and your son’s teleportation made up?
Or the dog attack?”
At the sharp rise in his voice, Sara shrank her head into her shoulders.
She didn’t often see her husband angry.
Usually it was for a good reason, like when traffic made them late to get a patient to the surgical table.
Yes, it happened rarely, but it did happen.
Tears began to roll from the corners of the woman’s eyes.
Seeing this, Tom, who had fallen silent and seemed to have aged instantly, sank tiredly into his chair, hiding the figurine.
“Sorry, I…”
A heavy sigh came from the boy.
Even he was tired of this argument.
This was the fifth time they had argued about the same thing.
The fifth time, and neither of them wanted to give in to the other.
Lowering his gaze to the envelope, he read:
*Mr.
K.
Massimo, The Children’s Room, Second Floor, Massimo Residence, 32, Tunbridge Wells, Kent County.*
Having made up his mind, Kael opened the envelope.
The couple immediately averted their gazes from each other and turned them to the boy.
Tom perked up instantly.
Sara wiped her tears with a handkerchief and prepared to listen.
Let’s be honest: neither of them wanted to send the boy off to who knows where, for who knows what.
Opening the envelope and unfolding the letter, Kael read aloud:
*Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards)*
*Dear Mr.
Massimo,*
*We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Within three days, a professor will arrive to escort your son into the Wizarding World to purchase everything he needs.*
*Term begins on September 1.*
*Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress.*
Silence fell.
Only the husband and wife looked at their son.
After a moment, Tom broke the silence.
“Don’t you find anything suspicious about this?” he asked.
“Is this an advertisement?
If not, why list the headmaster’s awards and positions?
From what I understand, with all his posts, he’s not short on power.
Politics?
Or is this just how wizards do things?”
“You’re right about one thing, Father,” the boy said.
“All the positions he holds in leadership roles are the Wizengamot, the High Court of Magical England, and the Chief Warlock of the International Confederation of Wizards.
That confederation is respected by all other countries in the world.
Each of these positions implies a great deal of power.
The post of headmaster of England’s only wizarding school is also power, just of a different kind.”
“So your headmaster is a very successful politician.”
“It seems that way.
Perhaps not just a politician, but a leader as well?
I have no idea.
The important thing is that I’ll be studying under him for at least five years.”
“Enough with the politics,” Sara interrupted.
“Better keep reading the letter.”
*HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY*
*UNIFORM*
*First-year students will require:*
*Three plain work robes (black).*
*One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.*
*One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar).*
*One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings).*
*Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name tags.*
*COURSE BOOKS*
*All students should have a copy of each of the following:*
*”The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1″ by Miranda Goshawk*
*”A History of Magic” by Bathilda Bagshot*
*”Magical Theory” by Adalbert Waffling*
*”A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration” by Emeric Switch*
*”One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi” by Phyllida Spore*
*”Magical Drafts and Potions” by Arsenius Jigger*
*”Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” by Newt Scamander*
*”The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection” by Quentin Trimble*
*OTHER EQUIPMENT*
*1 wand*
*1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)*
*1 set of glass or crystal phials*
*1 telescope*
*1 set of brass scales*
*Students may also bring an owl, a cat, or a toad.*
*PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.*
“They might as well have written ‘Brooms are strictly forbidden.’ That’s like waving a red flag at a bull.
Don’t they understand that?
Who works there?” the woman began to get hysterical.
“It doesn’t matter who works there.
What matters is that I have to spend five years of my life there.
And I’ll only be able to come home on holidays.
“We’ll be fine, son,” Tom answered.
“The main thing is that you’re fine.”
“You know me.
Quieter than water, lower than the grass.
Plus, I have an idea.
Remember how you talked about not spreading the word about my status as a Blessed One?
Well, I suggest we also keep quiet about our knowledge of the Wizarding World.”
“But why, son?” his father asked.
“You see, we don’t know who will come.
We don’t know how they feel about us.
What if they’re like Lord Black?
If so, we shouldn’t even mention our knowledge.
What if they think we’ve stolen THEIR knowledge?
We definitely don’t need that.
But if they’re not, we haven’t lost anything.”
“I understand you, son.
I think that’s what we’ll do.
Sara, we know how much you hate politics, even on such a microscopic scale.
So Kael and I will do the talking.”
“Great.
So we’ll play the part of an ordinary Muggle family,” the boy said, making air quotes with his fingers.
“Why do we need all this?
Why can’t we just live normally?”
“Calm down, dear, calm down,” the man said, getting up from the table and putting his arm around Sara.
“Everything will be fine.
You know our son.
He’s a responsible guy.
Nothing will happen to him.”
“I know that, but when I think about him being away for a whole year, completely alone in a world that’s foreign to him.
What if something happens to him?”
“Mom,” Kael interrupted.
“Everything will be fine.
Besides, if I stayed in this world, I’d still leave to study somewhere.
You know that.
I wouldn’t miss the chance to learn something new.
And just sitting around at home?
Excuse me.
I’ve already read our entire library, even the part you hid from me.
So don’t worry.
Everything will be fine.”
“Oh, Kael.
Why are you so grown up?
I wish you were an ordinary child.
Playing, laughing, making friends, fighting.”
“You know I am who I am, Mom.
I can’t change that.
And what would I talk about with those little children?”
“How I wish you were still that little,” Sara sighed sadly.
“What’s the problem with that?” the boy asked.
“Have another one.
I’ve always wanted a brother or sister.
Maybe now’s the time?
You’ll be distracted, and when I come home, I’ll play the role of big brother.”
After that question, Tom and Sara fell into deep thought.
Kael was just glad he’d managed to distract them.
After all, these were his problems.
And he would solve them himself.
There was no need to drag his parents into it.
It would be better if they moved somewhere else entirely.
In about two or three years.
That’s when the real heat would start.
Well, that was a matter for the future.
For now, there were other problems, weren’t there?