Edge of Reality // Oliver Wood

✧˖* Prologue *˖✧

For Robin/our Lizzie

Merry Christmas

✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*

shifting /ˈʃɪftɪŋ/ adjective

To transfer your consciousness to another reality.

✧˖* Prologue *˖✧

One, two, three, four, Lizzie counts, carefully focussing on every single beat. The blonde's eyes are glued shut and a crease starts to form on her forehead from focussing so hard.

Five, six, seven, eight, n-

Her awful day at school spooks through her head, making her lose count. Homework has been piling up and she suddenly remembers she still has to mail her resume to the newly opened coffee shop around the corner. All of her thoughts are making her lose track of her counting. "Come on, Lizzie. You will shift," she whispers to herself.

She takes a deep breath in through her nose and feels her stomach swell up with air. The sweet orange and cedarwood candle that she had purchased off of Etsy spreads a scent throughout the room that reminds her of what she was doing this all for in the first place.

"I'm coming to you," Lizzie whispers again.

One, two, three, four, she starts again, this time fully focussing on her body. She feels the tips of her fingers start to tingle.

Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

"I am shifting", she repeats the affirmation again and again and again. The doubt that she had felt before leaves her mind as she starts hearing faint voices coming from far away.

Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.

"I am shifting', she says once more. Even though her blanket usually weighs her down, she doesn't feel it at all anymore. Instead, she feels like she's floating.

Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty.

"I am going to Hogwarts." A sudden wave of heat warms her face, as though she's sitting around a crackling fire. She keeps counting until she reaches 100. She doesn't hear anything. In fact, her surroundings are completely quiet.

"I did it wrong again," Lizzie groans, feeling incredibly disappointed with herself. Why can't I get this right? The poor girl has been trying to shift for about 2 months now and she still couldn't do it despite her countless attempts.

Right as she wants to twist on her side, fall asleep, and give up on shifting forever, a certain noise catches her attention.

"Lizzie, are you going to lay on the couch all day, or are you going to come down to the quidditch pitch with us and kick Gryffindor's arse?"

Lizzie's eyes grow wide. Her bed isn't her bed anymore, nor is her room still her room. She glances around dumbfoundedly at the yellow and black dormitory. A fire is lit right in front of her, warming up the spacious room. She looks around in awe. Different plants hang from the ceiling and others sit on the windowsills that give a beautiful view of the rippling grass and dandelions outside. Even though it's almost winter, the sun is beaming through the windows. Almost as though it's magic. Three honey-coloured wooden beds are placed in the far corners of the room, each covered in patchwork quilts that seem so comfortable you wouldn't want to sleep underneath anything else.

On the other side of her dorm is a round door that leads to the common room of the Hufflepuff House. Upon entering, she is welcomed by numerous Hufflepuff students all getting ready to start their day, including the owner of the familiar voice.

"Lizzie! I'm serious!"

She focusses her gaze on the girl standing at the bottom of the staircase, completely geared up in the famous quidditch uniform. Long blonde hair frames the petite girl's face, and Lizzie realises it's Hannah. Hannah Abbott has been friends with Lizzie ever since they met in their first year on the Hogwarts Express, at least, that's what Lizzie had written in her script right before going to bed.

"Holy shit!" Lizzie exclaims as she takes in the massive common room, her curse booming through the crowded basement. Every face turns towards her as Lizzie realizes she screamed the words out loud.

"You good there, Liz?" Hannah asks confusedly as she walks up a couple of steps towards the dumbfounded girl.

I've shifted! Lizzie screams internally, full of glee. She's so happy that she almost doesn't hear what Hannah says next.

"Are you seriously still in your pyjamas when the match is starting in 20 minutes?"

"No! Yes! I mean, yeah. Let me get changed really quickly," Before she can fully wrap her head around the situation, Lizzie turns around and walks back into her dormitory. She struts over to -what she assumes is- her closet and in no time she's dressed and walking next to Hannah to the quidditch pitch, ready for her first real game.