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Chapter One

I sat the closest to the window so I could feel the breeze hitting me. It was the end of August, and it was the hottest day of the year so far —— 35 degrees Celsius, which would be 95 degrees Fahrenheit. I was currently sitting in my treehouse with a few friends. Since our parents would not let us sit inside, we were playing a card game in the treehouse. 
Ginny was my favorite in our group and my best friend. She came from a bad family. Everyone in town thought she would turn out bad... including Ginny.

"20," said Chris as he glanced down at his cards. 

"21," called out Abby who was sitting across the table.

"Come on!" I muttered. "29."

"Hailey's lost," Abby started cackling. Looking at her, I wanted to push her out of the treehouse. Half of it was my competitiveness, but the other part that made me mad was her laugh. Her laugh sounded like a nail being hauled out of a rotten board. Abby was our friend, but she was the craziest one in our group. Her favourite sport was truck dodging —— which doesn't need any explanations. 

"I can't believe you're going away for school," Chris said before stuffed her cigarette she was currently smoking in her mouth. "Why would your parents send you away like that?"

"I don't know," I lied. I had to lie. A month ago, I finally received my acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even though I waited all summer for this, I couldn't tell my friends. How could I tell them that I was a witch? My parents —— who were not supportive —— nearly flipped out when they received my brother's Hogwarts acceptance letter. How would my friends react? How could they understand? 

"Hailey, time to pack!" I heard my father call. Abby and Chris groaned before we all tossed our cards on the table. My dad hated Abby and Chris; he believed they were bad influences on me. 

Climbing down the ladder, I hugged my two friends close before watching them run out of the yard and through the gate that led to the front yard. Swiping the sweat off my forehead, I rushed through the house and started packing my luggage. 

"Mom!" I yelled out my bedroom window. She was hanging laundry on a line and my father was watering the sunburned remains of the garden. "Do you know where my schoolbooks are?"

No answer. She didn't even turn to look at me. She has been this way all summer long. Whenever I would say something, it would take a dozen times before she even responded. It was like I didn't even exist.

"Mom," I called out again. Still, no answer. She never looked back at me, and she just continued putting clothes on the line.

"It's in Jacob's room," said my father. 

"Oh," I muttered. 

In June, my older brother, Jacob, was expelled from Hogwarts. My parents never told me why. But after they received the news, they waited for Jacob to return home. But he never did. It has been almost three months since he disappeared, and he has never been found. Since his disappearance, they haven't been able to put all the pieces back together again.

I watched my mother and father continue their work solemnly. My father was sprinkling water over plants and my mother was laying out clothes. It was like they were in their own world. They would go to work, do yard work, watch TV, eat, and go to sleep. They never talked that much to me or even to each other. I don't think this house has ever been so quiet.

I stood in the doorway of my bedroom and looked down the small hallway that led to Jacob's bedroom. Walking slowly over to the bedroom, I looked inside —— hovering over the doorway before stepping in. It looked completely the same. Nothing since then had been changed or moved. It was like a personal shrine of him. If we changed anything, the memory of Jacob would disappear. 

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⏰ Last updated: May 07, 2021 ⏰

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