The Time Turner

Chapter Two

How did he know my name?

The thought made my head ache, and I felt like I was going to faint. Often my intuition was sharp; I could tell what was going to happen. Mostly I liked it, but this time I hoped it failed me.

"Did Loralie do something wrong?"

He shook his head and laughed. "No, no. She did nothing wrong," The man named Rubeus moved even closer, and my mom backed into the driveway, making room for him. I looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon, but nothing would be strong enough to take someone so big down.

"What's this about then?"

"You see, your girl has incredible abilities, things many people don't have." He bent down to reach mom's height. The closeness between them scared me. "Is Phil home yet?" Mom looked back at me, her eyes mirroring mine, both brandishing fear. Who was Rubeus? How does he know us? "I think this is a family matter."

Mom invited him in, though he said he'd prefer to stand outside. I figured it was because he knew he wouldn't be able to stand upright in our house. Mom called dad quickly, and he was home in 20 minutes.

Rubeus sat us all down in the living room as he stood hunched over. He told us the strangest things; I was a witch! I wasn't one to believe in magic, especially not from someone like him. But something inside me kept listening. My parents sat, their hands entwined in each others. They'd been holding the other's hand so tightly that their knuckles were turning white.

"We've been searching long and hard for your girl, Mr. and Mrs. Treblin. She has gifts." He put a wide smile on his face and leaned into us. "This isn't something many prospective students turn down."

My dad scoffed. "What makes you think we're going to let our daughter leave this house with someone who claims they're taking her somewhere she can learn magic?"

Then, mom chimed in. "You have a lot of nerve coming in here with that story." She stood up and made her way to the telephone on the wall. "If you don't get out of my house right now I'm calling the cops!" But as her hand started to wrap around the phone it stood on its own, floating in mid air. Mom jumped away from it, swatting at the air. Dad jumped up to pull her away. I sat, staring in disbelief at the giant who claimed he knew magic.

"How...how did you do that?" I stammered.

He chuckled. "I told you, Loralie, you have magic in you. I do too, see?" He looked around for something, then smiled at a bowl of fruit on the dining table. He took out a wand, said some strange words, then an apple exploded. I pushed away from my seat, my eyes darting between the apple remains and Rubeus. "Don't worry. I don't do that to living things."

My parents and I found ourselves huddled in a corner, scared of what the giant man might do. But he looked sad, almost. "Well, you don't have to be afraid of me." He tried to sit down on the couch but, hearing a few pops and cracks, stood back up quickly. "I know it's a big decision, but I'd like to know soon. If you accept, which I hope you do, we have a lot of training to do."

"Training?" I took a step out towards Rubeus.

"Yes! Students usually begin at Hogwarts when they're eleven years old. You have..." He counted on his fingers, "around five years of catching up to do."

"How would that even be possible?"

"Well, of course we'd cut out anything irrelevant. But there's a nice room the school has set up for you so you can learn over the summer until the year begins. The rest, well, I'll continue to teach you after your classes are finished."