Kenji Takahashi : Year One

Vincent

(Imagenotmine)

After about 10 minutes I turn off the shower and step out. I take a towel off the bathroom shelf and dry myself off. Wrapping the towel across my waist, I head upstairs to my room so I can get changed. I'm relieved to see no sight of Ben when I open my bedroom door. I change into new clothes fast and lay down on my bed. It feels as though every second is an hour as I recall what just happened. The next thing I know, my room is dark. Ben still hasn't returned to our room yet, maybe he fell asleep on the couch. I get up and walk over to my window, opening it and staring out at the empty street. I can see the lights and sounds of the city in the distance. When I look up into the sky I see something odd. There's a little blob that's getting bigger by the second. I stumble back as I notice it's some kind of creature heading straight for my window. The next thing I know I'm on the ground with a tawny owl sitting on my chest. It drops an envelope on me and flies to my bed. I turn on my lamp and open the letter. It's the same one from earlier. This time I look it over more carefully. This has to be real, I don't think anyone normal would be able to deliver a note by owl. Maybe in the olden days but certainly not in modern time.

"So do I just write a note back saying I'll come?" I ask the owl as if it will answer.

"Poor child, doesn't even know how this works. This is what Dumbledore gets for letting this kid get adopted by muggles. I say, what an old coon." The owl squawks and reaches its foot forward. There's a pouch tied to it.

"What's this? Is it something from the Dumbledore person you were talking about?" I untie the pouch from the owl's leg. It's really heavy.

"Wait, you can understand me!?" The owl hoots surprised, and jumps back a little.

"Yeah? Is that not normal for wizards?" I kind of just guessed talking with this owl was related to the wizarding school.

"Absolutely not! Anyway, this makes my job a lot easier. You'd be surprised at how many muggle raised wizards aren't able to get enrolled because of communication problems. That pouch contains money specific to the wizarding community. If you want, I can take you to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get your school stuff. That pouch contains enough to buy your school supplies plus a bit extra." The owl flies down and sits in front of me.

"I'm sorry, what is Diagon Alley? And how am I supposed to get there without my mom noticing that I'm gone?"

"Diagon Alley is a large shopping area for wizards. And don't worry about your mother, I can take care of that. It's just a little sneaking out, there's some bushes under your window so you could just jump out." The owl flies over to the window sill, "I'll be back tomorrow at 6am, have your window open for me, I'll wake you up." And without another word the owl flies off into the night. I look over at my alarm clock and see that it's 8pm already. Well that was certainly an odd interaction I just had. I go back to my bed and start to fall asleep.

-

"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!" I open my eyes to the owl from last night flying above my head.

"Shut it! You'll wake everyone up!" I whisper-yell at it.

"Right, sorry. I forgot your family sucks. Also my name is Vincent, don't hesitate to use it. No one uses my real name and it's getting very annoying." Vincent squawks, going over to the window.

"Get ready to go out, I'll be back in ten minutes after I get some yummy mouse breakfast." He flies out of my window again, leaving me in my room. Ben's still not in bed so I'm able to get ready fast without having to worry about waking him up. I'm barely able to finish getting dressed before Vincent comes flying through my window again.

"Ready to go?" He asks impatiently.

"I think, but I have to ask, how is my mom not going to notice I'm gone?" This question has been bothering me since he first suggested I sneak out.

"Good question. She probably will but that doesn't matter. You'll be off to Hogwarts in a month and a half anyway. Speaking of which, I need you to write a letter that says you'll be attending school." He flies over to my desk and taps his claws on a piece of paper.

"Right." I quickly write the letter and give it to Vincent.

"Okay, now I'll go get this back to Minerva. Do you think you'll be able to meet me at Charing Cross Rd at the pub that seems invisible to all passerbys?"

"Yeah I think, I could probably borrow Ben's bike to get there, it'll take me around 30 minutes." I've been there before, mom took us all to a museum nearby once. It was there that I accidentally made a stone statue wink and scare the crap out of Ash.

"Okay, do me a favor and wait out in the back of the pub. You'll have to go through it to get there. I should be there sometime around when you get there. Good luck, see you soon." And with that Vincent flies out of my room again. Yeah fuck jumping out the window I'll stick to sneaking out the front door. I quietly open my room door and sneak downstairs. Ben is snoring on the couch, he's definitely not gonna wake up anytime soon. I open the door and try not to let it creak. Once I get outside, I grab Ben's bike and head off.

After a couple wrong turns and 45 minutes of bike riding, I finally make it to the place Vincent was talking about. I hook Ben's bike up to a nearby lock post and head inside. It's completely packed and I struggle a little getting to the back door.