|| Enchanted || Lily Luna Potter

CJ's Strange Uncle Part 2

7:00am...

Dinner with Drell was extravagant. I say the word because he made a delicious feast on the table with silverware and napkins out of nowhere and actually brought a bed for Jack to sleep in the living room. Either he's really organizing or he's weirder than anybody in California. Nonetheless the dinner was freaking nice. Kudos to my participation to online cooking class. I was in my PJs, sleeping on the floor with Leila using my sleep bag. It's kinda weird but I always get nightly dreams of myself swimming through the ocean and enjoying a sunny breeze. In the ocean, I always felt entirely free and let go of anything stressful or any sadness. A love for the ocean since I was practically two or three. The difference is in the dream there's a dark horse riding on the sand. All I could make out is he or she was smiling while riding it. He or she wasn't wearing swimwear but casual. Who was that person? Why they were smiling? It would usually mean something good. The silence especially in the dream was peaceful till..."River! River! Wake up!" Someone whispered/yelled. I ignored and covered my face. "River! Please! It's Uncle Drell!" That pounding voice whispered. Wait, Drell? I rubbed my eyes repeatedly and awaken to see CJ kneeled beside me. She seemed freaked out and shocked altogether. I groaned but yawned. "What do you want CJ?" I muttered tiredly. She began pulling my arm crazily. "Cmon, you both need to get up! It's Drell!" She shouted before flickering the bedroom light on. The blinding light made me shield my face. Leila rubbed her eyes and stretched. "What's going on?" She asked sleepily. CJ inhaled a deep breath. "It's Uncle Drell! He's gone!" She panicked. I looked at her in disbelief. How silly. He must've went to work or grabbing food. "Quit panicking. He's probably picking up drive-thru breakfast for us." I told her. Leila checked her phone. "It's 7am. She's probably right." She agreed. CJ raised an eyebrow. "About being gone?" She asked. "Or the breakfast?" I asked. It took a moment till she spoke. "Gone." She answered. She cheered quietly. I rolled my eyes and sat upwards. "Let's say he is gone means he left four teenagers alone like they should for their parent free weekend. We'd be lucky if he's still gone by the last week of May." I said. CJ almost spoke till Jack ran inside with his messy bedhead. "Guys! Drell's gone! He's gone!" He panicked worriedly. Leila's eyes widened. CJ smirked and crossed her arms. I playfully rolled my eyes. "Should've stayed with my brothers." I mumbled. She motioned us to follow. "Cmon! I found something really insane!" She told us. We followed her behind to downstairs.

In the living room, we rushed to Jack's bed where CJ found a letter on the couch. She sighed. "I got up before you and decided to come downstairs for breakfast. Drell wasn't anywhere to be seen till I found this." She explained. I took the letter and began reading.

Dear CJ & her friends,
It pains me that my job needs me right now. It pains even more considering I need a vacation and I guess my vacation would've been with you. The life and work I have is very different from the one you have here. I wish you could've known sooner...but you were too young to understand. Probably should've known on your eleventh birthday but your parents would've been concerned about that 'different life' you deserve to know. Anyways, I'll be coming home around the third day maybe. Use your phones wisely, eat frozen pizzas and don't follow me from the fireplace.

Your Uncle Drell

We shared confusion and shock. CJ looked at the letter weirdly. "Different life? What kind of different life Uncle Drell have?" She wondered. I shrugged confusedly. "And he said your parents would've been concerned and you should've known on your eleventh birthday?" I said. Jack stared at a black pot of snowy-white powder beside the fireplace. "Whoa...check this out!" He said. Our attention diverted to the black pot of white powder. Leila crossed her arms. "What is this?" She asked. I hummed in response. "Pretty much a pot full of powder. What's that for? To make more fire?" I asked. The whole time CJ stared at the letter then the pot for a minute. Leila stretched and yawned. "If it is, at least we can make more." She said. CJ was slightly gulping and managing to breathe. "That...is not...for fire." She managed to say. Jack looked at her weirdly. "CJ, what is up with you?" He asked. I scoffed. "If it's not fire then what is it?" I asked. She smiled brightly. "It's Floo powder! Witches and wizards use The Floo Network as transportation from one Wizarding world to another. I know this because they look exactly like what you see right now and why Drell told us not to follow him from the fireplace. Guys, you know what this means..." She trailed off. Oh lord. I'm getting real tired of this nonsense or joke CJ's pulling. Drell only left because he has a different job like traveling. Jack smirked. "Wizarding world? You mean Drell's a- I cut him off. "Nope! Nope! Drell is not a freaking wizard. This could all be a prank or joke your Uncle's pulling. Maybe we're getting punked or watched by camera." I disagreed. Leila huffed. "Can't believe I'm saying this but I agree with River. His different job- CJ cut her off. "Is in the Wizarding world! Think about it! He's never been around my family half the years, he wanted to tell me about his lifestyle once I turned eleven and thought my parents would be worried. Not to mention this pot looks exactly like Floo powder. This is not a joke River. It's all here." She ranted. Jack scoffed, chuckling. "This means your Uncle might be a wizard and you might be a witch? No offense but this Harry Potter stuff is so nerdy." He giggled. I smirked innocently. "My first thought when we saw Sorcerer's Stone." I added. CJ returned the gesture. "Says the girl who thought Ginny was hot." She teased. We started arguing except Lily. She groaned and flunked herself on the couch. We still argued as she puffed annoyedly. She hopped off the couch. "NOW STOP!" She yelled. A moment of silence struck. I smiled sheepishly. "Damn. And we thought Drell was louder." I said. CJ nodded in agreement. Leila inhaled a deep breath. "Nobody knows what Drell's life or job is. Arguing about this isn't gonna help nor calling out something "nerdy". No matter if we believe her or not, CJ could try proving what she believes is true so we can figure out where Drell is or why he's left. It's only seven in the morning and I still hadn't freshen up so hurry up!" She said, growling at the last part. I sighed. "Fine. Whatever. I'll sit here and wait till I can go to sleep." I said and flunked myself on the couch. Jack flunked beside me. "Same here." He said. CJ rubbed her chin as if she's thinking. "Well, in order to transport somewhere else, we'll need to make fire first. My Dad still has wood in the garage. Jack help me." She told us. What do she mean? He got off the couch as they walked to the garage. I looked at Leila oddly. "What is she talking about?" I asked. She shrugged. "All I can say is let's find out." She said.

******

CJ and Jack returned with many pieces of wood, criss-crossing them in the fireplace. "Next we need is a match or lighter to light them up." She said. I smirked. "Got ya covered." I said, pulling out a match and lighter from my pocket. They stared at me in shock. "What?" I asked annoyedly. Jack raised an eyebrow. "You carry a match and lighter in your pocket?" She asked. Leila put her hands together as if she's praying. "I can only pray you're aren't smoking." She added. CJ smiled amusingly. "It reminded me when we were eleven. We tried lighting up paper and accidentally set Bredia's laptop on fire." She remembered. We laughed. "We used towels to smack those little fires!" I laughed. Leila nodded disapprovingly. Jack was uncontrollably giggling. I sighed happily and handed her the tools. She lit up two matches instantly, throwing them on the wood. It surprisingly aroused with smoke and soon lit when she threw a third match. Leila was still asking questions about me using matches. Before I knew it, the fireplace was lit and warming up. CJ smiled excitingly. "Yes! All we have to do is throw a pinch of powder into the fire. The color will turn green before we could step in it." She told us. We nodded...till we whipped our heads in shock. "Step in it?" We asked in unison. She nodded. I cleared my throat and got off the couch. "Excuse me, nobody said anything about getting burned! Are you crazy, Ceej?! I don't wanna be cooked salmon for the 6pm feast!" I complained angrily. Jack cringed painfully. "And I'd like to eat salmon stead of being roasted beef." He added. Leila gulped nervously. "CJ, this sounds really dangerous and hazardous. Fire could also kill." She said. She rolled her eyes. "Will you chill out? Once the fire's green, it'll be completely harmless to get burned. We just have to announce our destination clearly and we'll be on our way." She assured. She grabbed a pinch of powder and tossed it into the fire. Suddenly, the flames turned green. Our eyes widened including hers. "What the hell?" I whispered. "Say that again." Jack whispered in my ear. CJ smiled widely. "I did it! I did it! It really is Floo powder!" She beamed. I smirked. "Impressive Ceej." I said. Jack smiled. "Cool!" He said. Leila covered her mouth in shock. "I'm really speechless..." She trailed off. CJ cleared her throat. "Now it's time. To say the name of our destination, we...or I need to sound very clear or else we'll land in some dark place." She said. I fake smiled. "And if we do, we're leaving you there." I said through gritted teeth. She stuck her tongue at me. Jack huffed. "Don't mean to interrupt but don't we need to change? Unless we'll appear to the public wearing pajamas." He said. Leila snapped her fingers. "Exactly!" She agreed. CJ groaned annoyedly. "Hurry up! Hurry!" She urged. We rushed upstairs to change and freshen up.

After a full three minutes, we ran downstairs to where the fire's still burning green. CJ handed me the pot's handle and inhaled a deep breath. "We're going in." She said firmly. I smirked. "This will be fun!" I teased. We cautiously stepped into the fire and felt nothing hot through our bodies. Leila breathed nervously. "Alright CJ, say it." She said. CJ cleared her throat. "Diagon Alley." She simply said. We whipped our heads at her. "What?!" We shouted but the green flames grew bigger and whooshed us through a quick whirlwind.