Freaks: Year Two

You're Going To Hogwarts

It was one week until Hogwarts, and Alabaster had still not gotten his letter. He had been anxious all summer and now that there was only a week to go, his worries were at an all-time high. Not receiving your letter could only mean one thing; you did not possess any magical abilities.

Alabaster was going through his life, his whole life, trying to remember any moments he had ever displayed magical abilities. Anything from when he was four? No. Five? No. Six? No...why couldn't he remember anything from when he was six? It was like it was all gone. He was trying too hard to remember, why couldn't he remember? Was it normal to not remember the years from when you were four to six...seven. He could barely remember things from when he was seven. The only thing he could remember was his parents getting angry at him that they used the discipline curse for a really long time.

Why can't I remember anything? Alabaster thought, getting panicked. Why was everything only in little bits? Adelaide being born, his parents getting more and more frustrated with his lack of reading skills, him falling down the stairs, playing with Adelaide, falling down the stairs again, Atticus being born, helping his parents with caring for the two of them, his auntie coming over with his cousins, making up stories for his siblings since he could not read them, going to this one family-friend get together where he had met that kid. Girl? No, he was a boy. He had said so, and then he remembered the two of them getting yelled at and that was when his parents decided he would never be allowed to go to a get-together again. So, he had been out once and it had been a disaster. What else could he remember?

Falling down the stairs again! What was with him and the stairs?

All he needed was to possess magical abilities, he needed to get his letter to Hogwarts soon because if he didn't that would just be another way he was a disappointment to his parents. He had disappointed them enough.

He was in the living room watching the window hoping to see an owl appear. He had been doing this for the past week – okay the past month. Every time he saw any sign of movement, he would hop up, hoping it was an owl, but it was just another type of animal that could fly.

Adelaide came down the stairs and asked, "Any sign of it?"

Alabaster shook his head. "Not yet." Adelaide could practically see the nervousness radiating off of her brother. "It needs to arrive before our parents get suspicious that I may not be magical."

Adelaide came down the rest of the steps and sat down beside him on the couch. "Have you ever actually displayed magical abilities?"

"Not that I can remember," Alabaster said. He was so nervous, his sister had already displayed signs of magic when she broke a lantern once. Atticus was magical as he floated out of the crib once, and he could turn into a duck (not that it was a good thing). He sighed. "Adelaide, why can't I remember anything? It's like everything is blocked out. The only recurring thing I can remember is me falling down the stairs, why is that one of the only things I can remember?!"

"Well...you fall down the stairs a lot..." Adelaide said hesitantly.

Alabaster let out a heavy sigh and started to slip down off the couch. "Maybe that's why I can't read, I fell on my head too much, bonk!"

Adelaide scoffed and pulled him back onto the couch. "Now, now, don't be like that. Sit properly." His sister gave him such a stern look that he quickly straightened his back, fixing his posture. "Don't worry, the owls may just be slow."

Alabaster still looked anxious.

"You will get it," Adelaide reassured him. "I know you will."

Alabaster nodded slowly, half believing her. "I hope so."