𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 || 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

Chapter Four: Carriages, Thestrals, and Dragons, oh my!

Chapter Four: 

Over the next few weeks, Matty's life was filled with studying magic in secrecy. Her desk and bookshelves became filled with books about magic, magic creatures, and several other topics she'd be learning at school. It seemed like almost every day Professor Fig was bringing her another book to study. Not that she minded, it was something to keep her busy and it made her think a lot; she enjoyed it.

She was learning about things she didn't even think were possible. Of course, the idea of magic being real in her day was thought impossible, but she did believe in magic long ago. She believed that her ancestors had possessed it, but it was still magnificent to see how magic was still strong and alive now. Learning about the founders of Hogwarts was simply amazing too. Creating a whole school that children from different countries attend just to learn magic? It was an amazing concept to her.

"So, there were these four people, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin who came together and used their magic to create a school." Matty recited to her mom, looking down at her book. She had been pacing and reading it to her mother for the past twenty minutes while she was working in the kitchen. "And they created these houses, like in normal schools, and named the houses after their surnames." Matty continued, reading off the names of the Hogwarts Houses.

Ada nodded her head with a smile, she was glad to see her daughter taking so strongly to her work. "Gryffindors are known for their courage and bravery, Ravenclaw's are known for their wisdom and wit, Hufflepuff's are known for their loyalty and kindness, and Slytherins are known for their ambition and cunningness." Matty read. She looked up to her mother. "I think you'd be in Hufflepuff if you went to this school." She said with a big smile.

Ada chuckled a bit. "I'm glad to see you think I am kind and loyal." She spoke. "When you go... I think you'll be sorted into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. You are very smart, but you are also very brave and courageous."

"I'll take it," Matty said with a smile. She did wonder what house she'd be put in when she went to school. Were there houses that were more important than the others? Would you have certain responsibilities based on your house? It was a bit of a foreign thought to her since her school didn't have houses, but she knew other, non-magic schools did.

And as the days passed, Matty began to learn more and more. Nearing the 1st of September, Professor Fig started to teach her more about spellcasting. Since they had gotten approved by the Ministry to let Matty practice magic outside of the school, she was able to get a bit ahead with her spellcasting. She had been given a second-hand wand, which was still amazing to her. When she was given the wand for the first time, it felt like all the energy she had could be channeled through it, it felt so powerful.

She took to it pretty well, nothing about the wand rejected her, so she had taken that as a good sign. In a book about wands that Professor Fig had given her, she had read about how a wand could reject the holder if it was not the owner or did not work properly and cause some trouble. So, she was pretty happy about the wand working properly from what Professor Fig told her it was supposed to be like.

And when the day of September 1st came, Matty was up in her bedroom early in the morning, packing up all of the things that she'd need for school. Clothes, books, and other miscellaneous items that she felt like bringing. It reminded her of when she was moving to London from Ireland. They couldn't take much with them, so Matty had hand-picked everything she wanted to take with her to London. Of course, she took the more important things with her and left whatever was less important back in Ireland.

As she was packing up her things, she was about to close her luggage up when her eyes landed on a stuffed teddy that had been dubbed "Timothy" by a three-year-old Matty back when she was first gifted it. She looked at it for a long moment before just shutting her luggage and shutting the clasps. "I'm too old for that." She said to herself, shaking her head. But alas, only moments later, she grabbed Timothy and stuffed him in her satchel that she was always going to keep on her now that she was going to school, there was no way she was actually going to leave him behind.