A Whole New Game ( A Harry Potter Story )

Chapter 1

“Georgia! Stop playing about and go collect the eggs!”

My body tensed for a moment as my grandmother’s irritated voice broke my concentration. I watched as the forks I had been focused on keeping afloat wobbled in mid air and crashed to floor, making me flinch at the sound of metal hitting and scratching against stone.

I had been found out. My grandmother was standing in the doorway to the kitchen holding a worn wicker basket under her arm. I uncrossed my legs and slid from my position on the sofa, my legs wobbling slightly after being sat on for so long.

“Nana, do I have to? You saw me I’m getting really good at levitation. I just need a little more practise and I’ll be able to start trying heavier things.”

She narrowed her eyes at me causing the few wrinkles around her eyes to become more defined. I often wondered if other people’s grandparents were like this. My grandmother was 62 yet she still stood straight as a board at 6” with flaming red hair, only lightly touched with a hint of grey at her parting and electric blue eyes that looked young, aged, mischievous and wise all at once.

She strolled up to me making our difference in height seem more extreme and held out the basket.

“You have all the time in the world to practise, but only a few hours to collect those eggs. You remember the deal we made yes? I would teach you what spells I could just so long as you pulled your own weight around the farm. And speaking as a former teacher, you’re making fine progress. Now go.”

A small pout crept onto my lips and sighed grabbing the basket from her hands. I walked around the sofa to the back entrance to the garden and bit my lip, weighing the possible outcomes of bringing up a certain taboo subject. I turned the rusty door handle and finally decided on trying my luck. I took one step out the door and let loose what was probably about to become the start of an argument.

“I would make even better progress if you would let get a wand.”

I slowed my steps slightly and held my breath waiting for any number of old reused excuses.

Now isn’t the best time Georgia.

Ask again next summer.

It’s...just not safe right now.

No.

“Georgia, we’ve been over this countless times! It’s not a good time for us to be going out to strange places. It’s best if we just stay here.”

I gripped the handle of the basket so tight I thought my knuckles would burst through my skin. I stomped into the hen house not even trying to avoid the chickens that just clucked and squawked loudly running to get out of my way. I heard her sigh loudly, but I didn’t bother replying. I focused on roughly pushing aside straw and dropping eggs into the basket, thinking of things I was too afraid to say. I waited till I heard the back door click shut before turning a sour look over my shoulder.

My grandmother and I had always been close, best friends even, and even we fought occasionally but the one thing we had been arguing about for the last 2 years was why she kept us so...trapped here. I couldn’t remember my parents all that well my grandmother had never told me exactly what happened but one day when I was really small they just disappeared and never came back. And after that all I could remember was me and her being on this farm in the middle of nowhere and no one else. When we discovered that I could do magic just like her I thought that would be it. We could finally leave the farm and my life could actually begin. 2 years later and you can see how well that turned out.

What I couldn’t understand was why she was doing it. We both hated it and she wouldn’t even tell me why things had to be like this. When I was younger I had found hundreds of pictures of her as a younger woman in different places around the world with different people of all shapes and sizes and I could tell she missed it, but she still kept us both here far away from anyone, let alone anyone else who could do magic.

I spent the next 2 hours collecting eggs, the anger slowly dripping out of my system. I bent my legs and let the almost overflowing basket of eggs lightly drop to the floor. I raised my hands over my head, enjoying the crack and stretching feeling of my bones and muscles. I moved a stray hair out of my eyes and picked up the basket, making my way back inside the house. I stuck my head through the door looking around for any sign of my grandmother, not feeling in the mood to see her. The kitchen was empty so I walked in and put the basket of eggs on the counter. I pulled one the old wooden chairs out from the table and flopped down, flattening out the red knitting table cover.

Our kitchen was probably the messiest room in the house. The wall paper had been a cheerful yellow at some point but had faded and mostly peeled off over the years. The oak cabinets were chipped and creaky and occasionally we would be woken up in the middle of night by one of the doors falling off at the hinges. And no matter what we did there were always dirty dishes in the sink ready to be washed even when we hadn’t eaten yet that day.

I waited patiently for my grandmother to come strolling in but the minutes just kept on rolling by with no sign of her at all. I finally gave up on sitting still and went to put the basket of eggs in the cupboard when I detected the slightest bit of moment out of the corner of my eye. I whipped round, my hand scrambling on the counter for something heavy in case it was mouse but when I found no rodent running across the ground I looked up to walls and saw a flimsy piece of paper fluttering on the light breeze. It was taped to the wall beside an old family picture of my mother, father and grandmother; they were all standing in some sort of forest waving their wands at the camera covered from head to toe in leaves, twigs and various small cuts and bruises, yet still smiling. I pulled the piece of paper and brought it closer to my face giving me a clearer view of my grandmother’s neat, but tiny handwriting.

“Georgia, I’ve gone out to get a few supplies. Please put the eggs in the far left cupboard and then you can return to your practising. I will be back possibly late tonight so do not worry if I am not back by the time you go to bed. Stay out of trouble,

Love Nana.”

I felt any leftover irritation at my grandmother sizzle out; even with a simple “I’ll be back letter” I could feel the love coming off it. I pressed it to my chest and grabbed the wicker basket off the table. I walked into the hallway and jogged up the old stairs recognising each stairs individual stress creak.  I gently opened the door to my room and took my shoes off, gently nudging them to the side before making a dramatic leap onto my bed.

The springs creaked lightly and my body bounced a few times before settling comfortably on the lilac duvet and throw. My bedroom was simplistic and I wouldn’t have had it any other way even if you tried to force me. The walls were painted a similar shade of lilac and mainly bare, save for a single calendar stuck on with blue tack. The carpet was a darkened cream littered with random bits and pieces of things like books, newspapers and old toys I could never find any room for. And in the corner there was a single wooden desk with neatly stacked piles of paper and a few pens ready in case I ever wanted to jot a random thought down.

I threw an arm over my eyes blocking out nearly everything apart from a tiny ray of light. I wasn’t even angry anymore but I still felt bad. I always did after me and my grandmother left a conversation on bad terms.  Arguing was an unavoidable thing for just about everyone, but what made it worse for us was that growing up with her had given me the same stubborn personality and unwillingness to back that she had. I fiddled with the piece of paper mindlessly for a few moments as the familiar haze of sleepiness came over me. I took a deep breath in and loosened my shoulders.

I would apologize to her as soon as she came back.

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Hiya guys, I'd appreciate a little bit of feedback on this if you don't mind. ^^ You know comments, constructive criticism, stuff like that. Thanks