The Blind Witch

1 - My trip to Diagon Alley

*Full credit to J.K. Rowling for the world and characters of Harry Potter. I own nothing but the Miller family*

“Amber.” Someone poked me.

“What? What?” I turned my head to the side.

“Amber, you’ve got a letter,” my older sister, Jessica, said.

“Well...read it,” I said

“It says you’ve been accepted into Hogwarts, Am,” she said brightly.

“That magic school?” I asked. “You and Darren and Sage go there, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the school,” Darren, Jessica’s twin brother, said.

“Mum and Dad are going to be excited,” our older brother, Sage, said.

“We will have to go get my stuff soon, won’t we?” I asked.

“Tomorrow, of course!” Sage clapped his hands together. “We’ll get your books and wand and everything! An owl and some robes...the whole package deal!”

I inclined my head towards his voice.

“The package deal...” I muttered. “I didn’t think I’d make it.”

“Why not?” Darren asked.

“You know,” I said, pointing to my eyes.

“Oh yeah. Your ‘specialness,’” he said.

I nodded and got up. Then, as I turned, I tripped.

“You alright?” Jessica giggled.

“Fine,” I said, getting up. My skin felt a bit itchy from the carpet.

“Do you need help?” Jesica asked.

“No,” I said.

I held my hand out in front of me and walked forward until I felt the wall. You see, I’m blind. I’ve been blind since I was three, at least that’s what my family says. Sometimes I thought I could see flashes of the world. It’s absurd, I know. I think sometimes my brain is just aching to see color and images and it makes up everything.

Having my blindness, I’ve been afraid my whole life. I’m afraid of being left behind, burnt, stabbed, drowned, all of those things. But, miraculously, it never happened. I was great at hitting a baseball, I had a great nose, I was almost faster than my Dad (fastest guy in our family); my other four senses seemed to have been strengthened because of my blindness. I’m not sure if magic has anything to do with it all, but I don’t care. I’m just happy that I’m not dead yet.

~~~

The next day my family climbed into the car and headed off towards London.

“Uniform list, Sage,” Dad said from the driver’s seat.

“You’ve been through it twice,” Sage complained.

“An old man forget’s these things,” Dad said.

“An old man?” Sage snorted. “You’re thirty-three!”

“Please,Sage,” Mum said.

Sage took a deep breath. I heard a piece of paper on my right.

“First-years need three sets of black robes,” he said in a bored tone. “One black pointed hat for day wear, Amber; a pair of protective gloves; and a black with silver fastening winter coat. She needs a name tag as well.”

“Books?” Mum asked.

“Standard book of spells by Miranda Goshawk;” Sage continued. “A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot; Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling; A Beginners’ Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch; One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore; Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander; and The Dark Forces:A guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble.”