Like A Flower Blooming

Chapter 9

Groggy, I stood up and started to follow. Soon, I was in my PJ’s and in a soft warm bed. I closed my eyes and fell instantly asleep. I was flying over a city. There were lights on and as my body descended, I saw dozens of Halloween decorations. 

I landed in a field and looked around. A sign told me I was in a town called Godric’s Hollow. Why did that sound so familiar? I walked down into a street. Something was propelling me forward. I couldn’t stop. 

Suddenly, I tripped in front of a broken-down cottage. Half of the house had been blown apart. I heard a terrifying scream and looked around me. Nothing.

A cruel voice said,” Step aside, girl!”

I was starting to get creeped out. There was no one around me yet I knew that I wasn’t imagining it. Something awful must have happened here. But why was I dreaming about it?

I looked down on a tiny sign and read the words engraved on it: We will always remember you, James, Lily and Arianna Potter. 

I woke up with a scream. I was shaking like mad. There was sunlight everywhere. 

“ Are you alright, Ari?” asked Hermione, sitting on my bed. 

“ I’m fine. It was just a dream, a bad one,” I said. 

“ What happened in it?” she asked.

“ I was flying then I landed somewhere.... in a town called Godric’s Hollow. And.... I saw this house. It was completely wrecked. And there was screaming and voices and a sign that had my parents names on it... and mine. That was my home... before You-Know-Who came and completely destroyed my life,” I said, miserably. Her eyes turned soft. 

“ I’m really sorry about your parents,” said Hermione.

“ Thanks.” Saying sorry never made it better. They were dead. I got up and walked to my wardrobe. I opened it to see that all my stuff had been hung up, nice and neatly. I looked around, my books were on the bedside table with a bag next to it and a few pieces of paper. I pulled out a few clothes and threw them in the direction of my bed. 

When I looked back, they were nice and neat on the bed like I’d laid them there carefully. I pulled them on and picked up the pieces of paper. One was my schedule for the week, another one was the stuff I had to bring to each class, and the last one was a Welcome to Gryffindor House! 

I stuffed them in the bag with the stuff I needed for the classes for today: Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Defense Against The Dark Arts and Flying Lesson. Ron was in the common room when I walked downstairs.

“ Hey,” he said nervously.

“ Hey. Are you ready for classes?” I asked.

“ Yeah,” said Ron, his face turning green. 

Downstairs, in the Great Hall, Ron cheered up at the sight of food. I filled my plate and started eating. Hermione was reading one of our class textbooks. 

“ Didn’t you read those over the summer?” I asked, cheerfully.

“ Of course, but I want to make sure that I memorize everything,” she said, looking up at me. Memorize? I hadn’t memorized at all. I pushed my plate away, feeling sick.

Me and Ron walked to Transfiguration. I tried to ignore the staring and pointing as I walked down the hallways. McGonagall was tough like yesterday. She gave us a thirty-minute lecture about not misbehaving in her class, turned her desk into a pig and made us start on working to turn a button into a pin. 

In the end, Hermione was the only one who managed to do it which got a smile from McGonagall and glares from us. Charms was next. Professor Flitwick was the guy who taught it. 

“ Remember the twist and flick!” he shouted out in his squeaky little voice as he leapt up and down, almost falling off his stack of high piled books. 

The Potions Master, Snape, was cold and cruel. He shot a pained look at me as he read out my name. I had a feeling we were going to get along fabulously....NOT. 

Professor Quirrel’s classes were a joke. Everyone made fun of his strange turban and I could see why. It gave him a pale, pinched look like he wanted to bolt out of his classroom. And I think he did.

He even looked terrified as he talked about what we were going to learn this year: vampires, werewolves, Kappa, unicorns and other stuff I’d thought had only been myths. He even looked terrified at the sight of us. I felt kinda bad for him. What had happened to him?

I’ve got to admit.... I’d always wanted to learn how to fly. Just soaring up above the clouds and laugh at the Dursleys as I left them. That was my favorite daydream when I was stuck at the Dursleys. 

When I learned at lunch that we had to practice with them, my stomach dropped to the ground. Hermione was reading furiously a book called “ Quidditch Through The Ages.” Sometimes, she talked, boring us with tips from it. Ron fell asleep after 5 minutes and landed in his mashed potatoes.

When the bell rang, I shook him awake and we trudged down to Flying Lessons. A woman in gray and black robes and a whistle was waiting for us with lots of brooms lying on the ground.

“ Stand next to a broom and wait for my signal!” she ordered with a blow of her whistle. I walked up towards one and waited for everyone to get there.