The clock towers nearby started to ring. It was midnight. It was officially John Marino's 11th birthday. The eleventh birthday for a child in the wizarding community is a very important day, one that would shape the rest of their lives. It is the day they, if qualified, get their Hogwarts acceptance letter. This day would not be very different in that sense, John would receive his letter. But, as he is not in any normal, predictable circumstance, the day did not exactly go as planned for the wizarding community.
John woke up, a screech of an owl jolting him from his sleep. He looked around, his eyes barely open, until he saw an odd square of parchment by his feet. He groggily raised himself from the floor and took it in his hands, flipping it over. He dropped it almost immediately. On it were the words:
To Mr. John Marino
The Dumpster at the end of the Alley
Picadilly Circus
London, England.
Needless to say, he freaked out. Somebody was messing with him. He never told anyone his first name, let alone his last. He went by the name Warlock on the streets. Who could've known where he was that night? Nobody knew him, nobody seemed to care. He was just an orphan, right? He looked around and could see nobody. In frustration, he tore up the letter and picked himself up off the ground.
As he was leaving the alley, another screech could be heard. Another letter fell at his feet. He kicked it away and kept walking. The rest of the day continued like this. Letters would appear everywhere he went, owls would fly where he walked, and he couldn't get the smell of old parchment away from himself. After a good 8 hours of being pestered by letters, he stooped down and opened one. What lay inside was the most confusing part of the whole day.
Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr John Marino,We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
John was stunned, on the following pages there were books, school supplies, animals, and a request for a wand. Either this was some well thought-out prank, or this was real. He refused to believe it, but there was something in the back of his mind telling him John, this is where you belong. He kept reading and there was a small section speaking of the 'Leaky Cauldron', the place where you could find everything. If you could find it first. He decided to go looking for it.
He walked up and down, searching for this mysterious place. Everyone he asked laughed at him, told him he was looking for something that didn't exist. He traveled the underground, going stop by stop to see if it could be found. He came out of the Leicester Square Station and looked around, resting on the red phone box as he did so. He sighed, and looked up. Hanging from the edge of a dark building on the edge of the block hung a sign, an old sign that couldn't be read from a distance. John walked towards it, and on it were the words: The Leaky Cauldron. Taking a deep breath, he walked inside.
YOU ARE READING
John Marino and The Misinterpretation of Circumstance
FantasiaJohn Marino, formerly John Watson, was born into a family that wasn't his. He grew up, orphaned, his parents dying when he was young, leaving him alone. When he was 11, he received a mysterious letter to a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That was...
