ROTBFTD at Hogwarts: The Red Death

Of Wands and Secret Keeping

Jack's best shoes thudded against the floorboards as he paced back and forth at the bottom of the staircase. His eyes kept flicking to the Grandfather clock which stood in the corner of the foyer. He was wound up like a spring, and every second that passed only coiled him tighter.

Today was the day Professor Aster was taking him to Diagon Alley. A letter had arrived at the orphanage a week after the Professor's first visit, curtly informing Jack that he would be expected to be ready at 11 o'clock sharp. It was 10:58. Jack was ready.

"Do you know how long you'll be gone for?" Jamie asked. He sat on the bottom step, his chin resting on his hand, staring forlornly at the friend that was going on an adventure without him.

Jack paused in his pacing to pull the letter from inside his jacket. He'd handled it so much in the last few weeks that the edges of the parchment had started to soften and fray. One or two sentences had even been smudged or blotted by spilled cups of tea. After briefly skimming over the words, he gently placed it back into his pocket and resumed his pacing.

"No idea," he replied. Jamie sighed.

"All this fuss over your uniform," he muttered.

"Yeah," Jack said, deliberately glancing at the door instead of his friend. For what seemed like the hundredth time, he peered out of the dirty orphanage windows and into the open street. Still no sign of a car. Would a wizard even arrive in a car? Wouldn't he be more likely to come on a broomstick? Or a dragon? Did dragons even exist? Jack tried to imagine a dragon landing in Bonaventure Way. He pictured Professor Aster trying to tie said dragon to a lamp post so it wouldn't wander off, and snorted at the thought. He went to tell Jamie, but turned away to stop himself.

Jamie looked at him strangely and Jack felt a sharp stab of guilt. He kept forgetting that Jamie didn't know about Hogwarts. He didn't know about magic. He didn't know about any of it. As much as Jack wanted to tell him, the professor's letter had also reminded him of the dangers of telling normal people about magic. The risk of the secret getting out, of the entire wizarding world being revealed, was far too great. It was better for everyone that Jamie didn't know. Jack hated keeping such a big secret from his best friend, but he knew he didn't have a choice.

The clock chimed and Jack's head whipped around to look through the windows. Still nothing.

"He said he'd be here," Jack said.

Jamie opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say a word, he was interrupted by a firm knock at the door.

Jack practically launched himself across the room and flung open the door. Standing on the stoop, tapping his watch, was Professor Aster, looking rather impatient.

"Ah, Professor Aster," Mother Superior appeared behind Jack without a sound. Jack startled at the sound of her voice, but the professor merely blinked at her.

"Lovely to see you again, Mother," he nodded courteously.

"Have him back by suppertime, Professor," she said sternly. "Not a moment later."

Aster flashed a charming smile. "'Course."

As Jack walked out of the door, he looked over his shoulder at Jamie, standing solemnly behind Mother Superior. The smile on his face faltered with a fresh bout of guilt, but he forced himself to grin and wave goodbye. Jamie returned the gesture as Mother Superior shut the door.

As soon as it thudded closed, the professor hopped quickly off the steps and started off. He was so tall that Jack had to jog just to keep up with him. They rounded a nearby corner into a dark alleyway and the professor came to an abrupt halt.