Silent Secrets

Chapter XVI

The days flew by faster than I'd thought possible. My father had taken to ignoring me, sometimes leaving a list of things for me to do on the counter, but mostly just leaving me to my own business. I sometimes went on escapades to the village, reveling in my new found freedom--after all, I had no reason to stay. He wasn't hurting me, and was in fact giving me the best thing he could: his silence.

Each morning I'd wake up and creep quietly to the counter, checking for a list of demands that needed to be done. There usually wasn't one, but if there was I would hustle through the chores as quickly as possible before returning to the kitchen and fixing a small breakfast of cereal that I'd stumbled upon in the cupboard and drinking a glass of milk. Then I would hurriedly slip through the back door and spend the day wandering the village, pausing to look in an interesting shop or flip through an abandoned paper. Sometimes I'd venture into the forest, exploring it's leafy green depths before heading home by dusk.

Once I got back, I'd grab my now-normal dinner of bread, butter, and water before squirrelling myself away in my closet. Some would complain about the blandness and repetitiveness of my supper, but I was just grateful to have two meals regularly each day. When I'd finished eating, I would practice the wand-illuminating charm and would read through my well-worn schoolbooks, sometimes pausing to practice an certain incantation or charm, though my favorites continued to be 'lumos' and 'nox'. When I grew tired, I carefully replaced my book along the wall and extinguished my wandlight, before curling up and slipping into a peaceful rest.

It shocked me how quickly the days seemed to speed by. One day--the papers claimed it was August 21st--when I came home, I found a rickety old trunk in front of my closet door. I stared at it for a while, confusion wrinkling my brow. I bit my lip nervoulsy; should I ask my dad about it? Or would he get mad and start to notice me again? There was no way to tell. Common sense and experience told me to keep my mouth shut, but a kernel of bravery and brashness had hardened inside me over the past month of silence. I supposed this was why my father always kept such a tight leash on me: freedom was definitely going to my head.

"Dad?" I forced out a low whisper, fear paralyzing my vocal chords.

He sat in his regular chair by the fire, flicking through a newspaper. "Mm?" he grunted at the sound of my voice.

"Um...why is there a trunk in front of my closet?" I asked haltingly.

"You're going to need to get your stuff to that school of yours somehow, aren't you? Your uniforms came today, also--I threw them in there. Best pack quickly, we're leaving on the thirty-first."

"B-but Dad..."

"Are you arguing with me?"

"N-no sir," I said. "It's just--term doesn't start until September 1st."

My father heaved a long-suffering sigh, craning hs neck toward me as he attempted to make eye contact. "Not that I need to explain things to an idiot child like yourself, but you may as well know. King's Cross Station is in London. London is five and a half hours away. We can't reach the station by eleven unless we leave the night before. Be ready to go then."

"Yessir," I quickly agreed, hurrying away before his irritation became anger.

I carefully packed everything I owned into the cavernous trunk, smiling lovingly as I placed my links to the wizarding world into the trunk. It occurred to me that my father could merely be tricking me into giving him full reign over all my things, but his explanation made sense.

The only things I held back were my wand and Hogwarts: A History, which I had taken to reading at night. Both were items that I could easily carry into the train, and my wand was the most important thing I owned. Naturally I would keep it with me whenever I could.