I don't get some people. Even the pope, though he spends every waking moment thinking about God, still judges people. He says he's catholic and speaks in mass, but he goes around gossiping and judging others. That's what I think about as my carriage bounces on a jagged rock path. My mother is stroking my hair back gentley and my father is staring out the window. I think about the stache of books I hid under the carriage seat. My parents would be upset if they found them. They think I read too much. I like to read anything and everything I can get my hands on.
"Mother? How much longer?" I ask, eyeing the books below me.
"Just up here Harry, dear." She replies looking up at me (I'm quite a bit taller than her). She flashes me her white, queen smile at me.
Our summer palace is near a small villiage close to the edge of our kingdom and a large forest. We've gone there every year since I was very young and I've never even been to the villiage. My mother says it's dangerous and that there's talk of witches lurking about there. I've never encountered a witch, but mother says they're old and ugly hags, and I've read stories about witches cursing people and torturing them. Needless to say, I hope I never do encounter one.
As we pull up to the palace, I notice servants rushing about. Carrying bed sheets, pillows, flowers, or paintings. All nervously preparing for our arrival. My father pushes open the carriage door and escourts my mother and I out. I take my first look out over the vast mountainside below our palace. There is a small villiage sorrounded by farms and houses. I looked out at the forest, searching for a certain cottage that fascinated me since I was young. A tiny little cottage barely noticable under the trees. Right at the very edge of the forest. Whoever lived there must very much prefer to be secluded. I thought about that small cottage as I gathered my books and tucked them away in my trunk. As usual, the coachman was my lookout. He knew my parents would be upset if they found my books.
As I lay in bed that night reading, I thought about the villiage and how I'd never been there. The next day, I was to practice archery in the large backyard field, but I made other plans.
