Ordinary.

The First Letter

     *Just so everyone is aware, I do not own the Harry Potter franchise. This is my own story though, based off of the novels.

     When the world is turned upside down, the only way to look is up. I don't know what I would do if I simply did nothing.

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It was an ordinary Tuesday morning. The paper boy dropped off the morning news on the Taylor's front doorstep. Ordinary street. Ordinary house. Ordinary neighbors, except for the Taylors. The Taylors were quite the mix. Mr. Taylor had a lean structure, and looked like he hadn't eaten in days. But what stood out most was the green eyes that sparkled with young inspiration. He had jet black, messy hair, and looked particularly young for his age, unless you look at the wrinkles on his forehead cause by the worry and apprehension that he had been feeling all morning. He sat at the uneven wooden table placed in the breakfast nook. His foot tapped the smooth tile as he waited. The clock hand moved ever so slightly, as Mr. Taylor checked it every couple of minutes. He was so worried that he completely forgot to retrieve the paper that had been absorbing all of the rain water that was collecting on his porch. If he had looked at the paper, he would've known that last night, there was a strange attack down Godric's Hollow. He would have known that it would be no mystery on what caused it. He would have known what a special, yet sad day it was... for the Potters. But since he didn't read the paper, and didn't clean up the rain water, and didn't pay attention to the paper boy, he didn't know. What he also didn't seem to know, was that his daughter was waiting patiently upstairs for him.
Olivia Clementine Taylor. What a beautiful name. The girl was a little over one year of age, but that didn't mean she wasn't a fast learner. Every morning, she knew feeding time was at 8:30 A.M. sharp. At 3 P.M. she knew that it was nap time, and at 7:45 P.M. it was bed time. But today, she had come to the element of surprise, when it was nearly 10 in the morning. Nobody had come to give her breakfast. Nobody seem to have noticed. As she felt her stomach rumble, she looked out the window from her crib. She saw these gorgeous birds swoop out of no where. She watched them with awe, as one of them landed on the window sill. The bird stared at her with big golden eyes. It had long, brown, feathers; each spotted with freckles of white. The bird fluttered it's feathers playfully at Olivia. She stumbled to get a closer look at the bird. She tried hoisting herself up, using the crib as support. Her father downstairs seemed to have heard her making noise upstairs, since a moment after, he bursted through the door and saw Olivia standing.
"Olivia! You can stand! When did that happen?" He said aloud while chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh wow! Do you like the owl Olivia? I think it's beautiful." Mr. Taylor exclaimed with a heart warming smile.
Olivia cooed at him with what was supposed to be an accomplished, gummy, grin. Mr. Taylor gently picked her up, and carried her downstairs. His brain must've been occupied on the thought of feeding Olivia, since he didn't hear the car pull up in the driveway. The crunching of asphalt made it's way out from underneath the tires.
"Let's get you inside Mary. Now, easy step, you don't want to drop them." A raspy voice ordered. Grandma. Mr. Taylor's mother. She was a small, well fed lady. She was very independent as an individual, and is never wrong.
"Yes I got them, thank you." A higher, younger voice spoke up. Mrs. Taylor. She was just as lean as Mr. Taylor. She had strawberry blonde hair, with golden streaks that glistened in the sunlight. Although, right as of this moment, it was a bit hectic. She looked very exhausted, and her hair looked of a bird's nest. She was carrying two bundles of blankets. Inside of those bundles, were two beautiful twin boys. She walked into the house, following Grandma. Mr. Taylor dropped the spoon of applesauce onto the floor. Poor Olivia hasn't even had her first bite yet. Everyone was crowding around the two bundles, gasping and twiddling their fingers above it. Olivia had no idea what was going on. She sat there, tapping the table with her tiny hands.
"Oh my... Tom, did you forget to feed her? Why, she must be starving it is barely lunch time!" Mrs. Taylor sighed and started washing off the spoon.
"Tom! Come look at your new sons!" Grandma perked while not letting her eyes off of them. Mr. Taylor gazed at them with an astonished expression.
"These are my sons? My boys? Oh what a great day it is, don't you think?" Mr. Taylor looked at both of them admirably.
"So what names have we decided on Mary?" Mr. Taylor asked, as though he had not a clue of what his own sons were named.
"Oh Tom, don't you remember? You picked Charles and I picked Henry. Sometimes I question what happens in that berserk brain of yours." Mrs. Taylor muttered jokingly.
Charles and Henry. Oh how they had no idea what troubles they would be caught up in, 10 years from now.
It had been a rough 10 years from the moment the twins were born. Olivia was now 11. Olivia turned out to be a naturally beautiful girl for her age. She had silky black hair that hung from her head. She also had the same green ambitious eyes as her father. She had small freckles that hugged her rosy cheeks, and was quite lean. As she watched the early sunrise glare at her from a distance, she began to realize that she had to get up in a few hours. She hasn't slept well for a couple of days now since she was too excited to get her letter. She pulled on a loose summer dress and raced downstairs. She crept into the breakfast nook, where she was once greeted by her brothers for the first time. As she quietly entered, she overheard her father talking to his supervisor on the phone, boasting about how she was going to be accepted into the one and only, finest Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.
"Oh honey, you can't be going around fiddling your own horn as if the letter is has already come in." Mrs. Taylor snapped while drinking her morning tea.
"Er, Maria, could you start to help Clementine pack her trunk?" Completely ignoring what she had just said to her father.
"My name is Olivia you know. You don't have to call me Clementine anymore, mother." She rolled her eyes. Mrs. Taylor had grown quite fond of calling her by her middle name.
"Of course, Mrs. Taylor." Maria whispered softly. Maria was the family nanny that took care of the twins. She did everything that Mrs. Taylor asked; Olivia never liked that her mother bossed around Maria.
"Mother, you know I am fully capable to pack my own stuff. Plus, I don't even know if I'm going to be excepted yet, remember?" Olivia muttered nervously.
She began to make herself buttered toast with blueberry glaze, as she often did every morning. Same slippers, same routine, same outcome. That was the way she liked it. Why make change when you are already doused in satisfaction? Well that's how Grandma always put it. Change was the one thing the Taylor family didn't like.
     "Morning, darlings." Olivia heard Grandma's raspy voice emerge from behind her. Grandma kissed her on the forehead, and stole some of the blueberry glaze for herself while she was at it.
     Olivia loved Grandma. She saw that she was a strong woman who never had to change her ways for anyone. She was Olivia's favorite, and she often looked up to her.
     "Tom, you better hang up that telly phone thing in 5 seconds, or I'm going to do it for you." Her voice boomed as Mr. Taylor scrambled to say his goodbyes
     "Yes mum," he quickly added and hit the hang up button. Olivia let out a small snicker and continued to lather her toast in blueberry.
     It was a peaceful morning which could only mean one thing. The twins weren't up yet. As Olivia was about to take her first bite, shouts from the hall scared her, and she dropped to soggy piece of toast on the counter. Great. Charles and Henry bursted through the door, breaking the silence.
     "I did not steal your stick, Charles! You are being stupid." Henry spat at him.
     "Am not! Plus, it's not just a stick, it's a wand. I would explain the difference but your puny brain wouldn't be able to comprehend it!" Charles roared as his ears started turning red.
     "That's not even real! I don't get why you are blaming me for your loss." Henry then took the blueberry toast that was smooshed against the counter and started chomping away at it. Olivia sighed and started to make herself a new one.
     "Boys! Now, is that anyway to talk to each other? Both of you apologize right this instant." Mrs. Taylor raised her voice in frustration.
     Charles and Henry are total opposites of each other. Even though they look identical, with the same strawberry blonde hair as Mrs. Taylor, and honey colored eyes, Henry loved getting into mischief and trouble, while Charles has the personality of a middle aged man.
     "Give me my wand first, and then I'll think about apologizing." Charles spoke up as he crossed his arms.
     "I already told you, I don't have your wand" This could go on for hours. They left and stomped back upstairs. While that was happening, Olivia was anxiously waiting for her letter to come in. She didn't even finish breakfast. Grandma noticed.
     "Olivia, dear, any news yet?" Grandma started.
     She sighed, "no, I haven't got anything yet." Olivia slumped onto the couch.
     "Well, that's quite alright. Maybe there is bloody owl traffic or something" Grandma shouted at the ceiling. She smiled at her remark.
Right at that moment, there was a small rustling noise coming from the walls. No it can't be the walls. Where was it coming from? It got louder. It sounded like... the scraping of paper against, the inside of their chimney? The whole Taylor family stopped abruptly, and looked at the fireplace. To their surprise, there was a crisp, white envelope with the name reading    "OLIVIA CLEMENTINE TAYLOR; 16 SPARROW LANE"
     Grandma gasped as Olivia stumbled to the floor, her knees skidding across the rough tile that began to chip over the years.
     "It's here!" She shrieked with excitement.
     The crisp envelope smelled of pinewood. She opened it to find a parchment and a small list that fell out. It was a list that contained a bunch of things needed for the upcoming year. She opened the parchment to see a letter stating:
     "Dear Olivia Clementine Taylor,
We are pleased to say that you have been accepted into Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry for this upcoming school year. I expect to see you, as the beginning of the semester starts September 1st.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore"
     Olivia read it over and over in her head, as though the thought of actually going there wasn't being grasped by her brain. Mr. Taylor took a look at the letter.
     "Bloody hell, Professor Dumbledore himself wrote it?"
     "I-Is that a bad thing?" She exclaimed nervously.
     "I mean, not necessarily, it just that I've never heard anyone who had received their letter from the headmaster. I wouldn't worry about it though... maybe it's a good thing" Mr. Taylor gave a reassuring smile and rested his hand on her shoulder. This did not help though. She began to think that something must've been wrong. Olivia had always wanted to impress her father since he was quite popular there in his days.
     "Well, we better get going then, shall we?" He started grabbing the keys to his car, as it jingled in his pocket.
     "What do you mean, Where"-
     "Diagonal Alley, silly! Where else?" Grandma blurted out, leaving Olivia mid sentence.
     Olivia's face brightened up. She couldn't help but plaster a smile on and run to the car.
     "I'll stay here with the boys and Maria." Mrs. Taylor twisted her ring. She often did this when she was thinking.
     "Charles would probably make us buy him a real wand." She laughed and waved goodbye to them.
     Mr. Taylor kissed Mrs. Taylor and Olivia began to shout from the car window, "C'mon, what are we waiting for?"