Two Souls

Chapter One

"Happy Birthday Amelia!" My two best friends, Grayson and Francesca, exclaim excitedly while jumping on top of my bed. Groggily, I sit up and lean against the headrest of the twin bed. It can't be no later than eight in the morning right now AND it's a Saturday. The three of us always spend our weekends sleeping in until at least ten or eleven, but birthdays are a special exception apparently.

"Grayson- what are you doing i'm here? This is the girls dormitory!" I say. My voice is rough and scratchy from just waking up and I already know my face is a dry and puffy mess.

Grayson glances at Francesca and puts a finger to his lips and makes a shushing noise. "Shh!" He whispers frantically, gesturing to the two sleeping girls in my dormitory. "I wanted to be the first one to wish you a happy birthday!"

I gingerly rub my eyes, allowing the crust that has formed in the corners of my eyes to fall out and relocate themselves. I stifle a yawn, as difficult as it is, and turn my attention to my two best friends. Grayson looks like he just woke up himself- his brown hair is everywhere and his eyes are puffy. Francesca, however, has made somewhat of an effort to look presentable since her normally frizzy black hair is neatly straightened. She's always been the most well kept out of our trio.

"We got you a present!" Francesca whispers excitedly, unable to hide her eagerness. She pulls a small box neatly wrapped in parchment out from behind her and sets it in front of me. The box is decorated with a red ribbon tied neatly in a bow.

I carefully look at the two other girls in my dormitory, careful not to wake them up, and then back at my friends. "You didn't have to..." I trail off gratefully, knowing that my humbleness will be accepted to no avail. My friends and I always have a tradition of getting each other birthday presents. Just a few months ago, Grayson and I pooled our savings together to get Francesca a stationary set.

"Just shut up and open it before you wake up everyone in Thunderbird!" Grayson whisper-yells, shoving the wrapped box towards me. Thunderbird was the house that the three of us were in at Ilvermorny. Thunderbirds possessed a combination of intelligence and adventure, making the three of us prone to spontaneous quests and trouble.

The wrapping on the box glistens in the reflection of the rising sun as I quickly tear open the wrapping paper in excitement. Once the paper is off, a hardcover book that looks to be about one hundred pages is revealed. The title, Prophecies of the World- Gilderoy Lockhart, is written across the top center of the book.

A giggle escapes my throat. It's evident that my friends got me the book as a joke, as we all share a keen hatred for Divination. The class consists of far fetched prophecies and subjective theories. "This gift is perfect for me," I gush sarcastically to the two of them. "Oh, you know Lockhart is a fraud right? There was a whole scandal about it last year in Europe," I tell my friends informatively.

Despite having lived in the United States my entire life, my family receives monthly copies of the Daily Prophet in order to "stay updated." They were originally from Europe and still remain close with several of their old friends. Because of this, I'm more updated with English news than American news.

Francesca's eyes widen with curiosity. "I'm not surprised the man is a fraud- it's impossible to write so many books about so many topics!" She exclaims, yet we all know how much she worshipped the man during our first and second year. "I wonder what happened," She adds, pursing her lips.

I shrug. "Something with Harry Potter and his friends, not surprising," I tell her and Grayson whilst shrugging. Harry Potter and his friends have always been inspiration for us. Like I said, we thrive on adventures and often find our ways into trouble. I turn to Grayson but he has lost interest in our conversation about Gilderoy Lockhart and has instead pulled out a new wrapped box, this once slightly smaller than the former.