Brian Potter lived a rather unextraordinary life. He was from the suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky. In a month, he’d be starting his senior year in high school. All summer, he’d been serving fish at Long John Silvers. It wasn’t the way he’d wanted to spend his vacation, and, unfortunately, he smelled like the fish, too.

Even more unfortunate was the fact that today was his birthday. He’d asked off, but several of his co-workers had gotten sick. Food poisoning, ironically enough. And they’d eaten the leftovers from here last night. Go figure.

“Um, enjoy your meal,” Brian said half-heartedly, wondering how many customers were going to meet the same fate as his fellow employees. He’d tried to warn a few at the start of his shift, but some thought he was kidding, and others thought he was just crazy. They had all decided to risk it.

Since that was the last order of the night, Brian began to clean up. “Happy birthday to me,” he said to himself gloomily. When he finally headed home, his family was asleep. His mom had left a note, promising a birthday dinner the next night he had off from work. Only his cat greeted him.

Well, not so much him as the fish aura that surrounded him. “Hey Missy,” Brian said, throwing his uniform on the floor for her to continue to sniff. He put on a pair of PJ pants and went outside. He sat down on the swing on the deck, looking at the stars. Brian wondered if it would be different once he was a senior, and then when he graduated. Once he could make some decisions about his future. He felt like he was missing something in his life, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He felt like he was supposed to be doing something…

What that “something” was, he couldn’t figure out. But it was definitely more than serving seafood.

More like poisoning customers, he thought.

Brian laughed at himself. What fast food worker thought that was what he or she should be doing? Who wouldn’t want more out of life than minimum wage and disrespect? He was getting overly dramatic. He glanced at the kitchen window. Through it, he could see the clock hanging on the wall. 11:57, the time Brian had been born. He was officially seventeen now. He waited to see if it felt any different than sixteen.

Nope.

Brian was about to go back inside. He took a last look at the stars and noticed that one of them was moving. He started to make a wish, assuming that it was shooting star. However, Brian soon realized that the star was falling.

Towards him, to be more specific. It was getting bigger and bigger. Brian couldn’t believe his eyes. He started to run for cover, but he tripped and got tangled in the hose, landing face first on the deck. When he turned, it was too late to move out of the way. He covered his face, waiting for impact.

There was a small “boom,” but nothing else happened. He opened his eyes again. The light was still there. “What the heck?”

“Hey. What’s up?”

Brian was startled that someone had actually responded. Looking up, he noticed that a huge black man was standing there, wearing dark robes. He helped Brian up, and Brian realized that what he’d originally thought was a star was a headlight. A motorcycle was now sitting on his deck. The man looked too large to have sat on it, as he was several feet taller than Brian and three times as broad.

“You… that… flew…” Brian stuttered, pointing at the bike but unable to form a complete sentence.

“Of course. You think I’m going to be able to fit on a broomstick? Please.”

This seemed like an odd response. “Who are you?”

“Qbeus Hagrid. My friends call me Q.”

“Q? But…”

“Hey, I didn’t say we were friends!”

Brian started to apologize.

“Just kidding. Man, I haven’t seen you since you were a baby.”

“We’ve met?”

“Yeah, but not since you were one. I don’t suppose you’d remember.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Did you get your letters?” Qbeus asked. “We’ve sent a dozen of them. Would’ve been thirteen, but that one owl didn’t make it across the pond to America. Not the easiest trip, you know,” he rubbed his butt, which was obviously a little sore from sitting on the bike.

Brian didn’t know how to answer that. He couldn’t see any owl flying over the ocean. “I have some letters in my room. Mom keeps putting them on my dresser, but I haven’t gotten around to opening them yet. Is that what you’re talking about?”

Q rolled his eyes. “Teenagers. When your parents died…”

“My parents didn’t die. They’re inside,” Brian felt a wave of relief. Maybe this man was confusing him with someone else.

“Those are your adopted parents,” Q corrected.

“I’m adopted?”

Q pulled a bat out of his robes, pointing it at the house. He murmured something that sounded like “achoo.”

“God bless you.”

Q simply laughed, giving him a mocking smile. Brian heard a window open and saw a letter sailing through the air. Q caught it.

“That’s impossible.”

“Improbable. If only you’d learned to speak English like the English. I have something to tell you. Something that is going to come as a shock.”

“More shocking than finding out that I’m adopted?” Brian asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Qbeus said, taking a deep breath. “You’re a Britain, Brian.”

“I’m a what?”

“A Brit. We brought you to America when you were just a baby, like I said.”

“Why?”

“Uh…” Q looked flustered. “To find you a family, of course. But it’s time for you to get your wizard education.”

“What? I’m a wizard?” Brian was really having a hard time processing everything now.

“Huh? Oh, right. You didn’t know that either. Well, you would’ve if you would ever bother to open your post. Yes, you are a wizard. But I’m sure you’ve realized by now that you had magical ability.”

Brian shook his head.

“Haven’t you ever made anything happen? Anything that you couldn’t explain?”

Brian scratched his head. “I turned the TV on once, right when I thought about it.”

Q started to look pleased, but Brian continued.

“But I think I just accidentally sat on the remote.”

Now Q rolled his eyes. “You haven’t accidentally used magic? Say, you wanted to fly,” he motioned to his bike.

“I’m afraid of heights.”

“You wanted to find out what was going to be on a record before it was released.”

“I go to google and find a music site.”

“You were sitting and home and wanted to be somewhere else.”

“I get in my car.”

Q looked exasperated. “You didn’t ever just sit there and wish for it?”

He obviously didn’t know how hyper active Brian was. If he wanted to do something like that, he went and did it. The things he wished for weren’t so trivial.

“Technology,” He handed Brian the letter, shaking his head. “Maybe this will do a better job of explaining everything.”

Brian opened the envelope.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Kevin Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Brian looked back to Q, after scanning a bit further. There were more details about the school, as well as a list of supplies. “Why does this say that Hogwarts is for eleven year olds?”

“Well, wizards begin their education at eleven and finish at seventeen.”

“But then why am I starting now? I’d be in my last year.”

“Yeah, err… We did such a good job hiding you that when it came time to find you again… the paperwork was lost.”

“Hide me? From who?”

“Uh…” Q looked uncomfortable again. “Muggles.” Seeing the questioning look on Brian’s face, he added, “Non-magic folk.”

This made no sense, as Brian had spent his entire life surrounded only by “muggles, as Q called them. He started to say so, but Q cut him off.

“Kid, you are too smart for your own good. Where’d you learn to question everything adults tell you?”

“America,” Brian remarked.

“Anyways, we finally relocated you a few weeks ago, but I wanted to wait until your birthday. You came of age today, which means that you can do magic outside of the school now. Not that you’ve done magic inside of the school yet, but you see what I mean.”

Brian really didn’t. “I’m not an adult until I’m eighteen.”

Q shook his head. “In the wizarding world, it is a whole new Quidditch game.”

Brian felt like everything Q said simply filled him with more questions.

“Go ahead,” Q said looking around. “See that basketball? Pick it up.”

Brian walked over to it and picked it up.

“Smart alec,” Q muttered, though Brian hadn’t been trying to be one. He took the ball from Brian. “Use your magic. It’s inside of you.”

Brian didn’t have a clue as to how to go about this. “Aren’t I supposed to have a wand?”

“You’ll get one soon enough. You’ll be able to pull off something this simple, though, since you don’t have one yet. Most kids have already harnessed their magic a little bit by the time they start Hogwarts. And especially since you’re seventeen…”

Brian concentrated until he was blue in the face. Finally, the basketball stirred, just a little. As if there’d been a sudden breeze.

“Alright.” Qbeus didn’t look the least bit impressed. “Well, you clearly won’t be at the top of your class, but I’m sure Dumbledore will be able to do something with you. Just be at Kings Cross Station on September first like the envelope says. Oh, and here,” Q fished something out of his pocket. He gave Brian another piece of paper. “Here are some directions to Diagon Alley. That’s where you’ll be able to buy your school supplies.”

Brian looked at the piece of paper again. “Where is King’s Cross Station?”

“London.”

“London? As in England?”

“Dude, weren’t you paying attention when I told you that you were a Brit?”

“How am I supposed to get to England?”

Q shrugged. “I guess a muggle plane.”

“I thought that the school would be in America…” Brian now knew how foolish that was since, as Q had just reminded him, he was from England. The British lived in Britain.

“Right, like there’s any magic in this country. Americans rely too much on technology to realize the magic that lives within them. Even you, with such a magical background, can’t levitate a basketball at seventeen! Anyways, at least you’ll get out of this place. I mean, sleeping under the stairwell has probably been horrible.”

“I don’t live under the stairs,” Brian said. “My room is right over there.” He pointed to a window. “Besides, it’s a one-story house.”

Q looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh. I guess the guys at the Leaky Cauldron were just pulling my wand. Well, best be off. Have a happy birthday Brian. I’ll see you in September!”

Brian nodded, his mind still overloaded. There were so many things he was still wondering about, but Qbeus Hagrid was climbing back onto his motorcycle. A moment later, he was unexplainably sailing through the sky again, presumably back “across the pond.”

When Brian had wanted his life to be different, he hadn’t meant to find out that he had magic and was supposed to be relocated to England to finish up his schooling. Being upgraded to a Wendys where he wouldn’t smell of fish would’ve sufficed for the present.

It was a good thing that Brian hadn’t wasted all of his summer earnings on pizza, DVDs, and amusement parks. He’d been setting aside some for the school year. The money had been put in the bank with thoughts of getting a limo for Homecoming or doing something fun for spring break.

He hadn’t realized he’d be applying for a last minute passport and buying a flight to England. Seriously, Qbeus couldn’t lend him his motorcycle? Airfare wasn’t cheap. And what did someone pack when going to Hogwarts?

Then he’d had to say goodbye to his (adopted) parents, promising he’d write. Apparently, they’d been planning to tell them about the adoption when he was eighteen. And they’d really thought that the man—an elderly fellow with purple robes—was joking about the whole “wizard world” thing. Well, not so much joking as… crazy. But they’d wanted a child so badly, they hadn’t questioned the, so they thought, delusional person who gave them one.

Now, Brian was standing on a street corner in London. When he’d landed in the country, he’d half expected everyone to be carrying wands. But they seemed as normal as the people he’d always been surrounded by.

Q had left special instructions for where to buy his school supplies. He walked into a shabby looking pub called The Leaky Cauldron and then around back, to where the doorway was supposed to be. Brian wondered why regular people didn’t notice Diagon Alley. If there was really a place to purchase wands and magic books, with people walking about in robes, wouldn’t the British notice? But he soon got his answer. There was no doorway, just a brick wall. And come to think of it, Brian had had the oddest feeling that he’d been the only one able to see The Leaky Cauldron, too. People had passed by as if it didn’t exist. Well now what?

Maybe this was his first magical test. He looked at Q’s directions again. Brian had followed them right. This was where the doorway should be. Alright, Brian. What would a wizard do?

He cleared his throat. “Abracadabra!”

Nothing happened. Then he heard a noise. Was a door appearing?

No, it turned out to be laughter. “Abracadabra? Surely you aren’t serious?”

Brian turned around to see a man wearing long green robes, a wand in his right hand. Brian felt embarrassed and couldn’t think of an answer.

The man shook his head, still laughing. “I suppose you’ll try to pull a rabbit out of a hat next?” With a chuckle, the man strode past Brian and touched the bricks in a pattern.

A rumbling started, and Brian took several steps back as the bricks began to twist and turn. Behind them stood a street, full of shops and shoppers. It was like another world hidden within London. Brian couldn’t believe his eyes. He hurried through before the bricks decided to move back into place.

The street was normal in an abnormal sort of way. There were couples, families, and friends shopping together, just like you would find in any other part of London. But upon closer inspection, you could see that these people weren’t ordinary.

There was the mother, hands carrying multiple bags, calling to her small boy to come back. He continued to run down the pebbled street. Instead of chasing after him, she simply pulled out her wand. The little boy stumbled backwards, as if an imaginary hand had grabbed his hood. He was “pulled” back to his stern looking mother.

Brian pulled out his list. Where to start? The books would be heavy to carry, so he supposed he should buy robes first. Which is exactly what he did. Well, what he tried to do. When it came to paying, the witch who had fitted him for his robes gave him a strange look.

Looking down at the money he was trying to hand her, Brian couldn’t understand the problem. Before he’d left Heathrow airport, he had exchanged his American dollars for British pounds.

“I’m sorry,” the witch said. “We don’t accept that kind of money here.”

“What? Then what do you take?” Brian demanded.

She looked at him like a nurse does a mental patient and spoke in a babying voice. “Wizard money. From Gringotts Bank.”

There was so much to learn. Brian headed to the bank and almost screamed in surprise when he stepped inside. Were those goblins? Brian had to wait until his heart had stopped beating so quickly before stepping up to a counter.

“Excuse me,” he said.

A small goblin- for surely that’s what they were- looked up from his paperwork, an annoyed expression etched on his face. His long fingers set down the quill.

“I need to exchange some pounds for… wizard money.” Brian wondered what the exchange rate was. The one conversion had already killed his wallet, since the American dollar was worth crap. Would he be going to Howarts penniless after this new switch?

The goblin’s dark eyes widened. “We do not exchange.”

“What? Then how do I get wizard money?”

“You retrieve it from your vault. Do you have your number?”

Brian stared at him, clueless. “Um… no.”

Now the goblin looked completely aggravated. Brian imagined that, if he was anything like storybooks painted his kind to be, this goblin had quite a temper. “What is your name?”

“Brian Thomas Potter,” Brian said, knowing this would do no good. He certainly didn’t have a “vault” here.

The goblin surely would’ve raised an eyebrow had he one to raise. “You wizards are all the same, trying to belittle our intelligence. I was not born yesterday, Mr. Whoever-You-Are. Do I need to call security?”

“What? No. You asked my name, and I told you,” Brian was confused.

“Do you know how many have come in here, claiming to be Mr. Potter?” The goblin’s hand moved to under the counter where, Brian assumed, there was some sort of alarm to sound. “I trust you know the way out.”

Brian opened his mouth, but no words came out. Seeing that he was not going to get anywhere with this goblin, Brian turned to leave. Just then, the huge gate from behind the goblin opened, as another walked out. Did that doorway lead to the vaults? All he could see was darkness, but the wind howled as the goblin, with some effort, pushed the door shut again.

The first goblin, Brian realized, was now staring at his forehead.

“Your scar,” the goblin pointed.

Brian assumed that the breeze had blown his hair out of the way, revealing the scar he’d had for as far back as he could remember. Why did the goblin look so entranced? It was unique, sure, but especially compared to everything else Brian had seen in Diagon Alley, a scar was trivial.

“One moment, Mr. Potter, and I shall retrieve your information.” The little creature disappeared from sight behind the high counter as he hopped off the stool.

Well that was certainly strange. In a way, this was the strangest thing that had happened to Brian thus far since being told he was a wizard. Sure, everything was unbelievable but in a believable way. In this instance, the answer didn’t lie in the fact that this was, simply put, the wizard world. The goblin had reacted to his name specifically.

Who would come here to pretend to be him? Why?

He only had a moment to ponder these thoughts, for the goblin hurried back to him and was soon loading him into what reminded him of a mine cart. The rails were small and rickety. Brian’s voice caught in his throat, preventing a scream, as the two of him soared down a hill, deeper and deeper down what appeared to be caverns. This was a bank?

Soon, they reached Brian’s vault. The goblin traced a design on the door, which reminded Brian of how to get into Diagon Alley. It swung open, and Brian followed the goblin, having no idea what to expect.

There had to be some sort of mistake. Even in this magical realm, this had to be a lot of money. Brian was facing mounds of coins. He didn’t recognized what they were specifically, but the sheer volume was impressive. Brian took the bag that the goblin handed him and filled it with the different kinds of these coins, hoping that it would be enough to purchase all of his supplies.

It was more than enough. Not only did the witch give him his robes without looking at him like was crazy, she was kind enough to tell him about “nuts,” “sickles,” and… something else. There was only so much new information Brian could take in at a time, after all.

As he was leaving the bookstore- Flourish&Blotts the sign read- his hands were full of his heavy schoolbooks. He was too busy trying to get out the door that he didn’t see that anyone was trying to get in. Brian collided with another boy, his bags dropping to the ground.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Sorry?” the other boy, who looked to be about his age, rounded on him. “Is that all you have to say to me?” He was tall and thin, with a mop of curly blond hair on his head.

“Yes?” Brian answered, not knowing what else to respond with. What if the boy grabbed his wand and performed a spell on him?

Unfortunately, the wizard took Brian’s answer as sarcasm and did just that. “You going to duel me?” he challenged.

Brian shook his head. “I- I don’t know any magic.”

The blonde wizard stared, and then preceded to laugh. “A Squib! Didn’t think they allowed your kind in Diagon Alley.”

Brian didn’t know was a “squib” was, but he knew it couldn’t be a good thing. Luckily, the mocking laughter caused him to lower his wand from Brian’s face.

“Not much better than a muggle, are you?” he sneered, kicking one of Brian’s bags and causing some books to spill out. He set off down the street, still laughing at Brian’s expense.

Brian collected his purchases and decided that his next stop would be to buy a wand of his own. Hoping that he never saw that boy again, Brian set off to see a man named Ollivander and then head back to the hotel and try to get some sleep tonight. It had been a long day. And he left for Hogwarts in the morning.

Brian had overslept. Figures that he’d only set the alarm on his watch… which was still in eastern standard time. It wouldn’t be going off for another four hours. If only he were in Kentucky, he’d be in good shape.

As it was, Brian was heading to King’s Cross Station, dragging his trunk behind him, with very little time to spare. It hadn’t been fun getting his luggage on and off the tube. Once inside, he found the station to be very crowded. He pulled out the enveloped that Q had handed him earlier this summer and checked over it again.

Yes, the odd phrasing hadn’t changed. Platform 9 and ¾. Still, everything Q had told him up until now had been right. If he hadn’t seen all the magic around him in Diagon Alley, he would probably assume that this was a very elaborate, very expensive, prank.

Maybe it was just a British thing.

He set off again with his trunk, finally finding platform nine. There was no train through, which was odd considering that the Hogwarts Express should be leaving in only five minutes. So Brian continued.

Now he was standing at platform ten. There was no train here, either.

He turned around to ask someone for help.

“Excuse me,” Brian said. “Could you tell me where I can get on the Hogwarts Express?”

The man looked up from his newspaper. “The what?”

“I’m supposed to be leaving for school today.”

“What school?” he peered at Brian over his glasses, eying the trunk.

“Hogwarts.”

“I’ve never heard of it. Where is this school?”

Brian opened his mouth. Then he closed it. Where exactly was Hogwarts located? He checked the piece of paper he was still holding. There was no address. Choosing to ignore the question, he tried a different approach. “The train is supposed to be leaving from platform 9 ¾.

Now the man looked slightly disgruntled. “What the bloody hell do you mean, 9 and ¾?

Brian tried to show him the piece of paper, but the man raised the newspaper in front of his face, not so subtlety signaling the end of the conversation.

As Brian turned around, he heard the man utter “Americans.” He wondered what would happen if he missed the train. Would there be another? Since Brian didn’t know the school’s location, it would be difficult to get there.

Despite the fact that there were no trains at either platform, he noticed how many people were around. Most of them were adults, probably parents, looking sad, as if they’d just said goodbye to someone. Then he spotted another teenager. She had a trunk, too! The girl also looked like she was in a hurry, so she had to be going the same place Brian was trying to find.

He looked down to grab the handle of his trunk in order to follow her, but somehow, in that second span of time, the student disappeared. Brian looked around.

“How do I get to Hogwarts?” he said to himself.

“Hogwarts, you say?” someone spoke behind him.

He turned to see a boy around his own age. “Yeah, have you heard of it?”

He nodded. “We’re headed there ourselves.”

Brian looked to the other boy standing with him, and only then realized they were twins. “Can you show me where to go?”

“Sure! It’s magic, see. You have to go through the wall.”

“Through the wall?” Brian was skeptical. Still, it made since, in a nonsensical sort of way. That would be between platforms nine and ten, after all.

“You have to go at a bit of a run, though,” the second twin pointed.

Brian was staring at a brick wall. This seemed absurd, but it couldn’t be difficult for a wizard to put a spell on a wall. And he wasn’t the kind to turn down a dare, which is what this seemed like. The twins had grins on their faces.

“Ok. Here goes!” Brian managed to run with his trunk, closing his eyes right before he reached the wall.

He waited for the feeling of passing through. Instead, he felt himself hitting a wall and heard a crash as he fell backward. His trunk snapped open, with several of the contents spilling out.

Brian heard laughter as the twins stepped over him.

“Thanks, mate, we needed a good laugh!”

“Boys! If you miss that train, I’ll turn your wands to splinters!”

“Yes, mum!” they said simultaneously and stepped through the wall with no difficultly. Brian blinked several times to assure himself he’d actually seen it. Then he looked to see others reactions, but no one in the station seemed to have noticed.

“I’m so sorry about that,” the blonde woman who had just scolded the twins turned to Brian.

Brian sat up, almost knocking into a girl who was knelt next to him. She was discreetly waving a wand behind her jacket, saying words that Brian had never heard before. All of Brian’s possessions flew back into the trunk and it snapped to a close once more.

“Um… thanks,” he said.

She smiled and stood, saying goodbye to the woman, who was surely her mother. Then she followed where the twins had gone. Why was Brian the only one who hadn’t been able to get through the wall? Did this mean there had been some sort of mistake? Maybe he wasn’t supposed to be going to this school, after all.

“Nick, take this poor boy to the platform, he’s obviously having difficulty. Hurry now! And don’t forget to write!” she gave her son a kiss. Then she hurried off, dabbing her eyes.

A tall, thin boy with curtains of blonde hair stood laughing. He gave a final chuckle and then offered his hand to help me up. “They played that prank on me when I started school… although, you look a bit old for a first year.”

Luckily this remark didn’t seem to require an answer. Brian was more than aware of how late they were, and he didn’t want to have come all this way for nothing. “How come everyone but me can get in?”

“You need platform 9 and ¾. It’s a little to the right of where you were aiming… I’d say you were only a fourth there. Follow me.” Nick grabbed his things and walked through the wall.

This time, Brian followed without difficulty. He was amazed when he looked at his new surroundings. It looked like a completely different station. This was an outdoor platform, the sky a light shade of blue, and a train awaiting them. There was already steam coming from the front, so they hurried onto one of the cars.

“Well, I’ll see you at the sorting ceremony,” Nick said, and he began to depart.

“Um, right,” Brian said uncertainly.

Just then, the boy from Diagon Alley stepped out in front of them, a scowl on his face. “If it isn’t the muggle loving side of the family,” he sneered. “Oh, and I see you’ve made yourself a squib friend. You really will hang with any crowd, won’t you?”

Nick certainly had a large family, Brian thought.

“Shut up, Timberlake.”

“Ooh, where’d you come up with that? It’s so creative, I should write the Daily Prophet.”

Nick pulled out his wand. “Out of my way,” he said quietly but firmly.

Timberlake simply drew his own. “What are you going to do?”

Nick started to say something, but he lowered his wand. “You’re not even worth it.” He began to turn around and go past a compartment filled with several girls peering out into the corridor to see if a fight was going to happen.

Although his opponent’s back was turned, Timberlake began to mutter a spell. Brian knew no magic, but he had suffered attention from bullies growing up, as he was shorter than most of the boys his age. Thinking fast, he pulled the door to the compartment so that it stood between Nick and Timberlake. The spell reflected off the glass and there was a whoosh of wind and a yelp from Timberlake. His wand dissolved to dust.

Timberlake angrily looked up at Brian. However, his expression froze, and he seemed to be staring at Brian’s face.

Nick interrupted their odd exchange by raising his wand again. “Nice spell, Timberlake. Looks like you’re going to have to begin classes without a wand until you can get an owl to Ollivander.”

Timberlake, staring at Nick’s weapon, was forced to turn around and proceed down the hallway. Now Nick turned to Brian. “Thanks a lot. Mum would’ve killed me… We don’t exactly have extra sickles lying around for school supplies.”

This time, he invited Brian to join him in finding a compartment. They were finally able to find an empty one.

“Who is that guy?”

“Draco,” Nick made gagging noises, taking a seat opposite from Brian.

“And he’s your cousin?”

Nick nodded. “We’ve all got the blonde hair to prove it, I suppose.”

“Not the twins. Weren’t they your brothers?”

“Alex and AJ? They are, too, but they’ve been into the Hair-dye Spells for Dummies recently. Dark hair today, yesterday it was more an orange.”

Brian nodded. Then he took the conversation back to Draco. “I met him in Diagon Alley… What’s a squib?”

“Someone who can’t do magic.”

“I thought they were called muggles?”

“Oh, no, squib’s come from wizarding families. Unlike muggles, they know about the magical world, but they can’t perform magic themselves… How old are you? You don’t seem eleven.”

“I’m seventeen.”

“A seventh year? How come we’ve never met before? Which house are you in?”

Brian was confused. “My house is in Kentucky…”

“Kentucky? Is that a town in America? I mean which Hogwarts house.”

“Oh, this is my first year at Hogwarts.”

Nick asked again how this was possible. Brian started to explain when the compartment door opened. A woman in a witch’s hat began offering them treats. Brian purchased some Berty Botts Every Flavor Beans, although most of them were very peculiar in taste.

Brian was rather sick of talking about himself, so he began to ask Nick questions. His time purchasing school supplies and then being sent into a brick wall had taught him that he had more to learn about the wizarding world than he realized. Nick was also in his seventh year, and he was in Gryffindor.

“All of the Weasley’s have been in that house,” Nick said proudly.

“Draco, too?”

“Oh no, he’s in Slytherin… you don’t want to be in that house. A lot of dodgy kids in there. That was the house You Know Who was in.”

“Who?”

“You Know Who.”

“No, I really don’t,” Brian insisted.

“Have you been living under a rock your entire life? I didn’t think there was a wizard in the world who… I mean, even in the United States…” Nick was baffled by Brian’s blank face. “He had a group of followers, and they murdered and terrorized. I was barely born, but I’ve heard stories. Everyone was living in fear… Anyway, he’s long gone now. That was over seventeen years ago.”

Brian was glad that this evil wizard was gone, but he still thought the subject was rather dreary. He spotted Nick’s broomstick and asked about it.

“It’s a Cleansweep Eleven,” Nick said proudly. “Not the best out there, of course, but it sure beats the Comet Three-Sixty I used to have. I’m on the Quidditch team.”

Brian started to ask.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know Quidditch!” Nick nearly jumped out of his seat. “Blimey Brian. It’s bad enough, you not knowing about You Know You, but to never have heard… Wizards in the United States must not have any fun at all!”

“Well, we play basketball,” Brian replied. “That’s a great sport. He began to describe it to Nick.

Nick simply laughed. “You mean there’s only one ball? And it doesn’t move?”

“Well, no. Not unless you throw it yourself.”

Nick had to hold his stomach and gasp for breath he found this remark so funny. Still, he promised to take Brian out on the field as soon as they had free time so that Brian could learn how to ride a broomstick.

He wondered what Nick would say if he found out that Brian didn’t know any magic. How in the world was he supposed to do his schoolwork? None of his public education was going to do him any good here.

Still, by the time the train began to slow down at the station, Brian felt he at least had an idea of what to expect. Nick had described the houses and professors. There were creatures called house elves who worked in the kitchens, preparing feasts for the students. Even the wizarding world had exams, apparently. Brian was surprised at how many similarities Hogwarts had with regular school, actually. He would receive a class schedule, be assigned homework, and be offered the opportunity to participate in school activities.

When they exited the train, Nick instructed Brian to leave his trunk.

“Don’t worry, it’ll appear in your room after dinner.”

The sky was dark and the train station (Hogsmeade, according to the sign) was surrounded by forest. Brian could tell they’d traveled far from London. Wherever Hogwarts was, it was located in the countryside.

“Nick!” a voice cried from behind them.

Nick and Brian both turned. A boy their age was standing there. He had wavy, brown hair that reached his shoulders and schoolbooks in his arms.

“Howmione Granger! Long time no see,” Nick said, giving him a friendly hug. “What were you up to this summer?”

“Tutoring mostly,” Howmione replied. “Your brothers included. Surely they told you?”

Nick laughed. “They didn’t exactly want to tell the world that they were in summer school. Especially since they never told their friends that they got held back.” Nick turned. “Oh, this is Brian. Brian, meet Howie.”

“Hey,” Brian said.

Howmione tilted his head as he looked at Brian, but he simply responded with a “hello.” With the introductions out of the way, the three of them headed up a path that led them through the woods.

“Where are we?” Brian asked. The trees seemed a little spookier than they had when they’d first left the station. They had to have walked half of a mile by this time. The branches were thicker overhead, blocking any starlight. Howie was guiding them. The end of his wand was lit by a spell called “Lumos.”

“The Forbidden Forest,” Howie replied.

Brian stared at him. “Wouldn’t that be… forbidden?”

“Yeah,” Nick shrugged. “Usually, students aren’t allowed in this forest. There’s lot of stuff that could kill us… Centaurs and giant spiders… you know.”

He shared this as if it were casual information.

Nick continued, “We used to have carriages take us up to the castle.”

“What happened to that?” Brian asked, much preferring that option.

“Budget cuts.”

Another ten minutes passed, and the trio continued along the path. There was a group of girls right behind them now. They hadn’t wanted to walk on the path alone. Finally, the forest opened up to reveal a huge, black lake. The water looked peaceful, but Brian wouldn’t dare go in it for all of the “gallons,” “nuts,” and “popsicles” in the world. It was enough to find out that witches and wizards existed, but today he was learning that lots of other “mythical” creatures did, too. Who knew what was in that lake? The Loch Ness Monster for all Harry knew.

Brian didn’t spend too much time worrying, though. As they followed the edge of the lake, he looked up. How could he have missed it before?

There was Hogwarts. The castle stood before them, with towers and candlelit windows. He had never before seen a more beautiful sight. He didn’t speak the rest of the way. All Brian could do was stare.

“This is the dining hall, and that’s our table,” Nick said once inside. “But I guess you should go stand with the first years, seeing as how you’re not sorted.”

“Not sorted?” Howmione asked. “Where…”

“Come on,” Nick rolled his eyes.

Brian was grateful to not have to go through that again. He stood with the eleven year olds, feeling foolish.

A little boy gazed up at him. “How tall are you?”

Brian smiled to himself. This was the first time in his life that 5’8 made him feel like a giant.

“Hello, hello!” a woman stood before them. Her skin was black, as were her robes and witches hat. Her hair was in tiny braids reaching halfway down her back. “I’m Professor McGonagall and welcome to Hogwarts. Right now we’re… how old are you?”

Brian realized she was staring at him. “Seventeen.”

“Seventeen?” she placed a hand on her hip. “Is this a joke? What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t. It’s Brian P…”

Her eyes widened. “That’s right! Well we’re going to skip this. You’re too old to be putting on some communal hat… besides, you never know about lice.”

She’d lowered her voice, but several students around her had still heard. They looked terrified. Professor McGonagall led him to the door, out of earshot.

“Just kidding,” she grinned. “Even a teacher likes to mess with her first years sometimes. Anyway, go sit with Gryffyndor.”

“How do you know which house I’m in?” Brian asked.

“Because I’m head of that household, and I say you’re in the club.” She used a tone that would put up with no argument.

Since this was exactly where Brian wanted to be, though, so he was alright with that.

“How’d you get out of the sorting?” Howmione asked, when Brian sat next to Nick on the bench.

“Professor McGonagall said she wanted me here.”

“Guess what,” Nick whispered conspiratorially, looking around. “There are rumors that Brian Potter is here.”

“Huh?” Brian stared at him.

“Like the Brian Potter. I wonder if I can get his autograph?”

Howmione coughed, but Brian had the distinct impression that he was holding back a laugh.

Brian waited for an epiphany to come to Nick, but the wait was in vain. “Why… is that such a big deal?”

“Blimey, Brian! Brian Potter is the one who defeated You Know Who.”

“Wait…” Brian began to say.

“Shh,” Howmione scolded them. “The sorting ceremony is starting.”

Professor McGonagall led the first years to the front of the Great Hall and pulled out what looked like an ordinary, old hat. Each student, in turn, sat on the stool in the center, and the hat was placed on their heads. Brian was surprised the first time the hat spoke. It screamed “Ravenclaw” and the student headed towards the corresponding table, where the students were cheering.

Brian again tried to question Nick about “Brian Potter.”

“Dumbledore is about to give his speech,” Howmione said, apparently sensing that Brian was about to speak.

Brian was forced to turn his attention to the front of the room. There was a table sitting perpendicular to the four house tables. Sitting there were a group of older witches and wizards; this had to be the staff’s table. Brian could see Qbeus up there, as well as Professor McGonagall.

In the center, a tall wizard had just stood up, and the chatter immediately ceased. His long, dark hair and beard reached his waist. He had bushy eyebrows and a straight nose. His robes were a deep purple. Brian suspected he would’ve thought “wizard” if he’d seen the man walking down the street, even before he knew there really was such a thing.

“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts,” he said, his voice full of a gentle yet understood authority. “I would like to begin with a few start-of-term reminders. Your classmates are not guinea pigs on which to practice your magic. And,” his gaze seemed to linger a few seconds longer on the Weasley twins at it swept the hall, “I do mean that figuratively and literally.”

Brian looked again at Alex and AJ, only then realizing that they were holding a guinea pig. Wondering who that was, he heard them whisper to each other, “How did he know?” The other replied, “It’s Dumbledore, isn’t it?” Laughing, they set the guinea pig down and waved their wands. A few seconds later, a confused first year was sitting on the plates.

“Those students who are of age will be able to visit Hogsmeade. A schedule of trips can be found posted in your house common rooms. As always, the Forbidden Forest and Mr. Filch’s office are off limits.”

Again Brian heard the Weasley twins laugh quietly. He wondered what kind of mischief they had gotten into during their years here.

“I would also,” Dumbledore turned more serious, “advise each and every one of you use precaution during the school term, whether in the school, on the grounds, or in Hogsmeade. Study hard this year.”

Brian wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Dumbledore seemed to turn towards him as he said this.

“Now, let us begin the feast” the headmaster said, a small smile on his face once more.

Suddenly, plates appeared down the center of the tables, full of all types of food. Brian filled his, realizing how hungry he was. He had seconds on dinner and then dessert appeared. By the time the Gryffindors were led to their rooms, he was stuffed. He didn’t think he could walk up all of these flights of stairs. Wizards had magic, but they couldn’t install elevators? They were on the seventh floor, after all!

After crawling through a hole behind a portrait (in which the woman had been singing opera loudly and off key), he had walked through a cozy common room. On the walls hung red and gold tapestries bearing intricate designs and bearing a lion. There were couches and chairs and a huge, stone fireplace. Students were gathering here, catching up after summer vacation. Since Brian didn’t know most of these people, he decided to keep exploring.

Brian walked up a spiral staircase to find his room. In the circular space were four-poster beds. He found the one with his trunk on the end and sat down on his bed, testing out the mattress.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nick rushed in.

“Tell you what?”

“You’re Brian Potter, aren’t you? They were asking me about you, and I said, ‘Well, how could I know? I’ve never met Brian Potter.’ Howie had to point it out to me!”

“You knew my first name. I didn’t realize at the time that it was such a big deal.”

“A big deal? You’re famous!”

“For what? You said I defeated You-Know-Who, but that’s impossible. I’d never heard of him before today.”

“You were only a baby, so of course you don’t remember! And no one knows exactly what happened. They say he broke into your house, killed your parents,” Nick said this part more quietly, “and then tried to kill you. He couldn’t though. Instead, you were marked… Is it true?”

“What?” Then Brian realized Nick had been staring at his forehead. Like so many others had. “My scar? Yeah,” he moved his curly bangs aside so that Nick could see. “Looks a bit like a music note, doesn’t it? I always thought it was an odd birthmark.”

Brian wished Qbeus had filled him in. No wonder they had gone to such trouble to hide him. Well, no, that didn’t make sense. Nick said that You-Know-Who was gone. Surely he couldn’t be in any danger now?

Everything Nick told him simply gave Brian ten more questions that he wanted to ask. “Why did he want to kill my parents?”

“I don’t know. He liked killing people in general, so maybe it wasn’t personal. But you saved the wizarding world, so your name is in textbooks. Of course, you disappeared after that.”

Wow. His biggest accomplishment up until now had been getting Employee of the Month twice in a row at Long John Silvers.

“My Dad heard a rumor that you were placed in the WPA.”

Brian started to ask, but Nick was finally catching on to how little he knew.

“The Wizarding Protection Agency. After you didn’t show up for your first year of Hogwarts, most people thought you’d be in hiding the rest of your life. Imagine everyone’s shock to find you here!”

Brian wondered if anyone else had ever had such an eventful first day of school. He doubted it.

Nick rejoined the party in the common room, but Brian lay in bed, taking in everything that had happened today. He hadn’t known his birth parents. Or even that his birth parents were different than those he considered his real family. That being the case, he couldn’t really miss them. Still, he felt a sadness that their lives had been taken from them. Nick acted like he was hero, and in the greater scheme of things in the wizarding world, Brian could see how that was true. For Brian, the story was simply a tragic one, though. This also made him more nervous about classes in the morning. People were going to expect great things from him.

And the only magic he knew was card trick his father had taught him.

The next morning, Nick and Brian headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Brian helped himself to some scrambled eggs while Professor McGonagall was passing out schedules.

“I still can’t get over it,” Nick said, staring at Brian’s scar.

Brian ignored him and shoveled two bites of toast into his mouth.

“Here you go, Weasley,” McGonagall handed a piece of paper to Nick. “And here, Potter.”

Brian took his form and stared at it, wondering what year of classes he was going to be placed into. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or terrified that he was going to be with his fellow seventh years. The last “class” listed was called Remedial Wizardry. It didn’t have a day or time mentioned.

McGonagall, as if she knew what he was staring at, said, “The Remedial class is tutoring. We’re going to try and get you caught up. I’ll contact you when I know who your tutor is going to be.”

That had to be a good thing, right? Someone who could one-on-one show Brian how to use magic.

“Don’t make yourself sick,” McGonagall commented to him. “You’ve got my class first today. Look alive!” she smiled and continued passing out schedules.

“Wow, you sure have an in at Hogwarts,” Nick commented.

“How so?”

“Well, you haven’t passed the O.W.L.s… Ordinary Wizarding Levels,” he continued knowing that Brian was about to ask. “You have to pass to get into the upper level classes.”

Brian wasn’t sure how he felt about any special treatment. Maybe they didn’t make him take any tests because they felt bad for losing him in their protection program.

Howmione sat next to Nick.

“Where have you been?” Nick asked.

“Getting permission from Dumbledore to take an extra class.”

“Overachiever,” Nick pretended to choke into his hand.

Brian laughed. Then he noticed that students were heading out of the Great Hall.

“Time to get to class!” Howmione said, sounding like a teacher.

Luckily, Howmione and Nick knew where they were going, so Brian was able to follow them.

“Hmm… which way is the staircase leading today?” Howie stopped when they reached the second floor. “Nope, that’ll take us the wrong way…” They took a detour down a long corridor and then found another staircase.

“How do you keep track of that?” Brian asked.

“After enough times of being late and getting detention in the Forbidden Forest, you learn to pay attention,” Nick laughed.

A few minutes later, the three of them were standing at the doorway of a classroom. They went inside and Brian saw that there were similarities to a regular high school room. Desks were set up and there was a blackboard at the front. What he wasn’t used to was seeing a cage of pixies hanging from the ceiling or notes levitating across the room.

They found seats in the front. This was because of Howie’s insistence; Brian would’ve much rather hidden in a back corner of the room.

The Professor walked in and went to her desk. The nameplate sitting on it read Fatima McGonagall. “Welcome to Defense Against the Auto-Tune Arts. You won’t need your textbooks today, but I’d like for everyone to take out their wands.”

Oh, great, Brian thought. He was hoping that they could just do some simple reading today.

“Let’s make sure you lot haven’t forgotten everything over the summer holiday,” Fatima said. “Can anyone explain to me what the Auto-Tune Arts are?”

Howmione shot his hand up into the air.

“Yes, Mr. Granger?”

“The Auto-tune Arts is a brand of dark magic that, in essence, reprograms other wizards’ magical cognitive abilities and causes them to backfire on the victim in question. It was a field of study that He Who Must Not Be Named was quite proficient, and what he used when he almost took over the wizarding world.”

“Correct,” McGonagall said. “Now, we are all aware of the three unforgivable curses. The one we are going to work with today is the A Capellius Curse. Can anyone…”

Howmione was already half out of his seat, his arm stretching upward. When called on, he said, “The A Capellius Curse is used to control other witches and wizards, causing them to function without the mental processes that usually guide their every move. When the curse is done effectively, all that the victims are capable of hearing is the mental track of the person wielding the spell, which forces them to do his bidding.”

Brian didn’t like the sound of that one bit. He was almost afraid to hear what the other two curses were, yet he was disappointed when it seemed like Fatima was moving on.

“Since you all are in your last year of study at Hogwarts, I don’t want to waste any time. Some witches and wizards of capable of deflecting this curse, which can be useful in a variety of careers you may want to pursue, especially if you end up interning at the Ministry of Magic in any kind of political or auror position.”

McGonagall lined the up students, and Brian was relieved that he was at the back. He was horrified when she pulled out a wand of her own. “I wish say one more thing before proceeding. These are unforgivable curses, as I said. They are not permitted to be used on Hogwarts grounds, or on anyone for that matter. It is illegal to force witches or wizards to do things against their will.”

“Then, Professor…?” Howmione asked.

“I’m getting to that, Granger. I have obtained special permission to use it for the purpose of teaching you to defend the spell. I doubt anyone will be able to keep any control today, but with practice a few of you will see improvement over the next few months. The spell will be broken immediately after, and Dumbledore, in order to allow the minister to give us this privilege, will be personally inspecting you all to make sure that no remnant of the curse remains. Now, let’s get started!”

Brian’s definition of “immediately” wasn’t exactly the same as McGonagall. He watched as, one by one, the students attempted to deflect the curse. A Ravenclaw student did the Macarena and Nick a few ballet moves. The other students laughed as he twirled. At least no one seemed to be in any pain. Still, this would be the first time (in memory, at least) that anyone had used a spell on Brian. He smiled when Howmione did the “shopping cart” and “lawn mower” dance moves, and then realized that it was his turn next.

Brian suddenly wondered why McGonagall had said nothing about how to ward of the spell. Surely there was a countercurse? In class, the unforgivable curse seemed to be all fun and games, but if someone really used it on you, then it would be a completely different story.

“Potter,” McGonagall said, as Howmione went back to his seat.

Brian took a deep breath. He’d be the last student to fail at the assignment, but at least he would be in the same boat as the rest of the class. Maybe she’d made him do something extra funny that he could joke about with his classmates. Maybe they’d begin to see him as a fellow student instead of staring at his scar. “A Capellius!”

Brian held his breath and waited.

Nothing happened.

McGonagall paused and looked at her wand. “A Capellius!” she cried again with more fervor.

Still, Brian felt completely normal.

“Very good, Potter!” she said. “And they were worried you wouldn’t be able to keep up with your classmates… A true Gryffindor!”

Brian went back to his seat, realizing how stunned everyone in the class was. So much for fitting in.

“How’d you do it?” Nick asked.

Brian shrugged.

“No, really. You can tell me!”

“I have no idea, I just stood there!”

Howmione looked pensive. Nick gave Brian a high five, and they gathered their things. As they all filed out of the classroom, McGonagall called after them.

“Don’t be surprised if you hear from the headmaster to make sure there’s no trace of the curse left. Well, except you, Potter!” she beamed.

Brian didn’t know how he made it through the rest of the day. Who knew that there was so much theory behind magic? Or how important wand movements were? Other than his supposed achievement in the one class, he hadn’t been able to perform any magic all day. His favorite class had actually been everyone else’s least favorite: History of Magic. They were talking about the Salem Witch Trials in the United States, something that Brian had actually learned about in school. Around Halloween last year, he’d even written a paper on the reasons for the witch paranoia. The professor had thoroughly enjoyed a “muggle’s” perspective, about the possibility of rye bread causing ergotism. Brian now knew that the commotion had been caused by a dark wizard and that true witches and wizards had been able to apparate themselves far, far away from the trials before being harmed.

He sat down for dinner and helped himself to some potatoes. At least this day was over with. He couldn’t wait to get back to the common room and just relax. To be able to accomplish this, Brian would probably have to stay clear of Howmione, who was already discussing the History of Magic essay they had due. It needed to be a parchment long, which Howmione assured him was a short assignment. Brian had no idea how long a parchment was. Maybe if he wrote big enough he’d get through it without too much difficulty.

To his dismay, this essay won over Brian’s care-free evening. He had plopped down in a plush chair, and Nick had sat nearby with similar intentions. Then Howmione had given them a short speech on how easily they could fall behind.

“But Howie, this was the first day of classes!” Nick said.

Brian, however, already was years behind so the speech was effective on him. He sat down next to Howmione and pulled out his textbook while stifling a yawn.

“What is that?” Howmione asked.

“A pen,” Brian said confused.

Howmione shook his head and laughed. “Here, I have an extra.”

Now it was Brian’s turn to ask.

“This is a quill pen,” Howmione said.

They couldn’t even use modern writing tools? It took him five minutes just to write his name as he tried to get used to dipping the pen in ink. Brian was getting frustrated when a student came up to him. He looked like a first or second year, and he was staring at Brian’s scar as he handed him a piece of paper.

Brian opened it up and mumbled a thanks, wondering what it could be. The student stood there another moment until Nick shooed him away. “Do you want an autograph or something?”

The student scrambled.

“What’s up?” Nick asked.

“It’s from Dumbledore.”

“I thought they didn’t need to check you since you blocked the curse...” Howmione said.

“No, this is about tutoring. I’m supposed to go and meet with him right now,” Brian explained to them.

Nick’s jaw dropped. “He’s not going to tutor you personally, is he?”

Brian shrugged. He left his things at the table and headed for the portrait hole. He hoped not. Wouldn’t that be awkward, being instructed by the headmaster himself? Brian didn’t want Dumbledore to realize how little he knew.

As he emerged into the hallway, it occurred to him that he didn’t actually know where the headmaster’s office was. Luckily he ran into Alex and AJ.

“I need to find the headmaster...”

“In trouble already? Nice,” AJ said.

Alex elbowed him. “In one day? That was quick. What’d you do?”

“Nothing,” Brian insisted. “New student thing,” he said, not wanting to explain that he needed tutoring.

“Well, I’ve certainly been to his office enough times...” AJ smirked. “I even know a short-cut. Come on.”

He followed AJ, and Alex decided to come, too. They walked around the corner and stood in front of a large portrait of a wizard standing in a hallway. It looked like a Hogwarts hallway, but the painting showed doorways where this hall had none.

“Think you can let us in?” AJ asked the man in the picture.

To Brian’s surprise, the wizard answered. He was middle-aged, with a pointy black hat that had an “H” on it. Brian assumed that stood for Hogwarts.

“Have you talked to Matilda?” he asked.

“Yeah,” AJ said. “She’s warming up to the idea.”

The wizard smiled to himself and opened the door in the painting. “Right through here,” he said.

AJ motioned for Brian to follow. Alex was right behind them. Brian wasn’t sure how they could possibly fit through but... as they walked towards the doorway, it got larger. Or perhaps they were getting smaller. Before he knew it, they were inside the painting. There was another doorway that AJ opened and they were out again, on a different floor of the castle.

“What did he mean about Matilda?” Brian asked.

“She’s a witch in the painting down on three. He’s always had a crush on her, so he’s hoping that she’ll start visiting his picture frame.”

Brian smiled and nodded. As with everything else, this only led to more questions, but he didn’t want to keep Dumbledore waiting. A moment later, they were standing outside a doorway.

“Quincy,” AJ said and there was a low rumbling. That must’ve been the password because a staircase appeared. Brian thanked AJ and Alex and climbed the stairs, soon finding himself in an office. He nearly stepped on a black cat that was lying on the doorway. The headmaster was sitting at his desk, still wearing his long, pointed hat, robes, and looking a little tired.

Without looking up, Dumbledore said, “Ah yes, Brian, come in.”

Brian took a seat opposite him. Dumbledore was writing something, so Brian glanced around the room. On the wall behind Dumbledore were hangings of what looked like past headmasters. There were parchments scattered around the desk. Brian was able to read the signature on one upside down: Kevin Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Brian was a little surprised that the headmaster shared his name.

A moment later, the headmaster put down his pen. “I’m terribly sorry. First of term paperwork is always a hassle, but it must be done. I am also sorry that the hour is growing late, but I did not want to put off speaking with you.”

Dumbledore leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk, peering at Brian with his deep blue eyes and raising his thick eyebrows slightly, as if surveying him.

“How were classes today?”

“Fine,” Brian mumbled.

But Dumbledore seemed able to read between the lines. “I do not imagine this year will be especially easy for you. The ministry is claiming that the delay in your return was due to worries about your safety.”

“Was it?” Brian asked. He added “sir.” That wasn’t anything he had ever needed to say at school back home, but Hogwarts seemed a bit more formal.

Dumbledore smiled. “It is regrettable how easily incompetence is masked by politicians. What you were told was true: they simply did too good a job at hiding you.”

Brian nodded. He wondered if it were too late to forget this wizard thing entirely and go back to his old life in Kentucky.

“Of course, there is nothing we can do now to bring back those years of schooling. We are forced, then, to do what we can this final school year. In order to accomplish this task, I have asked another student to meet with you twice a week to review your schoolwork.”

Brian had already known this, but he nodded again.

“I do not know that this will be enough, though, so I would like to personally become involved in your education. You come from a line of very strong wizards and witches, and I intend for you to leave this school as skilled as your ancestry indicates.”

He gulped. Personal lessons with the headmaster? So that was what was going to happen. As if he didn’t already have enough to stress about.

“I would like for you to return to my office every Monday evening for these lessons. Please get out your wand,” Dumbledore said.

Brian did so. He was dressed in his normal clothes right now, and it was really weird to walk around with a stick in your back pocket. It was one thing when your school robes had a wand pocket, but it didn’t work as well with jeans. He wondered where they hid their wands when walking around the muggle world. Surely people would notice? Maybe wizards had special jeans that solved this problem.

He told himself to focus. Daydreaming about pants during his first lesson with Professor Dumbledore was not a good way to start these lessons.

“I’d like you to wave your wand. The sparks that it emits is one of the most basic demonstrations of magic,” he explained.

Brian wondered if Q had already told Dumbledore how elementary his skills were. He waved his wand, but nothing happened.

He was worried that he was going to get scolded, but Dumbledore simply raised an eyebrow. “Well, sometimes when wizards are nervous they have trouble performing magic. I expect with this being your first day, you have many things on your mind.”

Brian was relieved for the excuse, but he couldn’t help notice that Dumbledore seemed befuddled.

“Professor McGonagall told me about your incredible show of talent today in class.” Dumbledore didn’t continue, but Brian felt that he was being prompted to answer.

“I didn’t know what I was doing, to be honest.”

Dumbledore nodded again, obviously thinking hard. “Well, I expect you’ll want to return to your dormitory and prepare for another day of classes. I shall see you next week.”

Brian nodded. “Goodnight, sir.” He decided, as he attempted to find his way back to Gryffindor tower, that he was going to get to bed early. The quill pen writing could wait until tomorrow.

It wasn’t until Friday that Brian found out who his tutor was going to be.

“Brian, Professor McGonagall asked me to give you this. You’ve tutoring after dinner,” Howmione sat down at the long table in the Great Hall.

“They aren’t big on notice here, are they?” Brian glanced at the piece of parchment. “Will you show me where this is?”

Howmione glanced at the location and nodded. “It’s in the same tower as my Muggle Studies Class.”

“You have a class about us?”

Nick, who was sitting next to Brian, laughed. “Some people are really fascinated by anyone who can live without magic.”

“It’s not exactly the Dark Ages,” Brian defended. “We have technology...”

Nick laughed as he took a bite of roast beef and started to cough. Brian patted him hard on the back. “I’d take a wand to eclecticity any day.”

“Electricity,” Brian corrected. “Why didn’t they put me in that class? That would’ve been easy.”

“Howie over here comes from muggles, too...”

“But I haven’t studied them from a wizard’s lens before.”

Nick stared, apparently wondering what a “wizard’s lens” was. “Do we have to talk about classes all of the time? It’s almost Friday. What are we doing this weekend?”

Brian shrugged. He didn’t know what wizards did in their free time.

“I know! You can have your first Quidditch lesson!”

Brian agreed, actually excited by that suggestion. He really missed basketball. When packing his trunk, he hadn’t even been able to fit one in there to take to Hogwarts with him.

After they ate, Nick and Howmione walked him up several flights of stairs to a classroom. He had seen a lot of Ravenclaws on his way, so he assumed they were near the Ravenclaw tower. He had never been on this end of the castle before.

They walked inside, and he was suddenly standing directly in front of the pretty blonde from the train station.

“Leighanne! What are you doing here?”

“I’m Brian’s tutor.”

“You? Why didn’t they ask Ho...”

“They did,” Howmione said. He turned to Brian. “I’m sorry, I’m just taking so many classes that I didn’t want to commit to a tutoring job, too. But I said I’d help out when I could.”

Brian, however, wasn’t angry at all. His smile suddenly felt goofy when he looked at Leighanne.

“What do you say we get started?” Leighanne said, motioning to the seat next to hers. “See you later Nick,” she said goodbye.

Nick turned to leave. “Howie, are you coming?”

“I don’t have time to go to the common room. I’m meeting Professor McGonagall in the library in a bit to go over what we did in class. I need some extra practice so that I don’t fall behind the rest of the class.”

“The rest of the class? Only Brian!” Nick rolled his eyes. “Whatever, man. See you later.”

Howie pulled up a nearby seat and opened a textbook. While he didn’t seem to be paying attention, Brian felt like he had an audience, which made his nerves increase even more.

“How are classes?” Leighanne asked.

Brian shrugged. Try as he might, he couldn’t form words at the moment.

“Professor Dumbledore asked me to start at the very beginning. He said that you were having difficulty shooting sparks out of your wand.”

Brian couldn’t help but feel Howmione’s gaze shift from the text to Brian. He could almost sense Howie’s shock. When he looked over, though, Howmione began to fumble with the pages. Why did everyone assume that he was the problem? Maybe Brian’s wand had a malfunction or something.

He stood up and pulled it out. The result was the same as in Dumbledore’s office: nothing. After several minutes of trying, all he had to show for his efforts was a sore arm. Leighanne frowned.

“Try to clear your mind. Sometimes we get in our own way and prevent the magic from flowing through the wand. Pretend like we’re not even here.”

That was easier said than done, Brian thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Howmione muttering under his breath at Brian. Brian felt rather scolded; he knew Howie was a perfectionist, but his standards shouldn’t be that unfairly high for everyone.

Leighanne bit her lip as Brian raised his arm for what he decided would be his final time. Everyone kept waiting for him to do something that he obviously couldn’t do.

Brian took a deep breath and really tried to clear his mind. He wouldn’t think of the disappointed look in Dumbledore’s face or Howmione’s critical stare. Instead, he pictured himself back home in Kentucky. His parents smiling at him. This now seemed like a simpler time.

As his wand arm waved from left to right, multi-colored sparks shot out. It was as if the Fourth of July had suddenly erupted from the end of the wand, lighting the room with blues, reds, and yellows.

“Great job!” Leighanne said.

Brian smiled. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

She let out a breath. “I was beginning to think you were a Squib or something.”

Howmione began to put his textbook away. “He did successfully repel the A Capellius Curse on the first try.” It was as if Howie was trying to convince himself, though. Brian felt sure that he was puzzled anytime a person achieved something in class that he couldn’t.

“That was true? I thought it was only a rumor,” Leighanne looked at him astonished. This was the first time that Brian felt pleased with all the attention he was getting over that class period. “Well, what do you say we work on some simple spells? Maybe we’ll start with Alohomora.”

As Howmione said goodbye, Brian began what he considered his first magical lesson at Hogwarts.

By the weekend, Brian’s spirits had lifted. Yes, he was still years behind his classmates. However, he could now perform almost a dozen spells correctly. He was even working on turning his quill pen into a butterfly, although all he’d achieved so far was turning the feather a light yellow.

Still, today was Saturday and Brian vowed to take a break from studying. His head was starting to feel full from the week of classes. The sun was bright as Nick led Brian down to the Quidditch field.

As Nick pointed to the goal posts, Brian couldn’t believe how high in the air the game was played. Nick hadn’t said anything about heights before. Although, Brian decided, the fact that the game was played on broomsticks really should’ve been his first clue. He was relieved that Ron explained the game while they were safely on the ground.

Nick was in the middle of discussing what sounded like the “waffle ball” when he laughed at himself. “I guess I’m getting ahead of myself... I forget you haven’t ever ridden a broom! I can’t even imagine.”

Brian was holding a Cleansweep 7. It was older and Brian was a little worried about getting splinters, but perhaps a slower model was better for his first try. He mimicked Nick and mounted his broom.

“Okay, that’s good. Now kick off from the ground,” Nick said.

Brian did, and he found himself flying. A few feet off the ground at first. Then he was fifteen feet up in the air. He felt like he was souring... until he made the mistake of looking down. A wave of panic washed over him, and his hands became shaky on the broomstick. His first instinct was to aim the broom back down. Brian did, but his fast decent left him laying on the ground a few seconds later, the Cleansweep several feet away.

As Nick rushed over, managing a perfect landing, Brian sat up and rubbed his head. “You were doing fine! What happened?”

“I don’t know that this sport is for me. It’s just so... high.”

Nick stifled a laugh and then looked thoughtful. “My Dad used to have this problem... I think there’s a charm I can do that’ll make you forget about heights.”

Brian stood up, hopeful. Grabbing his broom, he watched as Nick pulled out his wand.

“I’m trying to remember how this goes... Oh, ok. Let’s try this.”

Brian’s anticipation was being replaced by fear as he mounted his broom. Nick didn’t sound too sure of himself. But surely he wouldn’t perform a spell if he didn’t think he could do it properly?

Nick cleared his throat. “Auradium!”

Brian expected to feel different. Nothing had happened, and the thought of going back in the air still terrified him. His broom, however, was suddenly acting very odd. Before Brian could let go, it shot up into the air, dragging him along for the ride. Thirty then forty feet. Then he was as high as the Quidditch goal posts. The wind whipped his face as the broom whizzed through the sky, and he could see the castle, majestic in front of the tree-covered horizon.

Somehow, Brian had the distinct impression that Nick had managed to jinx the broom instead of him. The broom, it seemed, really didn’t have any problems with heights. Brian closed his eyes as he found himself as high as the tallest Hogwarts tower.

Finally, what seemed like a lifetime later, the broom steadied again. Brian found himself so high that Nick seemed like an ant on the ground. He took a deep breath and headed back towards the ground, slowly this time. His heart was still racing, but he soon discovered that he was enjoying his flight. If he could hang onto the Cleansweep for that kind of take-off, he could stay on for anything. Yes, he decided, now that he had everything under control, this was actually enjoyable.

He was over the trees that surrounded Hogwarts heading back to Nick when he happened to look down. It was hard to tell past the branches, but someone seemed to be standing in the woods. Brian was about to tell himself he was seeing things when a green streak of light shot past him. Had that come from a wand? Who could be in the forest? Brian knew that the students weren’t allowed.

A moment later, he was standing on the grass next to Nick, who was beside himself with jealousy. “That was amazing! I’ve never seen anyone go so fast on this old thing before!” he motioned to the Cleapsweep.

It was several minutes before Brian had the chance to tell him about the green light and the man in the woods.

“What did he look like?”

Brian shrugged. “Kind of a big guy, wearing a cloak... I don’t know. It happened too quickly to get a good look at him.”

“It doesn’t really surprise me,” Nick said. “Lots of things live in the forest. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

And the conversation returned to his flight. Nick said they’d have to get a group together and play a Quidditch game after lunch. They walked back to the castle in good spirits.

Brian couldn’t believe how accustomed he was to his new life. He no longer blinked an eye when stairwells shifted or ghosts glided past in the hallways. He no longer found it strange that he was living and learning in a castle. He didn’t even give a second thought to the fact that he could go “Accio” and something across the room would fly to him or say “Alohomora” when Nick locked him out of the dormitory as a joke.

He woke before the others and put on a sweater. The tower was getting chilly this time of year. Brian walked to the window and admired the grounds. Autumn was everywhere: in the orange and red leaves rustling in the Forbidden Forest, in the cool air, in the pumpkins that had been placed around Hagrid’s home.

Today was a day that Brian had been looking forward to for weeks: Halloween. Who would have guessed that he would ever celebrate the holiday with real wizards and witches? The timing couldn’t have been better either. Today was Saturday.

Brian crawled back under his covers for another twenty minutes, reading a book that Dumbledore had assigned him, until Nick woke up. They headed to breakfast, smelling cinnamon as they entered the Great Hall. There were jack-o-lanterns hanging in the air with a variety of faces. One even had the letters cut out to say Gryffindor.

They began eating while Brian asked what wizards usually did to celebrate today.

“What’s Halloween?” Nick asked, tilting his head and leaving his fork full of eggs hanging in midair.

“What’s Halloween?” Brian echoed. “You know... All Hallow’s Eve.”

Nick still seemed puzzled.

“You know. Where you dress up and go Trick or Treating.”

Nick scoffed. “Sure sounds like a muggle holiday.”

Brian was disappointed. Was Christmas going to be cancelled, too?

A few seconds later, Nick began to laugh. “I had you going there! The look on your face was brilliant. Of course we have Halloween!”

Phew, Brian thought. He threw a sausage at him. “So what do you do for it?”

“Well, there will be a feast here tonight. They usually have cauldrons of candy in the common room, so it’s a late night for everybody because of the sugar rushes.”

“That won’t be the only party going on tonight, you know.” AJ had appeared out of nowhere.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked.

“Well, Hogsmeade goes all out this time of year.”

“How would you know? Besides, it isn’t a Hogsmeade weekend.”
“Oh, Nickolas Think-Inside-the-Box Weasley, how can you even call yourself our brother? Do you think we only go into Hogsmeade when they let us?” AJ asked him.

“We have learned a thing or two in our over seven years here,” Alex added.

“Anyway, the Backstreet Broomstick is having a smashing party tonight,” AJ said.

“The Backstreet Broomstick?” Brian said, trying to remember where he’d heard that name. He’d never gone to Hogsmeade; during the weekend students had been allowed to go, he’d had too much homework to do. He’d spent most of September trying to catch up to other students.

“The club? They card there, and we aren’t old enough to get in!” Nick said.

“I thought you were considered an adult at seventeen in the wizarding world?”

“That’s true,” Alex told him. “You can Apparate and rent muggle cars and buy a home...”

“But you aren’t considered old enough to party,” AJ rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, we have that covered. Are you guys in?”

“But how do we get...”

“We told you. We have ways,” Alex said.

“What are you all talking about?” Howmione walked up, eying them suspiciously.

AJ held a finger up to his lips, knowing Howie wouldn’t approve of this sort of outing. “Eight in the common room?” he mouthed.

Brian hesitated, but Nick nodded and AJ and Alex left.

What if they were caught? He’d heard rumors of detentions that took place in the Forbidden Forest! Brian had never been a trouble-maker. Of course, with average grades, he hadn’t stood out much at all in Kentucky. Here, no matter what he did, he stuck out like a sore wand arm because of his scar. And he’d never seen Hogsmeade. A wizarding village sounded so interesting! If AJ and Alex had gone before without trouble, then Brian had no reason to doubt that tonight would be any different.

Brian spent all day worrying and wondering about Hogsmeade. He pulled out the same sweater he had this morning. He hoped that this along with his school cloak would be warm enough. But when he appeared at the stairs, Nick shook his head.

“You can’t wear anything that says Hogwarts, or they’ll know you’re a student and kick us out!” Nick said.

Brian tried to stop him before he finished, but it was too late. Howmione was standing behind Nick, arms crossed. Alex and AJ were standing next to Nick beside themselves because of his blunder. Well, they were sort of always beside themselves being twins.

As Brian retreated to find a different coat, he heard Howmione say, “Where would you be that didn’t allow students?... The Backstreet Broomstick? You could be expelled! That is the most ridiculous...”

Brian hurried to get ready, although he wasn’t sure if the trip could still go on now. Would Howmione tell on them? To his surprise, though, he returned to find Howmione a great deal calmer.

“Here, put this on for the trip,” AJ threw Brian something.

“You’re kidding?” Brian stared at the white sheet with the eye and mouth holes cut out. “Are we dressing as ghosts or something?”

“Don’t be absurd,” Alex said. “It’s so we aren’t seen.”

“Oh,” Brian said, a little more amazed this time. “Is this an invisibility cloak or something?”

“What? No,” AJ said, as if this statement was as absurd as the last. “But if someone sees us, they won’t know it’s us. Here, Howie. I brought an extra.”

“Thanks,” Howmione said, putting it on.

Brian was about to ask about this strange behavior when AJ led them to the portrait. Everyone else, they hoped, was still at the feast, which would be over soon. They needed to leave while everyone was still in the Great Hall, and they couldn’t afford talking at this point.

AJ and Alex led them down three flights of stairs down a hallway and down more stairwells. If anyone had seen the group, they would’ve seen five strange, fake ghosts walking around. Perhaps, since it was Halloween, they wouldn’t be that suspicious. This was a mute point as they made it to their destination unseen. Brian could smell the wonderful food, and wished for a moment they had simply chosen to attend the feast. He assumed they were near the kitchen. They reached the end of a long, stone corridor. All that stood there was a dusty, black grand piano.

Alex grabbed the broomstick propped against the wall and began to sweep while AJ moved towards the piano.

“Did you bring us all the way down here to clean?” Nick whispered.

Brian pointed and Nick glanced at the floor again. Underneath the dust was a trap door.

“It’s locked,” Nick noticed.

“Duh, Nick. That’s why we need the right key.” AJ examined the piano. Then, he pressed the upper C#. The deadbolt on the trapdoor magically opened, and they went into the underground passageway. They stored their white sheets here and began the long walk with a simple “Lumos” spell lighting the way.

The passage went down for a little while and winded this way and that; finally, they began to ascend.

“Shh,” AJ commanded. They were standing under another trap door, and he opened it just enough to peer out. “The coast is clear.”

They were standing in some kind of pub, where several wizards sat at the bar. The place was dark and slightly gloomy. Unnoticed, they slipped outside and Brian shivered.

“The Backstreet Broomstick is this way,” Alex informed them, leading them down a cobblestone street.

Brian was disappointed. In the other direction, he could see lights and hear music playing. On that adjacent street, he could see a shop window full of candies, which would be perfect today. Instead, they headed to what seemed like the outskirts of town. Soon he heard music again, although much louder with the bass blasting.

They neared the corner, where a neon green light read The Backstreet Broomstick. Underneath there was a heading: where wizards and witches can show their wild side.

“Remember the age restriction?” Howmione reminded them, speaking for the first time since the long walk.

“Yeah, we have it covered,” AJ pulled something out of his pocket.

Brian couldn’t believe what he saw: fake IDs.

“We enchanted them to show our pictures,” Alex explained.

Brian looked at the one he’d been handed. According to the ID, his name was Artius Saturnalian, and he was licensed to fly cargo broomsticks. He was also sixty-seven.

“Oh, these will never work. Their attendant will see right through these... look at the picture quality?” Howmione stated. “The picture glitches every time it moves. I think your wand movement was incorrect when you performed the charm.”

“Well, we have to at least try. We came all this way,” Nick said.

To Brian’s surprise, Howmione got out his wand. At first, Brian thought that he had come to his senses and planned to stop everyone. However, he walked up to Nick and muttered something that sounded like “Decayus Maximus” and, after a quick swish, held his wand in front of Nick’s face for two seconds.

Brian watched closely and realized... Nick looked older. He couldn’t explain exactly how, but he did. The only noticeable difference was the small, blonde goatee on his face.

“Cool! I’ve never been able to gr...” Nick stopped himself while AJ and Alex laughed.

Howmione performed this charm on everyone, including himself, and Brian walked over to a window to see his reflection. His hair was a bit shorter and he, too, now had some facial hair on his chin.

They walked inside and were greeted by a witch wearing a low-cut barmaid outfit. She glanced at them and said, “Go on in.”

“That was easy,” Nick said.

“That’s because my wandwork is excellent,” Howmione said.

They had to raise their voices to be able to hear each other over the band playing on stage. Wizards and witches, mainly in their early and mid twenties, were dancing on the floor. Brian walked past a witch with long, blonde hair talking to a friend. A wizard walked up and whispered something in her ear. The blonde witch scowled, trying to shoo him away. He said something else to her, and it must’ve been as inappropriate as the first time. Before he had the time to react, and his reflexes seemed extra slow, she had pulled out her wand and muttered something. His expression turned to one of extreme pain, and he hunched over. Brian couldn’t see anything wrong with the wizard, but he had the sneaking suspicion that, whatever the spell, it had been below the belt.

There were streamers on the wall and strings of what looked like real skeleton heads for decoration. Pumpkins acted as the centerpiece of each table. Some people were in costume. There was one wizard wearing hi-tops, a long skirt, and a ruffled shirt complete with a tie. Brian wondered if he’d decided to be a muggle for Halloween.

“Here,” AJ handed Brian a mug.

Brian asked what it was as he took it.

“Butterbeer! Cheers!” Their mugs clinked together.

An hour passed. Brian was on his second Butterbeer- which was a wonderfully sweet and foamy drink- and having a great time. At one point, when the lead singer had given the cue during a song entitled If You Want It To Be Good Girl, Get Yourself A House Elf, candy corn had fallen like rain.

“To think, all these Halloweens I’ve just been hanging out in the Common Room drinking Pumpkin Juice,” Nick laughed.

“Hey, where’s Howmione?” Brian said, suddenly looking around and realizing he’d disappeared.

Nick shrugged. Alex and AJ didn’t know either.

“He was here a minute ago,” Alex replied.

“How’d you guys get him to come, anyway?” Brian finally had the chance to ask.

AJ smirked and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a candy wrapper that read, Pushover Pumpkin Peeps. “Luckily, Howmione loves marshmellow, so it was easy to trick him into taking it. For a smart guy...”

“He sure is gullible,” Alex finished. “We’ve gotten him to drink four Butterbeers... He even chugged the last one.”

Just then, a new song started to play. Brian wanted to cover his ears as someone began to sing off tune. He looked up, horrified, when he saw that Howmione had taken to the stage. “What were you saying about Butterbeer?” he gave a harsh look to Alex and AJ.

“You say you want Howie around, but I’m not sure now if I wanna be down,” he sang into the microphone, swaying slightly with the music and the Butterbeer.

I think I wanna stay single

Just can’t look you in the eye

See I don’t want a girl who

Takes the network of floo

Powder to go see other guys

Makes me wanna die

For several, long minutes Howmione belted out Bye Bye Basilisk. Finally the song ended, and they pulled him off stage.

“What were you thinking?” AJ said. “What if someone recognizes you?”

“Relax,” Howmione said.

Talk about role reversal, Brian thought. They hadn’t been hiding, though, so Brian didn’t see why being on the stage made much of a difference. Yes, there were bright lights up there whereas the rest of the establishment was rather misty, but no harm had been done that he could see.

Nick seemed to agree with him, and they took turns doing impressions of Howmione. Even Howmione thought it was funny, although whether it was from the charmed candy or the plethora of beverages Brian couldn’t tell.

A moment later, a witch who was swaying even more than Howie walked up. She turned to him and said, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Howmione nodded. “I go to Hog...”

“...smeade,” Alex finished for him. “We’re visiting from London and staying in town this weekend.”

The witch put a finger on her chin. “I could’ve sworn...”

“Nope,” Alex said. “But nice to meet you.” He pulled Howmione with him and whispered to everyone that it was time to go. They walked into the chilly, dark night to sneak back into Hogwarts.

“Howie, shh! Will you stop singing?” AJ scolded him. He clamped a hand over his mouth and shoved him against the wall of a shop. “When we get to the passageway, you need to keep your mouth shut. Do you understand?”

Howmione nodded but as AJ released him, he drew his wand out with a sly grin. Alex tried to grab it before he did any spell work, but he wasn’t fast enough.

“Pumpion!”

Where AJ’s head had been, there was now a large pumpkin with a crooked smile and goatee. Light shined through from the center. AJ’s hands reached up, and he screamed. The pumpkin’s expression shifted slightly, but the grin was unchangeable. Alex did manage to grab Howmione’s wand at last.

“Hey!” Howmione said angrily. “That’s my wand...” His anger disapparated in a matter of seconds, though. Soon he was singing again. “Quit playing games with my wand... Even in my heart, I see, you’re not good at wizardry...”

Brian and Nick simply stared. They exchanged a glance and had a newfound respect for Howmione. He had always seemed simply booksmart. Brian had never seen him use anything he’d learned. Now he knew to never get on his bad side.

“Happy Halloween!” Howmione cackled.

Or enchant him with peeps.

“Change my head back,” AJ urged him. But every time Howmione looked at his pumpkin head, he was hit by a new wave of laughter. AJ turned to everyone else. “Anyone know a counter curse?”

“It’s probably in one of his books,” Brian suggested. “We can look when we get back to the castle.”

“Until then, we’ll use you to light our way,” Alex said. “Pun’kin,” he added affectionately.

The three of them snickered while AJ walked ahead indignantly. Alex got Howmione to follow and moved him away from the window.

“Who’s that?” Brian asked, noticing a wanted poster.

Nick glanced over his shoulder. “Huh. Looks like someone escaped from Azkaban. You know, the prison.”

Brian glanced at the man. He was screaming silently, with dirt smudged on his face and his hair unruly. Brian was sure he’d never want to run into him. He shivered.

“Where’s the prison?”

Nick shrugged. “Out in the ocean somewhere. Some of the most dangerous wizards in the world are trapped there.”

“And you’re not worried that one has escaped?”

“Well, Hogwarts is one of the safest places to be, isn’t it? Who’s going to mess with Dumbledore?”

Dumbledore didn’t seem particularly threatening to Brian, but he was intelligent. Anyone could tell that within seconds of meeting Dumbledore. And in the wizarding world, your wand was your weapon, not physical strength. Brian thought again of Howmione. Obviously it was the smart ones you had to watch out for.

Brian took one last look at the picture of the demented man before following the others.

Most of the journey went without incident, although the passageway was just as chilly as the night air. As they neared the castle, though, they needed to be careful to not be heard, and Howmione was still laughing sporadically at what Nick had deemed the AJ-O-Lantern.

This wasn’t funny to AJ, so it was Nick’s turn to try and reason with Howmione. First, he checked to make sure that Alex still had the confiscated wand. Then he said, “Do you want to play a quiet game?”

Howmione shook his head.

“You’ll get a prize. It’s waiting for us in the Common Room.”

Now Howmione seemed interested. He dramatically clamped a hand over his mouth. This only worked for a moment, though. AJ tripped and accidentally busted his head on the passageway wall. A little chunk of pumpkin fell off.

“Ooh, all he has to do is fall a few more times, and we can make pumpkin pie,” Brian whispered to Nick.

Howmione heard this joke and cackled louder than ever.

“Howie? Snap out of it.” Nick smacked him across the face.

“Ouch,” Brian muttered under his breath. “Did you really have to hit him?”

Howmione seemed so surprised, though, that he stayed quiet.

“You say an ouch for him because of a little smack?” AJ asked. “I have a piece of my head missing!”

They returned to the castle. The mixture of enchanted peeps and butterbeer finally seemed to be wearing off on Howmione. Unfortunately, as they entered the hallway to return to their tower, he suddenly stopped. Then he started slumping over.

Nick and AJ caught him, and Brian rushed in front and noticed that Howmione’s eyes were closed.

“He’s out like a lamp.”

“A what?” AJ asked him.

“Nevermind,” Brian said.

They’d been trying to hurry, but the walk was slow now that they were dragging Howmione along. Brian rounded a corner and was not happy about who he found waiting for him.

“Potter? What are you doing out so late?” sneered Draco Timberlake.

“None of your business,” Brian tried to get past him.

“Oh, and you’ve got my cousin with you,” he said as Nick rounded the corner still supporting Howmione. He said “cousin” as if Nick were contagious with some strange disease.

“Oh. It’s you,” Nick replied.

Timberlake laughed coldly. “I wonder what will happen when I tell the teachers you were wandering the corridors so late.” He crossed him arms and looked smug.

“Probably the same thing that would happen to you if they found out that you were wandering around,” Brian shot back.

Timberlake’s expression remained the same except for his eyebrows lowering. Brian had him and he knew it. “Unless they thought I was dragged out here against my will.”

Alex laughed. “Like we would willingly go into the Slytherin dungeon. We wouldn’t want to be around your lot.”

“You and your equally pathetic clone are infamous for your pranks, after all.”

“Threaten me again, and I’ll personally make it true. If I’m going to get in trouble for it, I might as well be guilty of the punishment.”

Timberlake sneered but didn’t have an answer.

“Can you move?” Nick said.

“Maybe if you asked more politely.” He didn’t budge.

“Get the bloody hell out of the way,” AJ spat, coming into view for the first time.

Timberlake’s face paled and his eyes widened, the glow of the pumpkin’s light reflected in them.

AJ realized that Timberlake couldn’t tell who he was, and he went with it. He gave a ghostly moan and raised his arms into the air.

“The Hea-hea-headless Horseman,” Timberlake whispered in pure terror.

“Give me your head!” AJ screamed and lunged towards him.

Timberlake ran, his own high-pitched scream following him down the corridor.

Everyone laughed but the knocked-out Howmione.

AJ smacked his hands together. “Well, I took care of him.”

“Yes you were illuminating,” Alex said pointedly, and they laughed again. AJ didn’t seem to mind his pumpkin head anymore since it meant he’d gotten to prank Draco Timberlake.

“I can’t believe he believes in the Headless Horseman,” Brian said. Then he noticed that everyone was staring at him.

Nick shook his head and turned to the others. His expression clearly read, If he only knew. There was a third round of laughter.

Brian was the first to come to his senses. “We’d better hurry. If anyone hears Timberlake, the professor’s are going to come out and see what’s going on.” All four of them pitched in by taking one of Howmione’s limbs. Finally they were swinging him in to the Common Room.

Between sessions with Dumbledore and the extra tutoring Brian was receiving from Leighanne, his schoolwork didn’t seem so threatening to him anymore. While he would never be the student Howmione was, he was doing well enough in class now that he didn’t stand out. He was perfectly happy with that average status.

November crept by slowly. The newness of the school year had worn off, but they weren’t yet to the holidays. When Brian asked about Thanksgiving, Nick wasn’t kidding this time about not knowing of it. Brian smacked his forehead, remembering that it involved American Indians and Pilgrims. He couldn’t imagine that the English would care, much less the wizarding community.

Brian was deep in thought at the Gryffindor table when Nick sat down with a mouthful of food.

“You gudda fiddish dat?”

“What?” Brian snapped back into reality.

Nick swallowed. “You going to finish that?”

Brian pushed his place towards him, and Nick grabbed the roll and scooped up some peach cobbler.

Nick looked at him questioningly, noticing his mood. Brian didn’t want to explain the fact that he was a little homesick, so he changed the subject. “How do you think you did on that Potions test?”

“Well, considering my potion burned through the cauldron... I’d say my grade was pretty abysmal.”

Brian’s had been only a shade lighter than the green it was supposed to, but Brian didn’t want to brag.

There was a shuffling of papers next to Nick. Howmione was reading The Daily Prophet. Now that Howmione had lifted it up, Brian could see the front page. There, silently screaming at him, was that man he’d seen on Halloween.

“Is there any more news on that guy?” His picture gave Brian the creeps.

“Who?” Howmione turned the paper and looked at the front. “Oh, Sirius? There was a sighting in Hogsmeade.”

Nick spit his pumpkin juice all over the table.

“Hogsmeade?” Brian asked. “We were just there two weeks ago!”

“He was sneaking some food out of Hogs Head,” Howmione continued, not missing a beat as he handed Nick a napkin. “Officials are still looking for other leads, but they did a search of Hogsmeade and came up empty handed.”

“I can’t believe they haven’t caught him yet,” Brian said. “Can’t they use... magic?”

Howmione rolled his eyes. “Do you think Sirius doesn’t have magic, too?”

Sirius. Even his name sounded mean. “Well...”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Nick said with a forced cheerfulness.

Brian glanced at him.

“What? This is depressing. Where’s the sports section? I want to see how the Quidditch teams are doing...”

Howmione passed him one of the papers and Brian simply watched them read for a few moments. His mind was still on Sirius. Wasn’t anyone else worried that a convicted felon with magical powers was running lose and could be nearby? Howmione had discussed the topic so calmly, without much interest, and Nick didn’t think of worthy of talking about.

Just then, a fellow Gryffindor seventh year walked by. When she saw Nick, she smiled and paused. He was too into the Quidditch article to notice, so she had to give a small “a-hem.”

Nick finally looked up. “Oh, hi Lavender.”

“Ni Nick,” she giggled. “Is it true?” she lowered her voice conspiratorially.

“Is what true?”

“Alex and AJ were telling everyone in the Common Room this morning that you guys snuck out on Halloween.”

Brian looked horrified, wondering which one of the twins hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut. Or if it was just both like Lavender was saying. If that news reached the staff and it was taken seriously, they could be in serious trouble.

Nick, however, didn’t seem to realize that particular predicament. “Oh, yeah. We faked IDs and went to a party.”

Howmione gave a “hmmph” and hurried away from the table. Brian had the impression that if Howmione’d had long hair, he would’ve given it a quick “swish” over his shoulder like girls did when they were storming off. He still hadn’t quite forgiven them for putting a spell on him. Brian wasn’t sure if he was angrier over the principal of the situation or the fact that someone had outsmarted him.

Lavender giggled again. “And you tricked Draco Timberlake?”

Nick, sensing a willing audience, told her the story. In his version, he and Timberlake had dueled, and they had carried Nick on their shoulders back to the Common Room pronouncing him their hero.

Brian had to raise his goblet and pretend to take a sip in order to hide his smirk. He could’ve easily set Nick’s story right, but it was rather entertaining this way. Although he would still have a talk with everyone about not letting their Halloween escapades become known to everyone. The Common Room was one thing, but the other houses didn’t need to get word of it.

To Brian’s surprise, Lavender walked to class with them. She was still standing by Nick’s desk when McGonagall walked in.

“Miss Hilton, kindly go to your own seat,” she instructed as she used her wand to write the day’s lesson one the chalkboard.

Nick glanced at Brian, looking pretty smug with himself.

“That was a pretty impressive duel you and Timberlake had,” Brian raised an eyebrow. “Gosh, we got back so late that I don’t even remember singing ‘For Nick’s a Jolly Old Wizard.’”

Nick shrugged with a sheepish grin on his face.

When Thanksgiving week did arrive, Brian found himself getting even more homesick. His family would be gathering in Kentucky in a few days, surrounding a turkey and pumpkin pie. They’d spend the afternoon watching football. The Christmas holiday was only a month away, so he would see everyone then, but this was still the longest he’d ever been away from home.

Since there were no telephones at Hogwarts, at least that he was aware of, he spent some time after classes that day writing his parents a letter. He cheated and used a regular pen instead of a quill. Brian’s parents certainly wouldn’t mind. While he’d written a letter soon after arriving, he hadn’t made much time since then. Trying to ignore the guilt, he thought about the reply he’d gotten from that first letter. Brian’s parents had been horrified when an owl had flown threw an open window and landed on the dining room table. He wished he could’ve seen the surprised looks on their faces! Especially since they’d had company over. The neighbors wouldn’t forget that visit anytime soon.

“Where’s the owlery?” Brian asked when he was finished. The castle was so huge that he still didn’t feel like he’d toured half of it. He’d had someone else mail the other letter, but he wanted to learn how to do it himself.

“Come on, I need to go, too,” Nick said. “I’ve got a letter for my... uh, mum. Her birthday’s next week.”

Nick seemed to be sending and receiving a lot of letters lately. Before recently, he hadn’t thought of Nick as much of a letter writer. Maybe he was also getting a little homesick.

They bundled up in cloaks and scarves and headed outside. Soon, they were climbing a winding staircase and Brian could hear wings flapping. After finding their owls and Brian getting bitten by Nick’s, they decided to head back to the castle.

“Let’s just play Wizards Chess by the fire or something,” Nick said. Brian could hear his teeth chattering.

Brian agreed. They descended the stairs. The grass was covered in leaves. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Brian didn’t know why, but suddenly he felt as if they weren’t alone. “Nick, stop for a second.”

“What?”

“Shh.”

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Brian looked towards the Forbidden Forest, the edge of which was nearby. Two dark eyes were staring back at him. “Nick do you see that?”

Brian was a little scared, but also curious. From the height of the gaze, it seemed to be some sort of animal.

Nick, however, suddenly freaked. “Run! Now!”

“What? Why?”

Instead of answering, Nick grabbed Brian and pulled him around the castle towards the entrance.

“Hurry!”

Brian ran as fast as he could. He’d never seen Nick genuinely scared before, so he didn’t doubt that there was something to be afraid of. Even if Brian wasn’t sure what it was.

Once inside, they stopped to catch a breath. Brian put his hands on his knees and waited for his heart to stop beating so quickly.

“What... was... that?” he asked in between breathes.

Nick avoided his eyes. “It’s the Forbidden Forest. It’s forbidden for a reason.”

This was technically true, but Brian doubted that people were generally in danger on the castle grounds. Even first years were allowed to go to the owlery. This couldn’t have been something that occurred often.

“But those eyes we saw. You have to know what it was. Why’d you freak out?”

“Listen, Brian, you just have to trust me,” Nick said.

Brian started to press for more information.

But Nick would only say one more thing. “Be careful.”

Brian had always loved Hogwarts, but the castle was at its best at Christmas time. There seemed to be just as many trees—huge ones that Qbeus had dragged in—as students. Brian and Nick had decorated their four-poster beds with garland and Howmione had enchanted the ceiling with fairy lights that fluttered around. They clapped on and off so that they could still sleep at night.

One odd thing that Brian noticed was how excited all of the girls were acting. There was a lot of whispering and giggling in the corridors. Brian was receiving many more “hello’s” than usual. He hadn’t felt this popular since the beginning of the school year, when an assortment of first and second years would come up asking to see his scar.

On Saturday morning, Brian headed to breakfast with Nick. As they neared the Great Hall, Brian pointed out something sitting on a stool at the doorway and laughed. The Sorting Hat had been enchanted a deep, crimson red with a white trim.

“Santa Claus left his hat,” Brian joked.

“It’s Father Christmas over here, mate,” Nick corrected, grimacing at the sight of the hat.

“What?”

“Not looking forward to putting that thing on my head again.”

Brian asked, “Why would you have to? You’ve already been sorted into a house.”

“Well, that’s its job for students coming in. But it’s also there for students going out of the school. It sorts the graduating class each year.”

“Into what?”

“Employed and unemployed,” Nick said.

Brian suddenly had the mental image of a 30 year old Nick Weasley still living at home with his mother, using his wand to change the channel on the TV. He managed not to laugh out loud.

“Hi Nick,” Lavender said as they passed by her table.

Nick’s face turned red but he managed a wave. They sat down and began to eat. Howmione appeared.

“Where have you been? You were already gone when we woke up this morning.”

“Nick, it’s noon,” Howmione said. “Anyway, I was in the library.”

“It’s Saturday!” Nick exclaimed.

“Yes, but there’s so much to do before the holidays. My parents and I are going skiing in France, so I won’t be able to pack all my schoolbooks for the trip.”

“Why would you pack any schoolbooks for the trip?”

“I don’t want to forget anything when classes start again,” Howmione said.

Brian couldn’t wait to spend Christmas in Kentucky with his family. On their last trip to Hogsmeade, he’d picked up the Witch Washer 2000 for his mom that included a self-dishwashing scrubber. He’d also found a “Quidditch Bloopers” movie for his dad.

“You lot heard the news?” Alex appeared next to Brian. AJ was suddenly on his other side, stealing a pasty from his plate.

“Hey!” Brian snapped. He’d already been disappointed that he’d missed the breakfast food, which was his favorite, but he wasn’t about to give up all his cornish pasties, too.

“What news?” Howmione asked.

“They’ve decided to give a holiday Yule Ball. Last weekend of the term,” AJ said. “Time to turn on the charm for the ladies.”

“Right, who’s going to go with you?” Nick smirked.

A moment later the Keeper for Ravenclaw walked by. She was tall and had long, black hair and a reputation for practicing prank charms on Slytherin Quidditch players when the professors weren’t looking.

“Hey, Katerina,” AJ called. “Do you want to go to the dance with me?”

Katerina smiled. After thinking it over a second, she nodded before continuing to the Ravenclaw table.

“Easy. As. Patronus,” AJ crossed his arms and gloated to Nick. “Sorry, all the good looks in the family got used up before you were born.”

“Alright, my turn,” Alex said, scanning the long tables. Alex and AJ wandered off in the direction of a blonde Hufflepuff.

“Who are we going to go with? I can’t let them get the gorgeous dates... We need to find two girls before they’re all taken,” Nick said to Brian.

“What about me?” Howmione said.

Nick ended up snorting some pumpkin juice out of his nose. He continued to grin as he wiped it off his face. “Who would you ask? The librarian?”

Howmione rolled his eyes and stormed away from the table.

“That was a little harsh,” Brian mentioned. But Nick wasn’t paying attention.

“She’s sort of pretty...”

“Brian.”

His heart jumped a little at the name. “Yes?”

“McGonagall asked me to give this to you. It’s from Dumbledore.”

“Thanks Leighanne.”

She joined a group of her friends at the other end of the table. Brian thought of the Yule Ball, then quickly changed his attention to the letter in his hand with Dumbledore’s now familiar slanted writing.

“He wants to see me.”

“Dude, he always wants to see you,” Nick corrected.

Nick walked with him to Dumbledore’s office. Brian said the password, and Nick promised to wait in the corridor for him.

“Ah, Brian,” Dumbledore said when he walked in. “Please, have a seat. Peppermint?” he offered.

“Er, no thanks Professor,” Brian said.

“Well then, down to business, I suppose.” Dumbledore sat down and Brian noticed that he was looking everywhere but into Brian’s eyes. He stroked his long, black beard. “I am regretful that this meeting was not for a more pleasant reason. I was hoping to avoid having to say this.”

“What, Professor?”

“As you know, most of the students will be spending the holidays with their families. I believe you were planning a visit to see your parents.”

Brian didn’t like the use of past tense.

“Have you heard anything of the wizard who has escaped from Azkaban?”

He nodded. Brian really didn’t like the sound of this.

“Despite the ministry’s best efforts, Sirius Knight has eluded capture. He was recently spotted in Hogsmeade.”

“What does he have to do with me?”

Dumbledore paused. “Well, he was one of Voldemort’s supporters. The night he escaped, the Minister of Magic informed me that he may be trying to find you.”

“Me? What did I do to him?”

Dumbledore gave him a small smile. “Well, according to the Minister, he is seeking revenge for his former master. He seems to think that you are the reason Knight decided to escape, now that you have come out of hiding to attend school.”

Brian noticed that he kept quoting the Minister of Magic. “Do you believe that?”

Dumbledore finally looked into Brian’s eyes, looking impressed. “I think that the Ministry often... misinterprets information. Nevertheless, your safety is of utmost importance.”

Brian could see the Christmas with his family slowly fading away.

“I was instructed that you not be privy to this information, but I feel that you have proven yourself capable of hearing the truth. Again, I was hoping that he would be located and I would not have to do this, but I must ask you not to return home for Christmas. A killer with Knight’s history is not to be taken lightly. I worry that you would be putting your family in danger.”

Brian had to hand it to him. He hadn’t told Brian to stay. Dumbledore had asked Brian to make the decision, although in a way that Brian really had no choice. He wasn’t going to lead a dark wizard to his parents. “I’ll stay.”

“Hopefully the situation will be taken care of soon. There is not enough protection in the muggle world, so although I know you will miss seeing them over the holiday, I know that they will understand. I will personally send them a letter explaining that it is in your best interest to remain in the school.”

“What if he still goes after them?”

Dumbledore shook his head. “Given the locations of where he has been spotted, you seem to be Knight’s main priority. If you stay in the country, then I believe he will, also. Nevertheless, we do have a witch who has been keeping an eye on them. Do not worry, Brian, we are taken every precaution to protect the school, as well.”

Brian wondered if he should tell him about what he’d seen in the woods, the day that he and Nick... Nick. Brian suddenly frowned.

“Is there anything else?”

“No, sir.”

Brian didn’t explode until he got into the hallway.

“How’d it...” Nick began to ask.

“You knew! Sirius Knight is after me and you didn’t tell me!” Brian shouted.

Nick’s eyes widened with guilt. “Oh.”

Brian began to walk down the hall towards the Common Room. This was all Nick’s fault. Brian would be spending Christmas alone. At school. If Nick had told him, then...

Well Brian could’ve done... something. He would’ve figured it out.

“I wasn’t allowed to tell you! I wasn’t supposed to know! I can’t believe Dumbledore told you.”

“He wasn’t supposed to, either, but he did,” Brian said pointedly. “How did you even find out? Does everyone know?” Brian started thinking about the attention he’d been receiving lately. They were probably pity greetings from people who didn’t think he’d live to see the new year.

“My dad works for the ministry, and he overheard a conversation. He told me so that I’d make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.”

“Like what?”

Nick shrugged. “I’m sorry, mate, but I didn’t want my dad losing his job.”

Brian’s scowl softened a little bit but that didn’t stop him from locking himself in his room the rest of the day.

It was Monday before Brian was talking to Nick again. Partly, he missed the person who he had started to consider his best friend. Also, though, he didn’t think he could spend another weekend with Howmione. Brian had spent Sunday afternoon in the library helping Howmione create study scrolls. Although come to think of it, he’d never found a History of Magic test as easy as the one he’d taken this morning.

In Defense Against the Auto-tune Arts, they were practicing how to counter hexes. Howmione had successfully countered each one; Nick, however, had a face covered in green, oozing spots.

“I bet that’s what he looks like first thing in the morning,” Timberlake sneered to his two sidekicks. Chris Crabbe pointed at Nick with a big grin, as if to make sure Nick knew who Timberlake was referring to.

Draco continued. “No wonder he hasn’t got a date to the Yule Ball. It’s not like he has the money to make up for his looks...”

Crabbe and Goyle guffawed noisily.

This joke served to distract Nick further. He not only messed up on his counter curse again, but he tripped over his own robes and ended up on the ground, the whole class laughing.

“You can’t let him get to you,” Howmione said to him when class was almost over.

This comment didn’t improve Nick’s mood. “I’ll show him...” he mumbled and grabbed his books, hurrying into the corridor.

“Nick, wait!” Brian called. But Nick was out of sight.

The whole class was heading towards the doorway now. By the time Brian came out, Nick was talking to a popular sixth year who was in Hufflepuff. Brian couldn’t make out all of the conversation, but he had the sinking feeling that Nick was asking her to the dance. Sure enough, as he got closer, he heard Nick stuttering about it.

“So... will you... will you go with me?” Nick asked nervously.

The Hufflepuff was holding her hand over her face, trying not to laugh. “Um...” she could barely contain her amusement. “Sorry, but I don’t think so.”

She hurried back to her friends who were waiting for her. They didn’t try to hide their giggles as they headed towards their next class.

Nick hung his head. “It’s officially laugh at Nick day,” he said to Brian.

“Um, Nick... you forgot to go to McGonagall at the end of class... you didn’t get her to remove the hex on your face.”

Several sleepless nights accompanied the final tests before the Christmas vacation. Now that Brian didn’t have schoolwork to think about, he was once again filled with disappointment. He’d probably be one of the only students at Hogwarts during the vacation. What was he going to do by himself for a few weeks?

The Common Room was packed with most of the Gryffindor House. AJ and Alex had somehow smuggled in pumpkin juice, and they were passing around goblets.

“Care to toast the end of examinations?” AJ asked him.

Brian shook his head but reluctantly took a goblet when AJ persisted. He was sitting in the corner near the fire, looking out the window. The fact that tomorrow was the dance and Brian didn’t have a date didn’t improve his mood. He felt sorrier for Nick, though. Brian could’ve had a date. For some reason, several girls had been hinting to him that they’d love for him to take them. One second year even asked him on his way to Potions earlier this week. Brian had said no automatically and wished he’d had more tact as she rushed off, embarrassed. The second year wasn’t anyone he’d ever met, though. Brian didn’t even know her name, just that she was in Slytherin. In truth, although she was too young for him, the deciding factor had been her house. Brian couldn’t see spending an evening with a Slytherin, which wasn’t fair, but the house made him think of Timberlake.

Nick, on the other hand, hadn’t recovered from his humiliating moment with the Hufflepuff girl. Her friends had passed the story around school, and he’d felt too rejected to ask anyone else.

A moment later, Nick slumped down next to him. Howmione followed.

“What has your wand in a knot?” he asked him.

“The Yule Ball is tomorrow. I bet we’re the only three seventh years without a date.”

“Perhaps the only two seventh years,” Howmione responded.

Nick turned to Brian. “What? Who are you going with?”

Brian looked at him, attempting to convey that he didn’t know what Nick was talking about.

Only then did Nick turn back to Howmione who had his hands on his hips. With a “hmmpf” he stormed off.

Nick wore a puzzled expression. “What’s Howie so mad about? And why won’t you tell me who you’re going with?”

“Me?” Brian knew he was going to have to spell it out for him. “Howmione must’ve gotten someone.”

“Howmione? No way! Where’d he meet a girl? The library?”

Alex came by and poured more pumpkin juice in each of their goblets before returning to the crowd surrounding a game of Wizard’s Chess.

“We can’t go by ourselves. We just can’t. And tonight’s all we’ve got. You and I need to pack up the courage and ask someone.”

Brian suddenly felt rather nervous. In truth, there was only one person who he could see himself enjoying the ball with. And it wasn’t someone he thought Nick would appreciate. Nick stood up with a sudden determination as if he was offended by the idea that Howmione could find a date and he couldn’t.

“Okay, by the time I come back, we both have dates. Agreed?” Nick said. He didn’t wait for a reply before he charged into the Common Room crowd. Someone must’ve made a good chess move before there were cheers and the sounds of one piece crushing another.

Brian had no intention of going and asking girls at random, so he glanced out the window again. Something was slinking across the yard. Clouds were covering the moon, so Brian had to squint to see anything in the darkness. Whatever it was, it was walking to the castle. It was too small to be Hagrid. What...

“Not in the mood for pumpkin juice?”

Brian jumped and felt his face reddened. “Not really.”

Leighanne smiled comfortingly. “You’re missing a great game of Wizard’s Chess.”

Brian simply nodded and wondered why his mouth wasn’t working properly. She’d spent the fall tutoring him in the basics of magic, so she already probably thought him the dumbest wizard in the world. He certainly wasn’t helping his case now.

“I’m sorry about Christmas. Nick told me that you couldn’t go home.”

“Oh. What else did he say?” Brian wondered how much she knew.

“Nothing... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” she apologized.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that...” Brian started. Good going, he thought. Here she was trying to have a conversation with him, and he was making it as difficult as possible. There was no build up. He didn’t know what made him blurt it out. Maybe it was Nick’s speech. More likely it was the way the light of the fire was giving her face a beautiful sort of glow. Whatever it was, Brian didn’t know what he was saying until the words were out of his mouth.

“Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?”

Leighanne’s eyes widened. “Oh, Brian. I’m sorry...”

“It’s okay,” Brian stammered. He was already getting up. It was the night before the dance. Of course she wasn’t going to say yes.

“Someone’s already asked me, and I can’t cancel...”

“No, I understand. Don’t worry about it.”

She frowned. He managed a good night and retreated to his room. He clapped his hands and the fairy lights turned on. With a groan, Brian flopped down on his bed. He had already changed and crawled into bed when Nick appeared.

“Well? How’d it go?” Nick smiled.

“Oh, I didn’t find a date.”

“Didn’t you ask anyone?”

Brian froze. He didn’t want to admit to Nick that he’d asked out his sister, an act that must’ve violated the friendship code in some way. Nick must’ve taken his silence as a no. “Well, of course you won’t get a date if you don’t try... Aren’t you going to ask me if I found anyone?”

“Who’d you get?”

“Lavender. There I was, looking around for someone to ask, and all of a sudden, she was standing next to me. Like it was meant to be, huh mate?”

Brian wondered if the sudden attention had caused Nick to forget how many times in class Lavender gave the most air-headed answers. Or her high-pitched laugh. Or her ditzy voice.

“That’s great!” Brian managed.

Now he was the only seventh year without a date.

“Why won’t you tell us who you’re taking?” Nick demanded.

“Suddenly you care about me again, huh? I thought I was cramping the Nick and Brian show,” Howmione scoffed. “Can you move? Your elbow is about to smash my black pudding.”

“Fine,” Nick said. “I won’t tell you who I’m going with either.”

“Lavender Hilton? You don’t have to tell me, I already know,” Howmione said proudly.

Nick pouted and began pushing the food around his plate with a fork.

“See you later, Brian,” Howmione said pointedly. He grabbed his textbook- even though classes were over for the term, he was reading ahead in Muggle Studies- and headed out of the Great Hall.

“I can’t believe he’s going with someone else.”

“I suppose you wanted to be his date?” I teased.

Nick glared. “He should tell me who he’s going with.”

We didn’t see Howmione back in the Common Room. Nick and Brian spent the afternoon trading the witch and wizard cards from inside the chocolate frogs they’d been eating. The girls were already rushing to their dormitories to primp for the ball.

“What do you think takes them so long to get ready?” Nick pondered, giving him a gnarled old witch in exchange for a gap-toothed wizard of which Brian already had another.

He shrugged. Brian hadn’t told Nick, but he was contemplating not even going to the ball.

“No,” Nick said, looking up and reading his silence. “You can’t back out... Do you want an Edgar the Excellent?”

When the hour finally grew later, they went to the dormitory to put on their dress robes. Brian pretended he couldn’t find his, but Nick grabbed it was where he’d hastily stashed it under the mattress. He glanced around, wondering when Howie was going to be up to the room to get changed. He didn’t show, though, so Brian and Nick went down without him.

Lavender Hilton had arranged to meet Nick by the portrait of the Fat Lady. She was wearing pink dress robes with matching bright bubble-gum pink lipstick. Her hair was curled with a ribbon holding part of it back. It, too, was pink.

“Hi, Nick,” she smiled.

Nick straightened and tried to puff out his chest as if he were trying to look important. She grabbed his arm and led him down the staircase. With a sigh, Brian followed and hoped this night would pass quickly.

The Great Hall was decked with the usual Christmas decorations. The trees Qbeus had brought in were as beautiful as ever with glimmering lights. Now, though, the ceiling was enchanted to look like falling snow. Soft music played as they entered the room, which was slowly filling with Hogwarts students. Several professors hung to the side by the punch bowl. Qbeus kept glancing at McGonagall when she wasn’t looking.

Brian could see Alex and AJ in the center of the crowd. They seemed to be having a dance-off. A group of girls circled them, cheering on the twins as they did strange moves Brian had never seen before. One looked as if they were casting some strange, complicated sort of spell, their arms making frantic wandlike movements. Timberlake was in the corner, although Brian couldn’t see his face. Draco was making out with whoever his Slytherin date was.

“Nick, could I have a glass of punch?” Lavender asked, her voice syrupy sweet. She twirled one of her blonde curls.

“Sure,” he grinned, and went toward the punch bowl like a puppy after a bone.

Awkward silence followed as Brian and Lavender were left alone. Brian had never had an individual conversation with her before, and he didn’t know what to say. Lavender, though, didn’t seem to have this problem.

“You’re not going to follow us all evening, are you?”

“What?”

“Just because you didn’t get a date doesn’t mean to you need to be with us all night. You know what they say: too many cooks to a cauldron.”

Brian stared at her with a confused expression. Before he could respond, Nick reappeared.

“Come on, lets dance,” Lavender took the drink she’d asked for only long enough to hand it to Brian, and then led Nick near where AJ and Alex were still dancing their hearts out.

Brian stood self-consciously. A slow song had started playing. He noticed there were instruments in the corner enchanted to play without musicians. The other students did as Lavender and Nick and began slow dancing. Three songs passed before Lavender and Nick returned.

“Why don’t you come and join us on the dance floor?” Nick asked.

“I’m not much of a dancer.” Brian assumed Lavender hadn’t told him about their conversation, and Brian wasn’t about to bring it up in front of her. Besides, as annoying as Lavender was, Brian didn’t want to spoil Nick’s evening.

“I still haven’t seen Howie.”

Truth be told, Brian had forgotten all about Howmione. He’d been looking for someone else. A moment later, though, they both got their answer.

Howmione walked into the Great Hall with his arm linked with the most beautiful witch in the room. Leighanne was wearing deep blue robes of Brian’s favorite color, and they made her eyes sparkle.

Nick’s mouth dropped. “I’m going to kill him.”

Brian had never seen Nick so angry before.

“He’s here with my sister!”

Half of Brian wanted to be Howmione. The other half was relieved not to be the target of Nick’s murderous stare. Brian could only follow as Nick marched up to Howmione and Leighanne on the dance floor.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Dancing,” Howmione replied coolly.

“Do you know who this is? It’s my sister!” Nick answered his own question.

Leighanne rolled her eyes. “Nick, dance with us or move out of the way.”

Nick ignored her. “You can’t take my sister to the dance!”

Brian noticed Leighanne looking at him and gave her an awkward smile. He hadn’t spoken with her since she’d turned him down for the dance. He was relieved she hadn’t divulged that information to Nick. And after this outburst, he knew his secret was safe with her.

“According to you, I can’t take anyone to the dance,” Howmione said.

“Yeah, what a rude thing to say to him,” Leighanne said.

“He’s not allowed to take my sister to a dance,” Nick repeated.

“Please, Nick, get over yourself. If you’d mind your own business you might realize you left your own date standing over there looking royally put off.”

Nick turned around. Sure enough, Lavender was shooting darts with her eyes. Leighanne stepped between Nick and Howmione, turning her back to her brother. When he let out a “humpf” and headed over to Lavender muttering apologies, Brian had no choice but to follow.

Well, the third choice would’ve been to sit at a table by himself. After ten excruciating minutes of listening to Lavender moan and complain, Brian both realized and took advantage of this option. The night dragged by and Brian wondered if anyone would notice should he slip out and head to bed. He’d forced himself to stop looking at Howmione and Leighanne happily dancing.

When Brian saw that even Qbeus and McGonagall were dancing, he couldn’t take it anymore. He wondered if he should tell Nick he was leaving. One glance over in Nick’s direction told him not to bother. It wasn’t worth another moment of Lavender. The Weird Sisters had just finished a lively rendition of “Don’t Turn Out the Lumos” when slower music began to play. “As Long As You’re Half-blood” began to play.

Brian stood up to leave right as someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Oh, hey,” he said to Leighanne.

She gave him a small smile. “I was hoping for a dance?”

“Um... yeah, sure,” he said. He couldn’t help but glance over to Nick, but he wasn’t paying attention to anyone other than the whiny witch standing in front of him. He nervously put one hand around her waist and the other in her hand.

Although pure magical witches were always my type

I’m leaving my wand in your hands

There are so few pure bloods, crossing families I’m

not an inbreed sort of man

They take “kissing cousins” way too serious,

And I can’t get over your smile

Also baby wizards with eleven toes

Would just be cramping my style

I don’t care who you are, where you’re from

What you did, as long as you’re half-blood

“Are you having fun with Howmione?” Brian tried to make conversation. Why he’d bring up Howie at a time like this was beyond him.

She looked away. “Yeah, he’s a good guy.”

Brian sensed some hesitation and wondered what it was.

“What about you? Are you having a good time?”

Brian gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Really? Because it looked like you were about to leave.”

So that was the only reason she’d asked him to dance. She felt sorry for him.

“I guess dances just aren’t really my thing.”

“Well, I’m glad we got to have one dance before you left.”

Brian could tell she was being sincere and suddenly he didn’t care whether or not Nick saw them. It was worth it.

“Brian,” she began.

“Yeah?”

A scream erupted from behind them. A first year had run into the room. Brian hadn’t seen Dumbledore up until this point, but the headmaster suddenly emerged.

“Knight! Sirius Knight is in the castle!”

Chaos erupted as the first year scre

amed. Brian and Leighanne exchanged looks and hurried to find Howmione and Nick. Blurs of robes swirled around them as students headed towards the exit. Brian wasn’t sure where they were all heading. He felt safest in the same room as Dumbledore, not to mention the other professors.

Dumbledore remained calm but raised his wand. It let out a high-pitched whistle that effectively silenced the room. “I need the Heads of Houses to each escort their students back to their dormitories. All other members of the staff should come with me.”

Nick and Howmione rushed over to Brian as they headed to their house table. Their fight seemed all but forgotten.

“Can you believe he’s in the castle? How did he get in?” Nick wondered.

Brian shrugged. He watched as Leighanne headed over to Alex and AJ and wished they’d had time to finish their dance.

“You need to be extra careful,” Nick gave Brian a meaningful look.

McGonagall appeared. “Gryffindors! This way.” She led this out of the Great Hall behind the Ravenclaws.

The Slytherins followed behind them.

“Scared, Potter? Your parlor tricks are no match for a Dark Wizard. I hope he finds you first,” Timberlake sneered.

For once, Brian ignored him. He had enough to worry about without this menace. Timberlake didn’t take kindly to being ignored.

He put a firm hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Where are you rushing off to? If Knight can get into the castle, I don’t think he’d have any problems getting into your Common Room.”

“Leave me alone,” Brian said. Timberlake had steered him to the side of the entrance hall, and the Gryffindors were already heading up the steps.

“Your funeral,” Timberlake gave him a shove and the Slytherins took pleasure in following his lead. One after another, they pushed Brian out of the way. Another moment passed before Brian could rush up the stairs. He’d already lost sight of his house. After another two flights, Hogwarts seemed eerily empty. The Sytherins hadn’t come up the stairs; their Common Room was somewhere near the dungeons. Hufflepuff, too, didn’t have a tower like Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Brian had always felt safe at Hogwarts. But now every creak had him jumping.

Brian had almost reached the safety of the portrait hole when he felt someone’s presence behind him. Slowly he turned, hand securely holding his wand. Eyes like those he’d seen in the woods that day stared back at him. Only this time, there were no trees to hide the body. He was staring a man; those eyes looked dark and demented. He gave a wicked smile when he saw Brian. Knight also held a wand, which made running for it impossible.

Brian tried to think of what to do. What kind of enchantment would protect him? Why didn’t they teach anything useful in school? Sure he could fill a goblet with water or unlock a passageway. He’d even successfully transformed a quill pen into a porcupine, but none of those spells seemed very useful right now.

Just then, Knight took a step towards Brian and laughed. It echoed off the walls. “At last, Potter,” Knight said.

Brian moved backward only a foot before his back touched the stone walls. He’d edged himself into a corner of the stairwell, with nowhere to go. He was trapped.

Just then he heard voices down the corridor of the next floor. One of them belonged to Dumbledore. Knight must’ve realized this, too, because the grin erased itself from his face. With one last look at Brian, he fled down the stairs. A moment later, Dumbledore appeared.

“Brian? What are you doing by yourself?”

Brian pointed after where Knight had been seconds earlier. “Sir, he was just here. He went that way!”

Dumbledore seemed torn. He obviously didn’t want to leave Brian alone while he pursued Knight.

“I’ll stay with him,” Qbeus offered.

Dumbledore nodded. “Take him to my office.”

On the way, Brian told Q about Knight. When they reached the door to Dumbledore’s office, McGonagall was waiting.

“Where is the Headmaster?” she asked.

“Brian had a run in with Knight, Professor,” Qbeus said. “He’s still searching the castle.”

McGonagall cast a nervous glance at Brian. “Well, tell him the students are packing. Getting everyone out tonight shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Packing?”

“We’re sending everyone home a little early, Mr. Potter,” she said.

“Not permanently?”

“Oh, no,” she smiled kindly. “Just for the break. It isn’t safe for students to remain here tonight with Knight on the loose.”

Brian’s heart sunk. Few students had signed up to stay at Hogwarts during the break, but he’d certainly be alone once word of this got out. He couldn’t imagine how empty the Common Room was going to feel.

McGonagall left to check on the other Houses and to help facilitate all of the students leaving. They were going to use something called Flu Powder, which sounded very unsanitary to Brian. He guessed this was because the train didn’t run in the middle of the night.

Qbeus and Brian waited in the Headmaster’s Office for a good while before he returned.

“Did you find him, sir?” Qbeus asked.

“No,” Dumbledore looked very somber. “I have several teachers still looking for him, but I do not believe we shall find him tonight.”

Qbeus left to check the grounds and the woods since he knew those areas better than anyone. Brian now relayed the events to Dumbledore, although there wasn’t much to tell. Even though the encounter fell like an eternity, Brian had only spent a moment with Knight. They were interrupted once when McGonagall needed to have a private word with the Headmaster. As she left, she was telling Dumbledore that students were being sent through the fireplace by year. First and second year’s had already left through her office.

“Where do you think he’s gone?” Brian asked Dumbledore when they were alone again.

“I can only assume he’s returned to whatever nearby location he has been hiding of late,” he rested his chin on his fingers and stared at Brian. He nodded as if he’d come to some sort of decision.

“Can I go back to my room now, sir?” Brian asked. He wanted a chance to say goodbye before Nick and all of the other seventh years left.

“Yes, I think you best. You need to pack.”

“Pack?”

“Well, Brian, the reason for you to stay here was based on safety. If Knight is here, then reason dictates you are safer elsewhere. The Weasley’s have offered to allow you to stay with them over the break. McGonagall has already communicated with them through owl. They have assured me that they will place extra magical precautions upon their home and, as Mr. Weasley works with the Ministry of Magic, you will have extra assistance should you find need.”

Brian smiled. If he couldn’t spend Christmas with his own family, then he couldn’t think of a place he’d rather be than with Nick’s. He bid Dumbledore a “Happy Christmas” and went to pack his trunk.

“This is going to be a brilliant holiday, Brian!” Nick said.

“Yeah, thanks for making it happen.”

Nick looked confused. “Me? I didn’t do anything. I guess it was Dumbledore’s idea.”

“No, it wasn’t him,” Brian said. He’d been in the room when McGonagall must’ve been asking him. She’d already sent the Weasley’s an owl by then, but she still needed the Headmaster’s permission.

“Well who cares? Now you don’t have to stay here staring at the ceiling, mate.”

They grabbed their things and headed to the Common Room. McGonagall soon collected all of the seventh years and Brian found himself standing in a fireplace, waiting to be transported to Nick’s home.

Brian felt a sudden whoosh as his body was slammed against invisible barriers. He had seen green flames in the fireplace, but they hadn’t burned him. On the contrary, he was now standing in a small but cozy living room. AJ, Alex, Leighanne, and Nick were already standing there. Now that they were all through, Leighanne flicked her wand at the fireplace and an actual fire lit the room. Nearly a dozen stockings hung over the fireplace. A Christmas tree sat in the corner; instead of lights, candle rested on the branches. They were lit but must’ve had some enchantment on them for the wax wasn’t burning down.

A sudden wind whipped around the house and caused the door to creak open. Everyone jumped, already on edge from the events of the Yule Ball. Leighanne shut the door, but not before Brian heard the unmistakable sound of waves crashing.

Brian looked out the large window at the darkness beyond and when the others headed toward the kitchen to look for their mother, he went outside. A bitter breeze sprayed cold mist on his face and he shivered. Brian was standing near a cliff and beyond it was the sea. He looked around. The coast line was remarkable. The only times he’d been to the beach in America he’d seen nothing but hotel chains and tourists red from the sun. Here, the shore was undeveloped. He could see the light on in the window of another house, but it was a good half of a mile up the coast. The moon reflected over water and he could hear waves crashing at the bottom of the cliff.

Turning around, he saw the Weasley’s home. A dirt pathway led toward the home and a small, lop-sided sign sat next to it. In the darkness, Brian had to squint to read it. The Beach Burrow.

“You coming back in? It’s freezing out here!” Nick appeared behind him.

The house was several stories high. Like the sign, they looked a little lop-sided. He saw several balconies that could only be held in place by magic. It was the most amazing beach house Brian had ever seen.

A minute later, he was being introduced to Mrs. Weasley. He instantly liked her for not making a fuss over him. At least for not singling him out.

“You poor things, you look chilled to the bone. I’ve just made some soup, would you like any? Have a seat, the lot of you.” She was a short, cuddly woman and, even though all of her sons towered over her and even Leighanne had her by a few inches, Mrs. Weasley had a commanding voice and tone that implied, when she wasn’t being motherly, she was not a woman to cross.

Brian sat at an extremely large table. For a moment he felt like he was in the Hogwarts Great Hall. The soup was delicious. Brian simply sat and enjoyed it while he listened to Alex and AJ finish telling Mrs. Weasley what happened at the school.

“I’m so glad none of the students were harmed,” Mrs. Weasley looked panic-stricken. “To think, my children in the same building as Sirius Knight...”

“Don’t worry, mum,” Alex said. “We were at the Yule Ball. None of us even saw him.”

“I did,” Brian said, taking another spoonful of soup. He looked up when he realized there was silence.

“What? When? You didn’t tell me that!” Nick said.

“Why do you think I was in Dumbledore’s office?” Brian asked. It hadn’t occurred to him that they didn’t know. After all, someone had extended him an invitation to come here for Christmas. Now he realized they had done it simply because they knew Knight was in the castle because of him.

When Brian relayed the events of his short encounter, he was surprised at how calmly he was about to tell it. It had been a long night, though, and he was too tired to be scared at the moment. He’d been living with the idea that Knight was after him for awhile now. Besides, it was hard to feel frightened with Christmas lights dangling from the ceiling and a warm fire crackling in the other room.

Nick had to sit down as Brian told the story. And Leighanne looked pale.

“Well, not to worry, dear,” Mrs. Weasley said when Brian was finished. She turned to her children. “That’s where your father is. He’s meeting with some ministry officials putting extra precautions around the house.”

Everyone finished their soup. Brian followed Nick up several flights up stairs to his bedroom. He was too sleepy to appreciate Nick’s posters with Quidditch players zooming around. Or the view from the window that magically turned the already seaside view into one with palm trees and warm winds. He didn’t even bother changing from his dress robes before he plopped onto the sleeping bag Mrs. Weasley had put down for him and went to sleep.

Brian couldn’t remember when he’d had so much fun. Although he still missed his family, he felt like he’d been inducted as an honorary Weasley. He’d spent his time here eating delicious home-cooked meals from Mrs. Weasley and even went to the village with them to do some last minute Christmas shopping. He mailed the presents, including those he’d already purchased in Hogsmeade, to his parents in the regular post. He couldn’t see an owl being able to handle such a heavy load.

While Mrs. Weasley preferred to spend much of her time indoors, Mr. Weasley enjoyed the muggle sport of surfing. In his workshop, he’d tinkered with surfing attire so that it kept him completely warm in the icy waters. Brian and Nick would sit on the shore and cast a spell that caused huge waves to form and Mr. Weasley, on a surfboard he’d also “improved,” would ride the crest to the shore while humming Beach Boys melodies he’d picked up from a muggle radio station. If you hadn’t known these were England’s icy waters in December or the fact that the man was a wizard, you’d assume he was a blond surfer from California taking advantage of a perfect tide.

Christmas was here before Brian knew it. They stuffed themselves full of Christmas dinner and then lounged in the living room by the fire, opening their stockings. Brian’s was full of treats from Mrs. Weasley, as well as some prank candy concoctions from AJ and Alex. Mrs. Weasley had the radio playing, but none of the Christmas songs were ones Brian had ever heard before.

“Ooh, this is my favorite,” Mrs. Weasley said. “The Backstreet Goys.”

Frost grows outside of Hogsmeade

Eating Berty Botts Flavored Beans, oh ho, ho ho

Inside, drinking butterbeer

Even the Dark Lord would not draw near oh ho, ho ho

And when the owls fly from the sky, sky, sky

Those Slytherins cannot deny-ny-ny

That’s when it’s Christmas time again

Mrs. Weasley grabbed an embarrassed Nick and they danced around the room while Mrs. Weasley hummed, la da, la da, da da da . AJ and Alex and howled with laughter before Mrs. Weasley told them they were next.

“I’m so glad Professor McGonagall agreed that you should come and spend Christmas with us,” Leighanne whispered while the Christmas commotion distracted everyone else. The two of them were sitting in the love seat in the corner by the Christmas tree.

“So it was your idea?” Brian asked, stunned.

Leighanne nodded. “I just didn’t think you should have to spend Christmas alone.”

Brian smiled. You were anything but alone in the Weasley house. She pointed up, and Brian saw a bit of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. He could’ve sworn it hadn’t been there a second ago, but who was he to argue with a holiday tradition?

Before he had time to act, Leighanne gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then blushed. She stood quickly and grabbed his mug. “More butterbeer?” She headed to the kitchen.

Brian sat with a dazed smile on his face while the Weasley’s continued to waltz around the room to a variety of carols. Even when Leighanne returned with two steaming hot mugs of butterbeer, they sat shyly by each other. Brian remained in his reverie until Nick jumped up with a cry and turned up the radio. His own favorite musician had come on the program.

“This is a brand new Christmas song from the Wizarding World’s favorite parody expert, Weird Wizard Al!” the newscaster exclaimed. The popular melody of Away In the Manger began to play, until the wizard’s choice chimed in with new lyrics.

Away in Azkaban, a price on his head

The felon Sirius was wanted for dead.

Then one day decided, would everything give

All the knuts in Gringotts, to find the boy who lived.

Dementors are livid, the Minister cries

But Sirius Knight is a master of lies.

The Forbidden Forest, Hogswart, and the coast,

If Sirius finds him then Potter is toast.

Suddenly, Brian was afraid the butterbeer was going to come back up. He could picture wizarding families across the country laughing at this obvious poking fun of his potential demise. Brian, of course, found nothing funny about the most famous wizard prisoner being on the loose and coming after him. Everyone else in the room had also gone quiet. AJ had frozen with a piece mid-air over the Wizard’s Chessboard.

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. “How about some pudding, my dear?”

“Oh yes,” Mrs. Weasley agreed, “I suppose it is time for dessert!” She went into the kitchen and everyone could hear plates clinking.

Brian still felt awkward sitting in the living room, so he went upstairs to use the bathroom. On his way back down the windy stairwell, he heard Nick whispering to Leighanne.

“That’s the thing... He doesn’t know all of it.”

“What do you mean? I thought he knew about Knight. I mean, Knight’s after him because Brian defeated You Know Who.”

“There’s more to it than that. Knight is the one who led You Know Who to his birth parents. They were in hiding. He’s the reason his parents are dead.”

Brian froze on the steps. A pain like no other he’d ever experienced coursed through him. Even when finding out he was adopted and his real parents had died, he’d never felt like this. He’d been sad, sure, but he had wonderful parents in Kentucky.

No, this was different. Maybe before, he’d felt some sort of justice for having inexplicably defeated the wizard who’d killed them. But this man? He was running around England free with obviously no remorse for what he’d done despite the years locked away. After all, he was looking for Brian to avenge his old master.

Of course, Sirius Knight wasn’t in the house. But there was someone else who was around to take the blame for how Brian was feeling right now.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Brian finally remembered how to walk, to move. He’d finished walking down the stairs and around the corner to find Nick and Leighanne huddled away from the others.

Two sets of eyes widened.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Brian repeated and shoved Nick.

“Calm down, man...”

“Calm down? Why does everything think they have more of a right to know about my past than I do?” Brian raised his voice. He heard the dishes in the kitchen go quiet.

This explained something Nick had said to him, weeks before. Mr. Weasley told Nick so that Nick would make sure Brian didn’t do anything stupid.

They were worried Brian would go after Sirius Knight.

Brian would have to be absolutely crazy to go after a mad man with far more skill in magic than he possessed. Brian was only doing somewhat well in his classes because of the tutoring.

No, Brian wasn’t about to go searching for the wizard who wanted him dead. But he also couldn’t stand the sight of those who had been lying to him. He couldn’t stay in this house right now.

Brian headed back upstairs. Nick started to follow him, but Brian heard Mrs. Weasley say, “Give him some time alone, dear. Come have pudding.”

Once in Nick’s room, Brian grabbed a hat, gloves, and jacket. He shoved his wand in his back pocket and, when he was sure all of the Weasley’s were in the kitchen eating, he snuck out the front door.

The wind whipped around his face, an icy chill howling up and down the coast. He headed down the steep path to the sand. The waves were dark, but as they crashed on the shore, the white froth looked like the surface of butterbeer. Brian stuffed his cold hands in his jacket pockets and began heading up the coast. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but the sound of the wind and the waves were a welcome distraction from his own thoughts.

There was enough Brian didn’t know about his own life without others purposefully withholding information. Why didn’t they think he could handle it? He’d accepted the fact that he was a wizard, moved to another country, and allowed his whole life to change, for goodness sake. Dumbledore had trusted him to make the decision about not going home in order to keep his family safe. He would’ve told Brian about this, had he known.

Right?

Brian only faintly realized he’d felt something in his pocket move before it was too late. The sound of the sea had made it easy for someone to sneak up on him.

“Brian Potter. At last.”

With no Dumbledore to appear and save him this time, Brian turned to see Sirius Knight holding Brian’s wand in one hand and his own wand in another, pointing it directly at Brian.