Love in the Time of Magic | bbangsaz

Year 1: Magical Existence

The sounds of hooting and flapping of wings was heard through the window. Hanni stood up from her bed, walking over to open the window curtain.

An owl.

A letter was found in its claws, sealed with a red stamp along with her name and address. Hanni was scared of being close to the owl. No, scratch that. She was terrified.

Hanni opened the window, taking the letter from the owl's claws hesitantly as it soon flew away. She sighed in relief, knowing that nothing bad happened.

She rushed downstairs to the kitchen with her white printed bunny pajamas, messy hair and bare feet.

"Mom, Dad! I got a letter from an owl!"

Hanni's parents sat at the kitchen table, abruptly stopping their activities. They looked at each other with widened eyes as their daughter held up the letter.

They both gasped. "Hanni honey, open it. Let's see what it says."

She peeled off the red stamp and opened the letter, unfolding it. "Can you read it out loud for us dear?" Hanni's mother softly.

"Dear Pham Hanni, you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardr—Mom, Dad... what is this?" She looked at her parents expectantly, confused about the situation.

Her father sighed, "Hanni, you're a witch."

"Wha—but those don't exist..."

"Don't exist, eh? Your mother is a witch, and I'm a wizard!" Her father said, chuckling.

Hanni paused, trying to process the information. "You—You're a witch... and you're a wizard? Are we—we're not normal?" She asked whilst furrowing her eyebrows at them.

"Ah, don't say that! Let's just say that we're a bit special," her mom said smiling.

Hanni's father pursed his lips. "You're a pure-blood, which means our family tree is filled with magical ancestors. We thought we'd give it a shot at living a normal life, but obviously Hogwarts wanted otherwise," he continued.

"Why a normal life?" Hanni questioned.

"Well... there was an incident a few years back. A dark wizard put our world into grave danger, but fortunately for us, he was stopped."

Hanni's eyes wandered around the room, not exactly knowing how to process this information. For years, her parents have been gatekeeping an entirely new world from her.

"Honey, I know this is a lot to take in... but seeing that you've got this amazing opportunity, we have to fly over to London." Her mother tried lightening the mood. Fortunately for her, it worked. "London?! That's great, but why?" Hanni felt excited and curious at the same time. She was skeptical about why they would need to visit London.

"We need to visit the Leaky Cauldron! You will need to buy your school supplies from Diagon Alley." Her father paused, pondering for a bit. "Let's start packing."

"Now?"

"Yes, now!"

Hanni hurried upstairs and began packing her stuff.

—

Hanni arrived in London with her parents. Her dad was holding a piece of paper, trying to remember a specific location. It's been a very long time since I've been here... so—Leaky Cauldron... Leaky Cauldron..." Her dad mumbled as Hanni's mom shuffled around and about.

"Honey, here! Leaky Cauldron is right here," her mom pointed towards the left. The three of them walked inside and towards the counter of the pub.

"Ah, excuse me... can you help us find our way towards Diagon Alley?" Hanni's father asked as the person behind the counter eyed him suspiciously.