Lucky

Letters Home

Most people wake to the rather romantic, beautiful sound of birds singing and chirping outside their window. Or the slightly less beautiful romantic, rather annoying sound of an alarm clock. Morgana wished she could have been woken by one of the above on her first morning at Hogwarts. But no, sadly not. Instead she was woken, at half past seven, by water trickling down her neck gently.

It took a moment for Morgana to feel the icy river flowing down the back of her pyjama shirt. But when she did, she leapt up and screamed. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Then she saw what it was. It was Emma Fortis, sitting on her bed, her wand pointed at Morgana's back, shooting water at her. "EMMA!" She growled.
"Hey, that was actually a pretty impressive growl!" Emma told her. Looking around and seeing they were alone, Morgana replied with a grin. "I know, right? Harry says I need to stop growling at people, or they'll suspect I'm an animagus."

And suddenly she was replaced by the energetic black dog that she had grown to love. She bounded up and almost knocked Emma off the bed, licking her wildly by way of revenge. Morgana turned back as Em spluttered and wiped her face. "Ew!" She cried. "Ok, well I'll know not to use Aguamenti on you again, late for breakfast or not!"

Morgana gasped and jumped off the bed. "We're late for breakfast?" She began to pull on her crisp, white shirt, red and gold tie and grey skirt. "No," Emma corrected her. "But we will be in precisely two minutes." Morgana shook her head, laughing, as she pulled her hair up into a loose bun. "You and your timings." Morgana looked down at her skirt. "Is this too long? Should I roll it?" Now it was Emma's turn to laugh. "You and your worrying about unimportant things when your about to head into your first day at wizarding school! It's fine, don't roll it up now, we have McGonagall first period!"

"So explain where you learnt that thing you did this morning?" Morgana queried as they hurried down seven flights of stairs. "Well, it's the aguamenti charm. Mum taught me it. Weird spell to teach your child, but hey, she must have thought that I might need to shoot water at someone someday. Pretty good for annoying Johnny with," she grinned.

When they arrived in the Great Hall again and sat down with Johnny and Alfie, Morgana couldn't help reminiscing about the feast the night before. It had been breathtaking - piles of potatoes and chips and vegetables, stacks of sausages and pyramids of chicken drumsticks. Dishes of cottage pie and pasta bake and beef ravioli. Rivers of curry. Waterfalls of gravy. Oceans of pumpkin juice. Then desert. An enormous profiterole tower sat in the middle of the table, chocolate sauce oozing over them. Steam rose from a golden-crusted cherry pie and the scent of sweet citrus drifted from a lemon meringue cheesecake. They had a little of a drink called butterbeer, a sweet, bubbling sensation that Morgana found she loved.

This morning the spread possibly looked just as good. Bowls of cereal, trays of toast, pancakes and crumpets, more pumpkin juice than they could ever drink, jam in all flavours, golden butter, tea, milk. Porridge, muesli, fruit salad, bacon, eggs, grilled mushrooms and tomatoes still sizzling - Morgana's stomach was suddenly feeling very empty, although after last nights feast she had felt she would never eat again. She did though. Lots.

They had a while before classes started, so they went up to the Gryffindor Common Room where Morgana sat down to write Harry a letter. The common room was a snug little room filled with comfy chairs and sofas, and a roaring fire always seemed to glow in the hearth, giving the room a never-ending warmth and homeliness.

Morgana grabbed some parchment and her quill and ink pot, and began to write to her godfather.

Dear Harry,

Oh. My. I've only been here a day, and what a day it has been! We arrived last night just in time for the sorting ceremony and went to the Great Hall. I was delighted to be sorted into Gryffindor, like you, and Ginny, and my parents. The feast was amazing, I ate like a pig.

I met a really incredible girl, Emma Fortis, and her twin brother John. They're both in Gryffindor too, and Emma and I share a dorm. It's amazing, it'll be so much fun! Classes start today, and I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited. I saw Neville briefly yesterday, sitting at the staff table, but I have Herbology with him this afternoon, so I'll see him then.

I think that's all for now, but I'll write again when I get a moment to tell you how I get on in my classes. Actually, Fawn might be very busy for the next while. Make sure to give my love to Ginny, James, Al, Lily and Teddy. I miss you, and I'll write again soon.

Love,

Morgana x

           It was nice, the whole idea of "writing home". It meant that you had a home to write to. And a home was all Morgana had ever longed for.