The Gathering: The New Order of Merlin Book 1

4. Snowballs and hot dogs

 Minerva McGonagall breathed in the summer afternoon air, laced with scents of freshly mowed lawn and summer picnics. She finished her errands in the city and now had a little time for herself. The school was on summer break and she enjoyed her time off. She loved teaching and devoted her life to it, but even she needed to recharge, and a walk through her favorite London park was exactly what she needed.

She wanted to take her usual route around the lake where she could watch the ducks but found her path blocked by a dog-walker, leading nine dogs of various breeds and sizes. Who could control this many beasts? Minerva gave them a large berth and took a detour through a little pathway between the trees.

She was reflecting on the impracticality of traditional wizard attire in the summer when something dropped right next to her feet. She looked down to inspect the splatter of white on the ground and gasped when she realized that it was snow. Where would snow have come from in July?

A movement behind the trees prompted her to investigate the strange occurrence. As she approached, she heard laughter.

"You missed!"

She followed the young voice and found a boy with unnaturally white hair who hid behind a tree. The source of the assault was a young girl with long braided hair just as white as his. A snowball materialized in her hand, which she threw at him. He dodged it and propelled a snowball of his own at the same time, hitting her in the forehead.

"Got you! Ten to five. I win!" he yelled and ran up to swing her around in a hug.

While they were laughing, the girl secretly created a snowball behind his back and smashed it right into his face.

Minerva brought her hands together, delighted at the sight of wizard children playing with wandless magic this freely. It was common at this age, but it was usually accidental and limited. In all of her years, she had rarely witnessed this level of control over wild magic. These two children showed a lot of promise.

Their heads snapped to the noise behind them, as a fast-food vendor banged utensils on a grill.

The boy said, "Fancy a hot dog?"

The girl took his hand, and they followed the clattering of the cart like moths attracted to a lamp.

Minerva had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't quite explain. Her intuition told her that she should follow. She listened.

The white-haired children walked up to the stand, snatched two hot dogs off the counter, and walked away without a word. Rather oddly, neither the vendor nor his customer noticed the thieves but began arguing over the missing food.

Furious about what she had witnessed, Minerva followed the children to the bench where they sat down.

"You... you just stole this food!" she chastised, pointing a finger at them.

The boy ignored her while the girl looked at the bushes behind them and back at Minerva and frowned deeply.

"Yes, you! I witnessed your little stunt!"

Only now, the boy noticed her and froze with the hot dog in his mouth.

"We were hungry," the girl said, eyeing Minerva with a perplexed expression. She looked more curious than scared of being caught red-handed.

"You need to pay for this food, and now."

The boy popped the last piece in his mouth and threw the wrapper in the nearby bin. "What food?"

The girl giggled and nibbled on her hot dog.

Minerva was taken aback by their casual reaction. Her stern-teacher voice usually worked.

"Who are you?" the boy asked and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his faded-blue hoodie. "I'm Jack and this is my sister, Elsa."

She wasn't surprised that they were siblings. The resemblance between them stretched to more than just their hair. They were both pale, had similar facial features, and identical icy-blue eyes. Their matching lopsided smile disarmed Minerva's anger.

"I am Minerva McGonagall, a professor at Hogwarts." She found it hard to maintain her reproachful demeanor. "Are you starting this September?"

The teacher in her worried about them. The girl wore a faded teal dress, frayed at the bottom, and mary-jane shoes, which were so worn out, Minerva couldn't tell their color. The boy wore no shoes at all, and his trousers were ripped on both knees. She felt like giving a piece of her mind to their parents for taking such poor care of them.

"What is Hogwarts?" Elsa asked, having finished her hot dog.

"A school for witches and wizards."

"Wizards? As in real wizards." Jack asked with raised eyebrows.

Minerva was perplexed by his amusement, "I've witnessed your magic. You do realize that you are not Muggles, don't you?"

"What are Muggles?" the girl asked, swinging her feet from the bench.

"Non-magical people. You have magic. You're a wizard, and you're a witch."

To her surprise, the children simultaneously snorted with laughter.

They didn't know? Improper Use of Magic Office was meticulous at detecting underage wizardry. How did they miss these two?

"Where are your parents?" she probed, wondering what happened to their Hogwarts invitations.

"Don't have any. Don't need any," Jack said, taking his sister's hand. His gaze travelled to the hot dog stand.

"Who takes care of you?" Minerva asked.

"We're all the family we need," Elsa added, squeezing his hand.

Minerva felt like someone punched her in the heart. Their tattered Muggle clothes stood out to her even more now. They couldn't be older than twelve but were on their own.

"Children your age need a proper guardian," she said, wondering how they found themselves in this situation. "You can't live off stolen hot dogs."

Elsa rose from the bench. "Let's go, Jack."

He stood up but was hesitant to leave, eyeing Minerva with unspoken questions. His sister pulled him, and they started walking away.

If she were to intervene, Minerva had to act fast before they got lost in the world of Muggles, never to realize their full magical potential.

"Do you want to hear about a school for magical children like yourselves?"

Two white heads snapped to attention.

"There are children like us there?" Elsa asked.

Minerva tried to not look too smug. "How about I'll buy you both proper meals, and we can talk."

The children exchanged looks, and a silent conference must have been held because they agreed. 

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