Double Double Toil and Trouble // One //

Chapter Two

After getting dressed, I was wearing black skinny jeans, plain white trainers, and a t-shirt supporting my most favourite professional Quidditch team of all time: The Holyhead Harpies. I bet you're probably thinking: What's Quidditch? I'll enlighten you.

Quidditch is a sport known only to wizardkind. It is similar to American basketball, but it is played in the air on broomsticks, kind of like stereotyped witches. There are seven players on each team, four different positions, and three kinds of balls. Three players called Chasers fly around trying to score points by throwing a ball called a Quaffle into one of three given hoops. Two players called Beaters go around with wooden clubs, keeping two balls called Bludgers from hitting their teammates and likely knocking them out. I never said this was a safe sport. Keepers guard the hoops to prevent the Chasers from scoring. The final player is called the Seeker. They fly around the entire game searching for a small sphere, no bigger than the palm of a hand. This particular ball is called The Golden Snitch. It has little wings to not only help it fly but to also be almost too fast to see. If, and only if, the Seeker catches the Snitch, the game ends and the team with the most points wins. The team whose Seeker caught the Snitch would likely have the advantage, considering it gives them one-hundred-fifty extra points.

Since Harry and I share a bedroom, he has to gather his clothes and get dressed in the bathroom since we're different genders. I pulled my jet-black hair into a ponytail and met up with Harry in the hallway.

Arriving downstairs again, we found the adults waiting for us by the fireplace. "Alright, we're going in pairs so no one gets lost," Mum informed us. "I'm going first with Lex, Mum's going with Harry, and those two idiots are going last." Dad explained, gesturing to Sirius and Remus at the end. Mum smacked him in the back of the head, causing Harry and I to snicker. Dad rubbed his head before speaking again. "Alright. Come on Lex." I joined him as he stepped into the fireplace. Dad placed his arm around my shoulders. "Can I do it?" I asked. "Go ahead." I reached into the large cup containing a dust-like substance known as floo powder and took out a handful. I cleared my throat before speaking. "Diagon Alley!" I dropped the powder to the ground, allowing green flames to erupt, and Dad and I vanished immediately.

~

I never quite got used to the feeling I got when I used the floo network. One moment, we were standing in the sitting room, and I held my breath as we were suddenly transported to the bustling street in Diagon Alley. Small children were running around playing, or admiring all of the brilliant shops. Dad pulled me aside as we waited for the others to appear. I could feel several eyes on me, a feeling Harry and I went out in public. When we were only a year old, the darkest wizard of our time, Lord Voldemort, broke into our house and attacked our family. In the end, Voldemort had vanished and Harry and I were left with nothing but two lightning bolt-shaped cuts on our foreheads. Everyone said we were famous because we defeated the most powerful dark wizard when we were still in our diapers. I, for one, didn't particularly enjoy all of the attention, and I knew Harry didn't either. I pulled a bit of my hair out of my ponytail and used it to hide my scar. Dad noticed this and wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders. He always knew when we needed it.

I pulled the school supply list out of my pocket and read over the things we would need.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM 

First-year students will require:

• Three sets of plain work robes (black)
• One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
• One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or something similar)
• One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
   
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags