Shifted: Book One

Chapter Two - Dream or Reality?

As her hazel eyes followed the words written on her tidy pages, a small yet meaningful smile replaced her disheartened frown.

"Hogwarts is my Home", Hazel read out loud to herself whilst reading what she had written not long ago.

Hogwarts. A school of witchcraft and wizardry. Wasn't it everyone's dream to attend that beautiful and comforting castle known as home? It was certainly Hazel's. She had grown up with the famous Harry Potter franchise. She's watched every single film and read every single book countless times. For her, the Harry Potter universe was an escape from the grey reality she was already in.

Hazel felt a sense of belonging, a feeling she's never felt before. Sometimes she'd dream of being a student at Hogwarts; she'd imagine having afternoon tea with Hagrid and the golden trio, she'd imagine practicing spells or studying with Hermione and Neville in the library, she'd imagine practicing for quidditch matches with Harry and Ron, she'd imagine pulling off the most hilarious pranks with Fred and George. She felt giddy and bloomed with serotonin just creating these wonderful scenarios in her homesick mind and played them on repeat until they felt somewhat real.

When she first informed her school friends of her dreams and expressed her love for the entire franchise, she received nothing but humiliating laughs and pointed fingers. How could something that made Hazel feel so comforted give her an ashamed response? She wondered to herself why no one felt the same, why she felt different. Her loneliness only got worse from there. Her friends stopped seeing how she was, they assumed she was too busy talking to witches and wizards in her mind.

Although Hazel was in a dark place, she still had hope. She had hope everything would be okay, she had learnt to keep hope living and breathing inside her from the characters of Harry Potter themselves. Hazel continued to read the thoughts that she recorded in her journal.

"Harry taught me to continue fighting for love and freedom, to never give up. He taught me that love and bravery conquers evil and darkness. He showed me that love is power, love is all that matters", Hazel repeated, whilst a small pond slowly started to form in the bottom of her eyes.

She continued to read on.

"Hermione taught me that it's better to be yourself, no one is like you and someone will love you for who you are. She taught me that being clever isn't boring, nor does it make you weak. She taught me that women are smart, strong, brave and above all, powerful."

"Ron taught me that it's okay to feel fear. He taught me that you can still feel scared and courageous. He taught me that family is everything, and you will always have family, even the ones you don't expect."

Hazel couldn't help but let her salty tears run down her rosy cheeks. She allowed herself to cry; she knew it was okay. Hazel timidly smiled to herself and imagined herself thanking these characters in real life.

Several seconds slowly passed when she suddenly felt a light feeling in her body. This soft breeze travelled through her bones, in her hair, around her fingers and entered her soul. It was as if all the worries and distraught had left her body and was replaced with a calm, warm and comforting feeling. The tears stopped trickling down. She stood up, switched her bedroom lights off, closed her red curtains, switched on her dimly lit lamp and lied back down in bed. She knew what she wanted to do.

She had tried this many times before. With her head comfortably resting on her plumped pillow, she pulled her soft duvet over her body and placed her book on top. She flicked through the pages of her book, reading what she had scripted months ago. Her mind consumed every word, every detail and every meaning of her script; her script to shift to Hogwarts. She was sure to add in her script that she wouldn't remember anything of the franchise to ensure it was just as a surprise for her as it would be for the characters themselves. She additionally scripted a safe word, the only part of her script she wouldn't forget, for when her time was up, she would be able to return to her original, bleak reality. You may think it's daft, but she's experienced signs informing her that this is her time. That she will soon be returning home. Listening to these signs, she believed that she would shift.

From Hazel's experience, she found scripting enjoyable. Although she is no expert, she found happiness in it. Her desire was to attend Hogwarts, to be friends with the golden trio and everyone in Gryffindor. She wanted to learn about potions and charms and flying and she wanted to learn how to defend herself. Hazel wanted to experience Hogwarts like her idols did. So that's exactly what she scripted, every detail she wanted, she added.

After reading over her script and fully believing every part of it, she placed it under her pillow and played a subtle shifting subliminal from her phone which was sat on her bedside table. Her alarm clock read "31 JULY - 11:11pm" in bold, red, digital lines. She switched off her lamp, and lied in bed in a starfish position. Breathing in and out tenderly, her mind counted to 100. Every number she counted, she painted the pictures in her head of what she desired; Hogwarts, the students, the teachers, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, quidditch, she visualised it all until it all connected and felt real.

Time slowly crept by, when Hazel soon fell asleep - well, that's what you would think if you saw her. For Hazel, she felt the complete opposite of being asleep. Within moments, her mind was built up of white mist and white lights. She felt light and peaceful.

"Are you ready?", a soft yet familiar voice whispered.

Hazel could feel it; she felt the feeling of comfort. She no longer felt homesick, and before she could let a word escape her mouth, her eyes shut. The white lights turned dark, the warm feeling slowly became colder and all she could hear was the distant chatter of people around her. When her eyes opened again, her surroundings were revealed.