"Now then class, please open your books to page one hundred and fifty-six while I…" The rest of the sentence went unheard by Procus Evgenis, who could never (just like the others) survive more than fifteen words of Social Studies before he felt extremely drowsy. Procus Evgenis was in fact, a rather unusual looking boy. He was wearing round spectacles that were held together at the bridge by an awful lot of Sellotape because of all the times that his cousin Hao Jun had punched him. He also had knobbly hands that were quite strong, and, on his forehead, there was a thin, black birthmark shaped like an eye, which was practically unnoticeable, yet he was still endlessly teased by his cousin Hao Jun back in the abusive household of the Suns. But the most unusual thing about him were his eyes. At first glance, they looked normal, but if you looked closer, you would notice that his pupils were ringed with a brilliant red.
At school was where Procus preferred to be. At school, he had friends, unlike at home with his Uncle Satrid and Aunt Tulip, who had an unearthly (and, for him, at least, unhealthy) obsession with locking him in his cupboard under the stairs for prolonged periods at a time.
His friends' eyes were also unusual. Vignesh's eyes were as turquoise as the ocean with flecks of gold in them. Adi's eyes were as brown as the earth and soil that gave birth to the plants in this world. But that wasn't the only unusual thing about Procus and his friends. Whenever they were angry or upset, weird things always happened around them. For example, once, when Procus was being chased by school bullies, he found himself back in the classroom on the fourth floor, well out of the bullies' reach. Then, when Adi had been angry at his classmate for insulting him, he somehow managed to wreck the perpetrator's entire back garden just by saying a word. Vignesh could sense underground springs. Now then, back to Social Studies.
It wasn't that the subject itself was boring, in fact, it would be quite interesting, for it was all about volcanoes and other sciencey stuff. But the teacher's soporific drone of a voice put everyone to sleep in a guaranteed three minutes. The longest anyone had ever lasted was precisely three minutes and forty-two seconds, a record set by one of the school's alumni, who was rumored to have gone mad after that. However, I start with Social Studies not to put you to sleep, but rather, to show how exactly Procus Evgenis and his friends came to be some of the greatest people of all time.
***
Halfway through the lesson, Procus thought that he distinctly heard something being blown by the wind. However, even though he sat right next to the window, he could not feel a breath of wind. Then, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, there was a resounding crash as the door was thrown straight off its hinges and missed the teacher, Missus Lin, by mere millimeters. There was a long silence, one of the longest Procus had ever heard. Then, as though to show how full of surprises the world was, through the wreckage where the door had once stood, a straight-backed, wrinkled old man stepped in, picking his way carefully through the mess. You can quite imagine how intimidating that would've looked, especially to someone whose life was dedicated to scientific and historical facts. So, can anyone blame Missus Lin for doing what she did?
Missus Lin fainted.
At this, most of Procus' classmates seriously lost it. Over half screamed, about a quarter threw their pens, pencils, and books at the man, who deflected them all using a weird twig. A few hid under the tables. One or two attempted to escape the room. Only Procus seemed unfazed. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt like he had met this man before.
Soon, the man became fed up. Waving his twig like a conductor's baton, he muttered something and suddenly everyone froze. Literally, they didn't move at all. You could've encased them in ice and there wouldn't have been a difference. Well, of course, they'd be freezing cold and – okay wait I'm going off topic.
"There we go. Got that out of our system, now have we?" he asked pleasantly. He waved his twig again and everyone unfroze. This time, nobody outwardly panicked.
"Ah yes, sorry about that, but I had no other choice," the mystery man said apologetically, pointing at the wreckage that was now indistinguishable as the door that had once stood there.
He now started to look around the class, and, seeing Procus, strode up to him and said, "Ah yes, Procus. Good to see you again, m'boy. And you must be Adi and Vignesh, right?" he enquired, looking around at Vignesh and Adi.
Looking petrified at the fact that this man somehow knew their names (or them, for that matter), they nodded slowly.
"I'm Amberacis Dave, but, please, call me Dave, everyone does, Errand-runner and general resident at Angsanian Towers. But you'll know all about Angsanian Towers of course. So, as I was saying –" the old man continued, but Procus cut him short.
"Wait sorry, where?"
Dave froze mid-sentence.
"So, the Suns didn't tell you?" Dave enquired. Suddenly, he turned on Missus Lin.
"Call this boy's parents. Now," He commanded with great ferocity.
"And it's about time that you got your letter," Dave said, passing Procus an envelope marked with a logo that Procus had never seen before. It was that of a letter 'A' with seven symbols (an eye, a butterfly, a wand, a Celtic knot, a dragon's wing, a pointy staff thing and a dog's face) surrounding it in positions of a seven-pointed star.
"And, while I'm at it, you two had better get your letters too," the man continued, passing identical letters to Adi and Vignesh. With trembling hands, Procus drew out a piece of thick, yellowing paper from the envelope and unfolded it to read what it said.
Dear Mister, Procus Evgenis,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Angsanian Towers. Please find enclosed a list of items to be bought, a train ticket for the train that will take you to the school and directions on how to get to the shop. The term starts on the 1st of June.
New first-years will need:
1. An Introduction to Basic Magic by Cigam Retiw
2. Defensive Enchantments and How to Use Them by Praes Deum
3. A Beginner's Guide to Basic Changing by Tuus Pulle Luce
4. The A to Z of Magical Flora and Fauna by Faunei Sălbatise
5. The History of Magic by Anam Néze
6. Arts of Magic by Satiledin Dragoneer
7. (min.) 3 Quills with ink bottles
8. 1 pointed wizard's hat (for day wear)
9. 3 sets of uniform
10. 1 Cauldron (Iron)
11. 1 set brass scales
12. 1 Wand
Students are allowed to bring either a falcon OR a cat OR a toad. Parents are reminded that first-years are not allowed to bring their own AyrSkates.
To reach the shop where you buy your items, please take bus 123 to station number 321 then take train number 312 to station 213 and go to shop number 132.
"But Dave, I don't think that the Suns would want me to go to Angsanian Towers," Procus said to Dave after reading the letter.
Just then, there was a commotion by the door. Procus picked out the dreaded voice of his uncle. It made him want to hide under a desk.
"I am not going in there with that, that beast!" came the dreaded raspy voice of Uncle Satrid. As Procus watched, Uncle Satrid, in all his fat, neckless, mustache-as-long-as-his-arms glory, along with his equally dreaded paper-thin Aunt Tulip stepping through the doorframe.
"You!" Uncle Satrid snarled, looking at Dave.
"Me," He replied, completely unfazed.
"Satrid, how dare you not tell this boy about his place in his parents' world?" Dave suddenly burst.
"What world?" Procus asked, brought out of his fear by curiosity.
"You see!" Dave roared at Uncle Satrid, who looked like he wanted nothing more than to strangle Dave.
"The wizarding world" Adi said unexpectedly.
Now Procus was quite convinced he was dreaming. First, a random man breaks down the door, claims to have come from a place he was supposed to know about but didn't. Next, he calls Uncle Satrid and Aunt Tulip to his school. And, as if the day weren't weird enough, Adi knew about this place.
"Adi," Vignesh asked cautiously, "did you get hit in the head by something?"
"No!" Adi protested, "I live in a family of wizards!"
"Then why didn't you say anything before?"
"Because I was sworn to secrecy,"
Just then, something hit Procus.
"Dave why can't anyone else hear us?" he asked. It was true. No one else from the other classes had come to see what the commotion was about. As the principal walked past, she didn't even look twice at the once-door, as though doors turned into rubble all the time, no big deal.
"No one can hear me but the people in this room. To the people passing outside, everything seems normal," He explained.
None of this made any sense to Procus.
"Anyway," Adi continued, cutting through Dave and Uncle Satrid's staring contest, "as I was saying, the wizarding world. It is the world where all wizards live. Most of our houses are magically concealed. A long time ago, we signed the International Statue of Secrecy, meaning that we don't show our magic to Kin, well, non-wizards, unless in life-or-death situations. My dad's crazy on Kin, though," He added with a slight eye roll.
"Correct," Dave agreed, finally tearing his gaze away from Uncle Satrid, "And you, Procus, are a –"
"Stop!" Uncle Satrid practically screeched, "As this worthless piece of junk's guardian, I forbid you from saying anymore!"
"Oh, shut up, Satrid, you great prune. You couldn't stop me if you tried. Procus, you're a wizard,"
Now, I'm sure that I'm dreaming. Procus thought, dazed. He pinched himself. Ouch. Okay, definitely not dreaming.
"I TOLD YOU THAT I AM NOT SENDING HIM TO STUDY UNDER SOME BLOODY CRACKPOT OLD FOOL!" Uncle Satrid bellowed. But he had finally pushed it too far.
"NEVER. INSULT. MAGNA. FOONG. IN. FRONT. OF. ME!" Dave bellowed back, equally loud. He poked his twig at them, and they disintegrated.
"You've killed them!" Missus Lin gasped.
"Nah, just sent them back to where they came from," Dave said, "Wanted to kill them, that I did," He added with a growl, "Anyway, I must run. I'll meet you at the store," Dave said, waving his twig at the once-door, fixing it. Then, he disappeared.
***
It took a while, but Procus, Adi and Vignesh eventually reached the bus stop. Just then, out of the letters from which they were consulting every so often, something shiny and relatively small fell out of Procus' and Adi's letters. Catching it in his hand, Procus looked at it and his laughter died away at once. A large 'P' had been superimposed on a glistening bit of metal shaped like the school logo. Prefect. No. It couldn't be. No teacher in their right mind would pick him and Adi as prefects in their first year. They caused chaos, not brought order to it. But there it was, the glistening badge in his and Adi's hands that was defying everything that was going through Procus' mind. It took them a while, but they eventually accepted it.
***
"Woah…" the three breathed as they entered the humongous shop, which sold everything from pets to wands to potion ingredients. "Hello again!" came a familiar voice from behind them. Spinning around, they saw the jolly face of Dave beaming down on them.
"Well then here, I got you all your money bags from the Asian Wizarding Bank," He said, dropping large bags into all four's hand which were chock-full of golden Liezers, silver Shucks and bronze Shelts.
"23 Shelts make up a Shuck, about 6 Shucks make up a Liezer. Easy enough to remember," Dave explained, "Now then, go and get your items while I attend to some… work of mine,"
And so, the three went to get their things, starting with their books and stationery ("So… heavy," Vignesh muttered from behind a pile of books and quills that obstructed his face), then their uniforms ("God, these prefect's vests are darn hot!" Procus and Adi grumbled), their cauldrons, and lastly, their wands. As they entered the part of the shop where wands were sold, Procus experienced a chill that had nothing to do with the weather outside (which was now wet and gloomy).
"Ah yes. Procus Evgenis. I was wondering when you would arrive to get your wand," Spinning around, the four saw a misty-eyed man, wearing wizarding robes of a long and flowing black material. He was the wandmaker, Mister Oliver Beech. "I have had the pleasure of meeting your ancestor, Satiledif Evgenis. He came in here for his first wand. The wand that chose him was holly and phoenix feather, 11 and a ¼ inches, relatively springy," he continued, "Now, please hold out your wand arm. I will do your wand first, then your friends',"
Procus obediently stuck out his dominant (right) hand. With a jerk, he realized that the tape measure was measuring itself while Mister Ollivander made some complicated calculations on a piece of parchment. "Here, try this. Cherry and unicorn hair, thirteen inches, unyielding," he said, thrusting a long wand into Procus' hands. He had barely moved it when Mister Ollivander snatched it back. "No, no, no. Try this, holly and phoenix feather, eleven and a quarter inches, hard flexibility," he continued, thrusting another wand into Procus' hands, which was snatched away almost at once. This repeated over and over again, each time with a different wand, until finally, on his seventh try, Mister Ollivander gave him a wand of hazel and dragon heartstring, eleven and a quarter inches, hard flexibility. When the wand made contact with his hand, Procus felt a warmth course through his body, starting from his hand. He swept the wand downwards and a silver squirrel erupted from out the tip of his wand.
"Excellent, Mister Evgenis! That wand is capable, just like you, of great magic!" Mister Ollivander shouted in delight. "Now please wait while I get your friends their wands,"
So Procus waited and watched as the others found their wands. (Adi, Applewood and unicorn hair, 11 inches, medium flexibility; Vignesh, Holly and unicorn hair, 12 inches, springy). They each paid Mister Ollivander 14 Galleons for their wands and left the shop to find Professor Dave waiting outside, carrying a package in his hand that was no longer than 2 inches.
"Ah, got your wands, now have you?" he said, hastily stowing the package into an inside pocket. Before he could, however, Procus could have sworn that he saw a glint of purple from within. Nobody else had even noticed the package. "So now what's left to buy… ah yes! Your pets," Professor Dave continued, obviously trying to draw their attention away from the grubby little package. When they tried to protest against this, Dave brushed their protests aside airily. "I won't get you a toad, toads went out of fashion years and years ago, you'll be laughed at. And I don't like cats, they make me sneeze. Tell you what, I'll get you your falcons. All the kids want falcons. They're dead useful, carry your post and all that stuff," he told them, who at once began to protest (again). Five minutes later, however, all of them were walking out of Eeylops Pet Shop with falcons in cages. Procus had decided to name his one, which was a white-feathered falcon, SnowWing, a name that he had found in The Magical Events of Days Gone By. He and the others couldn't stop stammering their thanks. "Don't mention it," Dave said airily. "Anyway, I will see you at Angsanian Towers on June the 1st. Goodbye!" he continued, and with a crack, he was gone.
"He has got to teach us how he does that," Procus murmured and the other two heartily agreed. Bidding each other goodbye, they all went home to wait for the term to start.