Gwydion thought he was just an ordinary boy going to school. He spent, pretty much, most of his time alone at the boarding school his parents had put him in. They were always busy working, they never had time for him. His mum is a fashion designer and his dad promotes and organizes lots of events.
Gwydion only realised he was different from others when he first encountered his powers. He was just 8 years old, he didn't know where it had come from or how he came to have it. He had gone to the library and found quite a lot about magic, he discovered many words like spells, dragons blood and potions. The more he read the more fascinated he became and eager to embrace it. Only thing was that he couldn't tell anyone, not that it was a problem as he didn't have any friends to tell, he felt invisible at school and at home.
One night, on his 13th birthday, he went to bed and found a strange letter. He stared at it for a while feeling a little confused as he flipped it over in his hands, wondering who it was from. He managed to find the will in him to open the envelope, pulled out the folded bit of parchment and it read 'Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.' His eyes opened wide, a little terrified, but curious. He quickly opened it up and read the first line. 'Dear Mr Rees, you have been accepted to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry…' He felt confused as he paused before scanning through the rest of the letter to see who it was from, but all he saw was what looked like an 'O' He was even more confused.
He knew there wasn't long left till he finished school for the holidays, so he kept the letter with him all the time. It was to remind himself that he has something to look forward to next term. The last couple of weeks of term seemed to drag after that. So, on the last day of school, when it struck 1pm, and the final bell rang and he shot off. His classmates stared at the door.
"Who was that?" A boy in his class asked.
"I think he looked a bit like that weird kid?" said another boy
"I'm not sure either, I don't think he really talks to anyone," answered a girl.
"Do any of us actually want to talk to him?" asked another guy.
"Yeah, seems a bit of a loner and…" said a guy and his girl finished "...a freak." They both laughed.
"He kinda just keeps to himself, he never makes eye contact with anyone," said another dude.
"That boy you saw rushing out, he has a name. You would know it, if you made an effort, his name is Gwydion Rees." Mrs Juniper said as she approached the group.
One girl just rolled her eyes, the rest of the group went quiet, feeling slightly guilty. They were unaware that Gwydion had heard every word they said. He had stopped when he heard them ask who he was. He was tempted to walk back in, but he realised he was being stupid for considering it, shook himself 'Don't be a fool Gwydion.' He said to himself quietly as he headed for the exit.
"That boy always has his head down in his books, he is a bookworm, billy no mates" said a guy as the teacher walked out.
Mrs Juniper just stepped out of the classroom door and saw Gwydion walk out of the door at the end of the hall, she then turned around to face the rest of the class.
"It is not very nice to talk about people behind their backs. They do have feelings and just so you know he won't be back here next term." she informed them.
"Good riddance," said a girl with a smirk. Mrs Juniper glared at the girl and then shouted.
"NOW THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH" Mrs Juniper shouted "shouldn't you all be heading home now."
Tears almost filled his eyes as he heard his classmates comments, but then he remembered he had that letter. He took it out of his bag, wiped his eyes and smiled to himself. He remembered how he felt when he saw it the first time. He was deep in thought, imagining what it would be like. This made him feel excited and nervous. He was so lost in thought that he didn't realise how quickly he was walking, until he arrived at the front door of his house. He took a deep breath before entering the house quickly.
"Mum? Dad? I'm back home!" he called out, but no one answered. He headed straight for his room to pack his case, only to find his parents in their bedroom shooting for their new show. He watched for a while, but he couldn't grab their attention. He carried on walking to his bedroom eyes fixed onto his Hogwarts letter. He sat on his bed with his case open thinking about running away.
'I should tell them whether they choose to listen to me or not, it's the right thing to do' He told himself. He got up and excitedly went to his parents' bedroom, but they weren't there, so he tried downstairs and found them in the kitchen talking and laughing, he walked slowly towards them with his acceptance letter to another school. He skipped out on mentioning about witches and wizards. He just rambled on excitedly about how much he really wanted to go. They both put their hand up and managed to stop him talking and said in unison "you can go", not that they were really listening to him.
Gwydion just smiled and said "Thank You."
It was in that moment that had made him want to go immediately, but he knew he had to wait a few more weeks. He decided to go back to his room to research Hogwarts to prepare himself for when the time comes.
He had found the website, but it didn't say much, it only talked about its history that involved four founders many years ago 'Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin…' Gwydion muttered to himself.
He started to pack his case in preparation, he hadn't felt this excited and nervous before. That day went by quite quickly, but with the rest of the summer by himself it had dragged.
So when the time eventually came to leave, he said goodbye to his parents and they just gave him some money and he travelled to London. He didn't know where he was going but he got a sense that someone was watching over him, pointing him in the right direction. Surprisingly, he felt quite relaxed, he couldn't stop smiling for the first time in a very long time, he had something to look forward to.
When the bus reached his stop, he took a moment to look at his surroundings, nervous about enjoying his freedom, pulling out his Hogwarts letter to see if there was any information to where he needs to go and right before his eyes it appeared reading 'head to the pub called the Leaky Cauldron someone will be there to help you.' He felt a strange sensation within himself, he felt noticed and worthy for a moment.
As he slowly walked around London looking for this pub he hasn't heard of before still sensing that someone was guiding him in the right direction. He had walked quite a distance feeling a little tired, but eventually he stood in-front of the pub. He looked up at the sign, it was blank then it appeared with a black cauldron and the writing 'The Leaky Cauldron.' He took a deep breath and nervously walked inside. There were a few eyes on him. He felt scared as he hastened towards the guy behind the bar suddenly feeling nervous, the owner smiled at him. Gwydion smiled nervously and greeted him.
"Hi, my name is Gwydion. Am I in the right place to go to…" he started to say, then looking at his letter "To Diagon Alley?" he whispered the name of the street.
"Yes! you are in the right place my lad, come this way," the owner gestured cheerfully. He followed the owner through the arch and there stood another young guy waiting at a deadend staring at the brick wall before turning to face Gwydion.
"Gwydion I assume, I'm Porter Albatross."
Gwydion nodded gently "H...hi Porter, H...how… do you know who I am?" Gwydion asked as he saw him tap a few bricks in a sequence which then opened up a doorway.
Gwydion couldn't believe what he saw, he was loving it and slightly nervous.
"There you are Gwydion, welcome to Diagon Alley." Porter said cheerfully.
Gwydion walked on through and said "Wow"
"Let's go Gwydion we need to go to Gringotts first to get your money, just straight ahead you can't miss it" Porter said.
Gwydion nodded and made his way there. There was a strange scent in the air that he couldn't describe. He felt like he belonged straight away even though he didn't know anyone. They were all so very helpful as they guided him towards Gringotts. He looked all around him as he walked down the street was packed so his progress was slow. When he finally reached the front of Gringotts bank, he was speechless in amazement.
He entered the big doors of Gringotts bank, he steadily walked towards the main desk again looking around him seeing the creatures that he didn't know. Short with big pointy ears and grumpy looking creatures. He was a little frightened, but the thought of Hogwarts gave him the courage to not be frightened and instead he realised that the creatures fascinated him.
"They are goblins, Gwydion, very clever but not very friendly," Porter warned.
"Hi my name is Gwydion Rees, I've been told you can help me...as...I would like to get some money out." He said trying to stay calm, palms sweating.
"Do you have your key?" The head goblin asked as he lifted his head to look at the boy.
Gwydion saw the goblin's face for the first time, he suddenly felt nervous.
'Key?' he thought 'what key?' He looked at Porter and Porter muttered 'The envelope'. Gwydion rummaged for his Hogwarts letter and envelope and looked inside. Just then it appeared. As well as a note saying, 'this vault belongs to you, everything inside is also yours. Use it wisely, enjoy it and I shall see you soon.' It was signed FH he smiled.
"Whose FH?" Gwydion asked as he picked out the small gold and decorative key and handed it to the goblin.
"You will get to meet him later," Porter told him.
"Here it is sir," Gwydion said as he shakely handed over the vault key.
"Very well, come this way," another goblin sneered walking towards him.
Gwydion stepped back a little startled by the goblin.
They walked a fair bit of distance before he could see the rusty cart and he thought to himself 'Is it safe!' They jumped on to the cart and Gwydion held on tight. It was going at such a speed that it took all his strength to stay still, it kept going on for miles. The only time he could get a word out was when they arrived at vault 525. He had to wait for a few minutes whilst the rest of him caught up with his body.
"Whoa that was one crazy rollercoaster ride" Gwydion managed to say.
"That's usually the scary part. You're gonna do just fine in the magical world Mr Rees" Porter Albatross smiled
"Lamp please?" the Goblin asked in a neutral tone and Porter passed the lamp to the Goblin.
Gwydion walked slowly behind the Goblin closely followed by Porter then he took the lamp from the Goblin so he can retrieve the key from Gwydion. The Goblin inserted and turned the key. Gwydion could hear all the clicking and clunking of the locks and as the door creaked open, Gwydion couldn't believe what he saw inside. He looked at Porter.
"All those shiny coins piled-up inside is all mine?" He asked.
Porter only nodded and smiled, Gwydion took some out and the goblin locked the vault backup. They headed back and Porter showed Gwydion straight to Ollivanders to get his first wand.
Gwydion walked in and waited for a while. Ollivander greeted him from the top of the ladder. He smiled and instantly started trying to find a wand for Gwydion. For some reason Gwydion expected to be greeted by a grumpy old man, maybe because of the way the store was laid out, but instead he was quite the opposite. Ollivander sifted through his selection muttering to himself, he handed Mr Rees a wand and Gwydion took hold of it.
"Well give it a wave Mr Rees" Ollivander said enthusiastically.
Gwydion smiled at Ollivander and waved the wand. It caused a rather big explosion.
"Nope, certainly not, but not to worry, let's have a go with this one" Ollivander suggested.
Gwydion was then handed another wand he gave it a swish and a bolt of lightning came out.
"That's a definite no," Ollivander wheezed, as he climbed back up the ladder and he took out another wand and gazed at Gwydion, "This is a 10" wand, made from Cedar with unicorn hair for it's core. Not many witches or wizards can handle it's unique power, shall we give it a try." Ollivander said as he handed it to him.
Gwydion slowly took hold of the wand and nervously gave it a swish.
"That's perfect!" Ollivander said.
"But how do you know which ones to pick?" Gwydion asked curiously.
"That's the beauty of wands Mr Rees, it is not understood why, but the wand chooses the wizard," Ollivander explained.
Gwydion nodded his head and left, Porter took him to get his first animal and as he walked through the door of the shop he saw an owl circling over him. He found it hard as there were so many to choose from. Then this hazelnut coloured baby owl with flecks of dark brown and topaz eyes landed on his shoulder, he tried to shoo it off but it would not go. Gwydion looked into the owl's eyes, he saw something, he couldn't understand he just knew he had to have it. The shop owner saw the way they were transfixed on one another and he smiled.
"That's a fine owl you've got. This is a rare eagle owl and they are very smart creatures, this particular one is special. It knows a good wizard when it sees one. This particular owl will grow bigger with age as you grow" The shop owner said.
Gwydion looked at the owner confused, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that as you grow as a wizard, the owl will grow bigger and stronger as well" the shop owner explained.
Gwydion smiled "Thank you, I will work extra hard then"
"Thank you, I will get this one, it seems to like you" Porter interrupted happily.
"Oh thank you Porter" Gwydion smiled feeling strange as he was not used to being so visible, "I will call him 'Chino'," and the owl hooted happily, Gwydion smiled.
"The owl seems to like the name," Porter said with a smile.
After that, getting the books and cauldron he needed was easy. He even had time to buy some sweets before heading to Kings Cross which is where Porter had left him, but not before giving Gwydion his ticket.
He looked at it 'Platform 9Âľ' it said. He was a little confused, but he carried on walking towards the station for platform 9. He asked a few random people for directions, some ignored him and some laughed at him when he asked 'where he could find platform 9Âľ?'
Gwydion heard a group of people saying 'muggles, and platform 9Âľ' so, he decided to follow them. He saw them disappear through the wall. He knew he was in the right place, so he just did the same with a bit of a run-up.