Leo walked happily down the alley, heading to the meeting point with Snape.
As he observed his wand, he couldn't help but nod with satisfaction.
The day had been very productive: he had bought all the necessary supplies for his first year at Hogwarts and, most importantly, he had found a wand that seemed made for him!
However, there was one item on the list that he hadn't purchased: a pet.
He didn't need an owl to send messages, and frogs and mice were not to his liking.
He considered buying a cat, but considering the time, effort, and money it took to raise one, he dismissed the idea. 'Maybe in the future,' he thought.
Leo walked a bit further until he reached a clothing store.
Before sitting down to wait, he noticed that Snape was already there.
As he approached him, he said, "Professor Snape, I already have my wand."
Snape turned and said, "Good... hold on, I will take you home." Hearing this made Leo feel a twist in his stomach.
"Isn't there another way, something... softer?" He saw Snape's face wrinkle, and his voice began to fade. "Well..."
He took Snape by the sleeve like last time, and once again, that feeling of weightlessness overwhelmed him.
He felt himself touching solid ground, and as he looked around, he confirmed they had arrived at the shoe store where they had met before.
'I guess since it's the second time, it wasn't so bad,' he thought.
"Ugh..."
'Forget what I said...'
Once the dizziness passed, he wanted to thank the professor for his help, but when he turned around, Snape had vanished.
"Well, never mind," he thought, shrugging helplessly.
He adjusted his small backpack and started on the way back he had taken that morning.
Even though it was getting dark, Leo knew the area very well, as he had grown up around here, so he knew exactly which path to take and which to avoid.
Besides, he had his hands and feet free: Snape and he had agreed that his supplies would be delivered by the next morning at the latest, so there were no problems escaping if necessary, as long as he didn't wander into a dead-end alley.
It took him just an hour to go from the shoe store to the orphanage.
When Leo arrived, it was already getting dark, and the sky was filled with thick dark clouds; it seemed that a heavy drizzle would start soon.
As he approached, he could hear the cheerful and clinking sound of the children eating inside.
When he was about to enter, Leo noticed that drops of water were beginning to fall.
'Fortunately, I hurried along the way.'
Once inside, the first thing Leo did was go to his room to drop off his backpack and wand.
Then he washed his hands and ran downstairs to eat: he was starving! After all, aside from what he had had for breakfast that morning, he hadn't eaten a bite all day.
He sat at a table with other children from the orphanage.
Since it was already quite late, all the tables were occupied, so he could only sit in a free spot.
"Hello everyone, do you mind if I sit here?"
"Ah! Of course, the chair is free." The one who spoke was one of the older sisters at the orphanage, named Nicole.
"Hey, Leo! What are you doing? Now that you finished primary, which secondary school are you going to?" asked Lizeth, the youngest at the table. She was curious and nice to everyone.
"I'm curious too. Our famous troublemaker asked me which school he will choose," said Ed, dressed in a sports coat with his hair dyed blonde. Although he looked tough, he was actually just a bit grumpy.
"I think Eton College is great, plus it's very nice," Liz said innocently, her eyes shining.
"Liz, you're dreaming. You still have to consider his grades," Ed said dismissively.
"Hey, they're not that bad..." Leo tried to reply, but only received cold stares.
"Do you mean 'not that bad' when you always barely pass?" Nicole said accusingly.
"Oy, don't blame me, I always do my best. It's not my fault I always get expelled."
Leo wanted to complain a little. For him, the letters always changed automatically and were replaced by ancient Greek.
In fact, it was something like dyslexia.
That's why, even though he knew what the letters expressed, it was a disaster when he wrote, let alone spell!
"I still think Clarenton College is very suitable." A somewhat funny voice resonated in the dining room.
It was Jack, an eleven-year-old boy, a bit short and wearing glasses that seemed too big for his face.
"Buzz off, Jack! That's a reform school!."
Amidst laughter and jokes, the food on the table was finally devoured.
When we were all about to leave, I heard something strange that made me stop in my tracks.
"Remember everyone to wash your mouth before sleeping, or Mrs. Ada will punish us." Nicole said while taking her plate to the kitchen, with a seriousness that didn't fit her age.
"As always, so strict..." Jack complained, rolling his eyes.
"She is so weird..." Even little Liz expressed her discontent in her own way, with a pout on her lips.
Ed simply cleaned up his things without saying a word, as if he didn't want to get involved in the conversation.
Even though it seemed like a normal chat, something about it felt unsettling.
No matter how I thought about it... there was definitely something strange going on!
"Um... guys," I started, feeling a knot in my stomach. "You've been talking about it, but... who is Mrs. Ada?"
This time, everyone looked at me as if I had grown a second head.
"Leo, even if you're a bit crazy some days, you wouldn't forget about Mrs. Ada, would you?" Nicole said, with a tone of reproach in her voice.
"Mrs. Ada is one of the sisters who took us in and cared for us all these years. Even if she's a bit annoying, you don't have to ignore her." Jack tried to help, explaining her identity, but only managed to increase my confusion.
However, this attempt to help didn't work at all.
On the contrary, I felt a shiver down my spine, and a cold sweat ran all over my body.
'Sister Amber, Miss Christine, Florence the cook, and Helen the director of the orphanage, who took me in that night eleven years ago...'.
'Eleven years I've been living in this place, and I have never, absolutely never, heard of a Mrs. Ada.'
As I continued lost in my thoughts, a hand on my shoulder startled me.
"Is something wrong, Leo?"
"Huh?"
"You were staring blankly for a few seconds; everyone else is gone." Ed pointed out, glancing around to confirm his words.
Indeed, there was no one left in the dining room.
Seeing that I was becoming lost in thought again, Ed shrugged and left, leaving me alone with my worries.
I felt that something was happening, and I could not just stay here doing nothing.
I left the plate and cutlery on a random table and prepared to dash toward the dormitory.
'First, I need to find the wand. Even if I don't know how to use any spells, it's always better to have a weapon than not having one.'
However, just as I was about to reach the door, a voice rang out behind me, a voice that froze my blood.
"Mr. Jackson, why haven't you taken your plate to the kitchen yet?"
I mechanically turned my head, and before my eyes stood a middle-aged woman in an elegant dress with an unsettling smile.
"A... that, ma'am... Ada... well... I was just about to do it." I said, slowly backing toward the door, feeling each step pull me further from sanity.
"Seriously, then... Mr. Jackson."
"You do know you're going the wrong way; the kitchen is behind me." Her voice was soft but laden with a latent threat.
"Hehehe... yeah, well, I first need to... pee; yes, that." I tried to sound convincing, but my voice trembled.
"I notice you're a bit nervous, are you okay, Mr. Jackson?" Mrs. Ada walked slowly toward me, with an unnatural grace.
Each step she took felt like a heavy stone lodged in my heart.
My instinct screamed at me to run as fast as possible, to not let her get close...
"Do you know that you have a very peculiar smell..."
As she approached, I realized two things: that this world was not as simple as I had thought, and that...
"You are afraid, Mr. Jackson... I can smell it." Her smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed too sharp to be human.
I might not survive today...
...
No!
I bit down hard on my tongue, and my numb brain reacted to the pain.
'I can't die here, react.'
I grabbed the door handle and quickly lunged outside.
Once in the yard, I slammed the door with all my strength, hoping to buy a little more time, while I thought about what could help me solve this situation.
But I only took a few steps forward before rolling on the ground unconsciously.
I felt the pain of some scratches on my arms and frowned slightly.
But when I looked up and saw how the previous door had gone flying at high speed right where I had been standing just a moment ago, I couldn't care less about the pain.
Fear coursed through me like lightning, completely paralyzing me.
I quickly jumped up and turned my head toward the source of the noise.
I didn't know when, but Mrs. Ada was already emerging from a large hole made by her massive blow.
She moved step by step, with an exasperating slowness, as if time held no importance.
But for Leo, every second was an eternity of terror. The elegant Mrs. Ada was no longer the same.
A grayish, dark mist enveloped her, and before his eyes, a horrifying metamorphosis was beginning.
Leo stood frozen, unable to look away from the creature revealing itself before him. That woman... that was not human, not remotely.
It was a horrifying sight, something he had only seen on movie screens, in the worst horror films.
Now, instead of Mrs. Ada, a creature with enormous wings, like those of a bat but with leathery, dark skin, loomed.
Her legs were thin, bony, and ended in sharp claw-like blades.
A body covered in scales stretched from the tip of her tail to her head.
Her ears were pointed, yes, but not like the elves in fairy tales.
These were sharp, rocky, as if made of living stone.
Small yellowed teeth peeked out in a grimace that was meant to be a smile, and a reptilian tail moved serpentine behind her.
"U-na... A fury!" Leo's voice came out in a trembling whisper.
"Oh, I see you know me." The creature tilted her head, a glint of malice in her eyes. "Well, that will make things much easier for both of us."