NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Meeting her
"Mr. Blair, it's nice to meet you."
Her sharp voice makes the hair on the back of his neck stand—not in a way where he's afraid, he just feels the need to be very on point.
"You know me?" he softly says.
She looks at him with soft yet stern eyes. Ms. Harriet soon interjects.
"Yes, Cain, she's here to talk to you about a boarding school. It's for gifted children."
Freezing on the spot, he sits there for a second.
Boarding school?
They were planning to send him away to some place for weird kids? Or maybe it is for gifted children…
Ms. Harriet excitedly hugs him as she talks. "This is a great opportunity for you, Cain. You can meet people who are as gifted as you—"
She then smiles brightly at him. She had forgotten to introduce the woman properly. The woman slightly huffs—
"Hmph."
"Oh, right—Cain, this is Professor McGonagall. She is here to tell you about this great opportunity you should take. I'll give you two a few minutes to talk."
Walking out, McGonagall turns to Cain with an unreadable expression.
"This boarding school—it's named Hogwarts."
Cain's eyes slightly dimmed. "Hogwarts?" he repeats after her. Cain's expression changes to worry, but also intrigue. "Is that something that truly exists? A school for different kids?"
McGonagall nodded. "Yes. Hogwarts is a school for special kids—ones who can do magic."
"Magic?" Cain scrunches his face wildly hearing this. That would explain why he feels different from most. He knows he's different. But his face still crunches—the idea of being different eats at him slightly.
She sees the confusion on his face, then takes out a wand, whisking it—
The chair beside them turns into a pig.
His face then gains a lot of expression. He looks—intrigued, mortified? And maybe… a major want.
"That's magic?" Cain whispers, softer than he was before.
McGonagall tilts her head, as if the question wasn't unexpected—she's been asked this hundreds of times, in one form or another, by kids with non-magical backgrounds.
"There are many things in this world that cannot be explained by logic alone, Mr. Blair," she says, returning the wand to her robes. "But what you just saw… was magic. You can do this too when you get older."
Cain's eyes didn't leave the small pig, which was now sniffing the floor beside them. He isn't sure if that's something he can do—not yet at least. But something about it is enough to push him into thinking he could, if he were taught how.
"Magic?" he echoed.
"Yes," she replied calmly. "And you, Mr. Blair, are a wizard."
Everything starts clicking into place for him. Flickering lights. Talking to snakes. Coaxing a dying plant back to life. Healing animals…
It all makes sense. His face begins to show a lot of excitement.
She looks at him and continues. "Mr. Blair, I'm sure as you know—we will teach you magic and house you. I'm sure you've been in scenarios where magic has helped you… Or used it in unsatisfactory fashions most people wouldn't agree with. But there, we will teach you everything you need to know. The Ministry of Magic exists to mandate wizards and witches—of all young witches and wizards. So, can you promise to follow our laws? Every wizard must accept that."
"Yes, ma'am," Cain said, pretty enthusiastically.
She could tell he was very excited—even if her first impression of him was a quiet and calm kid. She could tell he was going to be a great child. Maybe Dumbledore would be able to see more potential, she thinks—but she can already tell he's going to be an amazing young wizard… not even because of the blood that runs in his veins.