Chapter Text
Hogwarts had always been home. It was sanctuary and safety, something every witch and wizard understood and sorely missed when it was over. Before I even stepped foot into the warm, welcoming castle, I showed promise. Picking up on simple pieces of magic and trying to understand how it worked before putting it into practice. I was never seen without a book in hand and I went through most I could get my hands on. My father worked as a Healer in St Mungo’s so keeping up with simple medicinal potions and spells was easy enough and with my mother working as an Auror, I was always listening in on the latest dark creature she had battled.
Before Hogwarts, life didn’t seem real, it was like one big adventure. My brother, a fourth year Gryffindor, who had dark brown messy hair and crisp blue eyes, would tell me stories of his first year at Hogwarts and how intimidated he was by the sorting hat. He told me all about the different houses and I was terrified I’d be sorted into Slytherin; I didn’t want to be the odd one out in the family.
‘Most on mum’s side were Gryffindor,’ Darren said, as we walked through Diagon Alley, picking up my first set of school books. ‘Dad has a lot of Ravenclaws on his side, so I guess either one of those would make them proud. I mean there’s a few Hufflepuff and one or two Slytherin, but it’s mostly those two.’
We went into Flourish and Blotts and I happily scanned through the sections, while Darren went around collecting what I needed for that year. I always appreciated the things he did for me, always making sure I was happy and healthy and had enough to keep me occupied. He had been especially helpful that summer, looking after me when my parents were away and explaining things I didn’t understand in some of my books.
‘I think you’ll be in Ravenclaw.’ He said, wandering up behind me and selecting a book off the shelf.
‘Why?’ I frowned.
‘Because you’ve got the biggest brain in the world and Ravenclaws are smart as they come.’ He smiled down at me. I could see why he got so much attention and why he was so popular, he was fairly good looking and kind to everyone he came across. ‘You’ll be great don’t worry.’ Darren winked at me as we paid for my books. ‘Lockwood’s are made of tough stuff and even if you are in Slytherin, I’ll still love you.’ Darren put his arm around my shoulders and we left with my new school books. Next stop, Ollivander’s.
We wandered into the old, dusty shop and I glanced around at some of the wands on display, they all looked so elegant and I desperately hoped mine would be the same.
‘Miss Lockwood.’ A voice from over the desk floated towards me. ‘I wondered when you’d arrive and it seems you are accompanied by your brother. How are you Darren?’
‘Very well Mr Ollivander, thank you for asking.’ He smiled his winning smile.
‘Good, let’s begin.’ I looked at Darren who just raised his eye brows in excitement. Ollivander went into the depths of the shop before bringing back a small stack of boxes. ‘Now, most of your family favour wands made from either Rosewood or Ebony and cores of Dragon Heartstring and Kelpie Hair, though I believe your father’s was Mahogany with Kelpie Hair so, possibly mahogany would suit? We shall see.’ Ollivander said, with a hint of curiosity. He took out a dark wand and handed it to me, I felt it shake and tried to wriggle free of my grip before it was snatched away by Ollivander. We tried maybe thirty of forty different wands, before he gave me a strange look and wandered away to get another wand.
‘Possibly,’ Ollivander mumbled as he came back. ‘This one.’ He unwrapped a pale looking wand that had a beautifully sculpted handle. I took it and felt like the wand was talking to me, there was a warm buzz that ran up my hand, my arm, all the way through my body. ‘Elder with Phoenix feather. That wand has been here for nearly two hundred and fifty years and not one single witch or wizard has been able to match its power. I can see great things for you and that wand, Miss Lockwood.’
I looked up at Darren who looked so incredibly proud. Ollivander disappeared behind the shelves and we soon left the shop with my new wand in hand.
When we got home, my parents still hadn’t returned from work and Darren began telling me about what I’d learn in first year and all the different professors there were.
‘I mean Snape isn’t all bad,’ he said as we sat eating chocolate frogs in the back garden. ‘he’s just a bit thorough, not much of a personality, but as long as you do as he says and don’t talk back you’ll be fine… we’ve got a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year though, Professor Horne left to go study banshees in South America. Dumbledore didn’t say who’d be replacing him, though I heard Snape was looking to apply for the position. Hope he doesn’t get it to be honest.’
Mum and dad eventually came home and gave us a telling off for spoiling our appetite, but we just laughed and sat down to tell them about our day and show them my new wand. Dad seemed particularly interested in it.
‘Well, well, let me see.’ He said, slipping his glasses on and settling down at the kitchen table. His worn blue eyes scanned over the wand and I sat watching him. ‘What was the core?’
‘Phoenix feather.’ I said excitedly. ‘Elder, ten inches with a phoenix feather core.’
‘It certainly feels like a worthy wand for my daughter.’ He smiled at me over his thick black framed glasses. ‘Darling… Adrianna, come and see.’ He called my mother who was getting changed from a hard day battling with a nest of Boggarts. I laughed a little as my father was the only one who called her by her full name, everyone else just called her Anna, a trait I had inherited from her.
‘I’m sorry I rushed away, I had to change sweetheart.’ She said kissing the top of my head as she came down the stairs to see my wand. ‘What are we looking at?’
‘Angelina Lockwood’s new wand.’ My father said, proudly, I rolled my eyes at him, preferring to be called Angie. My father handed it to her and her eyes lit up.
‘Elder? I don’t think anyone on my side has had Elder before? George?’
‘Not on my side either.’ My father shook his head, still smiling.
‘Ten inches, I’m sure you’ll grow into the size.’ She said and slid her elegant hands over the whole slender frame. I looked up in admiration that both my parents knew so much about wands and what it meant to have a certain type. My mother brushed her dark blonde hair out of her face and her shining blue eyes stared down at me, smiling as she handed it back. ‘You’ll do great things with that wand.’ She said kissing my head again and I smiled up at my family, feeling that warm buzz drift up my arm again.
Just before the new school year began, Darren and I were playing on his broomstick in the back garden; he was an excellent flyer and even let me handle the broom on my own as long as I just flew around at a low level and made sure mum and dad didn’t notice. He was on the Quidditch team at Hogwarts as a Chaser and I’d heard he was well on his way to racking up a record number of points for an individual Gryffindor in Hogwarts history. My brother was the world to me, he just seemed to find everything easy and succeeded at whatever he wanted to succeed at.
My father called us both in for dinner and Darren brought us lower to the ground where I jumped off the broom and ran into the house. Darren followed putting his broom next to our school trunks that were packed and ready for us to leave the next day. Dinner smelled amazing. My parents had made my favourite roast chicken with mashed potatoes and carrots, they had made my brother his favourite meal before he left for his first day at Hogwarts as well.
We chatted excitedly about what the next year had in store for me and I was beyond excited to be on my way to the castle I’d heard so much about. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep that night thinking about my new adventure, but I didn’t care.
Once dinner was over, I helped my mother clean up the kitchen, telling her what spells she should use to wash the dishes and tidy away the dry cutlery; my father asked me to come into the cosy living area so that we could have some family time. Little was I expecting a rather small Barn owl to be sitting on my brother’s arm; my jaw dropped and I stepped tentatively towards it, hoping I wouldn’t scare him away.
‘You got a new owl?!’ I exclaimed, gently stroking the owl’s head which he seemed to enjoy. My brother and father just sniggered slightly. ‘What?’
‘I didn’t get a new owl, you did.’ Darren said still smiling down at me.
‘What do you mean? I thought I was taking Percy?’ I spun around to see both my parents smiling at me. Percy was our rather stupid Tabby cat, who had a tendency to eat anything that wasn’t in his food bowl.
‘Darren wanted to get you a present for your first year.’ My mother said, wrapping her shall around her shoulders. ‘He was determined to get you an owl.’ She chuckled.
‘I’ve been saving all summer for him.’ Darren said behind me. ‘Mum and dad said if I took you to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies and help out around the house then they’d help me get the best owl I could find. He’s only young, but he’s got lots of energy and he’s fairly smart. I bet you could train him to be the smartest owl at Hogwarts though.’ I couldn’t help myself, I hugged my brother tight as the young owl climbed onto my shoulder and nuzzled against me. ‘Welcome to Hogwarts.’ Darren whispered in my ear.
I pulled away and laughed, watching as the owl began exploring my arm and looking around the room. My father brought out a small book and a travel cage. ‘Your mother and I decided you’d probably need something to store him in and we got you a guide on how to look after him while you’re away.’ My father sat the cage down on the coffee table and the owl happily hopped onto the top of it, looking very proud of himself.
‘Thank you.’ I breathed. It wasn’t aimed at any one person; they all knew I was grateful to them for what they had done for me.
‘What are you going to name him?’ My mother asked and picked up Percy, letting him curl up in her arms. I looked at Darren and frowned.
‘What should I call him?’ I asked my brother who just laughed.
‘I don’t know, anything you like.’ He chuckled, flicking through the care guide. I thought hard on what name suited such an excitable creature and came up with only one that I thought had a nice ring.
‘What about ‘Ruben’?’ I asked the room.
My father raked his hands through his grey flecked brown hair and observed the owl and myself. ‘Ruben and Angie… I like the sound of it. Adrianna?’
‘Sounds like the beginning of an adventure.’ She nodded. We all sat up for a couple of hours longer and Ruben and I got to know each other a bit. I read through the guide and it told me that young barn owls soon grow into large barn owls so lots of sleep and plenty of food was a necessity. We eventually went to bed and I made sure he had a bowl of food in the bottom of his cage to keep him occupied while I tried to get some sleep.