Chapter Text
The old grandfather clock in the entrance hall gave a tired groan before announcing midnight with twelve slow chimes. Each note echoed through the sleeping halls of St. La Salette Children's Home until silence reclaimed the building.
By then, every dormitory should have been asleep. The younger children had long since surrendered to dreams beneath neatly tucked blankets, while the older ones had learned that matron Karina possessed an almost supernatural ability to know when someone was out of bed after lights out.
Which was exactly why Katie and Ash had taken their shoes off. Their bare feet made far less noise on polished floorboards.
“Slow down, you're making so much noise.“ Katie whispered over her shoulder as Ash followed her.
Ash frowned, “I'm trying.“
“No, you're not.“ Katie replied as she headed towards their destination, squinting her eyes trying to navigate through the halls in the dark. Ash gave her an innocent look that failed spectacularly because his grin arrived a heartbeat too late.
Katie shoved his shoulder in annoyance, and he shoved her back in retaliation. Neither push carried any real force, they'd been doing this for years now, the sort of silent argument only children who practically lived in each other's pockets could understand.
The corridor stretched ahead of them, illuminated only by pale moonlight pouring through the tall windows. Every creak beneath their feet made both children freeze for a split second before creeping forward again.
They wanted to go to matron Karina's office for a reason.
Sometime ago, light spilled from beneath the closed oak door at the end of the hall, someone was awake, and it was not just anyone, it was Don.
Katie had seen him disappear into the office nearly half an hour ago with matron Karina and a weird man neither she nor Ash had ever seen before. The man had blonde hair, striped green and white hat, and wore a dark long cloak. The older man locked eyes with Katie as he passed by her, gave her a weird knowing smile, almost as if he already knew her.
Visitors at midnight simply did not happen, which naturally meant they had to know why. Especially since Ash kept bugging Katie that they just have to find out what is happening.
Ash reached the door first, but before he could go father, Katie caught the back of his t-shirt.
“Move.“ She whispered, pulling Ash away from the door.
Ash pouted, swatting his older sister's hand from his shirt. He rolled his eyes when he saw how Katie carefully lowered herself until one ear rested against the cool wooden door, eyes closing for better focus.
“You can't hear anything.“ He scoffed, before mimicking her position right beside her.
“I can if you stop talking.“ Katie grumbled, before gently nudging him aside with her shoulder when he got too close to her. Ash responded by leaning against her until both nearly lost their balance, muffling laughter behind their hands before quickly remembering where they were and what they were here for.
“.....-quite extraordinary.“
They heard a man's voice, it was gentle, and definitely older.
‘Certainly not someone from the home.’ Katie thought to herself, recalling every person in the orphanage, and deducing that no one she has met sounds that way.
Ash immediately tried squeezing beside her. “There isn't enough room.“ he complained, definitely doing it for attention, which annoyed the older girl.
“There is.“ Katie whispered sharply, giving him a stern look. Ash pouted but he nodded obediently, that look from Katie meant that she wasn't in the mood to mess around. Instead, he responded by squeezing underneath her arm until the pair ended up awkwardly sharing the same section of door.
Inside, chairs shifted softly.
“...you must understand,“ the unfamiliar man was saying. “Children like Don cannot simply ignore what they are.“
Katie frowned when she heard this ‘Children like Don? What does that mean?’
Katie thought that Don was about to be adopted, this was the main concern of the two children. In their minds, if Don was going to be adopted, they should at least know where he would go.
Matron Karina spoke next, “I've looked after him since he was six.“ Her voice sounded unusually uncertain, “He's a good boy.“
“I know.“ The stranger paused, before speaking, “I've no doubt of it, please don't misunderstand what will happen to him.“
Katie could almost picture the office despite the door between them. The matron sitting perfectly straight behind her desk, Don quietly folding his hands in his lap, nervous and sweating.
Muffled voices continued, Katie and Ash were trying their best to decipher what little they could hear, brows furrowing in intense focus.
“....Hogwarts,“ The older male voice continued.
Ash and Katie were confused, Katie looked at her little brother as he mouthed the unfamiliar word.
Hog...warts?
Katie shrugged helplessly. “Maybe it's a place where they’ll take him.“ she whispered.
The name sounded ridiculous, she can't imagine Don going to “Hogwarts“, she doesn't even know where it is, a problem if Ash and Katie plans to visit him in the future.
“It's a boarding school,“ the man explained patiently. “A very special one, it's for gifted children.“
Ash reacted to this, “Gifted? He couldn't even remember where he put his shoes half the time.“ he mumbled, something Katie couldn't help but agree.
‘Then again…’ Katie's thoughts drifted,
There had always been something strange about Don. Whenever one of the younger children scraped a knee, split their lip, or came running in with some fresh injury from climbing where they shouldn't, Don somehow knew exactly what to do. He would rinse the wound with careful hands, wrap it neatly in clean bandages, then reassure them that everything would be alright.
Strict reassuring words spoken with a quiet certainty, the kind of unwavering confidence that made it sound less like a promise and more like a fact he already knew would come true.
And somehow… It usually did if it was from Don.
The way cuts closed far quicker than they should, how bruises faded overnight. Once, when little Emily had gashed her palm climbing the fence outside. Katie remembered the blood that made her squeamish, and little Emily wailing from the pain. She remembered Don kneeling beside her, holding her tiny shaking hand.
By supper, the cut had become little more than a faint pink line, matron Karina and the nurse in the orphanage had called it remarkable healing. While the other adults had called Don lucky and praised his quick action.
Katie on the other hand, she had never really believed either explanation.
Beside her, Ash had gone unusually still. He turned his head and his dark eyes met hers, because he was remembering too, Katie glanced unconsciously toward her own hands.
She wasn't allowed near the candles anymore, or the kitchen stove, or even the fireplace unless an adult stood nearby. Not because she'd ever meant to do anything wrong, something weird just kept happening that none of the children nor the adults could explain.
She remembered the flowers, paper, and even curtains. One moment she'd be holding them, then the next there would be fire. Just brief bursts of flame enough to blacken petals or leave suspicious scorch marks, as if she had been playing with matches.
Enough that Marky, one of the smart older boys, had started dramatically calling her the “pyromaniac“, whatever that means, after she'd accidentally set his homework alight by reaching across the table. She hadn't even touched it, the corner had simply suddenly caught on fire, it wasn't even her fault yet she was still punished for it.
Ash gently nudged her arm, his expression said what neither of them spoke aloud.
“You're thinking about it too.“ He said softly,
Katie remembers how Ash was no different to them as well, he was the smallest and shortest of the three. The one who climbed absolutely everything despite repeatedly promising he wouldn't. Katie still remembered the afternoon he'd slipped from the enormous oak tree behind the laundry shed, the one she dared him to climb.
She screamed and Don had sprinted across the garden. Ash had fallen nearly thrice Don's height, and with that fall he should've broken something.
Instead he just sat up and rubbed the back of his head like nothing happened, and asked why everyone looked so scared.
There wasn't even a scratch of evidence on him falling from that tree. Remarkably, when Don took him to the nurse just in case, the nurse had insisted he'd simply been fortunate.
But Katie wasn't convinced, neither was Don.
“...Magic,“ the man inside the office said, bringing back their attention towards the sounds of the office. The word stole every wandering thought from Katie's mind.
‘Magic?’
Ash blinked.
Katie blinked.
Surely… Surely they had misheard, what stupid nonsense is that? Santa wasn't real, the tooth fairy wasn't real, and Ash growing past Katie's height could never be real.
Katie scoffed, this is something she should never have heard coming from an adult's mouth. She can't believe that the matron is entertaining this topic.
Inside the office, Don's small voice finally spoke. “Magic?“
“Yes.“ The stranger sounded almost amused, “You are a wizard, Don. And there's so many people just like you.“
Katie's jaw slowly fell open, while Ash looked at her with eyes so wide they almost disappeared behind his dark bangs.
“Wizard?“ Ash softly whispered in shock, Katie looked at him with the same expression on her face, “Like… those stories?“
Inside, the visitor continued speaking. “There is an entire hidden community, and a school called Hogwarts. Since you are now eleven years old, you can attend it with the others.“
The word hung unspoken between them.
‘Then what about us?’
Katie scarcely heard the rest of the conversation. Beside her, she could feel Ash's breathing quicken just as hers had. Neither of them dared shift their weight now. Every word from behind the office door felt impossibly important, yet her thoughts were running too fast to hold onto any of them.
There was a school for children like Don, for children who did impossible things without understanding why, just like Ash and Katie.
The stranger's voice drifted through the room once more, calm and measured.
“....I understand this is a great deal to take in, but he will be in good hands, I will be there to help him in every step of the way.“
Matron Karina answered more quietly than before. “And when will he leave?“
“Tommorow, I came at night not to startle the other children. I'll return in the morning. There will be forms to sign, and we'll purchase everything Don requires before the term begins.“
Katie's eyes widened when she heard this,
‘Tomorrow? Don is leaving so suddenly?’
Ash leaned closer to the door, eager to hear more, but Katie caught his sleeve before he could move.
“We have to go,“ she breathed so quietly the words barely existed.
Ash frowned. “They're still talking.“
“They're finishing.“
“We can hear-“
“They'll open the door.“
He glanced toward the thin strip of golden light beneath the office door. Sure enough, chairs scraped faintly across the floor due to someone standing.
Katie didn't wait to argue, she grabbed Ash's wrist, and urged him to go.
“Come on.“
For a second he resisted, but he knew better not to fight with his older sister. Both children then turned and hurried down the moonlit corridor as quickly as their bare little feet would allow, careful not to let them slap against the floorboards and alert anyone nearby. Every distant creak behind them felt like the office door opening, every shadow stretching across the hall seemed ready to become matron Karina's silhouette, it was scary and neither dared to look back.
Not until they had rounded the corner and slipped through the dormitory door. Only then did Katie quietly push it closed behind them when they entered, they were panting as silence settled over the room.
The dormitory wasn't much larger than a garden shed.
There were two narrow wooden beds separated by a small wooden table whose paint had long since begun peeling away, and a single wardrobe leaned ever so slightly to one side. Light streamed through the small window overlooking the garden, painting silver rectangles across the floorboards.
Ash pulled the blanket around his shoulders until only his eyes peeked over the edge. The room had grown colder now that the excitement had settled, though Katie couldn't tell whether it was the night air or the strange feeling curling in her stomach.
“So...“ Ash whispered. “Don's leaving.“
The words landed with unexpected weight, Katie hadn't been thinking about that part. She'd been too distracted by words like “magic“ and “Hogwarts“ that she hadn't stopped to consider what they actually meant.
Don was leaving, and he was leaving not for a weekend, he was leaving the orphanage permanently, he was leaving them permanently.
She looked down at the loose thread she'd begun wrapping around her finger.
“Do you think he'll come back?“
Ash answered almost immediately. “They said it was a school.“
“Boarding school.“ Katie corrected,
“...That's still a school.“
Though Katie wasn't convinced, she looked at Ash, “What if it's really far away?“ Ash shrugged at this, “It has to be, have you ever heard anyone talk about it?“
“No.“
“Exactly.“
The room fell quiet, Katie stared toward the window and through the foggy landscape outside their room.
“Do you think they have holidays?“ she asked softly, while Ash blinked.
“If they have holidays, that means Don would come back.“ Katie continued, but Ash was still troubled.
“I guess..“ He answered.
Katie smiled ever so slightly, enough to give her little brother some reassurance. Ash was the type to bottle things up, especially if it's about what he feels towards other people, he wouldn't admit it but that little boy loves Don as much as she did.
Ash watched her for a moment before quietly asking, “Would you go?“
She looked at him, titling her head in puzzlement.
“If they asked, would you just...“ He gestured vaguely, “Leave?“
‘Leave me?’ Ash wanted to say, but it died on his throat.
Katie hesitated, “Man.. I don't really know.“
Ash rolled onto his back, grumbling “I wouldn't.“
“You wouldn't?“
“No.“
“What if they really taught magic?“
“They don't.“
“But what if they did?“
Ash sighed dramatically, “Sis, I'm serious.“
“What makes you think I'm also not serious?“ Katie retorted, her voice certain.
He folded his arms behind his head.
“If someone knocked on the door tomorrow and said I was a wizard.“ He paused, “I'd think they'd escaped from somewhere, like a mental hospital.“
Katie couldn't help laughing, and Ash grinned at this sound.
“They seemed normal.“ Katie said after chuckling at Ash’s previous joke, Ash scoffed in response.
“But they wore funny clothes.“
“Hey, didn’t Reverend Dennis tell you something about judging other people's appearance?“ Katie mocked disappointment, but the giggle that followed betrayed her original intent.
“Ehh.. they were still funny, I don't see anyone wearing that sort of rubbish in the streets, not even the homeless.“ Ash replied,
Katie laughed again, although it was quieter this time. Ash smiled to himself, he liked making her laugh. Katie was a young kid, the fact that Ash could make her break into fits of giggle made his heart warm.
After another silence, his smile slowly faded.
“But sis, what if Don likes it there?“
Katie didn't answer, she looked towards the ground away from Ash’s face.
“What if...“ he continued, “he makes new friends?“
Katie still said nothing.
“What if he doesn't want to come back?“ Ash added, his voice turning strained.
The room suddenly felt much larger, she pulled her blanket a little tighter around herself. At the end of the day, despite Don only being two years older than them, they feel like he had become both their brother and father, he was always mature for his young age.
“He'll come back.“ Katie said with an uncertain smile,
Ash looked puzzled. “You don't know that.“
“No.“
“Then why do you sound so sure?“
Katie looked toward the ceiling.
Because if she admitted she wasn't sure, then she'd have to admit she was scared.
And Katie had never liked being scared. Fear was something she swallowed whole and pretended wasn't there. Tonight, however, it sat heavily in her chest.
In the other bed beside her, Ash shifted beneath his blanket, the old mattress creaking softly as he turned onto his side. Neither of them spoke again, as there seemed little point. Every possible answer to their questions was behind the office door they had abandoned only minutes before, and no amount of whispering between themselves would make the strange words they had overheard any easier to understand.
Eventually, the steady rhythm of rain against the window lulled the room into silence.
Katie wasn't sure when she fell asleep.
Something nudged her shoulder.
It wasn't rough enough to startle her, nor gentle enough to be mistaken for a dream.
“Katie.“
Someone whispered, it was soft and careful, but persistent enough to actually wake her up.
“Katie, sis, wake up.“
Her eyelids fluttered open.
The room still remained dark, at first she could make out only the outline of a figure crouched beside her bed, but as her eyes adjusted, the familiar dark short hair, thick eyebrows, and stupid face came into view.
“Don?“
He smiled, though there was something different about it tonight. It was still warm, still unmistakably Don's, but beneath it lingered an excitement that refused to sit still.
“Sorry sis,“ he whispered, “I didn't mean to wake you.“
Across the room, Ash stirred, mumbling incoherently before sitting upright with a sleepy expression. The moment he recognised Don, whatever drowsiness remained disappeared.
“Don?!“
He climbed out of bed so quickly that his blanket tangled around his ankles, nearly sending him sprawling onto the floor. Don caught him by the shoulders before he could fall.
“Dude chill, you'll wake everyone up.“ Don murmured, glancing nervously toward the closed door.
Katie had already got out of her bed and crossed the room, and for a few quiet moments, the three of them simply stood there together. It wasn't unusual for them to seek one another out after nightmares or during thunderstorms as usual codependent children do, but tonight was painfully different.
Ash was the first to ruin the silence.
“So...“ he whispered eagerly, pulling back just enough to look at Don. “What's Hogwarts?“
Katie's head snapped towards him. “Is it really a school? Who was that man? Are you actually leaving tomorrow?“
The questions tumbled over one another so quickly that Don blinked in bewilderment.
“What?“
“You heard us, bro!“ Katie insisted, lowering her voice only slightly. “Please tell us, are unicorns real?“
Don looked from Katie to Ash, then back again. His brow slowly furrowed.
“How do you know about Hogwarts?“
Neither child answered, they knew that they fucked up. Ash suddenly found the floor fascinating and Katie studied a loose thread on her sleeve with equal determination.
Realisation dawned across Don's face, and he was not happy.
“You two…“ He let out a slow sigh. “You were listening outside matron Karina's office, weren't you?“
Katie grimaced, “Only a little."
“A little?“ Don raised an eyebrow,
“We were curious,“ Ash muttered, defending his sister since he was the one who pestered Katie about going there.
“You were curious, but you were eavesdropping, and you know that's bad.“
Don’s words hung heavily in the room. He wasn't angry, at least not in the way matron Karina became angry, but disappointment settled across his face just like hers.
“You know that's wrong, you could've been caught.“
“We left before the meeting ended,“ Ash added quickly, as though that somehow improved the situation.
Don rubbed his forehead.
“I was going to tell you everything anyway.“
Katie looked up at him. “You were?“
“Of course I was.“ His answer came so quickly that neither of them doubted it.
Don took a seat on the edge of Katie's bed, motioning for them to sit as well. Ash climbed onto her bed, crossing his legs, while Katie perched beside Don, watching him expectantly.
For a moment, Don searched for the right words.
“Listen, the man you saw..“ he began, “his name is Professor Philza. He came from a place called Hogwarts.“
“A school for magic?“ Ash asked, the scepticism in his voice impossible to miss.
“Apparently.“
“You don't sound convinced.“ Katie pointed out,
Don laughed quietly at this, “God, I'm trying to be.“
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I thought he was joking when he first walked in. Then he showed me magic.“
Hearing this, Katie's eyes widened in disbelief.
“I questioned him, and then he turned the matron's teacup into a crow.“
Ash immediately shook his head. “No way!“
Don smiled, “Yes way, I saw the whole thing with my eyes. Are there any more questions?“
Katie and Ash looked at each other.
“So...“ Ash said slowly, still sounding unconvinced. “You're really going?“
Don nodded, “I leave tomorrow, supposed that there are a lot of things Mr. Philza wants to show me.“
The excitement that had flickered across Katie's face dimmed ever so slightly. “And then what?“
“What do you mean?“
“You just...“ She hesitated. “Go?“
“For a while.“ Don patted Katie's head apologetically, he was equally sad about this. Katie lowered her eyes, she didn't want to face the truth of Don leaving them forever, especially for a place where magic and wizards exist, she wanted to go with him.
Perhaps Don noticed the change in her expression, because he quickly added, “Professor Philza also said something else.“
Both younger children looked up.
“He said magical children don't get forgotten.“ Neither understood this and Don smiled at them, knowing what he'll say next would lift their spirits up.
“Hogwarts will send someone for you when you turn eleven.“
Katie stared at him after a minute of silence, “You mean...“
“You'll come too, both of you will.“
Katie's smile returned, brighter this time. Then, almost as quickly as it had appeared, it faltered, because she counted on her fingers.
“I'm nine…?“
Don nodded.
“And Ash's only a little younger than me.“
“Four months,“ Ash corrected automatically, making sure they don't forget that he's only four months younger, it's important that people know.
“So me and Ash would go together, but you'll already be there.“ Katie looked back at Don, his eyes softening. “Yes, for two whole years. So it is a little while.“
No one spoke, two whole years. To an adult, it was little more than a stretch of time, but to a child, it was almost forever.
Ash drew his knees up against his chest. “That's ages.“
“It'll feel like it,“ Don admitted. “But I'll come back for Christmas. And Easter. And the summer holidays.“
“And in between?“ Katie asked quietly.
Don reached into the pocket of his cardigan and unfolded a sheet of parchment Professor Philza had given him. It was covered in neat handwriting explaining what to bring before term began.
“He told me wizards use owls to deliver letters, so I'll write to you,“ Don said. “Though I'll try as often as they'll let me. I'll tell you everything, the castle, the classes, the unicorns, even the food if you want. I heard the feasts are enormous.“
Ash's eyes lit up, the tension finally easing from his shoulders.
Katie smiled for what felt like the first time that night, but she still wasn't ready for Don to leave, she wasn't sure she ever would be, but the future no longer felt like a door closing, she could see a path for the three of them.
Don would simply be walking ahead of them for a little while, leaving a trail of letters for them to follow until, at eleven years old, they would arrive at Hogwarts too.
The conversation lingered for another hour.
It wandered far away from Hogwarts before eventually finding its way back again, as conversations between children often did. Ash became deeply concerned about whether wizards ever had to eat vegetables and Katie wanted to know whether dragons exist. Don confessed he hadn't the faintest idea and that, if Professor Philza was to be believed, he would be discovering most of it himself.
By the time yawns began interrupting sentences, none of them felt like returning to their own beds. Ash solved the problem first because without asking, he crawled beneath Katie's blanket and shuffled until he had claimed the space against the wall. Katie rolled her eyes in exaggerated annoyance before climbing in beside him anyway, making room as Don hesitated beside the bed.
“It's too small,“ Don said to the both of them, clearly not expecting this to happen.
“We'll fit,“ Katie insisted and Ash lifted the blanket.
“Alright.“ Don said with an exasperated smile, the mattress protested the moment all three children squeezed onto it. Springs groaned beneath their combined weight, forcing them shoulder to shoulder until there was little room to move.
Ash rested his head against Don's arm, as Katie tucked herself against Don's other side. Dawn was still hours away, and the three of them would definitely have trouble sleeping, knowing that Don would leave tomorrow morning.
Katie stared into the darkness, as she wrapped her small arms around Don, burying her face into his side. “Don't forget us, Bro.“
Don turned his head to look at Katie, wrapping an arm around her and one arm around Ash, “I wouldn't forget you both, even if I tried.“
“You promise?“
“I promise.“
Within minutes his breathing had slowed into the steady rhythm of sleep. On the other hand, Katie fought to stay awake. She wanted to remember this moment exactly as it was, the warmth of the cramped bed, the familiar creak of the old mattress, and Don's heartbeat beside her and Ash.
But eventually, sleep claimed her too, and the night passed quickly for the three children.
The orphanage felt unusually quiet the following morning.
Sunlight streamed through the dining hall windows, but breakfast had come and gone with surprisingly little chatter. Even the older boys seemed to sense that something important was happening inside the matron’s office, but they thought that maybe it's just someone getting adopted.
Katie and Ash stood outside matron Karina's office, both freshly dressed, though neither had touched much of their porridge.
The office door stood open, and they found out that Professor Philza was already inside.
In the clear light of morning, he looked even stranger than Katie remembered from the night before. His long cloak was fastened with an old silver clasp, and beneath it he wore robes unlike anything she'd ever seen. Kind eyes crinkled the moment he noticed the two children lingering in the doorway.
“These must be Don's partners in crime.“ he said warmly,
Don flushed, and beckoned Ash and Katie to come closer, “Not bad kids I swear, they are just curious like me.“
Professor Philza chuckled, “I gathered as much, don't worry.“
Katie instinctively stepped a little closer to Ash, while the professor didn't seem at all frightening. If anything, he reminded her of someone's cheerful uncle.
Philza crouched until he was almost level with them, “Katherine.“
She blinked, he knew her name. He knew ‘that’ name, the one her parents gave her before giving her up to the orphanage, ever since then she had always been Katie.
“And Ashton.“
Ash looked equally surprised, Katie knew that Ash never liked that name, Ashton felt too fancy for a kid in a children's home. It makes Ash remember the unpleasant family that gave him that name, so no one ever really called him ‘Ashton’. Though there was once a period in his life that he insisted people call him ‘Ashswag’, or ‘Swaggy’.
“I imagine Don has already told you more than he was supposed to.“
Don rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Sorry professor, I wanted them to know.“
Philza laughed, waving it off and assuring Don that it was okay. His gaze softened as he looked between the younger pair.
“I hope you won't mind waiting a little while longer.“
Katie frowned at that vague statement, “Wait for what?“
He smiled, “For your Hogwarts letters.“
Philza's expression suggested he already knew the answer. “When the time comes,“ he continued gently, “I'll be very pleased to see the both of you again.“
Katie couldn't explain why those words settled something inside her.
Matron Karina cleared her throat softly, “It is time.“
Don picked up the small second-hand suitcase resting beside the desk. It wasn't much really, it was just a few changes of clothes, a worn jumper, the photograph the three of them had taken at last year's summer vacation. Just his entire life fitted inside one suitcase.
Ash suddenly wrapped both arms around Don. “Do you really have to go?“ he mumbled.
Don hugged him tightly, “Be good okay? I'll write to you.“
Katie waited until Ash stepped away before embracing him herself. Unlike Ash, she wasn't that upset, she simply held on for a little longer than usual.
Professor Philza waited until the sweet moment of the three siblings was over, and then he walked toward the fireplace at the far side of the office. He reached into a small leather pouch at his belt and withdrew a handful of shimmering emerald powder.
“This is Floo Powder.“ he said with a smile, noticing their fascinated expressions.
“It's one of the ways witches and wizards travel. Instead of walking or taking a train, we can use enchanted fireplaces to travel from one hearth to another. You simply throw a pinch into the fire, step into the flames, and clearly say where you'd like to go.”
He then tossed it into the fire.
The ordinary orange flames roared to life, transforming instantly into striking emerald green.
Katie gasped and Ash actually took a step backwards.
The fire wasn't burning the wood anymore, and it was swirling and crackling with a sound unlike any fire either of them had ever heard. Not to mention it was now green, which none of the children, even the matron had ever seen fire with a color like this.
Don looked over his shoulder one last time. “I'll see you two at Hogwarts, okay? Be a little patient.“
The pair nodded as Philza told Don that they really needed to go, the matron also gave Don one last hug back before gesturing to the fireplace.
“Diagon Alley!“ Professor Philza stepped into the green flames first, the fire swallowed him whole and in an instant, he was gone.
Don took one deep breath, tightened his grip on the suitcase, and stepped into the emerald blaze.
“Diagon Alley.“
The flames flared brightly once more, and then the fireplace returned to its ordinary orange glow as though nothing extraordinary had happened at all.
Katie and Ash stood perfectly still, Don was gone, though he wasn't gone forever. He was just ahead of them, but his disappearance would definitely sting.
A year passed more quickly than Katie had expected.
At first, she'd measured the days by Don's letters. The first had arrived exactly twelve days after he left St. La Salette, delivered not by the postman but by a magnificent owl that landed on the orphanage windowsill in the middle of breakfast. Half the children screamed, Marky dropped his porridge, and matron Karina looked ready to faint when the bird refused to leave until Katie accepted the neatly folded envelope tied to its leg.
After that, the owls became part of the orphanage’s life. Every few weeks another arrived, carrying stories of enchanted ceilings, portraits that argued with one another, moving staircases that refused to stay in the same place, and professors who could turn teacups into tortoises before breakfast. Don wrote about everything exactly as he had promised, he described the feasts in such detail that Ash once complained he was ‘being cruel on purpose’ after reading three entire paragraphs devoted to delicious food he had never heard of before.
Katie read every letter until the folds grew soft, Ash claimed he didn't care how many times she reread them, but he always asked to hear them again anyway.
Life settled into a rhythm and the seasons changed as expected. Summer gave way to autumn, and autumn surrendered to the damp chill of winter. The willow beside the pond stood bare now, its branches scratching softly against the grey afternoon sky.
Ash had grown taller though not by much. Certainly still shorter than Katie, which was odd for girls her age, she was taller than most boys in St. La Salette.
Going back to Ash, his hair was still far too long, forever falling into his eyes no matter how often matron Karina threatened to trim it, he liked it this way, and the matron eventually gave up.
Though Katie noticed that Ash became weirder ever since Don left, sometimes Ash would stop in the middle of a sentence, saying that he'd heard something, or perhaps felt it.
He would glance over his shoulder at empty rooms, pause outside closed doors, or stare for just a second too long at shadows that shouldn't have held his attention.
It was creepy as hell.
Whenever Katie asked what was wrong, he always answered the same way. “Nothing.“
She never believed him, if magic was real, are ghosts also real?
But Katie doubted that ghosts were the answer, because something happened in January.
Katie had been helping one of the younger girls finish a jigsaw puzzle when she realised Ash had disappeared.
‘He disappeared again, if the matron notices this, we'll be in big trouble..’ She inwardly sighed in her thoughts,
He had promised not to wander off alone anymore after he disappeared once and no one saw him return until midnight, the orphanage almost filed a missing persons report. And Don had made him promise in his last letter that he would never leave without telling Katie, but of course he wouldn't keep it.
Pulling on her small coat, Katie slipped outside.
The garden was quiet beneath a pale winter sky, her breath clouded in front of her as she crossed the frozen lawn, calling Ash's name but there was no answer.
‘Damn you Ash.’
She checked the laundry shed.
The vegetable patch.
The old oak.
Nothing.
Then she heard a sound that made Katie stop. It came from the abandoned greenhouse near the far wall of the grounds, nobody really uses it anymore. Half the panes had cracked years ago, and ivy had swallowed most of the wooden frame.
“Ash?“
She called out as she pushed the door and it creaked open.
The air inside was unnaturally cold, it settled in her bones the moment she stepped across the threshold. She noticed that the cracked glass walls had frosted over from the inside. White crystals crawled slowly across the wood, spreading in delicate branching patterns.
“Ash?“
Then she finally saw him, he stood in the center of the greenhouse with his back to her perfectly still. His head was bowed and his arms hung limp at his sides.
“Ash there you are! I told you not to wander off without telling me.“
She exclaimed in relief, but Ash gave no response so she took another step.
Suddenly the frost spread farther, making the empty clay pots crack sharply one after the other. Meanwhile a strange pressure filled the room, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand upright.
Something was wrong.
Like really really wrong.
Ash turned around, his face was streaked with tears. “I...“ he whispered.
Katie had never seen him look so frightened, his eyes looking deep into hers, begging for help.
“I can't...“
The sentence never finished, the world exploded into white. The air itself seemed to burst outward in a silent wave that threw Katie backwards. She struck the greenhouse door hard enough to drive the breath from her lungs.
The glass shattered, the wood splintered, and the frost raced across every remaining surface in an instant before the entire structure groaned beneath the strain.
Then after a minute of silence, the cold vanished as suddenly as it had come.
Katie forced herself upright, her ears ringing. The greenhouse had been torn apart, broken panes glittered across the ground, and she saw how the flowerpots lay in pieces from where they once were.
The old wooden benches had been hurled against the walls. In the middle of it all lay Ash, he was motionless, but he was heaving heavily.
“Ash!“ Katie scrambled over the debris, ignoring the intense pain she felt from being thrown across the ground, falling to her knees beside him.
“Ash, wake up!“ She screamed at the little boy, she doesn't know whether she should run to tell the adults, but that would mean she has to leave Ash, and what if he disappears and could never see him again?
Only then did she notice the mark, it spread from one side of his face in pale, branching lines unlike any burn or bruise she had ever seen. Even unconscious, the skin around it looked strangely untouched by the ordinary flush of warmth that remained elsewhere.
But then it suddenly disappeared, leaving something disturbing.
Katie stared at her little brother’s new disfigured face, half of his face looked wrong. Katie has never seen anything like it, but the scar reminded her of a burn victim she saw in the newspapers.
This sight made her freeze, she was ten, and the scar would make even adults squeamish.
“Katie!“
People were running toward the ruined greenhouse. Without thinking, Katie pulled her hands away and looked up.
By the time matron Karina and a few people reached them, the strange cold had disappeared completely. Only the shattered greenhouse remained, like absolutely nothing happened.
“Katie! What… What happened to Ash?! What happened here?“ the matron demanded, dropping to her knees beside Ash in concern and worry.
Katie opened her mouth.
No words came.
How could she explain something she barely understood herself? She looked once more at Ash’s disfigured face, then she lowered her eyes.
“I don't know,“ she whispered.
It was the first lie she had ever told matron Karina.