The Mat & the Cat PV Catriona Staverly

@Catriona Staverly

It was almost a full month into his time at Hogwarts. Things had been going pretty well, or so he thought: his grades were good so far, the teachers were decent, and although there'd been an insane amount of new things and knowledge to shove into his brain, he'd been pulling it off. The first week had been the hardest, closely followed by the second, but so far things were okay.

Or they were until he'd gone to the owlery to see if Eamon had sent him anything. He had, and Matt had shoved it into his satchel and went to the library where he studied to open it.

Hey Matt,
I hope things are going well for you at Hogwarts. How're classes going? Any cool new creatures? Have you seen a dragon? I knew you were really hoping you would. I found one of those boxes you'd never unpacked in the garage and it had some of your old D&D figurines, including the Ancient Red Dragon you thought you'd lost. Who'd have though it?
I can't believe that my own son is a wizard. I'm so proud of you, kiddo. Your mom would be too, I'm certain. But I'm afraid I have some bad news. I wish I could tell it to you in person...

The letter had pretty much gone downhill from there. Really, really downhill, and the more he stared at it, the more he felt that heaviness on his chest. It was as though someone had set a leaden weight upon him and every second his breath evaded him, and he was choking on his own throat, and his fingers closed tightly around the paper. He was curled up between the shelves in the far back of the library, huddled up in the shadows, and he wrapped his arms around his knees. He wasn't going to cry. He couldn't cry. But his face was wet and he couldn't breathe. Why couldn't his family just be normal? Why couldn't she just be okay?