"Right, love, just put your things in your father's hands and he'll sort them out in our room." Maira Anderson's mother, Isabella, sounded way too chipper about it. They had been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the past weekend, finding all the supplies Maira needed for her very first year of Hogwarts.
"You really want to leave it up to dad to put things away in an orderly fashion?" Maira replied skeptically, just out of earshot from her father who had taken up the final few bags and boxes and enthusiastically moved his way up the staircase through the Leaky Cauldron to the private rooms. "Dad - look here it's a fairy, oh no, it's a Doxy - Anderson? That guy?" Her little brother Dougal started giggling.
"Don't speak so lowly of your dad, he tries his very best." Even her mother had to suppress a little smirk. The whole weekend had been quite spectacular, moving from shop to shop and looking at the countless wizarding supplies. Of course Maira had been to local Scottish wizarding shops and places, but the overwhelming sounds, sights and smells of Diagon Alley had been something else. She hadn't known where to look first and was glad the Gringott's bank was situated all the way at the end of the street so she could catch a first few glances on everything before deciding.
xxx|xxIt had after all truly been the trip of a lifetime. Maira had never doubted the invitation letter to Hogwarts would arrive and when it did, she felt ready. She'd - unsuccessfully - tried persuading her parents to get her a wizarding pet, knew the best place to get her wand would be Ollivander's and looked forward to browsing the shelves of Wizard Wheezes to see the newest magical creations that brought joy. Her father's pleas that London was very much inferior to Edinburgh, and that certainly their city had loads of magical shops as well... Well, it simply wasn't true. Yet even though Maira had loved shopping for her list, received all the supplies she wanted and needed... Something felt off.
xxx|xx"Let's turn that frowny face upside down, little lady." Her father put a hand on her back, startling her. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed his return to the table. "In one night's sleep you'll be in the best place in the world... Hogwarts." Maira already knew where this would lead if no one would put a stop to it. Reminiscing of days gone by, stories of the greatest friends he'd ever made and secrets upon secrets that the building never truly showed to any one student or teacher.
"Ah, yes, the most amazing friends you'll ever make. Must be nice to know if you didn't already have a best friend you had to lie to and leave behind." Maira replied annoyed. She had been thinking about her friendship for quite some time. It felt unfair that she couldn't share all her secrets with her best friend, the way Sam had with her.
"Listen, my little pumpkin pastry, I know it's not fun to leave behind your muggle friend. But Sam will do just fine. And you know we can't tell her the true reason you're leaving. It would break all kinds of laws." Her father tried softening the message. It didn't hurt any less. Maira still couldn't fully fathom why the wizarding world was trying so hard to pretend it didn't exist to all the muggles.
"Besides, that girl was already frightened when she found some of the most basic potion ingredients in my kitchen. Let alone in your bags, as she would now very well do." Her mother added. "No, your father is right, love. You can always try to send her a letter. But you can never tell a muggle about what we truly are. Merlin knows, any whiff of magical abilities in history has never been taken upon well. It's best we keep separate lives for everyone."
"And you're going to get in Ravenclaw and get all these nerd friends." Dougal stuck his tongue out at her. "Nerd, nerd, nerd, nerd alert."
"Don't say that, Dougal." Her mother said sternly. "We should all wish to be as clever as your sister. She's going to be top of the class in no time."
"Or she's going to the actual best House in the world." Her father interrupted. "Hufflepuff, where people help each other all the time. And her academics will shine even more, because she won't have to share that spotlight with hundreds of others."
"So we're not even considering Gryffindor for all my valiant efforts to survive the first eleven years with you three?" Maira laughed a little, and so did the others. She supposed there were worse ways her life could go. She loved magic and has always known her friendship with Sam would not be able to share in this part of her life. At least she'd prepared the girl by telling her that her school used an ingenuous system of owls to spread letters, as some sort of joke to the human option of pigeons. Luckily, Sam had never seen an owl before outside of a zoo so was fully prepared to be excited once she would see the first one arrive.
"No, little one, you could very well end up in the house of the Lions." Her father added as an afterthought. "The only House I could never see you get in is Slytherin. Those ambitious lot were some of the worst bullies. Imagine going there, huh?" Her mother was nodding her head along. Yes, that was the only House Maira would definitely not want to get. Slytherin.
