Letters of Acceptance PV Eleanore Reed closed

"A huffawhat?" Simon laughed at the name. He was in a very good mood now. Not only was it Ellie's birthday but now they would be attending the same school which had never happened in their entire time of knowing each other - which was even before they started school.

"Aunt Maggie said that my mum went there," and as usual he said nothing of his father because he didn't know. Simon didn't even know a name, let alone any details of anything else.

He looked out her bedroom window. The sunlight was growing lower outside which was one of his favorite parts of the day because that indicated that soon he could go outside without worrying about having a hoodie on in mid-August.

"Speaking of Aunt Maggie, you better have one of those cupcakes before I leave. She said she made them special just for you, your favorite." Even the sprinkles on top were her favorite kind along with in her favorite colors.

"So what do you know of this place?" he was curious to hear Ellie's take on it. For him, it would take some time to really sink in because right now it seemed like a plot from some fantasy book - something too good to be true.

Explaining Hogwarts to @Simon Kincaid

Eleanore laughed at his reaction to the name of the Hufflepuff house. It was a pretty weird name.

Eleanore looked at the cupcakes, they sure looked yummy. Eleanore wasn't too big of a fan of sweet things. She preferred savory and salty things. She would eat them of course, Aunt Maggie made them, she had to. She wouldn't eat them in one day, it would probably take her days to finish them all.

Eleanore grabbed a cupcake and started licking off the frosting, as she always did. She could taste the yummy strawberry frosting with the bandanna sprinkles.

Just as Eleanore was finishing the cupcake, Simon asked about Hogwarts. Eleanore knew a lot about the school, she had read her parent's journals while they were in it. Eleanore put the wrapper for the bottom of the cupcake in her trash bin and looked at Simon.

"Hogwarts is a wizardry and witchcraft school in the Scottish Highlands. When you first get there, you would have to get sorted into a house. The houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. It all depends on your personality. Gryffindors are brave, Ravenclaws are intelligent, Hufflepuffs are loyal, and Slytherins are cunning." Eleanore explained.

"Once you get a house, you need to go with your house leader and find your dormitory, in there will be the common room where everyone from your house can hang out. You will also find your dormitory where you will sleep." Eleanore said.

"Wow," he said, trying to take that all in. Separate classifications based on traits, different places to hang out, different areas for the dormitories. He wondered what one he might get placed in. What one would Ellie get placed in?

"Gryffindor..." he paused, hoping he said that correctly. "That's what Aunt Maggie said my mum was in." She said that they were the brave and he thought that well suited his mum from what he knew of her. She entered into the adult world so early on, taking care of a house and her sister just after graduating when her parents passed away. Then, just as she was getting into the swing of it all, he came along. Then, in just three years time, she fought an illness that finally took her. She must have been very brave to go through so much and still be strong for her young son, to still be there through all the days she could with him.

"Are you going?" Simon hadn't officially made up his mind yet. This was a lot to wrap your head around and his letter had just come that morning. But it was nice that Eleanore had gotten her letter too and they could share this conversation because maybe, just maybe, it would be the driving factor into making his decision to go.

Talking with @Simon Kincaid

Eleanore looked at Simon with a smile, he seemed so fascinated with the whole Hogwarts world.

"From what I've heard of your mom, it'd make sense that she was a Gryffindor" Eleanore said. Her parents were way opposites from each other. Her mother was a Hufflepuff, loyal and kind. Her father was a Slytherin, cunning and proud. She hoped she would end up a Hufflepuff like her mother, there was no way she was like her father.

She thought about what Simon had said, 'Are you going?'

I mean of course she wanted to, but what if Simon wasn't going to go. She would have to leave her grandmother and best friend behind.

"Yes" She said finally, hoping her decision would drive Simon into going so she wouldn't be alone. She wanted him there, she knew that he would be great there. She felt as if they were meant to go together.

"Are you?" Eleanore asked worriedly. She was hoping him to say yes. She had already made up her mind, there was no going back now. Once Eleanore makes up her mind, it doesn't change, ever. It makes her feel like she is miss-leading someone, that she is lying. Even though she isn't, she hates lies.

He thought of Oliver, one of his best friends. He thought of Gabe, another best friend who was struggling with his parents' divorce. He thought of Aunt Maggie, his squash team, his book club at the library, his hockey team, his congregation at church. He would miss it all terribly if he went. Simon had only been out of London one time in his life and that was just a bit over to the coast of England to the ocean. That was when he was still a baby.

London was all he knew.

How could he just abandon it?

He sighed and paused, giving it some more thought because he didn't want to just blurt out an answer of tell her that he didn't know because this was something he was going to have to decide on sooner or later. It was August 13th already and the letter stated that the beginning of term for Hogwarts was on September 1st. That didn't give him much time.

Simon sighed, allowing himself to now fall back on her bed and stair up at the ceiling. To go, or not to go. He couldn't only think about what he was leaving behind, he had to think about opportunities he would miss if he didn't go attend this magical school. Magic. How crazy and fascinating was that?!

"You know," he said as he rolled over and turned to her, smiling and pulling himself up. "...I think I am." Decision made.

Talking with @Simon Kincaid
Eleanore smiled and squealed at his answer. She wouldn't have to be alone.

"We need to tell my grandmother and your aunt" Eleanore said. I mean they couldn't just not tell them.


"My grandmother is a witch, she would have to take us to Diagon Alley" Eleanore said, standing up. Eleanore was so extremely excited to be going through the same excitement her parents went through, to feel what they had once felt.

Eleanore grabbed the letter and slid it back in the envelope, so she wouldn't loose it. She set the box of cupcakes on her desk and sat back on her bed. The two would be traveling outside of the country together, going to school in a different country. Eleanore was born in London and had never left. She was excited to explore a different part of the world.

She knew that Simon would be a little iffy about leaving London, he loved it here. She knew he had friends that he would be leaving, clubs and hobbies. But she also knew that he would get used to Scotland, and grow to love it. She knew that he would want to attend Hogwarts, to feel closer to his mother.

"She will have to take us to where?" he said and laughed again. Boy was this all crazy. There was this secret world just there right before him that he never knew existed.

"I'll text my aunt to stop over. She wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday, anyway," he said as he got up from the bed and pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to his aunt. He then headed to the doorway of Eleanore's room and the two headed down the stairs to where her grandmother was.

"You should hear the kinds of things that Ellie is saying about you upstairs," he said to her grandmother playfully. "She's calling you a witch, Gamma," and he smiled brightly. She was probably going to be so glad that this secret was out now. After eleven YEARS she would have had to keep this sort of thing from Simon and his aunt but no longer. They were part of that world now.

Simon had always felt close enough to call Eleanore's grandma by "gamma" since he could talk. His own grandparents were unknown to him. He knew nothing of his father or his parents. Perhaps he had grandparents still out there. His mother's parents both passed away in an accident before he was born. It was nice to have a grandmother figure in his life.

Chilling with @Simon Kincaid

Eleanore followed him out of the room and down the stairs. They saw her grandmother down there.

Eleanore laughed at Simon's jokes, as she gave a 'I'm sorry' look to her grandmother. The two sat down with her grandmother to talk and wait for Simon's aunt to come from next door.

"It's nice that we don't have to keep anything from him anymore" Eleanore said to her grandmother. Her grandmother agreed and got up to make tea for them.

"What do you expect to see when we get to Hogwarts Simon?" Eleanore asked, looking at him.

Eleanore knew what to expect because of the journals her parents kept, perhaps she could lend them to Simon for him to read.

She knew about Diagon Alley, she knew about the train, she knew about the sorting hat, she knew about the dormitories and the common rooms, she knew about the classes, she knew about Quidditch. What else could she possibly be missing.

Eleanore's grandmother came back with the tea and handed it to them. She sat down across from them and sipped her tea, waiting for Maggie to come over. Usually her grandmother was extremely patient, but all of a sudden; it changed.

"I don't know...don't witches have black cats following them around, wearing pointy hats and flying on brooms? And wizards, will I have to wear a purple sort of garb with golden shimmery stars on it and grow a long white beard?" and by now he smiled a little. He knew absolutely NOTHING about this world but had a pretty good feeling it wasn't any of that.

"I'm rather perplexed by it all, honestly," he said and the doorbell rang. He knew it was his aunt so he hurried to the front door and opened it. He knew Eleanore's grandma nor her would mind. He spent enough time at Eleanore's that her home was practically his and the other way around. She could walk right into their home without even knocking.

"I can't fathom what subjects there will be. Is it like normal school? Maths? Science? Reading and writing?" he wondered if they'd do fun things like choir, music, theater, and sports that he was a part of at his other school.

His aunt came in, going straight for Eleanore and giving her a hug, wishing her a Happy Birthday and presenting her with a gift. It was a leather bound decorative journal that was blank inside from the bookstore/bakery that she worked at.

Eleanore laughed at his expectations for the wizarding world.

"The only thing you got right in that was the brooms. We will have to get black robes to start with and when we selected a house, the robes will identify what house we are in" Eleanore explained. Eleanore found the stereotypical witch and wizard offensive, they made them seem hideous.

Eleanore watched as Simon went and got the door for his aunt. His aunt came in with a gift. Speaking of gifts, Eleanore hadn't opened her gift from Simon. Good thing she had it with her.

Simon asked what kind of subjects there will be. Eleanore giggled at the thought of a math professor in a witchcraft and wizardry school.

"There will be Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and Herbology. We can also take a broom flying class, so that way we can one day play Quidditch if we'd like" Eleanore explained. She had already done some studying because she didn't want to have classes be too hard.

Aunt Maggie came and gave me a hug, handing me the gift and wishing me a happy birthday. I took out the gift Simon had got me and unwrapped it, revealing a beautiful bracelet.

"Thank you so much Simon" Eleanore said, jumping up and giving him a big hug. She placed it on her wrist and swore she would never take it off. As for the gift Maggie gave her, it was a leather journal. Finally Eleanore had something to write in. She could follow after her parents and journal her whole experience at Hogwarts.