Jessica Potter and the Year of Great Sorrow

Jessica Potter
and the
Year of Great Sorrow
Chapter 1 Headed for Hogwarts - Almost

My name is Jessica Potter. I've been eleven years old since April 17, and no one in the world but me knows how happy I was for that birthday to come. It was nice, because it meant I was free.

Free from what, you may ask. Well, if you have a sibling, then you know what I live through. I'm the oldest of four kids, which is, well, a coincidence, since my dad is an only child, and, well, so is my mum.

I've got three siblings, and they are each greatly annoying in their own way. First there's Albus. He's ten, and he's a royal know it all. He thinks he knows everything about everyone, and he always, every time, has to get his way. He's Mum's favorite, and Dad says that's because Albus is just like Mum was at that age. Therefore, he has been dubbed 'Mini Mum' by none other than moi.

Then there are the twins. They're named for Dad's godparents, Sirius and Melissa Black, and they're the family mega pains. Melissa's favorite thing to do is go around and jump on people's backs when they aren't looking, and Sirius, well, in my opinion, he's more trouble than he's worth. He scribbles on the wall in huge letters, and Mum has to go around with Magical Mess Remover all day long. Well, at least it keeps her from getting on me. "Jessica, turn your music down," "Jessica, comb your hair," "Jessica, don't fly quite so high!" I swear, it never ends with her.

Dad says she's worried about me. HA! She just doesn't want me to have any fun. I told Dad that, and he says she really is worried, and that he is too, he just isn't as strict about it.

Dad loves me. A lot. He grew up with no parents, and if that wasn't bad enough, his aunt and uncle hated him. They treated him horribly. He doesn't want that for us, so he kind of lets us do whatever we want. He gets us all kinds of stuff. Albus has more books than any kid needs, Sirius and Melissa have plenty of tools for destruction, and I've got the best broomstick out there, not to mention a really great teacher (Did I mention that my dad is the coolest?).

There's more to my family than that, but it really doesn't matter. Nobody needs to know about the time that Albus got his head flushed in the loo by Sirius, or the time that Melissa set off Filibuster's Fireworks in the lady next door's hair. And I beg you, please do not repeat, or Mum will have my head-what else is new.

If you think my family is wacked, though, then you obviously have never met my friends. First, and foremost, there is Robert Weasley. My Mum and Dad were best friends with Rob's dad when they were at Hogwarts, and Rob and I are repeating history (Well, sort of). He's one of the sweetest guys on the planet and all, but sometimes he just drives me off the wall. Like his crush on Molly. It is totally pathetic-the boy thinks that she's his soul mate, for crying out loud, but he's only 11 years old like me.

As for Molly, well, I won't deny that Molly Thomas is beautiful, far too beautiful for her 11 years, but it still doesn't make Robert any less pathetic. I guess Mrs. Weasley (Okay, how many times has the woman told me to call her Lavender? Like a million?) and Parvati (Mrs. Thomas) pushed them together a little too much, because Robert is absolutely obsessed with Molly, and it makes me so mad.

Then there's Molly's best friend, Sara Weasley. Sara also happens to be Robert's cousin. Sara's mum, Tara, is the Ministress of Magic, which is so cool. Not only is she the first female minister, but she was the youngest ever. She's had that title since she was nineteen years old, and before that, she was a big Quidditch star. Which, might I add, is what her dad does. George Weasley plays Beater for the Chudley Cannons, and in his spare time he helps his twin run a joke shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They have two locations, Hogsmeade Village, and Diagon Alley.

Sara and Robert have loads of cousins, I mean, there are like a dozen Weasley kids, at least. Robert has a little sister named Jenny, who happens to be one of Albus's best friends.

Then there's Sara's little brother, William. Will is a lot like Tara, a hard worker that still knows how to have fun. After that you've got Alex and Derek. Those two are only a year apart, and that year made all the difference in the world. Their parents, Percy and Penelope, are both workaholics (they both have fairly high ranks in the Ministry-but that's probably because the Ministress is family), and Alex is, too, but Derek is like Fred and George, he loves to play jokes and all this stuff. Sometimes I wish Derek were my age and Alex Albus', instead of the other way around, because Derek is loads of fun, and Alex is just a spoil sport.

Then there's Jo. She's fourteen, and the oldest of the Weasley clan. Her dad, Bill, works in Gringott's Bank, and he's the vice president, so he's really important, and her Mum, Kelly, is a model for Madam Malkin's Dress Robe Branch. She's on the cover of Witch Weekly all the time. Her brother, Paul, is seven, and he is a pain in the butt. He's good friends with Sirius, and when they're together they make ten times the mess that Sirius makes alone.

Next there are the twins, Reena and Pippa. Their Mum, Katherine, is also a Beater for the Chudley Cannons, and George says she makes a great partner, and their Dad, Charlie, travels a lot. He works with dragons, and he used to live in Romania so that he could work with them, but when he met Katherine, he settled down and moved back near his family. The twins have a little brother named Jon, and he's Sirius and Melissa's age, too, but he's relatively calm and doesn't make a lot of mess.

There's also James Weasley. His dad, Fred, is George's twin and he's the one who owns Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. His Mum, Angelina, is a reporter for the Daily Prophet. James has two siblings, the terrible twosome that wreaks havoc alongside Sirius and Melissa. Their names are Kimberly and Kevin, but they may as well be Monster and Maniac. When you put them with Sirius and Melissa, let's just say that it's not a pretty sight.

The last of the Weasley's, who aren't Weasley by name but by blood, are Draco, Arthur, and Ashanti Malfoy. They're triplets, and their Mum, Ginny, was the only girl out of seven Weasley's growing up. Her husband, Draco, has always been a long time enemy of the Weasley boys, particularly Ron, Fred, and George, but that didn't stop Ginny from falling head over heels in love with him. Draco, Jr., named after his father, Arthur after Ginny's father, and Draco chose the name Ashanti totally out of nowhere. Draco owns a broom company, and they have some of the best brooms out there. In fact, they made my Thundercloud7000, which is the best broom ever. Ginny has her own clothes company, and she has totally rewritten the word style in the wizarding world.

The one way you can be sure that you're talking to a Weasley is if they have red hair. Each and every single one of the Weasley kids has red hair, from Jo right down to Monster and Maniac. They stand out in a crowd, so at least you know you can't possibly lose them in a crowd.

Fortunately, aside from the Weasley's, none of my other friends have red hair, because if they did I think I'd go crazy. All that red, it tends to give you a headache.

For example, there's my good friend, Sandy Finnigan. She has blond hair. Her dad, Seamus, is a Manager for the Irish Quidditch Team, and her Mum, Michelle, teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Sandy has one little brother, Kyle, and he's 10, like Albus, but fortunately for Sandy he's quiet.

Then there's Neil Longbottom. He's a total moron, like his Dad was at that age, and his Mum doesn't help things. Both Neville and Jill Longbottom are doctors in our world, and they are at work all of the time. Neil doesn't mind, though, which is a good thing.

There's also Cameron Wood. His dad, Oliver, and his mum, Katie, are both Quidditch players, which would be pretty cool, if it weren't for the fact that Katie plays Chaser for the Cannons and Oliver plays for Ireland. They have a friendly household, though, for two people who are so competitive. I guess that's where Cameron and his little sister Karley (she's 10, too) get it.

Last, but certainly not least, are Jordan Black and Reese Lupin. Jordan's parents, Sirius and Melissa, are my dad's godparents, and they were also Dad's parent's best friends. Dad spent his last three summers of childhood with them, and he said he couldn't have had it any better than that. Jordie is one of my two best friends. It doesn't really matter to us that she's a year older than me because we get along so well. If you think my siblings are bad, though, Jordan's got a little brother named Adam, and he isn't even one yet. Jordie can't wait to get back to Hogwarts, because she says all Adam does is wail day in and day out. Albus did that too, but I was too little to care, and Sirius and Melissa were unusually quiet for such wild little kids. Reese Lupin is Jordie and I's other best friend. Her real name is Teresa, but everyone calls her Reese. Her parents were also close friends with my grand parents, and her Dad, Remus, is actually a werewolf. He's so nice, too, it makes you feel bad when you think about it. Reese had got a twin named Ryan, and he's a lot better than Albus. Did I mention that Reese is a year younger than me, which would make her Albus's age? Again, though, no one cares, because Reese, Jordie and I are the wonder three. We have more fun than should be legal, according to Percy Weasley, but no one else seems to mind.

I don't know if I could survive without my best friends, because they mean the world to me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

As for my family, well, let's just say it will be a relief to get away from them for a while when I'm at Hogwarts.

"Nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine bottles of Butterbeer on the wall, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine bottles of Butterbeer, take one down, pass it around, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-eight bottles of Butterbeer on the wall!"

"Jessica Potter!" Mum fumed, and I sighed. We were almost to King's Cross Station, the date, September the first, but I had been desperate to give my family a parting gift-my beautiful voice.

Yeah, right. More like I had been desperate to part.