Serpents and Muggle-Borns Part 1: Dolosus Certamen

Serpents and Muggle-Borns: Year 1

Chapter One: A Brilliant Truth

Astrea Von Hurston

Tracey Davis lifted her head slowly, pain hardly there anymore, but still partially evident. She turned her head slightly to look at the clock on her bedside table, groaning when she saw how late in the morning it was. The sun was already well in the sky, the brilliant light almost blinding her.

She pulled the covers from her legs and pushed the limbs over the side of the bed, massaging her neck and yawning. None of the normal sounds were coming from the kitchen downstairs, meaning that her parents were already at work.

Another day that she had to remind herself that school was over, and that she would be starting private secondary school in only a few months, and yet she felt really strange lately. Ignoring that thought, Tracey got off the extremely comfortable bed, and practically struggled across the room.

Apparently, her legs had not awoken yet.

She settled herself on the plush seat in front of her vanity, instinctively grabbing her round brush. Tracey gazed at herself in the mirror as she ran the brush through her tangled locks, wincing occasionally when the brush hit a knot.

Her pale features set themselves in concentration as she found herself battling with a rather ferocious tangle. Rare black eyes narrowing toward her own reflection. Soon the knot was undone and her hair was finally smooth and admirable as it glowed in the sunlight. Her long, black hair flowed down in straight locks, thin bangs, that were well attained in length, obscuring her view.

Tracey set her brush back down and sighed deeply, wondering what could possibly be done that day. If she was going to stay home during the summer, she would have to make herself useful. Looking out her window that was set right above the front door of the house, she saw her neighbors discussing something in what looked like hushed voices, glancing around to check for anyone that could be eavesdropping.

Hardly interested, Tracey closed her curtains and headed out of her room, hoping to maybe catch some cartoons before getting started on any house chores.

It was pretty late in the summer, some of her friends were already beginning to pack for their vacations, and a few had already began to take daily visits to the beach with family. Tracey's family didn't do those kind of things. They hardly went on vacation and hardly went to the beach, which Tracey was partially thankful for.

As she passed by the front hall, her eyes caught on the few white envelopes that stood out against the dark forest green rug, dimly lit (lighter) green walls, and the cherry wood door. With a small shrug, she walked over to the letters lying innocently before the door, and took them to the kitchen.

Tracey tossed the letters onto the counter, aware of the fact that she never received anything by mail and wouldn't take her time that day to check. Sitting at the kitchen table, the telly set up on the wall nearby, she grabbed her favorite box of cereal and the milk that she had brought out, and made her breakfast.

Making a mental note to remind her father to buy more milk as she emptied the carton, she set it aside and turned on the television, finding a rather humorous cartoon involving a rabbit and a duck.

For some reason, curiosity kept taking over her senses, making the girl glance at the envelopes more than needed. With a sigh, Tracey slid her bowl away, pushed her seat from the table, stood up, and headed determinedly toward the letters.

Then, she was standing over them, glaring at them, yet also wondering why she was so mad at some paper. Her eyes unconsciously drifted to an envelope that looked as if it was made from a thick and yellowish parchment, innocently lying a few inches away from the others. Written clearly in emerald-green ink was what caused her eyes to widen into plates, obviously surprised.

Miss T. Davis

Second Largest Bedroom

27 Rectory Lane

Charlwood

Surrey

"Woah," was all Tracey could really say.

She looked around the kitchen, expecting to find a stalker nearby. Nothing.

Cautiously, she moved to the window that sat above the sink and looked out, her eyes widening even more.

An owl had just flown by. A bloody owl had passed by her window. In the middle of the day. When it wasn't dark. You get the point.

Questioning her own sanity, Tracey shook her head and walked upstairs, still clutching the envelope in her left hand. After she entered her room, she immediately headed to her desk and sat down, placing the envelope in her line of sight. She stared at it for a few minutes, furiously suspicious.

Hands trembling, Tracey reached forward and turned it over to reveal the back, held shut by a purple wax seal, bearing a rather unusual crest. She tore through the seal and let a few equally thick pieces of parchment fall onto the desk. She picked up the first one and read, a frown forming on her lips.

Dear Miss Davis,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. Also enclosed is a packet with the required information due to your non-magical parentage. We expect your owl before July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Tracey did not notice that her hands were still trembling as she stared at the letter. What kind of sick person went this far just to play a joke like that?

She set the letter down neatly and reached for the information packet. She slowly read it aloud.

"'Do unusual things happen to your son/daughter when they feel a rather powerful emotion? Is your furniture known to spontaneously combust or explode? Then congratulations, (Tracey snorted.) you have a witch/wizard in the family. This packet holds all of the information you need about the wizarding world; Hogwarts, school supplies, how to get your own account at Gringotts, and everything else'," Tracey stopped reading, a thin dark eyebrow raised in suspicion.

Did they actually expect her to believe that this wasn't a trick?

She picked up the school supply list next and examined it, everything on there was just as unbelievable. Tracey sighed, leaning back in her chair, furrowing her eyebrows and massaging her temple.

"I'll just show this to Mum and Dad," she reassured herself, setting the parchment and the envelope aside on her desk.

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Tracey worked through the afternoon doing chores and cleaning up anything that was in need of it. Her mind not completely leaving that extremely weird letter.

True, weird things did happen when she was feeling an awfully powerful emotion.

During her last week of school, someone had thrown a water balloon at her and it had paused right above her head, then had suddenly changed its route and landed on the concrete beside her, the water not even touching her shoes. The person who had thrown it had been a very much hated person in her eyes. Yes, maybe a wizarding world was a possibility...

Tracey mentally slapped herself for giving into a prank that easily, she shook her

head and continued pulling the weeds out from the garden.

A few hours later found Tracey sitting on the couch in the living room, eating a Mars Bar and watching the news, remote in her hand. The room was dark, yet the glow of the television screen embraced her drowsy form. The curtains of the window nearby were drawn, leaving a faint golden outline of what light could get in.

The sound of keys being inserted into the lock on the door awoke her from the partial sleep she had found herself in. Tracey looked up as her mother entered the room dressed in a plain and gray business suit, her dull heels clicking audibly on the wooden floors. She tossed the keys onto the coffee table and took a relaxed seat beside her daughter, releasing her dark auburn hair from its tight bun.

The older woman propped her feet on the table and watched the telly with weary hazel eyes, not yet acknowledging her daughter.

"Have a nice day, Dear?" Celine Davis asked, her foot tapping absently as a commercial jingle came on.

"Yes, quite. I did the dishes, laundry, and everything else," Tracey retorted with a faint smile.

"Did we get any mail? I was expecting your school supply list from Marymount," she said, picking up the forgotten remote beside her daughter and flicking through channels.

"Well, actually, I got this other acceptance letter..."

"Really?" Celine looked at her curiously, eyes sparkling with interest. "From where?"

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure if it's real or not," Tracey shrugged.

Celine looked at her, both eyebrows raised.

"Let me see it," she turned away from Tracey and faced the telly once more.

"O-okay," Tracey stammered as she stood up from the couch and ran upstairs to

her bedroom to retrieve the letters.

The parchment ruffled in the wind from the open curtains and window, Tracey picked the letters up and glanced out at the darkening sky. She blinked just as she remembered that she had closed the window earlier, and it couldn't have been opened by her mother, who had came straight to the living room as soon as she had arrived home. Looking around her room, Tracy gasped and dropped the things that had been clutched in her hands immediately.

The barn owl sitting on her vanity ruffled its feathers indignantly.

Eyes wide, Tracey raced down the stairs after picking up the pieces of

parchment, as quickly as possible. She ran all the way to backside of the couch, skidded across the wood floor, flipped over the back of the chair, and landed quite ungracefully next to her mother.

Breathing deeply and facing the television, she handed all that was held in her hands to her mother, and tried to make sense of the situation.

Okay, an owl was in my room, Tracey shuddered, no matter how many times she

repeated it to herself, the possibility was still not believable.

Celine clicked her tongue an awful amount of times as she read over the letters, ruffling through the different pieces of parchment, and glancing at the envelope with the wax seal occasionally.

"So?" Tracey asked after her mother calmly set all of the things down onto the coffee table.

"That is a very well planned out prank," she stated in response, leaning back against the couch.

"What-?"

"Or," Celine interrupted, "there could possibly be a world we have never heard of."

That was definitely unusual. Now, her father was a laid back man, known to crack jokes occasionally, tell her silly stories of the weird people at the bank where he worked, and accept everything. Her mother, on the other hand, did not have an open-mind, wanted her daughter to focus on school work, and did not tell stories of weird people that visited the office where she worked as a lawyer.

"Are you serious? I thought it was a joke," Tracey shook her head insistently.

"Did you look at this packet fully?"

"Well, no," she paused, taking what was held out in her mother's outstretched hand.

She shuffled through it and gasped for the second time that day. The pictures in it were moving! Tracey's head was still shaking, unbeknownst to her. Too many surprises that day, way too many.

"So, what do we do?" Tracey questioned, setting the packet down.br>"The letter says they 'await your owl'," Celine scratched her neck with a distracted look on her tan face.

"Mum, there's an owl in my room," she slowly turned toward her mother, holding her breath as she awaited the woman's reply.

"Hmm... Well, I suppose you better get it," she stated.

Taken aback, Tracey got up from the couch and cautiously headed to the

staircase, her eyes on her mother (who was currently watching the news again) and her hand on the railing. With one quick turn, she raced up the stairs and flew into her bedroom. The owl turned to look at her with a curious gaze, ruffling its feathers once more and giving a low "hoot".

"Things are just too weird around here," Tracey muttered as she took a few slow steps toward the owl.

She held out her arm to the bird, which immediately flapped its wings and sunk its talons into the offered limb. Trembling, she cautiously walked out of the room

and down the stairs, currently too in shock to be aware of what was happening and what she was doing.

Breath deeply, breath deeply, she coaxed herself on the way down, holding her arm as far away from herself as possible.

Tracey let the owl seat itself on the sofa, eyes as wide as they could possibly get.

Celine turned toward the owl nonchalantly and patted it on the head. She watched as her mother got out a slip of paper, a pen, and began to write a note on it, glancing at her daughter occasionally with a reassuring smile.

"Mum, do you really believe all of this?" Tracey inquired, fingering the waistband of her jeans nervously.

"At first I was skeptical, but after reading that wonderful packet I saw how great of an opportunity this was. Besides, if you didn't go to this school, those little accidents of your would get worst. That information there," she took a moment from her scribbling to point at the pieces of parchment, "was enough to get me to believe."

Tracey took a quick moment to pinch herself, seeing as the dream had gotten weird enough and she wanted out, but all that came out of it was a pained squeak from her throat.

Everything just seemed to be happening way too fast.

I am a witch, I am going to a school to learn magic, and Mother actually believes all of this? Tracey shook herself, unaware of the curious gaze she had attracted from her mother.

"Hey! Is anybody in here? Or am I going to have to eat this lovely Chinese food dinner on my own?"

Tracey's head snapped up, immediately recognizing the teasing voice of her father, Caldwell Davis. Celine, not looking up from the paper, the pen in her mouth as she gave it a critical eye of inspection, called back in response to his greeting.

"Tracey and I are in the living room, we have some excellent news."

The rhythm of his footsteps grew more audible as he approached the door to the room and entered, the jacket from his black suit was tossed to the side as he approached the two young women and ran a hand through his boyishly light brown hair, blue eyes twinkling cheerfully.

"An acceptance letter, Cald," Celine stated proudly, handing him the letter, the school supply list, and the information packet.

"Another one?" Caldwell grinned, which quickly faded into a frown of confusion as he read the letter.

Celine, meanwhile, was tying the note to the owl's leg and gave it a pat on the head before it spread its wings and flew out of the living room. Tracey plopped herself onto the couch in mental and "being-suprised-way-too-much-in-one-day" exhaustion. A few minutes passed, the silence from the mute television and the mute occupants being broken occasionally by the normal shuffling of parchment.

"Sounds great! Tracey, why didn't you tell me you were a witch?" Mr. Davis set down the documents and looked at his daughter enthusiastically.

"I am still in shock," Tracey murmured, staring at the blank wall across from her, face impassive.

"Apparently so," Celine chortled.

"Well, the Chinese food should be running away soon," Caldwell stated, checking his watch.

"Let's go eat," Celine agreed, getting up and heading out of the room after her husband.

Tracey took a deep breath, glanced at the drawn curtains, covering the window and the world outside, and stood up, feeling like having some sweet and sour shrimp.

She didn't question her parent's immediate acceptance of all the mysteries that seemed to have unravelled, or her mother's unusual excitement over someting that she had told her daughter, not that long ago, didn't exist. She just had to believe how sharp of a turn her life had taken and to just go with the flow.

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