Halloween

Yeay! The first time I was going be allowed out for Halloween without Mum and Dad tagging along! It had taken a heck of a lot of argument and persuasion, but finally they’d given in. Mind you, I’d had to make all sorts of promises, like staying with my friends all evening, and not going wandering off, and all the other sorts of stuff. That hadn’t been a problem – one of the points of going out was to go out with the gang. What had been slightly more tricky was when Mum started asking who I was going to be with. I knew she didn’t approve of some of my friends. Well, quite a few of them, if it came to that. I told her about three or four I knew she’d met and thought were alright. I didn’t tell her about one or two of the others – I knew I’d get a firm ‘No!’ if I mentioned their names. I told myself that – well, that I hadn’t actually lied – I’d just ... well, left one or two details out.

Halloween was on a Friday night, which was good, because that meant there wasn’t school the next day. We’d had spent most of our lunch breaks during the week talking about what we might do – but I suspected most of it was just that – talk. Joe was the eldest – he was thirteen - but there was no way he could pass himself off as eighteen ... plus the fact that the off licence would have asked for ID anyway, even for a couple of bottles of cider. I wasn’t that worried what we did – it’d just be nice to be out, without having to take along with Mum and Dad. Honestly, they treat me like a kid. Well, perhaps I am still a kid, but I can look after myself. I reckon.

We kept on talking about costumes and what we would wear. The idea was to dress up in Halloween gear – you know, skeletons and all that kind of thing. I had had a look round at home for some stuff, but there wasn’t much. Mum came up with an old black blanket. She said she could sow some toggles on one corner so that I could fasten it across like a cloak. I wasn’t so sure about that, but when I tried it on, it really worked. Black trousers to go with it. Trainers looked wrong, so I had to wear those horrid black shoes which I used for school. Then Mum got really worked up because it meant I was dressed all in black, and cars wouldn’t see me if I was crossing the road. She found this white scarf. I thought it looked a bit cissy, but when she wound it round my neck, and I looked in the mirror, it worked. It even looked quite cool. And it would keep Mum happy.

We were going to meet at six, which meant taking the half past five bus. Mum was still fussing.

‘Honestly, Mum, I take this bus every day.’

‘But it’s Friday night.’

‘So?’

‘Things can get a little ... rough in town.’

‘That’s only when the pubs clear out. I’ll be back long before that.’

I’d promised to be back by nine.

‘You’re got your phone?’

I nodded. ‘And it’s switched on.’

‘So call us if there’s a problem.’ I nodded again. She suddenly reached for her handbook, took out her purse, and pulled a tenner from it. ‘It’s not for spending,’ she said firmly. ‘It’s in case of an emergency. And I want it back when you’re home again.’

‘Okay.’

I took the note and stuffed into a back pocket.

‘Emergencies only,’ she repeated.

‘Okay,’ I repeated.

I knew that when she got into a mood like this the only thing to do was to let her rabbit on. Sooner or later, her batteries would run down.

‘What bus are you catching?’

‘The one I catch to school every day.’

‘And what time will you back?’

‘I’ll be back at nine.’ Either the batteries had gone flat, or she’d run out of things to say. ‘I’ll phone if there’s a problem, and I’ve got that extra tenner.’

‘Only if you need it.’

‘Only if I need it,’ I repeated. I’d have liked to hung on to it, but the chances of her forgetting when I got back were pretty remote.

I gave her a smile, opened the front door, turned and said, ‘Back by nine!’, and made my escape. I walked down the garden path to the gate. Yea! I had done it! To be honest, I’d never expected to be allowed out like this.

I was still a few minutes early for the bus. I’m always early for things like buses. I hate it when people don’t turn up on time. Of course, with the clocks having gone back, it was almost dark. In fact, with the clouds, it really was dark. It wasn’t actually raining, but you could almost feel the clouds there, hovering just over your head.

The bus I was waiting for was the one that I took each morning to school. I went to a private school. We’d moved here about a year ago, and they made me sit a test first. I did quite well – probably too well, because they put me in class with people a year older than me. Not that I’m the one who always comes top. I’m too lazy for that. I came sixteenth in my first term there! In the summer term, I thought I’d better do some work for the exams, and ended up coming third. It doesn’t stop them calling me ‘Bof’ though. ‘Bof’ is short for ‘boffin’, or so they tell me, and a boffin is supposed to be a mad scientist. It’s because I’m no good at games or anything like that and spend all my time reading. I tell people I like reading and they just look at me and shake their heads.

It was a quarter of an hour bus ride to school, although I was going further than that. I think Mum had assumed I was going right into town itself, which wasn’t quite true. I got off a couple of stops after the school. It was a slightly dodgy bit of the town. Back from the main road there’d been an industrial estate, but half the places were derelict now. There was one in particular, which looked as if they’d just half cleared it. The concrete floor was there, and a few buildings around it, but that was all. It was supposed to be all fenced off, but there were plenty of holes people had made – easy enough to scramble through.

Joe had found it. Joe was one of those people who Mum wouldn’t really have approved of. He was in the year above the rest of us, but as he hadn’t any mates in his own year, he hung around with us. He was thirteen, because he’d had to do the year over again. He’s not very bright, you see. But he’s quite hefty, and that was useful for someone like me. I help him with his work, and so he sticks up for me when people try to pick on me.

Helping him with his work isn’t difficult. I remember when he first started hanging out with us, and one lunchtime he brought his maths book over. He couldn’t do the homework. It was stuff like: ‘4x = 12. What is x?’. And then he had to get his calculator out to divide 12 by 4! I showed him how the equations worked, and he stuck to me after that. He’s not the brightest spark, but it’s sometimes useful to have someone twice your size standing by your shoulder.

I climbed through the gap in the fence. There was someone already there, and from the size of him, it must have been Joe.

‘Hi.’

He turned, saw me, and nodded. He had a black tee shirt with white stripes like bones on it, to make him look like a skeleton. The only trouble was that most of it was hidden by his coat. Typical Joe! Scary skeleton tee shirt which he has to hide because he’d freeze otherwise.

‘Hey, Bof. Nice scarf.’

I gritted my teeth. My name was Alex, not ‘Bof’.

‘Yeah, well, my mother made me wear it so I wouldn’t be run over.’ Even in that light I could see his expression: he didn’t understand what I meant. ‘Everything else is black, so drivers wouldn’t be able to see me. But they’ll see the scarf.’

His face cleared. ‘Oh, yeah. Nice cape, too. Is it a blanket?’

‘Yeah. Reckoned it’d keep me warm.’

‘Nice one, Bof.’

Don’t get me wrong – I quite like Joe. But there are times ... then we heard someone else climbing through the fence. He had a pointy hat over his face, so we couldn’t see who it was, but as he walked towards us, I recognised him.

‘Hi, Tom.’

‘How did you know it was me?’

‘The way you walk.’

‘Shucks. My cunning disguise failed again.’

‘Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t know you so well.’

‘Fair enough.’ Tom looked round. ‘Just the two of you here?’

‘So far.’

‘I got a text from James. He won’t be coming.’

‘Why’s that?’ asked Joe.

Tom shrugged. ‘Dunno. Just said he couldn’t make it.’

More footsteps. Jack and Bivek were climbing through the fence. Four of us now.

‘Who else said they’d be coming?’ I asked.

‘Maybe Ken and Andie. But they weren’t sure.’

‘How long should we give them?’

‘There’s no hurry,’ Joe said.

I wondered why we’d chosen this place to meet. I mean, we used to come here in the hols and explore the place, but that was in the daylight. And the point of dressing in fancy clothes is so people could see us, and there wasn’t anyone round here. At least, not the sort of people you’d like to meet on a dark night. It wasn’t far to walk to the town centre, though.

‘That’s not them, is it?’

‘Where?’

I pointed. ‘Over there.’

Tom frowned. ‘Can’t see anyone.’

I pointed again. ‘Look.’

Two people in tall cloaks were walking – not quite walking, though ... they seemed to move too steadily to be walking – along the side of the fence. But they were way too tall to be Ken or Andie.

‘There’s no one there,’ said Jack.

They’d stopped now, by the break in the fence.

‘Yeah – those two guys over there.’

‘I can’t see anyone.’

He must have been blind or something, because I could see them, no problem.

‘We ought to start moving,’ said Bivek.’It’s getting cold.’ He shivered.

It did seem to be getting cold. With all that cloud, it was quite a mild night, but somehow it seemed to have got a lot colder.

The two figures slipped through the gap.

‘They’re coming this way,’ I told the others.

I was feeling a bit nervous – there was something a bit odd about them, especially the way they moved. They either had very good costumes – or they weren’t quite ... human.

‘Who are?’ said Jack impatiently.

‘Those – whatever they are. Can’t you see them?’

‘No.’

I pointed. ‘Look - over there.’

‘I can’t see anything.’

This was scary – was it me just imagining things? But those ... things ... they were real enough. They were standing by the edge of the fence, just looking at us. At least, I thought they were looking at us. They had these hoods right over their heads, so you couldn’t see their faces.

Bivek gave a sudden whimper. ‘I feel sick.’

I knew what he meant. I was feeling – well, not sick, but ... it was difficult to describe. But whatever it was, I was sure those things were causing it. I didn’t know why I thought that – it was just something about them. They way they stood there, just looking at us. And somehow I could feel it coming from them – a sort of cold, miserable feeing. I shivered.

‘I don’t like this. Let’s get out of here.’ No one else said anything. ‘Come on.’ I took Bivek’s arm, and started pulling him away.

That was a bad idea. At the sight of us retreating, those things started moving again, coming closer. I felt a tug at my hand – Bivek had slumped to the ground, as if he’d fainted. I knelt down next to him.

‘Bivek?’

He hadn’t fainted – I could just see the whites of his eyes – but he looked in a bad way. I looked back at the things – they’d got closer, but they’d stopped again. Bivek muttered something, then slumped back to the ground.

‘Joe – can you carry him?’

‘Sure.’

Joe bent down to pick him up, but those things were getting closer again. I was beginning to feel a bit faint myself – there was a sort of sick churning feeling going round in my mind. I looked at the other two – they seemed to be glued to the spot. Jack’s head was sort of hanging down, with his eyes closed, and Tom looked as if he was going to burst into tears. What was going on here?

I looked back at the things again. I mean, it was all rubbish, wasn’t it, all that stuff about Halloween? All the ghosts and so on? They were just people in costumes playing a joke on us, right?

But if they were just kids in costumes, why had Bivek passed out?

Jack had got him over his shoulder in a sort of fireman’s lift now. ‘Come on.’ I grabbed the other two. ‘Move.’

They sort of half staggered after me. Just as before – not a good move. Those things moved again. Each time we moved, they moved, and each time, they got a little closer. I looked behind us. Great. We were almost up against the fence, and I knew that bit of fence didn’t have any holes in.

‘Cold,’ I heard Tom moan. ‘So cold.’

Jack was suddenly sick all over the ground with a horrible splattering sound.

The two things moved a little closer still.

I was close to passing out myself. Things started going through my head. The times when I’d been bullied at school. The time when I nearly got mugged for my mobile. The time when ... it doesn’t matter.

Joe grabbed my arm. I think I was swaying around, about to pass out myself. What were those things, just standing there? What were they doing to us?

A noise made me jump. And again. Like firecrackers. Or a whip being cracked. I looked up. There were two more figures now, in cloaks, by the fence at the other end. That’s just what we needed. More of them. But ... they were different. They didn’t have hoods over their heads like the other two, and they seemed – well, more human, if you see what I mean. They were both pointing at those things, and they yelled something. Then these silvery ... well, shapes, I suppose ... they sort of galloped towards the things.

Whatever the shapes were, they scared off the things. They – well, they sort of glided away, back to the fence, then somehow disappeared somewhere.

The night suddenly became warm again. And it was if the sound had suddenly been turned up again. I could hear the traffic, and the street noises. I could breathe again. I could hear the panting from the others. I looked up at Joe. There was sweat all over his face. Jack was slumped against the wire of the fence, still looking terrified.

I could hear footsteps, and turned round again. The two – whoever – were walking towards us. I could see their faces now. They didn’t look much more than teenagers themselves.

‘You kids okay?’

‘Not really.’

They were carrying sticks, pretending to be wands. Bloody Halloween! But how had they scared the things off? What were those silver things they'd shot out?

The taller one was pointing his stick at us, but holding it as if he didn’t want us to see it. He was muttering something.

It was as if ... as if he was somehow cancelling out whatever those things had done to us. I suddenly felt really happy, really cheerful. Despite the fact that Jack had just been sick, and that Bivek was still out of it, and that I’d just been about to faint.

‘How is he?’

The other one was talking to Joe, who still had Bivek over his shoulder. Joe grunted and laid Bivek onto the ground. Whoever it was knelt down by Bivek, and felt his neck. Looking for a pulse, I suppose.

‘Who are you?’ I asked.

‘I’m Harry,’ he said, without looking up. ‘That’s Ron.’

‘What were those things?’

He looked up at me this time. ‘What things?’

‘Those two ... whatever they were. The things you scared off.’

He looked surprised, then said, ‘You saw them?’

‘You could hardly miss them.’

‘I didn’t see anything,’ Tom said. ‘But Alex was going on about them.’

Harry looked thoughtful, then turned back to Bivek. He’d still got that piece of wood in his hand.

‘Who are you guys anyway?’ I asked.

‘Told you. Ron and Harry,’ he said briefly.

‘Yeah, those are your names. But who are you? I mean, you suddenly appear out of nowhere, then produce those whatever they were ...’ I turned to the others. ‘Did you see that?’

‘Wasn’t looking,’ said Jack frankly.

‘Sort of silvery things?’ asked Joe.

‘That’s right,’ I said.

‘Oh, just that's just one of our party tricks,’ said Harry. He helped Bivek up to his feet. ‘Can you stand on your own?’

Bivek nodded, although he still looked pretty dreadful.

Harry reached into a pocket and produced something which looked like a bar of chocolate. He started breaking it up.

‘Here – have some of this,’ offering a piece to Bivek. ‘It’ll make you feel better.’

‘Hasn’t your mum told you not to take sweets from a stranger?’ I asked Bivek. I was half serious, half joking.

Harry looked at me. ‘You’re quite right.’ He said this in a rather serious tone of voice. I think he was poking fun at me a bit.

‘It’s true, though.’

‘Yes, indeed.’

He broke the chocolate into six pieces. ‘Pick one for Ron,’ he said, holding out his hand.

I picked one at random and gave it to the other lad. He bit into it.

‘Now one for me.’

I pointed at another lump, and he picked it up with his other hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

‘Now one for each of the others.’

Silently, I handed round lumps of chocolate to the others.

‘And the last piece is yours.’

I took it, and still a little cautious, nibbled one end. Well, it tasted like chocolate. I ate the rest. He was right. It did make me feel a lot better. There was a moment or two of silence while we all chewed. Then Harry turned back to me.

‘So you saw them.’

It didn’t sound like a question. I nodded my head.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Alex.’

He was still looking at me as if he was trying to work something out.

‘How old are you, Alex?’

‘Ten.’

I sounded a bit defensive even to myself.

‘Ah.’

His face cleared. It was if he’d just solved whatever it was. He looked across to his mate. Ron, wasn’t it? Ron was staring at me too.

‘Alex - do you mind if we have a word with you in private?’

‘What? Go off with two strange men?’

This time I really was joking. I mean, I didn’t think they were like that. But the others sniggered.

‘Quite right, Alex.’ But the way he said it – I knew he was poking fun again.

I looked at the others. ‘Back in a minute, guys.’

I walked across to the fence at the other side. Ron and Harry were following me. I could see the others standing and staring at me.

‘They won’t be able to hear us,’ said Harry.

‘No?’ I looked back. They weren’t all that far away.

‘Look at me.’ I did. ‘Now yell.’ I yelled. ‘Now look at the others.’

I turned round. They were still standing there staring. They must have heard me – mustn't they? I turned back.

‘A silencing spell,’ Harry said.

‘A what?’

‘A silencing spell,’ he repeated.

‘Very useful,’ Ron added.

‘Spell?’ I said, cautiously.

‘That’s right.’

‘Spell – like in magic?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Look, guys, I know it’s Halloween, and it’s a nice joke, but what’s this all about?’

‘As you said – it’s magic.’

‘Ha bloody ha.’

‘Language,’ said Ron. Harry looked at him, obviously amused. ‘Well, I didn’t use language like that when I was ten ... okay, maybe. A little.’

‘So you can do magic, right?

‘That’s right.’

I was getting tired of him saying that.

‘Okay, show me.’

‘There’s a snag.’

‘Oh, yeah, there always is, isn’t there? So go on, tell me, what’s the snag?’

‘The others.’

‘What about them?’

‘We don’t mind you seeing, but we don’t want the others to see.’

‘And what’s special about me?’

‘You could see the Dementors,’ said Ron.

‘The what?’

‘Dementors. Those things which were chasing you.’

‘What are they? Dementors, I mean.’

Ron shook his head. ‘You don’t want to know.’

I stared at him. ‘Yes, I do. What happens if they come back after us?’

‘They won’t,’ said Harry.

‘How do you know?’

‘We scared them off for the time being. They’ll be somewhere else now.’

There were a whole load of questions I wanted to ask, but it was difficult to know where to start.

‘When have you got to be home, Alex?’

‘Nine o’clock.’ I looked at my watch. Only seven o’clock? It felt like ages since I got off the bus.

‘What about the others?’

‘Dunno. They live the other side of town, anyway.’

‘Really?’ I could see Harry was thinking something over. Then: ‘The big one. What’s his name?’

‘Joe.’

‘Is he reliable?’

‘Reliable?’ I shrugged. ‘He’s not the brightest spark. But, yeah – give him something to do, and as long as it’s not too difficult ...’

Harry nodded, looked over to his mate, then said, ‘Right. Let’s have a word with them.’

We walked back over, and I could see them all giving me funny looks as we got nearer.

‘More chocolate?’ Harry asked casually. He pulled another bar out of his pocket. How many did he carry around? He gave the bar to Joe, who began breaking it into pieces.

‘You’re the oldest?’ he asked Joe.

Joe nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘I know it’s none of my business – but, well, by the look of you all, you’ve had quite a fright. That right?’

They nodded, then Jack asked, ‘What happened just then?’

‘Some people out to frighten you.’

‘I didn’t see anyone.’

‘No? Alex did.’

Jack stared at me. ‘Why didn’t we see them?’

I shrugged.

‘Anyway,’ Harry went on, ‘I think you ought to call it a night. Head off home. What do you think?’

They looked at each other, then back at Harry, and nodded.

‘Alex tells me he lives on the other side of town.’ I was getting those ‘what’s this all about?’ looks from them again. ‘Now, Joe, you being the oldest, can I give you a job to do?’

‘Course you can.’ Joe swelled a little. I grinned a little to myself.

‘Can you look after the others? See them home? Make sure they’re alright?’

‘No problem.’

Harry had him sussed. Just the sort of thing Joe loved. That was why he was mates with us, and not people his own age.

‘Right then. If you see they get home okay, we’ll see Alex to his bus.’

We went over to the gap in the wire, and out onto the road. I knew the others would be heading for the main bus station.

‘We’re going this way,’ I said to them. ‘See you later, guys.’

‘Yeah, see you, Alex.’

We watched them walk away. Jack and Bivek still didn’t look too good.

‘Will they be okay?’ Harry asked.

I shrugged again. ‘Yeah. Joe’ll look after them.’

‘Right. Which way’s the town?’

‘Down here.’

I led the way. I could hear the two of them walking behind me.

It wasn’t far to the town. Then I heard the footsteps stop, and looked round. We were by a burger bar, and Ron was looking in the window.

‘How about here?’

‘Doesn’t Hermione ever feed you, Ron?’ Harry sounded as if he was amused by something.

‘Yeah!’ Ron sounded a bit – well, defensive. ‘But it’s empty. Might be a good place to have a word?’

‘Okay.’ Harry turned to me. ‘Fancy a burger, Alex?’

I grinned slightly. Mum would have a fit if she know I was going into a burger bar. Truth to tell, I didn’t really like them. Even so, not a chance to be missed.

‘I take it that’s a yes.’

Harry pushed the door open, and we all filed in. The place was almost empty apart from us and the bloke behind the counter. It looked quite bright and clean, though.

‘I’ll get these,’ muttered Ron.

‘Muggle money.’

‘What?’

‘Muggle money, Ron,’ repeated Harry.

‘Oh, right. I’ll leave it to you, then.’

Ron looked at me and then jerked his head towards a table by the window.

‘Muggle money?’I asked as we sat down.

‘Yeah. Muggles. People without magic.’

‘Right,’ I said, drawing out the syllable. ‘So you magic people have your own money. Let’s see some, then.’

Ron reached into a pocket then scattered a handful of coins onto the table. There was a big gold one in the middle. I fished it out.

‘That one’s fake,’ Ron told me.

‘What do you mean?’

It was big. And it looked as if it was gold. Not that I could really tell – I mean, I don’t handle gold bars on a daily basis. But gold’s supposed to be really soft. I looked for a knife, but Harry was still at the counter. Even if they did give us knives and forks, they’d probably be plastic, anyway.

‘It’s not a real Galleon. It’s fake. If we’re needed for something, it gets all hot. It’s a sort of message.’

‘Right.’ It was certainly funny looking. If they were playing a trick on me, they had come well prepared. ‘What do you mean - “if you’re needed”?’

‘We’re Aurors.’

‘What’s one of them?’

‘Like – magical policeman.’

‘You’re a policeman?’

He didn’t look old enough. Then I remembered something Dad used to say, and laughed.

‘What’s the joke?’

Harry had just arrived with a tray.

‘Ron tells me you’re policemen. You don’t look old enough. My Dad sometimes says, “You know you’re growing old when the policemen start looking young”.’

They didn’t look older than than my brother – and he’s just gone off to University.

Harry laughed, but Ron just looked baffled.

‘It’s a Muggle thing, Ron.’

‘Oh. Right.’

‘How come,’ I asked, ‘that you know about “Muggle stuff”, but he doesn’t?’

‘I was brought up by Muggles,’ said Harry, ‘but Ron – now he was properly brought up.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Means all his family are magic.’

I thought about that. ‘Okay. If you say so.’ I still couldn’t get my head round it. ‘Now convince me. Show me some more magic.’

‘Can’t do any of the flashy stuff in here.’

‘You must be able to do something.’

Harry leaned forward and took one of my chips, then put it in the middle of the table. He pulled out that stick thing of his.

‘Careful, Harry. Muggles about.’

Harry smiled. ‘It’s Halloween, Ron. Relax. They’ll just think we’re some twits who haven’t got a life and like dressing up in fancy clothes.’

‘Oh. If you say so.’

Harry leaned over the table and tapped the chip with the stick. He murmured something at the same time, but I couldn’t hear what it was.

The chip suddenly changed into a piece of wood identical to Harry’s.

I blinked. ‘What did you do?’

‘It’s called Transfiguration.’

‘What?’

‘Transfiguration. Changing one thing into another.’

‘If you say so.’ I looked at it.

‘Go on. Pick it up.’

I did. It felt like a piece of wood. It looked like a piece of wood. I tried taking a bite. It was a piece of wood.

They were both grinning.

‘Okay, okay.’

Ron leaned forward, picked another chip, and did the same, only this time the piece of wood was the same as his.

‘Now you’re going to tell me those things you’re waving about are wands.’

‘They are.’

‘Yeah, right. And is this a wand too?’

‘No. Wands – well, they’re special. Those are just lumps of wood, I’m afraid.’

‘What’s special about them?’

‘If we told you that, we’d have to kill you. Muggle thing, Ron.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ I looked at the pieces of wood. ‘So why are you telling me all about this, and not the others?’

‘Because you saw the Dementors,’ Ron told me.

‘So?’

‘Muggles can’t see Dementors.’

‘Then why could I see them?’ They didn’t say anything, just looked at me. ‘Hey, look, no way.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well ...’ I was stuck for words. Then: ‘I would know if I was, wouldn’t I?’

‘Not necessarily. Not if your parents are Muggles.’ Harry looked at me again. ‘Anything odd happened around you? When you’re scared, or frightened? Something like that?’

He must have seen the look on my face.

‘When was it?’ he asked.

It was a few weeks ago. There are some bits of town which are a bit dodgy. Mum always kept on at me about being careful, and I’d say, yeah, yeah. I was with Bivek at the time. We were taking a short cut. We were busy talking, and we didn’t notice them. Two blokes in a doorway. Well, not grown up blokes, teenagers really, but if you’re our size and age ... baggy tracksuit bottoms, hoods up – I mean, how could we have missed them? But they didn’t miss us. They were out in front of us before we’d had time to turn and run.

They’d picked their time right, too. Hardly anyone else around. A couple of grannies, and that was about it. They gave us this smile, and it wasn’t because they were being friendly.

‘What we got here, then?’ We both froze. No point running for it. I’ve never won a race in my life. There was one time I didn’t come last. Second to last. ‘Got some pocket money, have you? Maybe a phone on you?’

‘Piss off.’

Somehow I couldn’t see them backing down, but I wasn’t going to just hand over stuff like that.

‘That's not very nice.’ He had his hands in the pockets of his track suit top, and I saw him edging out one hand. He was holding something. No guesses as to what.

‘Haven’t got anything anyway.’ Which wasn’t true.

‘Yeah?’

I could see what he was holding now. It looked like a kitchen knife. Not a very big one – maybe a three inch blade, but I knew how sharp they could be. I found that out not long ago when I was in too much of a hurry slicing up some potatoes. He was holding it close to him, so that it wasn’t that obvious to anyone else. Okay then. I wasn’t going to argue with a knife.

‘Come on then. What’ve you got?’

He was getting impatient. And he was obviously nervous. Bad sign. When some gets nervous like that, they can lash out.

I couldn’t take my eyes off that blade. The light was catching it, making it shine bright. The thing was that I think I was too frightened even to reach into my pockets.

He waved the knife back and forward. The blade glinted. I was ... well, scared wasn’t the word. I was petrified. I stared at that knife as though it was red hot ... and as I stared at it, it somehow seemed to change. It was difficult to explain, but it was if the blade was hot and bright ... really hot ... then suddenly I saw smoke coming from the wooden handle.

He yelped. Suddenly he was holding it as if ... almost as if it was burning him ... burning ... and then the handle caught fire. The knife clattered to the ground. The blade wasn’t shiny now – but red hot.

‘What the f ...’

I grabbed Bivek’s arm, and we legged it. Terror kept me running. We didn’t stop until we got to the main road. To be honest, I don’t think I could have run any further anyway. I was completely out of breath, and I could feel a stitch in my side. Half bent over, I looked back.

They hadn’t come after us. One of them looked as if he was crouched over something on the pavement – the knife, I suppose. They weren’t interested in us any more. And we were safe here. Well, not that safe, but it was a busy street, and I couldn’t see them trying it on here.

‘What happened?’ Bivek asked.

I straightened up, still gasping for air. He looked terrified.

‘No idea.’

‘But that knife ...’

‘Yeah?’

‘It went – well, red hot.’

I nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘How?’

‘How? How should I know?’

‘But ...’

But what? We both saw it. I saw the smoke from the handle. And yeah, it did look red hot.

‘Look, Bivek, I don’t know what happened there. And I don’t want to know. And you’re not to tell anyone, right? If my mum hears about this ...’

‘Mine too.’

‘So we don’t tell anyone, right? That way, they’re not going to find out, are they?’

He looked at me, then back at the two thugs. ‘Yeah, but ...’

‘Yeah but nothing.’

He nodded. ‘Okay. But it was weird, whatever it was.’

Weird wasn’t the word for it ...

‘Earth to Alex?’

I jumped, then remembered where I was. In the burger bar. You know, I’d had nightmares about that knife?

‘Sorry, guys. I was just remembering ...’

I could see Harry staring at me. He looked a bit worried.

‘Bad memory?’

‘Something like that.’

Then I told them about it. I’d told no one else, and I don’t reckon Bivek had either. In fact, we hadn’t mentioned it again even to each other. When I’d finished, Harry nodded.

‘Accidental magic.’

I screwed up my face. ‘For real?’

Harry nodded again. ‘Yeah. I did things a bit like that when I was young.’

‘What about you?’ I asked Ron.

He shrugged. ‘All my family were magic, so it wasn’t anything special. Yeah, I probably did, but I don’t remember much about it.’

‘Right.’

I picked up a chip, but they were all cold now. Ron saw me put it down. He pulled out that stick thing, and muttered something, then looked pleased with himself.

‘They’re hot again.’

‘What?’

‘Your chips. I heated them up again.’

‘Oh.’ I picked one up. Somehow – they had become hot again.

Looking at the chips reminded me of something else. Remember me mentioning the time I cut myself with a kitchen knife? I was careless, and the knife slipped. There was this stinging feeling in my finger, then there was blood everywhere. I panicked – I didn’t want Mum finding out, cos she’d have hysterics. I grabbed my handkerchief, wrapped it round my finger, then started mopping up the blood with a kitchen roll. Then I looked at my finger – or at the handkerchief. Soaked with blood. I knew there were some plasters in the cabinet in the bathroom. I went up, but the blood had half dried, so the handkerchief was sticking to my finger. I filled the basin with cold water, stuck my hand in, and eased the handkerchief off. The water was all red and horrible. I swished my hand about then pulled it out. I looked at my finger. No cut. WTF? I looked again. Wet and dripping, but no cut, no mark, no blood ... scary. I rinsed my handkerchief out, then hid it somewhere to dry. Back in my room, I examined every inch of my hand. No cut. No scar. Nothing. Had that been magic too?

‘So if I can do magic, why wasn’t I able to scare of those things tonight?’

‘The Dementors?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Now that does need quite advanced magic,’ said Harry. ‘I didn’t learn that for a few years.’

‘Okay. So, if I can do magic, why haven’t I found out about it before? I mean, why haven’t I met others – like you two?’

‘Two reasons, really,’ Harry told me. ‘First, we keep ourselves separate – we don’t let the Muggles find out about us. That’s why we didn’t tell your friends. Second thing is - you’re only ten.’

‘What’s that got to do with it?’

‘Well, you know you were asking whether there was magic money and magic policemen?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You never asked us if there were magic schools.’

I stared at them. ‘You mean there are schools where people go and learn to do magic?’

‘That’s right.’

‘In England?’

‘Well, Scotland, actually.’

‘What’s it called?’

‘Hogwarts.’

‘Never heard of it.’

‘Well, you wouldn’t, would you? We hide it from Muggles.’

‘Did you go there?’

Harry nodded.

I looked at Ron. ‘You too?’

‘Yeah. We started at Hogwarts at the same time, Harry and me. And it’s Halloween tonight, so there’s a big feast going on there right now.’

‘All Ron thinks about is his stomach.’

‘Not all. Just some of the time.’

‘Most of the time.’

‘Some of the time. Speaking of which, are you going to eat that burger?’ Ron asked.

I looked down at the table. I hadn’t even touched it. ‘No. Here, have it.’ I pushed it towards him.

‘Ta.’ He started munching.

‘You still haven’t told me what my only being ten has to do with anything.’

Harry nodded. ‘Ah, yes. Well, you see, people don’t start at Hogwarts until they’re eleven.’

‘So?’

‘Now if you’re from a proper wizarding family like Ron’s, you’d know all about Hogwarts, so there’s no problem. But if you’re from a Muggle family, then sometime before your eleventh birthday, someone from the school calls at your home and explains all about it.’

I thought about that. ‘You mean ...’

‘I mean that someone from the school will be paying you a visit sometime soon. When’s your birthday, by the way?’

‘In May.’

‘Right. Well, soon after that, you can expect a knock on the door.’

‘What if Mum and Dad don’t believe them?’

‘Well, whoever it is will be ready for that. They’ll show your parents some magic to convince them.’

‘And you’re saying that I could do magic?’ Harry nodded. ‘Give us your wand then.’

He looked a bit reluctant, but then slid it across the table.

‘It won’t work as well for you.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ I said, sceptical again. ‘And why not?’

‘Because it’s not yours. Someone else’s wand never works as well.’

I looked down at that piece of wood. Was this part of the wind up? Only one way to find out. I took a deep breath, then reached down to pick it up.

It felt ... odd. Not at all like that other piece of wood he’d conjured up. No – transfigured.

‘Give it a wave.’

I felt like an idiot. Then I gave it a good swish.

‘Oi!’

Ron had leant forward to take a bite from my burger, and sparks had showered over his head. I grinned, and tried again. More sparks. Harry leaned across the table and took it from me.

‘I think that’s enough.’

‘It worked,’ I said. I still couldn’t believe it.

‘There you are. You’re a wizard.’

‘A what?’

‘A wizard.’

‘Yeah, right.’

‘You showered Ron with sparks, didn’t you.’

‘What does that prove?’

‘Wouldn’t have worked if you weren’t a wizard.’

‘Okay. Suppose I am. What of it?’

‘How do you like the school you go to now?’

‘It’s okay, I suppose.’

‘How would you like to go to Hogwarts?’

I stared at him. ‘A wizard school?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Where I can learn magic?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Turn chips into pieces of wood?’

‘Loads of other stuff too. Cool stuff.’

‘Like what?’

Ron and Harry looked at each other. Then Harry said, ‘I don’t think you’d believe us if we told you.’

‘If you say so. This school – that’s the one you went to?’

‘That’s right. Great place, Hogwarts,’ said Ron. ‘Ah, happy memories.’ I looked at him. I suppose I must have looked a bit sceptical. ‘Well, most of them.’

‘It’s in Scotland?’

‘Afraid so,’ said Harry.

‘So is it a boarding school?’

‘That’s right.’

I’d never thought of going to a boarding school. They were both looking at me expecting me to say something. I didn’t know what to say. Somehow, it was all too much.

Harry realised that first. He leaned back in his chair. ‘You need time to think about it.’

I looked down at the table. ‘I suppose I do.’

‘Fair enough.’

I was suddenly very tired. I yawned, and looked at my watch. Just after eight. My bus was at half past.

‘Look – thanks for the burger ...’

‘Ron ate that.’

‘Yeah well, the chips, anyway. And the milkshake. And the chance to play with your wand.’ Ron suddenly sniggered, and I stared at him.

‘Never mind,’ he said hurriedly.

I still didn’t get the joke. ‘Anyway, I think I’d better be getting home.’

‘Of course,’ said Harry, standing up and gathering all the rubbish together.

We went outside in a slightly awkward silence. I felt that I should still be asking them stuff, but I was so tired my mind had sort of fuzzed over. The bus stop wasn’t far away.

‘Look,’ I said, there’s no need to hang around.’

‘No problem,’ said Harry.

Ron was staring around at the crowds. There were quite a few in Halloween costumes, and I think he thought it rather funny.

‘So what happens after someone knocks on my door?’

‘Well, if you want to go to Hogwarts, and your parents are happy with the idea, then the next thing would be a trip to Diagon Alley to buy your school things.’

‘What’s that? Or where’s that?’

‘Magical London.’

‘Oh.’ It was still too much to take in.

‘Since you’re from a Muggle family, someone comes along and shows you how to get there, and the sorts of things you need.’

‘Right.’

‘Would you like us to do that?’

‘Well, yeah, thanks. I mean, if ...’

‘Of course.’

The bus pulled in. I was really grateful to them, and everything, but I was glad in a way to escape. I’d got a return ticket, so I just waved it at the driver and went and found a seat. They were still standing on the pavement, and they waved as the bus pulled away.

I was so tired that I started dozing off and nearly missed my stop. I had to dash for the door. The night air woke me up a bit. I walked down the pavement towards home. The next thing was to make sure that Mum suspected nothing. My best bet was to act really tired – well, that wouldn’t be hard, would it? - and go up to bed.

I put the key in the lock. Of course, as soon as I stepped in, Mum was out of the sitting room.

‘Everything all right, dear?’

‘Fine.’

I peeled that scarf off and carefully hung it over the banisters.

‘Had a good time?’

‘Oh, yeah.’ Then I yawned as wide as I could. ‘Bit tired though.’

‘It’s been a long day.’

‘Yeah.’ Best way to keep her quiet – always agree with her. ‘I think I’ll go up and have an early night.’

‘Of course. Good night, dear.’

‘Night.’

I wasn’t telling porkies about wanting an early night. I felt like ... you know how it is when you give your computer too much to do, and it just sits there with the screen frozen and a little hour glass showing? Well, that’s what I felt like. I went into the bathroom, washed and brushed my teeth, got undressed like a zombie, and fell into bed.

The next few days were difficult.

It was all a bit much to believe. Magic? Wizards? Me? They were kidding, weren’t they? But those things, those Dementors, they’d been real enough. And I still had those two pieces of wood, sitting on my desk. That’s all they were, pieces of wood. But they had been chips. Unless ... maybe they were just good hypnotists.

But when I got to school on Monday morning, I could tell the others hadn’t forgotten. They all wanted to know what had happened after they left. I fobbed them off by muttering about going for a burger. Didn’t say anything about what I’d been told, of course. I mean, I didn’t want them to think I was completely mad. But I think they wanted to forget about it as much as I did.

Because after a few days, it did really seem just like a bad dream. Magic? Well, it didn’t help me with my French or Maths homework, did it? It just seemed – well, stupid.

Until I got home from school one day.

‘There’s a parcel for you, Alex,’ said Mum, after I’d put my bag down.

‘Parcel?’

‘That’s right.’

Who would be sending me a parcel? It was sitting on the hall table. It was quite big, and heavy enough when I picked it up. I could see Mum was dying to see what it was, but I didn’t open it there. I took it up to my room.

It was a book. A really big book. There was a letter with it too.

Dear Alex,

You might be interested in this. I never was, but you look the sort who might be interested in books. Anyway, you’d better take good care of it, because it belongs to my girlfriend, and she’d kill me if anything happened to it (seriously!). You can give it back when we meet again.

Your friend,

Ron Weasley

Ron Weasley? Who the hell was he? Then I picked the book up and read the title. Hogwarts – a History.