Adelaidaline Jujuvitz

Adelaidaline stared at the feather Bono had given her, telling her to make it fly. She turned her head to stare at Bono, and then averted her eyes once more to look at the large white feather. She took out the wand her aunt had purchased for her the previous weekend. Grasping it tightly in her right hand, she once again resorted to staring at the feather, trying to think of a possible way of levitating it.

"What are you trying to do?" Bono asked her in a deep and serious voice.

She looked up at him again. "Make it float," she answered simply. He was the one who set the lesson, should he have known what she was attempting?

"Have I told you the procedure yet?" He inquired sternly.

"No."

"Well then, how exactly were you planning on doing it?"

"I have no idea." She waited a minute, switching her gaze between the feather and her teacher. Was he going to tell her or not?

"Swish and flick," he said finally.

What are we, cavemen? Laidy thought to herself. She gave him a confused look, which received a head nod in the direction of her wand. She looked at it for a minute, before returning to Bono. He gave an exasperated sigh, pulled his own wand out from his robes.

"Watch," he instructed, and he swiftly twitched his wrist, resulting in the swishing and flicking of his wand. "See? Simple. Now you try." And she did. Simple. Bono gave her a nod of approval, and then moved over to the blackboard. With a soft poof a piece of chalk appeared and dropped into his open hand, which he used to scribble an incantation across the board. Wingardium Leviosa. "Got it?" he asked Laidy. She nodded, although in her mind she was desperately trying to figure out how to pronounce the words. Windargium... no that's not right... Wingradrum Lev... no that's not it either... Wingardium Leviosa... Yes! That must be it!

"Windargium Leviaso," she incanted as she swished and flicked her wand. She watched in horror as her feather withered until it completely disappeared. Windargium Leviaso was definitely not what she had pronounced in her mind.

Bono stared at her with a look of slight surprise on his face. He flicked his own wand and Laidy watched as her feather appeared again blooming, as if Bono had hit a rewind button. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said slowly. "Say it a couple of times." And she did. She said the words over and over until she had them clearly memorized.

"Now try it," Bono instructed.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she incanted with a swish and a flick. She carried the direction of her wand tip up a bit and watched delighted as the feather followed as if an invisible fishing pole were attached to the end of her wand and the feather was caught on the hook.

"Very good," Bono congratulated politely.

They went over the lesson multiple times, until Adelaidaline could levitate the sitting couch in the corner without fault.

Laidy returned to her room after dinner, and changed for bed. He aunt had left for a business meeting in Guam earlier that evening and had missed dinner, leaving Laidy to eat by herself in the large kitchen. It was slightly depressing but nothing new to Adelaidaline: she had been left by herself on many accounts when she lived with her parents.

Laidy made to climb into her large bed when she noticed a piece of parchment with a quick note scribbled across it on her pillow and a small vintage looking book placed next to it. She picked up the note and carefully read it.

Dear Laidy,

I found this book in the attic a couple months back but never got around to reading it. It was your mother's diary when she was a girl and went to Hogwarts. I came across it again today and thought you might like to read it sometime. I'll see you when I return from my trip.

Sincerely,

Aunt Lydia

Laidy reread the note, and picked up the book, studying its burgundy leather binding, the red ribbon weaved into its spine. She flipped it over so that she was looking at the cover. Andromeda Diana Hepburn was encrypted in gold scrawl at the top right corner. Laidy touched the lock that held the book closed, wondering how she was supposed to read it if she couldn't even open it. She walked over to her bureau and pulled a hairpin from a china dish placed next to her brush and hand mirror. She slid the pin into the lock and expertly turned and prodded the workings with it. After a minutes work, she heard a soft click and the lock released gracefully, letting the book fall open in Laidy's hands.

Adelaidaline threw the pin back into the bowl and sat on her bed. She flipped to the beginning of the diary and studied it. The title page was decorated with golden flowers and angels with her mother's name printed in neat cursive letters center. Laidy flipped to the first entry, laid back on her bed, and began to read.

December 25^th, 1971

Dear Diary,

Hello. My name is Andromeda Diana Hepburn, but most people just call me Andi for short. I was born on December 25^th, 1960. I have a mother named Vesta Laresa Lares Hepburn and a father named Vulcan Bacchus Hepburn. I also have a little sister named Lydia Vendredi Hepburn, and I had an older brother, Orion Centaurus Hepburn, but he was a little crazy. Mother says that he got himself into some trouble and that's why he had to pass. She still cries about him a lot.

I attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am in my first year. I use to think it would be very scary going to school, but it isn't that bad. I have made a lot of friends already. I am a Gryffindor, which is OK, but my mother wanted me to be a Ravenclaw and my father hoped I would be a Slytherin. I'm kind of glad that I am neither, I wouldn't want to hurt on of my parents' feelings, and this way everyone is neutral. It's what's best, I think.

Today is my eleventh birthday. My friends all bought me you as a gift. Don't you think that is nice? I do. You cost a lot of money, but they said that it is OK because it is Christmas also. Mother and Father are away on holiday in France with Lydia. Mother said she wanted me to come, but Father didn't think I should. To make me feel better, my friends Castor, Pollux, and Capella stayed at school with me over the vacation. Castor and Pollux are twin brothers and they are very funny. Capella is very nice and likes to gossip about other people, but never says anything to mean.

Capella says its time for dinner, so I am going to go now. Good-bye.

Laidy flipped ahead until she saw that the messy scribbles of writing had transformed into slightly smaller, neater scrawls. She stopped at an entry that took up a full three pages and began to read.

December 21^st, 1973

Dear Diary,

Only four more days until my 13^th birthday! Today I went to Hogsmeade for the first time, since I couldn't go on Halloween. Callisto, Castor, Pollux, Arcturus, Spica, Capella, Vega, Deneb, and Altair all took advantage of the trip to celebrate my birthday before everyone left for home. They took me to Honeydukes where Mr. Flume gave me a humongous, gigantic, titanic slab of fudge, which I am already half through, and at the rate I'm going with it, I will be the fattest girl in the school within the week. They then took me to the Three Broomsticks where Madam Rosmerta supplied the first and second round of butterbeer, on the house. Finally we walked all around the village and when we got back to school, the entire house threw me a party in the common room with a huge chocolate cake and strawberry ice cream that Molly made in the kitchens and even more butterbeer.

Best of all, my wish came true! When I blew out my candles I wished that Pers would wish me a happy birthday, and when I was over by the fire with Vega he came over and did just that! Then all his friends, including Castor and Pollux, came over and started to make fun of him, even though they had all done the same thing, those hypocrites. They started saying stuff like, "Hey, Pers, why so flirty with Andi all of a sudden?" and "So, Pers, are you taking Andi to the New Years Ball?" When Castor said this I could feel my cheeks practically catching fire, and when I chanced a glance at Pers I could tell he felt the same way. But you know what he did? He recomposed himself, very handsomely, turned to me, at which I tried to do the same recovery but failed miserably, and he said, "Well, Andi, would you like to?" And my god, Diary, I was so stupid! Instead of saying yes like a posh young lady, I opened my mouth and let some sort of gurgle thing out with some kind of question mark thrown at the end so it sounded less like, "Yes, Perseus, I would be delighted to join you in attending the New Years Ball," and more like, "Urgahgi?" Stupid, stupid, stupid! But he was so sweet; he just smiled and asked, "I was asking if you would like to be my date to the New Years Ball?" I just closed my flapping mouth, smiled politely, and nodded, trying not to let my head fall off my neck and roll over to the other side of the room. His friends all looked so very impressed and I felt so happy! We spent the rest of the night together talking about all sorts of things. It was marvelous! He even brought me up to his dormitory to give me a birthday present. It was a very pretty bracelet with glowing red stones all along it and diamonds in between. It was an amazing night and I don't think I will ever be taking this bracelet off. Ok, I need to start planning what I'm going to wear to the ball. Good night, Diary.

Laidy sat back and thought about what she had just read. It was an odd feeling, hearing about her father from her mother's point of view. And she had never known her mother was so popular! But one thing had then stood out particularly well in Adelaidaline's mind that she had at first past through without even taking note. In the first entry, her mother had said that she was attending Hogwarts. That was the school Laidy was told she was to attend. She became very excited about the prospect of attending her mother and father's school.

Laidy placed the diary on her bedside table, resolving to continue reading every night. She turned out the light and drifted off to sleep, still contemplating her mothers first years of school.