Belle Ame

Chapter One: Destination London

Roxanna Stone was an eleven year old girl living a close to normal life in Oxford, England. She was known to her few friends as Roxy or Rox. She went to school, had a few closer friends but not many others, and was an only child living with her mother and father. It was a Friday morning, the day that changed the rest of Roxy's life. She was peacefully sleeping in her cloud like bed, dreaming of far off places full of strange people and old taverns full of legends and mysteries. Then it vanished, too far from grasp.

"Roxanna! ROXANNA ELIZA STONE! GET UP!"

"I'm up, Mum!" replied a half-asleep Roxy. Roxy's sleepy eyelids snapped open: she had overslept again, she hated getting up late in the day. Today they planned to go shopping in the town and she certainly didn't want to get up. "Stupid alarm clock! It never works when it should!" Roxy thought.

She pulled the covers off and threw them down onto the sun-lit floor. As she stumbled over the littered floor to her desk, full of crumbled pieces of paper from last night's brilliant story that never got past the first sentence, she realized a certain air of edginess. Roxy loved to write, but every time she had a story, she could never finish it. The stories always lost her interest. She always said, "If the story doesn't interest the author enough to finish writing it, it's not worth taking the time to try to finish it."

She sat down at her desk, nothing could be better than a fresh chapter to start a glorious summer day. She took one look at the cluttered desk and was disgusted by her untidiness. With a swinging motion of her arm she rid the desk of all papers and other trinkets she tended to place on her desk. She smiled at her burst of emotion, every once in a while she would take to doing something outrageous or just a small action that was completely random. Roxy searched through what seemed like endless drawers.

"Can't I just have one damn pencil!" she thought, although she would often curse while thinking about something, she would never dare say anything out of line to her parents, or any one else for that matter.

Once she located a pencil she pulled out her journal, covered in her favorite things, music notes and flowers. She flipped aimlessly through the first ten or so pages, all covered in writing with a few pointless drawings in the corners. Today was going to be successful; she could just sense it in the atmosphere. She looked down at the blank journal and felt to uncomfortable to write.

"Damn it why can't I ever get started!" she thought as she stood up and slammed her hand down on the back of the chair infuriated at the slowness of the day. She looked around for a moment and snatched a small pillow off of her bed. She propped the pillow up on the back of the chair. Once again she sat down and seized her pencil.

She stared at the blank paper and ran through her head what had happened the day before.

"Let's see, I woke up, of course. Then I went down stairs, ate breakfast, watched some TV, and then I went to the park. When I was at the park I fed the birds, sat on the swing, and fell asleep under a tree. Then I came home, at which time I ate lunch and talked with Mum. Then I went to the local pool and read my book for a couple hours. Then I came home and did pretty much nothing until I fell asleep." She fiddled with her pencil for a moment deep in thought.

"Well that's a great story isn't it, an eleven year old girl did nothing for a whole day and most of her life. Damn it, why do I have such a boring life?" She huffed angrily to herself as she slammed her pencil against the desk top. She distracted her anger by looking out the window at the pleasant looking, quiet houses. But she gave up and went to start her day.

The sun was bright and warm today. So she decided to leave her window open while she went shopping. Therefore, when she came home her room would feel like it did outside, that's how she liked everything, in the fresh outdoors. As long as it was warm and uplifting, like being in the sky and escaping from the world for a few glorious moments before falling back to the insanity of the earth below.

As she reached the window she could see a large bird flying and it almost appeared to be heading right toward her house. At this, she had to look twice and decide if she really was awake. Roxy shook her head, told herself she was dreaming, and flung open the window for a deep breath of fresh air. Instead of air, however, she received an unpleasant mouth full of feathers. Roxy shrieked and flailed her arms to get it off of her face. She tripped over her bed and fell onto the floor, afraid to move too quickly. She slowly sat up and peered over her bed, gripping the sides of the blankets ready to throw them over the animal.

Sitting on the edge of the windowsill was a rather prudent looking barn owl, ruffling its feathers with a very disgruntled look toward Roxy, like she had been the one to fly through the window and pelt into the owl. Tied to its leg was a piece of old looking parchment of some sort with an old fashioned green, wax stamp, which she found absolutely fascinating. It was so precise in every curve and angle it made. A snake, lion, badger, and eagle were so livid looking behind such an immaculate "H".

Roxy reached slowly and carefully for the bird, but just at that moment her mother, Jennifer Stone, and her father, Edward Stone came bursting through her bedroom door in a panic.

"Oh no, no it can't be, not now! I'm not ready for this!" gasped Jen, looking horrified at first, but then seeming to be thinking furiously of something.

"But what could she be thinking of?" Roxy thought.

"I thought...I thought we had more time." Ed was always disturbingly calm when dealing with frightening or disappointing ordeals, just as he was now. His face was placid and peaceful like a winter lake just about to freeze over at the low temperature of the deep and dark night.

"Mum, Dad, what's going on?" Roxy glanced back and forth between them looking for any clue as to why there was a rather large bird perched on her bed. But she could not decipher a thing from the looks on their faces, one concentrated and edgy, the other calm and centered.

"We need to talk, Roxanna." This couldn't be good, Roxy's mother only called her Roxanna when she had something difficult to say, or when she was irritated by her. "Ed, darling, if you could excuse us for a moment, I think it's time."

"Mum, what's happening?"

"Honey, we're not exactly, well, normal. Our family has some special things, traits, no... qualities, we've been avoiding for quite some time now." She was glancing uneasy looks from side to side and then to Roxy but she continued boldly. "Dear, there's a whole different world out there you don't quite know about, and there's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it plainly...you're a... witch."

This caused Roxy to laugh. "Mum, have you had your coffee yet? Because you know how delirious you can be without your morning coffee."

"Darling, I'm very serious, this is no laughing matter. We're witches and your father's a wizard, this owl has brought a letter from Professor Dumbledore, I should think. He's the headmaster of Hogwarts, one of the Wizarding schools. Usually this would be fantastic news. It appears you've been accepted to Hogwarts, which is a wonderful place to attend and to explore everything new, and you can make friends better than the few you have here. No offense, honey, but you're friends here are not as good as some of the people you'll meet there. Witches and wizards tend to socialize easier with their own kind.

"I've been dreading that I'd have to tell you this all at once. If only I had been able to slowly introduced you to this, but let's face it there's no way to slowly tell you all this. Oh, sweetie... pack your bags." Jen turned on her heal looking quite flustered with herself as if she had planned this speech out and it had gone completely differently and erroneous.

"Mum wait...why exactly do I need to pack my bags?"

"We are going to London. You need to experience...Diagon Alley."

"But, mum, we're in Oxford, and what about school, Mum? I start school in September." Jen looked at Roxy with a determined look on her face and simply said, "Pack your bags for the weekend and forget school because there happens to be more important things to do than that bloody Muggle school." With that she grabbed a small bag out of the hall closet, some tattered books, a stick of some sort, and small lumpy sack. Within a second, she was downstairs talking to Roxy's father.

"That bloody Muggle school?" Roxy muttered to herself questionably as she pulled down a suitcase, a few sets of clothes, a couple books, and the usual small packing that had to be done to keep her looking human, this would be toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush. Roxy grabbed a nicer set of clothing and put it on as quickly as possible. She neatly folded everything away and was prepared to "experience Diagon Alley." Just as she reached the door, she turned for another look at her room, expecting some answers to appear from nowhere and found that the barn owl carrying the letter was still patiently sitting there, cooing to itself as it watched the surrounding activities. Roxy thought quickly and slowly approached the large owl. The owl flinched at first seeing the hand come slowly towards its leg, but then it seemed to remember its mission and the owl stood up straight and elegantly stuck his leg out for her. Roxy gently untied the letter from the lifted leg. The owl then nibbled Roxy's sleeve, ruffled its feathers, and flew off into the sunrise.

"Mum, Mum! What about this...letter?" Roxy's voice echoed down the hallway and hurried footsteps answered the echo remarkably fast.

"Did you open it? Have you read it? Where'd the owl go?" Jen looked frazzled but quite sensible for one who has just been bustling around the house barking orders to her husband.

"Mum, calm down, I didn't open or read it and the owl flew away." Roxy was thoroughly confused now. Jen ripped the letter out of her daughter's hands and pulled it out of the envelope.

"Yes, just as I expected, you'll be starting September first, well that's tomorrow so we'll have to hurry. We'll get your supplies this weekend, September first is in about a month, so say good bye to that school of yours and... oh damn, we'll be needing an owl before tomorrow as well! I guess we can borrow Rumpleskin from Mrs. Baggini next door." Roxy honestly didn't know if her mother was talking to her any more or just to herself.

"Mum stop! Why do we need an owl? What supplies? Wait, only a MONTH!" Roxy needed answers.

"Yes, one month. We need your schooling supplies for this year, oh my, it's your first year at Hogwats! This is just grand! Mrs. Baggini is a Squib and we need her owl to confirm that you'll be going to Hogwarts. See?" Jen pointed to the small parchment that read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCH CRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of wizards)

Dear Miss Stone,

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

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

The enclosed list read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCH CRAFT and WIZARDRY

Uniform

First-year students will require:

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

Course Books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"I've never heard of most of this stuff, phials, Transfiguration, and Potions...this is absolutely fascinating," she thought.

"And we can find this in London?" Roxy was now more curious than confused, shockingly, one would think she would be overwhelmed with all this news at once but she was overcome with joy and curiosity. Roxy always dreamed that she was in another world meeting new people and doing new things, and now she would actually be doing so.

"Well, not exactly in London- but we can in Diagon Alley." Jen found herself to be fashionably clever in her methods. "Now I'll run over to Mrs. Baggini's and send a letter to Albus to confirm your Hogwarts stay. Oh, you will refer to Albus as Professor Dumbledore, he is your elder and a highly respected wizard. You keep that in mind now."

With that Jen was out the door scribbling something down on another piece of parchment, Roxy had no idea where it came from. It was like it had just materialized on the spot. This left the school letter and list of supplies needed in her daughter's hands. She marveled over the strange words such as "crystal phials" "Transfiguration" that sounded like fun.

All of the sudden Roxy was exhilarated about her trip to a whole new world. Roxy waited patiently, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything she may need for her weekend extravaganza in London...or Diagon alley.

"I can't wait, this is going to be fantastic! I wonder if Hogwarts looks like my school, that would be neat. I haven't even been to my school yet this year and I'm leaving...I'm leaving wow, that sounds great." all of these thoughts ran through her head as she paced back and forth.

The door flung open and Jen came through the door with a bundle of feathers on her shoulder and a wave to Mrs. Baggini. A small, ragged tawny owl sat on her shoulder looking as if it had just woken up and was rather perturbed.

"Um, mum, I'm still a little confused."

"Oh don't worry, I'll explain everything later but we have to get going." Jen was bustling around; it appeared she was looking for something.

"Alright, should I put my bag in the car?"

"Car...we're not going in the car."

"Mum, there's no other way to get there, is there? Bus? Plane? How then?" Roxy was bewildered once again.

"Ah, here it is." Jen pulled out a small sugar dish and threw some of the powder it contained into the fire that was only a few feet away. Instantly the flames turned green. Roxy almost fell backwards out of shock..."what was that?" she thought.

"We're connected to the Floo Network! We travel by fire!" Jen exclaimed.

"Mum, I don't like fire, can't we just take the car?" Roxy couldn't imagine how it was possible to travel by fire. Wouldn't it burn.

"Oh, don't be silly. It's not hot at all. All you do is step into the fire and say the name of where you want to go. Now, I'll go first, but you have to do exactly what I do and follow right behind me, okay?"

"Ok" With that, Jen grabbed some powder and her small bag, stepped into the fireplace, threw down the powder, and said quite clearly "The Leaky Cauldron." Then she just disappeared. Roxy stepped up to the abandoned dish and grabbed some of the powder hesitantly. It was a fine, soft powder like crushed crystal; she ran it through her fingers a few times, marveling at the quality of such a thing. She reached toward the fire with her pointer finger, cringing, expecting her finger to scold and burn. The fire was surprisingly cool, like a soft summer breeze. The fireplace seemed to have grown to fit her mother in it and it was now smaller. How could she possibly fit in that. However, as she stepped in it seemed to grow to twice its original size. She felt like she was on top of a mountain during the height of summer. Bringing herself back to the stone fireplace and magical fire, she reached out and grabbed her suitcase, released the powder, and yelled, though fearing she may not be clear enough, "THE LEAKY CAULDRON!"

At that she went whirling upward, feeling she was on a menacing roller coaster ride, windows of places were flying by left and right. It was like she was in a tunnel connected to every fireplace in the world, or in the world she didn't yet know, the wizarding world. Was she ever going to stop? Which one is Diagon Alley? How do you get out of here? Roxy wildly reached her arms out hoping to touch something still, safe, and solid. Finally, flailing her arms around she seemed to fall through something.