I went back to my parents who had moved into the kitchen. When Mom saw me she told me to stay outside and wait until she called me. There were presents and a big cake for me with 10 candles and big letters which formed “Happy Birthday Clary” on it. I thanked them hugged them. I was so happy to have such a good relation to my family because someof my friend often had conflicts at home.
You know that kind of tradition that when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake your biggest wish comes true? Well, I kind of believed in that – and maybe I still do – but however, my wish was that the letter was true – I know that sounds weird. But even if I wasn’t in that age of believing in magic anymore I really wanted it to be like it was said in the letter. I wanted magic to exist. Magic was something that could make me special. I didn’t want to be an ordinary girl. And if you think about it more intense – wouldn’t you agree with me?
After eating a piece of cake Dad couldn’t abstain anymore. He asked me about the letter but I asked him to wait for my answer until I had opened the presents. Then I couldn’t keep it to myself and told them about the invitation to Hogwarts. I didn’t expect them to trust me – I also didn’t – but against my expectations they didn’t seem as confused as I was.
“I knew we couldn’t hide it anymore”, Dad said while he was looking at my mother.
Mom replied, “But didn’t you talk into him to ask Dumbledore to wait until we have had the possibility to explain it to her?”
“Well, it seems like he thought that would be the better way. I did talk to him but he didn’t really listen cosely. He was kind of absent, like every single time anyone tries to talk to him.”
It felt like they did not even notice that I was still around because they didn’t care about my confusion. I did not know what and whom they were talking about and how I should react on this – and my parents did not seem to explain it to me. I still could not believe that they behaved like the letter said the truth – that magic did exist. So I first did nothing and just listend to their conversation.
“So.. What should we do now? Send her to the school or ignore the invitation?” Mom looked like she worried a lot about what could happen next.
Dad was more relaxed than her and answered, “Do you think it makes sense to ignore it? Maybe it’s better for her to go to Hogwarts and learn more about herself. We cannot deny it anymore, Laura.”
I couldn’t just stand there anymore because I really wanted to know what was going on. I cleared my throat to draw their attention. Dad apologized and beckoned me to sit on his lap. “It’s complicated, I know. There are things that are hard to understand. But even if they seem unreal – sometimes the weirdest things are true.”
“So what? Do you want to tell me that the letter says the truth? That there is a school of witchcraft and wizardry?” Even if I wanted to believe in that, it was not that easy.
“Yes, that’s what I’m trying to explain to you.”
I was unsure how to react on this. I decided to ignore my scepticism for a while and asked my parents about Dumbledore and the other person they were talking about.
“Dumbledore is the principal of Hogwarts and the other man...”
Mom interrupted my father, “We will tell you more tomorrow. It’s your birthday and we want to celebrate it instead of talking about things like that.”
I knew I couldn’t convince her to go on telling me more about the interesting and also confusing news so I agreed with her and we had a great and funny party.