At the Lowarts'

[Ksaafa Lowart]

Ksaafa leaned his bike against the house and walked inside, hoping he wasn't too early or late. He'd skipped school today, and if he arrived home at a different time to his siblings, his mother would know. Cale was in the same class, so he'd know anyway, but Ksaafa was pretty sure he could count on his twin not to say anything, even if he hadn't told him beforehand, or asked him to come to the beach with him.

It turned out to have been a very educational day after all. Ksaafa had met a fellow wizard! The boy, Mark, went to a school Ksaafa had never heard of called Durmstrang. He'd shown him some cool tricks, and even how to fly a broomstick! Until just a few hours ago, Ksaafa had thought that brooms were for cleaning, and only witches in fairy tales could fly!

"Mum!" he called, hoping she hadn't started the day's lesson yet. The Lowarts always spent a couple of hours after their muggle school day learning magic. His mother would disapprove if he interrupted. "Mum, can I have a broomstick? Mum?"

 

[Emer Laude]

Emer was running late. Sarah hadn't shown up to watch the shop for the afternoon. It was so difficult to find good assistants these days! And it didn't help that the shop was bringing in NO money! Emer wondered how much longer they would last before she'd have to go back to working for someone else. She loved her shop, but she loved her kids more, and she needed to provide for her kids. In any case, she'd had to shut the shop up early before coming home.

She disapparated from the shop and appeared with a crack! in the living room, the room she used as a classroom for teaching her children magic. She loved having this time with them, and even though she knew they'd learn more about magic at a school, she couldn't bear the thought of sending them away. And besides, she wasn't sure Hogwarts would give them the best all-round education.

Less than a second after arriving home, she heard the voice of her eldest boy calling to her. He sounded excited and must have rushed home from school ahead of the others. "I'm in here, Ksaafa," she called. "A broomstick? If it's to hit your brothers or sisters with then, no. But if it's to clean the house, go for it." He entered the room just as she finished answering. She smiled at him, he looked so excited. But then she frowned. "What have you been doing? Your uniform's a mess!"

 

[Ksaafa Lowart]

Ksaafa rolled his eyes at his mother's lame joke and rounded the corner into the living room. His mother's eyes widened and Ksaafa looked down at himself. Okay, so he'd been swimming at the beach, climbing trees and had his first flying lesson today, but all things considered it wasn't that bad. But considering he shouldn't have been doing any of those things at his muggle school, he knew he couldn't tell the truth. "Aw, I was just playing, Mum." he pointed his wand at his clothes and said "Scourgify!" The uniform was still crumpled, but at least it was clean. He'd learned to use that spell to great effect almost as soon as he'd been taught it.

"But seriously, can me and Cale get broomsticks?"

 

[Emer Laude]

Emer looked on with pride as Ksaafa cleaned his uniform. She'd made a point of teaching her children the cleaning spell early in their lives, and was glad to see the enthusiasm with which they'd learned it. It was just as she was thinking about this, their enthusiasm for learning magic over their regular schoolwork, that she realised what Ksaafa was actually asking. Her face lit so much it almost matched Ksaafa's. "Oh, that kind of broomstick!" she laughed, "I never thought of it before!" She approved of her children trying new things, wizarding or muggle, and was genuinely excited at the prospect of them learning to fly.

Her face soon fell, though. "We'll have to think about it. We're not exactly rolling in galleons." She hated denying her offspring anything, especially anything magical, as she knew what it was like to not understand a whole part of herself, but the shop simply wasn't making the money she was hoping it would. She looked out the window, expecting her other children home any moment. "Where are Cale and the others? Did you see them on your way home?"

 

[Ksaafa Lowart]

Ksaafa laughed when he realised his mum had actually thought he was talking about a normal muggle broomstick. He knew what the answer would be but he was still disappointed when she said they'd have to consider the money. He stopped himself short from complaining, though. He knew his mum worked hard, and would do anything for him and his siblings. He couldn't help but wonder if they'd have to go without so much if his Dad was still around. Instead of whining about it, he just sighed.

"Oh, no. I just came straight home. Cale wanted to wait for the others." he lied in response to his mother's question about seeing his siblings on the way home from school. He hoped like hell Cale wouldn't suddenly show up by himself. He fished his cellphone out of his bag and txt his twin brother:
Im hm alrdy. Told mum u wantd 2 wlk wif othrs. Dnt cm hm alone. Cool stuf 2 shw u wen u hm.
He knew his brother would cover for him, but wasn't sure how he'd feel about being left behind when Ksaafa skipped out of school. "What are we doing today?" he asked, as a way of trying to distract his mother.

 

[Emer Laude]

Emer heard something off in her son's words, in a mother's way that she'd never been able to explain. She knew he was lying and suddenly wondered where he'd heard about broomsticks in the first place. It wasn't exactly something he'd be learning about at his school - wizards, witches and broomsticks belonged in the realm of fairy tales according to his teachers, and Ksaafa certainly hadn't mentioned anything, or seemed at all this excited at breakfast this morning. Emer suspected Ksaafa hadn't been at school at all. But how to approach the subject?

"We'll work on Herbology today. It's nice enough out, and it's harvest time." She knew Ksaafa enjoyed working with plants, and that would soften him up. "If we do get a broom, it'll just be one, to share. What kind would you like?" she asked.

 

[Ksaafa Lowart]

Ksaafa was glad to hear they'd be outside for their lesson this afternoon, but he didn't like what his mum said next. "Aw, Mum! I want one of my own! Me and Cale both need them, so we can have races!" He knew exactly what kind of broom he wanted. One just like Mark's. "A Nimbus. One of the new ones. They're so cool!" he spoke with enthusiasm for the broom he'd seen today.

 

[Emer Laude]

Emer crossed her arms and smiled, her kind eyes shining. She knew she had him. "Tell me, Ksaafa, where were you today? You didn't learn about flying at school." Her voice was firm, but she couldn't help smiling. She enjoyed catching her children out when they were lying, and was actually proud of the fact that they had some life in them and were willing to test the boundaries, but she strongly disapproved of them skipping school.

 

[Ksaafa Lowart]

Ksaafa knew he was busted. Damn. He saw the smile on his mother's face and wondered if he might get away with it, but he suspected from her tone of voice that he wouldn't. He knew how she felt about the importance of education. He looked down at his feet. There was no point lying, that always made it worse. "I went to the beach," he mumbled, "and I met a wizard." Then he suddenly had a brilliant idea. He looked up at his mother with bright eyes.

"It's just that school's so boring, and magic is so interesting! If I went to a magic school like Hogwarts or Durmstrang - that's where Mark goes - then I wouldn't wag. It'd be so cool to learn magic all day. I found out that I can get a really good magic job, so I don't even need to go to muggle school and do maths and stupid stuff like that!" He watched his Mum's face as he spoke, and knew she didn't agree with him. It made him so mad that she didn't understand. "Just because you did it this way doesn't mean we all have to!" he yelled at her, referring to his siblings in the 'we all.' It was no use. He knew she'd say no. And after this outburst, it was unlikely he was even going to get a broomstick to fly on.

 

[Emer Laude]

"What wizard?" Emer was immediately on the offensive when it came to her children talking to strange men. She felt better when Ksaafa explained that he went to Durmstrang - at least that meant he was a student, not a grown man, but Emer had heard stories of Durmstrang students. They weren't good stories. She set her face as the inevitable happened. Ksaafa had decided he wanted to go to Hogwarts. She shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to erase the moment. "No!" she said, louder than necessary. "Magic school will be just as hard as muggle school, and you'll still have to do maths! You'll have correspondence courses, and you'll finish muggle school anyway. It'll just be extra work."

When her son raised his voice at her she almost cried. It was true, she had done it her way: at muggle school, learning magic in secret; she wanted her kids to know both worlds also. But would it really be so bad? She was just trying to protect them - she'd never been to magic school, she didn't know what it was like - how could she protect them if they went there? "That is the end of the discussion, Ksaafa. You are not going to Hogwarts, or Durmstrang, or any other school. You'll go to Area High until you finish Year 13."

She had a niggling feeling she was being stupid. Hadn't she sought out new experiences her whole life? Didn't she want her children to branch out and be independent? NO! She wanted her children here, with her.

 

[Ksaafa Lowart]

Ksaafa was so mad he began to growl. It was a habit of his, one that showed he was not going to be able to control his temper much longer. "It's not fair!" he yelled, "You never let me do anything!"

With that, he stormed out of the house, picke dup his bike and rode off down the drive. He had no intention of returning until he absolutely had to. In fact, he even thought he might be able to run away to Hogwarts.