Prologue:

It was a rainy Sunday in England. There was a boy sleeping in, listening to the raindrops fall on his window; the sound was very relaxing, which made it difficult for him to get off of the floor.

"Aaron?" he heard someone call his name, knocking on his door. "Aaron and Benji, breakfast is ready." his grandmother said, still knocking on the door.

"Coming," he said, trying to get off the ground.

"Good. Wake up your cousin, too," she grumbled before walking back to the kitchen.

He continued to lay down for about two more minutes before finally getting up. Leaving the bedroom to go to the bathroom, he climbed on the small bathroom bench to see himself in the mirror. After washing his face, attempting to wash the laziness away, he dries it on the sleeve of his shirt, getting it wet in the process; it was a long-sleeved t-shirt, white, the sleeves drooping over his hands.

Aaron was a small boy, below average height, and was scrawny with narrow shoulders. He had curly chocolate brown hair and light brown eyes; his baby face was unremarkable, with no features standing out. The only remarkable thing about his appearance is his beautiful curls.

He got down from the bench and walked back to his room. The room was a mess, clothes everywhere, plates of half-eaten food, among other things causing clutter, the room had been this way since Aaron had started sharing a room with his cousin Benji. Aaron approached his cousin, who was sleeping in underwear, which was not a pleasant sight, and poked him.

"Benji," Aaron called his name. "Benji?" Aaron poked him a few more times, after the third poke, he decided to pull the blanket off. "Wake up!" Aaron had let Benji have his bed while he slept on the floor. Whenever he did this, he had only expected his cousin to stay for a week or two- it had already been a year.

"HUH." Benji finally woke up. "What do you want?" Benji is Aaron's paternal cousin. The two are somewhat similar in appearance, but Benji has straight black hair and dark brown eyes, he's pudgy, and is average height.

"Breakfast is ready," Aaron told him. "Grandma told me to wake you." He turned his back and left the room.

Aaron walked toward the living room, where he heard a loud snore coming from the couch. He turns his head a bit and notices that his uncle was sleeping there. His grandma hears the snore as well, and she walks toward him. "Barry, you worthless drunk! Stop that damn snoring." she hits his head with a newspaper.

"Ouch! What the hell Mum." Uncle Barry swore.

She hits him again. "Language Barry, there are children living with us."

Uncle Barry is a fat man, with black hair and a bushy beard. Though he was not bald, his hair is clearly receding, and also seems to be missing some teeth.

His Grandmother Rosalinda is a heavy-set woman with white hair pulled in a tight bun, she always wears black clothing and sported rimless bifocal glasses.

Benji walked into the living room while their grandmother was lecturing Barry, but he was still in his underwear.

"Benji! Put some clothes on! You're as shameless as your father," their grandmother yelled at Benji.

Benji quickly ran back to their room. Aaron just chuckled a bit before walking toward the kitchen. He sat down at the table and notices that there was a plate filled with pancakes in front of him.

He starts to eat. His cousin finally comes back with come clothes on. Benji sits on his chair, but he saw that Aaron has more pancakes on his plate than he does.

"Why does he get more?" Benji asks their grandmother.

"Because he's far too scrawny for a boy his age." his grandmother always prepared extra portions of food to try and fatten Aaron up a bit. "You, on the other hand, are almost as fat as your father."

"I'm not!"

Aaron just concentrated on his food while his grandmother and cousin argued about his weight. Uncle Barry left the couch and sat on the table as well. Grandmother, puts on his plate, the same quantity of pancakes, that she put on Benji's.

"Can't I get a bit more, Mother?"

"So you can get more fat? I don't think so."

He quickly stopped talking and started to fill his pancakes with syrup.

Aaron notices that his parents are not around. "Where are Mum and Dad?" Aaron asked his grandmother.

"Your father left for work early today-" Aaron's father is a machinist in a factory. "-Your mum is in the hospital with your sister, she will be released today."

"Chloe is coming home today?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, her condition has apparently stabilized."

"Oh, that's good," Aaron said while finishing his food. He stood up from the table and walked to the bathroom, he climbed onto the bench again, to brush his teeth.

After breakfast, Aaron went back to his room and started to watch his VHS player. He decided to watch his favorite film, The Adventures of Robin Hood. He couldn't go outside, because of the rain, so he decided to spend the day watching films. The next ones he watched were, The Three Musketeers, and The Their of Bagdad. Aaron was obsessed with those films, could watch them every day, and never get bored of them.

His favorite part of the film started, the duel between Robin Hood and Sir. Guy. Aaron would always get his toy sword and imitate the moves.

"When this is over my friend, there will be no need for me to come again," Aaron spoke at the same time as Robin Hood did on screen. He then imitated the same sword movements that he was doing. "Your sword Gisbourne." Imitating the moves to perfection, he falling onto the floor like Robin Hood does. "I'll save one for you." He repeats it while on the floor.

He keeps on imitating the scene until Robin Hood finally kills Sir. Guy, he starts to laugh. When he stopped laughing, he hears the front door opening; his dad was home.

Aaron left his room right away. His father was taking off his boots (his grandmother would complain if he dirt the floor).

"Hi, Dad." Aaron approached his father and hugged him.

"Hey, Son." He returned the hug.

Aaron's father, Raymond, was a tall thin man with light brown eyes, black curly hair, and a very nice well-groomed, mustache.

"Where's everyone?" The house was empty.

"Grandmother made Uncle Barry and Benji go to church with her."

"Why didn't she drag you as well?"

"I told her that I'd clean my room while they were gone."

"Did you?"

He just nods in response.

"Look, I'll have a talk with your uncle, okay," he was a bit angry, that his brother was still living with them. Raymond agreed that Barry and his son could stay there for a month so he could put his life back on track after his wife left him, but he's been staying there for a year already.

"It's okay. Though I wish Benji didn't sleep only in his underwear." Uncle Barry sleeps on the couch while Benji sleeps in his room, on the bed that Aaron offered out of politeness, but he regretted it after the first month, sleeping on the floor really sucks.

A year ago, his Uncle Barry divorced from his aunt. She moved to the United States, asked for the custody of the children, but Benji didn't want to go, so they decided to share it. Uncle Barry kept Benji while she kept their daughter, who was deaf. During Uncle Barry's stay in their house, he developed a drinking habit, a lot.

The house got a little crowded, but they manage.

Raymond entered the house and went straight to the kitchen. He opened the fridge to grab a beer (he likes to drink a bottle of beer when he arrives home).

Aaron started to walk back to his room.

"Aaron, do you know what happened to my beer?" His father asked him.

"Uncle Barry drunk for breakfast," Aaron told his father.

"UHHHM, that fat piece of-"

"Swear." Aaron interrupted (his mother and grandmother don't like people swearing).

"Sorry."

Aaron walked back to his room to finish watching the film.

Aaron sat down to watch another film. He decided to watch his second favorite film, Excalibur, until he heard someone, knocking on the door.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

He stood up from his bed to check if it was his mum and sister coming back from the hospital. A few months ago, his sister was in a car crash, she got a spinal cord injury, and had been in the hospital since then. The strangest thing about that day, for Aaron, was the dream he had, or something like a dream, about his sister's so called car crash. The details were so accurate, the same car, same seat, and same road. Aaron was so shocked that he didn't tell anyone about it; he thought it was just a coincidence.

He walked in the direction of the living room, and he saw his father saw standing up to open the door. Aaron saw that it wasn't his mum or Chloe.

It was a man in his mid-thirties, with short dark brown hair slicked back with a widow's peak, pale blue eyes, hollow cheeks, and thin lips. He was wearing a gray suit with a blue tie that matched his eyes and a long black coat.

"Umm... hello." his father greeted the man at the door.

"Good evening, sir. I'm sorry, but is this the Rattle's residency?" the man asked (he had a deep voice).

"Yes, I'm Raymond Rattle." Raymond introduced himself to the man.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Zachariah Beckett." The man presented his extended hand for Raymond to shake.

It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Beckett," he shook his hand, without excitation."What brings you here?"

Mr. Beckett reaches his pocket and picks a letter out of it. "I have a letter addressed to Aaron Rattle."

"Aaron?" His father turned his head to gaze at Aaron, who lifted his shoulders in response because he has no idea what this is about.

"You see Mr. Rattle, I came because the contents of this letter might be a little... confusing," he spoke with a lot of calm in his voice. There was a certain feeling of trustfulness about him.

"I'm a wizard?!" Was what Aaron blurted as soon as he saw the envelope of the letter.

Raymond ushered Mr. Beckett into the house; they walked to the living room and sat down to have a conversation. Mr. Beckett explained that Aaron was a wizard, which at first, he and his father only took as a really stupid joke. That was, until Mr. Beckett turned himself into a white German Shepherd, in front of the father and son. This made his father fall from his chair the moment it happened, Aaron, on the other hand, was paralyzed, not in fear, but of pure excitement.

Him, a wizard.

"Yes, this is the reason I came to deliver the letter to you in person." Aaron excitedly opened the letter quickly to see what was written inside.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Minerva McGonagall

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

Dear Mr/Ms. Rattle,

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

Yours sincerely, Zachariah Beckett, Deputy Headmaster

(Second page)

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM First-year students will require: 1.

Three sets of plain work robes (black) 2.

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 3.

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings) Please note that all pupil's 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 Beginner's 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, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK

Yours sincerely, Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

After reading the entire letter, he found one detail that couldn't escape his mind.

"Order of Merlin? Like the Merlin, from King Arthur?" Aaron asked him. If he had to pick anyone other than Robin Hood as his personal hero, it would be King Arthur.

"Yes, that's the one, he was arguably the most powerful wizard of all time," Mr. Beckett told him.

Aaron's father finally stood up, getting over the initial shock from what he just witnessed, he picked up the letter from Aaron's hand, to read it himself.

"Can- can he do that thing that you just did," his father reluctantly asked the man.

"No, the skill I did is called, Animagus," he started to explain. "It is a skills that takes lots of experience, practice, and patience for wizards and witches to become Animagi-" he finished, "I'm not saying your son can't learn to be an Animagus, but it is a difficult skill to learn. It took me three years.

"Another question," Raymond said to him. "What are you- I mean, what is your position in this school?"

"I'm both The Deputy Headmaster and Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts," he told the two of them. "Though I only became Deputy Headmaster last year."

"Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Aaron asked him.

"In this class, students study and learn how to defend themselves against all aspects of the Dark Arts, including dark creatures, curses, hexes and jinxes, and dueling," he explained to Aaron.

"So... it's like a self-defense class?" Raymond asked him.

"To put it simply," he told them.

There was a small pause in the room. Each one of them was thinking something; Aaron was very excited with the prospect of being a wizard, his father was apprehensive about the whole thing, and Mr. Beckett was just waiting for this to end since he had other letters to deliver.

"Mr... Beckett, as much as I thank you for the letter, I don't think Aaron should go to this type of school." Raymond told Mr. Beckett.

Aaron was about to stand up to argue with his father, but Mr. Beckett spoke before he could.

"Mr. Rattle, I'm sorry to inform you this, but your son doesn't really have a choice," he said bluntly.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Raymond changed his tone from calm to angry as soon as he heard that.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That might have come out wrong," Mr. Beckett apologized. "I'm not saying your son will be forced to attend the school, I saying there will be consequences for him if he doesn't."

"What kind of consequences?" asked Raymond, who sounded worried.

"You see, Magic needs to be learned, not for recreational reasons, but because it needs to be learned to be controlled by a magical individual," he explained. "Before wizards went underground, when we were still being hunted by muggles, young wizards and witches sometimes tried to suppress their magic to avoid persecution. They developed what was called an Obscurus."

"What is that?" This time Aaron was the one asking.

"It's an unstable uncontrollable dark force that busts out and attacks and then vanishes," he told him. "You see, Mr. Rattle, if little Aaron doesn't learn how to control his magic, he might be a danger to himself and to others." He finished explaining to them. "Magic, by its very nature, is difficult. That's why witches and wizards go to Hogwarts – to learn how to control it."

"Jesus Christ," was all Raymond could say after hearing the explanation. He took a deep breath. "What do I need to do?"

"You must take him to Diagon Alley for him to get his school equipment," he explained."It's located behind a pub called the Leaky Cauldron-" he continued, "-The pub appears to be a broken-down old shop in front of Charing Cross Road."

He kept on explaining everything he needed to do, while Aaron just stood there listening closely; his excitement still as high as it was before. After Mr. Beckett was done, he said his goodbyes and left (apparently he had a few other children that he needed to deliver letters to).

"I can't believe this, you're a wizard," Raymond was quick to say.

RING, RING, RING.

Any comment Aaron might have made was interrupted by the telephone ringing. Raymond hastily picked it up, though Aaron couldn't hear what his father was talking about, he looked happy.

After hanging up the phone, he told Aaron, "Your sister was released."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm going there to pick them up."

"Ok, I'll wait here."

"Aaron," he put his hands on his shoulders. "Don't tell anyone about what Mr. Beckett told us, ok? We're going to talk about this later," he explained.

Aaron nodded in response. Raymond then picked up his jacket and left soon after.

Aaron went back to his room and put the film on again. He was thinking about everything with a smile on his face, "A wizard." Aaron told himself, he couldn't wait to learn about magic, so excited that he couldn't pay attention to the film. He wondered how long would it take.

Aaron Rattle, the wizard; he adored the sound of it.

Special thanks to my Beta Reader: pianonerd