Allow Me to Exaggerate A Memory or Two :: Prologue (0/8)
Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight
PROLOGUE
rendon almost collided with the Daily Prophet Owl.
“Sorry!” he shouted, halting his broom in mid-air and hovering, calling after the bewildered owl.
“Brendon!” Kayla had halted a little way below and was looking up at him, shaking her head. “Look in front of you. How many times will I have to tell you this?”
“I was keeping my eye on the Quaffle,” Brendon said, quoting the advice she had hammered into him at the start of the practise session. She rolled her eyes.
“A good Chaser can have her eye in many places at once,” she said primly. “Like with Seekers, one of the most important qualities in a Chaser is the ability to keep a moving-”
“That's Ryan's mum's owl!” Brendon exclaimed and, seeing the chance to get out of yet another lecture on the importance of attentiveness in a Chaser, shot past Kayla without heeding her shout and followed the second, tawny owl back towards the house. He braked as he reached the lawn, jumped off before the broom had halted completely and stumbled, but righted himself. He stuck his broom in the stand outside the front door, then ran into the house.
He kicked off his shoes hurriedly, not waiting to see if they found their proper place under the row of cloak hangers before he turned to the door in the left wall and twisted the brass knob handle. In his haste he turned it the wrong way and opened the door to the dining room. He closed the door again and turned the knob more carefully, entering the kitchen.
The large grey Daily Prophet Owl, its paper delivered, was drinking noisily from the water bowl placed next to the open mail window. The Daily Prophet, meanwhile, was unfolding itself next to Brendon's dad, whose hands were busy with breakfast. As Brendon entered, the paper opened itself to the main news, hovering in the air at eye-height, and Boyd Urie grunted with annoyance.
“Sirius Black again,” he said. “You'd think they could find something else to whine about.”
“He did murder twenty Muggles and an unarmed wizard,” Grace Urie said mildly. She was sitting at the kitchen table, unfolding the piece of parchment taken from the tawny owl. The owl was waiting patiently by her side to see if she wanted to send a reply. “Oh, it's from Jennifer Ross,” she added.
“Mum!” Brendon exclaimed. His mum looked up and smiled at him.
“Hello, Brendon. Did you and Kayla have a nice game?”
Kayla chose that moment to enter. “Your son,” she told her mum, trying for sternness but failing to entirely hide her grin, “is a bloody menace.”
“Ah, it feels like it was only yesterday Mrs Boddleby came here to tell me off about Matt with those very words,” Grace said nostalgically, making Kayla roll her eyes and walk over to her dad, asking if she could have the Prophet's sports section.
“Mum,” Brendon repeated. “Is there anything for me? What does Ryan's mum say?”
“Oh.” Grace turned back to the letter. Although she had left Hogwarts before Jennifer Ross started, they had been able to share many memories from Ravenclaw and their professors when Ms Ross came to leave Ryan for a weekend at Brendon's place earlier in the summer, and the two women had kept up a correspondence since then. “She says she's planning to take Ryan shopping for Hogwarts on the twenty-first and wonders if we'd like to meet up and do our shopping together. What do you think?”
Brendon nodded happily but, aware that she'd answered only part of his question, tried to hide his disappointment as he asked, “But there was nothing for me?”
His mum's eyes widened in a parody of surprise. “Oh,” she said, “I almost forgot. Here.” She handed Brendon a piece of parchment and laughed at his expression, annoyed and pleased in equal parts.
“Breakfast in five minutes,” Brendon's dad called after him as he shut the kitchen door behind him and took the space to the opposite door in two bounds. He turned the knob five times to the right and opened the door into his bedroom, jumped onto his bed and unfolded the parchment eagerly.
The first line made him laugh out loud.
Brendon,
MY MUM GOT ME A BROOM.
Next chapter
PROLOGUE
rendon almost collided with the Daily Prophet Owl.
“Sorry!” he shouted, halting his broom in mid-air and hovering, calling after the bewildered owl.
“Brendon!” Kayla had halted a little way below and was looking up at him, shaking her head. “Look in front of you. How many times will I have to tell you this?”
“I was keeping my eye on the Quaffle,” Brendon said, quoting the advice she had hammered into him at the start of the practise session. She rolled her eyes.
“A good Chaser can have her eye in many places at once,” she said primly. “Like with Seekers, one of the most important qualities in a Chaser is the ability to keep a moving-”
“That's Ryan's mum's owl!” Brendon exclaimed and, seeing the chance to get out of yet another lecture on the importance of attentiveness in a Chaser, shot past Kayla without heeding her shout and followed the second, tawny owl back towards the house. He braked as he reached the lawn, jumped off before the broom had halted completely and stumbled, but righted himself. He stuck his broom in the stand outside the front door, then ran into the house.
He kicked off his shoes hurriedly, not waiting to see if they found their proper place under the row of cloak hangers before he turned to the door in the left wall and twisted the brass knob handle. In his haste he turned it the wrong way and opened the door to the dining room. He closed the door again and turned the knob more carefully, entering the kitchen.
The large grey Daily Prophet Owl, its paper delivered, was drinking noisily from the water bowl placed next to the open mail window. The Daily Prophet, meanwhile, was unfolding itself next to Brendon's dad, whose hands were busy with breakfast. As Brendon entered, the paper opened itself to the main news, hovering in the air at eye-height, and Boyd Urie grunted with annoyance.
“Sirius Black again,” he said. “You'd think they could find something else to whine about.”
“He did murder twenty Muggles and an unarmed wizard,” Grace Urie said mildly. She was sitting at the kitchen table, unfolding the piece of parchment taken from the tawny owl. The owl was waiting patiently by her side to see if she wanted to send a reply. “Oh, it's from Jennifer Ross,” she added.
“Mum!” Brendon exclaimed. His mum looked up and smiled at him.
“Hello, Brendon. Did you and Kayla have a nice game?”
Kayla chose that moment to enter. “Your son,” she told her mum, trying for sternness but failing to entirely hide her grin, “is a bloody menace.”
“Ah, it feels like it was only yesterday Mrs Boddleby came here to tell me off about Matt with those very words,” Grace said nostalgically, making Kayla roll her eyes and walk over to her dad, asking if she could have the Prophet's sports section.
“Mum,” Brendon repeated. “Is there anything for me? What does Ryan's mum say?”
“Oh.” Grace turned back to the letter. Although she had left Hogwarts before Jennifer Ross started, they had been able to share many memories from Ravenclaw and their professors when Ms Ross came to leave Ryan for a weekend at Brendon's place earlier in the summer, and the two women had kept up a correspondence since then. “She says she's planning to take Ryan shopping for Hogwarts on the twenty-first and wonders if we'd like to meet up and do our shopping together. What do you think?”
Brendon nodded happily but, aware that she'd answered only part of his question, tried to hide his disappointment as he asked, “But there was nothing for me?”
His mum's eyes widened in a parody of surprise. “Oh,” she said, “I almost forgot. Here.” She handed Brendon a piece of parchment and laughed at his expression, annoyed and pleased in equal parts.
“Breakfast in five minutes,” Brendon's dad called after him as he shut the kitchen door behind him and took the space to the opposite door in two bounds. He turned the knob five times to the right and opened the door into his bedroom, jumped onto his bed and unfolded the parchment eagerly.
The first line made him laugh out loud.
Brendon,
MY MUM GOT ME A BROOM.
Next chapter