One of Us

I'm sorry, Susan, but the child is one of us. She always has been. It can't be changed.

February Fortescue
Writer, Slytherin

“I'm sorry, Susan, but the child is one of us. She always has been. It can't be changed.”

This was the third time in six years that Susan had heard the dreaded pronouncement. The first time, she'd been confused. The second time, she'd been concerned. Now, she was upset. She was going to lose another child!

Susan had had a very normal upbringing and adult life. She fell in love with and married Mathias, an attorney, and they began their family. Her life was perfect, until Mathias passed away only seven years into the marriage. His death was one of the worst things that could have happened to Susan, and she missed his calming presence every day.

Not long after Mathias passed away, strange things began happening around her eldest daughter, Zola. Glasses would shatter when Zola became angry. Ink pens would levitate towards her. She'd hear a popping sound, and a lightbulb would blow whenever Zola stood under a light fixture for an extended period of time.

When Zola turned eleven years of age, she received an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. She thought that was really odd, until her mother-in-law began telling her the truth she and Mathias had to keep hidden from Susan for all these years: Mathias had been a wizard! And, apparently, Zola was a witch. The strange incidents surrounding Zola were starting to make sense! Before long, Zola was off to Hogwarts, and Susan only got to see her daughter at Christmas and during the summer. She missed her dreadfully, and she was upset with Mathias for not telling her about being a wizard before they married. Maybe she wouldn't have wanted to lose a child to an entire world she could not be part of!

Two years later, her second daughter received her letter and was gone as well. And now, her third daughter, Vangie, was apparently a witch as well. Susan didn't want to lose her last child! She burned the letter, but another arrived. She cut that one to shreds, but another appeared. She called her mother-in-law. She finally contacted Hogwarts herself. “Isn't there some way I can keep my daughter?” Susan pleaded.

Not long after sending the letter, a lady who introduced herself as the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts appeared at her door, and Susan invited her in. “I'm sorry, Susan, but the child is one of us. She always has been. It can't be changed.” The lady assured her Vangie would enjoy school and learn all sorts of great things and have a wonderful life, but Susan didn't want to lose another child to a world she could never join in or even visit. To Susan, it was as if her entire family had died.

Vangie, who had overheard the conversation, hugged her mother and promised she'd write every week, and spend every free moment with her that she could. She also agreed to do the dishes, which as a task Susan particularly loathed.

Susan sighed. 'I guess we'll see how it goes.”