Amethyst Rosewood and The Joys of Independence, Melissa Nichols [top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT] 📗

She took her letter in hand and approached the owl. "Can you get this to Professor Newman at Hogwarts School, please?" She held the letter out to the bird.

 

The owl screeched and clutched the letter in her beak, fluffed her wings with a gust of wind, and soon was back in the sky. Amy raced downstairs, her feet pounding on the wooden staircase as she made her descent.

 

"Mother!"

 

"Amy, how many times have I told you not to run on the stairs?" Her mother called out in a hiss, from the kitchen. Amy turned in that direction and found her mother preparing dinner.

 

"I've decided. About Hogwarts."

 

"That was fast."

 

"It's a new school, new people, and a whole new curriculum I know nothing concrete about." She deliberately left out the part she was most excited about: getting away from her mother.

 

"So, you're not going then?"

 

"Actually, I already sent the letter saying I want to attend."

 

A sharp blow from the cleaver wrenched the chicken in half, a more forceful blow than was necessary. It took a moment before Amy's mother replied, and she did so with a question laced with a barely hidden challenge. "Is that so?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Are you sure that's a good idea? It's like you said. New school, new people, new subjects. You'd be travelling the country with no concrete proof the place exists. And have you thought about what you will need for this new school? How are you going to buy the supplies, and where? With what money?"

 

"I asked for more information about that and getting to school. I will worry about everything else later once I have more information."

 

"What if you find out you can't afford the schooling? You'll have to drop out, and by then all the deadlines for the local schools will have passed. You'll be left without a secondary school for the next year, and that is unacceptable."

 

"Owls transport the letters, and they're a lot faster and more reliable than cars. There'll be plenty of time for me to get things sorted before the reply dates close. Besides, they wouldn't accept someone who couldn't afford to go. I'm sure there are measures in place to help people like me. And if I can't make it work, then that will be that. I'll rescind my acceptance and find a school here. But as long as it's within my power, I'm attending Hogwarts."

 

"Amethyst!"

 

"Oh come off it, Mother. You've been like this my whole life. Keeping me at home, close to you, going to schools you want me in, taking the classes you want, doing chores I shouldn't have to do until I'm in my own flat because you're too lazy to do them yourself. I mean, who demands a six year old cook breakfast for the adult?! And when I mess up, you blame it all on me and say I'm not competent. When I succeed, you take all the credit and do nothing to praise me. It's my fault, I've been letting you do it. But now I've got a chance to get away, to only worry about myself, and I'm taking it. Maybe when I come back next summer, you'll have gotten used to being without me and you'll treat me like a daughter instead of an indentured servant."

 

"How dare you speak to me that way! Everything I have done, everything I've pushed you to do, has been for your own good. Are you not one of the most mature eleven-year-olds around? Do you not make honor roll every year? How many awards and certificates do you have tucked away in your room because of your grades? Why? Because I've been pushing you to be better, so I know that you'll be able to handle life on your own when you leave."

 

"But at the sacrifice of my childhood! All I ever remember doing is homework and chores and report cards! I've never had a pet, I've never had a real friend and we do nothing fun as a family. You only get home in time to make a quick dinner. It's like I'm nothing but an unwanted burden to you. It's no wonder I'm more mature; because during all of my chores and studying, you stole my childhood from me. And now I'm taking it back, to make something worthwhile of my life. I'm going to Hogwarts, because being here is pure hell!"

 

"Fine, then!" Her mother finally snapped, slapping a corner of the dishtowel on the counter to make a sound meant to frighten Amy into backing down. "Go ahead! Go become a witch, learn magic. Prove yourself worthy. But when you find you're too ordinary for them, don't come crawling back here. That door will be closed to you and it will stay that way."

 

Her mother's words cut her to the heart. There were no thoughts, no words could express the pain Amy felt in that moment. Unwanted by even her mother - which was suspected for the longest time but now confirmed.

 

"Then we agree on something because you're not my mother." Amy spat out the cruelest thought she had, turned on her heel and marched back upstairs, shoving the door closed behind her.

 

A moment later, she was back at her desk, staring in disbelief at papers that had been so important an hour ago but now were the farthest thing from her mind. She threw every loose paper she had into the rubbish bin, grabbed a fresh piece of paper and a pencil. Working through the room, she made a complete list of every item she had and what she wanted to do with it - take it to Hogwarts or get rid of it. Most things would be sold off or trashed, and she wanted to take only her most essential items to Hogwarts. She made short work of her room since the only important pieces she needed to sell were her desk, bed and wardrobe. Once that was done, she made a list of questions to ask Newman in her next letter. She'd have to bring her laptop - it was too valuable.

 

A few days later, her moth- Jasmine and Amy were still not speaking. Jasmine left a note the next morning saying she would still pay for everything she needed until she left, including Amy's weekly allowance which was now tripled. Once she left, the only thing Amy would get from her was her elevated allowance, and even that was required by law.

 

That night, a snowy owl arrived. Amy read the letter, writing a few more questions before closing the letter and giving it to the bird who flew off straight away. Just as the white owl was leaving, the black one returned bearing a letter from Percy. He had received word of her decision to attend Hogwarts and he would be there to pick her up on August 30th for shopping and departure from King's Cross Station on the following day. He told her to be packed for the year as she would not be returning to the house. Amy sent the reply - a simple message of thanks, plus a few questions she had thought of after her list to Newman - and sent the letter off with the black bird.

 

 

 

August 30th, 2017

 

Sixty days after receiving her letter, Amethyst clicked the locks on her suitcase closed as the grandmother clock in the hallway chimed nine in the morning. With her suitcase locked, Amy spun around the room, taking in all the changes she's made in the last two months. She had sold most of the bigger items; her desk, chair, and wardrobe, and the buyers of her bedframe had come earlier in the morning to claim it. Having received word advanced electronic devices - such as cell phones and her laptop - would not work in the wizarding world, she had sold such items online, kept the easy-to-pack papers and writing utensils she'd accumulated, her personal documents like her birth certificate, and had thinned out her collection of things to only five outfits and a few sets of pajamas, one formal dress, and her toiletries. Everything else she had donated to the local thrift store.

 

Her room was bare, devoid of the life it used to shelter. This was the beginning of her future; leaving the house she'd grown up in and her mother behind for an uncertain future. The thing that Amy found hardest to swallow was the fact if she failed in her wish to become a worthy witch, if she got expelled from Hogwarts, she wouldn't have a home to return to.

 

Jasmine had taken the chance Amy's leaving had given her, to redefine her life now that she didn't have to raise her daughter. Jasmine had made the most of it, renting out the house in favor of a modest condo in London that was closer to a bigger law firm where Jasmine had been accepted as a partner. Amy's guardianship had been arranged between the Ministry of Magic and the Muggle government so she was now Percy's ward. He had also arranged for her to spend each summer and holiday with a family he trusted who took in children like her. A wizarding family called the Potters.

 

Her mother was moving on with her life, leaving out almost all thought of Amy, and they were about to part ways. Amy's small-town life was over and she had no clue what she would do except her best in school. Passing her classes and excelling would be her only chance to stay in this new world.

 

But as much as Amy tried to reassure herself of that, she couldn't stop her heart from squeezing and burning, or stop the tears building in her eyes when she let herself dwell for too long. No, she needed to keep going. Percy would be here soon to pick her up, and she needed to be ready. She couldn't cry yet.

 

Shaking herself calm, she grabbed her suitcase and backpack, and descended the stairs, dodging movers in the hallway as she made her way outside.

 

This was her final chance to see her once-home. To relive all the memories she'd accumulated. The living room where she'd learned to walk and talk, the kitchen where she'd learned to cook her favorite meals, the bedroom where she'd studied for so long each night accompanied by her animal friends.

 

 

She set her things on the edge of the grass, near Percy who had only just arrived, and watched the movers load the last, heavy boxes into her mother's rented van and closed the door. Jasmine walked through the house, reappearing a few moments later and locked the door.

 

"Are you ready to go?" Percy asked patiently.

 

"Yes." She stated as she opened the taxi's trunk and put her things in.

 

"Do you want to say goodbye to your mother? You won't see her again."

 

"We've said everything we need to."

 

"Very well, then." He held open the door for her, allowing her to climb in first. Amy looked to her mother, locked eyes with the woman for a few moments. A part of her wanted to say goodbye in some way but another part wanted only to leave.

 

Her mother broke eye contact and entered the van while the movers drove away. Amy climbed into the taxi, allowing Percy's closing of the door to set the seal on her old life. With the start of the engine, she moved off into her new life as a witch at Hogwarts.

 

 

After the taxi dropped them off at the only hotel in her hometown, Percy ushered Amy around the side of building and into the alley - not inside as she would have expected.

 

"So how are we getting to London, Percy?"

 

"By broomstick. For the distance we need to go, its the most reliable and safest." Percy drew his wand and tapped on a particular stone in the pavement. The stones around it folded themselves away, revealing two broomsticks. Percy claimed one and handed the other to her. The moment the brooms were free of their storage space, the stones went