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Chapter 5 - The Other Letter

When she returned home, Amara found Mrs Burke with quite a tart look about her. She was cooking something that smelled like chicken, but apparently it had overcooked a bit because as soon as Amara went into the kitchen she found her batting the oven with a cloth to ward off the smoke now enveloping her in a cloud.

‘Oh, there you are, Amara,’ she said, looking up and coughing. ‘I was wondering when you’d come.’

‘Sorry,’ said Amara. ‘I was at the Weasleys’ again... they were going to Diagon Alley tomorrow and they invited us to go with them.’

‘Really?’ said Mrs Burke, continuing her batting distractedly.

‘Listen, Amara,’ she said a few minutes later, while Amara was sitting at the dining table eating a piece of slightly burnt chicken. Mrs Burke hesitated. ‘We decided you should go to Durmstrang.’

Amara looked up, feeling more upset than earlier. ‘But—’ she started quietly.

‘I’m sorry, dear, but that’s what Carl said, and it’s his final word,’ said Mrs Burke briskly. Amara heard Mr Burke enter the front door, hanging his travelling coat noisily and wondering out loud what had caught on fire. She wolfed down her food quickly and got up, but just as she was about to leave, Mr Burke entered the kitchen, his clothes specked with rain even though it wasn’t raining outside.

‘Ah, Amarantha. I was just up at Durmstrang to sign you up officially with the Headmaster,’ he explained as he sat down. ‘Very serious man, Professor Karkaroff, see, and a very interesting outlook on things too. Durmstrang doesn’t usually enrol students from Britain, but he made an exception since we’re quite good friends,’ he added, chewing his chicken leg audibly. He looked at Amara expectantly.

‘Thanks,’ she said stiffly.

‘Here is a list of things you’ll need,’ went on Mr Burke, pulling out a piece of slightly crumpled paper from his pocket and handing it to Amara. She scanned the page, trying to hide her disappointment as she remembered her Hogwarts letter. There was the emblem, and below it:

Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning
Headmaster: Igor Karkaroff

You have been accepted to study at Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning for the following eight years. We expect you at the school on the 20th of September by no later than 7:00 am. Below is a list of all items necessary for your studies at Durmstrang.

Uniform
-black fur hat
-three sets of plain robes
-red fur cape

Books
-The Dark Arts and Their Uses by Parthinia Wicked
-The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1 ) by Miranda Goshawk
-Steps to Transfiguration (Book 1) by Gregory Maldorf
-Wizarding History by Sirenia Vetis
-An Encyclopaedia of Magical Beasts by Lucard Skirvainnis
-A Guide to Practical Use of Hexes and Jinxes by Lucretius Borgin
-Basic Brewing by Christoper Bornholdt
-Rune Dictionary by Petra Bullens

Other
-a wand
-a brass cauldron, standard size 2
-a set of phials (glass or crystal)
-a set of scales
-protective gloves

Students are allowed one pet, an owl preferably. Those who wish to take part in Quidditch are allowed a broom.

Signed,
Igor Karkaroff

Amara pursed her lips at the name. She’d hoped against hope that there had been a chance for her not to be accepted, but the truth dawned on her quite clearly as she finished reading the letter.

‘Well?’ said Mr Burke, taking the letter back as if she would set it on fire. ‘You’ll be going to Diagon Alley as soon as possible. Tomorrow would be good, don’t you think?’

Mrs Burke nodded, not touching her plate.

‘I’m going upstairs, Mr and Mrs Burke,’ she said, rushing upstairs as fast as she could. Reaching her bedroom on the second landing, she went inside and closed the door with a bit more force than necessary. One of the hinges broke but before it could topple off, Amara instinctively reached out and it was back in place. She guessed it was just her feelings causing her to do magic, she knew she couldn’t have broken a door normally, even if she’d wanted to.

Amara flopped onto her bed and willed herself not to cry because, she told herself, it was a stupid thing to cry over anyway. But it was so unfair, why couldn’t she have stayed at St Nicholas’s and spent the rest of the summer peacefully with the others? She’d have gotten her Acceptance Letter like all the other normal witches and wizards, and then she’d be looking forward to her first year at Hogwarts...

But then she probably would have never become friends with the Weasleys, she wouldn’t have had such a nice house to explore and new dresses in her wardrobe freshly laundered by the kind Mrs Burke... and she wouldn’t have had to go to Durmstrang.

More because she didn’t want to think about it than because she was tired, Amara closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.

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Next chapter will be way longer, so I apologize for the shortness of this one