NATURAL SELECTION
A Harry Potter UNIVERSE/ Sasporilla Bucket Fan Fiction
by Darren Kelly
Chapter 4
Sasporilla couldn't remember ever having a shorter summer than this one. She had barely started a good daily conversation with a dog from another town or trading dirty jokes with the fish in the mayors pond when she found herself face to face with an owl with a letter in it's beak.
The letter bore the official Hogwarts seal and was addressed to Miss Sasporilla Bucket, the room over the pub, 1 Kings Road, Avonshire, Essex.
"That's for me." Sasporilla smiled regretfully.
The owl dropped the letter from it's beak and into the young girls hand.
"Thank you." Sasporilla said.
The owl waggled its head and let out a small chirp.
"Really?" Sasporilla asked surprised. "Not one witch or wizard has ever thanked you for delivering their mail?"
The owl screaled.
"Nor said please? How rude!"
The window above opened up and Wysteria Bucket hollered out. "Sassy it's dinner time. Come in side love before it gets cold."
"I have to go in now." Sasporilla smiled as she turned and waved to the owl. "Have a nice rest of the day."
Wysteria Bucket set a nice table, despite their meager means. Tonight they were having left over shepherds pie. They rarely had leftovers as they usually had just enough food to feed the 3 of them but then their definition of leftovers were a bit different. To the Buckets, leftovers were food the pub made last week and failed to sell. It was usually dry, burned or hours away from turning but with some sauce and a little love mum always made a meal of it.
Sasporilla came up the stairs hurriedly and burst in waving her still sealed envelope.
"It came mum." Sasporilla beamed. "Look my Hogwarts letter. It came!"
"Oh! Doesn't it look all official with that seal and everything." Wysteria Bucket smiled though the letters appearance filled with her equal amounts of sadness and happiness. The thought of her daughter leaving for a year was almost unbearable. All though she new there was no better place than Hogwarts for a young witch, they simply had never been apart in there 11 years together. "Well open it!"
Sasporilla opened the letter and pulled out the pages within.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms.Bucket,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 August.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
The second page was the full list of all books and equipment they would have to buy for her year at school.
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 1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an Rat or 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
Sasporilla handed the list to her mother with a worried smile. "Can we afford all this mum?"
"Don't you worry." Mrs.Bucket reassured her daughter. "Uncle Nick and the lads at the Aurors office have offered to pay for them remember? I'll send an owl off to him tonight. You can come in to Diagon Alley with me in the morning when I go to work. Nick can meet us at the book shop and take you shopping."
The evening meal was all giggles and musings of what a school like Hogwarts must be like. Wysteria did know something of the school from things she had heard her co-workers and customers say over the years. Sasporilla had read a bit about it in school. In many ways it sounded to wondrous to be true. In others it sounded like a place where she might get lost in the crowd.
Both women stopped when they heard the downstairs door open. Strong slow foot steps acceded the stairs. Riddonkulous Bucket walked in the apartment tucking the serum vial into his jacket pocket.
"There they are." Riddonkulous said as he sat down at the table. "My two beautiful girls."
"Do you want me to fix you a plate love?" Wysteria asked.
"Ta love." Riddonkulous said with a wink. "That would be lovely."
Wysteria went to the cupboard to get a plate. Riddonkulous reached into his jacket.
"I just wanted to make sure I gave my little girl a special gift for her birthday!"
Riddonkulous pulled out a small box, wrapped in a page torn from a Beano comic, bound with a piece of manky old string.
"My birthday was last week." Sasporilla said looking down at the table.
Riddonkulous stared at his daughter for a moment. Had week passed since Wysteria had reminded him that tonight was his daughters big day?
"I'm sorry love." Riddonkulous rubbed his face ashamed and bewildered. "I mean well but my mind is a tad scattered."
"I know." Sasporilla said.
"Well." Riddonkulous said pushing the present gently towards her knocking over the salt. "Open it."
Sasporilla took the package without lifting her head. She loved her father but just hated him so much sometimes. That very thought made her feel bad. Under the wrapping was a very plain small wooden box. Sasporilla carefully opened the lid and inside was...
"Nothing." Sasporilla said.
"Ya," Riddonkulous smiled. "There's nothing in it, now, but if you need something. Really need something, you can wish for it with this box. It's an elf box called a 'wishrel'."
Sasporilla looked at it for a second then up at her father. "A wishrel?"
"Ya, it works like this." Riddonkulous continued. "You write down what you wish for on a scrap of paper and put it inside. Close the lid and when you open it, there's your wish. It really works."
"Then why haven't you used it?" Sasporilla asked with a hint of disbelief.
"I have. Squandered my wishes I did when I was your age. Impetuance of youth I suppose."
Sasporilla sat quietly contemplating the enormous options this could open up to her.
"There are rules with it though." Riddonkulous said with all seriousness. "1. The wish an only be for you, not for someone else. 2. The size of the thing wished for can be no larger than the size of the inside of the box and 3.You only get 3 wishes."
"So once I've got my 3 wishes, then what do I do with it?
"You pass it down to your child. Like my father did for me and like his father did for him."
A world of wondrous opportunities passed through Sasporillas imagination. A coin purse that never emptied. Tickets to the weird sisters. The answer to the meaning of life, which Ms.Daisy insisted was 42 but would not explain why.
"And my darling daughter," Riddonkulous said with a concerned look. "Be very careful what you wish for."
Sasporilla couldn't remember ever having a shorter summer than this one. She had barely started a good daily conversation with a dog from another town or trading dirty jokes with the fish in the mayors pond when she found herself face to face with an owl with a letter in it's beak.
The letter bore the official Hogwarts seal and was addressed to Miss Sasporilla Bucket, the room over the pub, 1 Kings Road, Avonshire, Essex.
"That's for me." Sasporilla smiled regretfully.
The owl dropped the letter from it's beak and into the young girls hand.
"Thank you." Sasporilla said.
The owl waggled its head and let out a small chirp.
"Really?" Sasporilla asked surprised. "Not one witch or wizard has ever thanked you for delivering their mail?"
The owl screaled.
"Nor said please? How rude!"
The window above opened up and Wysteria Bucket hollered out. "Sassy it's dinner time. Come in side love before it gets cold."
"I have to go in now." Sasporilla smiled as she turned and waved to the owl. "Have a nice rest of the day."
Wysteria Bucket set a nice table, despite their meager means. Tonight they were having left over shepherds pie. They rarely had leftovers as they usually had just enough food to feed the 3 of them but then their definition of leftovers were a bit different. To the Buckets, leftovers were food the pub made last week and failed to sell. It was usually dry, burned or hours away from turning but with some sauce and a little love mum always made a meal of it.
Sasporilla came up the stairs hurriedly and burst in waving her still sealed envelope.
"It came mum." Sasporilla beamed. "Look my Hogwarts letter. It came!"
"Oh! Doesn't it look all official with that seal and everything." Wysteria Bucket smiled though the letters appearance filled with her equal amounts of sadness and happiness. The thought of her daughter leaving for a year was almost unbearable. All though she new there was no better place than Hogwarts for a young witch, they simply had never been apart in there 11 years together. "Well open it!"
Sasporilla opened the letter and pulled out the pages within.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms.Bucket,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 August.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
The second page was the full list of all books and equipment they would have to buy for her year at school.
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 1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an Rat or 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
Sasporilla handed the list to her mother with a worried smile. "Can we afford all this mum?"
"Don't you worry." Mrs.Bucket reassured her daughter. "Uncle Nick and the lads at the Aurors office have offered to pay for them remember? I'll send an owl off to him tonight. You can come in to Diagon Alley with me in the morning when I go to work. Nick can meet us at the book shop and take you shopping."
The evening meal was all giggles and musings of what a school like Hogwarts must be like. Wysteria did know something of the school from things she had heard her co-workers and customers say over the years. Sasporilla had read a bit about it in school. In many ways it sounded to wondrous to be true. In others it sounded like a place where she might get lost in the crowd.
Both women stopped when they heard the downstairs door open. Strong slow foot steps acceded the stairs. Riddonkulous Bucket walked in the apartment tucking the serum vial into his jacket pocket.
"There they are." Riddonkulous said as he sat down at the table. "My two beautiful girls."
"Do you want me to fix you a plate love?" Wysteria asked.
"Ta love." Riddonkulous said with a wink. "That would be lovely."
Wysteria went to the cupboard to get a plate. Riddonkulous reached into his jacket.
"I just wanted to make sure I gave my little girl a special gift for her birthday!"
Riddonkulous pulled out a small box, wrapped in a page torn from a Beano comic, bound with a piece of manky old string.
"My birthday was last week." Sasporilla said looking down at the table.
Riddonkulous stared at his daughter for a moment. Had week passed since Wysteria had reminded him that tonight was his daughters big day?
"I'm sorry love." Riddonkulous rubbed his face ashamed and bewildered. "I mean well but my mind is a tad scattered."
"I know." Sasporilla said.
"Well." Riddonkulous said pushing the present gently towards her knocking over the salt. "Open it."
Sasporilla took the package without lifting her head. She loved her father but just hated him so much sometimes. That very thought made her feel bad. Under the wrapping was a very plain small wooden box. Sasporilla carefully opened the lid and inside was...
"Nothing." Sasporilla said.
"Ya," Riddonkulous smiled. "There's nothing in it, now, but if you need something. Really need something, you can wish for it with this box. It's an elf box called a 'wishrel'."
Sasporilla looked at it for a second then up at her father. "A wishrel?"
"Ya, it works like this." Riddonkulous continued. "You write down what you wish for on a scrap of paper and put it inside. Close the lid and when you open it, there's your wish. It really works."
"Then why haven't you used it?" Sasporilla asked with a hint of disbelief.
"I have. Squandered my wishes I did when I was your age. Impetuance of youth I suppose."
Sasporilla sat quietly contemplating the enormous options this could open up to her.
"There are rules with it though." Riddonkulous said with all seriousness. "1. The wish an only be for you, not for someone else. 2. The size of the thing wished for can be no larger than the size of the inside of the box and 3.You only get 3 wishes."
"So once I've got my 3 wishes, then what do I do with it?
"You pass it down to your child. Like my father did for me and like his father did for him."
A world of wondrous opportunities passed through Sasporillas imagination. A coin purse that never emptied. Tickets to the weird sisters. The answer to the meaning of life, which Ms.Daisy insisted was 42 but would not explain why.
"And my darling daughter," Riddonkulous said with a concerned look. "Be very careful what you wish for."
PLEASE REMEMBER
I am in no way affiliated with Warner Bros. or with J.K.Rowling. My work is purely that of fan fiction & do not ask for, nor accept money, gifts or other compensation for my work. If you really feel you must do something, research which charities J.K.Rowling donates to, then donate to them as such.
I am in no way affiliated with Warner Bros. or with J.K.Rowling. My work is purely that of fan fiction & do not ask for, nor accept money, gifts or other compensation for my work. If you really feel you must do something, research which charities J.K.Rowling donates to, then donate to them as such.