Nova Potter-The Magical Purr|Chapter 1|Season 1|

Instructions

Darkness had settled like a heavy blanket over the dense forests of Wyoming. It was dead quiet in our room at Clearwater High. I could hear only Holly’s soft, steady breathing. My roommate—that cheeky red squirrel girl—was fast asleep in her bed on the other side of the room. I lay there wide awake. I savored this nighttime silence, for during the day, being a perfectly normal member of our clique was exhausting as hell. Especially when you’re friends with Carag, Brandon, and Holly. The three of them were incredibly curious, yet none of them could even begin to guess the heritage I carried within me. I am a Potter. My mother, Frida—sister to the famous wizard Harry Potter—is a Woodwalker herself. She had made a conscious decision back then to choose Clearwater High over Hogwarts so that I would learn to master my animal form to perfection. Only our headmistress, Lissa Clearwater, was in on the secret; she had promised my mother she would guard my magical secret fiercely. A soft, rhythmic scratching at the windowsill snapped me out of my thoughts. Nyx! I slid out of bed instantly. My body began to shift even as I rose; my human form dissolved in a fraction of a second. Instead of a girl, an elegant, sleek, gray-tabby cat now stood on the wooden floor. My eyes glowed with that same deep wizard-green shade my Uncle Harry possessed. I leapt silently onto the windowsill. Outside, bathed in the pale moonlight, sat my faithful post-owl. The mysterious bird held a small scroll of parchment in its beak—a letter from my mother in the wizarding world. I focused intently. Without a wand and without uttering a word, I directed my magic toward the window latch. For a brief moment, my green cat eyes glowed brightly as the spell took effect. With a barely audible click, the window unlatched itself. Nyx slipped inside and dropped the parchment onto our table, where it unrolled. It was completely blank. I raised my grey-tabby paw and placed it gently on the parchment. The paper reacted instantly to my Potter magic: fine, golden characters appeared as if out of thin air. "Take good care of yourself, my little big cat..." I read my mother’s words. Suddenly, Holly let out a loud snore from the other side of the room. She tossed and turned restlessly in bed. My heart skipped a beat. If she woke up now, she would see the owl and the magical parchment! Panicked, I grabbed the scroll in my teeth. There was no time to run to the door. I narrowed my eyes, focused intently on the dark edge of the forest far beyond the school building, and used my cat magic to Apparate. With a soft, almost inaudible *pop*, I vanished from the room, letter and all. A heartbeat later, I was standing in the damp moss of the forest. The cool night air brushed through my grey fur. I took a deep breath and calmed my racing pulse. I had made it—Holly was sleeping soundly, and my secret was safe for the time being. I turned and looked ahead. Directly in front of my paws, a wide, wild river rushed noisily through the thicket. The water reflected the moonlight as I stood thoughtfully on the bank, wondering what the coming days at this school held in store for me.