Maddie trailed a few feet behind her sister on their way to the owlry (somehow Lena knew the way). Maddie stared at the cement that passed below her. She kept repeating four words, over and over again to herself inside her mind.

I am a Gryffindor.

Her mind had trouble twisting itself around the thought. Her entire life, she thought of no other option than Slytherin.  And, more recently, becoming a Slytherin became essential to their plan. Maddie and Lena should have been in the same house, not exact opposites.

Maddie and Lena had to have all their classes together. Not only a few. All.

Maddie wasn't sure how the plan was going to work now. Or where the girls could talk to set up the plan.

Once at the owlry, Lena turns back to Maddie in frustration, "Maddie, this can't work! I don't know what to do! They could catch us, then I'll be expelled, too! How can we do this? What do we do know?"

"Slow down," Maddie says in a shaky voice, "we're not gonna get expelled. And nobody's gonna catch us. Now... now we send those letters that mum and dad wanted. To... to know what house we got." Maddie didn't say it, but one night her dad had told her: 'there's no doubt in my mind you'll get Slytherin, though.' 

Maddie looked through all the different parchment and ink, mostly as a distraction from writing a letter. Lena simply took black ink and regular parchment.

Lena wrote:

Dear Mum and Dad,

Hogwarts is great and we're here! Maddie had a fall, but she's okay. I got SLYTHERIN!!! Please write back! Love you so much!

-Lena

While Lena had already sealed her envelope Maddie had only selected black ink and parchment with singed edges. She didn't dip her quill in the ink. She just held it, imagining her parents' reaction when they read her note.

After a half an hour, Lena spoke up. "Maddie, it's cold and past curfew, can we go?"

Maddie looked up at her sister, "I don't know how to write this. I can't." Lena shook her head, "Just tell them. You can do it."

This was one of those moments where Lena just couldn't understand what Maddie was going through. "You don't get it!" She practically shouted. "I am nothing to mum and dad! I'm not magic, I'm not a Slytherin, and I'm not something the Chans are proud of! Lena, I'm the first Chan to have no powers! And now I'm a freaking Gryffindor! How do I tell mum and dad that?!"

The outburst surprised both sisters.

Maddie didn't say anything, she just locked her gaze on the floor. "Maddie, I'm sorry. Maybe don't write anything." Lena suggested.

"What do you mean?" Maddie mumbled and looked at her twin quizzically. Lena revealed a Gryffindor tie from her pocket, "They, uh, gave you two."

Maddie understood. She snatched the tie, and, without another word, stuck it into an envelope.

Lena beckoned for their owl, Marvin, to take the letters. "Take these home," Lena whispered while stoking his wing.

The owl took to the sky. As he flew away into the dark, Maddie felt as if a weight had been taken off he shoulders. "Those should get to mum and dad before they go to sleep." Lena wrapped an arm around her sister.

Maddie was reminded of what her letter implied. There was, once again, something weighing her down.