No Magic in Public Allowed

A short story about how I messed things up — badly

“Don’t do it.”

Their voice sounded stern in my head. I rolled my eyes and sensed back to them that I wasn’t even considering it.

“Yes, you are. Remember what happened last time.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a command. Ignoring Mind Trainer commands is impossible. So I thought about what had happened the last time I accidentally used magic. And I couldn’t suppress a smile.

“As long as this memory makes you laugh, you will not graduate. And it wasn’t accidental.”

I didn’t get a letter from Hogwarts when I was 11.

Instead, a team of psychiatrists diagnosed me with ADHD and autism. From that moment on, I was special in a very unwelcome way.

I was sent to a special school. With a special teacher. And different school books and classes from my friends, because my needs were special. My needs were so special; my parents needed someone to teach them how to raise me.

They told me that the divorce wasn’t my fault.

It also wasn’t my fault that the teacher yelled at me when I asked one too many questions.

Neither was it my fault that my classmates enjoyed throwing things at my face.

It wasn’t my fault that chaos and drama followed me around everywhere. It wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t get the hang of proper human interaction.

But it was a fact that I made people around me unhappy. So at 17, I decided to remove myself from the equation and walk away from home.

“Your problem is that you are too human.”

Disturbed, I sat up straight and looked around. By now, I was used to the noises of the homeless shelter, but this voice had sounded so close, almost like a thought.

“Get up. Take all your stuff and walk to the park.”

Without understanding why, I packed my bag and let my feet take me to my favorite bench in the park. It was dark, but I could clearly see something sitting there.

“98.87% human to be exactly. Sit down.”

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