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A Rare Event

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Of course, we had already enjoyed a good, steady meal; after the shopping had been concluded. Now we only need to pick up our trunks. Walking over to the trunk store will be a breeze.

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The door chime goes off, as we enter the shop; alerting Mr. Truckles that customers had just entered his shop, if he had not known it by any other means. Which he just may have.

“Someone is quite punctual..” he ponders; as he is realizing, who is stepping into his shop. (Shop shop shop)

I notice him eagerly scurrying over to us, just a moment after he had realized we are in the shop. (Measured steps, makes the day; undue rushing, only screws you over.)

He manages to make his way over, to us; in just a few minutes, comfortably. Not as if he had all that far to walk, in his own store.

“Greetings, Greetings; Twilight, Julie, Penelope, Daphne and Astoria!” he exclaims, just as he is entering proper talking range. (Five meters or less.)

“Greetings, Mr. Truckles!” Twilight responds, and the rest of us chorus half a moment later.

“Come for your trunks, have you?” he inquires.

“Yes, but of course!” I respond; “the shopping is finished, for the year!” I conclude.

“Great, great..” he exclaims; because I have just managed to finish the last one..” he continues.

“Thank you, Mr. Truckles..” I respond; “let us see them, so that we can familiarize ourselves with them!” I suggest.

“Right this way, please..” he responds, as he is leading us to the first of the trunks; “aside from the facade; these trunks are basically the same!” he explains.

He carefully approaches the trunk, decorated with a pink Cherry Wood; indicating for its owner to step forwards. Twilight Sparkle steps forwards, answering his call; drawing her wand, before she is performing the binding spell required.

As we are stepping into the trunk, we find ourselves in the cloaking room; the outward facing room, hiding what is within. Just like the facade of the trunk itself, it is decorated with a pink Cherry Wood.

“Beautiful!” I exclaim, hearing my younger sister Astoria echoing me response.

Of course, he had spared no expense; as the label of the finest trunk in the store would have suggested, only to make this even more grand than the Deluxe Apartment variant.

There is a momentary sinking feeling, just as everyone had stepped into the now somewhat cramped cloaking room. As the sensation has past; Mr. Truckle opens the door to the living room.

On the right, there is a luxurious sofa and a sofa table; both in the pink Cherry Wood, as he had interpreted the description that the wood would be pink Cherry Wood. (Not that I, or anyone else could complain; this certainly is a beautiful living room.)

On the left, I can see the doors to the Potion and Alchemy labs respectively. On my right; I have the two bed rooms. (Naturally; the built-in Walk-In closet is on the foot end of the bed room.)

To the right of the door to the cloaking room; I have the door to the kitchen and the shower and girl’s room respectively.

On the wall opposing the door to the cloaking room, I can clearly see the door to the library and the door to the Greenhouse respectively. (Only, the cloaking room is still uncultivated; with a set of seeds, bulbs and seedlings waiting to be tended to.)

“As you can see; the living room is quite spacious, in this edition!” he explains.

“Yes, we can all see that..” Twilight respond, with a slight hint of a snicker to her voice.

“I just had to extend the Expansion Charm, in order to fit everything, as you had requested!” he points out.

“Wonder if this model will be popular?” I put forth.

“I will have a few demonstration samples now, in order to showcase what I can offer!” Mr. Truckles supplies; “Now, as I have managed to produce the model, I will just have to put it up for sale..” he continues; “unless there is a reason, why I can’t!” he concludes.

“I can’t see an issue, with you marketing this as a new model; whether you label it as a Grand deluxe apartment, or a Miniature Mansion or something else!” Twilight puts forth; “so long, as you can produce it, to a competitive price they can motivate to pay!” I conclude.

“I will have to price this, well above the Deluxe Apartment model; based on both the added work, and all the extra materials required!” he explains.

“But of course; you will have to use considerably more material, in decorating the expanded space within this trunk!” Twilight concedes.

“Imagine having this trunk, on the train to Hog Warts; now we can change into our Witch clothes in the trunk, perfectly safe!” Astoria exclaims.

“Just step into the Walk-In closet, for that!” Mr. Truckles supplies.

“And I have all my books at my fingertips, at all times; I just need to open the extended library, and I can enjoy my books at will!” Twilight breathes, in delight.

“Extended, indeed..” I exclaim; “it is actually larger than our library at the Mansion, back home!” I conclude.

“Is that a measure of how much you love your books..” Twilight proposes; “or is my measure just that far of?” she inquires; “I largely grew up in the Royal Library..” she explains; “and then, I was living in a library, as I moved out!” she concludes.

“I imagine, Father can respect a girl with a reasonably large library to her name..” I suggest; “books holds all our deepest, darkest secrets safe, along with all the knowledge required, in order to enact whatever plans you may have!” I conclude.

“If only she knew; just what I could do within a book, or with the book as such..” Twilight ponders, snickering; “I could redefine the world itself, or build up an entirely new world-order!” she then proposes, with a delighted grin plastered all over her face.

I notice, how Mr. Truckles is starting to become uneasy; as Twilight is making her proclamation, explaining the power of a book. Or, is it how Twilight is stating this as a fact,

suggesting a deeper intent, behind her words. Should I be worried too? What place am I having, in her grand plans? I have no idea, and I am not sure I dare ask her. Not right now, and probably not ever.

Still, I am glad she is my friend and on my side; or I would have been starting to cold sweat, right about now. Then a thought struck me, reminding her of her story about Alestia Solaris; that is when the world is turning upside down, making me feel as if I had been standing in the ceiling.

“Don’t worry about the Ministerium..” Julie suggests, with a serious tone to her voice.

“The Ministerium, is the least of my worries right now!” I supply.

“How had could they possibly punish a Minor?” Penelope inquires; “While we may miss out on the education at Hogwarts, but you will at least be safe!” she concludes.

Missing out on the experience of that Education is actually something I would be worrying about!” Astoria explains.

“At least; we do have all their literature in the bag, aside from at the very least most of the material required to follow the education!” Penelope intones.

“If you worry about your family, just owl them one of your Trunks!” Julie suggests.

“Wait, we could do that?” I inquire, as if the thought had never crossed my mind.

“But of course; it’s the easiest thing in the world, and the trunk has a safe means of travelling home to us!” Penelope pushes forth.

“The internal Floo(f) is not controlled by the Ministerium..” Mr. Truckles explains; “I thought; that was the reason behind actually having it installed, beside the open Floo(f)!” he concludes.

“I guess; we can go back to Twilight town, if and when needed!” I concede.

“Twilight Town is ruled by our Mayor..” Penelope supplies; “she will bow to no higher Authority..” she continues; “even if Twilight does have her ear, as it were!” she concludes.

“I still want to share in the experience of having my education at Hogwarts!” Astoria declares.

“On second thought..” Twilight pushes forth; “I think I have a solution, for that too!” she points out; “While it may be a bit on the drastic side, but you can still partake in your education at Hogwarts..” she suggests; “so long as none recognizes you, as the person wanted, in the first place!” she concludes.

“You can’t use the Polly Potion, for an entire day..” I point out; “so what did you have in mind?” I inquire.

“Back home; I installed special doors, permitting you to live in a sense of a Mirror Existence!” she explains; “Who would expect you to be a Boy, at Hogwarts?” she inquires.

“Not even Dumbledore, or the Wards would recognize that!” I suggest.

“Then we just leave a trunk back home; we can go between where we are now and Twilight Town, no questions asked!” Twilight suggests.

“Mr. Truckles..” Penelope exclaims; “These trunks are identical to the other trunks, externally?” she inquires.

“You have the same external dimensions, yes!” he responds; “Only the cheaper models has a different plate on the front, depending on how many departments you can access directly!” he explains.

“Perfect..” Twilight exclaims; “any chance; one could let the plate look as if it had less apartments accessible?” she inquires.

“It is possible..” he responds; “you will have to adjust this appearance, from inside!” he explains.

“Thank you, Mr. Truckles..” I express; “I guess we have taken up enough of your valuable time!” I conclude.

“Thank you, and welcome back!” he exclaims.

With that, we walk out of the store; stepping out onto the street: Diagon Alley, on our way towards the Leaky Cauldron.

“If you don’t mind, you could always follow us home; you can take the Floo, from our cottage any time you like!” Twilight suggests.

“Thank you, Twilight!” Astoria and I exclaim.

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Taking the Floo

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Author's Note

< --- Mirror Existence --- ><