Things can be so much easier when they happen quickly. If magic didn’t exist, simple tasks would take forever! “Mom, I’ve finished mopping the floor,” I called upstairs, looking up from my book. “Good timing, Imogine, it’s time to go,” Mother said, glancing at our ticking analog clock. She adventurously strapped on her boots and jacket, “You coming?” she asked.

I remained seated. “Why can’t we just apparate to the post office?” I asked. “Oh, come on Iggie don’t be so lazy,” she replied. I put down my book and traveled out the door after my mom.

“And what did the owls bring for us today?” Mother asked postman Aiden, when we arrived. “There are two letters for you,” he said, handing mom two rumpled brown envelopes. “And one for you too, Imogine”. This was strange. I rarely got mail besides my weekly subscription to “Witch Weekly Teen” magazine. This was probably some letter from Hogwarts congratulating me on my recent graduation. Surprisingly, Aiden handed me an unfamiliar crisp white envelope.

“Can I see it?” Mother asked when we got home. She was practically hovering over me as if she wanted the mysterious letter for herself. “Sure” I said, handing her the letter. I really was not that concerned with its contents, and I started reading my book again. Mother whimsically fluttered open the envelope. “Imogine!” she gasped, “It’s from your long lost cousin Shelby!” I immediately came back over. She thrust the note into my hands, it read:

Hey Imogine, It’s Shelby. Do you remember me? We used to play together when we were kids. It’s been so long and you should come visit me. I finally found your address, hopefully you won’t have too much trouble finding ours. Actually, you won’t; cause I included it on the back of the note. Drop by any time!

-Your cousin, Shelby Nepman

“This sounds like such an adventure, you should go!” Mother exclaimed. I decided this was a good idea. I could vaguely remember having a cousin to play with when I was little, and it would be fun to see her again and maybe relive some childhood memories “She said I could come any time so I’ll go right away.” And then I apparated. Instantly.

I was in the middle of a road, surrounded by white houses that looked as if they were cut from a cookie cutter. I was in the right place. Shelby’s house was number 10 Ridgecleff Drive. It was easy to find. Living in a Muggle subdivision was a crafty idea to hide from Muggles by blending right in. How would people know they were wizards?

I knocked on the door and a girl in a bright orange sweater opened it. “Hey, you must be Imogine. Come on in.” We sat on the sofa and chatted. It was fun to be reconnected with Shelby. We talked about the adventures we had as kids and what it was like living in the Muggle world. Shelby checked the time on her “cell” and said it was time to pick her brother up from work.

“You can come too,” she said. “I didn't bring my broom!” I replied. How could I forget?

“Hah, you're funny, we aren’t going to clean the floor,” Shelby said.

“No really, do you have an extra I could borrow or are we going to ride thestrals?”

“What are thestrals? Are you nuts?” Shelby said. “We're driving”

“Where do you go to school?” I asked in the car.

“Camebridge Senior High,” Shelby replied. A muggle school, a cell phone, no idea what thestrals were. Why didn't I see this before? Shelby was a Muggle, and that’s why we hadn't seen each other for so many years. Our families had started avoiding each other since I started showing signs of magic and she hadn't.

We pulled up at a fenced off area teeming with loud machinery. Muggles were shoving a heavy drill pipe into a deep hole in the ground while others were hammering at a huge rock face. The workers all looked extremely worn out. “Look out!” someone yelled, and before I had time to look a huge piece of rock snapped off the rock face and crashed upon a piece of machinery. I knew the perfect spell to fix this, and instinctively, I motioned for my wand. But then I remembered was in the Muggle world and couldn’t use magic.

I watched helplessly as the Muggle workers crowded around the area, moving shrapnel and repairing broken equipment with their bare hands. I suddenly felt lazy and unhelpful compared to them, because while wizards can solve any problem with a flick of their wand, Muggles have to do all the hard work themselves. I suddenly felt the need to get out of my chair and get moving.

“Don’t forget to wash the dog,” Mom said. I got buckets of water and some soap and began scrubbing the dog. I then baked a heartwarming batch of cookies for my friend Shelby in the Muggle world. All with just my hands, with no magic.