Matilda

My boss has taken a month-long vacation and returned to Australia for Christmas, and we're closing the office for Christmas until Thursday, so after the rather hellish November and first fortnight of December, the week just gone felt disturbingly free.

Yesterday (earlier today?) I showed up at work an hour late and found the office practically deserted with just the receptionist already at work. Not long after I arrived she handed the phone to me and promptly disappeared for an hour. I wasted the next two hours by answering three work-related emails and then facebook, forums, fanfiction, looking up random stuff on wikipedia, games etc. People started to trickle in around ten-ish.

We all left for a "Christmas" lunch of hotpot together at about eleven, an hour earlier than usual and basically by the time we returned to the office it was...2:30. By about 3:30 practically everyone was gone again. I had to hang around until about five for my ride home, but by four I was sufficiently bored enough to give up on sitting around and decided to go shopping.

My office is pretty near the Old Quarter of Hanoi and among other things, there's a street full of DVD shops, and though I knew it was improbable that they would have a decent quality version already, I went in to check whether they have the DVD of Deathly Hallows Part 1 yet. I would need it to refresh my memory later when Part 2 comes out.

Anyway, as I was rummaging through the selection of DVDs, I suddenly came across a copy of the movie Matilda, based on the same book by Roald Dalh, of course. It was probably the first book that I read in English and I was obsessed with the movie when I was in fourth grade. As I was looking at it and considering whether I should by it for sentimentality's sake, something incredible dawned on me:

Matilda Wormwood is a witch!!

When she's eleven, she will receive a letter from Hogwarts!!

She's a Ravenclaw!

The Wormwoods are related to the Dursleys!!

...

Her best friend is even named Lavender freaking Brown! Though granted, it is rather hard to imagine that Lavender Brown as the one snogging Ron in HBP.

If I get sufficiently bored in my five-day weekend, a crossover fanfiction will be written. (Though I am feeling somewhat terrified about stepping suddenly into the world of HP fanfic again...)

Dear Miss Wormwood,


I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. 


...


Yours sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress