Prologue

Rosemarie Castile is a perfectly normal, eleven-year-old girl, thank you very much. She lives with her parents in the state of Texas in the United States and is currently on summer vacation in London, England. Growing up, her father and mother encouraged her to have a few hobbies, so she picked up drawing and violin.

She also loved books, especially old ones. They had a smell to them that electronics just can't do justice to. Some of her favorites are the timeless classics like Pride and Prejudice and A Christmas Carol. Of course, she loved adventure books since she can understand them. One of her favorites is the series called Harry Potter. Since she first picked it up, she had loved the magic and complicated world that J. K. Rowling had created. Ever since, she had always imagined what it would be like to be in London, boarding the train to Hogwarts, and visiting the magical shops at Diagon Alley.

Now, her dream of visiting Kings Cross had come true. Of course, it's not like there's actually a barrier going onto Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, but it's still neat to visit the place they filmed for the movies. Rose, as many people had called her, felt that the movies doesn't do the book justice. The actors, though, are quite similar to how she imagined them.

On that particular day, her family had breakfast down at a small restaurant near their inn. They packed and quickly headed off to the Kings Cross as they had bought tickets for around nine to Cambridge. They would be staying there for a week before moving on to Belgium. As they entered the station, there were many people bustling around. Her parents quickly looked for their train as she looked around the station. Suddenly, she felt a pull and she lurched back in surprise. She landed onto the ground and blinked. Her mother and father no longer stood in front of her as the people hurried to their trains, not noticing her fall. She stood up a bit dazed and looked around her. For some reason, the train had changed into an older type.

As she tried to think of a cause for the change, she heard a loud female voice saying, "-packed with muggles, of course-"

Twirling around in shock, she stared at the direction the voice was coming from, there was a family of redheads walking toward Platform Nine. Most of them were boys with the exception of the mother and the young girl. Rose felt her head start to spin a bit as she pushed against the crowd to see them more clearly. The older boys had disappeared as they ran toward the wall with their cart. As she approached them, a young boy with black hair went up to them. At this point, Rose started to think she was going crazy, but the proof was right there. The boy with blackish hair was scrawny and small with green eyes the color of emeralds, glasses that looked like they had been taped too many times, and had an owl cage with a snowy owl in it. As she continued to watch them. The mother, Mrs. Weasley, gestured toward her youngest son, Ron, before the boy, Harry, broke into a run toward the wall between Platform Nine and Ten and disappeared. Ron was next and then Mrs. Weasley and the young girl, Ginny, both went in together. As I arrived at the wall, I cautiously touched it and was alarmed to see my finger go through. Does that mean I can pass?

Gathering her courage, she took a few steps back, closed her eyes like Harry, and started to run. She didn't run into the wall and it was quiet for a second before noises can be heard again. As she opened her eyes, she was welcomed by the sight of Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, and the train heading for Hogwarts.