This is a short story I wrote for an English Essay. Since it's the first piece of work I've ever written about Harry Potter, I decided to post it here. Hope you all enjoy it :)

My friends; Lily, Bianca and I were sitting in the Great Hall, digging into eggs, toast, and pumpkin juice. Exams had ended just last week (which of course was followed by a party in the Gryffindor Common Room).

I looked up at the enchanted ceiling and saw a beautiful blue sky. Today was a Sunday, so I'd be able to spend the day by the Black Lake, finishing my sketches.

That was one thing I didn't agree with at Hogwarts, they didn't have any Arts classes. No Drama, Music or Art. Sketching was by far my favorite hobby.

The sudden screeching and hooting of owls broke me from my thoughts.

"Here comes she mail! Lily noted, rather enthusiastically. Her mother was sending her a new pair of dress robes for the End of Term Ball this week.

I however, wasn't expecting any mail other than the Daily Prophet. For this exact reason, I was utterly confused when a parcel landed on my now empty plate in front of me.

"You ordered dress robes too? I thought you got yours already." Bianca frowned. My thoughts were far from dress robes, this must be something else

"I didn't…" I stopped and thought, this might not be something I'd want to share with the entire Great Hall. Coming to a decision I addressed Lily and Bianca.

"I'm going to open this later, it might not be suitable for everyone else here." I cracked a grin.

Later in the Common Room, I decided to open the unexpected package.

"Hey, there's a note." Lily grabbed a sheet off of the parcel.

"Dear Lucinda,
Since my mischief is no longer sufficient at Hogwarts, these now belong to you. It belonged to out father and his father before him. Use it wisely.
James" Bianca read off Lily's shoulder.

"James?" Lily yelped. "That could be dangerous! Don't open it!" James, my big brother, was one of the most famous pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen. He almost beat the Weasley twins and our own dad (Harry Potter)'s record put together. James had however, graduated last year.

"Relax Lils, it can't be that bad." I reassured her.

Bianca meanwhile, was ripping off the deep blue wrapping paper, anxious to reveal it's contents. I tried grabbing the package but Bianca was too quick.

She pulled out a plain black cloak and an ancient-looking piece of parchment. Lily's eyebrows curved upwards, almost disappearing into her fiery red hair.

"Well I told you it wouldn't be that dangerous!" Bianca exclaimed.

We exchanged glances, and burst into laughter.

. . .

An hour later we were lounging in the Common Room, completing our latest Potions essay. I had sent a letter back to James, asking him ever so kindly to explain his 'meaningful' gift. The cloak and parchment lay untouched in my bedside drawer.

I lay back into the velvet maroon couch, letting out a heavy sigh. A white fleck in the sky out the window caught my eye. It was our family owl, rightfully named Snowy, for her snow white complexion.

"Hey guys, James replied!" Out trio rushed to get the window opened. I carefully teased the letter out of Snowy's talons.

"Dear Lucinda,

Oops, I forgot to actually explain. As for the cloak, just try it on! For the parchment, tap it once with your wand and say, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.' When you're done, say 'Mischief managed'.

James"

I raced up to our room, followed closely by Lily and Bianca. First the cloak, I thought. I flung it over my shoulders and Lily and Bianca let out gasps.

"Luce, your body's gone!"

"I knew James planned it all. This was a prank! What if this is permanent?" A frown made its way onto Lily's face.

"You idiot! It's an invisibility cloak; Luce's dad was practically famous for using it to sneak around school. Invisibility cloaks hide a person's body from view but they are still there physically. If Luce took the cloak off her body would be visible." Bianca explained. She obviously knew Hogwarts a History: The Modern Edition, by heart.

"And I'm supposed to know that how?" Lily muttered under her breath. I merely grabbed the parchment.

"Let's try this out, shall we?" My friends both nodded. I pulled out my wand and said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good", while tapping the paper once with my wand. I opened the piece of parchment fully to reveal a map of Hogwarts itself. This wasn't an ordinary map however, there were moving dots on it!

"Hey look, that's us!" Lily exclaimed, pointing to three dots in our detailed dormitory, named Lily Weasley, Lucinda Potter, and Bianca Patil respectively. We stared in awe at the newly-found belongings.

This is what I would call, an unexpected gift.