By the side of the road in Salem, Massachusetts, a small baby cried. The rain poured relentlessly as she whimpered and wailed for all she was worth. She was cold and hungry, a pink blanket, a gold locket and an oddly-shaped stick her only worldly possessions. A car came slowly around a turn in the road, it's headlights glinting off the baby's locket. The car round to a stop a few feet before the child, and a hooded figure stepped out. Seeing the baby, the hooded man picked her up, and carried her back to the car. The car made its way to the orphanage, and there it stopped once more. The man took the child inside, where he knew she would at least get shelter for the night.

Natalia yawned and stretched. Even after 10 years of living there, she still wasn't used to sleeping on the hard orphanage floors. As she lowered her arms, her hand fell automatically to the locket around her neck. She looked at it wonderingly as she had every morning since she knew what it was. Someone must have loved me, she thought, to give me this. But why would I have been left by the side of the road?

"Get up, children! Today is your first day of school! You absolutely cannot be late!" A harsh, barking voice came from the other side of the room. A big, burly woman crossed the room, kicking her way through the children still sleeping on the floor. "You especially, Miss Natalia. You will make sure they all get to school on time, or you won't sit down for a month!"

Natalia grimaced. She knew that if she didn't come through, she literally wouldn't sit for a month. Whether because of the beating she would get, or the amount of chores, she wasn't completely sure. But she managed not to lurk on the trivial details. She started gently shaking all the little kids around her.

"Come on, honey, wake up. Ryan, come on, you know you want to go to school! It's so exciting! It's your first day! You too, Sharon. Don't you want to go see Calista?"

Slowly, all the children woke up. Natalia was not the only one bothered by the hard floor, but there was no complaining out loud. Natalia made sure everyone was dressed and at the breakfast table by 7:30 A.M. sharp. She did not want to be punished today.

By 8:45 all the orphans were on the street, being shepherded by Natalia to their respective schools. All the children loved her, as she was the only one at the orphanage who would listen to them. They most certainly didn't get that from the orphanage director, Ms. Bullgurt.

She dropped a few children off at a local preschool, and said some words of encouragement to help them through their day. Then she dropped the rest of the group off at the elementary school. As she walked each child to their class, she comforted them, and made sure they had everything they needed for their day. When she had finally finished dropping children off, she escaped to the front yard of the school. She still had to walk to Salem Jr. High, where she was starting this year. She needed to stop, and rest, but she could not be late, so she pressed onward, daydreaming as she went.

As she was walking down a side street, she noticed a small shop that she didn't think she had ever seen before. She walked toward it, entranced. There were crystal balls in the window! She had always been fascinated by 'magic' and had even tried to run away from the orphanage to join a traveling magician. She was so engrossed with the things in the window, she didn't notice that she was pushing the shop door open, and stepping inside. A small woman with a purple cape and matching pointed hat turned around from the cash register.

"Can I help yah, hun?" She asked sweetly.

Natalia was caught off-guard. No one had ever really asked her anything nicely. Even her teachers detested her. They felt they were above teaching such 'riff-raff'. Did it matter that she was intelligent? Of course not! She snapped back to attention quickly.

"Uh... sorry! I didn't mean to be in here, really. I don't have any money to buy anything with. I've only got a dollar. I'm really sorry to waste your time." She cringed, thinking she was going to get a verbal barrage which would make her late for school.

"That's ok, darling. You're welcome to look. Wait! Did you say a dollar?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Are you...? You are! You're a muggle! But... but how did you see the shop?" The woman started muttering to herself, "Maybe I need to refresh the Anti-muggle charms. And I was so sure they were strong, too..."

"What? I was just daydreaming and I kind of just.. walked in. Shouldn't I have seen it? I'm so sorry! I'll leave, immediately..."

"No! Don't leave quite yet. What's your name?"

"Natalia"

"Natalia what?"

"I don't really have a last name. I live at the orphanage..."

"The orphanage, huh? Oh, by the way, I'm Mrs. Harper. My husband and I run this shop."

"Nice to meet you. I suppose my legal last name is Bullgurt, but I really don't want to use that."

"That's perfectly understandable. Even we magical folks have heard awful things about those places."

"Did you say magical?"

"I really shouldn't... shouldn't tell you. But can you promise to keep a secret?"

"Yes!"

Although she never should have taken pity on poor Natalia, Mrs. Harper told her the basics of magic and the magical world. She demonstrated some of her favourite spells, with Natalia gasping and clapping at the performance. She could hardly believe what was happening, but she fiercely wanted to believe in it. Mrs. Harper was still curious as to how she had found the shop, so she let Natalia hold her wand a minute.

"I just want to see something," she said, with a devilish gleam in her eye.

So Natalia took Mrs. Harper's wand in her hand. She was immediately besieged by a strange memory, like one has when remembering a long-forgotten dream. Her head hurt from inside as she pictured a baby wrapped in a pink blanket by the road, crying. Clutched in the baby's fist was a wand much like the one she held in her hand. Natalia gasped and returned to reality. Shaking, she gripped the wand harder, and scared herself when green sparks flew out the end. It was all too much for an 11 year old girl, and she passed out.

Natalia woke with a stinging smell in her nostrils. She sniffed delicately, and her eyelids flew open. Disoriented, she tried to grasp where she was. Then it all came back to her. Had she not been lying down, she was sure she would have fallen over.

"Are you all right, Natalia? You had a nasty faint there."

"Yeah, I think so. Ugh, what is that smell?"

"It's a potion. Do you realize, my dear, what this means?"

"What what means?"

"You are not a muggle! You are pure witch! Ohhhh... how would you like to stay here, and I'll train you in the arts of magic?"

"You're kidding?!"

"No. I need someone to help me run the shop. And I suspect you wouldn't mind learning magic?"

"I'd love to!!"