Chapter One: The Letter

Loretta Knight sat in her office as she finished typing up the last bit of paperwork from her previous case. The victim was named Mason Williams. Male. Approximately 30 years of age. Caucasian. 5'9". The pattern on the sternum was consistent with blunt force trauma done by the back end of a claw hammer. The murder weapon was found in the killer's shed; it appeared he kept it among his collection as a symbol of power. A trophy won in battle. He had it right out in the open for all to see, as he thought no one would ever know what crime it had committed, that he had committed. Once examined, the victim's blood was found on the weapon using luminol, a solution that reveals blood when an LED light is shined onto it. The killer was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

The forensic anthropologist leaned back in her office chair and drew out a long-winded sigh. She was completely exhausted. All-nighters surely do take a lot out of a woman. Her glazed over eyes searched for the clock. "4:38… damn.." She cursed. Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy, maybe if she rested her head for just a moment…

"Dr. Knight?" A rather faint voice asked. Loretta picked her head up from the desk as she blinked open her eyes. "Hm?"
"Have you been here all night?" The voice belonged to one of Loretta's co-workers, Alijah Davari, the team's analytical chemist. His job was to examine various substances that show up during cases, such as poisons, food, chemicals, etc. He was a thirty-five-year-old man with a black crew cut and a small amount of stubble to match.

"Yeah." Was simply her response. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. As she attempted to stand, the scientist tripped over her chair, taking it down with her and letting out a little
Alijah cringed at the display of unrefined grace. "Still tired huh? Seems like you need a caffeine fix." He offered the woman a hand. She took it and he grunted as he pulled her up. Loretta dusted herself off. "Yeah, I think you're right." She agreed.

The two headed into the cafeteria. They were met with a loud clattering of dishes and boisterous chattering that seemed to bounce off the walls. Loretta wasn't exactly fond of these noises, but what could she do? Yell at the top of her lungs to tell everyone to shut up? Yeah, that would go well.
Alijah poured his co-worker a cup of hot water and placed in a tea bag. "Two sugars, one creamer, right Dr. Death?"

"You know me too well." She chuckled a bit. "Why do you insist on calling me that anyway?"

The man simply shrugged and handed her the teacup. "Let it steep for a bit."

Loretta rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

Once they grabbed something to eat and drink, they sat at a table. "Sorry, you got stuck with the paperwork man." Alijah apologized. "I mean, nobody enjoys that part of the job." He held a teacup to his lips and took a sip.

"It's fine, I don't really mind." She didn't exactly care for it, but somebody had to get it done. Paperwork was perhaps the most boring part of the job, aside from waiting for lab results. Loretta was often the one to take up the task; she knew how necessary it was, as the paperwork kept everything about the criminal case so the administration could refer to it when needed.

She looked around the room and took a bite of her strawberry scone. "Anyway, I've almost finished it. After that, I'm heading back to ye ol' apartment." The brunette joked.
"When are you going to move out of that dump Lorie?" He hated how she had to live in such a terrible environment. For instance, the walls were cracked, there were always shouting matches with the neighbors, and criminal acts often partook in the area. It was no place for a respected forensic anthropologist to be housed. She wasn't necessarily poor, she just hadn't found a new place yet. There was such high demand in all of the houses in the area near the lab, which was where she was planning on moving. "Uh…" She started.
"That bad huh?" He guessed rightly.
"Yeah." She took another sip of her tea. The woman sighed, pushed her plate to her left, and laid her head down on the table. "What am I going to do..?"

Alijah patted her back. "You'll figure something out soon enough kid."

Loretta slumped on her bed. The cushion felt nice on her aching, restless body. She knew how unhealthy these all-nighters were for her, but what could she do? It was her job. The forensic anthropologist felt her seemingly leaden eyelids start to droop. With each blink, they closed further and further until there was nothing but a thick, black, emptiness. Then, all sense of sound, touch, smell, even taste, had vanished entirely along with her consciousness of reality itself.

Something seemed to be calling out to her; an ominous sort of whisper. It was unintelligible. She whipped around at each angle she heard it come from, but there was nothing; nothing but pure, looming darkness. Then, a whisper, "Loretta…"

Her eyes snapped open. "Mm.." She groaned and sat up; what a odd dream that was. Loretta noticed something on her lap: a letter. She picked it up and opened it carefully. It read:

'Dear Dr. Knight,

We are delighted to inform you that you will be coming to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As we are unable to consider you as a student, an arrangement will be made for you as soon as you meet with Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts. A staff member will be picking you up rather shortly. You are to buy a few things in Diagon Alley before you get on the Hogwarts Express on platform nine and three quarters. A list of the items you will need to purchase will be attached to this letter. The headmaster, of course, will be paying for what you need as you do not have the wizarding currency for them. We hope to see you soon.
Your's sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress'

Loretta folded the letter up and placed it back in the envelope. Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, huh? Loretta had so many questions. She wondered to herself if this was some sort of prank the next door neighbors had decided to play on her. No, those morons couldn't make anything remotely like this up. Their shenanigans usually involved seeing who could blow up a vehicle with the most damage. What did this all mean?
A loud blam could be heard from all the way in her room. Loretta darted from her room to her front door, letter in hand. A rather tall, scruffy man ducked under her now broken door frame. "Sorry about tha', couldn' get the bloody thing open." The half-giant apologized.

Loretta yelped and grabbed the nearest object, a glass vase on display, and smashed it over his head.

"OW! Blimey, wha' did yeh do tha' for?" He rubbed the spot on his head where he had been hit. Then, he closed the broken door behind him and made a shooing motion toward her. Loretta took a few steps back until she was out of his way.
The man continued to stoop until he got over to the living room. He took a seat on the couch, creating a dip in the cushion. "Alrigh' lets getta the point."

The scientist was outraged. "Point?! What point? You came into my house completely uninvited, you sit down on my couch, and now you want to have a little chat?"
"Well yea', how else am I supposta tell yeh about yer past." He asked.
"Past?"

"Yea', 's sorta a long story, yeh might want ter have a seat." The scraggly man patted the seat next to him. Loretta sighed and complied to his invitation. As she sat down, she slid slightly toward the dent her visitor had made.
"Alrigh', first off, this is goin' ter be pretty dense. Yeh're probably not gonna believe me at firs'. So how about I introduce meself? Me name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys."
Loretta nodded, as she obviously could follow so far.

"Now, let's get ter the good bit." He continued. "Long ago, yer parents found ou' 'bout summat tha' scared 'em, summat 'bout yeh. Bein' Muggles, I'm not surprised. They decided ter change all yer identities and move from Norwich ter London. The Ministry o' Magic hadn' bin able ter find yeh since. Yeh were supposed ter become a studen' at Hogwarts. The thing is.." He paused. The suspense grew. "...Yer a witch Loretta."
"Hold on, I'm a what?" The woman shook her head. She couldn't believe her ears. How could she be a witch? How could such a thing exist? "I don't follow.."

"Wha' did I tell yeh? I knew yeh wouldn' believe me."

"Wait, hold on. How do you know my name?"

"Tha' part isn' important righ' now."

Loretta rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine. Let's just suppose I'm a witch-"

"Which yeh are."

"Anyway… If I am, how would I go through life not knowing what I am?"

Hagrid thought for a moment. "Hm… have yeh ever been able ter do things tha' yeh haven' bin able teh explain?"

Loretta thought back. There had been some instances where she had done something that had no logical justification.

A long time ago, she went to go skating with her friends. One of them dared her to skate across the section where the ice was thin. She was very young then, about eight years old; she didn't know any better. She gave in to the peer pressure. The little girl glided across the ice floor, moving closer and closer to the other side. Her friends cheered her on, she was going to make it! And yet…

A crack began to form underneath her. The friends shouting shifted from encouragement to complete and utter terror. She couldn't move. Loretta furrowed her eyebrows and looked down; the crack had caught one of her ice skates blades. The more she pulled, the more cracks emerged. Her eyes darted around frantically. She grabbed ahold of her leg and continued to tug.

Eventually, she was able to escape. However.. As soon as she pushed off from the glaze, the whole thing broke apart and she fell, screaming and clawing at the air, into the freezing water below.

Her parents had to pull her out. She was in so long, they thought she would die of hypothermia. Her body was instead somehow able to fight off the extremely low temperature while in the water, she only came out with a cold.

"I.. suppose there have been a few." She was still skeptical, yet... being a witch would explain a lot.

Hagrid stood up, the dip he had made in the couch remained there. "A'ight then," He clapped his hands. "Let's get goin'."

"Excuse me, going where exactly?" She questioned, crossing her arms.
"Well firs', Diagon Alley. Yeh should get ter packin'."

Loretta had a few things loaded up in her bags. There was, of course, enough space for everything she apparently needed from Diagon Alley. In among the luggage, she had a few outfits, sleepwear, her glasses case and cloth, the case holding her contact lenses, bathroom products/items, a few books, her journal, some snacks, the Howarts letter with the list attached, and other various items she found to be of importance. "I'm ready." She said as she squeezed her luggage through her bedroom door. The forensic anthropologist recalled the times when she had left her home for weeks, even months, to go on anthropological expeditions. She felt a sort of familiarity as she compared this situation to the very first time she had left her home for Egypt, where she had recovered the remains of an ancient Egyptian mummy with her assigned team.

"Before we go, I would like to make a call." She informed Hagrid.
"O' course." He answered, not really understanding what she had meant. Wizards had no use for Muggle technology.

Loretta set her bags down and picked up the handset part of her landline phone, holding it up to her ear. She dialed the number of her bosses office. Somehow, she had to explain her reason for leaving all of a sudden.

She had bent the truth, glossing over the part about being a witch and needing to visit the headmaster of a magic school. Instead, she described it as if she had to go on another expedition, in Scotland this time, and she wouldn't have the ability the contact them. Her boss decided to put her on paid leave. She would be gone for a few months supposedly; Loretta didn't know how she was going to handle being away from work for so long.

"Yeh ready yet?" The half-giant asked.

Loretta placed her phone back on the switch-hook. "Yeah." She replied, grabbing her luggage. This was bound to be an interesting experience, she would soon find this wizarding culture to be most fascinating.