It was the calm before the storm; Kendi would later find out, that last week of summer vacation.
The past three months had gone as planned. Lake houses were visited, fireworks observed, and ice cream indulged in. Kendi had been spending that last week trying to squeeze in as much freedom as she could, hardly ever returning to the house except to fetch her jumprope or box of sidewalk chalk.
Kendi's mother was not one to smother her daughter and admired the girls independence, she was doing quite well, for eleven years old she decided. It was the last day before school and Kendi had been making mud pies in the back garden when she appeared.
It was her strange clothes that initially grabbed Kendi's attention: a black pencil skirt, white button down blouse and emerald broach; a stark contrast to her mothers own breezy summer frock and Kendi's overalls, but it was the ladies envelope printed in a similar emerald ink that made Kendi watch as she made her way up the front walk and rang the door bell.
"Hello?" from inside the Williams house the sound of the dishwasher running could be heard. "Yes my name is Professor McGonagall, I've come to talk about your daughter Kendra."