Chapter 1

It was another normal day for James Montgomerie, Breakfast, school and then home for the evening to get up to mischief with his two younger brothers Craig and Alex. He was much like any other child raised in the community of Limeshaw Crescent, always on the look-out for ways to potentially injure himself or those around him. To you or I, however, James Montgomerie and his brothers were not normal children at all, they were young wizards growing up in a world filled with fantastical tales of magic and adventure. At age 10, James could already achieve what many of us will never see in our lifetime, he could perform magic! Real magic, not pulling a rabbit out of a hat or making a card disappear but an altogether different brand. He could move things without touching them or trip people up without being anywhere near them.

After a swift breakfast of bacon and eggs James left for school, calling first at the house next door for his best friend, Theo. Theo was half Greek and half English; to add to the mix he was also a half-blood, with his Greek father having married an English Witch while she was on Holiday in Greece, hence the Greek name of their one and only son. James knocked loudly on the door and listened for signs of life, the sound of muffled voices reached his ears and after a minute or two the door opened and Theo bounded out, greeting James with a cheerful grin.

'Morning James' Theo mumbled through a mouthful of toast.

'Morning, running late today are we?' James replied with a smirk.

Theo gave no answer but winked to show his acknowledgement of the jibe, giving James a light punch on the arm. The two boys walked on towards the local school only to be sidetracked by a gang of giggling girls pointing at something in a nearby field. Intrigued, the boys strolled over to take a look; they soon regretted it because the girls spun round and started laughing at them, whispering to each other. With a begrudging nod the boys turned round and continued their journey to the bottom of the hill, deciding it better to steer clear of anything that interested girls. Once in school the talk at break times concerned (as it usually did) the latest quidditch results and the trading of chocolate frog cards. However, as lunch approached there was an unmistakable air of excitement in the school, even the teachers looked expectant. Rumours were flying around the classrooms like charmed paper aeroplanes, some claimed that a famous face would be visiting to give a talk, others that a new teacher would be arriving soon, but by far the most interesting of them was that some kind of crime had been committed in the village. The rumour had been started by Percy Trittle, a small lad from one of the lower years who claimed he had heard the teachers gossiping about vandalism in the area. James and Theo both agreed that the best option was to ask one of the parents about it, if it was that important it would reach their ears one way or another.

The day passed with little incident, leaving a feeling amongst the students of disappointment. The most widely believed rumour had been that the Famous Harry Potter would be delivering a speech to the school, and although his age prevented him from anything too physical, his talks on the Dark Arts and how to defeat them always provided inspiration and fascination.

At the end of the school day the teachers waved good-bye for the weekend and reminded everyone to be sensible and safe. James and Theo discussed the evening's antics with the boys in their class; with most agreeing that a trip to the woods would provide most entertainment.

On arriving home, James was welcomed by his father and 5 suitcases ready to be packed into the car.

'We're taking a holiday!' beamed Hugo, clearly exited by the prospect. 'I think you'll like where we're going'.

'Is it Godric's Hollow again dad?' groaned Craig, ' We've already seen Aunt Rose three times this year already and it's only May.'

'How did you guess?' laughed Hugo. 'Sylvia, are you ready?' Hugo shouted to his wife up the stairs. 'Go and take the cases to the car boys, we'll be out in a minute. I just have to send an owl to Rose.'

The three brothers marched towards the car, carrying the suitcases above their heads, their mother was brilliant at enchanting items and James was sure these suitcases had come under the skill of her wand; they were as light as feathers and yet held enough clothes for the weekend. The suitcases were chucked into the car one by one and the boys shut the boot and jumped in the middle, as they buckled their seat-belts tables folded over their legs and three packs of playing cards appeared. They had the faces of famous witches and wizards moving on them, rather like the trading cards included in chocolate frogs. This was another of Sylvia's brilliant ideas, the card tables and cards certainly kept the boys quite on the long journey to Godric's Hollow meaning Hugo could concentrate on the tricky business of driving the car.

Three hours of cards and arguments later the Montgomerie family arrived in Godric's Hollow at number 31 to Aunt Rose smiling and waving on the doorstep. She ushered them in and collected their baggage with a flick of her wand. Once inside the overwhelming smell of lamb stew dazzled James' senses, the whole family took in the smell and sighed. Aunt Rose offered them steaming bowls of the broth which were accepted with gratitude, none of them wasted any time in eating their fill.

After a good hearty meal the three brothers asked to leave the table and headed straight upstairs to the games room, what new delights had Aunt Rose acquired for the boys this time? They were just approaching the door when a loud bang erupted outside. Colourful patterns of light were exploding over the village and a small group of men in long black robes looked to be the cause of the commotion.

James turned quickly around to see the men through the window. They had wands and were shooting sparks of all colours from them while shouting slogans. They seemed to be looking at Aunt Rose's house!

Fear gripped James as he realised what was happening, he had heard of these demonstrations in the Daily Prophet before. Ever since the fall of Lord Voldermort and the rise of the liberal side of wizarding politics people had become more and more averse to the pure-blood population, and in particular the Slytherin orientated section of the pure-bloods. An extremist group called the pure-muds were making examples of pure-bloods up and down the country; this must have been one of those examples.

'You three stay upstairs!' Shouted Aunt Rose. The panic in her voice was unmistakable, It would have been better if she had said nothing at all, thought James.

Muffled voices floated up from downstairs, although it was too quiet to make out what was being said. Then suddenly a shout clattered through the silence like an explosion,

'NO HUGO!!!' It was Sylvia, 'THEY WON'T LISTEN' her voice cracked with emotion as the front door shut and jeers erupted from outside. James rushed to the window along with Craig and Alex; they peered outside hoping in desperation not to see what they thought they were seeing. Their father marched towards the cloaked crowd, waving his arms in an attempt to gain an audience, the gesture had little effect and soon the crowd started firing jets of sparks towards him in an attempt to scare him. Hugo stood his ground firmly and refused to use his wand. All three boys were crying now, the situation was spiralling out of control as Sylvia and Aunt Rose rushed out to help Hugo, but it was no use, the ringleader held up his arm and ushered silence.

James couldn't hear what was being said but Hugo looked to be pleading with them to consider their actions. The cloaked figures were gradually moving closer, until suddenly a bolt of red light shot from the crowd and hit Hugo smack in the chest. More jets of light followed as Sylvia and Aunt Rose retaliated to the stun spell. A final burst of light and around twenty loud crack's told the boys that the fight was over, the crowd had dissaperated and left their victims alone.

The silence that followed was unbearable, none of the boys daring to speak, none of them being able to comprehend what had just happened. Aunt Rose came rushing through the front door and upstairs before making sure she had contact with them all and dissaperating as well. James hadn't expected the feeling to be pleasant but this was horrible, when they arrived at the destination all three boys struggled to hold back vomit.

'Where are we?' Alex asked Aunt Rose. 'And where's mum and dad?'

'They should be inside, they left before us. We're at St Mungos, your dad suffered a bit of an injury!' replied Aunt Rose.

Inside the hospital people with all kinds of injuries were moaning and groaning about their strife. A short, podgy nurse with a squashed face escorted the family to the ward in which their father lay, unconscious and pale.

'He'll pull through.' The nurse said with an encouraging smile, 'quite a nasty set of jinx's hit him but nothing we can't fix.'

She turned away from the boys and looked to Aunt Rose, 'I hate to ask this now but it's my job see, have you got the money to pay for the treatment?' she asked timidly.

'Probably not!' retorted Aunt Rose, clearly annoyed that the magical community had to pay to receive medical treatment. 'But I suppose we will have to find it.'

'I'm really sorry, I don't make the rules though.' The nurse whimpered.

Over the next few days James learned that his father had suffered multiple jinx's and curse's, pushing him to the edge of life. The nurse's had told the family that he may never walk again as a result of the attack, but that he looked as if he was definitely pulling through. Three painstakingly long days later Hugo came around, to the delight of his family and within the week he was ready to be taken home.

Upon arrival in Limeshaw Crescent in a ministry arranged car, a welcoming party greeted the family with banners and friendly faces. Hugo was first out of the car with his walking stick, waving happily to his friends and neighbours. The rest followed in sync, wanting more than anything to get inside the house but knowing that they would have to stand around talking for a while.

Out of the crowd, James spotted Theo and waved him over.

'I'm so sorry about what happened James, I hope they get what's coming to them!' Theo scathed.

'Yeh me too mate, at least dad can walk. They told us at the hospital that he might never walk again, but he can with his walking stick so that's a positive.' James replied half-heartedly.

'Well I guess you'll be wanting to get inside, I'll leave you guys too it! Oh and by the way, think there's something inside you're gonna enjoy!'

James wondered what he had meant by this. Curious, he asked his parents if he could go in and following the go-ahead from his mother he rushed through the front door. There, lying on the doormat was a letter, addressed to him in green ink.

Mr James Montgomerie

Number 17

Limeshaw Crescent

England

Excitement bubbled within James, he could feel the happiness surge through his body like a steam-train.

'Suppose I'd better wait for mum and dad' James thought to himself, they would be disappointed not to be involved in this.

He waited patiently for the greeting party to disband and watched his parents say their goodbyes and head for the house, the door opened and they immediately saw the letter in his right hand. A grin of monstrous proportions spread over both their faces, they hugged and kissed James and then his father said

'Go on then, open it, I can't bear the suspense.'

'Dear Mr Montgomerie' James read aloud. Alex and Craig were now in the house, equally exited they jumped up and down whooping and clapping.

'We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.'