Age: 11. Three months before Hogwarts

My name is George Weasley.

I received your letter a while ago. Sorry it took so long to write back. You didn't mention the address of your orphanage so I had to do research to find you. I understand you hate it there, I just hope things haven't gotten worse since you write the letter.

If you tie a letter to this owl, then it will send it back to me. Below I'll try to explain why strange things have been happening like that doorknob exploding. My wife says we should adopt you if someone hasn't already. And we could take you to school.

Okay, the reason all that has been happening to you is because you are a wizard.

That was when I put down the letter. I was hoping no one would take that letter seriously. I wrote it two years ago. Then I threw it out my window. Oh how stupid and childish I was then...

But besides that, this was beyond stupid! I officially knew that all adults were gits. Nothing this Mr. Weasley said makes sense.

What owl was this talking about? Did an owl drop it off at the front desk or something? That's ridiculous.

But, what if Mr. Weasley was telling the truth? He was actually thinking of adopting me. That I was a wizard. Me. The freak who could only accomplish trouble and was only a burden. I was a wizard.

"Smith!"

I shoved the letter under my pillow and stood up at attention. Smith isn't my real last name. It's just the name they give us kids who were dropped of here with no last name. But that tone of voice always meant it was me. And that was never good for me. What did I do this time? I've been in here the whole day.

The door opened and I was met with one of the ladies who work here. She was a plump lady with blonde hair in tight curls, and narrow blue eyes with make-up to make them look awake and kind. She wore the traditional gray long sleeve shirt all the staff wore. Her legs were hidden by a black shirt that went down to her ankle.

"Yes ma'am?" I said. I held in a cough as my throat complained from lack of water.

"Someone is here to see you." She said sourly, looking me up and down. "Get dressed." She snapped before turning on her black heel and closing the olive green door.

My room wasn't much, but I had been living here my whole life. It was worse than what other kids got, but I managed. It has a bed, a window, a mirror, and a closet. The window and door had locks to no surprise. But I don't think Missy would lock the door of she wanted me out.

I want to the closet and opened it slowly, looking inside. I had hand-me-downs from just about every other kid who's walked in and out of this place. Including some girl's clothing.

I threw off my gray pyjamas and put on a black shirt, dark jeans with holes at the knees, and my gray jacket. Not very colourful, I know. I just don't care either.

I slipped on a pair of worn red Converse and a Doctor Who belt held together by duct tape, then headed out.

I immediately felt the eyes of the other kids. I admit, I looked awful. The clothes always looked to big and I was pale. My black hair was always a mess but looked a bit better in a ponytail. But I looked like a pineapple. And my brown eyes were very narrow and depressed looking.

"If you're thinking of adopting that child, I should warn you."

I paused before I went down the stairs, hearing the staff lady and another person talking. Who was she talking to? Could it really be Mr. Weasley? I thought he said he was thinking about it.

"Oh, it's okay ma'am." Came a light voice most likely belonging to a man in his mid-thirties or something like that. "I'm sure we can handle him."

I began going down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He sounded nice enough, but was that a facade or not?

I got to the bottom and looked up at the mess of red hair I saw. I tried to make myself as normal-looking as possible and put on a smile.

"Hello mister!" I said with fake cheerfulness. "I'm Kage Smith." I closed my eyes, hoping that would make the smile more believable.

"Oh! Kage!" The man gasped. I could hear the smile in his voice.

I opened my eyes to see he had gotten down on one knee and looking at me with round hazel eyes.

"So, did you get my owl?" He asked softly.

I was confused as to what he meant. Did he send me an owl or something? Why would anyone do anything with an owl?

"You're Mr. Weasley?" I asked, my hyper child act gone. He didn't seem to care. And it was tiring to keep that up anyway.

He nodded. "Yes. I sent you that letter a month ago. My wife got concerned when you never wrote back. So I promised her I would visit today." He pulled out a thin stick and poked my stomach with it. I felt a soft shock run through my body. It felt warm. When I opened my mouth to ask what just happened, he just shook his head. He stood up suddenly, like nothing out of the ordinary just happened. The strange stick was gone.

"And here I am." He turned his back to me and looked at an unapproved staff lady. "I'm going to adopt Mr. Kage, if you don't mind." He said, but in a way that meant he wasn't taking no for an answer. He pulled out a packet of papers from his maroon coat. There wasn't a single wrinkle in the whole packet! "The proper paperwork, am I correct?"

I watched, still not having moved from my spot a step in front of the stairs. He was going to adopt me? He had sent the letter a month ago? I got it this morning. The lady took the packet and flipped through it.

After about five minutes of this nerve-wrecking silence, she threw the packet on the desk then turned a glare at me.

"To get your things, Kage. You've been adopted." She said kindly, but her eyes were saying Get out of here or I'll skin you alive.

I nodded and glanced at Mr. Weasley before turning and running up the stairs.

I saw something in Mr. Weasley's eyes, only for a split second though. He looked at me with familiarity. Did I look like someone he knew? That's impossible, though. Unless he knew my parents or something. I don't know.

I put the letter in my pocket as I packed a small pack I used for school. My clothes, and a few books was all I had to pack. It was all I needed.

"What do you think you're doing, Smith? Running away?" Came a voice from my doorway.

I spun around and looked up at the six-foot, two-hundred-pound Wyatt standing in the doorway.

"I just got adopted." I said calmly with a shrug. That should make his empty head spin.

"Haha! You're lying." Wyatt said after a few moments. "Who would want you? They'll probably just bring you back here anyway."

I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to finish. His words hurt, yes. But I wasn't going to show him that they did. It would only mean more trouble in the future.

He clenched his fists and took a step towards me. And when I took a step back, I had already given him the victory he wanted.

"You scared? Well, you should be. You know what happens to kids who are returned. You know very well." He raised his fist and hit my head, making me fall backwards as I tried to avoid it. I landed on my backside and bit my lip.

"Which room is B37, again? Oh, this one? Thank you miss!" Mr. Weasley's voice echoed into the room, making Wyatt freeze.

He looked at me before running out. I never understand why he always ran at the sound of adults who didn't work here. Maybe it's because he knows he won't get in trouble with the staff here.

As I pushed myself up off the floor, Mr. Weasley walked in.

"Oh! There you are, buddy!" He grinned at me. He looked around the room. "This place is awful. Your new room will be much better, I promise." He held out his hand to me and it took every brain cell to not flinch. But, I think I did anyway because of the look he gave me. He turned his hand so the palm was downwards and put it on my head, moving his thumb as if petting a dog or cat.

I stood still and looked up at him questionably. This wasn't what people normally did. Why was he doing it?

"Come on. Let's go home." He grinned and lightly pushed me in front of him and we began walking out the door.

I couldn't shake the feeling, that something wasn't right, or normal. Especially when we walked out the door and down an abandoned street. I looked down at my feet and saw I was walking in his shadow. And it was radiating a soft of warm orange. There was also a very comforting warmth from it to. But also a coldness, it was faint but noticeable. What is that?

"Hold onto my arm, and don't hurl on me." He said.

I grabbed his arm and I immediately understood why he said what he said. The street disappeared and it felt like I was turned inside out, shoved into a tube, then pulled out and turned outside out.

My feet got solid ground, making me grip the arm that was still in my hands. I kept my eyes on the ground until everything finally stopped spinning. Then I looked up at Mr. Weasley who was watching me, a smile pulling at his lips. That immediately made me frown.

"Think it's amusing?" I asked.

Then he laughed and shook his head. "No. Not at all. Most wizards hurl their first time apparating."

"...App-a-rating?" I said slowly.

"Yes." Mr. Weasley nodded. "It's a way to travel from one place to another. You won't be able to do it until you pass the test at Hogwarts."

By now I had relaxed my grip and was looking around. "Test? Hog-warts?" I muttered to myself. But those thoughts were almost immediately gone when I looked around.

We were in what appeared to be the living room. There was a door leading outside to our left and a staircase to our right. A doorway went right under the staircase and I could see a kitchen. What caught my attention in there was what looked like a broomstick moving on it's own.

Dong!

I jumped in surprise and my attention was brought to a clock thing. It had arrows with names on it. And five sections labelled Home, Work, Hogwarts, Store, and Hospital. The arrow saying Dad just finished moving to Home.

"Dad's home!" Came an excited girl voice from up the stairs. She sounded about my age, most likely older.

"I hear that, Roxanne. Tell him I'll be down in a minute." Responded an older male voice. Like a teenager.

"I think he can hear you two just fine." said a woman's voice from the kitchen.

I listened as two footsteps ran down the stairs and one set came from the kitchen towards us. I watched the kitchen as a woman with dark skin and black hair pulled into a tight bun walked into the room. She was wearing what looked like a violet robe of some sort.

"Is this Kage?" She asked, looking at me.

"Yes! Kage, meet my wife Angelina." Mr. Weasley said.

I glared at him as he called me Kage. Then I looked at Angelina. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley." I said politely.

She smiled. "Just call me Angelina, or Mom." She said the last part softly but I still heard it.

"Wow! Look at your hair!" I spun around in surprise to see a young girl who looked a lot like her mother. She put a hand on my hair, patting it lightly. "It's really stiff and oily. You could really be a pineapple."

I narrowed my eyes at her. She must be Roxanne.

"Rox, as true as that may be, it's still rude."

Said the boy from behind me. I turned so I could see both of them and took a step backwards as they stepped together. The boy was tall. And almost a perfect copy of Mr. Weasley.

"I'm Fred. This is my sister Roxanne. Mum told us that Dad was getting a kid from an orphanage." He offered me his hand and I slowly shook it. He smiled at me, but didn't let go of my hand. "Welcome to the family."