A/N: ='3 This is a request fic for a friend of mine on gaia, RBTM. I hope she likes it!

It was July first when Lyra received a particularly strange letter in the mail which was sealed the old fashion way, with wax and a stamp that created a rather fancy design. She looked over it curiously, wondering whether or not to open it. The design looked so delicate to just suddenly rip it open. Her fingers lightly glanced over it before she flipped it over. She found there was no return address. Just a name of a place; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Chapter One; A Strange Beginning

Lyra had been at the park, swinging idly with a hand wrapped around a book and the other, just barely holding on to the swing. Her mother had sent her out for a bit to have some fun under the sun rather than spending all day cooped up in the house, reading. It wasn't that she didn't like going outside, but she would have preferred it if she had stayed inside the house. There was too many odd things that was happening around her and, for some reason, she didn't feel that it was too safe for her to stay out too long.

Odd things happened, like doors suddenly opening for her and when she'd look around to take the person, there was no one there. Sometimes, when she wanted something, especially when she was in front of those games with those cranes that just love to gip people, she'd just place her hand on there wanting it, and, all of a sudden, the glass just disappears and the toys spill out of the glass. As soon as someone comes up to fix it, the glass is fixed again, leaving people flabbergasted.

So, now, here she was, sitting on a swing reading when this strange barn owl flew up to her and delivered a letter, dropping it on her book before flying off elsewhere. Now, Lyra, looking at the paper in confusion, stops swinging and carefully picks it up as she looks to where the bird had flown. She couldn't help but wonder why the owl was holding a letter, much more what one was doing during the daylight hours. They are nocturnal, right? She thought curiously as she examined the envelope carefully. It was strange alright. Especially when she saw her name and address on the letter. She froze in her seat, looking around carefully to see if anyone was staring or watching her. Of course, no one was, she was alone at the moment. No one came to the park at this time of day. Most of her neighbors went to their summer homes and others were much to old to want to spend time at the park.

Needless to say, Lyra didn't feel safe there anymore. Standing abruptly, she only fell back to the ground when the seat came back and pushed her on the ground. She coughed out the dust, holding her book, with the letter tucked inside as a bookmark, close to her chest when she spotted a hand held down to her.

"Hey, need a hand?" The dusty blond girl asked.

Lyra nodded sheepishly, accepting the help gratefully. Still, she couldn't help but be a bit weary of the other girl. She hadn't seen the blond earlier and she doubts that even magic, not that she even believed in such a thing, could even make a person suddenly move from one spot to another.

She brushed the dirt off her pants, and her book, before looking back at the blond. "Not to be rude or anything, but I've never seen you around before."

The girl chuckled. "Yeah, about that. We just moved in a few days ago. I've been busy unpacking."

Lyra nodded wearily. She didn't remember seeing a moving van anytime in the past few days. Then again, I was inside reading for most of the time. She thought to herself as she looked for a way out of the conversation.

"Riiiinnnggg!"

"Riiiinnnnggg!"

The two jumped before the blond pulled her cellphone out of her coat pocket. She smiled at Lyra sheepishly before answering, a bit embarrassed to have suddenly jumped like that. The blond pulled the cell phone nearly an arm's length from her ear before answering it. "Hey! Where are you?! We're all worried! J-"

"Calm down." She answered, and the voice, surprisingly, did. "I was just out for some fresh air. 'Sides you're the one who wanted me to have some fun. Or are those boxes too much for you to handle?"

"...of course I can handle a few boxes."

She chuckled lightly. "I'll head home then." Cutting off the line, she looked at Lyra slowly. Her smile grew to a good natured, lopsided grin. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you. Don't keep tripping, okay? Wouldn't wanna see that pretty face of yours all bandaged up."

Lyra felt herself blush as she tried to protest, but her voice was caught in her throat.

~'*'~

Days passed Lyra by and she still hadn't opened the letter, much more remembered she had it. The blond she had met earlier occupied her thoughts much more than that letter ever could at the moment. She knew mostly everything that happens on her street. So why didn't I catch this one? She thought with a bit of a sigh as she laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. After that day, Lyra hadn't seen the other girl. Perhaps she's busy fixing up her house? She told herself, although she highly doubts it. Without school, there should have been enough time for her to do all that stuff. Unless they lived in like a mansion or something...

"Ugh! I can't sleep."

It was already late at night, approximately one am, when she heard a knock on her window. She had a hard time sleeping, especially when she was so darn close to finishing that one book she was reading earlier that day, but she couldn't focus enough to actually read it. Her mind was starting to go on the fritz from the lack of sleep. At first, she tried to ignore it. Perhaps some bird hit the window or something, she tried to convince herself.

"That'd be some idiotic bird." Lyra heard her inner voice say.

Another tap.

"Two birds." She told herself.

"That'd be some very idiotic bird." Lyra heard her inner voice say in a teasing tone.

And then another.

She sat up, slowly slipping into her slippers and headed toward the windowsill. Surprisingly enough, it was another owl, similar to the one she saw earlier. Her eyes lingered on the object that was clutched in its claws. Another letter. She thought, as her hands placed themselves on the glass to get a better look. Perhaps it's addressed to someone else this time. Brother, maybe. She silently hoped. The bird pecked at the window again, causing her to jump. It's just a bird. She told herself. It can't possibly try to harm me in here. She reasoned.

The owl dropped the letter there, on the flower pots that hung in front of the window before it left as suddenly as it had arrived. She looked around to see if there was another owl or something else nearby, watching her. There's no one out there. She assured herself as she took another look at the letter, which was flipped back to the side where the address was on.

Lyra M. Howard

"T-that's my name again!" She whispered loudly, remembering that the others were still sleeping.

Looking around again, she quickly nabbed the letter from the pots before nearly slamming the window lock again. Then, she plopped back on her bed with the letter in hand. Mother would be so mad if she found this! She reminded herself, rereading the address over again. A place of "Witchcraft and Wizardry" was not a place where a young, devote catholic would go. Or at least a girl who was related to a highly devoted catholic. She contemplated whether or not to open it this time.

Lyra sighed deeply, "It's not like I've got anything to lose. It could be a fake or something." She told herself as she used a pencil to break the seal. "Huh..." The seal broke with ease, just a touch of the pencil set it off to disappear into a mini mist of glitter. "That's odd." She thought as she pulled the letter out of the envelope. Lyra shifter in her seat, folding her legs beneath her bum. There was a few articles inside the envelope, which she found strange, considering that the envelope itself looked as if it couldn't carry as much as it had. Pulling them all out, she found that not all of it was a note directly towards her. There was lists of supplies that she would need if she would attend such a 'crazy' school.

"'One Wand. Cauldron is optional for first years...'" She read aloud from the list. For a fraud, they are sure taking this seriously. Lyra tried to convince herself that this wasn't real. There weren't people sending her letters to go to a school for witchcraft. And wizardry. Her inner voice teased. Come on, where's your sense of adventure? "I'm sorry, it must have died when these freaky things started to happen." The muttered sarcastically. Aw, don't be like that. Come on, it won't kill you if you just read the letter, right? Her inner voice said again as her eyes lingered on the note from the headmaster of the school. She couldn't help but think that her inner voice started sounding like that blond she'd met a while back.

"It couldn't hurt." She agreed reluctantly, as she picked up the parchment and began to read it aloud, careful to keep it to a whisper.

"Dear Lyra M. Howard,

For your magical abilities, you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a boarding school for children like you. I'm sure that you might be thinking that this is some sort of 'junk' mail or a fake. Well, I assure you, it's far from it.

Have you been experiencing some strange events that occur nearly spontaneously? Vanishing glass? Objects that move themselves? Your magic is developing and it is time you are taught how to use it. That is where we come in. We will help you hone your abilities in order to stop these events from occurring spontaneously and enable you to control them.

Many of our students come from wizardly families, but since you are new to the wizarding community, we will send a someone over to help you obtain the things you need for school. Do not worry. Your tuition has already been paid.

Please be ready by July twenty-second at ten o' clock sharp to be picked up.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

She shook her head. "Mom's so not going to like this." Taking a second glance, she noticed that the words seem to glitter on the page as well. Nothing about the note seemed normal at all. The content, the ink, and even the paper itself. It all seemed so surreal.

"Wait a minute. July twenty-second..." She got up and looked over to her calender. Her eyes widened slowly as she realized... "You've got to be kidding me. It's TOMORROW!" She nearly shouted before her hands clamped over her mouth.

~'*'~

In the next room over her sister heard the entire thing and smirked slightly. She had seen the letter a few days ago, when Lyra had first brought it in the house. Anne didn't mean to pry into her personal life, but she was acting particularly strange that day and she did her best to hide that letter from everyone. Too bad the only person she couldn't ever hide a secret from was her.

Of course, she wasn't against the idea. But she wasn't entirely for it either. She had seen the magic that Lyra had accidentally casted, but it was Lyra's choice in the end. If she wanted to go for it, Ann would support her just the same as if she didn't. "Now if only mother was the same." She said with a bit of a wince.

A/N: Oh my, is the mom really all that scary? And who's that blond that Lyra met earlier? Find out in a few days!