"Samantha!" Yelled a voice. I looked up from my book. "Yes Mum?" I say. "The post is here!" I get up from my bed, and rush down the stairs, anxious to get back to my reading my 2nd hand copy of Little Women. I open the front door. A rush of warm air blows into my face, the sky is a deep blue. Then I see something very odd. A brown owl is flying up over the trees. I cock my head in confusion, aren't owls nocturnal?
Still pondering this, I bend down and pick up the small pile of letters. There are multiple bills, a letter from my Aunt, a postcard from my friend Vicky: who's on holiday visiting her relatives in Italy; and a letter addressed to me. On the envelope it says: "Miss Samantha Bainsbury, The front door, Number 11, Watercross street, Evanstown."
Curiously, I put the letter in my pocket. Dumping the other letters on the table, but taking Viki's from the pile, I grab some toast and head back to my room. I open the letter from the unknown person first. It read:
"HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore.
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Bainsbury,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Since you are a muggleborn, a witch or wizard will come on the 7th of July to give you further details. We await your owl by no later than the 31st of July, Term begins on the 1st of September.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress."
It was a prank. It had to be a prank. It was must be like those spam letters Mum always complains about. But then I think of the owl that I saw flying up over the trees. "We await your owl by no later than the 31st of July" . Could it be a connection? I decide not to tell Mum just yet, she is going through too much stress with her failing business, this letter would just make it all worse.
Looking around my small bedroom, I analyse all the possible hiding places. My room is mediumly tidy, with assorted Jumpers and 2nd hand books lying around the place. We always struggle for Money, our family. Ever Since my Father passed away when I was seven, my Mum had had to support me and my three siblings, Nina, Tessa, and Ben. The house we were living in was rather shabby, but I secretly loved it. Nina always complained about how small it was, but seeing as she was very pretty and popular, she was probably used to seeing her friend's glamorous manchines whenever they had play dates. But Tess and Ben never complained.
I decide to stow the letter in a small gap between the shelf and the wall. This is where I put all my stuff that I don't want wrecked by my siblings. Nina never goes poking around in there because she is convinced there are creepy crawlies. Tessa, although persistent in her investigations, has an agreement with me that if she leaves my stuff alone, I'll leave her crush on the boy next door alone. And Ben will only look in the most obvious places before giving up completely.
Why I love this house so much, is that it is the first place that I can have a room of my own. I am definitely not one of those people who want everything to themselves. Like Nina. I love my siblings, but I do need a place to be with only myself.
Then a thought hits me, "Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment." I quickly take out the letter from it's hiding place and take the list out of the envelope.
"HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic
by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory
by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration
by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions
by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus."
I raised my eyebrows as I quickly scanned the list of equipment. Doubt stole over me, if this was spam, they had taken a lot of time to think of all of this. Why would someone send this sort of scam letter? Could it be, true….
I fling myself on the bed, still holding the letter. Surely not! I had been so sure it had been fake when I had read the letter, but after looking at the list I am now not so sure now. Me, a witch? I think hard. Has there ever been any strange signs in my life, hinting that I wasn't normal. No.
Yes!
*Flashback*
Charlotte and Miranda cornered me outside the classroom.
"You think you're so great, don't you? With Miss Lindsay fawning all over you for your, what was it? 'Extremely deep and thoughtful' essay." sneered Charlotte.
Miranda cackled. "Ha ha! What a load of garbage! You're just a stupid nerd, who has mousy hair and 2nd hand everything!"
As she said this she pulled my hair and kicked my shabby, trousered leg. "Well this is what we think of your essay!" Said Charlotte.
Before I could do anything she had snatched it from my hand, thrown on the ground and had stomped on it. "No, no, STOP!" I had yelled, lunging forwards. But Miranda and grabbed it, torn it into pieces and had thrown it in the bin.
They had laughed and then ran away. I yelled curses at them, then, my anger burning out, I had started to cry bitterly. Sobbing all the way back to the flat, I had done my homework and gone to bed with tears on my cheeks.
But then when I had woken up the next morning, I had looked at my bedside table. There was the Essay! Unharmed and looking just as it had done before Charlotte and Miranda had gotten it."
This memory flashed across my mind like a strike of lightning. I had been 9 years old when this had happened, living in an old flat in London with my family at the time. I had been mind boggled by this event, but I had eventually put it out of my head, assuming it was just some sort of strange miracle.
But other things like this had happened before. When I was five, and still been wealthy at the time with my Dad alive. It had been picture day, I had gone to school in a lovely white dress, then had accidentally spilled orange juice all over it at lunchtime. As a Teacher had rushed over to wipe it off, it had immediately started to fade, before she could even touch it with the cleaning liquid. There have been a lot more odd incidents like this before. But I always just thought of them as small phenomenons or coincidences.
But now they all seem connected. Could this mean I'm a witch? I faintly notice I am still standing in the same place and staring at the same spot in the letter. I shake myself mentally, then slip the piece of parchment back into the envelope and put it in the hiding place again.