"Mom! Do I have to go to the same school as Justin?" Alex Russo held her acceptance letter as far away from her as possible, scrunching her nose as if it was an extremely smelly sock. "He's such a know it all."

The nerdy twelve year old grinned from where he was seated on the couch. "Thank you."

"It's not a compliment." She shot back.

"Now Mija," Teresa gave her daughter an understanding smile. "Not many wizards in America get the opportunity to go to Hogwarts, it's a great honor. Plus you'll be able see all the great things in England before you have to go. Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye...We might even go shopping."

The black haired girl tuned out the the history lesson, focusing only when the she heard the words shopping. "Really?" It was worth Justins annoyingness of she got something good out of it. Looking at the list of things she needed she asked "Can I get a cat?" Toads were gross and just one owl pellet dissection was enough to steer her clear of the feathery creatures for awhile. A cat seemed easy to take care of, and just as lazy as she was.

"As long as you promise to behave."

Alex grinned as she looked at the acceptance letter again. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. She was finally going to use some real magic, plus there was a chance that her and Justin wouldn't even be in the same House. He was in Ravenfeather or something, probably some genius house where everyone was a dork like him.

"Guess what I heard?" Alex's dad climbed up the stairs from the sub shop, smelling slightly like meat and mayo. "Harry Potter is going to be in your grade this year Alex!."

Justin looked excited, but Alex just looked confused. 'Who's that?"

Her brother laughed. "You don't even know who Harry Potter is?I bet you don't even last one day at Hogwarts. Do you even know how to read?"

Alex stuck her tongue out at him. "At least I know how to dress in this century," She responded, referring to the cloak that was spread over his shoulders.

"Break it up." Said Jerry. " There was once an evil wizard, eviler than all the rest. His name was..." he paused. "His name was Voldemort." As he said this, it was like the lights got dimmer in the apartment. The name seemed dark to Alex, forbidden in some way. "When Harry Potter was a baby, the dark wizard tried to kill him, but he couldn't, and when he couldn't kill Harry, he disappeared.

"Is Voldemort dead?"

"No ones knows for sure." Jerry said. The room was quiet for a moment. No one was really sure what to say,

"Hey guys, look what I found!" Max made his appearance, trying to hold a very large puppy in his scrawny arms as he struggled up the stairs. The 9-year-olds face was filled with excitement.

"Max! You can not have a dog." All thoughts of the dark wizard was forgotten as alex's parents attempted to grab the animal from Max. He quickly disappeared back into the sub shop, apparently realizing that not everyone would be as excited about his finding as he was.

Alex tossed her letter onto the coffee table and picked up a magazine, sitting on the opposite side of the couch as he brother.

"I bet they don't even let you get on the train." He snickered, getting up.

She frowned. "I'll show you." Despite not wanting to go to Hogwarts, there was no way she was going to pass up a chance to prove him wrong.