Ch. 1

It was a hot day. Chris didn't like being outside when it was hot. Usually he stayed inside, but the headmistress had been short with him lately. Well, she had always been a little harsh, complaining about all of the damages he caused, but recently, nothing he could do was right. He tried to help her clean, but all the soap would he told her, the headmistress told him he was a liar and that if he didn't want to clean inside, he could sweep the courtyards up. But then the broom would catch on fire.

"Hey,you. freak."

He closed his eyes. Not today, please. He didn't want to deal with the bullies of his orphanage.

"Hey, freak. I'm talking to you."

Chris knew better than to stay standing still, to pretend not to hear. That would earn him a bigger beating than if he played along. He slowly turned around, dreading the gang of jerks whose daily chores included tormenting him as much as possible.

"So, freak. What happened, huh?" The leader sneered. His groupies sniggered.

This was the gist of it. When the headmistress received Chris, it was noted that his eyes were 2 different colors. The doctor told her it would clear up before the age of 3 and not to worry. But it didn't. And the bullies saw it as him being different. They tormented him relentlessly about it, and that just got worse as weird things started happening. One time, he was so angry at the bullies that all of them were colored purple. Or the time he was so afraid about starting school, all his clothes shrunk and he had nothing to wear. It was weird things like that which kept him the constant victim.

Once again, the broom caught on fire. Chris decided that, for sake of safety and to avoid trouble, he get another broom. He looked in the broom closet. None. Well, some of the other kids left the brooms in the kitchen. None there either. Maybe one of the bathrooms? Nope. Chris frowned. Where had the brooms gone? If he didn't sweep up, the headmistress would punish him. He heard giggling. He whirled around. Some of the girls were laughing behind their hands. Chris suddenly knew what was going on. Sure, not all the kids tormented him, but no one liked him. This was one of their pranks. They just loved to hide things from him. Well, the headmistress kept one broom in her office. If he just explained what happened, maybe she would lend it to him. At least, it was better than spending the afternoon searching the recesses of the orphanage for the others. Determined, Chris headed toward the office.

The headmistress had one policy when it came to her office: if the door was closed, don't come in. Fortunately the door was open. Chris began to open it when he heard voices. He hesitated. The door was open, which meant that anyone could enter. But if the headmistress was in a conversation, she would kill him for interrupting. Unsure what to do, he stood still by the door.

"has the mailman been here yet?" the headmistress asked.

"Not yet. But several of the kids are watching, you know, waiting to see if any letters from pen pals have shown up." It was one of the helpers. Chris couldn't tell which one.

"Good. Damn them! Used to be easy. Just don't answer the door. But now, they send letters. And if you don't answer, they just send more next time! Can you guess how many they sent last week?"

"No. How many?"

"20."

"Really? And all of them were addressed to Chris what do they want with him?"

"I know what they want, but if I have my say, he's not going. He's going to grow up like any normal boy, right here in the orphanage, not with them!"

Chris was stunned. Someone was sending him letters? Why hadn't the headmistress told him? Why did she want to hide it from him? Who was writing him, and why did the headmistress not want him to contact them? Chris just stood there. There was footsteps behind him.

"Headmistress! The cook wants to know what to make for dinner!"

The door flew open. Chris looked up into the face of the surprised headmistress. She looked down on his face, and open her mouth to speak. Chris fled. He couldn't believe it. Yes, the headmistress hadn't been overly kind, but keeping some correspondence from him? He ran into the back courtyard. Chris was shocked at what he found there. There were owls everywhere and letters all around on the ground. He picked one up eagerly. It was addressed to him! Quickly, he pushed it into his pocket, and glancing around, he headed off toward his room. Once the door was shut, he pulled out the letter. He glanced over it. He thought about opening it, then decided it would be better to wait until nightfall. He knelt near his bed, where there was a loose floorboard. He opened it up, hid the letter, and closed it so no one would notice. Just as he stood up, the door crashed open and the headmistress stood in its frame. Her face was a whitish porridge color, her hair standing on end, like some demented halo, and her breath came in short, heavy gasps.

"Where is it?" The headmistress demanded.

"Where is what, ma'am?" Chris asked innocently, hoping that if he pretended he didn't know long enough, she would leave and he could read his letter.

"Don't you dare play dumb with me. I saw you grab one of them. One of the letters. I know you have it. So, where is it?"

Chris said nothing. He just stared at the headmistress as she waited for an answer.

"Give me the letter! You're not going to that cursed school! So give me the bloody letter!" The headmistress shrieked.

"Oh, so that's why he wasn't gettings his letters. And to think, I thought it was the mailman." A cool, female voice remarked. The headmistress turned around, frightened.

A woman walked into the room. She was as different in appearance as in personality. She had straight, though somewhat bushy, hair. She wore a black over coat over a sweater and jeans.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm Hermione Weasley. I teach muggle studies at Hogwarts. You must be Chris?"

The headmistress flinched at the word "Hogwarts". "I demand that you leave at once, madam. You are trespassing."

Hermione seemed very surprised. "Trespassing? I would hardly call a 11 year old notice trespassing. After all, we did tell you we would be coming back when we placed Chris in your care."

"You put me here?" Chris blurted out.

"Well, yes. A Muggle orphanages was the only choice at the time."

"Muggle?" Chris was very confused.

Hermione smiled. "Why don't you get your letter and read it?" When Chris hesitated, she replied, "don't worry. I promise she—" She jerked her head in the direction of the headmistress, "that she won't take it away."

Chris stood for a moment before getting back out his letter. He opened it and read,

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

Of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Harry Potter

(defeater of he-who-must-not-be-named; Order of merlin, first class)

Dear Mr. Fouracres,

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.

Yours sincerely,

Hermione Weasley

Deputy Headmistress

Chris couldn't believe it. He looked up at Hermione.

"Mrs. Weasely, this can't be true. There's no way I'm a wizard, or have been accepted at a school for one."

Hermione smerked. "Nonsense. You are one. We've had your name down in the books since your birth. Please trust me. Now, come along."

Chris stops and thinks for a moment. Now that he thought about it, all the weird stuff that happened around him couldn't be explained by anything but magic. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go with the Mrs. Weasley. After all, he could easily slip away from her if she turned out to be crazy. And he knew his way back to the orphanage. Chris stepped to Hermione.

But the headmistress, who had been unusually quiet, wasn't ready for her charge to leave. She put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. Suddenly, Hermione turned around and pointed a slender stick at her. The headmistress froze.

"Lady, you must be thickheaded! Any young witch or wizard is a danger if left without a proper education, and with Chris's potential youd be crazy not to let him go! To leave him uneducation whould bring chaos. Since you are unfit to educate this fine young man, I'll be taking him with me." With that, Hermione left the headmistress standing in Chris's old bedroom, Chris following behind.

In the front courtyard, a red-headed, tall, lanky man stood, waiting. When he saw Hermione and Chris, he relaxed visibly.

"So, everything went alright? Good." The man thrust out his hand to Chris. "My name is Ronald Weasley, and I've also been asked to escort you."

Chris shook the hand. "Weasley? Does that mean…"

The man winked. "Yup, I'm married to this lovely woman. But more about that later. We need to get you to the Leaky Cauldron. We've got a busy schedule tomorrow."

Hermione and Ron left the courtyard and began to walk down the street. Chris followed, looking back only once at his old life, ready to begin a new one.