A/N Hiya! This is my first fic, like I said in the summary, so anything you want to say would be appreciated! I have a bunch of chapters already written, but once I upload all of that, things will probably slow down a bit. Well, enjoy!

It started on a Friday. I was sitting at home, reading to my little sister, Lizzie, who was experimenting with her new broomstick (in the house, of course). She was absolutely certain that someday, she would move to England and be the best chaser they had ever seen, and I didn't want to crush her dreams, at least not yet. Since we lived in America, I thought it unlikely she would ever truly leave for England besides the occasional trip to see a famous game. She had pestered me into getting Dad's book on Quidditch and reading it to her. I was sitting with my feet propped on the coffee table, reading from Quidditch through the Ages. Our house elf, Mitzi, was bobbing anxiously near a fragile vase, which Lizzie was gradually flying closer to.

I was explaining "cobbing" to her when I heard the familiar pecking of an owl on the window. I felt excitement coursing through me as I stood up from the table. I was 11, and I was expecting a letter from the Salem Witches' Academy any day now for my letter of acceptance. It was really disappointing to see, every time, that it was just a letter from this or that person, not SWA.

This time is different, I told myself, this is the letter, no doubt about it! I rushed to the window, squeezing past my floating sister, and saw…my Mom's owl, Harper. Definitely not an SWA owl.

I opened the window and she hopped inside, settling on the windowsill. Lizzie intoned, "Oh, it's just Mom's owl," My thoughts exactly. I untied the letter from her leg and walked back to the table while Harper flew back out of the window. I tore it open as I sat down. It was one of the routine notes she sent home every few days.

All it said was, "I'll be staying late tonight. Dad and I will be coming home to talk to you about something that has recently come up. Have a productive day, girls!" I felt slightly disappointed it was so short, but I was now curious. What couldn't she tell us in the note? I was suddenly nervous. Maybe SWA had told her that I was ineligible for the academy! Calm down, I told myself, You're just overreacting. Lizzie got impatient, so she dismounted, ran over to me and attempted to read over my shoulder. I leaned away and covered the note saying, "Hey, chill, Lizzie! I was going to read it to you!" She backed off.

I told her what the cryptic note said. She seemed just as surprised as I was. But then, of course, she lost interest in the situation because of the tray of cookies Mitzi was, successfully, using to tempt her away from her broom. So much for speculating with her. I signaled for Mitzi to send up some cookies to my room. She nodded and went to the kitchen for a plate as I walked out of the room and up the spiral staircase to my loft.

My loft was a cozy area, depending on your definition of cozy. I had 2 rooms and a bathroom to myself. One of the 2 rooms was my bedroom; the other had recently become my library. Well, it was more of a small-collection-of-books room. The color scheme of all the rooms was purple, the color of my favorite house at SWA, Fairweather. Literally everything was purple. The walls were splattered with random spots of purple, all different shades, on a background of lavender (thank you, paintballs!). All the light sconces, hooks, and picture frames were tinted purple metal. My bed frame was made of ash wood because it was the easiest wood to dye purple. My bed sheets were purple with an "SWA" in copper-colored lettering. I'd even had my parents tint my pictures purple as a joke one year! I think I've made my point that my bedroom was filled to the brim with purple.

A little on the aforementioned Fairweather house at SWA. The house is named after Hannah Fairweather, who won the title of "Best Scholar at the School". Pretty prestigious, huh? The name of the house changes with each new "Best Scholar". And there are few enough of those; Hannah has had her name on the house for a record-breaking 40 years! The house is almost like a fraternity, except that it's co-sexual and based solely on academics. They play in the big leagues over there. It'll be hard to get in, but I feel obligated to at least try.

I headed to my library. I'm proud to say that it's quite extensive for having been barely added to until a few years ago. I had purposely made myself not buy a bunch of books about SWA. I had to remind myself that SWA was going to be only 8 years of my life, so they would be pointless afterwards. To be sure I didn't miss anything interesting, I picked up random books from every bookstore I saw, of every kind of subject. After all, you can't judge a book by its cover. Plus, who knew what kind of interesting things could be hidden in one of them!

When I had picked a book up off a table, I strolled back out to my bed and plopped down next to the plate of cookies that had appeared on my bedside table. If I had to wait for my parents to get home, then I was going to wait in comfort.

I glanced down at the book in my lap and did a double-take. I thought I had picked up the novel I'd started a week ago, a stereotypical fantasy about a knight slaying a dragon and saving a damsel in distress, but this was a book called "Hogwarts, A History", about some far-off school in England! How did I miss that?! Well, they did have a similar cover, a castle surrounded by a dense forest with mountains in the background. I was already sitting down, so I grabbed a cookie and started to read.

It was really interesting, actually! The school, named the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was deemed the "finest school of magical education in Europe." There were four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The students were "sorted" into the houses at the beginning of their first year. They used Godric Gryffindor's hat to sort them. Weird!

I read and read and read until I was ¾th's of the way through. I looked up and saw that the windows were dark. Mom and Dad should be getting home soon! I put my book down, stretched luxuriously, and then walked downstairs to the kitchen, where Lizzie was sitting quietly, reading Quidditch through the Ages intently. Of course.

Just as I was about to ask if Mom and Dad were home yet, they walked through the door, looking tired and downcast. Dad saw us both sitting at the table and said, "Good, you're together. We can just tell you here." And that was definitely not suspicious.

Mom came over to us and sat down with a pained expression, like she really, really wanted to be anywhere but here. Dad followed her over and said, "We have some news, girls…we're moving to England. In two weeks." Utter silence greeted this statement.

He hurried on, "My job has moved me to London, and so…we're going. Salem Witch Academy was contacted, and you have been taken off the roster, Alexia." It felt like the floor had dropped out from beneath me. His words circled around in my head as I tried to think of an answer. I can't be sure, but I think I said, "O-okay, Dad."

SWA was my life! I couldn't just move to England and leave everything I had behind; my friends, my house, and the school I'd grown up planning to go to! I couldn't, could I?