A/N: This story will follow along the same timeline as the original Harry Potter books. I will try to keep it as canon as possible, except for when inserting my OC. This is the first fan fiction I've written in a while, but I'm planning to follow along with all 7 books. Please let me know anything that you believe could help the story or let me know if there's anything I miss. Thank you all, hope that you like it!

Abigail and Oliver Lewis were a very nice, normal couple. They had a nice, normal house, with nice, normal jobs, and lived in a nice, normal suburb in sunny California. They had both grown up with normal, happy families and had little to no experience with anything out of the ordinary, by any means.

The Lewis' had a daughter however, who was extraordinary by very many means.

Alexandria Ryan Lewis was, on the surface, a very normal girl. On the inside of her incredible little mind, however, she was very far from it. By the time she was 5 she chose to go by her middle name, because she liked the feeling of being a little bit different than the rest of the little girls her age, and Alex or Alexandria was just much too common for her taste. She had also decided very early on, that though she wasn't sure what she wanted to do when she grew up she knew, just knew, that there was something out there wondrous and awesome that was waiting for her. She simply had no idea how big.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in the middle of July in which the event she had unknowingly been waiting for occurred.

Ryan awoke slowly, her eyes alighting on the heroin of the story she had been reading the previous night, who was brandishing a sword on the front cover. She smiled in her blissful state between wakefulness and dreams as she tried to hold on to the exciting dream she had just been experiencing. She covered her head with a pillow, groaning as she heard the soft sound of her mother's voice through the door.

"Ryan? Are you awake, sweetie?"

She paused just a moment too long in answering, and she heard the opening of her door as her mother walked in.

"Come on Ry, breakfast is on the table and you have to eat before your game. Your uniform is in the basket in the hall."

Ryan wondered if she could pretend to be asleep and stay in bed just a little bit longer, but her mother seemed to understand exactly what she had been thinking as Ryan felt her pulling back the comforter she was nestled under. A second later, the pillow was being lifted from her face and she was staring into the warm, brown eyes of her mother. Her mother was smiling down at her, her dark brown hair tumbling around her face in tight curls. "Come on, lazy. Time to get up."

"Mooom," Ryan said, her voice still rough with sleep.

"We'll be waiting downstairs. Don't make me come back and dress you!" Her mother said with a laugh in her voice as she closed the door again behind her. Ryan looked towards the window where the bright sun was streaming in. She wasn't sure why, but she had a special feeling about this day.

Less than ten minutes later, Ryan was hopping down the hall, pulling her red, knee length socks over her neon yellow shin guards.

"You do realize this isn't a real game right mom? It's just a scrimmage against another team in the league..." Ryan huffed as she sat down.

"Yes sweetie, but the way you play in practice is how you'll play in the game."

Ryan rolled her eyes at her mother's optimism and started stuffing her face.

Her parents were very into family meals, and would make a full spread for any meal they had the chance too. The food of choice for this particular breakfast was waffles, fresh fruit, eggs, and bacon. Ryan ate her meal as quickly as possible, tugging her unruly, frizzy brown curls into braids and standing up as she heard the horn from her ride outside.

"Bye guys, love you, see you later!"

"Love you!" Her parents called at the same time as she dashed out of the house.

Ryan stepped onto the front porch, pausing with interest as an owl flew lazily overhead, heading slowly lower. She climbed into the back of the minivan and wondered what it could possibly be doing out at 8:30 am in the morning.

The minivan pulled back up in front of their little house after a long match, Ryan's thoughts far from the tawny owl from earlier. Ryan hopped out, sweaty and covered in dirt, waving goodbye to her friends as the van drove off. She froze on her walk to the door as she noticed the same owl from earlier sitting on the top of her house. She tilted her head, thinking it was definitely very strange to see an owl at this time, let alone one that had been sitting there in broad daylight for 3 hours. She walked inside, tossing her soccer bag onto the floor by the couch and heading upstairs to change out of her mud covered uniform. She couldn't help her mind wandering to the owl outside and thinking of all the fantastical reasons an owl could be breaking its regular routine to sit on her house, of all houses.

She dressed quickly and head back down to the living room to plop down in front of the computer, to look up different types of owls that would be up and around during the day. As she was reading a particularly interesting piece on Northern Pygmy owls, she heard a tapping on the window across the living room by the door. She glanced up and saw a large tawny owl pecking lightly at the window and letting out hoots muted by the glass. She frowned slightly. She hadn't seen the other owl up close, but this one looked larger. What could possibly bring two owls to her house at such random times?

She hopped out of her chair and ran to the front door to let it in, completely oblivious to the fact that she should probably not have been letting strange owls inside the house without the permission of her parents. The owl flew in gracefully, landing on the dining table, ruffling its feathers and hooting happily. Ryan stared at it for a moment in wonder before approaching it slowly, tentatively. The owl blinked large eyes at her and simply stared as she made her slow approach, as if this were completely normal. Once she was close enough, she slowly reached out a hand, which the owl nuzzled against, nipping lightly at her fingers.

She gasped slightly as she felt the owl's cold beak and jerked her hand back. It hooted with what she could swear was an annoyed tone, and stuck out it's leg importantly. She only then noticed that there was something tied to it. She reached toward the thin silk ribbon that kept the letter attached to its leg nervously, and then continued with more confidence as the owl let her untie it with no problems. She stared at the letter in her hands. The envelope looked like old paper, paper she had only seen in movies and bookstores before. She turned it over and inspected the dark red seal, running her fingers over the cool wax. Stamped into the wax was a shape with an H in the middle. The shape was split into 4 parts, with the shape of an animal in each quarter. She squinted trying to figure out what the animals were, and what the writing said below the seal. She gave up trying to figure out the symbol in the wax and turned it back over to read the emerald green handwriting on the front "Alexandria Lewis, 5672 Donoba Way, Folsom, California." She glanced up at the owl, who was looking at her expectantly, and back down at the letter. The owl had let out a soft hoot, and she imagined it was somewhat of an encouraging hoot. She turned the envelope over and opened it with slightly shaking hands, unsure of why she was nervous, but understanding that this was in no way normal. She pulled out the heavy papers inside (there were two of them) and started reading the one on top.

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 Ms. Lewis,

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 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Ryan stared at the letter, reading it once, twice, three more times, before squealing and screaming for her mother, who came running down the hall with her hair sticking up in every direction and looking like she was about to have a heart attack.

She handed her mother the letter, grinning from ear to ear.

Her mother's eyes scanned across the letter multiple times, her brow knitting closer together with each read, before sitting down at the table. She eventually put down the letter and stared at the owl on their table before pulling out the other page that had been included with the letter. A smaller piece of paper fell to the ground, escaping her mother's notice. Ryan picked it up, reading "For all muggle parents, a representative will be provided to answer all questions. Please expect your representative the following day."

Ryan's mother stood up and grabbed the phone, walking into the other room quickly.

Ryan bounced up onto the chair her mother has just been occupying, looking through the paper she hadn't yet been able to examine. On the paper was a long list of objects. Some of them she had never heard of, and some were familiar items paired with unfamiliar words.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. 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

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

Ryan couldn't stop smiling, she had always known she wasn't like her friends, and this confirmed it. She could sometimes make things happen that she didn't understand. Extraordinary things that the casual passerby would never notice, but that made Ryan wonder about the possibility of there being more to the world than she had been taught.

She could make things appear sometimes, and disappear too. She could make doors slam when she was upset, and sometimes when she was angry at someone, strange things would happen to them. Once, when Elisa Dawson gotten the dress that Ryan had desperately wanted for her birthday and flaunted it right in front of her, she had wished so badly that Elisa's perfect new dress wouldn't be so perfect, and then a puddle of mud appeared out of nowhere on a perfectly dry day in the middle of July and Elisa had slipped and fell and ruined her pretty dress.

There was another time when she was fighting with the neighborhood bully Dalton, standing in front a smaller boy who couldn't protect himself. Right as Dalton's closed fist was about to make contact with her determined face, it missed. And no matter how many times he tried to hit her, he couldn't land a punch. His hand would be aiming straight for her face and then would curve smoothly to the side, the air from his fist grazing against her face harmlessly. It was as if there were some invisible shield in front of her preventing him from doing any harm. Ryan couldn't explain it but at the time she hadn't cared too much. She had grabbed the arm of the younger boy and simply walked away from the shocked faces of Dalton's crew and an angry Dalton, looking over her shoulder only once to blow a raspberry back at them for good measure.

She had always secretly suspected she had a magical fairy godmother looking out for her, but maybe, just maybe she was magical herself. She was her own fairy godmother. She grinned even wider, which was hardly possible, at the prospect. Her Mother had found her like that, daydream-y and bouncy and had offered a small smile despite her current state of extreme shock.

"What now Mom?" Ryan had asked as soon as her mother was sitting down next to her. Her mother had let out a tired sigh

"Well, now we wait for your Father."

Ryan's mother sent her to wait in her room as soon as her father got home that day. Ryan could hardly contain herself while she waited, using every costume wand she had ever received with renewed vigor. She felt that being magical was one of the best possible things that could happen to her. It was as if she had been a puzzle, missing one of the most important parts, and this missing piece of herself fit that part perfectly. The puzzle now made sense and was finally whole.

The time dragged by as she waited for her door to open. She tried not to eavesdrop but, her curiosity getting the best of her, Ryan crept to the door on her toes, not wanting her parents to her her stomping towards it. She softly pressed her ear against the door and strained to hear the quiet tone of her parents from down the hall.

"...meet with them? No. I don't want these people in our house..."

"...if they do this to another child?"

"...don't care! It's not..."

"….we can't…."

"…she'll be heartbroken…"

Ryan slid down the door, not wanting to hear anymore, her heart sinking.

It was about an hour, although it felt like ten, before her parents opened the door and sat her down on her rumpled pink and blue dinosaur sheets, careful looks on both of their faces. Her mother crawled onto the bed and sat cross legged, her left knee resting against the wall. Her dad sat down in the same fashion as her mom on the other side of her. Ryan couldn't remember the last time her parents and she had all been on that little bed, and it gave her a bad feeling. Her mother cleared her throat and started slowly. "So, Sweetie. We have to talk about this. Magic isn't real, Ry. We're not sure what this is or who it's from. But magic just isn't real. We're so sorry you've gotten your hopes up."

Ryan's heart dropped what felt like all the way through the floor. Her smile had slowly faded, along with all the energy she had previously had, as her mother continued to speak, confirming her fears. She felt tears start to build up in her eyes and did her best to push them back.

"But the owl. That's magical. It was too smart not to be. You know that. And the letters…." She tried to give them all the reasons it had to be true, desperately trying to make them see. "Just meet them, Mom. They'll show you. It has to be real."

Her Dad spoke next. "I know you'd very much like it to be real sweetheart, and that's okay. It's okay to wish for that. We love your imagination. But magic isn't real, and we don't know these people."

Ryan looked down at her hands her lap, trying to hide her trembling lips. "Okay..."

Her parents looked at each other than back at her, her mother chewing her lip again. Her Dad sighed, then gave her a tight hug. "We're so sorry Ry."

Ryan curled up in bed that night after telling her parents she was tired and would just like to go to bed early. She stared at the wall unable to fall asleep, too many thoughts swirling around her too full head and she wished, harder than she'd ever wished in her life, that someone would come to help. Someone who could prove her parents very, very wrong.

The next day, Ryan woke up with the sense that she had had a horrible nightmare. She looked over at her window through which bright sunlight was currently streaming. Her family's cat was in her room basking happily in the rays of the warm sun, her door open. She frowned, she didn't sleep with her door open. She listened intently, staying still as a statue and heard quiet murmurs in the other room. She stood up slowly and started walking quietly down the hallway. She paused at the end, pressing her body against the wall to listen while still being hidden.

"…There are actually very many children like your daughter in the wizarding world, who grow up to be very successful witches and wizards, regardless of magical background! Some of the most successful witches and wizards come from muggle families! Why there's…."

Ryan froze, barely breathing. She had heard wizarding. But could it be? Could someone out there have heard her plea? Ryan strained to hear what they were saying over the beating of her heart, uselessly attempting to slow it down. She leaned away from the wall slightly, trying to stand on the balls of her feet and getting as absolutely close to the corner of the wall as she dared. Unfortunately, grace was not one of her strong suits and she lost her balance and stumbled, effectively ending the conversation in the living room.

Everything was silent for a moment before a bright voice that Ryan didn't recognize piped up, "Well this must be Alexandria!"

Ryan wished she had just stayed still, wanting to listen more to the conversation they had been having. She straightened up and stood as confidently as she could manage before striding out from hall as though she hadn't been eavesdropping and had intentionally made a noise.

She saw the woman right away, clearly the brightest, most colorful thing in the room. She was everything and absolutely nothing that Ryan had been expecting.

She was a young woman, very short it seemed, with some of the blondest hair that Ryan had ever seen. Her hair was in large ringlets that sprung in every direction, and seemed to move even as the woman sat perfectly still. Her bouncy hair seemed to match her incredibly bright personality.

"Good morning!" The lady bubbled in a voice that seemed much to low for a woman who looked like this, "My name is Himelda Lockey and I will be your Muggle-Magic Liaison!" She was beaming and looking between Ryan and her two parents.

Ryan was finding it hard to breathe at this moment, a smile she could hardly contain spreading across her face. Her parents were both looking at her with expressions full of concern, her mother biting her lip again.

Three sets of eyes followed Ryan as she moved shakily into the living room, sitting on the loveseat between her two parents and across from Miss Himelda Lockey.

There was no doubt in Ryan's mind that this woman in front of her was a witch. She wore a bright, almost neon, blue robe and had a large pink bag on the couch next to her. She was holding a hat in her lap, and it was as though she had pulled it straight from Hocus Pocus. The hat was pointed, but worn as though it was nowhere near new. It was the same bright blue as her robes, and Ryan suddenly got a vision of this woman walking down the street with her bright blond curls bouncing out from under the hat, receiving strange looks from everyone she walked by.

She wore heels which peeked out from beneath her robes and Ryan could see that they were the same color of her bag, with little but tightly curled ribbons springing off of them.

Himelda Lockey was smiling at Ryan as though she had never seen anything so wonderful and Ryan wasn't entirely sure if this was normal for all witches and wizards or just normal for this odd woman in front of her.

Himelda Lockey clapped her hands together, as if she had been waiting for this all day. "Well, well! Let's get really started then! I'm sure you have many, many questions you'd still like answered, and I have many, many things to tell you about the wizarding world to make your daughter's transition and your understanding much easier." She beamed between Ryan's two parents, who still bore the nervous expressions on their faces.

Ryan waited until she could no longer hold it in and the question burst from her before she could help it, "Are you a real witch?"

Himelda tapped the side of her nose, as though that was the exact question she was hoping would be asked.

"That is a very good question Alexandria," Ryan smiled nervously, waiting to see what this woman would be able to show her.

Himelda directed the next part of her statement, kindly to Ryan's parents, who seemed mortified that Ryan had so blatantly questioned this woman's truthfulness (her parents were big on politeness).

"This disbelief is very common in muggles with magical children, at first. We keep ourselves very well hidden, it's one of the Ministry's laws, so it's not surprising that you don't believe we exist. It's actually a very good thing that you believed that we didn't exist. We're not allowed to show ourselves to muggles, you see. However, as your daughter is a witch, it is now very important that you understand that we do, in fact, exist." She looked back at Ryan and asked suddenly, "Do you like puppies?" Ryan nodded enthusiastically, not sure where Himelda was going with this, but excited none the less. Himelda pulled a thin stick out of the arm of one of her robes and pointed it at the pillow sitting at the base of the couch that Ryan was sitting on. Himelda's eyes narrowed and she muttered something while still pointing the strange stick. Before Ryan could process what she had said, the pillow at their feet began to wriggle and change. It first sprouted legs, then a tail, then a head, and then fur started to quickly grow out of the brown satin. Within seconds, a small chocolate lab was running around their living room, yipping happily despite the tassels that seemed to be hanging off it's ears, and the vague satin like sheen to his fur.

"Oh. Well. I never really was very good at transfiguration," Himelda said lightly, still smiling.

Ryan laughed, feeling as though she were lighter than the clouds in the sky. She knew it had been real. She had known it in her heart. She silently thanked whoever grants wishes, for making this wish come true. She looked up at her parents, hoping to see the same amount of delight on their faces. Her mother had let out a little scream and was clutching her father's arm, watching the puppy with wide eyes. Both her parents' mouths were dropped open as they looked from the puppy, back to the witch holding the stick, and back to the puppy. The puppy ran over to them, finally noticing they were there, and Ryan picked it up happily. Her mother tentatively reached out a hand to pet it, then quickly took it from her daughter. She held the wriggling animal at arm's length, turning it side to side and looking at it from different angles, as if trying to find the trick. The puppy yipped and tried to eagerly lick her hands. Ryan's dad was tugging lightly on the ears and the tail, rubbing its belly, and examining its teeth. "How did you... It looks so real." He commented, sounding as though he were in complete and utter awe.

Himelda grinned, "That's because it is real!"

This time, Ryan's mother responded "But... I don't... My throw pillow... How did this, come from that?" She set the puppy back on Ryan's lap and looked at Himelda with a mix of excitement and fear on her face. Himelda smiled and pointed her stick back at the puppy, which slowly wriggled and changed back into the plain satin throw pillow it had previously been. "Magic, my dear!"

Her parents stared at the pillow for another couple minutes, then back at the witch in front of them, in absolute shock.

"Don't worry, this is a completely normal reaction for muggles."

The strange word seemed to snap Ryan's dad out of his shock. "What's a muggle?"

And that's how it had started.

Himelda had explained that a muggle is someone is normal, or without magic. They learned that the wizarding world still has no idea why some children can become magical, when their parents are both muggles. Some have a theory that there is a witch or wizard somewhere in the bloodline, but that's impossible to prove. And it still doesn't explain why some muggle families with more than one children will have one or more magical children, and one or more non magical children. They learned that there are magical schools all over the world, and that the ministry has a way of being able to detect all the magical children in the world, so that the schools can send the letters to the correct children. The school that Ryan would be attending, Hogwarts, was somewhere in Scotland. There was a school in North America, but Ryan had been chosen to go to the school in Europe instead. Himelda had said it was between the headmasters and she hadn't been told why, but that Hogwarts was the best school she could attend.

When Ryan's parents had asked her about where to get the items, Himelda said that someone could take me when I arrived in London. They pressed Himelda for more answers, but she stood up suddenly, stating she had to go. She left them her address, and said for them to "owl her if they had any more questions", (seemingly not realizing that they had no owl to send even if they did have more questions) before bouncing out the door.

Ryan ran to the window to watch her leave, and was astonished to see her look around quickly before turning on the spot and disappearing with a muffled crack. Ryan gasped and ran back to her parents who were now sitting at the table. She was going to tell them about Himelda's disappearing act but stopped when she saw her father running his hand through his hair, and her mother still staring at the door Himelda had left out of. Ryan sat on one of the chairs and looked between them.

Her mother sighed and turned back to Ryan saying, "Ryan can you please go to your room so your father and I can talk about this." Ryan pouted and got off the chair slowly, dragging herself back to her room with the least amount of speed possible.

For the second time in as many nights, Ryan was sitting in her room daydreaming about wands and magical creatures while her parents discussed her future. This time, she would go back to the door from time to time and press her ear against the cool white paint. When she did this, she could hear the faint voices of her parents from the living room where they were discussing everything they had heard earlier that day. She could hear little bits of what they were saying when they moved closer to the hall, or when their voices raised slightly.

"...if she wants a normal schooling? A normal life?"

"But we can't deny her this, she..."

"...career? What can they even do? What about college? She'll never get into a good college if she doesn't even go to….."

"...own decision concerning this. It's too big. She's..."

"...young, she's only 11 years old for crying out loud, she..."

Her parents walked further into the living room, away from the hallway and Ryan's hearing. Ryan huffed and sat back down, falling against the giant stuffed bear she had been pretending to bring to life with a fake wand, which was now lying discarded on the carpet next to her. She was so worried that they would decide she couldn't go. She thought of being stuck there, knowing that she had magic inside of her, and that she was different from everyone there. She couldn't bear the thought of them forcing her to stay, never knowing all of the things she needed to explore in this whole other world that was now a possibility. She stared out her window at the house across the way which was nearly identical to hers. She knew she couldn't go back to her normal life after this and knew that she would do whatever she had to in order to be a part of the wizarding world.

It was a little while before Ryan heard her parents' knocks on her door. She watched them warily as they entered and sat on the floor, one on either side of her. Ryan got an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, reminded of the previous night. Her father let out a breath and she expected the worst as he said "Okay honey. Your mother and I have come to a decision. We will let you go for this first year-" Ryan's eyes lit up "-BUT, this first year is a trial run; if anything goes wrong sweetie, or if we feel as though this isn't what's right for you, then this might be the only year. If it goes well and you decide this is what you want, and it seems like it will be good for your future, then we'll see. Does that sound fair for right now?" Ryan looked at her hands and didn't answer right away. She thought about saying it wasn't fair, that she wanted to know she'd be going back the next year as well, that she couldn't stand to have a taste of it just to have them take it away, that she'd throw tantrums and fits and wouldn't eat and wouldn't speak to them if they didn't let her go back. But she didn't want them to say no now. So she decided she'd just need to do whatever she could to be able to, to go back and keep going back. She nodded and said quietly, "Okay..." Her dad smiled at her and gave her shoulders a squeeze and her mother kissed her head. "Well. I guess we have some arrangements to make." Her mother said, laughing shakily. Ryan smiled and pushed away the bad mood into a small corner of her mind as she let the excitement start to fill her for the coming year.