A rather petite looking girl pressed her small hand against the rain-splattered window. The shutters flapped widely as the wind nearly ripped it off it's hinges, but it had been carved out of old wood. It had been pouring non-stop for about three days now. The eleven-year old girl's lips were curved in what seemed to be a permanent frown. Her brown-and-blond hair barely went past her chin, because she had always planned on keeping it short. She had originally been brown-haired, she truly was, but one day she began to notice that she was going blond on top. Not meaning that she was a "blond" (as in those stupid blonds) for she was actually pretty smart - despite her young age.

The children behind her paid her no attention as they continued whatever they were doing - which was probably building a city of some sort out of Lego that they had found around the orphanage.

Resting her forehead against the cool glass, the girl felt tears prick the edges of her eyes, and made a hasty attempt at wiping it away before it fell. She didn't want to be here, but she was forced to be. The young girl had been orphaned at the age of five, her parents dieing in a car crash as a result of a drunk driver's reckless driving. As far as anyone knew, both of her parents were the only child in their family, leaving the young girl with no close relatives to go to.

She shuddered, not because of the coldness that threatened to seep through the glass, but because of how lonely she felt. She had never made a true friend, let alone one of any kind. The girl closed her eyes but the darkness overwhelmed her, bringing back horrid memories that she didn't want to remember.

She was one of the unlucky few that remembered almost everything that had happened in their life (she, however, didn't remember her birth - which she was thankful a bit..) The first thing that jumped into her vivid imagination was of her parents teaching her how to ride her bike - with training wheels on.

A small smile curved her lips upwards, yet it disappeared as soon as it had appeared. The sight was changed to one of children, about her age, throwing stones at her, and calling something along the lines of "Witch, witch, you're a witch!" (I give credit to the movie Practical Magic of which I had copied this phrase from.) or something like that. But she wasn't really a witch - at least, she didn't think so.

The young girl had always known that she was different, but hadn't paid much attention to it until her mother scolded her for somehow causing water to spurt from the water hose (which, by the way, hadn't been turned on at all during that spring day) and at the other children who kept on calling her a witch. She didn't know how it had happened, it just did. She had thought something along the lines of: I hope you get drenched with water. But unlike the result that she had hoped for, the teasing grew worse.

"Evan?" a voice asked her from behind, the voice sounding as if someone had stepped on fresh snow. The voice was frigid and belonged to an older girl that the young girl -who had been nicknamed Evan- despised greatly. When the girl gave no sign of hearing the older girl (although, in fact, she did hear the voice) the other girl pouted and with a rather icy tone and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Fine then, Evangeline. I guess you don't want to read this letter that has been sent to you."

That caught Evan's attention. Nobody has ever written to her before, let alone talked to her unless necessary. Evan whisked around and stared up into the brown eyes of the other girl who had spoken. The older girl -who was about the age of thirteen or so- had a smug look on her face as she held out the letter. "It really is for me?" Evan asked, her voice vibrated with joy. Her unique violet eyes (yes, violet) lit up and a grin spread across her face like a wild fire. The older girl seemed a bit taken aback, never actually having seen this girl smile before, let alone actually heard her laugh - which was kind of odd, because everybody seemed to always be laughing and smiling at the orphanage except for Evan, who seemed a bit… depressed. Almost as if she hadn't wanted to be there (which was obviously true).

Wrenching the letter from the other girl's hands, Evan's violet eyes skimmed across her name handwritten by an unknown person. "An owl delivered it, a snowy owl I think," the older girl, whose name was Arianne, spoke in her crispy voice. Her brown eyes seemed a bit confused, "But I'm not quite sure who would write to you. I mean, no offence, but do you even have any family or friends that would send you letters?"

The smile was wiped instantly from Evan's face. The frown was back. "No," her quiet voice even less than a whisper, so that Ari had to strain forwards to hear the younger girl speak. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure who sent me this. As there is no return address." But in one quick fluid motion the eleven-year old she yanked open the envelope and taken out the letter in a rather hasty manner.

Evan peered down at the letter in her hands, the envelope dropped to the floor - simply forgotten, the words scrawled out on the parchment in an very nicely handwritten way. Evan envied this person who wrote her the letter - her handwriting was… sloppy.

Just then, a very young orphan walked past the windowsill that Evan had abandoned and somehow managed to open it. Rain splattered everywhere, even on the letter, smearing the ink of which the words were written in. Thankfully, only a couple words had been damaged before someone closed the window.

Ari tried to read the letter from her position, which was opposite of the younger girl's, but she couldn't understand what any of the words were, because she didn't know how to read upside down, sadly. Yet she (Ari) smiled when Evan's face was clouded with determination. Evan didn't exactly have a pretty face, nor did most of the girl's, but she had the face of a person that someone would be happy to see if they were sick.

Evan began to read the letter, and suddenly felt as if someone had pulled a prank on her because the letter read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Evan couldn't read the name or the information below it, it had been smeared by the rain.

Dear Miss Gibson,

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,

Evan shook her head a bit, unable to read the words - it had been another smear. She shuffled the papers so that she could read the second page.

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 and owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

There was no other explanation - someone had pulled a prank on her. Yet, it seemed as if her conclusion wasn't right. Maybe she had missed something. She reread it. She came up at a different conclusion, and it frightened her so much that the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Ari seen the look of slight confusion on the girl's face and frowned. She snatched the letter out of the girl's hands (much to Evan's protests) and read the letter. Her jaw dropped and she set her firm gaze upon the eleven-year old. "Evangeline, you lucky brat, you get to go to Hogwarts while I'm stuck here - although I'm not an orphan at all! I'm in a freaking Pureblood family, for crying out loud! But my parents decided that it would be best to dump me here. Just because I'm a Squib!" Ari huffed, and brushed her auburn hair behind her so that it swept across her back.

A confused look spread across the younger girl's face, and Ari realized that she had said something that she shouldn't have. She would probably be in trouble now. But she was still fuming. Without even realizing it, she raised her hand and smacked Evan across the face, leaving a slightly red mark. The sound of the palm-on-face silenced the room as Evan's violet eyes widened. There was a slight tingling feeling in her cheek,

The other orphans blinked in silence for about five minutes before they resumed their play. Ari took hesitant steps away from the girl, feel horrified at what she had just done. Of course, it had been -in a way- instinct, but she never would purposely hurt someone. Ari shook a bit before retreating to her chambers, feeling very disturbed at what she had done.

Evan, on the other hand, was in a slightly different situation. But only slightly. She was confused at what a Squib was, and why Ari had struck her - because she wasn't the aggressive type. But she still slightly believed that this was still an practical joke, and bit by bit, she lost hope that the school was real.

Shoving the letter into her pocket, she retreated into the room that she shared with a much younger girl, about the age of six or seven. Seething silently, she felt her blood suddenly boil with rage. That nerve of that girl! Evan's violet eyes narrowed as she tried to think of a devious plan to get back at Ari…


Author's Note:

So? What do you think? I think I could have done better. . But I've got a question: should I continue writing this story in Harry's time? (As in she joins Hogwarts when he does too. -Sorry if that doesn't make sense!-) Harry's children's time? (Such as at the end of the final book, where Albus *coughPottercough* is last seen on his way to Hogwarts.) Or should I do it so that it's past both of their times?

And do you think I should change something from above? (I don't mean this Author's Note but the chapter itself.)

One more thing: do you think that I should make Evan a Metamorphmagus? (Such as Nymphadora Tonks [so she'll be able to "shapeshift".])