I guess you could say I'm just your average eleven year old lost girl, forced to stay in a crappy foster home in the middle of bum fuck Wyoming. I have no family or friends to speak of, except the animals that roam around the dilapidated farm I've called "home" for the past six years. So I am about as interesting as...paint. Yep Paint! White Paint trying to dry on a fencepost in the middle of July.

At least I thought I was until one random summer morning when I saw a giant great horned owl staring at me from the barn loft. As I finished throwing hay out to the cattle, I noticed it was still there. Hadn't moved in an hour, just watching my every move, so finally I decided to go say hi. As I climbed up to the loft, the owl turned to face me and began to waddle over. As he got closer I saw what looked like an envelope clasped within his talons. Gently he swept it towards me, then took off flying, away from the barn, leaving me looking like an idiot gaping on a ladder. After a few moments I finally sat down and looked at the golden envelope, a red wax crest blazing in the sun's rays. Beautiful handwriting drew my eye once I flipped it over, but the address made my breath catch.

Ms. Nyxia

166 Red River Lane

Lost Springs, WY 82224

Tingling ran up my spine as I carefully jostled the wax seal open. Bats seemed to be swarming within my stomach, I never received mail… ever; I only ever saw mail that was about me.

My breath caught in my chest as I read:

Dear Ms N. Thorn,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Ilvermony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1st. We look forward to welcoming you into the Ilvermony family.

Sincerely,

Agilbert Fontaine

Headmaster: Ilvermony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

I didn't bother to flip through the other two pages of lists and instructions because I thought I must be hallucinating or worse I was dead or in acoma. This couldn't be real, witches and wizards were not real. I must have fallen off the ladder of the barn, and was currently lying in a stupor on the ground. It wasn't until I heard screaming at the top of her lungs that I snapped out of my trance.

"Thorn! Where in the hell are you? You better get your ass back here before the count of five or else!"

Quickly I shoved the letter behind a worn portrait of a horse hanging on the barn wall and took off at a full run towards the rundown farmhouse.

"Dammit girl! You were suppose to have the laundry done and dinner started an hour ago!"

I knew anything I said wouldn't spare me from the belt later on so I simply pushed past her into the kitchen and began cooking for the repulsive Watkins family and their foul twin boys. Almost a month had passed and I chalked the letter up to a dream. I had a tendency to daydream often, hoping for an escape from life itself but one fateful August night the answer to my prayers appeared on the stoop, with a rather aggressive knock.

Mr. Watkins barked at me to answer the door and tell whoever was disturbing his tv time to leave.

A lovely fair haired woman in a cranberry dress smiled at me through the screen door.

"Hello sweetie, are you Nyxia?"

My words disappeared, all I managed was a weak head nod.

Her face grew sullen as she surveyed the scene around her.

"Thorn, I told you to tell them to fuck off!" Screeched Mr. Watkins from his recliner.

"Nyxia, please step outside dear."

I hesitated, but her kind eyes lured me out to the porch.

"Did you get your letter?" She asked, bending down to look me in the face.

"The owl.." I mumbled, and a wide smile spread across her face.

"Yes, the owl. Your a witch my dear and I've come to take you back to your people."

"I ahhh…."

"Thorn! What on god's green earth are you doing!" Screamed Mrs. Watkins as she slammed open the screen door.

"Mrs. Watkin's I presume." The lovely woman stated, her voice growing icier by the second.

"Who the hell are you? Did child services send you?" She sneered, wringing her hands in a dirty dish towel.

"In a way. My name is Rose O'Brien and I am a counselor with the No-Maj Conciliation Bureau. I am here to discuss Ms. Thorn's future with you."

A screeching laughter escaped the raggedy woman's throat, "What future, she's eleven."

I stared at Rose's face, and I could have sworn I saw a spark dance in her eye.

"Nyxia, would you please go fetch your letter. I have some things to discuss with your foster family. Should only take a moment."

I slowly made my way to the barn as she entered the farm house. Shouting quickly emerged but died down as suddenly as it began. I never found out what happened in those few minutes but whatever it was led my foster family to allow me to leave without a second thought as Rose gently guided me to her car and began to drive away.