This was the worst day of her life. Sam shuffled her feet as she waited to be called into the Headmaster's office. Apparently her bad luck had followed her all the way to England.
The Headmaster opened his door and called Sam in. Sam sat down in front of his huge, oak desk.
"Well Sam, it's amazing how on the first day you seem to find trouble. Were you like this in your old school? Or were they just more tolerant over in the states?"
"No sir, I swear I don't know what happened. One minute I was being chased by Ralph, the next I was in the kitchen! I don't know how I got there!"
The Headmaster leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "So you're telling me that you just appeared in the kitchen. You didn't run and hide in there?"
"Yes!"
"Right. Well, unfortunately teleportation isn't real. So, you will have detention after school on Friday." He wrote up a pink slip and handed it to Sam.
Sam sighed and took the pink slip. She slipped out of the chair and walked out of the room. In the hall she crumpled up the pink slip.
"Why does this always happen to me?"
On the way home the sky became gray and it began to rain. Sam stomped her way through the puddles. Why did they have to move to England? Why now of all times? Sam had only one month left of school. Why couldn't they have waited until summer?
When Sam finally arrived at her new house, number four, Privet Drive, she was soaking wet. She opened the front door and stepped inside. As she took her shoes off she looked at the now periwinkle walls and remembered how bleak and boring the house was when they first moved into it. She imagined that the couple before them, who now permanently reside in their vacation home, were the most boring people who ever lived. She had a feeling she was absolutely correct.
Sam walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Her mom was studying a cookbook with a glass of wine in her hand.
"Hey mom." Her mom looked up and gasped.
"Oh Sam, I had no idea it would rain! I'm so sorry!"
"That's OK mom. I actually have a present for you." Her mom looked puzzled as Sam opened her backpack and took out the crumpled pink slip. She flattened it out on the counter and handed it to her mom with a smile.
"Happy Birthday!" Her mom took the pink slip and frowned.
"Sam, it's not my birthday. And if it was, this would be the worst gift ever."
Sam sighed and nodded. "I know. But if it makes you feel any better, it wasn't my fault."
Her mom laughed. "'Found rummaging through the kitchen during recess.' How exactly is this not your fault?"
"Because I didn't go in the kitchen! I just appeared there!"
Her mom took a long sip from her wine glass then set it down on the counter. "Sam, you can't just appear out of nowhere. We've been over this before..."
"Yes I know! But I can't explain how these things happen to me! I just have the worst luck in the world!" Sam pouted and folded her arms across her chest.
Her mom sighed. "I thought it would be better over here. Oh well. Get cleaned up. We are having pasta." Her mom closed the cook book and put it away in the cupboard.
Sam ran upstairs and closed the door. After she changed she sat on the foot of her bed. She wished she was back home with all her friends, but instead she was stuck here.
That Friday she was in detention with two other students: a tall boy named Robert, and a shy boy named Daniel. She had no idea how Daniel wound up in detention, but she wasn't going to risk getting in even more trouble by asking.
When detention was over, Sam had almost made it out of the classroom when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Daniel. Sam stopped and moved out of the way as Robert rushed passed both of them.
"What's up, Daniel?"
"I heard what happened to you on Monday. How you said you just appeared in the kitchen."
Sam was uneasy. "Yeah, so?"
"Well, my cousin used to have the same problem. He would wind up in weird places with no explanation of how he got there."
"So?"
"So you two are the same." Sam rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, we both have horrible luck. See you later, Daniel."
Sam walked into the hallway but was stopped again.
"Look, Daniel"
"You don't understand! You two are both the same thing!"
"What do you mean?"
"You're both magical!"
Sam laughed in his face. "Magical? That's crazy, There's no such thing as magic, Daniel."
"Yes there is! I can prove it!"
"Oh yeah?" Sam looked down at the little fourth year. "Prove it then. Do a trick or something."
"Well, I can't. I'm not magical."
"Then you can't prove it." Sam started to walk down the empty hall towards the front door.
"Search Hogwarts on your computer! If you're really magical, you can see the proof yourself!"
Sam laughed again and waved over her shoulder. "OK Daniel, whatever you say."
A few hours later Sam was sitting in front of her computer with Google open on her screen.
"This is crazy. I'm crazy for doing this." And yet she still typed 'Hogwarts' into the search bar. What came up was not what she expected. There were multiple links to blogs dedicated to helping "pigs with warts", but no mention of magic. Until she reached the bottom of the page. At the very bottom, under the last "People for Pigs with Warts" blog link, there was another link that was flashing red. It read: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Official Student Blog.
Sam hesitated before she clicked the link. What if it was a virus? What if Daniel was messing with her and set the whole thing up? Could he have made this all up? Sam shook her head. No. Daniel wasn't like that. She finally gathered enough courage to click on the link. It took her to a site that had paragraphs upon paragraphs explaining the magical school. On the top of the page, there were even more links with titles like:
"New Student? Here's What You Really Need to Know", "Muggleborns: Am I Really a Witch/Wizard?", "20 Simple Spells to Know Before You Start", and "What Actually Happened During the Hogwarts Battle: The Real History".
Sam was overwhelmed with all the new knowledge that was at her fingertips. She clicked on the Muggleborn link, hoping it would explain what she really was.
Muggleborns: Am I Really a Witch/Wizard?
Muggle: someone who is not magical, or has no magical abilities. A muggleborn witch or wizard is someone whose parents have no magical abilities. Learning that you are a witch or wizard can be really confusing to a muggleborn. If you are wondering whether you actually are a witch or wizard, let me give you a simple answer: If you are reading this, you are magical. Apparently you can use spells within the internet! So we have enchanted this link so only witches and wizards can see it.
Sam stopped there. I'm a witch. Like, an actual witch. Sam could hardly believe this. She didn't have bad luck, she just had magical powers! Sam got up and grabbed her laptop. She had to show her mom and dad this right now.
When she got to the top of the stairs, she stopped. Only magical people could see the blog. That meant her parents would only see a blank screen. She cursed herself and walked back to her room. If only there was a way her parents could see real evidence of her abilities. She went back to the home page and continued reading about the school.
During July, Hogwarts will send out letters of invitation to all witches and wizards of age (11 years old) in the region. The letter will be delivered by owl, and will contain a welcome, along with a list of supplies you will need to buy before school starts. If you are muggleborn and don't have any wizarding money, muggle money can be exchanged at Gringotts bank in Diagon Alley (read more about Diagon Alley in "Muggleborn: Am I Really a Witch/Wizard?").
This is fantastic! All she had to do was wait for her letter, and then she could explain everything to her parents. But waiting was difficult. By the end of school, Sam could hardly keep herself from blurting out everything she learned on the blog at the dinner table.
Halfway through summer vacation, she decided she had to at least try to explain magic to her mother before her letter arrived. She crept timidly down the stairs one hot, June afternoon. When she got to the kitchen, her mom was on the phone with one of her friends from California. Sam had tried to stay in touch with her friends from the states, but they didn't seem very interested in her anymore. "Out of sight, out of mind", Sam thought.
Sam's mom saw her and held up a finger.
"OK Marge, yes I'll email you that recipe. OK, goodbye." she hung up the phone and looked down at Sam. "Yes, dear?"
"Mom, I have something to tell you. And you're probably not going to like it."
Her mom sat down at the table. "Oh dear." She grabbed her wine glass that was half filled with red wine. "OK, I'm ready."
"Mom, I'm a witch."
Her mom choked on her wine. When she got her breath back she started cracking up.
"A witch?" Her mom laughed even harder. "Yeah OK. And I'm a goblin."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'm being serious! There's a whole blog about this wizarding school, and it says that in July, since I'm old enough, I'll get a letter of invitation to the school!"
Her mom was now crying from laughter.
"Oh Sam, your imagination runs wild sometimes. It's hilarious."
"I'm telling the truth!"
Her mom stopped laughing and looked at Sam, pretending to be serious.
"OK, then I'll be waiting for that letter."
Sam sighed and walked back upstairs. She should have known her mom wouldn't believe her. She should have just waited for the letter to arrive.
Luckily for Sam, the letter did arrive. On July 24, Sam picked up the mail and rummaged through the letters until she found the one. Written in neat, green hand writing, it was addressed:
Ms. S. Marrion
The Second Bedroom
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
"Mom, it's here!" Sam ran into the kitchen and dropped all the other mail on the table.
"Mom, it's my letter! It's here! It's finally here!"
"What are you talking about, Sam?"
"My Hogwarts letter! The one inviting me to the wizarding school! It's finally here!"
Sam tore the letter open and read it to herself. Then she read it aloud so her mom could hear.
Dear Ms. Marrion,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. 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,
Henry Hall
Henry Hall
Deputy Headmaster
Her mom stared at Sam blank- faced. "Sam, is this some kind of a joke?"
"No. I swear this is real."
Her mom walked over to the table and slouched into a chair.
"So you're actually a witch."
"Yes!"
Her mom stared down at the letter.
"Oh..."
Sam shuffled her feet nervously.
"There's a blog. Only witches and wizards can see it. I've read it all. I know where we have to go to buy all my school supplies. And I know all about the school, Hogwarts. We need to exchange our muggle money for wizarding money at the bank, Gringotts. It's down in Diagon Alley. We can get there by train. There's this secret pub that only we can see and-"
"Stop. Just stop." Her mom looked like she was going to faint. "None of this makes any sense."
Sam walked over to her mom and hugged her shoulders.
"That's OK. I can teach you and dad." Sam smiled down at her mom.
"This is going to be so cool!"