Hi! This is my first fan fic! I've always wanted to read a story about the first group of kids to go to Hogwarts, so I decided to just write one! Hope you enjoy!

The HP world belongs 100% to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it!

Chapter 1: Mud & Milk

Heloise Paggy sat outside of a moderately sized hovel on the grounds of Lord Vale. A small cat had wandered into the front garden and was just about to destroy some onions when Heloise distracted it with a series of harmonious "coos". Gathering up the cat, she held it to her chest, the black fur of the cat mixing with her own dark curls.

"Now we don't have any milk for you, but does that mean you can ruin what we have, cat?" She rocked the animal back and forth, ignoring it's increasingly agitated cat squeals. "I know, cat, I'm hungry, too, but mum says we have to sell all those vegetables to make rent. I get a smack if I take one, and I'm a person. What d'you think we'd do to a cat?" She giggled, and held the cat up to eye level "We'd eat you!"

"See, father? See why we had to come look?"

Heloise started at the voice, and turned to see the Lord Vale and his daughter Mathilde on a horse-drawn cart. "She was going to eat my precious Petronilla!" Mathilde was a spoiled child, and her brother going away to school did not help her temperament. Kindly people thought she was just lonely. Smart people knew she was just awful.

In a swift motion Lord Vale jumped from the cart, snatched the cat from Heloise's hands and drove away, kicking up a spray of mud onto Heloise as they left. She could faintly make out him saying the words "dirty muggles" as he drove away. She had no idea what that meant, but as she walked back towards her house, the more pressing matter was the dark brown stains forming on her tunic. She was not looking forward to the scolding she was going to get from her mother for ruining yet another piece of clothing so quickly.

She peeked inside to see her mother hunched over, trying to sew the sides of Heloise's brother Warin's tunic back together. Perfect timing to dirty a frock. Heloise took a deep breath and took a step forward, trying to wipe the wet mud away from her face. "I know I'm dirty and clumsy and I need to take better care, but this time it really was not my fault, mum! The Lord drove by and kicked up mud on purpose! And all over a cat! Named Petronilla!"

"Heloise Paggy, what have you got yourself covered in!" Heloise's mother looked up with a sigh. She was exasperated for good reason- it was in Heloise's nature to finish her chores and come home wet, dirty, or stinking, usually from a badly timed fall.

"Mud!" Her mother put her work down and came closer to Heloise, sniffing around her like a hunting dog.

"No, it's, it's..."

"Mud?"

"Milk!"

"What?" Heloise's mother put a finger out to wipe Heloise's cheek, and popped it in her mouth. "And it's fresh, too!" She laughed. " I'd be upset with you if I weren't so amazed that you managed to trip into a cow in the short time you were outside! How'd you manage this one, Heloise?"

Heloise had no idea how it happened. She looked at her tunic to see that the dark brown stain was gone. She sniffed to find the smell of fresh dairy hovering around her like a strong perfume. She was incredulous. "I suppose I was just hungry, mum."

Some 700 kilometers away, a quill without a hand to hold it took down the name "Heloise Paggy".

Three weeks later, a very unusual couple came knocking on the Paggys' door in the dead of night. Heloise's father was used to these night calls, it wasn't unusual for Lord Vale to storm into the homes on the grounds to intimidate the serfs in the night, demanding rent, homage, or just harder work. What he was not used to was the sight of a gigantic brute of a man with a mane of dark red hair, the robes of king and a large sword, accompanied by a small, plump lady with a comically large book and a tawny owl perched on her head. She too was in the ornate robes of royalty.

"Your H-Highnesses?" The poor man attempted a deep bow, only to be jovially clapped on the back by the brute.

"Haha, I've been called worse, my good man, but I'm much better! Godric Gryffindor! And this here's Helga Hufflepuff! If you'd like to introduce me to your wife I'll warn you right now Helga's not mine!" Everything he said seemed to end on an exclamation point. No one could tell if he was excited or if his booming voice just couldn't help it, but by the time the guests had made themselves comfortable around the hearth, the whole hovel had woken up. The visitors found themselves surrounded by the large family.

"Which one of you is Heloise?" Helga Hufflepuff surveyed the brood, before locking eyes with Heloise. Heloise thought it was unfair that the stranger seemed to already know. "Well step forward girl, we're not here to harm you."

Heloise's father grabbed her arm before she could make a move. "Well what are you here for? You haven't said!" Her mother nodded in agreement "You can't just come into a dwelling in the middle of the night and ask for my daughter!"

"Heloise," Helga said, leaning forward, "has anything out of the ordinary happened lately? Anything you couldn't explain?"

Heloise's mother stepped in front of Heloise. "Nothing at ALL!"

"Heloise Paggy! Keeping secrets, are we?" Godric laughed and nudged Helga. "Wonder what Salazar would have to say about this one!" He added under his breath, or at least as far under as he could manage.

"Nothing good, and that's why we're here, remember?" Helga answered. "Heloise, what happened with the milk?"

Heloise's mother turned around, hands on hips. "Heloise?" she questioned. "What about the milk?"

Heloise looked at the strangers who turned her pleasant dreams upside down with their annoyingly loud voices, and then her parents' faces filled with worry and apprehension. Finally she looked at her brothers and sisters. Nosy. They were just SO nosy. "Off to bed with you lot," her father said to her siblings, still with his eyes trained on his oldest daughter.

"We'll still hear, pa! This place only has two rooms!"

"Out with ya!"

As her siblings scurried off to no doubt eavesdrop from the other room, she breathed a sigh of relief. Godric gave her a little wink. She wished everyone would leave, but least she didn't have to have more people staring than absolutely necessary. She didn't want anyone to know what she'd done. She didn't want her parents or her siblings to become afraid of her, or be nervous. Still, she knew that this matter wouldn't go away until she told the truth.

"Mum, Pa, I think I made something happen." She suddenly became very interested in the thatched ceiling. " I think I changed mud into milk. I don't know how and it wasn't on purpose! I promise I was not trying to be wicked or evil! I really don't know how it happened! "

Helga clapped her hands together. "But you will, my child! You will learn! You're a witch!"

The Paggys gasped with shock, and Heloise sank down into the floor. "Please, ma'am, please don't say that. I'm not a witch. I'm not!"

Heloise's father shook his head in agreement. "You mean to come to my home in the dead of night and tell me that my daughter has been in league with the devil? I don't believe it. We're a good family."

"I don't doubt that, but the fact remains that your daughter's a witch, although i don't see what the devil the devil's got to do with anything." Godric laughed at his own joke, relieving the tension in absolutely no way.

"There's no need to be frightened," Helga said. "We've come to help you. Ignoring it won't make it go away, Heloise. You'll still have these abilities, and what's worse is that they'll burst out uncontrolled if you don't learn to use them properly. We want to educate you on how to use your powers, and we want to introduce you to people like yourself. Isn't that better than hiding away, afraid of yourself? We're starting a school called Hogwarts."

They explained they were in charge of going to the families of all the children with non-magical parents to bring them up to speed, and that they have two other members, in charge of talking to the wizarding families. They showed her parents a giant book with her name inside, along with the exact date of the first expression of her abilities (and with the hint to keep an eye on the little twins, Giles and Leva). They took out pointy sticks called wands and performed a few pieces of magic and informed them that they'll be back in less than two weeks to help her with supplies. Somehow, they didn't seem to leave her parents a chance to say yes or no.

Heloise just headed back to sleep, leaving her puzzled and anxious parents to stay up wondering about the two strangers. "Well what happened Hels? What'd they want you for?" Her curious siblings crowded around her. Still so very nosy.

"You couldn't hear?" Suddenly Heloise realized the unusual silence inside the room. No dogs barking, or mice scratching, or cows stirring. Nothing. She thought back to the two visitors and their pointy sticks and the man's wink when her siblings were sent out.

She was starting to think that this "Hogwarts" place might not be half bad.