Madeline Dursley's life was perfectly normal, well, as normal as it could get. She happened to live with her perfectly normal grandparents in her perfectly normal house and went to her perfectly normal school with her perfectly normal friends.

However, there was a slight roadblock in her perfectly normal life. Madeline had a dirty little secret.

Despite telling her grandparents otherwise, Madeline remembered full well how her parents died. In fact, they-

"Madeline?! Breakfast is ready!" Her grandmother's voice carried from the kitchen downstairs.

She tried to make herself look cheerful, and left her bedroom. It was her birthday, and yet it was in no way a cheerful one. For today was the five-year anniversary of her parents' deaths.

Madeline told herself that it wasn't her fault, that she couldn't have done anything, but it didn't maker her feel any better.

She sat herself down at the dining room table. A steaming plate sat before her, overloaded with her favorite foods. Her grandparents tried way too hard to spoil her.

"Sleep well?" Her grandmother beamed over at her.

"Yes, I slept great." Madeline lied.

Really, she had spent the night reliving the day she had lost her parents. Maddie, run! Her fathers voice rang through her head.

Madeline stood and turned to get the mail in an effort to distract herself. Perhaps a friend of hers had gotten her a birthday card.

She came back with a rather small amount of letters. Madeline tossed various bills and magazines over her shoulder, until she at last came upon a letter addressed to her.

Miss M. Dursley

The Largest Bedroom

Number 4, Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

On the back, there was a wax seal, bearing a coat of arms with an H in the center, surrounded by four animals.

She opened it, barely noticing her grandparents staring at the letter with a fierceness she had never before seen in them. "Maddie... What is that?" Her grandmother asked cautiously. "A letter." Madeline replied.

"A letter from whom?" Her grandfather demanded.

She didn't answer. Her grandfather rose and snatched it from her hand. "Hey! That's mine!" She protested.

He took one look at it and promptly turned bright red with anger. Her grandfather tore up the letter and tossed it into the fireplace. "Was it-" Her grandmother began. "Yes, Petunia, it was." She burst into tears within a minute. "Oh, my Maddie, not my Maddie, no,no, it can't be..."

Her grandfather began pacing the room, muttering. "What are we supposed to do about this? Perhaps we should stamp it out somehow. It never worked for him, but then, he was quite an ignorant one. Yes, yes, she should be fine..."

Madeline, however, was feeling a very powerful range of emotions at the moment. She was angry, confused, and all she wanted to do at the moment was read the letter that had somehow managed to managed to infuriate her grandparents within seconds.

All of a sudden, the flames sputtered and her letter came floating out of the fire, perfectly fine as if it had never been destroyed. It fluttered its way up to her hand, and she finally managed to get a look at it.

Meanwhile, her grandfather was turning purple with anger. He grabbed her arm and dragged her off to their old broom cupboard that they never used. He shoved her in and slammed the door behind her, locking it.

Madeline glanced around. For some reason, there was a bed in there already, as if someone had lived there a long time before then. Yes, a very long while, as the layer of dust on the bed was at least an inch thick.

She plopped down on the bed and contemplated her life's all new low. She had gone from a pampered ten-year-old to a miserable eleven-year-old already, and it wasn't even midday yet.

Madeline glared resentfully at the letter that had turned her life upside down. Oh well, what did she have to lose by reading it?

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall

Miss M. Dursley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary supplies for the coming school year.

We await your owl by September 1. Please keep in mind that first years are not allowed to have their own broom.

Deputy Headmaster: Neville Longbottom

Madeline's head was spinning. Wizardry... Was that... Magic?