"Happy Birthday!" Tate King sat with her parents in the kitchen of their house in Hogsmead. It was Tate's eleventh birthday, a big day in the life of a witch or wizard. Tate blew out the candles on her small cake, and her dad cut her a piece.

"Tate,I should probably be off now." Her dad said apologetically.

"Aw, why?" Tate asked.

"Work is very busy." He answered, "Lots of stuff still to do with the, you know."

"But the war ended years ago! Eight years ago! There's still more to do?"

"Yes, just… Details." He answered. He kissed Tate's mom on the cheek, hugged Tate, and walked out the door. Tate got up and ran to the living room window that was next to the kitchen. She waved at her dad as he walked down the front steps of their small porch, turned on the spot, and disappeared.

Tate returned to the table and sat down. Together, she and her mom finished their cake in silence.

"Mum, I'm going to go upstairs and wait for my letter to arrive." Tate said.

"Alright, just be sure to open a window so the owl can get in." Her mom said.

"Sure." Tate said. She raced up the stairs to her second story bedroom.

An hour later, Tate sat in her room, still waiting for the owl with her letter to arrive. She had opened the arched window in her room to let in some cool air, since her room got stiflingly hot in the summer. Clothes littered the dark wood floor of her room, and posters of her favourite quidditch team, the Hollyhead Harpies, littered clustered the wall. Her bed and the rest of her room were anything but tidy, with the desk littered with paper and dresser drawers flung open. The powder-blue sheets on her four-poster bed were bunched and twisted, and the brown drapes that hung from the bed were lazily pushed aside. The bookshelf, however, was a whole other level of messy. Books were stacked, crammed, and piled any way they could be, and were continuously falling off. The one part of the room that wasn't messy was a small corner. In it was a cream coloured armchair, a small tray table, and Tate's cello.

That was where Tate was now, curled up and reading a book. Suddenly, a large eagle owl came swooping into the room, sending papers flying. The owl landed on Tate's cello, and stuck out its left leg for her to untie the letter. She detached the letter from the owl's leg, and it flew away.

"Mum, my letter's just come!" She yelled down the stairs, before sitting back down and opening the envelope. She took out the first piece of paper and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

HEADMISTRESS: Amanda Wells

Dear ,

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,

Celesta Flora

Deputy headmistress

She then took out the other piece of paper, the list of supplies for the coming year. Tate grabbed both papers and ran downstairs.

"Mum?" She yelled, stumbling down the stairs, "Mum? I need to go to Diagon Alley on Wednesday, can I use your owl to send a letter to Grace?" She jumped the last two stairs and ran into the kitchen, where her mother sat reading the Daily Prophet. "Mum, can we go to Diagon Alley on Wednesday? And can I borrow your owl? I need to ask Grace if she can meet us there." Tate repeated.

Her mom looked up from the paper, smiling. "Of course, dear. We can stay at the Leaky Cauldron for a night, if that's alright. It would give us more time to shop."

"Ooh, yes Mum!" Tate said. She loved going to the Leaky Cauldron. "But Mum, the owl." She reminded.

"Oh, alright dear. He's in the study." Her mom sighed.

"Thanks, Mum!" Tate yelled, running through the living room and into the study. She sat down at the desk and reached into a drawer. She pulled out a piece of parchment, dipped her eagle feather quill into a drawer. And wrote:

Grace,

Mum said that I can go to Diagon Alley on Wednesday, and I was hoping to meet you there. We're to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for a night. If you can come, I'll see you there. If not, well, see you at Hogwarts.

Bye,

Tate.

She out the quill back into the inkwell, and tied the letter to her mom's small barn owl, Apollo's leg. She then opened the window. Apollo soared out into the sunset.