Prologue

Silver City, New Mexico was not the most exciting town to be in. In fact, every weekend tended to be monotonous: go out and party. That's it. There was no movie theater, it being torn down recently and replaced as a car rental. There were no malls, the biggest store being Wal-Mart, or people could rummage through the antique shops downtown. Although it seemed pretty boring, it was a quiet, peaceful place, and some people were convinced that there was magic about. No one had ever witnessed any magic, though, except for two sisters.

It was a Friday afternoon and Madelaine Grant was sitting in the MASA (Multicultural Affairs and Student Activities) in the Student Memorial Building at Western New Mexico University. The MASA was really just a lounge for students and faculty to hang out in and watch TV, study, play Ping-Pong, or pool. At the moment, Madelaine was sitting on a stool at the back of the room, resting her chin in the palm of her hand while her elbow was situated on the tall table. Her grey-green eyes were unfocused as they stared at the TV which was showing a documentary on people who claimed to be abducted by aliens. She was waiting for her twin sister to get out of class so that they could head over to the library together. Finally, after what felt like hours, Alexia Grant arrived placing her purple backpack beside Maddie's green one on the table top.

"Oh good," said Maddie straightening up and blinking at her sister, "I thought I was going to die of boredom. Ready to go?"

"Just a minute. I have to go to the bathroom, then we can leave," Lexi replied. As she left the room, Maddie noticed all of the guys staring after Lexi with a longing look. It was no wonder. Despite being twins, Alexia was the beautiful sister with light skin, long golden hair, grey-green eyes, and was endowed with an hourglass figure.

Madelaine, on the other hand, had unusually pale skin, long wavy strawberry blonde hair that curled at the tips, the same grey-green eyes as her twin, and had less curves, making her seem average. The boys never looked at Maddie the way they did Lexi. They only saw Maddie as "one of the guys". Typical.

When Alexia returned from the restroom, she and Maddie grabbed their bags and left the Student Memorial Building, depositing the sacks into Maddie's red truck before walking across the parking lot. The library wasn't very far from the school, just a couple of blocks downhill. As they walked, Alexia was talking about how easy her English class was going, and Maddie had to agree that it wasn't much of a challenge.

About half way to the library, Maddie saw a tabby cat sitting on a fence, staring down at a piece of paper. Upon closer inspection, she realized the paper was a map. With a sharp intake of breath, she turned to her twin and said, "Lexi, look! There's a cat reading a map!" When the girls turned to look, there was no map in sight but the feline stared directly at them, swishing its tail back and forth.

With a laugh, Alexia said, "Mad, I think you're stuck in the world of Harry Potter."

Maddie shook her head with a slight frown. "Yeah, I must be seeing things," she said, but for the rest of the journey, she kept shooting backward glances at the cat, who never looked away.

Finally, their ten minute walk to the library came to an end, and they entered the building, neither one of the girls noticing a large tawny owl fluttering by and landing on the roof above them.

Inside, the girls wandered the shelves for a while, looking for something to read. Alexia finally settled on a Nicholas Sparks novel, but Maddie had a tougher time deciding on what to read. Her mind kept wandering back to the tabby cat, and what Lexi had said, I think you're stuck in the world of Harry Potter. Well, why not? She hadn't read the Harry Potter series in about a year. She grabbed the first three books and the girls then walked over to the checkout desk. Once they had gotten their books, and left the library, they began walking towards the park. It was about another ten minute walk, but they didn't mind. The park was a peaceful place to just sit and relax, and was quiet enough to read their books without interruptions.

At the park, the girls found a shady spot to sit underneath a tree and began reading their books in silence. After about the first hundred pages, Maddie said out loud, "I wish we could be inside the world of Harry Potter. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

"Mm-hmm," Alexia agreed, not looking up from her book.

Suddenly an eerie grey fog appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the sisters. They stared at it, slightly afraid and wondered what was going on, since it was a warm sunny day.

"What is this?" Lexi inquired, dropping her book.

"I don't know!" Madelaine replied, trying not to panic.

Suddenly the fog cleared away and the girls found themselves standing at a train station. Maddie's jaw dropped when she saw the words printed on a sign: Platform 9¾.

"Um, Maddie," said Alexia, tugging on her twin's arm. Madelaine turned towards her and saw Lexi pointing to something off to the side. She nearly fainted at the sight before her. Not far from them was a scarlet train with the words HOGWARTS EXPRESS emblazoned on the side in gold letters.