Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potters. :(
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Chapter 1: Strange happenings at Chesney Wold
Sharon was abruptly awoken. She wasn't sure of the time, or of why she had woken, though - if the absence of light coming through the curtains was anything to judge by- she was pretty sure it was sometime at night.
She slowly sat up in her bed, turned on her bedside lamp, and looked around. Her room looked the same. She spent around 5 minutes sitting there trying to figure out what had happened, when she decided sleep was more important, and slowly went back to sleep.
It was the summer holidays, so in the morning she woke up later than she probably should've, walked downstairs, got a bowl of cereal and sat down in front of the TV in the living room. She was watching the news about some killings in London, but the police couldn't find any indication of how they had died. Typical.
She flicked through the channels, not really interested with what was on when her dad came in the room. He wasn't a particularly nervous or shy man, but there was something about the way he came in the room that told her that something was wrong, or rather, not quite so right, as he liked to say.
"We…" He started before trailing off, "We.. Need to talk."
"What's this about?" she replied, eyeing her dad nervously.
"Oh, I'll explain in a moment, could you come up to my office when you're done watching that?" He asked her this whilst looking at the television, his expression turning quizzical when he saw that she was watching one of the shopping channels.
Hastily turning off the TV and leaving her empty bowl on the kitchen side, she went upstairs, to the furthest room on the right, opposite the bathroom, to her father's study. She slowly opened the door, he turned round and said "Ahh. There you are. Come right in, take a seat." Whilst saying this he extended his hand towards a seat he usually kept folders and loose paper on, but had obviously cleaned for her to sit on.
She took her seat, then looked up at him. "What's this about?" She repeated, worry worming it's way into her voice. If she didn't know better, he was going to tell her off for doing some horrible thing, though she couldn't think of anything.
"This may sound strange, Sharon, but… but…"
"But what, dad?"
"You're.. You're a .. W-witch." He stuttered the last phrase, as if unsure of himself, then let out a sigh and gave a weak smile.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm not a witch… am I?"As she mumbled the end of her sentence feebly, her father slipped an old-looking envelope towards her. The paper looked brown and worn, and there was a wax seal on it. The seal had a badger, a lion, an eagle and a snake. She opened the letter slightly, and looked at the signature,
Severus Snape,
Headmaster of Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry
She read through the letter again. And again, and another time after couldn't believe it.
Her? A witch? Never! She didn't have a black cat and have a pointy nose with a big wart on the end! She didn't turn people into toads and eat them for dinner!
But yet, they had explained it. It was on April the fourth, this very same year. She'd performed magic, and she could remember something very strange indeed happening on that day.
She'd been playing with her friend, and they'd been playing catch. She kept catching the ball, even though it was much to far away for her to reach. There was once where she saw it definitely change direction in the air to reach her outstretched hand. She'd found it amazing. Her friend, on the other hand, found it incredibly unfair. Sure, Sharon could always catch the ball, but she was no good at throwing. She once even managed to get it stuck on the roof of a neighbours house, and they had to get him to climb up and get it for that, she hadn't seen any inkling of magic. Sure, she remembered being really lucky when she was younger, but surely that can't have been magic. Surely.
She spent the next few days walking around the house, pointing at things, trying to make some kind of magic happen. It never worked, though she never stopped trying, always reading her letter through, picking up some phrases while she went, "Your Blood Status will be devised once you reach the school.", "You will be escorted by Minerva McGonagall to Diagon Alley within the week", "Please respond to this letter by telling Professor McGonagall of your decision when she arrives."
It was on a Thursday in early August that Sharon was woken by her mother and told to get dressed and presentable.
"Wha… Why?" Sharon asked groggily, unsure of why her mother looked so frazzled.
"There is someone at the door for you. Very strangely dressed."
Sharon was almost certain this was the "Minerva McGonagall" that the letter spoke of. She was dressed in almost the amount of time it took for her mother to go downstairs.
Of course, her and her father had discussed Hogwarts, whether she should take up the offer or not, how mum would react.
She walked downstairs to find a woman in a long black robe and a slightly crumpled witches that someone had descended the stairs, she turned round.
"You must be Sharon." She said with a smile.