The world belongs to JKR, I own no part of it or her characters. This story is set in the USA, though, and most of the characters and settings are my own.

"As you can see, the facility is comfortable for those orphans found after the war," Said a kind voice as it passed Cale's. Cale didn't pay attention to it; he was busy playing with his two cats, Talon and Ko. It was a game they called mouse toss. Talon would take the toy mouse and bat it towards Cale, who flicked it to Ko. Ko would then grab it in her mouth and shake her black head, letting go at the precise point needed to throw the mouse back to Talon. It was a game they had played for years, ever since they came to live with him at the War orphanage.

"Cale," called the kind voice as the matron knocked on the door. "I have a visitor that would like to talk to you"

"Tell said visitor he can go…" but Cale never finished, for the door crashed open, revealing a stern looking woman in her late fifties. Cale just looked up from his game, knowing that the matron had guessed what he was going to say, for he had developed quite a mouth as of late. It wasn't that he liked to swear, he just hated to be interrupted by anything or anybody. Only Talon and Ko got a pass from it, though they knew better.

"Cale Firefist, I have told you before, no swearing in this facility!" said the matron, her kind voice edged in such away that Cale knew it would be bothersome to do so again. At least until she got out of ear shot. "Anyway," she said, the edge in her voice gone as if it had never been. "I'd like you to meet Mr. Winston. He comes from a school for gifted youngsters, and would like to talk to you about going to it. I'll leave you two some privacy, but don't forget about your summer school homework." And with that, she left, leaving Cale with middle age man with short salt and pepper and goatee. He stood about 2 feet taller than Cale and weighed about two hundred pounds, most of which, he noticed, was not fat.

"Hello," the man said as he walked into the room. "I am Mr. Winston from…"

"'A school for gifted youngsters.' Yeah, I got that," Interrupted Cale. "But there seems to be a couple if slight problems."

"Oh," Mr. Winston replied. "And what problems would those be?"

"One: A school for the "gifted" cost money, I have none, and as far as I know, there are no schools for the "gifted" that I'd go to in the day and age, cause they all sound like schools for either rich snobs or retards. I'm not either."

"Problem one is easy enough to solve. We have a fund set up for those…" he paused. "Less fortunate attendee's, so there will be no problems getting your supplies. As for tuition, there isn't any, so that's covered as well. The second problem is solved by explaining the school and what they teach there."

At this point, somewhat annoyed at being ignored, Ko flung the mouse straight at Cale's face. He caught instinctively with his gloved right hand, wincing slightly as he did so.

"Something wrong with your hand?" Mr. Winston asked, watching Cale's face.

"You could say that," Cale replied softly. He flung the mouse onto his bed saying "Play up there for a bit if ya don't mind, I'll play with you guys after I'm done, K?" Both cats looked at him for a second before leaping onto the bed to continue their game.

Mr. Winston waited patiently for Cale to continue, and after a minute of staring at his hand, Cale said "I don't know how it happened, I was just a baby, but they said it was burned in a fire shortly after I was born. It has healed as much as it can, the doctors say, but the pain will probably never go away. I use my left hand mostly, but my right can do everything the other can," He finished.

"And that's how you got your last name I take it," Mr. Winston stated. "And now, to continue on, this school is not really for "gifted" or "special" students, it's a school of magic."

Cale smiled as he raised his head. "Magic," he said simply.

"Yes, magic," said Mr. Winston. "I have your acceptance letter with me, would you like me to read it to you?"

At that, Cale started laughing. "Well, I thought id do you the courtesy of reading it to you, not many schools would accept a—"

"I'm not blind." Cale had stopped laughing abruptly, a very serious look on his face. "I wear this piece of cloth because my eyes are really light sensitive. Plus, it tends to scare people when they look into my eyes, considering…" he trailed off. "I'll read the letter later and send my reply along, now get out of my room." It wasn't a request.

Cale waited until Mr. Winston left before reaching for the envelope.

Dracos Academy of Magic

Dean: Hayle Ashford

(Order of Merlin, 1st Class, Medal of Honor among others)

Dear Mr. Firefist,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to

attend Dracos Academy of Magic. All your school materials

are listed on the second sheet of parchment. We understand

your situation and have also sent a voucher good for acquiring

all your supplies.

The first semester starts on 21 Aug; we expect your reply by

the 20th of the same month. Also enclosed is you bus ticket,

which you will need to keep with you as you as you will not

receive another.

Sincerely,

Craig Winston,

Assistant Dean

Cale's heart was beating a tattoo in his chest. Magic. That would explain a lot, he thought. How I'm able to see with this blindfold on, also... He started staring at his dresser, knowing that what was inside was probably not allowed, at least, not yet. He shrugged the gloomy thoughts from his mind and continued reading. After he was done, he went to his desk, picked up a pen, and wrote his reply.

Mr. Winston walked briskly from the orphanage, his thoughts clearly back in the room with that strange boy. He had been told that the boy had an attitude problem, along with some deficiencies in seeing, but from his perspective, the boy saw everything just fine. In fact, Mr. Winston silently told himself, the boy could probably see better than most people, normal or wizard. After Cale had told him to get out, he tried for a few more minutes to talk to him, but he was ignored. And so, a little frustrated, and, (though he'd never admit it to himself) a little intrigued by him, he left Cale's room. He had no doubt he would be getting a reply back, he just hoped it was in time to get the supplies and travel.

As he drove into the city, he reminded himself that he had three more homes to visit before the day was out, so, sighing to himself, he checked the GPS in his car and located the address of lucky student to be number two.

Motoko Ishimora was not born in America, though you could hardly tell that from her perfect english. She was born in Tokyo, Japan 11 years ago today, and, though she usually dreaded her birthday, she was looking forward to it, thinking something had to be different this year. She loved it here in Las Vegas. Sure, kids still picked on her and grown-ups stared, but it was better than what happened in Japan. She was shunned because she was born with a genetic birth defect, to which the doctors had given a complicated name she couldn't remember. With her white hair, chalk white skin and red eyes, her classmates had called her a lot of names: albino, whitey, and ghost among the nicest. She actually didn't mind ghost however, and when she said so, the kids stopped calling her that. What a bunch of idiots, she had thought.

She liked the name ghost because it gave her a sense of mystery. It didn't help that a lot of strange things happened. Sometimes when the boys were chasing her, they'd all trip at once, or she would suddenly be on the other side of the playground. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason she always started to get into trouble for it at home, however. She had developed a knack for lying few could match so she could get out of it, but she thought her parents knew somehow. It was like they were reading her mind.

Sitting at her desk, she had just finished the last of her summer school work, and was about to take a trip down to the kitchen when the door bell rank. She waited, hoping they would go away, as her parent weren't home. After a few more rings, she sighed, got up, and went down the hall to the front door. "Who is it?" she called, one hand on the door, unsure whether or not to open it.

"Mr. Craig Winston from Dracos Academy to see Miss Motoko Ishimora." Said a kind gravely voice.

He sounded honest, and who would know an honest sounding voice better than a person who lies through her teeth ten times a day. "One second," she called. She undid the locks and opened the door, looking up at an older gentleman in a bright blue, three piece suit. He had short, grey hair and a kind face, which was, for the moment anyway, in a state of shock.

"Miss Ishimora?" he said, apparently trying to keep the shock out of his voice. He had failed miserably.

"No," she lied, "My name is Ghost. Motoko went out with her parents and I'm here watching the house. Is there something I can do for you?"

The man shook his head once as if to clear away a thought. "May I come in Miss Ishimora?" he asked.

Great, she thought. Another one who could read minds. "What do you want?" she asked bluntly.

"I'm here to invite you to my school, and need to talk to you and your parents. They should be home, seeing as it's their day off."

"There was an emergency," she said, getting suspicious. Maybe she shouldn't have opened the door. "I'll tell them you came by." And with that, she slammed the door in his face and locked all four of the door locks. Pleased with herself, she went into the kitchen to grab herself a snack. She was half way there when she heard the door locks unlocking.

Turning around, she saw the man walk though the doorway. Panicking, raced into her room and grabbed the phone, dialing 911. It rang twice, then suddenly went dead. She looked up, and there was the old man, pointing a stick of wood at her. She yelped and ran to the corner. "If you come any closer, I'll scream!" she cried.

"Please," he said. "I only mean to talk."

"You broke into my house, and now you want to kidnap me!"

"No, no, no." he said. "I truly mean you no harm."

"Then back up."

He did as he was told. Motoko suddenly had a thought of the sign above her door falling and hitting him in the head. There was a thunk and a thud and the man was on the floor, unconscious, the wooden sign next to him. Gingerly, she walked over to him and nudged him with her foot. "Out cold. Serves you right." She spat.

She thought of calling the police right away, but something told her that he would wake up soon. So, thinking the best method of keeping herself safe was to tie him up, Motoko went to fetch some rope from the closet. After fifteen minutes, she looked at her handy work. No one could get out of those, unless the could use magic. Turning, she picked up the phone and found it was still dead. Well, she thought, he cut the phone lines, but I have a cell. It took her another fifteen minutes to find it. It was only for emergencies so she never really bothered to keep track of it, but to her surprise, it was dead too. She was about to go to a neighbors when the man stirred.

"Oh my head…" he groaned. "What? Who? Why am I tied up!"

"Because you broke into my house and now you are going to jail." She replied. "Count yerself lucky my father isn't home or you would be dead"

"I did it because this is very important!" he said loudly.

"What's so important that you need to cut the phone lines or whatever you did, and breaking into my house?"

"You're a witch!" he almost screamed.

"Why you low life piece of shit! How DARE you call me that!" she screamed, throwing her cell phone and hitting him in the face.

"NO, NO, NO!" panic evident in his voice, " I mean you can do magic!"

She wasn't expecting that. "What are you on? Crack?"

"No, I'm serious." Some of the panic leaving his voice. "Has anything ever happened you couldn't explain?"

"Like a well attached sign falling onto an intruders head? Yeah, it happens occasionally. I'm just lucky like that sometimes."

"I bet you," he said. "that you get lucky at times when you're frightened or angry."

"What are you…" she started, but memories came flooding in. A basketball exploding halfway in the air before it hit her in the face, being suddenly on the other side of the school's fence when two boys were chasing her….

"Magic," she whispered.

"Yes, Magic. You have a gift Miss Ishimora, one a lot of normal people would kill for or worse. I come from a school that will teach you to control this magic, and let you do things you'd only dream of doing."

She stared at him for what must have been hours before saying, "And where is this school?"

"Oregon, where normal people can't find it," he said, his voice panic free. "I have your acceptance letter and will give it to you, if you would believe me and let me up."

"If you're lying to me…"

"You know I'm not." He interrupted.

Definitely one who could read minds, she thought. He did have a point, though, she knew he wasn't lying, or rather, he believed what he was saying. She decided, upon silent reflection, to give him a test. "If you can do magic, untie yourself."

"I can't" he said

"Why not?"

"Because I dropped my wand, if you'll put it in my hand…"

"This thing?" she said, picking up the stick he had earlier pointed at her.

"Yes, thank…"

"So you can't do magic without it?" she asked, a plan forming in her mind.

"No, so if you please, just…"

"What if I broke it?" she asked, putting on her most serious face.

"WHAT?, NO DON'T…!" he shrieked.

He's staring at me like I'm going to kill him, thought Motoko, and if he needs this to do magic, it would probably ruin his life if I broke it. She was starting to have second thoughts about goading him like this, it didn't feel right.

"Oh, I wasn't really going to break it." She said finally. "I was just testing you. Congratulations, you passed."

Relief washed over his face, and Motoko finally conceded that what he was saying was the truth. She bent down to where his hands were tied and loosened the knots. Once free, he slowly sat up, staring at her.

After a long silence, she said "Dad always told me it is hardest to lie when under pressure."

"Very wise man." He said simply. "Now that you believe me, would you like your letter?"

"Sure," she said, "If it checks out, I'll give you back your… wand did you call it?"

"Yes, and that's fine." He said, handing over a slightly large envelope. "You'll find all the details in there, but we'll still have to ask your parents if you can go."

"Oh, they'll say yes." She said as she opened the letter. She found two pieces of paper along with a bus ticket that said that her bus was leaving the morning of the twenty first of August. As she read, she got unexpectantly excited. She could do magic!

"Well," she said, keeping her voice as calm as possible. "I'll talk to my parents and convince them that I should go, but…."

"What is it?" the old man asked.

"Where am I going to get all this stuff? I don't know of any shops in Vegas that sells any of it."

"Oh!" he said, visibly relaxing. "I'll take you to the place where it can all be found, if you like. I'm taking couple of other students there as well, if you'd like to join us?"

She looked up at him, trepidation flowing through her. "What other students?"

"Ones from normal families, like yourself. I have already delivered one besides yours, and I have another two to deliver today… Or, at least I would have delivered them today…" he said quietly.

She looked at her clock on her desk and saw it was almost nine o'clock. Where had the time gone? "I'm sorry," she said meekly.

"No worries, no worries," he said smiling. "I'll deliver them tomorrow. How about we set up a time on Friday to meet with your parents so they know what is going on?"

"Alright." She said, smiling back at him.

"But first…" he paused, "May I have my wand back now?"

She laughed. What a Birthday!

Craig was thought he was going to have a nervous break down. First, there was Cale, who wasn't too friendly, but believed him almost immediately. Then there was Motoko, who had knocked him out, tied him up and threatened to break his wand before she finally believed him. Then, three days ago, he met Jak. He thought he was finally going have a normal delivery, until the Police showed up with a warrant for his arrest. He had quickly modified their memories and escaped, not even waiting for a reply from Jak or his mother.

The worst though was Lucinda Thomas. After what seemed like a normal delivery, he had stopped for gas, and found his wallet missing. Going back to the car, he tried to pull out his wand to summon it, when to his horror, he found that was gone as well. In fact, everything he was carrying before he went to Lucinda's house was gone. When he finally got back to her house, (he had run out of gas and had to take a cab and two busses,) she had handed everything back to him in a small box, saying thanks for the practice.

All in all, he was dreading tomorrow when they would all meet and go shopping for their school supplies, but, like always, time sped up and the next thing he knew, he was pulling up to Meadows Mall in Las Vegas. After finding a parking spot, he checked to make sure he had everything. His wand was secured on a leather harness to his left arm, and his wallet and cell phone in his briefcase along with the vouchers Cale needed. After a few seconds of staring at them, he realized he did not want Cale to use them. Instead, he thought, I'll buy everything for him. He's had a hard enough life, and maybe it'll get him to warm up to me a little.

He got out of the car and walked along the parked cars until he came to the front entrance. He knew something was wrong as he approached the doors. Just inside, there was a group of people around what looked like the aftermath of a fight. As he walked by, what he saw nearly made him scream in frustration. Lucinda was in handcuffs against one wall, the mall security yelling at her and her father and Jak was being restrained by five or six people, apparently trying to get to someone beyond the crowd.

In the middle of the crowd, being put on a stretcher was a man that was knocked out, blood all over his face and clothes, and, in the corner, Craig saw Cale, cradling his right hand in obvious pain, with Motoko sitting next to him, apparently trying to comfort him.

It was all too much. "WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!!" he yelled. Jak stopped struggling, Motoko looked up and Lucinda yelled his name. "Jak, Cale, Motoko, come here, security, release my student now!" It had taken a while to get everyone together, after which, everyone started to talk at once.

"He grabbed her…" said Cale weakly, still cradling his right hand.

"She picked his pocket!" yelled Jak.

"I was going to give it back!" wailed Lucinda.

"ENOUGH!" Craig screamed. "The only one who doesn't seem to have lost his or her head is Motoko, so she will explain." He couldn't believe he had just said that, for, wasn't it Motoko who had knocked HIM out and hog tied him?

And so, the story unfolded. Motoko was waiting on Craig and the rest when she saw that Jak had arrived with his father, Sean. They were waiting quietly when Lucinda walked up behind Sean and picked his pocket. Jak had seen this and informed his father, who grabbed Lucinda and started shaking her roughly. Cale then arrived, saw the whole thing, and went to stop him, grabbing Sean's arm. Sean, seeing a boy telling him to stop, slapped Cale's gloved hand, which caused him to scream in pain. Cale then hit Sean with the offended hand and Sean was knocked out. For one moment Jak, Lucinda and Motoko were stunned at what had happened, when Cale collapsed to the floor, releasing them from their shock. That's when security arrived and Craig had shown up not long after.

Craig had listened to Motoko, his eyes growing wider and wider with each passing sentence. When she had finished, trying to keep his voice steady, he said, "Ok, look. Lucinda did the same thing to me earlier, but returned all my stuff as it was when she took it, it's a game for her. Cale has problems with his right hand and even the slightest movement causes him pain. What Lucinda did was wrong…"

"I knew it!" ejaculated Jak.

"But what your father did was even more wrong Jak," Craig continued. "Now, Lucinda, I want you to apologize to Jak for stealing his fathers wallet."

"Oh, I didn't steal his wallet," said Lucinda innocently. "I actually grabbed his watch and, while he was shaking me, his cell phone. But don't worry," she added hastily, seeing an ugly look from Jak. "I put them down his shirt before security arrived. I do apologize for making a scene, and I'm sorry your hand got hurt Cale. Now that we are all friends, lets go shopping!"

Craig just stared at the girl.

This is the first chapter of my first fan-fic, so be gentle with the reviews, k?