"MOTHER DEAREST! Could you please stop Matt from sticking his fingers in my cereal? If you don't I WILL hex him into to TOTAL OBLIVIATION, and Muggles can't go to St. Jean's!" 15-year-old Hilary was extremely annoyed and kept pushing her 4-year-old brother's sticky, honey-covered fingers away.

Then came her mother's muffled reply, "Matthew, come here, and stop bothering your sister." ….

"MOM!"

Obviously, young Matthew, who enjoyed making people yell, had not listened.

As Matt ignored his mother, Hilary's fluffy white kitten named Elly jumped on the table and tried to drink the milk from her cereal. When Hilary did not succeed in keeping away both Elly and Matt away from her precious food, she surrendered. "Alright, just take the damn cereal!" She put the bowl on the floor, and her little brother crouched over and began picking out little pieces of cheerios, while Elly drank the rest. Sighing, she went to the top floor of their multi-level house to her room. She loved it there. Their house was rather narrow, but had about six floors, each with one or two rooms on each floor. Hilary's bedroom, or what she liked to call room of seclusion-ness, and her twin brother Mitchell's room were both on the top floor. Because twins tend to have some sort odd connection, Mitchell knew never to bother her while she was in a mood (which was quite often) so Hilary didn't mind so much sharing a floor with him.

It was one of her deepest secrets that she did not feel connected to anyone in her family except Mitchell. However, she knew she was different than him too. Odd things happened to her, all the time lately. She knew about accidental magic, but even though she could now control her magic, strange, unexplainable things would happen directly to her. For example, if she was very happy, or sad, or angry, her green eyes or brown hair would change colour for an instant. Because it only changed for an instant, she could tell people they were probably imagining things, or that it was just a trick of the light, but Hilary knew better. She was different, and, not that it bothered her or anything, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it; It, being the cause of her weirdness.

Ever since she was very small she had known that she was adopted. Her 'Mom and Dad' (and incidentally her 'younger brother') looked nothing like her or Mitchell. Hilary didn't know much about her family except for the fact that they were Italian, but was determined to find out more. She was sure that her biological family was the source of it, and even surer that Mitchell hadn't inherited it. While Hilary and Mitchell looked alike, they weren't identical twins. Hilary was about one inch shy of being 5 feet tall at the age of 15, while Mitchell was a giant at 6ft 2". Hilary's hair was brown and curly, and Mitchell's was just plain black, thin and straight. Hilary's eyes were green, and Mitchell's brown. Hilary had never met another pair of twins before, but she was quite sure that they were supposed to look more alike than her and Mitchell did.

Passing by her brother's room, she stood at her closed bedroom door. It bore a Friends poster, a Weird Sister's poster, a Quidditch poster and a sign which read: Hilary's Room, You're not Welcome. Opening the door, she walked in. Her room was quite small. The walls were a very pale blue colour, and she had hardwood floor. Her bedspread was white and black swirls, with two colourful, flower patterned pillows, and a bright red, large, sequin-covered pillow. On top of that was a very old, pink stuffed fairy that she'd had since birth. Her bed frame was made of silver-coloured metal, and was very high off the floor; so much that you could walk under it. Underneath there was a white desk with a blue, fuzzy chair, a computer, and a purple phone. A Japanese paper lantern hung above her desk, from the bottom of her bed frame. She had a white fluffy circular rug with a fairly large stereo on it, which was littered with many CD's and CD cases. She also had a table littered with hair and face products, make-up, and fashion magazines, and above it a round mirror with a purple bicycle-tire frame. Beside the table she had a door leading to her walk-in closet. This was part of the reason her room was so small, because she had insisted on having a large closet. She almost killed for fashion. She had spent the past year saving her money by getting a job as a waitress at a nearby restaurant, for a Coach handbag. It was beige with darker brown logos all over it and had a purple silk lining and a matching wallet. The inside of her closet was bare now, because Hilary had shoved all of her things into her trunk (which was magically expanded on the inside). Even though her mother was a very successful fashion executive at Ralph Lauren and her father was a doctor, for some reason her parents had decided not to live in big house. Hilary was slightly spoiled, but she surely didn't get everything she wanted. Her parents worked very hard to teach her the value of a dollar.

The day after tomorrow she was going to Salem Witches Institute, so she still needed to go shopping for last-minute school supplies. She and her best friends Dana and Bree were going to the Wizarding part of the Edmonton Mall tomorrow to get everything they needed. Hilary immediately decided to start getting Elly ready. She got a basket with a removable lid ready for Elly, put Elly's favourite fluffy purple blanket and pink kitten pillow in, and attached a little food and water dish to the side. She added in a few toy mice with catnip and feather toys. She of course put big bags of cat food in her trunk as well, not to mention cat litter and an empty tray.

Hilary sighed as she finished lifting the cat litter, and sat down on her chair, which was not a good idea. While she was packing, a brown barn owl had flown in her window with an extremely heavy letter, and now sat impatiently on Hilary's chair….. Well… did. It now lay squished on the chair, most likely because it had just been sat on. Immediately Hilary jumped up in horror and scooped up the owl. After nursing the owl for a couple minutes, and then sending it back on its way, Hilary turned over the very thick letter. It bore an emerald green seal and the crest for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Already Hilary was beginning to get excited, as she had heard stories of the prestigious Wizarding school in Britain. Eagerly, she tore open the letter.

Miss Hilary Ardelle Isabella-Maria Tatiana Demi-Praesentia-Carter,

Hilary groaned. Somewhere out there, she hoped (somewhat) that her biological parents were rolling over in their graves at the sight of her horrendously long and un-pronounceable name.

Number 15, 110th Avenue,

Edmonton, Alberta,

Canada, North America,

Dear Miss Hilary Ardelle Isabella-Maria Tatiana Demi-Praesentia-Carter,

We would like to offer you and your brother a position as an OWL student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for the remaining time of your magical education. I, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts, have heard that you possess, shall we say, a special gift, and the staff at Salem Witch's Institute do not have the facilities to further educate you in terms of your special ability. I would be pleased to personally educate you in this matter. The decision to attend is yours alone, and we only offer you this opportunity to suit your best interests. I request a meeting tomorrow with you and your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Carter at 12 o'clock.

Sincerely

Albus Dumbledore,

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

P.S. I will apparate to your residence for the meeting, so there is no need to worry about going anywhere. Also, you may want to open the other envelope, inside is something that should have been returned to you long ago. Forgive an old man of his mistakes.

Hilary was slightly freaked out by this Dumbledore man, and yet still quite mystified and intrigued by him. First of all, how did he know she existed? Or where she lived? What did he have of hers? Since when did she have a special ability? The last thought made her seriously doubt this man's intelligence; she didn't have a gift for anything. She very nearly failed 4th year because of her lack of knowledge when it came to the theory part of magic. Everything that she didn't care about (which was anything that required thinking hard and remembering) went in one ear and out the other. Her least favourite subject of course, was Magical Theology and Philosophy, in other word, History. Pushing all thoughts of the apparently deranged Dumbledore out of her mind, she opened the smaller envelope, discovering what made the letter so heavy. As she shook the envelope and tilted it to the side, a gorgeous necklace slid into her hand.

The thin chain was what looked like pure silver or white gold. It was carved and sculpted beautifully to look like entwined vines. It even had little detail of tiny flowers and leaves. In the center of the chain, was a beautiful diamond. Hilary removed the tiny piece of parchment which was shoved through one of the clasps, and briefly glanced at a baby picture of herself and a little boy baby, which had fallen out of the envelope. The little baby boy, was not Mitchell.

My Dearest Daughter,

If you are reading this, then I assume that they have gotten the best of you father and I, and I should certainly hope that Dumbledore sent you to live with your godfather Remus, or at least your Auntie Isabella-Maria. However, no one can ever quite predict what goes through his mind (nor do I believe anyone will want to know). After all, if poor Lily and James Potter eventually are murdered by Lord Voldemort, I don't think Dumbledore will send Harry to live with Sirius Black.

Lily was my very dearest friend, and when Harry was about 4 months old, we brought you over to Godric's Hollow, and he became your very first friend. I have enclosed a picture of you and him on his first birthday.

Anyways dear, enough of my rambling. I cannot explain barely anything in this letter, incase someone else finds it. All I may tell you is this: My dear Hilary, ALWAYS wear this necklace, it was made especially for you by me, and a piece of my love for you will always be with you.

Your loving mother,

~Ardelle Demi-Praesentia

P.S Your father sends his love too, as do the both of us to Mitchell.

Hilary couldn't believe it. The necklace that she was holding in her hand was a link to her past, herself, and to it. Re-reading through the letter, she could hardly contain her tears. Reading through the whole letter yet again though, she became so confused that she decided to be rational for the first time in her life, and calmly re-read it yet again.

As Hilary re-read the letter hot tears welled up in her eyes, and splattered the page. She sat in silence for a few minutes, pondering what in the name of hell her mother was rambling on about. Finally though, after deciding that she couldn't figure it out on her own, and that she should ask this Dumbledore man everything, Hilary dried her eyes and went downstairs to find her parents, and to show them her letter from Dumbledore.

After she had descended many flights of stairs, Hilary finally reached the living room where both of her parents were watching T.V. together, with Matt planted firmly in between them, grinning away, and his bright blue eyes peeking out from underneath his mop of curly blonde hair. When he saw Hilary coming into the room, he squealed, got off the sofa, and ran at her, hugging her legs.

"Hilabee! I'm thorry!" Indeed, little pre-pre-schooler Matthew, talked with a baby-lisp. "I'm thorry for eating your breakfathst! But the theerios were juth tho yummy! I'm juth tho thorry Hilabee! I lub you!" Matt was now squeezing 'Hilabee's' legs so hard that she could not move, and mumbling away with his baby-ish lisp.

"It's okay Matty, I forgive you, but can you please let go of my legs? I need to talk to Mommy and Daddy for a little bit, okay? You go see Mitch and ask him if he'll play some Lego with you!"

"Otay!" Matt unlatched himself from Hilary's legs, and sped off up the stairs to find Mitchell, as fast as his little legs could carry him. Hilary turned to face her Mom and Dad, both of who looked quite amused at the little apology show their youngest son had put on. You see, Matthew tended to be quite a little terror, and the only one he ever apologized to, was his 'Hilabee'. No one quite knew why, but he was quite attached to her, and Hilary in a way dreaded the day she went to Hogwarts, because during the school year, little Matty suffered from extreme separation anxiety.

Mrs. Carter, or Jane, smiled gently at Hilary. "What's the matter hun?" She patted the seat in between her and her husband. "What did you need to talk about?" Hilary smiled very widely and handed the letter from Dumbledore to her parents. After reading it, her father Henry, was the first to speak.

"Honey, that's great! We're very proud of you! But where exactly is this Hogwarts?" He looked down at his only daughter, and felt the fierce need to protect her. From the time they adopted her, they had been told by this Dumbledore man, that their new daughter was very special, and that no matter how hard it would be, one day, they would have to let her go, to follow the path of her parents, specifically her biological mother. Now, of course, Mr. Carter was determined never to do so.

Hilary looked uneasy. "Uhhh, you see, it's this VERY prestigious school, it's like me being asked to come to like, Harvard, or something, and well..."

"Hilary, where is it?"

"England." she squeaked.

"ENGLAND? THIS OLD MAN IS ASKING US TO SHIP YOU AWAY TO ENGLAND?"

"Well, yes...but..."

"But what?"

Hilary needed to think of something very good about England, some bonus point that would help convince her father to let her go to Hogwarts...

"They call bathrooms loos there. And rain-boots are galoshes."

"Oh, see that makes me MUCH more willing to send you there! What else have you got?"

Hilary was not good at thinking fast.

"I can call you on the telly every day, unless the telly is television there... I'm not sure…and I can eat real, English muffins there, and crumpets, and I can drink my tea at teatime whilst I hold my pinky in the air! OH! And the Queen lives there! Maybe I can have my English muffins and crumpets and pinky tea with the Queen!"

"I highly doubt you'll meet the Queen, dear."

"How would you know?"

"Because, as a parent... I just know. It's a sixth sense."

Hilary couldn't respond to that one. Her parents did seem to have a sixth sense, like when they could always tell when she lied, or did something bad.

Her father chuckled at Hilary's expressionless face. "What else have you got?

Hilary thought for a moment, and then, the most convincing, and best reason she could ever think of, came to mind. "Well, because...I think my parents, my birth parents, went to Hogwarts."

There was dead silence, as her parents were shocked into silence at the mention of Hilary's biological parents. They had always known that one day this time would come when Hilary wanted to find out more about her birth parents, and they weren't going to be the ones to stop her. She had every right to find out about herself, so...

"When did this Dumbledore man say he was coming?"