AN: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within the Potterverse.

Chapter 1: The Letter

The first rays of the morning sun began to slowly creep through the windows of the mansion. All the occupants of this mansion were asleep, except for two. A three-foot-tall humanoid creature with large bat-like ears and shocking electric blue eyes hummed merrily in the large kitchen and a 10-year-old boy who was sitting at his bedroom window watching the skyline.

He had mousy brown hair, blue eyes and a kind gentle face. His name was Joshua Hedley. "Any second now," he muttered over and over again, "any second". The boy remained this way for a long time and only ceased his staring when he heard a loud crack from behind him.

"Breakfast is ready in the main hall Sir." Joshua turned with a sigh. "Thank you Zerum." The house elf gave a low bow before vanishing with the same cracking sound.

Joshua slowly pulled on his robe and exited his room to proceed down a large corridor filled with large oil paintings. Each painting housed at least five or four people and they all seemed to watch as he walked past them. Joshua made his way through the foyer and through two double doors to see his family sitting at an oak table with an assortment of food waiting to be eaten.

"Morning Dad, morning Mom."

"Morning my boy, have a good sleep?"

Joshua slumped into his chair across from his older sister, Melissa, who was already eating her cereal.

"No, I thought I could watch the owl come and deliver my letter… it didn't."

Joshua's father, Craig Hedley, a tall man with black hair, blue eyes and a stern but gentle face, looked at his son who was pouting at his bowl of oats. He stood from his seat at the head of the table to kneel beside his only son. "Hey cheer up my boy, sometimes it takes a while, you're not the only one who has to have a letter written and sent to him. There's lots of other young witches and wizards who have to receive as well. Just give it time."

Joshua looked into his father's kind eyes and replied, "what if they didn't even accept me?"

Joshua's mother, Louise, a short thin woman with brown hair and green eyes, put her toast down and spoke, "don't be silly now. Owls can't fly at the speed of light, it takes time. You know how slow Dusk can be." "He gets the job done, doesn't he?" "Not as fast as Dawn though. Oh, here they are now."

The family looked towards the open doors leading to the porch to see two large screech owls swoop in. a sleek beautiful light brown owl landed on the back of Louise's chair while a dust grey owl landed with a thump next to Craig's bowl of cereal before sliding off the table with a disgruntled screech. "Silly old bird" muttered Louise before having Dawn drop the bundle of letters into her lap.

Craig moved back to his seat and picked Dusk up from the floor and set him on the table. He stroked the owl's feathers as he sorted through the letters he had received. "Zerum!" the house elf popped into existence with a low bow. "Zerum, could you please take Dawn and Dusk and feed them in the kitchen?" Zerum looked at his master with a smile, "yes Master Hedley, anything else?" Craig pondered for a moment when Louise answered, "yes, could you please fetch me my quill and ink from my office along with some parchment? I have some responses I have to make it appears." "With pleasure Mistress."

Zerum held his arms out for the owls to perch upon and hurried back to the kitchen.

Joshua and his sister continued eating their breakfast until they heard their father give a small chuckle. They looked up to see him waving a set of letters, two of them with identical wax seals keeping them closed. Joshua tumbled over the chairs to get to his father but landed on the floor with a moan. Melissa giggled at her brother's antics before taking her letters from her father and returned to her seat to read them.

Joshua, now embarrassed, slowly took the envelope from his father's hands. On the front it read: Mister Joshua Hedley, Hedley Estate, Sheephill Road, Ringinglow, Sheffield. On the back, the purple wax seal had four animals surrounding a large H. The hugest grin spread across Joshua's face as he carefully separated the seal from the yellowed parchment, not wanting to tear the envelope or break the emblem. After slowly removing the pieces of parchment within the letter he began to read.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmistress: MINERVA MCGONAGALL

(Order of Merlin First Class)

Dear Mister Hedley,

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

Horace Slughorn

Deputy Headmaster

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection buy Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 telescope set

1 brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.

Joshua could not help but have the biggest smile on his face. It was finally happening. It was finally the year for him to attend Hogwarts, the greatest school for magic in the world. Already his mind was racing as to what he would do at the school. The friends he would make, the things he would learn, the memories he would carry to the end of his days. It was just all too exciting.

"What does your book list look like this year Josh?" Louise asked her son. "Same books that Melissa had I'm sure," responded Joshua as he looked over the list again. "Maybe we can save a bit of money by having me use Melissa's books second hand?" Melissa, who was reading a letter from one of her friends looked up and said, "I don't think that would be a good idea, all my old books are covered in notes that you won't be able to understand." "And why exactly did you have to write in your textbooks and not on parchment?" "Parchment gets lost more easily than textbooks." Louise opened her mouth to respond to her daughter's statement but couldn't. She did have a point oddly enough.

"Well, then I suppose we will have to make a larger withdrawal then. Hurry upstairs and get ready for the day. I want to get all of your things now so that it doesn't hinder us later." Joshua and Melissa finished the rest of their breakfast quickly, shouted their thanks to Zerum in the kitchen, and ran back through the large mansion to their rooms to get changed into travelling robes for their visit to Diagon Alley.