A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to my first Harry Potter Fic! I'm hoping that I do this justice. I'm planning on writing this from the new generation, and my MC, of course, is an OC. Some of you may find this chapter to be a bit boring, but I found it interesting to write from the perspective of a Muggle-Born. So, onward! I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter, and the story as a whole. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it!

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A loud screech echoed through the house of Number Eighteen Featherstone End and Blake Avis sat bolt right up in his bed, his heart hammering madly in his chest. The scream, from the sound of things had come from the kitchen. Getting out of his bed quickly and slipping his feet into a pair of slippers, he made his way to the door and down the stairs. Lila, the smoke-colored family cat rubbed against his legs as he headed down the stairs and into the kitchen where he found his mother standing frozen, her blue eyes wide with fear and her black hair still in their bright pink curlers, staring at something on the kitchen table that ruffled indignantly and caused Mrs. Avis to scream once more.

Taking a proper look at the creature on the table, Blake realized that it was, in fact a barn owl. Rolling his eyes at his mother's irrational fear-induced screams, Blake was about to turn around and fetch his father when he noticed that something was attached to the owl's leg, which it had stuck out wearily as though tired from a long flight.

"Get it out!" Mrs. Avis shouted furiously, pressing her plump body as far into the corner of the counters as she could.

"There's something attached to it, hang on," Blake said, rolling his eyes at his mother once again. It was not her fault that Mrs. Avis was mortally afraid of any bird larger than a robin. She had been attacked by a hawk at the age of eleven – the very same age that her son was – while removing what her father thought was an owl's nest in the barn of her childhood home, and the offending creature in front of her reminded her sorely of the many scratches and gouges that she had suffered. She glared at her son as he detached the thick yellowed package from the owl's leg; after Blake had removed what he had realized was a letter, the owl soared through the open window, which Mrs. Avis promptly slammed shut after she was sure that it would not be re-entering her home with the intentions of attacking her.

Just as Mrs. Avis turned to see what it was her son had detached from the owl, her husband walked into the room, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Tall and scrawny, Mr. Avis had graying blond hair and usually bright green eyes though at the moment his usually sleek hair was standing up and his eyes puffy from sleep. Glaring at him, Mrs. Avis walked to wear Blake was reading the front of a letter which had been penned in green ink.

Mr. B Avis

The Kitchen,

18, Featherstone End,

Sevenoaks,

Kent

Flipping the letter over, Blake examined the red wax seal that held the letter closed. A large 'H' emblazoned the wax.

"How do they know I'm in the kitchen?" Blake asked curiously as he broke the seal and opened the letter. His parents seemed just as curious as their son was, for they had no answer to give to him as they watched him remove two thick sheaves of parchment that had been folded in order to fit into the envelope. He laid the second of these pieces of parchment onto the kitchen table where the owl had previously stood, and unfolded the first of the pieces, finding the same green ink that had been used for the address.

"It was delivered by an owl," Said Mrs. Avis to her husband with an obvious note of disgust in her high soprano voice.

"An owl, you say? Good lord, who thinks to train an owl to deliver the post?" Mr. Avis questioned, frowning.

"They must be nutters," Blake told his parents as he waved the parchment and blinking his large blue eyes repetitively as though the letter's contents were some kind of trick of the light. "They say that I'm a wizard and that I've got to go to this school to learn magic; they're sending someone to explain it all to us at some point today."

"I'll agree with you on this one, son; they're barking mad if they think that's true," Mr. Avis said, his forehead creasing with wrinkles and looking out of the window as though expecting someone to be holding a camera to jump out at them and laugh at their incredulous faces.

Taking the letter from him, Mr. Avis sat down and began to read it while Mrs. Avis resumed the cooking she had been attempting before the owl had come, messing her son's blond hair affectionately as she passed by him.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY

Headmistress: Pomona Sprout

(Order of Merlin, First Class)

Dear Mr. Avis,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We know this comes as a shock to you and that you may not, in fact, believe this; as such, expect a representative from the school to call on you at some point during the day that your letter arrives. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl response no later than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,

Neville Longbottom,

Deputy Headmaster

Mr. Avis snorted once more at the letter and set it aside, looking at the list of books and equipment.

Standard Book of Spells, Grade I… a wand… a cauldron… students may bring an owl, OR a cat, OR a toad…"Mr. Avis read out loud as his wife put a plate of eggs and sausage onto a plate for him. "They truly are mad. The letter says we are to expect a representative from this school within the day."

"Better call the police, Desmond," Mrs. Avis frowned reading the letter for herself. "We don't need nutcases running around."

However, before Mr. Avis could so much as think about this, the doorbell rang through their house and Lila darted through the kitchen and into the hallway. Sighing, Mr. Avis brushed a hand through his hair and headed for the front door of their home. The moment Mr. Avis had left the room Blake grabbed the letter and re-read it once more. He had, of course, been entertaining the letter as though it could be real. Magic? That did sound lovely, but at the same time full of crazy. He had set the letter onto the table again when his father returned with the post.

"I asked the postman if he had ever heard of someone using owls for mail delivery, and he shook his head and laughed before getting back to his route," Mr. Avis said as his wife handed him a cup of tea.

"Why on earth would you ask him that? He'll think you're the nutter," Mrs. Avis chided as she sipped her tea and took the paper from her husband.

The rest of the morning passed quickly, and slowly the letter faded from both Mr. and Mrs. Avis's minds; their son, however, couldn't help but think about it. Three hours after the morning's incident, he was using his computer to search for this Hogwarts place but was unsuccessful in each endeavor. His mother called him down for lunch just as he was closing the last of his searches for "school of witchcraft and wizardry", and he made his way down to the kitchen where his mother handed him a sandwich.

It happened after lunch. A popping sound seemed to come from just outside of the window, causing Mrs. Avis to jump. Blake started and looked around, and moments later the doorbell of the house rang once more. Mr. Avis went to answer the door and a moment later his head popped into the kitchen, looking serious.

"Jane? Blake? Come into the living room," He said before backing out of the kitchen. Blake gave a look to his mother, but she said nothing and they walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Sitting across from Mr. Avis dressed in long bottle green robes was a man that Blake had never seen before. He had long black hair that reached his shoulders, a set of large green eyes set above high cheekbones, and a thin face. He was smiling pleasantly, and stood as Blake entered the room. He offered his hand to Blake, who shook it politely, and then the man turned and kissed Mrs. Avis's hand before sitting down again.

"Hello, it's quite lovely to meet you," The man said in a deep, velvety voice. "My name is Professor Corner. I teach Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Headmistress sends her regards and apologies that she could not be here herself, but there are quite a few Muggle-Born students every year that must be given meetings. Usually, someone would have delivered your letter personally, but Professor Longbottom had an engagement last moment with St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and sent ahead the letter before asking me to come. I myself would have been here sooner but I was visiting another Muggle-Born by the name of Cassandra Potts."

"You… what?" Mrs. Avis asked, looking bewildered.

"Oh, terribly sorry; I always seem to forget that Muggles have no knowledge of the Wizarding World. Consequently, you'll need to know that a Muggle is a person who has no magical capabilities, as that is what they are referred to as by the Wizarding community. As I was saying, I teach Potions at Hogwarts. The reason I'm here is because Blake here is a wizard," Professor Corner said. "A Muggle-Born is one who is a witch or wizard born to a non-magical set of parents. Magic behaves genetically, so therefore someone on one or both of your family lines must have been magical. It can skip generations, of course."

"A wizard. And how do you expect us to believe you?" Mr. Avis asked skeptically, an eyebrow arched high.

"Well, because for one, I'm a wizard myself," and at this, he pulled forth a long stick of wood. "This is a wand – those of us of magical abilities use them to channel our magic." He gave the wand a flick, and a tray with four glasses of chilled pumpkin juice appeared floating in midair. The three Avis's looked stunned. How was that possible? Of course, there was the explanation hovering about them as the pumpkin juice goblets floated over to them: magic.

"How do you know I'm a wizard?" Blake asked after taking a goblet and sipping it; the juice was delightful and seemed to give him a boost of confidence.

"Oh, your name was taken down at birth. There's an enchantment that records the names of all magical babies in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Besides this, I'm sure you've shown signs of magic as you grew up. Perhaps when you were angry, scared, sad, or exceptionally happy, things happened that you couldn't quite explain," Corner explained.

At these words, Blake couldn't help but think about the time that he had been running away from the school bully Arnold Upton and found himself up in a tree without any recollection on how he had gotten there. Or the time that he had fallen down the stairs when he had been seven and, his father who was a doctor had decided that Blake had broken his arm, but before they had made it into the car his arm had suddenly stopped hurting – almost like magic.

"Now then, at Hogwarts you'll learn not only how to use magic, but to control it. These outbursts of magic have been the unfortunate after-effects of allowing your magic to run rampantly. However, you should be warned that misuse of your magic can result in your expulsion from the school, and criminals will be punished by the Ministry of Magic; all new wizards and witches must accept that, by entering our world, they agree to abide by the laws of the magical community."

"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Blake asked, amazed.

"Oh, yes. We have a Minister for Magic and everything. We are a completely separate government from the Muggle Ministry, of course,"

"Do you operate off of different money, then?" Mrs. Avis asked curiously from where she had been sitting quietly.

"Yes, we operate on a system of Golden Galleons, Silver Sickles, and Bronze Knuts. There is 17 Sickles to a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle, meaning there's roughly 493 Knuts to a Galleon," At this, he produced a small bag full of coins from which he extracted one of each of the three coins he had mentioned and passed them over to Blake who stared at them in awe. "I'm not sure of the current exchange rate, but I believe the last time I checked a Galleon was almost equivalent to five pounds." He added to Mr. and Mrs. Avis who had been eyeing the money with confusion.

"So. If he's going to this… school… how is he going to get all of these supplies? You won't find them in London," Mr. Avis said skeptically.

"There is a Wizarding subdivision in London called Diagon Alley where most families in Great Britain will travel to in order to buy supplies. It is actually a part of my job to make sure that you make it there and get everything that Blake will need for his first year at Hogwarts," Corner explained.

"Can we go today?" Blake asked hopefully, looking at his parents. They looked at each other and then glanced down at the list before looking up at Professor Corner.

"How long would a trip take?" Mr. Avis asked.

"Well, typically at least three or four hours, but it shouldn't take up a whole day. You'll have to stop at Gringotts' Wizarding Bank to open an account and to have them do a money exchange since Muggle Money isn't accepted as payment in the Wizarding world. You'll need to visit Ollivander's Wands to get a wand. Speaking of wands, Blake, you aren't allowed to do magic outside of school. It's against the law and it could end in your expulsion. You'll need to get him some robes for school, a cauldron, a standard set of potion ingredients, all of the books on the list from Flourish and Blotts. I would also recommend stopping by Eeylops Owl Emporium and buying an owl, as it's the best way to communicate, and the wizarding world uses Owl Post," Corner said.

At the mention of another owl, Mrs. Avis turned pale. Mr. Avis gave his wife a comforting squeeze on her knee before turning to Corner.

"We'll be pleased to go today. How will we be getting there? It's almost a thirty minute drive from here to London,"

"We'll be taking the Floo Network. I brought some Floo Powder with me and sent a letter to the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Transportation earlier in case you wanted to travel there today so that they could connect your fire; typically Muggle residences aren't connected to the Network, but they make exceptions from time to time," Corner said.

"Excuse me, but what's a Floo?" Blake asked.

"Oh, sorry. The Floo Network is an interconnected series of locations in fireplaces. To use it, you have to cast some Floo Powder into the fire, and then state your location when you get into the fire. It's a very curious sensation. At this, he stood and walked to the fireplace and removed another bag from his robes from which he pulled a handful of the powder, before casting it into the fire. The fire, which had been crackling merrily, turned from its standard orange to a bright emerald. "Don't worry, the fire won't burn." He added when the whole Avis family stared in horror at the green flames.

The three Avis's stood and walked to the fireplace, where they each took a handful of the powder.

"I'll go first so that you can see how it's done. Remember, you must speak very clearly when you go, otherwise you'll miss your grail," At this, he stepped into the green flames and in a commanding voice said "The Leaky Cauldron!"

There was a whoosh of green flames and for a moment Corner merely whirled around before suddenly he vanished. He reappeared moments later, smiling, and brushing ash off of his cloak. "No harm done," He said, stepping out of the fire, and motioning to Mr. Avis to go ahead.

Taking a deep breath, Mr. Avis cast his powder into the flames which roared green again and said "The Leaky Cauldron!" Just as Corner had done, and suddenly in a flash was also gone.

"Blake, if you would please, go next," Corner said, and Blake stepped forward eagerly. He had long hoped that something special would happen to him. And here it was! His chance had arrived!

He cast the powder into the flames, which roared green once more, and stepped into the fire. It was warm, but it didn't burn, and the tongues of flames felt as though they were tickling him. He took a breath and shouted "The Leaky Cauldron!"

It felt as though he was spiraling very fast, and he couldn't breathe. He caught flashes of colors and rooms going by very quickly. After moments of this, he felt himself come to a stop and blinked rapidly, coughing slightly, as he stepped out of the grate into a room full of people looking at him. He shook his head and glanced around him. The Leaky Cauldron was a pub of sorts, and all kinds of people were sitting there, who, he assumed, must have been witches and wizards. A kindly woman from behind the bar stepped forward and handed him a glass of water before returning to the bar where she prepared another glass.

Blake didn't realize how thirsty he had become, but his throat was very dry from the fire, and he drained the glass in seconds before his mother came bursting through the fire, copying his movements as she exited. The bar woman emerged from the bar once more and handed Mrs. Avis a glass before returning to the bar, where she began filling orders for those surrounding it. Moments later, Professor Corner exited the fire, and clasped his hands with a smile on his face.

"All right then, shall we get started?"