She had just returned from walking the local shelter dogs when Hollie silently handed her the letter. Not only had Harper never gotten a letter before, but this letter was peculiar. It was addressed:

Harper J. Costello

Bed under the left window, Girl's dormitory

St. Augustine's Orphanage

725 E. Paddington Lane

Bristol, UK

The handwriting was fancy and in beautiful emerald, green ink. In the corner, the return address said, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry". Even in all the books she was constantly reading, she had never heard of this school before. The envelope was sealed with a purple wax coat of arms. On the odd crest were tiny images of a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle. Hollie gave her a quizzical look and lightly shook her head, causing the loose bun of flaming red hair to jiggle a bit, then stormed off back to the kitchen. Harper watched the round figure of her middle-aged caretaker march around the corner in stunned silence before running up the stairs to the bedroom that she shared with seven other girls.

Her short, brown hair bounced as she rushed past the other beds to her own, right under one of the two windows in the room. It got a bit chilly in the winter, but Harper loved this bed because she could watch the people hurrying in and out of the quaint little café across the old, cobbled back-street in their rushed morning routines and she kept all her little knick-knacks from her adventures around town on the sill. On the ledge were bits of shells from the river, bottle caps with interesting designs, old keys that probably didn't have a door anymore, a bundle of long feathers (mostly from the local water-fowl), two local post cards that had been dropped by an interesting group of tourists from Japan that she shadowed one day, and various other little trinkets. In the corner of the window, there was a spider web that Harper often attempted to draw and was reminded that she couldn't draw every time. Under her bed, she kept her small library of old books she often bought from the second-hand store with the money she earned from walking both neighborhood and shelter dogs and under her pillow, she kept the current book that she always had checked out from the library.

She picked up the intricately designed bronze letter opener that she had found on the street earlier that year, and gently sliced open the envelope, careful not to damage the strange seal, thinking that it would make an intriguing addition to her windowsill collection. Even though her mind was racing through theories as to what the letter could be about and what "Hogwarts" was, she took her time gently pulling the letter from the envelope and carefully smoothing the letter out on her lap. Her doubts started the moment she read, "Dear Ms. Costello, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" because, unless Hollie had without telling her (which she highly doubted due to Hollies reaction to the letter), Harper had never applied for any school, let alone one with such a strange and illogical name. Her doubts about the legitimacy of this letter kept growing as she saw pet owls, cauldrons, and wands on the school supplies list. By the time she finished the letter, she had already dismissed the whole thing as a joke and she could feel her eyes starting to water. She refused to let herself cry over a stupid joke letter so she just took a deep breath, rubbed her eyes, got up, walked across the wood floor and shredded the letter, envelope and all, over the trash can.

Every day for the next week, Harper went to all her favorite places around town, from the river's edge to the abandoned cathedral, in an attempt to forget about the letter. The first letter she had ever gotten in all her eleven years at the orphanage, and it was nothing more than a joke. She couldn't stop thinking about the cruelty of it all. Of course, if it was random, they didn't know. But Harper just knew that it was one of the boys at school. They were always picking on her, calling her a freak. She couldn't help that weird things always happened to her. For example, one day in May, a ferret that had a large gash on his left haunch found its way into the school and followed her everywhere, dodging all the teachers attempts to catch him. Even when animal control was called they couldn't catch it (of course the fact that Harper hid him in her bag didn't help). She snuck him back to the orphanage, patched him up, let him go and he occasionally came to her window by climbing the rain gutter where she would pet him and wonder how he stayed in such good shape living on his own.

Another time, a cow who had apparently laid down on a nail that was then stuck in its shoulder, waited in the front yard of her school until she walked out and then it followed her all the way back to St. Augustine's. She took some first-aid equipment (with questioning looks from Hollie and the other kids) down to the river Avon where she pulled the nail out, cleaned the hole and taped some gauze over the whole mess. She met with Betsy (she had named the cow) in the same spot every day and repeated the treatment until the wound seemed to be healing nicely and she stopped meeting her there.

Those were the two major events that started the teasing. Everything else was minor stuff, her science project flower grew three times the size it was supposed to, the fish in the classroom fish tank always seemed to follow her whenever she walked by and one time, when a boy from her class was bullying her on her way home, a ferocious stray mutt came out of nowhere with his hackles straight up and growled at him. After the boy had run away, the dog relaxed, turned towards Harper wagged his tail and gently licked her hand. Harper had named him Brutus and while he was very large, he was extremely gentle towards her. Brutus often followed her around like a bodyguard on her wonderings. On these days, she would stop at the butchers who would give her a free bone for Brutus because he had seen her being harassed many times before and felt pity for her. She stopped thinking about the other kids and focused on her surroundings. She was sitting cross-legged on her favorite grassy hill of a river bank dotted with trees. While Harper stared at the reflection of the buildings and summer sunset on the Avon, contemplating the strange letter she had gotten six days earlier, she ran her hand through the thick, soft, grey fur on Brutus's massive head.

Harper had just lowered her list of suspects down to two when out from the shadows of the nearby hawthorn tree, came a grey and black tabby cat with peculiar spectacle markings on its face. It cautiously walked towards Harper, its eyes trained on Brutus the whole time.

"It's ok. He doesn't mind cats." Harper giggled a bit patting Brutus's head "He's actually a bit afraid of you guys. He's a big baby really."

The cat seemed to understand and sat down about ten feet away, gently wrapping its tail in front of its paws. After about three minutes of just staring at each other, both Harper and the cat turned their heads towards the river. Harper stared at the river thinking "Maybe I am going crazy… Oh well" and pulled her knees up to her chest. She smiled contently as she looked down at the blades of grass between her worn, navy-blue converse, when all the sudden, out of the corner of her eye, the shadow of the cat grew tall and flowing. Harper just stared, wide-eyed at the shadow not daring to look up.

"And now the delusions are starting. They're definitely gonna' put me in a nut-house now" Harper mumbled under her breath.

"Are you Harper J. Costello?" asked the slightly Scottish accented voice of an older woman.

Harper looked up and saw a women dressed in long, emerald green robes. Her black hair was streaked with grey and pulled severely back into a bun. Her small, round, spectacles had a thin gold rim and were balanced halfway down her nose. Her face was very serious but Harper could see the spark of pity in her green eyes when she looked at the hunched figure. Brutus let out a low, short growl at the strange lady.

"Y-yes" Harper stammered in a dry, shaky voice.

"Albus told me that you would probably not understand your acceptance letter and I see he was right." She let out sigh and looked Harper straight through her glasses and into the light brown eyes beneath, "Have you ever noticed strange things happening to you? Have you ever been able to do things that the other children couldn't?"

Harper's eyes widened and as she stared straight into this woman's face. Finally, she slowly nodded.

"I'm a freak aren't I? You're here to take me away aren't you?"

"You are not a freak Harper. You are a witch. It is most unfortunate that you ended up in a muggle orphanage. Your parents were some of my favorite pupils. We all thought they would leave you an explanation of all this seeing as they had no living relatives left. I expect you read the letter we sent? Hogwarts is a school for gifted children like you. There, your abilities will be honed and you will learn all about our kind."

There was a pause. Strangely, this made perfectly logical sense to Harper. It would explain all the strange things that had happened to her. Why everybody just avoided her. Why she had occasionally seen the future in her dreams and animals would come from miles around to see her. How she was able to heal without any prior knowledge on the subject. A thousand questions burst into her head, but there was one particular thing bugging her about what this woman had said.

"What's a muggle?"

The woman actually chuckled softly, which softened her stern features for a moment, "Everything will be explained in time my dear. Do you wish to come to Hogwarts?"

Harper didn't have to think too much about it. Getting away from all the kids in school, maybe being considered normal for once, and best of all, she might even be able to learn about her parents. She was left on St. Augustine's doorstep when she was just nine months old with nothing but a blanket (that she kept in a shoebox beneath her bed) and a piece of paper that said "Harper Jamie Costello" (which she always kept on her windowsill). While she had long ago come to terms with her abandonment, the question of who her parents were and why they left her, had always persisted in the back of her mind.

"Of course! I read the letter but I don't even know where to begin looking for cauldrons or wands. And I've never even seen a store that carries robes as school uniforms. On top of that, I don't have enough money to buy a new pair of shoes let alone a new set of text books."

The woman's face had gone back to its serious demeanor "That's alright dear. I have everything planned out. I will come back in a few weeks to discuss the arrangement with your caretaker, Hollie is her name? For now though, I must go back."

She was turning to leave when Harper said, "Hold on a minute. If I may ask, who are you?"

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, transfigurations teacher and head of Gryffindor house at Hogwarts."

"Oh…"

And with that, Professor McGonagall quickly turned, shrunk back down to a cat and bounded off. Brutus whimpered lightly and Harper patted his head to comfort him. She kissed the top of his head and stood. Lacing together her fingers, she reached up toward the violet sky, effectively popping her back and knuckles at the same time. The mid-August sun was nothing but a sliver on the horizon. The sky was darkening and the street lights were just starting to turn on. She sighed, "Hollie's gonna give me an earful when I get back" she thought. She climbed up the hillside and started walking down the empty road. Harper couldn't keep the grin off her face as she sauntered back to St. Augustine's Home for Orphaned Children

...

Harper's ear was pressed flat against the wood panels of the bedroom floor. True to her word, Professor McGonagall had come to the orphanage two weeks after their initial meeting. Hollies reaction to the professor's offer to take Harper off her hands was exactly what she had expected.

"Yes, she can stay over the holidays if she so chooses. Many students often do."

A relieved sigh, "I love the girl, really I do. She just… Well, she just scares the other kids you know? They avoid her 'cause…" she lowered her voice "'Cause a' all the weird things. All the animals that hang around. She don't talk to nobody 'cept those dang animals! Most the other children 'round here just ignore her. Pretend she don't exist. Like maybe, if they ignore her enough, she'll simply disappear. Sometimes, the kids that do bully her, find mice in their shoes or bugs in their sheets. She's a clever one that girl. Whenever people come over, thinkin' to adopt her, she turns into an absolute angel. Puts on a perfect performance until she slips up and reprimands a mouse or starts talkin' to stray cats. Been here her whole life. Creeped people out even as youngin'. Brought stray animals home all the time." Another sigh, disappointed this time, "Do ya think yer' school can help her?"

"We will do everything in our power to help the young Miss Harper become a successful young lady. I assure you, Hogwarts is under the leadership of the finest headmaster it has seen these many years, Albus Dumbledore."

Another relieved sigh, "Not ta' sound mean or nothin', but it sure would be nice to have one less child to take care of. Even with all them donations, five people can only do so much when takin' care o' fourteen children. What papers do I need to sign? Are there any fees? What supplies 'll she need?"

A rustle of paper, "These are the permission forms that you must sign. There are no fees and I will personally take care her school supplies. The school year begins on September first."

Harper's heart pounded in her chest. The thought of leaving that orphanage was like a dream come true. She thought for second about what Hollie had said about her. Of course Hollie thought she had put the mice and bugs there. Honestly, she didn't know how that happened, although, every time it did, she quietly smiled. She started to lay her possessions out on the bed even before she heard the click of heels on the mahogany stairs. The door opened and in walked McGonagall, dressed in a dark green, wool poncho with a matching skirt that went below her knees. Her thick black stockings covered the rest of her legs and she had black leather dress shoes with a low heel. She did not seem comfortable in these clothes at all. The professor looked at the entirety of Harper's scarce wardrobe laid out on the bed.

"First things first, an extensive trip to Diagon Alley seems to be in order. New clothes, a uniform, books, cauldrons, potion ingredients and most importantly, a wand from Ollivanders."

Harper looked down and blushed a bit "Well, umm, I don't have a suitcase… I've never traveled before. Never really had the need." She looked up sheepishly and continued, "It's not a lot, but if you had a bag I could maybe borrow…" she trailed off.

"That will not be a problem Miss Costello, I assure you. Hogwarts will provide you with a trunk. In fact, you need not even bring most of those clothes. I believe we can provide you with adequate clothing. Bring what you wish."

Harper hastily emptied her school bag stuffed in a change of clothes along with her most beloved possessions: the majority of her shelf and three choice books. With her bag slung over her shoulder, the two of them walked out of the orphanage. About halfway down the street, Harper glanced up at the constantly grey sky then turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Can we stop at the library before we leave?"