Hi! Sorry I've taken ages with my GONE story, 'When Everything Changes', but I've kinda lost interest in it. So, I decided to write a Harry Potter fanfic! :D
Not very good at descriptions, so just enjoy, I guess... Also, chapter names are kind of dull, so sorry about that! And Chapters are quite short... ^^'
Oh! And please, any grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes or general constructive critique is welcomed! WordPad doesn't have a spell-checker, or grammar-checker! (Though, I'm a bit of a Grammar Nazi.. XD)
Chapter 1- The Acceptance Letter
A letter landed on the faded mat just underneath the post-box. It was old-looking, the address written with a strange green ink.
Kara Murphy,
The Bedroom down the Hall,
27 Rockfield Green,
Co. Kildare,
Ireland
On the back was a wax seal decorated with the letter 'H', a snake, badger, raven and lion. The letter happened to land right by an eleven year old girl's toes. Her chestnut ringlets brushed her cheeks as she bent to pick up the important-looking letter.
"Mum, Dad?" Kara Murphy called down the hallway towards the ajar kitchen door. Her voice was tinged with confusion as she stared down at the green ink while walking towards the door. Kara pushed it open gently, and sat down beside her father, still staring at the letter.
"What's wrong, Kara?" He asked kindly, glancing down at his daughter.
"Wait, Matt... do you see the crest on the back?" Mrs. Murphy watched the letter carefully, as though if she looked away, it would vanish.
That got Mr. Murphy's attention.
"It... it isn't, is it?" He murmured, gazing at the letter with a kind of cautious hope. He set his cup of coffee down gently on the wooden table.
"Isn't what?" Kara asked, confused. Her parents were acting weird!
"Oh, honey... it's your Hogwarts acceptance letter!" Her mother beamed.
Before Kara could react, her father grinned broadly.
"Go on, open it already!"
Kara slid her finger under the seal and broke it, unfolding the letter. She gazed at it for a few seconds, before freezing.
"I've... I'm accepted... I..." Kara trailed off into stunned silence. She never thought this day would come.
The two adults then promised they would get a plane to England so she could buy her books, robes and wand in Diagon Alley later in the week.
I can't wait! Kara thought excitedly, packing a small weekend bag for their trip to Britain.
"Awwww!" Kara cried as the small family passed by one shop filled with animals. "Can't we go in there? Just to look?" In reality, she was thinking of one line from the Hogwarts letter. Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
Kara was hoping for a cat, though she doubted a cat would like her very much, given her... condition, so maybe an owl would be better.
If her parents ever got her a pet, that is.
"Maybe after we get your wand, okay?" Mr. Murphy smiled fondly at his daughter. He looked a little out of place in Diagon Alley, while Mrs. Murphy was in her element, suggesting different wand types, and which she thought would suit Kara best.
They finally arrived at Ollivander's Wand Shop. The display in the window looked quite boring, with only a single wand on a faded purple cushion. Inside, it was almost like a library, except instead of books, there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of wand-boxes.
After the normal introductory speech from Mr. Ollivander, Kara began to try out some wands. The first was oak, eleven and a quarter inches, with a dragon heartstring core. The wand made a horrible, rude noise, much like the one a whoopee cushion would make.
The second was a beech, 10 and a half inches, with a phoenix feather core. Kara set Mr. Ollivander's robes on fire.
The third was ash, 8 inches, with another phoenix feather core. She only managed a couple of bright red sparks, though to Mr. Ollivander, it was an improvement.
The fourth was willow, 8 inches and a unicorn tail hair as the core. Green sparks this time.
"Getting warmer." He had said excitedly.
The fifth was willow, 8 and a half inches with a phoenix feather. Beautiful purple and pink sparks shot out of the end.
"This one." Kara and Mr. Ollivander said simultaniously.
After purchasing her wand, robes, cauldron, potion ingredients, and stopping for an ice-cream, Kara and her parents decided to enter Flourish and Blotts to buy her books. She was scanning the titles of the books in the 'Defence Against The Dark Arts' section, running her finger along the spines of the books, when someone walked right into her.
"Oh, sorry, sorry!" A boy who looked both handsome and tired stammered apologetically. He picked up some books he'd obviously dropped and got to his feet.
"No problem." Kara grinned cautiously. Although he seemed nice, you never could really tell by appearances. But then she got a closer look at his face.
No, he was not handsome. Cute, maybe, but Kara was too young to know the difference. His looks were also jarred by the three long, pink scars which trailed diagonally from the left side of his forehead to the bottom right of his jaw. The bags under his eyes described a boy who almost never slept.
"I'm Remus, Remus Lupin." The boy shifted his grip on the books in his arm to free his right hand. He then reached out as if to shake hands.
Surprised by the formality, Kara nonetheless took his hand and shook it.
"Kara Murphy." She said to the boy, who was already turning to go.
"Well, I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts, then!" He smiled at her as he walked off.
"Oh..." She suddenly felt a little abandoned.
"Come on, Kara, we have to go now, if you want to look at the animals!" Her mother called to her from across the shop where she was purchasing Kara's schoolbooks.