AN: Hey guys! When I posted the first chapter of this story, I never expected to hear anything about it ever again, but to my extreme surprise, (which is a little bit sad) I got a review! I would like to thank Anna Luna for her kind words. They mean alot to me! Anyway, I would like to say that this story has eleven chapters, all of which are fineshed, because I hadn't planned to post this story. I should be able to update fairily quickly if people want me to, but if no one wants to read it, there is no point in putting these up. So please R&R if you want to read more! I would really appreciate it

I couldn't believe there was actually a possibility for me to end up at such a prestigious school. This morning, I had been perfectly happy going to City, but now knowing that there was an even better school I could go to, I wouldn't settle for anything less. I had to get in, and not just because I wanted to get the best education possible. If I did, the news would travel very fast, and even Brittany would end up knowing. Hermione Granger, the complete loser, was at the most prestigious school in the country. What would she think of that? I would tell Fredrika, who loved to gossip. She would then find someone else to tell, and then everybody would know. But for all this to happen, I would have to make a good impression on this man. Tomorrow was Friday, which meant that I would only have one day to plan out what I would wear, how I would act, what questions I would ask, and have a few answers ready to questions he would probably ask me.

At that point, dinner was ready. I gave my tired out mind a break, but promised myself I would work on all this tomorrow.

I slept soundly that night, but Hogwarts and its headmaster floated in and out of my dreams. I had 2 dreams about the meeting, one where it went perfectly, and one where it went horribly wrong. I also had numerous dreams about my first day of school.

When I woke up, I looked at my clock and realized that I had slept late. It was almost 9:30 and my parents would be long gone. I rushed through my breakfast and came back upstairs.

The first thing I did was lay back on my bed and imagine what I wanted tomorrow to be like. That always worked for me. I cleared my mind as best as I could, and closed my eyes.

I was standing with my back to the door, crouching slightly so that I was underneath the window. Anyone standing outside would never know I was there. I was wearing a blue denim skirt, a tighter pale pink tank top and a white cardigan with three quarter length sleeves. I had smoothed out my hair and pulled it back into a low, loose bun. It was something that looked nice, but not like I had been obsessing over the meeting, which made me look very self-confident in a good way.

The doorbell rang. I waited a few seconds before backing away from the door and standing up strait. Putting a smile on my face, I opened the door.

"Hello! Welcome!" I said in a friendly voice, playing the part of the hostess.

"Hello!" Said what I imagined Dumbledore to look like. He was a little bit taller than average height, and a little bit over weight. He was wearing an expensive looking black pinstriped suit and a crisp pale pink tie. He carried a thin leather brief case. "I assume you must be Hermione?"

"Yes! Very pleased to meet you." We shook hands. "Why don't you come in? My parents are waiting in the living room."

"Yes thank you very much." We walked to the living room. I was still smiling and standing very strait. I motioned to the most comfortable arm chair for Dumbledore to sit in. Before he sat down, my parents quickly introduced themselves and shook hands.

"Hermione has been so looking forward to meeting you!" Mum gushed. I turned a light pink.

"Yes, I have been looking forward to meeting you too! Never got less than a 105% on a test all year. Do you know how amazing that is young lady?" I turned a slightly darker pink and muttered something about school being far too easy for me.

"Well let's get to the point. We want you, Hermione, to come study with us for the next seven years, on a scholarship. How does that sound?"

"Absolutely wonderful, Mr. Dumbledore!" I said proudly.

"Hold on just a minute!" Dad laughed. "We need to know where you're going before we let you go."

"Ah yes I was just getting to that." Dumbledore explained. "Hogwarts is a school for particularly gifted children. It is a wonderful school in southern England, right on the seashore. It has beautiful grounds and the most excellent teachers. It is a boarding school so let me tell you about our dormitories. We have very large and comfortable dormitories with separate boys and girls sleeping areas and clean, modern, showers. We have plenty of places on campus to hang out with friends, and lots of activities from the chess club to the garden committee. I guarantee that you will always be entertained and the food is very good too."

Mum and Dad continued to ask an assortment of questions, until finally they agreed to let me go.

"I look forward to seeing you soon, headmaster." I shook Dumbledore's hand outside the door.

"As do I, Miss Granger. I can tell that we will soon have another excellent student in our midst."

I opened my eyes, a real smile on my face. If the interview went like that, there would be no doubt that I would get into that school. I walked over to my wardrobe and pulled out the exact outfit I had been wearing. I took out each piece carefully, as if it were a fragile porcelain plate, and laid it out flat on my desk. I then went into the bathroom to make sure we had the right kind of powerful hair smoothing product. I brought the bottle into my room, and set it down next to my clothes.

The next thing I had to do was practice speaking.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dumbledore!" no, too pompous. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dumbledore!" Too much flourish. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dumbledore!" Perfect! I had said it pleasantly. I had sounded mature and self-confident, yet sweet and young at the same time. I practiced it a few more times.

I practiced all the phrases I had heard myself say in my imagination, and also, standing, walking, and sitting up strait. By the time my parents came home for dinner, I was still worried, but I knew I had done everything in my power to make this go right.

"You feeling good about tomorrow, Hermione?" my dad asked.

"I am." I nodded my head. "I picked out my clothes and I know what I'm going to say. As long as you don't embarrass me, nothing should go wrong." My parents smiled at me.

"He should be coming at around 2 o'clock tomorrow. You'll be ready?" Mum asked.

"Ready and waiting at the door!" I smiled. The dinner conversation turned to a strange patient my mum had had today. After that, I brushed my teeth extra well and went to bed. I wanted to be well rested.

I woke up at about 8. I hadn't slept well at all, tossing and turning all night. It had been about 3 am when I finally fell asleep. Even so, my hopes of getting into this school burned inside me with eternal energy. I went down stairs to eat a quick breakfast, and then came back upstairs. I needed to start getting ready.

I took an extra-long shower. I shampooed my hair twice, and used mum's extra strong conditioner. I rubbed myself down with my favorite soap, and rinsed myself thoroughly before I got off. I took out the hair smoothing product and rubbed a bit in my hair before turning on the blow dryer. I dried every bit of water out of my hair before I wrapped my towel around me, and headed to my room.

I opened up my wardrobe so I could use the mirror on the inside of the door. I carefully pulled on my skirt and straitened it before pulling on my shirt. I brushed through my hair more than I really needed to. Then, I bent over and pulled my hair into a low pony tail. I took another hair tie, and secured it after wrapping my ponytail around itself. It didn't look perfect so I tried until it was. Then, I pulled on the white cardigan, leaving it unbuttoned. I looked in my wardrobe and decided my favorite leather sandals would be a good choice, so I slipped them on.

I turned around, trying to see myself from every angle in the mirror. I looked as good as I was ever going to, so I closed my wardrobe and went downstairs for lunch.

"You look lovely!" Mum crooned when I entered the kitchen. I gave her a half smile and sat down in one of the chairs. I felt a bit dizzy.

"You ok, Hermione?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous. I really want to get into this school."

"Understandable." She assured me. The smell of food was making me feel nauseous.

"Do I have to eat?" I asked her.

"It would be better if you did," she thought for a moment. "But nervousness makes your body all funny. If you don't want to, you don't have to, but you won't want you stomach making funny noises all through the interview." I smiled.

"I don't think my nervousness will be lifting any time soon."

I walked out of the room to go sit on the couch. I needed some time alone to try and calm down. I took a few deep breaths. No one besides my parents knew about this interview. If I didn't make it, I would still be going to City. That would still be better than most people I knew. But the disappointment would still be huge.

The next 2 hours went by slowly. It was all I could do to keep from throwing up. When the doorbell rang at 2 o'clock on the dot, I was waiting, crouched beneath the window as I had planned.

I waited a few seconds before straitening up and turning around. I didn't want to seem too eager. I took a deep breath and pulled open the door, with what I hoped was a pleasant smile on my face.

What I saw sucked all the air out of my lungs. The man in front of me looked nothing like what I expected the headmaster of a school that admits 40 people a year to look like.

Albus Dumbledore was tall, thin, and very, very old. He had long white hair that he could tuck into his belt. His white beard was just as long. He was wearing what appeared to be robes, in a dark midnight blue color. They fell down to his ankles, exposing black what appeared to be leather, chunky heeled boots. But most peculiar of all, were his piercing blue eyes. From behind the half-moon spectacles that rested on his very crooked nose, they appeared to see right through you, to your very thoughts.

I realized I was staring and forced a smile back onto my face.

"Hello!" he said. He had a very kind voice. That was a good sign. "My name is Albus Dumbledore. I believe you so kindly invited me here today?"

"Y-yes." I found my voice. "Yes, right this way." As we were walking down the hall, I couldn't help but wonder if this school was some sort of hippie institution. That would be very disappointing, as I had been expecting something rigorous and academic. Dragging me from my thoughts, he said,

"You must be Hermione?"

"Yes." I smiled and held out my hand. "Very pleased to meet you, Mr. Dumbledore."

"Pleased to meet you as well Hermione!" he shook my hand with surprising strength for such an old man.

At this point, we entered the living room. I heard a collective gasp from my parents. Dumbledore did not seem phased by this. He was probably used to it.

"Good afternoon! I am Albus Dumbledore. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Granger."

My parents only kept calm because they knew how important this was to me. "Cynthia." My mum said rather weakly. "Pleased to meet you."

"Daniel." Said my Dad, while he was shaking the strange man's hand.

Dumbledore sat down without being asked. I had to admire how little this man seemed to notice the staring, and how friendly and forward he was. It seemed as if he was used to this. But no matter how strange the headmaster was, I still wanted to go to this school. I tried to break the awkward silence.

"So, you're the head master of a school called Hogwarts?"

"Yes." Dumbledore seemed relieved that I had started the conversation. "I am here today to discuss with you the possibility of having you as one of our students."

"I would love to be one of your students!" I said quickly, hoping I sounded enthusiastic, and that this school was really what I thought it was.

"Hold it, hold it!" Dad laughed nervously. "Why don't we learn a bit about this school before we enroll our daughter? We wouldn't want her in Australia!" He stopped laughing quickly at the exasperated look on my face.

"Yes, yes! Of course! That is why am here." Dumbledore laughed understandingly.

"Well, go ahead." Mum urged him on. "Let's hear it."

"Hogwarts is a school for—very talented children." Dumbledore still did not appear to be nervous at all, but he did however seem to be choosing his words carefully.

"Yes, Hermione is very talented!" Mum crooned. Dumbledore cut in quickly.

"I am aware that Hermione is incredibly smart, however, Hogwarts looks for a different kind of talent in its students."

My heart sunk. Hippie school. I knew it.

"Well, what kind of talent then?" Dad looked perplexed.

"Hogwarts—Hogwarts is a school of magic."

Oh, never mind then. Not hippie school, trade school. Even worse.

The change in the atmosphere was almost instantaneous. Dad stiffened in his seat and Mom looked weary. For someone who had just said something so stupid, Dumbledore was very relaxed. He picked up a coaster on the table next to him and examined it.

"You wouldn't happen to have any apple juice would you?" He asked as if it were perfectly normal to ask for apple juice while trying to recruit a young girl to become a magician.

"Yes of course." I ran off to get him some sugar free apple juice from the fridge. Walking slowly back into the room, I handed Dumbledore the glass, which he drained in one long sip.

Dad raised his eyebrows.

"So you want to teach our daughter a few magic tricks?"

"No—no not like that. Your daughter is gifted with magic powers." Dumbledore's voice was still pleasant and casual.

Dad sighed. "If this is some kind of joke, I'm going to have to ask you to—"

"No, no!" Dumbledore laughed. "I assure you this is 100 percent true! Here—watch." Dumbledore smiled and pulled a long polished stick from inside his robes. He pointed it at the empty cup he was holding and flicked it a bit. A jet of bright light shot out of the tip. When it hit the cup, it shrank down into a toad. Mum screeched. Dad looked rather surprised.

"You see?" Dumbledore said with a small smile and a glint in his eye. "Ever since all the witch trials in the renaissance era, the magical community decided it was best that we stay separate and secret from the non-magical community. But we do exist. And Hogwarts is the best school of witchcraft and wizardry in this area, perhaps the world." He flicked his wand at the toad, which was starting to hop away. It turned back into a glass cup.

"Can you do some more?" I asked excitedly.

Dumbledore laughed pleasantly and flicked his wand again multiple. The cup turned into a rose, then a book, a small pot, a clucking chicken, and then finally, he changed it into a small yellow candy, which he then proceeded to eat.

"Am I dreaming?" I asked quietly.

Dumbledore laughed even more loudly. "No, no. I assure you that you are very awake."

I pinched myself. Multiple times. Nothing happened. Yes, I was awake.

My heart sank a bit. After seeing all that, I had to admit that it was magic. I never believed anything without sufficient proof, and there was honestly no other explanation. But I could never attend Hogwarts. I didn't have magic powers. I could get into any school in the world probably, but the one I wanted to be a part of more than anything was the one I simply couldn't join.

"I can't do that." I told Dumbledore sadly.

"By the time you graduate Hogwarts, you'll be doing that with ease, and more. We've seen that you're a fast learner, Hermione. Magic is complicated, but in a few years, I daresay that you'll be one of the greatest witches of our generation." Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes twinkled with secret knowledge.

I sighed. "What I mean is that I actually can't do that. I don't have magic powers."

Dumbledore looked like he understood. He looked right at me, a small smile on his face as always. "Hermione, have you ever made something you couldn't explain happen? When you were angry or scared?"

I thought about it. Suddenly, the image of Patrick Perks vomiting on the ground came into my head. I remembered how when I was younger, books on the highest shelves would float right into my arms. One time when I was three years old, I hadn't brushed my teeth, but when Dad asked to smell my breath, it was miraculously minty.

"Now that I think about it, I guess I have!" I smiled, though a small part of me still felt extremely gulible. "So I'm a—witch?" This could not be true.

"Yes." Dumbledore smiled back. "Here, this might explain things a bit more." He handed me a thick parchment envelope, like the one I had received in the mail. I opened it up and pulled out a sheet of the same parchment

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Granger,

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,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

I looked up from the letter and passed it to Mum. A huge smile grew slowly onto my face. I was a witch! A witch! With magical powers and everything! By the time I was done with school, I would be the greatest witch of the generation, just like Dumbledore had said. This was something I had never even dreamed of! Something Brittany, or Eliza or Haden would never have!

Dad finished reading the letter and put it down slowly on the table. His hands were shaking and he looked beyond shock.

"Magic—witch—Hermione?" he choked out.

"Yes." Dumbledore's voice was steady and calm like he had dealt with this many times. "I daresay that you're taking this far better than some of the other parents. In fact, just yesterday, one father tried to attack me. And last week, a mother pelted me with antique vases. Yes, your daughter is a witch." He chuckled a bit at his own stories.

Dad nodded slowly. Mom, however, was better at dealing with her surprise.

"Well, if we are going to send our daughter to this school, we still need to know about it. Why don't you tell us what it looks like?"

"Yes, yes of course." Dumbledore nodded quickly. "Hogwarts is a castle in northern Scotland—"

"A castle?" I interrupted.

"Yes, a castle." Dumbledore didn't seem to mind that I'd interrupted him. "We have lovely grounds, which include grassy hills, a lake, and a forest that looks very nice but is off limits."

"Northern Scotland." Mom murmured to herself. "But, then it'll be a boarding school?"

"That's right." Dumbledore said brightly. "The Hogwarts express takes students to and from Hogwarts at the beginning and end of the year. And, of course, Christmas and Easter if they choose to come home."

"So, you have dormitories and food?" Dad finally came to.

"Yes. There are 4 dormitories. Each dormitory is the living quarters for the students of one house, which are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each student will be sorted into one of them, and will stay in that house for all 7 years at Hogwarts. Each dormitory has a comfortable common room with a large fire place and lots of couches and armchairs. There are separate sleeping areas for boys and girls. Each area has 7 rooms, one for each year, and bathrooms with showers.

"And the food is very good, if I do say so myself. We have feasts at the start and end of every year, and on holidays, like Halloween. I strongly believe that experience is the best teacher, so while we do have a few strict rules, students are mostly free. They can come or go to meals as they wish, the library is always open, and if they miss a class, it's simply a one hour detention. It is the student's responsibility to make up any missed work."

Mom and Dad asked several more questions about the punishment system, grading policies, teacher background checks, everything they could think of. I listened attentively, but was dreaming at the same time.

I imagined myself sitting on one of the couches surrounded by friends. I was helping them with their homework but we were laughing and talking at the same time.

Finally, Dumbledore stood up. "I have to be going now. I have many families to break this news to." He smiled. "However if it is alright with you, I will be back in 2 weeks to escort Hermione and yourselves to where school shopping can be done."

"It needs to be done in a special place?" Dad asked.

"Well of course. Magical items are only found in magical stores. Can you imagine, walking into a trick shop and asking for a real magic wand?" He laughed loudly at his own joke, then became serious again.

"In the meantime, I must ask that you do not tell anyone else about the magical world. We are kept separate for a reason. If Muggles, the word we use for non-magic people, were to know about us, our worlds could no longer be peaceful."

"I won't tell a soul!" I promised.

Dumbledore looked pointedly at Mum and Dad.

"Your secret is safe." Mum assured him.

"I won't tell." Muttered Dad. He was still a bit dazed.

Dumbledore smiled widely again. "Wonderful. Two weeks exactly. See you then." With that, he turned on the spot and disappeared with a pop.

I sighed in admiration. One day I would be able to do that.

"That was rather unexpected." Mum commented. I laughed a shaky laugh.

"It was, but appreciated none the less." Mum laughed. "Maybe I'll make some new friends. That would be nice. But magic! Wow! I never dreamed…"

Dad sighed and got up. He clearly needed time to himself before he accepted this. But once he did, I had no doubt he would be totally supportive. I sighed and got up too. It would probably be a good idea to leave Mum alone. But I wasn't sure how long I would be able too. I was absolutely positive that there would be nothing but magic on my mind for a while. Dreaming would be enough for a short time, but soon, I would have to talk to someone. What I needed was a book on magic. But I would have to wait 2 weeks for that.

I love you all for reading! It means a lot to me!

~Kipler