August 15, 1971

"Bye Dad!" Parker yelled as she closed the door behind her. Just her luck, having the first day of school be on her birthday. Wait. Scratch that. Her first day of school in a completely new country, halfway across the world from home.

What seemed like seconds later, Parker found herself walking up the front steps of Kinsbury Academy, her new school. With the thought of home on her mind, Parker stepped inside.

...

Parker had never had such a horrible first day of school. Usually, she loved school. But at Kinsbury Academy, life was- and as she could tell it would be- absolute hell. The girls in her class made fun of her accent and called her "Yankee." The boys asked her if she had ever kissed one of her cousins. And through all of this, the teachers did absolutely nothing.

As Parker grumbled home, she thought of all the other horrible things that could possibly happen to her that day. Until...

BAM!

Something hit her square on the head, almost knocking her over. After collecting herself, she reached down to see what had hit her. A letter? Where? How?

Just her luck. Some idiot mail carrier was probably too lazy to walk a couple extra feet and had attempted to throw some poor soul's mail onto their porch. And failed. Completely. Bending down, she picked up the letter and flipped it over to see its address. To her surprise, it read:

Ms. P Russell

The Foreign Townhome

13 Argyle Rd. W13

London

Confused as ever, Parker flipped the letter over to try to find a return address. But instead, all she found was a red wax seal- indented with a large letter H.

Parker ran the rest of the way home.

...

"Hello?!" Parker yelled as she closed the front door behind her. Thankfully, her dad wasn't home. She bolted up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

Sitting down at her desk, she quickly unbuckled her backpack and pulled out the letter. Who had sent her this? Why? How did they know she'd be walking down that street at that exact time? Well, there's only one way to find out, she thought. She then slowly peeled open the letter, ripping the red seal and revealing the contents inside.

...

WHAT?! ME? A WITCH?! Parker thought as she read the letter. Three words came to her mind. What. A. Scam! And "Hogwarts"? It's like they didn't even try to make it seem real. Being a city girl from Chicago, Parker knew all about this kind of scam. You get a letter or phone call saying that you won a trip or something, and all you have to do to get it is send some company money. Then, they rob you blind. Parker wasn't going to fall for that.

Not thinking twice, Parker tossed the letter into the trash can beside her and pulled out her homework.

...

A few days later at school, Parker tried to focus, she really did. But two questions clouded her mind: How did the sender know she'd be walking down that street at that exact time? And how did they drop the letter on top of her?

The lunch bell rang, warranting Parker her hour of freedom. As she opened her locker to get her lunch, something fell out. She recognized the red wax seal immediately. Suddenly, a curious nerve struck in Parker's body. She had to know. Sliding on her high tops and grabbing her lunch, Parker ran out the large oak doors.

...

Following the address on the letter, Parker made her way to a small pub on Charing Cross Road. The Leaky Cauldron. Huh. Strange name. Clever or weird? Parker thought. Well, there's only one way to find out. And with that, Parker made her way inside.

A few minutes after she sat down at a small booth in the back corner, a tall waitress with purple hair came over to take her order. "Hello, welcome to The Leaky Cauldron, my name is Alexandria, and I will be your server this afternoon. What can I get you?" "Actually, I can't stay long. Can I ask you a question though?" Parker asked. Alexandria nodded. "I got this letter today. It..it said to come here to get my...um...supplies." Alexandria's face crept into an excited smile. "Come with me," she said slyly.

Alexandria led Parker to the back door but turned around before she opened it. "You ready, love?" Parker nodded, "Let's do this." "Alrighty then," Alexandria said as she pulled open the door and lead Parker outside- to the dumpsters.

"I knew it! I knew this was a scam!" Parked yelled, "What do you want from me?! Money?! I'm eleven for Christ sake!"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm not gonna hurt you," Alexandria said as she pulled a long stick from her boot.

"Is that..."

"A wand? Yes. You'll get one soon enough." Alexandria replied.

She then walked up to the brick wall they were facing and tapped a few bricks with her wand. "Watch this," Alexandria said as the bricks began to move. Suddenly, the wall that was once there was there no more. In its place was something Parker could never have guessed.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"

Alexandria said gleefully.

...

After a long explanation to her dad, a shopping trip in Diagon Alley, and 4 hours packing all that she needed, Parker had finally made it. Kings Cross Station.

"What platform did you say it was again?" Her dad asked her. "Uhh.. 9 3/4," Parker said, looking down at her letter. "Okay then, 8...9...10...I don't see it, Park. Ooh, he looks like he works here. Let's ask him. Excuse m-" "Dad no! If we didn't know about the wizarding world until a few weeks ago, do you really think he does? And I mean it's not like we can just go up to him and ask 'Excuse me, where's the platform that the train for the magical wizarding school leaves from?' without giving him a clue that such a place exists, now can we?" Parker said frantically.

"I'm sorry, but did you say that you're looking for Platform 9 3/4 for the Hogwarts Express?"

Parker turned to see a teenage girl a few years older than her standing behind her. Parker nodded.

"Well, see the post between platforms 9 and 10? Basically-"

"Andromeda, what are you doing?!" shouted an older girl a few paces behind her. She had wild, curly, black hair and hatred in her eyes. "We have to keep up appearances!"

"Bellatrix, if by 'keeping up appearances,' you mean not being nice to first years when they clearly need help, then sorry, but I can't do that." Andromeda said peacefully, "And you've already graduated, what appearances could you possibly need to keep up at Hogwarts?"

"Dear sister," Bellatrix giggle resentfully, "I'm keeping up Narcissa's appearances, of course. What would people say if they saw the sister of the girl dating Lucius Malfoy, who has already disgraced her family by dating that mud-blood Ted Tonks, is seen talking to- no -being nice to a first-year muggle-born?"

"Well, thanks to our family, Ted, my best friend and the possible love of my life, has been scared off. And- I'm already the ugly duckling in this family, so nothing I could do could possibly affect Narcissa's relationship with-"

"I heard my name?" said a pale, blonde girl who came up behind them. All three girls had similar features, so Parker guessed that the youngest girl must be the girls' sister, Narcissa.

"Oh, it's nothing, Cissa. Bella and I were just talking about how excited you must be to be going back to school again," Andromeda said, hastily covering her tracks.

"Especially to see that great boyfriend of yours," Bellatrix said, shooting Andromeda a death glare.

"Haven't been more excited for anything else in my life," Narcissa said excitedly. "Sorry I took so long, the buckles on one of my trunks unlatched and clothes went everywhere."

"Well, we better get going, then. Don't want to miss that train. Coming, Cissa?" Bellatrix said suspiciously sweetly.

Bellatrix turned to go to the platform, walking straight into Parker. "Oh, it's you. If I'm being completely honest, I completely forgot that you were standing there," she said as she pushed past Parker and her father and walked through the wall to the platform.

Parker's eyes widened, horrified.

"Oh! Darling, she's fine!" Andromeda said, though her eyes showed Parker that Bellatrix being fine was a disappointment to her. "She's just gone to the platform. It doesn't hurt, trust me. More of a light tickle. Watch Narcissa."

Narcissa nodded at her older sister, looked around, and ran her and her luggage trolley straight through the wall between platforms 9 & 10.

"Try it," Andromeda said, nodding her head towards the wall. "I'll be right behind you, promise."

And with that, Parker grabbed her trolley and her father's hand and ran through.