Mary, Amara, Sophie, Liza and Rachel were in Mary's bedroom laughing and talking about nothing important in particular. It was summer vacation and the girls were constantly visiting each other's houses every weekend, having nothing else to do, except become anti-social, which their parents wouldn't allowed.

"Our lives are so stupid and boring," Mary said, praying for something interesting to happen. Summer was going to end soon and she didn't like the idea of that, she wished she could stop time forever, making sure that september never happened. She was going to miss the endless days of doing nothing and hanging out with her friends every weekend.

Mary was on her laptop reading a webcomic, at her friend's recommendation. She had gotten to Act 3 so far, though her friend's were almost caught up. Amara was drawing in her sketchbook, Sophie was drawing a Boredom Stone on a random piece of paper she had found, and Rachel and Liza were playing with some silly putty from Rachel's pocket.

The window was open as it was very hot that day. Mary loved it, hot weather was her weather.

Suddenly, five owls came in carrying letters. There were two snowy owls, a gray one that reminded the girls of Gandalf, a barn owl and one tawny owl. You usually didn't find owls in that area, plus it was also summer, not the kind of weather you'd find a snowy owl in and it was to early in the day from any owl anyways.

"Why are there owls in my house?!" Mary shrieked in surprise as the snowy owl dropped a letter on her lap, the paper landing with a soft plopping sound.

"This is crazy!" Sophie exclaimed as the Gandalf owl dropped a letter on her head. She started bouncing with a crazy smile on her face, despite the strangeness of the current events. Sophie looked at the Gandalf-look-a-like owl in awe.

"I bet someone's pranking us," Amara said, looking up from her sketchbook to gaze at her letter warily, and then glanced around the room for any hidden cameras. She knew it was quite unlikely that this was a prank, though, because they didn't even know any pranking geniuses, let alone anyone who could properly handle owls.

"I don't think you can train owls to deliver messages." Rachel said, petting the barn owl that had given the letter to her. Rachel thought owls were very interesting, but she still felt that something was fishy.

"Isn't it obvious?" Liza asked in awe. "They're Hogwarts letters! Look at the seal and the Owl Post, be smack dab in the middle!"

"Holy Jellybean." Sophie said, gasping. She hurriedly opened the letter to find that Liza was correct. "Guys, look! It has a materials list and a signature from Professor Longbottom. Wait, I thought it would be from McGonagall. I mean no offence to him or anything but..."

"Well," Mary said beginning to rip the envelope open. "McGonagall became the Headmistress so she probably would've needed a new Deputy Headmaster. Neville became a professor when he finished his last year at Hogwarts. It makes sense." Mary had just finished ripping up the envelope, throwing the pieces in the air like confetti.

Liza was jumping up and down on the bed, her short caramel hair bouncing. "We're witches! We're witches. We're witches! WE'RE WITCHES!"

Amara was carefully opening her envelope, much to everyone else's discontent. "I think it's legit."

"This is awesome!" Rachel said, all five owls resting on her arm, weighing it down slightly, but she didn't mind. She had opened her letter already and determined that it was legitimate.

"I didn't think Americans could go to Hogwarts, though," Amara mused, carefully examining her letter. "Oh, nevermind, It says here that we are American Muggle-born Transfers. Didn't know that was a thing."

"What does that mean?" Sophie asked, tilting her head.

"It's a program Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley, the Head of the Magical Law Department, created because American Muggle-borns never get an education. Most American wizards and witches are

homeschooled and there isn't a very large population and they're all scattered." Amara said, reading from the letter. "It's hard to find muggle-borns so most are in their 3rd-4th year when they're found. Pretty self-explanatory though."

"That makes sense," Mary said, nodding her head.

"asdfghjkl!" Sophie said, twirling around the room with an owl on her head. She probably put it there herself.

"She's crazy, how do you even pronounce that?," Rachel commented, looking at Sophie and shaking her head so that her golden blonde hair covered her face. One owl was missing from her arm, and had found solace on Amara's shoulder.

"Hi girls," Mary's mom said coming into the room. She noticed the owls and adjusted her new glasses. "Um, where did you get the owls? And why are they in our house. Mary I swear you'll hav-"

"Mommy!" Mary said, cutting of her mom and handing her the letter she had received, as the other girls held up their own. "We've got Hogwarts letters!"

Her mom read the letter very carefully. The look on her face was similar to Amara's when she was reading the letters. But she definitely thought it was real, because she knew that if it was a scam, it wouldn't be and warm to the touch, even though the AC was cranked high. She stopped halfway, through, her eyes growing wide.

"Ah, yes. But the Hogwarts train leaves in two days. How are you going to get there? I'm not paying for a trip to London, and I'm sure your friends' parents won't be doing so."

She kept reading. "Oh, I stand corrected! Get your bags packed tonight girls. The International Knight Bus will be picking you up at 8:30 AM at your respective houses."

The girls cheered, giving each other high fives while Mary crushed her mom in a hug.

When Amara's mom came to pick her up, Amara flew down the stairs to her to show off her Hogwarts letter.

"Wow, you actually got letters! I mean I knew that you were a witch, but I decided to tell you when i could find another one to teach you,. But now I don't have to worry, I know you're in good hands." Amara's mom said. She had read the Harry Potter series and was quite glad for her daughter. A hurt expression flashed on Amara's face when she heard her mother say that she already knew, and didn't tell her, but then understanding. It's not like her mother knew any magic folk, what was she to do? Her mother continued to talk, giving her daughter an affectionate pap on the head, which Amara tried to dodge, but failed. "So Hermione is working for the Ministry now, eh? "

Amara nodded. "Maybe Maya and Amia are witches too." Her younger sister Maya, who was turning 12, might get her Hogwarts letter soon, if she qualified for one, of course.

"Maybe Ellie will get her Hogwarts letter," Sophie said. Her sister was turning 11 this year. She might get her Hogwarts letter too. " Though I hope she doesn't. I'll enjoy the time away from her."

She and Mary gave Amara boa-constrictor-like a hug before she had to go. "See you tomorrow Mara."

"Bye Soph, Bye Mary," Amara said, returning the hug just this once, but not with much enthusiasm. "Alright, you can stop now."

When Sophie's mom came, Sophie showed her the letter, though her mother had to calm her down before she could take a look at.

"Awesome!" She gave her daughter a high-five, "thought about this before I had you, and I know it's a good school, and Mr. No-nose is gone so, you should be safe," Sophie's mom had said. "Maybe Ellie will get one too!"

"Ugh," Sophie said "I hope she doesn't."

Sophie ruffled Mary's medium-length dyed bright red hair in goodbye. "Bye Murry-chan."

Rachel's mom had come to pick up both Rachel and Liza. "Wow, witches? Well, Rachel's allowed to go, no questions asked, I can't deal with an unschooled witch! Liza, we'll need to phone call your Mom so she knows, but I'll talk to her about it."

Liza nodded. "Sure. I hope she understands that I have no choice but to go"

"I'm sure she'll understand!" Mary reach up to pat her friends shoulder.

Rachel and Liza gave Mary a hug before saying goodbye. "See yah, Mary," Rachel said. "Bye, frond-person," Liza said.

"Bye Rach, Liza." Mary said. She couldn't believe it was over so soon. She also couldn't believe that she was leaving for Britain tomorrow.

She headed back to her room to reread her Hogwarts letter again, and then, maybe, a third time.

Mary woke up the next morning with a big smile plastered on her face. The smell of pancakes cooking for breakfast had wafted into her room, waking her from her long slumber.

"Mmm," Mary said, sniffing the air. "Pancakesss." She couldn't wait for the Knight Bus to Come, but she also couldn't wait for those heavenly fried circles to make their way into her mouth.

All her bags had been packed the last night. She had one bag filled to the brim with just her books, another for necessities, two bulging with extra clothing,(more bags of outfits would be sent to the school after she arrived) and a mostly empty one for robes and school supplies. The letter had said she could bring an MP3 Player or a Walkman for music, so had Mary packed her old MP3 player, and she was disappointed that it didn't have a touch screen or internet access, but it was a small sacrifice for where she was going.

She slipped on her fuzzy slippers on and clambered down the stairs to eat her breakfast.

"Are you excited for Hogwarts?" Her father asked, sipping at his coffee.

Mary nodded, grinning as she sunk her teeth into the syrupy goodness. "Of course! I can't wait," She replied after swallowing

"Make sure you write letters every week, okay? They have an international Owl Post, now." Mary's mom was making sure she didn't lose contact with only her daughter, and though Mary understood that, she still felt a bit suffocated.

"And no boys!" Her dad piped.

Mary nodded and rolled her eyes. She seemed to be nodding a lot these days. "Yes, mother and sure dad, if you say so."

Mary finished her pancakes in silence as her parents chatted. When she finished, she bounded up the upstairs to get ready.

She brushed her medium-length dyed red hair a bit more than she needed to, so her scalp stung, and she slipped on a red shorts and converse. Then she switched the shorts two times, deciding that they weren't wizard-worthy. She cleaned her red glasses that made her look like a hipster but were an absolute necessity as she was legally blind without them, so she had to suffer through it.

She sat down on the front steps with her bags waiting for the Knight Bus to come, the sun warming her face while a refreshing breeze bristled through her hair. After a while or waiting, a deep purple bus pulled up on the side of the street,golden words reading, "international Knight Bus" on both sides in the middle of a white speech bubble whose tail was growing from a cartoon knights grinning mouth.

"Nice Pun," Mary thought, smirking.

She gave her parents a not-long enough goodbye-hug and lept down the steps leading to thesidewalk to greet her friends on the bus. With a backpack full of books on her shoulders and two heavy suitcases in her hands, Mary clambered onto the bus and looked for her friends.

On the top deck of the bus, there were three beds occupied by Sophie, Amara, and Liza. Two empty beds were covered in bags but seemed to have no owner.

"Hey guys!" Mary said, making her way to them, trying to run, but her bags weighed her down.

"Murry!" Sophie said, jumping of the bed to hug her friend. "We saved you a spot!" Liza started taking the bags off of the bed to make room for Mary's bags, while Amara started to tug away Mary's bags to give her some relief.

Amara was in quite a good mood today, which wasn't very often so she thought it was okay to hug her friends for one second, just this once. She realized she had made a mistake when Mary had latched on and wouldn't let go, squeezing the life out of her.

After Liza had lazily cleared the bed, went back to her bed to sleep. Sophie had joined Mary in hugging poor Amara to death. Sophie was actually in a better mood than she usually would be in the morning, she was definitely not a morning person. Her hair wasn't a big mess and she was actually feeling quite elated and peppy. She usually was a zombie in the mornings.

"Can't-br-breathe," Amara choked out. She wasn't going to voluntarily hug for quite a long time now, that would be her friend's punishments.

"Sorry," Mary and Sophie said in unison releasing the girl. Amara felt sick, she had almost been hugged to near death and the Knight Bus was moving at breakneck speed. She didn't understand why Liza was choosing to read at the moment but then she realized the poor girl was asleep. She stumbled over and took the book out of her hands, tucking it into her friend's suit case. She sighed in her sleep.

Their next stop was Rachel's house and after another minute, the golden-haired girl was sitting in the bed next to them with an excited smile plastered on her face.

The Knight Bus had traveled over the Atlantic Ocean for two hours before arriving at the Leaky Cauldron. The girls awoke with a jolt as they fell asleep during the ride.

"LONDON!" Mary said. She loved this city and she had always wanted to live here, her dream was coming true. "HELL YES!"

"WOOHOO BABY! Britain better prepare, People! Hide your wives, your husbands, your children, and while you're at it, everyone else! Sophie has arrived," Sophie said, strutting down the pavement. She really did think she was the center of the universe, she was a cat-person after all.

"Would you shut your protein-chutes for a second? My poor ears can't take it." Amara complained.

Sophie and Mary blew raspberries at her.

They all grabbed their bags and headed for the Leaky Cauldron. Then they got settled in their rooms before heading out to Diagon Alley.

"Which brick do we press?" Amara asked, closely inspecting at the brick wall.

"This one," Mary said pressing a brick "I think. 3rd on the left from the trash can."

"Woah," all of the girls said as the brick archway to Diagon Alley opened.

They had collected all of their supplies. All of them went bit overboard with buying textbooks as Mary and Amara wanted some "light" reading. Mary, of course, had grabbed books on practically anything she thought interesting. She couldn't wait for Hogwarts as she would do everything to get into the restricted section of the library. Amara bought a book on ghosts and how to speak Mermish and Gobbledegook, but Mary had no idea how useful they would be, and vocalized her concern. Amara just winked, knowing that she would need it in the lake. Plus, learning a new language gives her something to do. Liza, on the other hand, got about two bagfuls of books about magical creatures that most people might call "imaginary" or "not real", most of the books being copies of the Quibbler magazine.

They had also paid their wands which they stared at in awe. But what made them more elated than the wands were their new pets.

Mary had gotten a very adorable yellow Puffskein that kept humming the William Tell Overture. She named it Willy Wonka, after the famous muggle book character. Sophie, of course, adopted a pet cat that she named Jade, after her favorite character from the webcomic she was reading.

Amara took to an oddly patterned grey Lizard-rabbit hybrid that Mary and Sophie forced her to name Gandalf The Grey. Rachel, and Liza got owls. Rachel had a super cool looking snowy one that she named Pepper and Liza cooed at tawny owl she named Hazel, after a character from one of her favorite book series, which was perched on her arm.

The girls hung out at Flourish and Blotts which now had a sitting area and café, for relaxing. Mary had her new Puffskein on her shoulder who constantly preened its nose through her hair, humming snipits of classical themes,.

Sophie was talking to her cat like it could actually talk back.

"Why are you talking to the cat?" Mary asked.

"You can't hear it ?" Sophie replied, staring at the cat uneasily. "It's been going on and on about familiars or whatever a-,"

Mary's eye grew very wide.

Sophie looked at her friend, not finishing her previous sentence. "What?"

She took out a book she had grabbed on Powerful and Rare Occurrences In The Wizarding World.

Mary began reading out a page. "On a very rare occasion, there are a few witches and wizards capable of creating a bond with an animal. This is called a familiar. A familiar is usually a cat or an owl but a few wizards have been known to create bonds with rarer animals. Albus Dumbledore is one person known for his bond with a phoenix. Once they have gained a familiar, the witch/wizard can communicate with their familiar and in rarer cases, be able to speak to other animals of their familiar's species."

"Oh, well, that's cool! I thought that I was going crazy." Sophie said "Soon I will rule all of the cats!"

Jade hissed at that notion. "Okay we can both rule the cats, how about that Jadey?" Sophie offered to her cat. "Jade grinned so wide that the cheshire cat would weep tears of pride," Liza thought.

"Wait that's rare?" Amara mused, tapping her chin and looking at the sky. "You don't even know how loud it was in that pet store, and animals say such vulgar things, my poor ears have never been less innocent before today. And plants are even worse, the words they've picked up from us would kill a little old southern lady in one small breath," After a moment, she put a finger to the lips of Gandalf, and looked at him pointedly.

"When did that happen? You never told us!" Liza said with wide eyes.

"So now we have witch with a familiar, and one who can talk to animals and plants, what's next?" Mary dramatically placed the back of her hand on her brow and leaned back in her chair.

"Gandalf says that you don't know the half of it."

It was almost time for bed. Sophie and Amara were chatting idly, Liza and Rachel were creating a pillow fort, and Mary was with her Puffskein eating candy.

"I'm most definitely a Slytherin," Sophie said. All those Sorting Hat quizzes seemed to want to put her in Slytherin, but of course, we could never be sure.

"I know I'm a Ravenclaw," Amara said. "I'm definitely a Ravenclaw. Well, I think so, it makes sense… Well, I could be slytherin too," Amara hadn't ever gotten a house that wasn't Ravenclaw, but she couldn't help thinking of slytherin also.

Meanwhile, Rachel and Liza were still building their fort.

"I am totally a Ravenclaw." Liza declared.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Liza said and repeated a couple times, trying to get it right, waving her wand so that the pillow would float to the top. It gave a little wobble and then a hop, but didn't do what Liza wanted. Mary would have giggled, but she and her Puffskein were doing the chubby bunny challenge, and she would lose if she did.

"Cherbeh Berney," Mary said, her mouth filled with marshmallows.

Willy Wonka the Puffskein chirped. "Chirpy Chirpy."

"Mhmnhmm," Mary couldn't take it anymore. She swallowed all of the 6 marshmallows, at once.

"Ewww Mary," Amara commented from across the room.

Willy gloated as he stuffed another marshmallow into his mouth.

"You greedy bum!" Mary said. "I was gonna take that."

The Puffskein swallowed and gave a satisfied chirp. Amara giggled behind her hand, and Sophie was rolling on the floor with mirth. Mary glared at her friends, but it only made the laughter worse.

The girls woke up bright and early the next morning, packed up their wands,and headed to ollivander's. He had promised to to teach the basics of wizardry, as long as they came before he opened shop. Amara rapped on the door lightly, and the old man appeared in the door window moments later.

"Come in, come in, girls!" The tall man said, opening the door wide to accommodate the party. This was their last 'class', seeing as they had to leave next morning. They had already had a week of this, and had picked up fast, much to the old man's delight.

"Hi !" Mary, said hugging the man.

"Hello to you to Mary, to all of you!" He laughed. "So today we're are going to have a test." The girls' eyes widened. "No, no, don't worry children, it's just a review."

The girls let out a sigh of relief. Ollivander clapped his hands, "Let's get on with it!" The girls cheered in response.

All day they reviewed, first came the spells.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Amara said, softly but firmly. The pillow rose from its previous place on the table. Then she dropped the pillow, but before it could land, shouted "imobulus!" stopping the pillow in mid-air.

The others received the same result, offering and talking high-fives to each other. All of the spells in The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 had officially been covered and mastered by the girls, the Levitation and Freezing charms being the one they had most trouble with.

Then the potions had to be made, and they had a few mishaps, one involving the ends of Rachel's hair being singed off, but we're able progress to a third year level of potion-making yesterday, so they were handed a large potions book, and were told to make any potion that they liked, "within reason of course," Ollivander had warned.

They were only able to get through half way through A beginner's guide to Transfiguration, but Ollivander wasn't worried for them, they would be taking extra classes to catch up, and at least they knew the basics.

As they got ready to leave for the Leaky cauldron a few hours after closing, Olivander pressed Third year Herbology books into the girls' arms, having already read the first and second year ones.

"You lot, better study up on the train ride!" He said to them, proudly.

"We will!" They chorused happily, but a bit worn out.

They walked down the cobble-stone pavement back to the pub, the august sunset pleasantly warming them. They had smiles on their faces, and feelings of accomplishment.

Sophie fell face first into her bed declaring, "I'm going to go sleep for about 12 years, see you when I'm like, 30."

"More like 26, Soph." Amara chimed, getting ready for bed herself.

"Whatever." Everyone sans Amara chorused.