Just quickly, thankyou to BookWorm77071 for your advice on the punctuation around speech marks, something i need to work on! xD (and hopeully will remember to now) :)

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The walk home was quiet.

Caroline was the closest thing Ethel had to a mother (and she was very motherly.) She had, so Ethel thought, taken her from the orphanage she had stayed in for the first seven years of her life. Caroline also had two sons, who she adopted as babies. Stephen, who was ten, and Mikey, who was two.

Caroline's house, where Ethel lived, smelt quite strikingly of sweets. It had when Ethel first moved there a seven year old, and it still did when Ethel was almost fifteen. Ethel liked it there, and she liked Caroline, but the house had never quite felt like home to her. She imagined that it must rather be like a close relatives house; comfortable, familiar, but not quite her own/

Ethel opened the door with her house key.

"Hello darling," called Caroline from the kitchen as Ethel walked through the door, "how was it today?"

"It was all right. Though I don't really like it. I'll probably quit," Ethel muttered, slinging her bag down.

"Those girls didn't give you trouble again, did they? If you like this summer club, you stick at it!"

"No, they didn't," Ethel said rather lamely.

"Good."

Ethel passed through the hallway and clambered up the stairs.

"Dinner's in a minute!"

"Great."

She walked into her lilac-walled room and shut the door. Her mind had been buzzing since the incident. Mostly, she felt guilty for how good a feeling she was getting out of Viv's punishment. And a snivelling voice at the back of her mind whispered "She deserved more." But in this room, removed from the noises of the street, it was peaceful.

THUD. CRASH.

Her eyes snapped to the window. Shocked out of her reverie, her heart skipped a beat. A beautiful tawny owl was sitting on her window ledge. It seemed to of flown onto the window sill, and knocked the plant pot off.

The owl was rather strange. It just sat there, looking at her. She didn't have any food, which she presumed it was after.

"What a beautiful owl you are," she said mostly to herself, after admiring it for a while.

Tentatively, she opened the window, and the realised that it was carrying a letter. She took it and then the bird soared off the ledge, disappearing into the clouds.

It was an odd looking letter with a red wax seal. She sat down on her bed, and cautiously, she opened it.

..

Ethel Stone,
Her Bedroom,
London,
N1

Dear young witch or wizard,

Earlier tonight (16:17 and 23 seconds, August 21th, 1997) a piece of magic was perfomed by you, in a muggle vicinity, in front of several muggles. You are of Hogwarts age, and it is to be reminded that those under 17 years of age, must not perform magic outside of their wizarding school.

TWO MORE INCIDENTS MAY LEAD TO EXPULSION OR FURTHER INQUIERY.

It has been identified that you do not attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please remember that attendance to Hogwarts in the coming school year IS COMPULSARY, a law enforced by the recent minister for magic, Pius Thicknesse. Appropriate books and equipment for Hogwarts can be purchased at Diagon Alley. Failure to appear at Hogwart's could result in an investigation of your previous magical education, and blood status (possibly leading to an investigation.)

Please transfer to Hogwarts before August 25,

Best Wishes,

Mafalda Hopkirk.

..

Ethel skimmed the letter again. What on earth! It might have been some kind of elaborate prank on her, revenge for what had happened earlier. But would they of gone to all that trouble, with the owl and everything. It seemed unlikely. And all these words, muggles, Hogwarts, minister for magic.

One sentence haunted her inparticular.

-"Please transfer to hogwarts before August 25"

That was only four days away. Nothing was bound to happen, but...

Stephen burst into her room, "mum says dinner is ready-" he paused, eyeing the letter she was still holding, "what's that?"

"Nothing," she said, thrusting it behind her back, "homework, boring."

"It doesn't look like homework," he said, and then he darted behind her and yanked it from her hand. If it wasn't for the fact that she felt shaken from the letter, he wouldn't of been fast enough to grab it.

"STEPHEN!" she yelled, running after him as he ran out the room.

"What is Hogwarts Eth?" he said whilst running down the stairs "Is this a joke book?"

"Give it BACK!" she stopped. Caroline stood there staring at Ethel and Stephen, who had frozen upon seeing her.

"Stephen, give me that letter and go in the dining room or your dinner will get cold." After receiving it, Caroline's eyes darted across the page furiously, "where did you get this?" she said.

"I found it."

"Tell me the truth!"

"It appeared on my window ledge."

"Stop being funny Ethelinda,"

"An owl," Ethel replied weakly.

"Oh god."

"It's just a joke or something. Someones played a trick on me, that's all," Ethel insisted.

Caroline stared at her, and whispered, "Ethel, what have you done?"