Chapter One

Mystery of Magic

Leticia Lunetti never thought she was special. She had read about wizarding history in her textbooks at school. She had seen some witches and wizards perform a show when she was eight. But she never thought she would ever be capable of performing such a feat. After all, her mother was a Muggle, so it only made sense that she would be, too.

That all changed after the storm.

When one thinks of a storm, they normally imagine a tempest, full of raging winds and crackling lightning. Something warranting destruction and chaos, surely. But on a fateful summer morning when Leticia woke up with a start, the only destruction she witnessed was that which was floating above her head.

Why a dark cloud had decided to make its new home the space just a few feet above her, Leticia did not know. She did know that it was rather frustrating to try and get dressed when there was a steady stream of rain drenching her hair, and that eating breakfast became a challenge when tiny bolts of lightning snapped at her spoon.

Meanwhile her mother fretted to and fro about the apartment, stress-biting her fingernails after she called Leticia in sick. "What are we supposed to do?" she asked nobody in particular. "How did this happen?" She looked at her daughter. "Is there someone at school who might have jinxed you?"

The twelve year-old shook her head. She didn't think there was anyone she had particularly angered recently. Leticia thought through her list of rivals. There was Brittany Smith, from her fourth period Spanish class, but their rivalry was nothing more than a friendly competition over whose grades were better. And Brittany, much to Leticia's grim acceptance, was currently winning, so there would be no reason for revenge.

Then there was Angelica Baxton, the popular girl that did seemingly everything in the entire school, from cheerleading to band to debate. How she had the time for all of those things and taking cheap shots at Leticia's less-than-stellar looks, one could only guess. But while Leticia herself perhaps had wished a thousand curses upon her, the reality was that Angelica probably didn't have the time to actually curse anyone properly.

Last on her list was Bruno Dunwright. He had asked Leticia to be her date to a school dance over a month ago, and had been sulking ever since she turned him down (She's twelve! Why would she possibly want a boyfriend when there are more important things like school?). Had this whole storm-nonsense happened back then he would have been suspect numero uno, but given how long it had been the chances were slim.

So while the perpetrator remained unknown, Luna Lunetti decided she would do her best to rid her daughter of that storm herself. After hours of searching the internet, her mother determined that she must have been placed under a metelojinx, a wizarding spell that creates a small storm like that which floated above her head. There were plenty of Muggle remedies available, but most were hogwash, like drinking onion juice or reciting an incantation over a rune made from chicken blood. That's not to say that the plan of "beat the storm with a pillow until it dissipates" was not beneath either of them, but it was safe to say that many hours passed before her mother decided to try "the tesla trick."

"This seems dangerous, Mom," Leticia said, even as her mother began assembling a pile of their metal silverware.

"It's okay, honey, this will work," her mother reassured her. "This has to work."

Two piles of silverware were assembled in their tiny living room, each on one end of their equally-tiny couch. Leticia sat in the middle, cross-legged, nervously pulling at a strand of her hair. "How exactly is this supposed to help again?"

"These two piles of metal will act as conduits. You need to make sure you put a hand on each of them, honey." Her mother paced nervously. "When one of those little lightning bolts strikes, it will travel through you and transfer energy into the piles. With all of that metal, the electrical energy will evaporate above you, and the spell will be broken."

"Hypothetically," Leticia added.

"Hypothetically," her mother admitted.

Leticia calmly set both of her hands down, each on a separate pile of metal. The storm raged above her head, a tiny yet ferocious wind whipping the edges of her now-soaked hair around. She could feel the energy building. The lightning was coming. She closed her eyes, shivering with fear.

Electricity crackled and snapped, striking the top of her head. Her body quaked as the energy flowed down her shoulders and through her forearms, sizzling at the edges of her fingertips.

CRACK!

Bolts of energy shot out of both hands, sending silverware scattering across the room. Her mother ducked as a butcher's knife flew through the space her head had occupied not a moment sooner. Pandemonium ensued for a moment as the cutlery settled, then all went quiet. Were her troubles over?

Leticia looked above her head. The storm was gone! There was nothing but empty space now where once a storm had been. She felt a warm tickling sensation in her fingers still, but joy coursed through her veins. "We did it!" she exclaimed.

"Not quite, honey." Her mother pointed.

While it was true the storm above her head was gone, there were now two tiny bracelets of stormclouds encircling her wrists. Each crackled and snapped and rained like the one before. "No," Leticia moaned. "Now there are two of them!?"

Neither her nor her mother had a moment more to process this development when there was a knock on the front door. Her mother took one glance at the door and then turned to her daughter. "Put your hands in your pockets," she ordered, before stooping down to collect some of the fallen silverware.

There was another knock on the door. "Be there in a moment!" her mother shouted. "Nevermind your pockets, help me get all of these knives and forks up."

Leticia began scooping up cutlery and dumping it on their kitchen counter, racing around like a mad-person, all while the storms around her wrists raged on. Why would someone be at their door now? Had someone heard them? Were they in trouble? A million questions swirled in her head, none of them reassuring her. It was too much of a coincidence.

The knock at the door came again, this time harder and more persistent. Her mother gave an exasperated gasp and set down her armful of silverware. "I'd better go check and see who it is," she said. "You get that last pile of spoons and then get those hands in those pockets."

"Yes, ma'am." Leticia did as she was told. There was no arguing, not now.

As she was just placing the final collection of spoons, her mother opened the door. A young woman in a dazzlingly-blue robe stood waiting, impatiently tapping her feet. "May I help you?" her mother asked.

"I believe you can," the young woman replied. "Is this the Lunetti residence?"

"It is," her mother said, perturbed. "Who are you?"

"I am Henrietta Hazelwood," the young woman said. "I come from the Department of Magical Affairs, Underage Sorcery Division. We received a report of underage magic occurring at this residence not a few moments ago, and I have been sent to investigate." She paused. "I'm not here to get anyone in trouble," Henrietta added, "I'm just here to make sure everyone is okay. May I come in?"

Luna Lunetti scoffed. "You most certainly may n-"

"Mom, let her in." Leticia held up her hands, showing the storms in all their glory. "She could help us."

In a flash, Henrietta entered the living room and sat opposite Leticia in their weathered armchair. She took one look at Leticia's wrists and exclaimed, "Ah, a weather charm. A darn good one if I might add. Well, this will be easy enough to fix up." She took out a wand and waved it in a tight circular motion. "Meteolojinx Recanto." The storms around Leticia's wrists vanished in an instant.

"That was amazing," Leticia gasped.

"Oh, that was nothing. Just a basic counter-spell. Tell me, Leticia, was this the first time you've made magic?"

"Why do you want to know?" Luna Lunetti sat next to her daughter, arms crossed.

Henrietta gave her a small smile. "Again, this isn't about anyone being in trouble. I only ask because some young witches and wizards can manifest dangerous magic if they aren't given any kind of methods of basic control early-on. If she's manifesting spells frequently, we might assign her a case manager; just someone who can check in on her and tutor her until she turns ten years of age. What is it, dear?"

Leticia had raised her hand. "Erm, I'm twelve."

Henrietta seemed genuinely surprised. "Oh! Um, well. That changes things, doesn't it?"

"How so?" Leticia's mother still seemed displeased with this woman's presence.

"Well, normally when a witch turns ten, she has a couple of options for how her schooling can play out. There are some private academies here in the local Dallas area that offer magic tutelage - I know that Cogsworth's School for Witches and Wizards is supposed to be particularly excellent - and then of course the main public American academy is Ilvermorny. Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is always accepting the best and brightest witches, though given your age they may not even take your application...oh, and of course there's always Hogwarts-"

"Absolutely not." Leticia's mother shook her head. "Leticia is not going anywhere. Certainly not some far-off school away from here. Away from me."

Henrietta nodded. "Understandable, and as her mother you of course have the right to choose where she goes. In the meantime, though, we will want to take some precautions until a selection is made. Do you mind if I run a quick test?"

Luna Lunetti scowled, but made no move to stop her.

"Great!" Henrietta waved her wand and spoke a few words, and a small cardboard box appeared out from her robe pockets. She opened it, revealing a small plastic wand and four pieces of rock. "This is a test we give any child exhibiting magical abilities," she explained to Leticia, handing her the plastic wand. "I want to see exactly how strong your magic is right now."

"What do I do with this?" Leticia said, indicating the wand.

"Well, we're going to try a very basic spell. See these little stones? I want you to make them levitate using magic. It's a spell you would learn your first year of classes, no matter where you go. A very simple incantation and a flick of your wrist will do it. Now, the words are-"

Before Henrietta even had a chance to say the words of the incantation, all four stones were hovering a foot above the box. The young woman glanced at the adolescent girl; she wasn't even holding the wand upright. "Interesting…" she murmured.

"What's interesting?" Luna Lunetti asked, still cross.

"Leticia, can you try something for me?" Henrietta sat back in the armchair, immediately regretting this decision as the chair was not comfortable to rest in. "I want you to set the wand back in the box for me. And, yes, thank you for lowering the rocks. Very well done."

"What do you want me to do?" Leticia asked.

"There's a spell that's a little advanced, but I want to see if you can accomplish it. You are twelve, after all, and so your magic has had a little bit more time to manifest itself-"

"And what if she can't do what you want her to?" her mother asked.

"Well, then it just means that the rocks were a fluke and she won't be needing a case manager until you decide where she should go," Henrietta said. Turning her attention back to Leticia, she continued, "I'm going to have you think of a spell word and try to summon a ball of light. Nothing big or fancy. Just a small ball of light floating between us. Are you rea-"

An orb of light burst into being, momentarily blinding all present for its brilliance.

It faded as quickly as it had appeared. Henrietta looked stunned. "Well," she exclaimed. Then, suddenly, she pointed at Leticia. "Your hand…" Leticia looked down just in time to see a strange symbol made of light fading from the top of her right hand.

"Miss Hazelwood," Luna Lunetti said, "I am very, very sorry for how I've treated you."

Leticia looked at her mother with surprise. What?

"Well, do not worry about it," Henrietta began. "It really is no-"

"Please, you have to understand. I was told that this wasn't ever going to happen to her." Luna's voice became filled with something strange. Was it...fear? "I was told that her magic was taken from her when she was a babe. If I had known…" She closed her eyes and tears welled up in them. "I tried to be so careful…"

"Mom, what the hell are you talking about?"

Even Henrietta seemed quite confused. "Language aside, I do have to agree with your daughter here, Miss Lunetti. Do you mean to say that you knew she was of magical blood all these years? And failed to report it? Her father is the wizard, I assume."

Luna shook her head. "No, her...birth...mother was magical. Her father was a Muggle, same as me."

"My what!?"

Luna ignored her. "Years ago, there was a woman. Some sort of special agent, she handled this back then. Rebecca Nox? I think that was her name. Do you know of her?"

Henrietta paused. "Well, the name does sound familiar. I can't say that I know it off the top of my head, though…"

"In any case, it was she who helped us before. She had recommended that I take Leticia to Hogwarts, where we could be safe. Do you think that it could be arranged for her to study there?"

"I...suppose so." Henrietta was still trying to process everything. Leticia herself could barely think right then. "I mean, she is a little bit older than normal, and Hogwarts does pride itself on a safe environment nowadays...I'd have to get word to the Headmistress immediately to see if it's even possible to get her in...but I think that can be arranged."

"Good." Luna nodded. "Then it's decided."

Leticia sat still, shocked. She was going to Hogwarts.