Maddie woke up abruptly, turning off her alarm and pulling on some clothes before racing downstairs. Usually she wasn't an early bird but today was special. Today was the first of March, her birthday. Specifically, her eleventh birthday. Which meant that today was the day her Hogwarts letter came.
"Someone's up early," came the amused voice of her mother from the doorway, "You'd almost think that something important was going to happen today."
Maddie rolled her eyes and ran to her mum, giving her a big hug, "Has my letter come yet?"
"Not yet Maddie, it is only five in the morning after all., you know."
Maddie looked down at the floor sheepishly. Maybe setting her extremely loud alarm to five in the morning hadn't been the best idea. But still, it wasn't every day you turned eleven!
"Woah! Who are you and what have you done with Maddie? There's no way our Madison is ever up before seven."
Maddie turned towards the source of the voice - her older brother Noah who was standing at the top of the stairs.
"Ha ha ha, very funny," she replied, "I'm just excited to get my letter. And it's not like you were any better: I seem to remember you waking up at four."
Noah just laughed and came downstairs, breezing past Maddie (messing her hair up along the way) and grabbing a slice of toast. Maddie and her mum followed and sat down at the table both taking a piece of toast from the plate each.
"So mum, how are things at the shop?" asked Noah between bites of his toast.
Maddie's mum sighed, "Not brilliant. Nott has been imposing even more restrictions on what we can and can't sell, by now the list of what we can't sell must be at least twice as long as what we can," she shot a nervous look towards the door, "Not that I'm complaining of course."
Maddie nodded. Even with the door to the house locked about six different ways, you could never be too careful what you said. Otherwise, you might just mysteriously disappear one day and be found again three months later dead, your body bloody and mangled. Only two months ago, Maddie's friend Kitty and her family disappeared after one of Kitty's brothers wrote some insults on flyers and scattered them around town. They still hadn't been found yet.
Maddie's mum continued, lowering her voice to a whisper, "If you ask me, something big is going to be happening, and soon. More and more," she looked around, "Crusaders have been buying books about curses, and not just your basic Bat Bogey Hex… dark, very dark, curses."
Maddie gave a slight shudder. It wasn't that she didn't know how dark magic could get, all you had to do was look in the newspaper to see evidence, but hearing it first-hand from her mother made it seem all tohe more real.
"Anyway," exclaimed Noah, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen, "Are you ready to go buy your things for Hogwarts?"
The last question was directed towards Maddie who answered, "I haven't even got my letter yet Noah, for all you know I'm a squib."
Noah smiled reassuringly, "You wouldn't have got your passbook if you were a squib."
It was true, just last week Maddie had had to get tested for her passbook, ensuring that she had enough "pure blood" to attend Hogwarts. Part of the testing had required her to wave a wand around. If she got a reaction, it meant she was a witch; if she didn't, well, she would hate to think of the consequences of being a squib in a world of pure bloods and half bloods.
Evidenced by the fact Maddie was still alive, she was a witch.
Just as they were finishing breakfast, a barn owl started screeching just outside the window. Getting up excitedly, Maddie unlocked it and practically tore the letters off the owl's leg. After getting the all clear from her mum who had run her customary curse checks on the letter, Maddie sorted through the bills and tossing Noah's letter to him, she finally reached the last letter and let out an excited squeal. It was here! Her letter!
"I take it you got your letter then?" Maddie's mum asked.
"Yes!" replied Maddie, still staring at the address on the front. It wasn't that she'd ever doubted getting her letter but even so, having it here, she could finally let out a sign of relief. Getting you Hogwarts letter had always signified the beginning of becoming a fully fledged wizard or witch, but with the current climate it meant so much more.
It meant safety.
Being one of the only places untouched by the war, attending Hogwarts guaranteed safety for nine months of the year, ten if you stayed over Christmas. There you could ignore the war around you. There you could be a teenager without having to have six locks on your doors and one per window, or look behind your shoulder every time you went outside, or censor everything you said so you weren't "disposed of" for having dangerous and rebellious views.
"Are you coming or not?" Noah's slightly impatient voice came from the hallway, breaking Maddie out of her thoughts. Looking up, she realised that both her mum and brother were waiting by the door, coats already on, waiting.
Maddie ran out of the kitchen, grabbing her raincoat and pulling it on. Slipping on her shoes, she hurried to open the padlocks when a tap came on her shoulder.
"I think you'll be needing this," said her mum handing Maddie her passbook. She took it gratefully, making sure it was zipped up in her pocket. How could she forget something as important as her passbook? Nowadays it was a criminal offence for anyone aged eleven or over to not carry a passbook identifying them as a pure blood or half blood. You could face up to ten years in Azkaban depending on who you were or what you were trying to buy.
Luckily, Maddie's mum had a better memory than Maddie herself, and so, passbook in pocket, Maddie unlocked the final lock and they stepped outside.
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The Zeller family lived on Whimsic Alley, a small street perpendicular to the more well known Diagon Alley. While Diagon was filled mostly with shops, if you wanted to find anything more usual or happened to want to grab a quick bite to eat at a cafe, Whimsic was the place to go. From her place on the doorstep, Maddie looked around the street where she had grown up. Somewhere in the distant corners of her mind was a memory from when she was only two years old. It was during what was known afterwards as the Interlude Year (called that because of the massive decrease in Crusader attacks), the street back then was much more busy, filled with families off shopping with their children. Back then, people were much more relaxed, lulled into a false sense of security, and much more willing to take their time to shop.
Fast forward to now and the street was almost deserted apart from a lone figure hurrying down the street. Such was the way when leaving the relative safety of the house - head down, hood up, don't make eye contact, walk fast, and whatever you do, don't draw attention to yourselves. These were the rules drilled into children's heads from the moment they were born.
By now, Maddie's mum had relocked the house and, pulling up her hood, gestured for Noah and Maddie to do the same. Having done so, Maddie followed her mum who was heading towards Diagon Alley, eyes cast downwards. As they were nearing the corner, a croaky voice came from the footpath, "Could you spare a little money? Take some mercy on a poor beggar woman?"
Maddie didn't need to look up to know who was calling, it was a mudblood, begging for just a few knuts. She almost reached into her pocket to give the woman a spare sickle but a sharp tug of her hand from Noah warned her not to. Giving money to a mudblood was a criminal offence after all.
It was so wrong - Maddie thought - that, just because some people happened to be born to muggle parents, they should be reduced to begging at the side of the street for just enough money to be able to eat. And that was the best case scenario. Maddie would bet the entirety of her pocket money (ten galleons and four sickles) that come tomorrow morning the women would be dead. Killed by the so-called saviours of the wizarding race.
But those were dangerous thoughts. And in Wizarding Britain, dangerous thoughts could get you killed.