Kari Potter awoke to the familiar sound of her twin brother's loud snores and glanced over at the clock. It was five in the morning. She got up, dressed, and looked at the full-length mirror that hung on the wall by a set of bunk beds. As she brushed her hair, she looked at her figure. She was normal sized for her age and had long brown hair that was usually tied back to keep it out of her eyes. There was a lightening shaped scar on her forehead that was just visible under her bangs. Her eyes glimmered under her annoyingly long lashes. Somehow, the color of her eyes changed with her mood. They were now a dark brown, mainly because she was tired.
When she finished braiding her hair, she picked up her mother's silver necklace and strung it around her neck. Her mother, Lily Potter, had given this particular necklace to her when she was a baby, and it had always been very close to her heart. The orb that hung around her neck, like her eyes, changed with her mood. Kari's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud snort from her brother, Jessie, as he rolled over on the top bunk.
Kari, quiet as a mouse, opened the bedroom door and slipped down the hall. The sun won't rise for another hour or so, she thought to herself, as she walked down the stairs. She skipped the last step, so that it wouldn't creek.
She walked into the kitchen and poured some juice into a glass, then walked into the living room. She flopped down on the sofa and switched on the television, being careful to turn down the volume, so that she wouldn't wake anyone.
About an hour and a half-later, Kari's brother, Jes, came downstairs and sat down on the couch beside her. He yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Kari looked over at her brother. He had short black hair with brown streaks, and dark brown eyes. Sometimes he spiked it up, and other times, he just put on a hat. He was normal sized for his age, just like her, but his face showed that he had been up late reading the most recent letters from his girlfriend, Veronica.
Veronica Alverez was a nice-looking girl with brown hair and matching brown eyes. In a way, she Kari and Jes were similar. For the past five years, all three of them had gone to Salem's School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Kari remembered the day she got her letter like it was yesterday. She, Jes, and their adoptive parents had been sitting in the living room, when two very large barn owls flew over and started tapping on the window. Startled, Jes ran over and opened the window, not noticing until a few moments later that the owl had dropped a letter at his feet before flying away. Meanwhile, with trembling hands, Kari picked up the letter that the owl had dropped in her lap. Kari glanced over at her brother and heard his familiar voice inside her head. Should we open them? He thought.
"Yes, let's open them," Kari said out loud.
Kari was used to the fact that she could speak to her brother telepathically, because they had discovered their strange power when they were very young. She slowly undid the wax seal and opened the letter. Inside was the piece of parchment that had changed their lives.