She cracked the door open. She heard a voice, her father's voice, bellowing at the top of his lungs.

"I will not let her become like one of Them!" he roared.

What is he doing home at this hour? She wondered. She didn't muse long for she heard her father's uneven step coming down the foyer. He jerked the door open as she leaped backwards. His surprise melted into a split second of pity, then set into determination harder than the steel he smelted every day at the factory. He brushed past her and limped down the street back towards the smokestacks.

She stood in puzzlement for a short while, and then stepped gingerly into the house. Her mother was sitting at the dining room table, her eyes fixed on some far-off place. Minerva approached cautiously.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, "Mother, I have a letter for you from Mr. Sheehan."

She held the letter by its corners and lightly set it in front of her mother. Mrs. McGonagall turned her head slowly.

"Thank you dear. Now why don't you go find yourself a snack in the kitchen?" She asked.

Minerva wanted to ask her why her father had been home, but she could see this was not a good time. She obeyed and had a small snack of toast and jam at the kitchen table.

What a strange day it's been, she pondered between bites. Finishing her snack, she walked back into the dining room and asked her mother if she could walk to the library. Her mother nodded indifferently, still obviously deep in thought. The letter lay untouched on the table.

Minerva breathed in the fresh air. She enjoyed her walks to the library, when she observed others' ordinary happenings. Here, a brother pushed his little sister on a swing. There, the mailman opened up someone's mailbox to find that it was full; the family was on vacation, she knew. Such normal events calmed her a bit and reassured her that the world was still what it had been when she went to bed last night.

Then, the abnormalities started up again. An owl, a smaller one than the last, came flying straight at her. She shrieked and ducked, but the owl dropped a letter on her head. It then reversed and went back in the direction it came from. She got up and looked around, wondering if anyone had seen her odd ordeal. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed.

She walked to the stoop of the family on vacation and sat down to examine the letter she now clutched. The green letters shone on the parchment. She read the words, wiped off her glasses, and read them again. Yes, there was no mistake about it. As plain as day, the words said:
Ms. M. McGonagall
11 Cedars Road
Essex
Devon

This was just too much for her. She must be going insane. Who did she know that would send an owl to deliver a letter? She turned the letter over and broke the strange-looking seal. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she read. She immediately dropped the letter as if it had burned her hand. Witchcraft! What nonsense. But it did explain some of the strange occurrences of the day. If this witchcraft hokum was true, she was staying far, far away from it. Picking up the letter, she hastily stuffed it under her neighbor's stoop and walked back home where she put the matter completely out of her mind.