Gee, I wonder where the letter is from.

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Three: The Owl

Daisy yelped, and tried to shake the strange, large bird off her. She had never seen an owl, except at the zoo, with a glass pane separating them. The disgruntled owl flew up and perched on the wall.
She turned her attention to the letter. She picked it up and studied it carefully. The envelope seemed to be made of yellowish parchment. Its green wax seal had an extravagant "H" on it. The H was surrounded by a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a snake. It was addressed to:

Ms. D. Peterson Courtyard with large tree Grandrose Academy Social Services of England, London, Main Office

Thinking it might be a trick from the other kids, Daisy opened the envelope carefully and pulled out a letter. It was printed on the same yellow parchment as the envelope. The words were inscribed in green ink. It said:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Peterson,
We are truly sorry we haven't detected your magical blood
before this time. Though your powers are weak, you have been
accepted to develop them here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. You have the opportunity now, to take a Quikspell course
and basic lessons to catch up to your peers. Please meet Professor
McKinnen in the Leaky Cauldron (between the Paperback Exchange and
Colin's Family Records) in London this Friday, July 31st at Two
o'clock, if your decision is to come for a more thorough
explanation. Welcome to the magical world!

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress

P.S. You may keep the owl.

"This can't be right," Daisy breathed.
"What? What?" Nellie whined, as she strained to get a look at the letter. Daisy remembered Sirius Black's moving pictures with her locket mother. Maybe there was a connection. Maybe this magical world was real! Maybe this letter and the pictures were proof.
But. Daisy looked at Nellie, and all around her. How could there be magic, like the letter said? She was normal, everything was normal. If there was magic, wouldn't she still have her parents?
"C'mon," Daisy said to Nellie, and headed to Room Two. Nellie followed her, still holding the forgotten scrapbook.

When they reached their destination, through similar methods of Hannah distraction, Nellie snatched the letter out of Daisy's hand and read it through momentarily.
"Ooh!" she squealed, "That's tomorrow!"
"Huh?" Daisy asked. "What's tomorrow?"
"The 31st, that's when you're supposed to be there," Nellie replied excitedly.
"The 31st is tomorrow? That's my birthday," Daisy said, distracted from the subject. She must have lost track of the days. She didn't realize she'd be fifteen tomorrow.
"Well, you'll be making a birthday escape then!" Nellie said, a little too enthusiastically.
"I never said anything about escaping. Besides, we don't even know if this is real or not," Daisy said.
"But you have to. What could it hurt?" Nellie insisted. Her eyes were a picture of fiery youthful passion, believing with all her heart that this magic was real, and immensely excited about being a part of it all.
"I would be running away, and then when I get caught, no one will ever trust me, and I'll be here until I'm 18."
"We're here that long, anyway," Nellie said, looking hurt. "Either here or some other home."
That's probably true, Daisy thought. She couldn't ignore Sirius's pictures, either. Maybe magic was real; maybe she was only normal because she didn't take chances like this.
"If it's going to be like that, I might as well try," Daisy said.
Nellie's face broke into a mammoth grin.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Nellie ducked under the covers of her bed just in time. Hannah walked into the room carrying a tray of food for Nellie's breakfast.
"Good morning, Nellie," she said.
"Oh, Good Morning Miss Hannah," Nellie answered, mock sleepily.
"Some breakfast for ya, Honey."
"Thank you, Miss Hannah," Nellie said, sitting up.
"Why're ya all dressed?" Hannah asked, suspiciously.
"I, um, got cold in the night," Nellie said, trying to sound innocent.
"Oh, dear! How are ya feelin' now?" Hannah said gently.
"A lot better, famished though."
"Well here ya are, eat up," Hannah said, setting the tray on her lap. "And Daisy, breakfast is served for you too, in the cafeteria."
Daisy hadn't eaten since yesterday at breakfast, but with everything she hadn't been hungry, and she was too excited to eat now, anyway.
"Maybe later," she said. "I think I'll stay and keep Nellie company."
"'ow kind of ya," Hannah said. "I'll see you both later."
"Bye Miss Hannah"
"Bye." Hannah walked through the door, shutting it behind her.
"That was close," Nellie trembled. "Now back to business. You'll have to leave at night, after Ms. Varnin has left and Miss Hannah and the other nannies have gone to bed. Do you think you could climb that wall in the courtyard?"

By 11:00 everything was ready. Nellie had pretended to fall asleep hours ago, but after Hannah left her alone she helped Daisy pack her things up again and get ready for action. After Nellie gave Daisy thorough directions to get to the Paperback Exchange (She had never heard of the Leaky Cauldron) she helped Daisy through the window into the courtyard, and said goodbye.
"Good luck," Nellie said, closing the window. Daisy looked around the dark courtyard. The tree cast creepy shadows over the grass. The wall looked taller and cagey. It was quite unsettling. Daisy shook herself and moved towards the wall. She dropped her bags over, and began climbing when she heard a voice.
"I think you're forgetting someone, Daisy," it said. Daisy spun around looking for the person who had spoken. She saw nothing but the tree and an owl sitting in its branches. She wondered if it was the same owl from the morning.
"Who are you?" asked Daisy, suspiciously. If she was caught now, she would be in a lot of trouble for nothing.
"Who?" asked the voice.
"Yeah, who are you?" Daisy insisted.
"Who, who? Who, who?" it said, over and over. Daisy was creeped out. Whoever it was, the seemed to be teasing her.
"Tell me who you are, or I'll wake Hannah, and tell her someone's sneaking around the kids," Daisy said, trying to be brave. She searched the yard again. Still no one was there, that Daisy she could see. The owl flew off the branch, and landed on the wall near her.
"Who, who am I?" asked the voice. It sounded much closer to her now. She back away from the spot. "Hibou," the voice said simply. The voice was male, Daisy determined.
"Come out then, Hibou," Daisy demanded.
"But I am out. Right in front of your eyes," Hibou said calmly. Daisy saw only the brown owl. The owl! If magic was real, then why couldn't owls talk?
"You?" Daisy said, pointing directly at the owl.
"Yes, of course," he said.
"How is this possible?" Daisy asked, though she wasn't as shocked as she'd normally be. A lot of strange things had happened to her lately.
"You were raised by Muggles, right?" Hibou inquired.
"Muggles?" Daisy repeated, confused.
"People with no magic. They don't know about our kind. You do know about magic? You read the letter?"
"Yes, I know about magic, but how did you learn to talk like people?"
"Well," Hibou began, "it's a spell. The Ministry developed it only a few years ago, so it's hush-hush, okay? It unlocks the communication part of an animal's brain to the level of a human. When people talk, I can process and understand the meanings of the words. When I think of saying a word, it comes out of my mouth."
"How does the spell work?" Daisy asked, captivated.
"It starts with an egg; they wash it with a potion. Then exactly 3 minutes and 27 seconds after it has been taken out of the cauldron, you say the animans confabulor spell," Hibou said, expertly.
"Wow," Daisy commented.
He continued, "It took years and years for Wimple and the Committee of Experimental Charms to come up with this spell. I was one of the first successful experiments," Hibou finished proudly.
"That's really neat," Daisy said slowly. Another thought popped into her mind. "Why did they want talking animals in the first place?"
"Company, spies. Verbal animals could be very useful to both good and evil sorcery."
"Why are you here, Hibou? What do you want with me? How do I know what side you're on?" Daisy asked, suspicious again.
"Well, I'm your." he paused, looking for the right word, ".pet," he said a little bitterly. "Didn't you read the letter? McGonagall said you could keep me, I'm from Hogwarts."
"Oh, is that what it meant?"
"Yes. Well, now you know all about me and the spell."
"Could I do a spell, too?" Daisy asked, warming up to the bird again.

"It's a little more complicated than saying a few gibberish words. You need a wand for one, and there are specific things you need to say, you need very powerful magic for some spells. Oh, and potions. Sometimes you'll need a potion."
"I get a wand?!" Daisy exclaimed.
"Oh yes," the bird replied. "Keep your voice down. We don't want anyone to hear us. We go to great pains to keep the Muggles away from the truth. If they heard me talking, the Ministry would have to put a memory charm on them."
"What's the Ministry?"
"The Ministry of Magic is sort of like a government for wizards. They mainly make sure Muggles don't find out about us," Hibou answered.
"I don't understand," Daisy said. "Why wouldn't they want Muggles to know?"
"Muggles would want us to help them, and heal them, fix all their problems. They outnumber us greatly; it would be a huge mess. And you know some Muggles fear magic. It goes against everything they believe, sometimes even religion. They used to hunt us down and kill us," Hibou said darkly. "No, it's best we just leave them alone."
Something clicked in Daisy mind. She probably knew witches and wizards in her own town. Lavender was a witch. They were the Creepies. Daisy herself was a Creepie. Muggles were as strange to them as Creepies were to the Muggles.
"We better go before someone notices you're gone," Hibou suggested.
"Sure," Daisy agreed. "No more talking then, okay?"
"Agreed."
Daisy climbed over the wall as Hibou took off. They stayed in London's shadows as they headed toward The Paperback Exchange, and hopefully the Leaky Cauldron.

A/N: Goodbye, Muggles! Review, as always. I'll put up more tomorrow, as long as some people like the story. See ya!