Chapter summary: Hermione finds out she's a witch!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the characters, the idea, blah blah blah.

Rating: G Again! Yay!

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"Hermione! Are you awake, dear?" Judy Granger called up the stairs to her daughter's bedroom. It was just past 9.30 AM, and Hermione lay in bed, completely awake. She had been for the last hour. Her internal clock never failed to wake her up between 8.00 and 8.45, even on the weekends, which was unfortunate. Hermione had been thinking through her week. During the summer she had to keep track of the days, or else she got very confused. Time always got the best of her, she found, if she didn't keep up very carefully. Monday, she had gone clothes-shopping with her good friend Margaret. Tuesday she had done housework, to get a little extra pocket-money. Wednesday was when she got the letter from Kensington, and had spent almost all of Thursday getting rid of her schoolwork and research, with many distractions to ponder the cab-driver's strange conversation. Today was Friday, she told herself firmly, before remembering that her mother had called her and she needed to respond.

"Yes, Mum, I'm up! Is something wrong?" Hermione chided herself silently for asking a redundant question. From the tone of her mother's voice, something was obviously amiss.

"Well… Could you come down here, please?" Hermione came down the steps two at a time, her expression a mix of confusion and sleepiness. She frowned when she saw the concerned, almost angry looks on her parents' faces. Her mother stood at the end of the dining room table, with the mail in front of her. Her father sat, his breakfast cold and untouched.

"What's going on?" She asked tentatively. Her father looked up at her sternly.

"Did you apply to another school, and not tell us?" His voice was both quizzical and confused.

"No, Dad, of course not…Why?" Now Hermione was confused as well.

"We received this letter in the mail this morning," Judy said, picking up a strange-looking letter from the table. She handed it to Hermione, who turned it over to see that the old-fashioned wax seal, with some sort of fancy letter on it, had already been broken. The paper was thick, like parchment. There was, oddly, no stamp. The address was correct, right down to the spelling of Hermione's name, which was hard for most. Puzzled, Hermione withdrew the letter inside, which was of the same heavy material as the envelope. The heading of the letter was all Hermione had to read before she dropped the letter in shock.

"Do you know about this?" Judy asked sternly.

"If this is… what I think it is…" Hermione picked the letter up again and skimmed through it, thinking aloud. "It can't be… or can it?" Cautious, she looked to her parents, who both wore very confused expressions.

"Did you read it?" She asked, waving the letter in combined excitement and exasperation

"No, we were waiting for you," Judy said, giving Hermione an odd look. Phillip took the letter from her outstretched hand and read it thoroughly.

"Are you sure it's not a hoax or something? From kids at your school, maybe?" Phillip could just not get a hold of this.

"It could be, but, all the pieces seem to fit and it's just too—too real, and… the cabby! Of course!," Hermione broke into a grin as she finally figured out the meaning of the driver's words from two days ago.

"But-" said Judy.

"Mum, I've read about these schools. They're said to be just myths but it's real! You know the stories, about witches and wizards and how they have an entire secret world? Well, now we're a part of that! I'm a witch!" Hermione said it all in one breath, her grin widening as she spoke, if that was possible.

"Look!" Exclaimed Phillip, pointing out the window. Just outside, tapping on the glass with a talon, was an owl – the only owl any of them had ever seen in broad daylight. Hermione ran to the window and opened it, and the owl flew in and seated itself casually on the table. Hermione gestured to it excitingly.

"It says, 'We await your owl by no later than August 31,'" said Judy, having picked up the letter again.

"What's the name of the school? Pig-something?" asked Phillip.

"Hogwarts," said Judy and Hermione in unison. Hermione took a piece of paper and a pen and began to scrawl a quick note.

"I have no idea what I'm doing," she said to herself as she wrote. She then folded the paper twice and handed it to the owl, who took it in its beak and promptly flew out the open window.

"What did you write?" Asked Judy, no more than curious. Hermione shrugged.

"Just that I was happy to be accepted, but that I had no idea how to get there… I'm hoping they'll answer soon." Hermione was all aflutter with excitement now, because not only did she not have to return to her horrid public school, but the academy she was going to instead was one for learning magic. She skipped around the house to the kitchen, repeating in a singsong voice, "Dear Ms. Granger, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…"

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Hermione walked up the stairs slowly, deep in thought. For the past twenty-four hours, she could not take her mind off of the letter, the school, and the fact that she was a part of it. She opened her bedroom door to find an owl, though not the same one as the previous encounter's, perched on top of her computer, watching the screen saver upside-down with much interest. Hermione took another step inside and the owl looked up at her, its piercing eyes seeming to go right through her. It stuck out its right talon, onto which another piece of parchment was attached. Hermione crossed the room and untied the string which held the letter to the owl's claw, and unfolded it excitedly.

"Dear Miss Granger,

I am pleased that you seem so calm about your acceptance to Hogwarts. Many Muggle-born students don't understand as well as you have – I daresay you've done some research. To get your supplies (you must have seen the list attached to the acceptance letter) you must go to the Leaky Cauldron on 3rd street of London. Tell the bartender, Tom, your business and he will help you. Attached is your train ticket, it has all the details you need. Don't be late!

Best Wishes,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Except the train ticket wasn't exactly 'attached' – it fell off the paper and Hermione had to make a swooping backward-hand catch to retrieve it. She read its contents, and it seemed like a normal train ticket except for one thing – it read "Platform 9 ¾," which had to be either a mistake or magic. Magic, Hermione thought, how strange it is to finally accept it as something real. She looked up from the letter and saw that the owl, still present, was now tapping curiously at the keys on the keyboard with it's claws, and watching the screen, which had a word processor open, fill up with letters. It looked fascinated.

"I suppose there are no computers in the magic world, are there?" She asked, laughing.

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A/N: Did you catch it? I stuck a statement in that hints to something about Hermione in later years.. 15 points for whoever can get it (: Please remember to review, even just to say that you read it!