Chapter 3 is up as you can see. Read and Review!!!!

Chapter 3: The Epiphany

"Have I ever wondered why I could set things on fire by snapping my fingers? Yeah! I have! What's your point??"

Aiden was beginning to get cranky. It was now three in the morning and she had a job to get to later that day. Of course, Dumbledore and McGonagall were completely oblivious to that and continued to talk in circles.

"Miss Wang… There is no easy way to say this…"

"Then just say it."

McGonagall gave Dumbledore a "just-tell-her-and-get-it-over-with" look. Dumbledore sighed a resigned sigh.

"Miss Wang, we must request that you enroll in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year and next year at the very least."

"I don't need to learn magic. I already know how to utilize it effectively."

"We understand that, but Professor McGonagall and I, along with the rest of the Ministry are clear that your life is at stake."

"Oh really," Aiden snarled, "And why is that?"

"There is certain knowledge that I cannot divulge to you. Yet. In time, you will find out. If I told you now, there will be wizards and witches out there who will immediately be sent to kill you. For now, we feel that your safety is with us at the school."

"That's very kind of you to care so much for my welfare, but I've taken care of myself for the past sixteen years. I have powers to protect myself with. I've got magic that'll probably blow you two outta the water."

"And that is what I fear the most. That they will get a hold of your powers!"

"WHO IS THIS 'THEY' YOU KEEP YAMMERING ABOUT????"

McGonagall, who had been silent, suddenly whispered as if afraid someone would hear her.

"People who knew your grandfather…"

Aiden's expression changed instantly. The suspicious and partly angry look was replaced with a face of curiosity and trepidation.

"My grandfather…? You know who my grandfather is?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I do. And as much as I hate to bribe you into this, I will tell you all about your family if you come to Hogwarts."

A moment of eternal silence ensued. Aiden stood silently, in a train of deep thought: If I go, I may finally get to learn more about myself…but I like my life here as a normal person…do I really want to do this? How much is my history worth to me?

She stood, motionless for five minutes, just pondering all these new revelations. And then, Aiden finally spoke:

"Fine. Enroll me in this, Hagworts school."

Both Dumbledore and McGonagall's faces brightened.

"Excellent! Get a good night's sleep and be sure to leave your fireplace open. I will have two students come to you and help prepare you for school. Here is your ticket. The school train leaves from Kings Cross Station on September first."

McGonagall handed her a piece of parchment and stated as-a-matter-of-factly, "That is a list of all the school supplies you will need. The students will help you get them."

The ticket in Aiden's hand looked strange and she examined it carefully.

"Hogwarts' Express… Platform 9 ¾ ? What kinda bullshit is this??? Oh wait. Lemme guess, the students will explain."

"Very good! You are catching on! Well, go to bed. You have a long day ahead of you!"

And with a pop! Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were gone. The heartbeat pounding in Aiden's chest calmed a bit. Along with, came a looming sense of insanity. She looked around the dark room. The shadows of the flames from the fireplace danced on the walls. It was like no one was in here but her. Aiden shook her head in disbelief.

I really need to go to bed…all those extra hours I've been putting in at work have been messing with my brain…

She cautiously walked into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

It was the second time today that Aiden had been awoken abruptly by loud noises. This time it was around ten in the morning and it was a loud crash from the living room. In a stupor, she rolled her eyes and thought bitterly: Not again…She could hear loud voices talking.

"Ron! That's my foot you keep pounding on!"

"Sorry, Hermione! International Floo Powder isn't exactly your regular Burrow to Diagon Alley trip!"

"I do hope we have the right fireplace. Hell, I hope we're at the very least, in the United States."

Aiden walked in just in time to see a flaming-red haired boy run up to her large CD collection, his eyes wide with fascination.

"Hermione!" the boy yelled, clearly addressing the girl, "What are these?? Weapons of some sort? This girl sure has a lotta them. Bit paranoid, don't you think?"

"Ron. Those are CD's. You listen to music through them."

"Dad never told me about DC's before…"

"CD's Ron. CD's."

Ron reached out to touch one of Aiden's special edition, mint condition Beatles CD's. She hissed in a loud voice.

"Boy, if you touch that, I will blow your hand off."

Both the girl and the boy whirled around. The girl with the bushy-brown hair's face lighted up even at Aiden's scowling.

"Oh! You must be Aiden Wang! Hi, I'm Hermione Granger. I'm Head Girl at Hogwarts and here to help you get ready."

Hermione nudged the boy in the ribs, coaxing him to speak.

"I-I'm Ron Weasley. I'm a prefect. Ditto what Hermione said."

Aiden was for the most part, a nice girl and she hated being a bitch. So, she smiled good naturedly and greeted them. The first thing she noticed though was that Hermione was extremely bossy.

"Well, come on Ron! Help her get her stuff! She won't be coming back here anytime soon!"

"Uh, right. Umm where's your room, mate?"

"Oh it's alright. I got it covered."

She ran into her room and closed the door behind her. Making sure that the two weren't peeking, she raised her hands above her head and a mystical air surrounded her. As if coaxing them out of their hiding place, drawers began to open and clothes and inanimate objects of strange sentimentalities began flying into her suitcases. Within five minutes, Aiden's room was empty. The pictures that cascaded down her walls were gone, her laptop was secure in her bag. Hermes lay on her lonely bed. She sighed and walked across the room that had been her room for sixteen, hell almost seventeen years. With a sort of finality, Aiden closed her ocean view window. Her eyes misted over as she cajoled Hermes into her arms.

"Come on Hermes. Soon, you'll have a new bed to lie on…"

Hermione saw Aiden wipe her eyes as she stepped out of her room and gave her a hug.

"Trust me, you'll love it at Hogwarts. Oh yeah, and I figure you'll need to turn in your keys, so I wrote a carefully worded letter to your landlord. Just give it to her. Oh and I asked her to sell your furniture and mail you the money. Is that alright?"

Aiden smiled.

"Yeah that's fine."

Hermione frowned at Ron.

"Well?? Aren't you going to help her with her bags!?"

"Oh right."

Ron busied himself with the bags. Hermione pulled out a tiny leather sack and looked inside.

"Oh, good we still have enough Floo Powder to get home. We don't have to call Professor Dumbledore."

"Err… Floo Powder?"

"It's a way of transport through fireplaces."

"Ah… well this day is just full of epiphanies isn't it?"

Hermione laughed.

"You'll get the hang of it."

"Umm, look before we leave… Could I pay a visit to someone?"

"Okay… but we don't have a lot of time… I'll give you an hour. Then we really have to leave."

Aiden was already out the door. She yelled over her shoulder.

"Help yourself to anything in the fridge!!! Tell Ron to stay away from my CD collection in my suitcase!!!

She put her fist to the door and was about to knock, but she hesitated. Aiden bit her lower lip, closed her eyes and jumped in. Jared answered the door immediately.

"Aiden! Wassup?"

"Jared…"

Her eyes filled with tears again. Jared's eager face fell and he put his arms around her.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Aiden hesitated again and didn't want to say anything, but Jared knew her too well.

"Aiden, you know we can tell each other anything."

"Jared… we're best friends. This makes it ten times harder to tell you… I'm moving. And I don't think I'll be back for a long time…"

Jared said nothing so Aiden took the opportunity to hug him, but he didn't return it.

"When are you leaving…?"

"Less than an hour…"

The look on Jared's face made Aiden flinch and want to cry even more. Jared had never been so angry in his entire life and she knew it.

"And you're just telling me about this now??"

"Jared…I have to go…let go of me…"

"No! where the hell is my explanation???"

"Your explanation… you're safer if you stay away from me… your wellbeing is more important to me than our friendship… see you around, Jared…"

Aiden wiped her eyes and saw Hermione and Ron standing in the hallway. Ron looked like he was ready to die (no kidding, he had five extremely heavy suitcases in his hands). Hermione was tapping her watch, indicating that it was time to leave. Aiden motioned Hermione to come over to where Jared was.

"Hermione… do you have some sort of magic thing you can do to erase people's memory?"

"Umm yes. Why?"

A thickness started to form in Aiden's throat.

"I want you to erase every memory Jared has ever had of me. I've known him since we were in diapers, so that is a lot of memory to erase. Can you do it?"

"I can… but do you really want me to?"

"Yes."

"Well, alright then…It's done."

Jared had a blank look on his face. He looked at Aiden and smiled.

"Hi I haven't seen you before! Are you new here?"

"Yeah… new… Come on, Hermione… Ron… let's go…"

Back at her place, the three stood around Aiden's fireplace.

"Returned your keys?"

"Yes."

"Left the letter?"

"Yes."

"then light the fire."

A flame formed as Aiden threw a match into the wood. The Floo Powder turned the fire green. Fear crossed her face and she looked from Ron to Hermione.

"You sure this is safe..?"

"Yes, Aiden… just step in and yell 'Diagon Alley, London, England'."

Ron spoke up for the first time.

"Yeah, but make sure you yell it out clearly or you may end up in Zimbabwe or something."

"Okay…"

Squinting her eyes shut, Aiden stepped into the fire. Surprisingly, she wasn't burnt to a crisp. In fact, it was cool and tingly.

"DIAGON ALLEY, LONDON… ENGLAND!!!"

The last thing Aiden felt was losing her balance and falling into a dark chasm…

End.