Hi! I came up with the idea for this story while looking up information on the books and movies online. (Before then, I had never read the Harry Potter books - I know, crazy, right?) I thought it would be interesting to see someone who lived in a world where the books were commonplace, but she had never read them - and then she becomes a part of the story herself. I hope you enjoy!

(Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Studios - not me.)

Chapter 1:

A Good Thing

"He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them.
How very wrong he was."

Mr. and Mrs. Evans, of number seventeen, Tumbleweed Road, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

However, their daughter, Molly, was the exact opposite. She was the kind of girl who skipped through forests looking for fairies, who knew the lines of every Disney movie by heart, whose favorite series of books was The Land of Stories.

Molly had bluish-gray eyes and brown hair brushed into a bob. Her lips were a natural pink, and freckles adorned her face. She wore purple glasses decorated with images of cartoon flowers, and other than when she was at school, her ukulele was always by her side.

Molly went to a school in upstate New York, but she loathed it. She loved to learn, but the children at school were never that nice to her. The only person she could rely on was a girl named Caitlyn, who looked just like Molly but had longer hair and had no need for glasses.

Caitlyn and Molly were friends for quite a long time, being in the same school since kindergarten. Like many good friends, they had quarrels every now and then. Once, the two were in their school's library, and Caitlyn was asking Molly why she never read the Harry Potter books.

"Because I don't want to," Molly said simply.

"But they're so good!" Caitlyn said. "And the author's amazing. Like, listen to this."

She opened up one of the later books and began quoting from it, something about blood and death and stuff like that. Molly tried to listen, but it was hard. At that point, she didn't have any interest in the books.

But quarrels always happen, and the girls were extremely good friends. Unfortunately for them, however, our story begins at the end of fifth grade, when Caitlyn was to move to another school in the area.

The day dragged on, like always, as the girls waited for the bell that would whisk them away to summer vacation. But just before the last day of school ended, it occurred to Molly that she might never see Caitlyn again - in a town like the one the girls lived in, in a school large enough to take students from many different districts, it was extremely hard to meet up with people that you didn't know the email address of. She was tempted to ask Caitlyn how they could get together eventually, but by the time school had ended, she hadn't had the chance - she had only gotten to say goodbye to Caitlyn before parting.

Almost as soon as Molly had arrived home, it was time to pack. The family was going on their yearly trip to Walt Disney World for her birthday, and even though they weren't leaving for about a month, the family liked to get things done ahead of time.

Honestly, however, the packing was to distract them from the big questions they had. The school Molly was going to was hiring a new principal, and Mrs. Evans thought that it would be a perfect time to transfer to another school - maybe one in the nearby town where Molly's mom worked. Mr. Evans wasn't so sure. He thought that the family could at least give the new principal a chance.

Molly wasn't sure what she wanted to do.

The family still hadn't made a final decision by the time the vacation was due to start. They packed up the car and drove off to Florida, stopping along the way for bathroom breaks and meals at Longhorn Steakhouse after Longhorn Steakhouse, with a Carrabba's mixed in here and there for good measure.

After a few days of travelling, the Evans family arrived in Lake Buena Vista, ready for the vacation of their lives. But that vacation would soon become longer than expected.

August 17th was Molly's birthday, and the family was having a little break in their room at the Port Orleans resort when they heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Molly said.

She hopped up from the chair that she was reading in and opened the door - and to her surprise, there was nobody there. She looked all around the doorframe to see if the knocker had left anything.

The only sign that someone was actually there was a white envelope with Molly's name on it laying on the ground.

Cautiously, Molly picked up the envelope and turned it over. It had a wax seal! Molly had never seen a letter that was sealed with wax, so she was very excited - she was the kind of girl who liked books made of paper, music made of vinyl, and TV shows in black and white (Bewitched was her favorite).

The seal didn't look like the stickers she had seen of clumps of red - sometimes with a rose on them - stuck to letters. In fact, it wasn't even red - although it did have some red in it. It seemed to have some sort of logo for something on it - a conglomeration of different animals, namely a lion, a snake, a badger (for some reason), and a bird of some sort - an eagle, maybe? She couldn't tell from just the seal.

"Mom, I found this weird letter at the door," Molly said.

"Let me see," Mrs. Evans said, reaching her hand out for the envelope.

Molly gave her mother the envelope, and the woman studied the writing on the front and the seal on the back.

"Well, it doesn't look too bad, so I guess you can open it," she said, giving the envelope back to her daughter.

Carefully, Molly ripped the paper of the envelope so as not to break the seal - this was something she was going to save. She took a piece of paper out of the envelope, throwing the now-unnecessary wrapper in the garbage can. The paper was covered in a fancy script, almost as if it had been written with a quill pen.

The girl silently read the letter, which read:

Hello Molly!

Welcome to our program at Hogwarts! You are invited to join us for your first year of wizardry training. We understand it may be hard to arrive at the normal entrance to Hogwarts in England, so we have set up another way to the school. Simply bring this letter to the entrance of Universal Orlando's Universal Studios (when you get to the entrance, go to the right - as opposed to the left) and a representative will be waiting for you at the entrance of the King's Cross train station. You can arrive for the term whenever you please. Please do not come with anyone else other than the other people who have letters. Thank you, and we cannot wait to have you in class!

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

Graduate of Hogwarts, The Boy Who Lived, Et Cetera

Not everything made sense to the young girl, who had just turned 11 a few minutes before, but she did recognize Universal Orlando. She had been there a few times - once to actually go to the parks, the rest of the time to eat lunch at Margaritaville and shop for clothes at Fresh Produce with her mother. She had heard that they had opened a Harry Potter land at Universal, but she had never been. What was going on?

Molly showed her mother the letter, and her mother frowned in perplexity. "Is this supposed to be some sort of prank?" she asked.

"I don't know," Molly admitted. "I guess I could try it."

Mrs. Evans sighed. "Alright, but I don't want you gone for too long," she said. "I mean, if you are gone for a while, just call me or something, okay?"

Molly smiled. "Okay, Mom."

Mrs. Evans was the kind of mother that always wanted the best for her child. She never wanted any harm to come to her child, and any moment that Molly was out of her sight was a moment in which her pride and joy could be taken away from her.

"We'll go tomorrow, after our last day at the parks," Mrs. Evans said. "I'll drop you off at the entrance of the park, and you can go in and do whatever you have to do."

"Thanks," Molly said.

After the Evans family left the parks the next day, they began their drive home - with a quick detour to drop Molly off at Universal.

Mrs. Evans walked Molly up to the bustle of City Walk.

"Alright, so you know our home number," the woman said.

"Yes, Mom," Molly said.

"And Dad's cell."

"Yes, Mom." Molly's tone grew increasingly annoyed.

"And our work numbers."

Molly rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'll be fine. At least we don't have to worry about picking a school for the year."

Mrs. Evans smiled. "That is true."

Molly hugged her mother one last time. "I love you, Mom," she said.

"Me too," Mrs. Evans said, hugging Molly back.

She gave Molly her phone and waved as her little girl walked into the park on her own.

Molly, although worried she might get lost, was extremely excited to be in a theme park all alone. She picked up a map at the front entrance and started walking over to the park she needed to get to.

A small line of children was forming at the entrance to Universal Studios, and Molly positioned herself at the end of it. Each child had a letter just like hers and was (probably) going to the same place. Slowly, the line moved forward, and the children walked into the park.

Eventually, Molly got to the front of the line.

"Can I see your ticket, please?" the woman scanning tickets said.

"I have this," Molly said, holding up her letter uncertainly.

The woman nodded. "I see," she said. "Go on in."

Molly smiled. It had worked!

"Thank you!" she said.

She turned to walk into the park and maybe meet the other people that were going to Hogwarts. As she looked down at the map to see where she was going, she suddenly felt a bump from in front of her.

Stumbling back, she raised her head to see a girl standing in front of her. The girl was a few inches taller than her and had golden hair pulled back into the loosest of braids.

"Hi!" the girl said. "Are you going to Hogwarts, too?"

Molly nodded, suddenly shy.

"Cool!" She stuck out her hand. "I'm Zoë. What's your name?"

Molly reached out and shook Zoë's hand. "I'm Molly - Molly Evans."

"So what House do you think you're going to be in?" Zoë said.

"Um...I don't know? I guess you probably have to wait until you get there to tell," Molly said, unsure of herself.

"Well, yeah, you do, but you can always guess!" Zoë said. "I think I'm going to be in Slytherin, but I'm not sure."

Molly nodded, though she wasn't really sure what she was nodding to.

"So what do we need to get?"

Zoë gaped. "You didn't see the list?"

Molly shook her head. "It wasn't in the envelope."

"Really?" Zoë said. "I got it in mine. Oh, well, then - let's meet that representative the letter mentioned."

The girls walked over to the area they needed to go to, Molly occasionally consulting the map for directions. Eventually, they made it to the area where they needed to go.

"Why does this place look like London?" Molly asked.

Zoë laughed. "Because it is London - or at least it's supposed to be."

"Oh," Molly said, slightly bewildered. "Okay. So where's the representative?"

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and a boy with messy black hair and a Rubik's Cube was standing directly behind her.

"Hi there," the boy said. "The name's Jonah. What's yours?"

"Oh, me?" Molly said. "My name's Molly." Cautiously, she reached her hand out for a shake. Jonah grabbed it and shook it firmly.

"Did you get the letter, too?" he said.

Molly and Zoë nodded. "I don't really know what a lot of it means," Molly admitted, "but I'm excited."

Jonah nodded in agreement. "Hey, have you seen anyone else with a letter?"

"Well," Molly explained, "I think I saw everyone at the front when we were showing the worker our letters, but I haven't seen them since."

Suddenly, a girl in the distance caught her eye. In her hand was the wrinkled, stained paper that the letters had been written on.

"I think I see one now!" Molly said, running up to greet the girl.

The new girl was about Molly's height, with curly golden hair pulled back into a tiny bun. Her eyes sparkled with joy and awe.

"Hello!" Molly said. "Are you going to...uh…" She stole a glance at her letter. "...Hogwarts?"

The girl nodded. "I'm Ava."

"Oh, that's such a pretty name!" Molly said. "My name's Molly."

"Cool!" Ava said, and continued looking around. "It's so beautiful here," she said. "It looks just like the movies!"

Molly giggled nervously.

"My friends Beatrix and Stella are probably on their way," Ava said. She turned around and waved overtly. "Beatrix! Stella! Get over here!"

A girl in the distance, with a letter in her hand, started running over to the group that was starting to form in the middle of "London." Her hair flew behind her, like a golden ocean. Standing next to her was a girl with shoulder-length black hair and a t-shirt for In the Heights.

"Hello," the golden-haired girl said shyly and out of breath, with a hint of a British accent. "I'm -"

"Don't worry, Beatrix, I've introduced you already - and you, too, Stella." Ava said. "This is Molly."

"Hi," Molly waved. "You got the letter, too?"

Beatrix held up the stained paper. "I wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Do you know if there's anyone else coming?" Molly asked. Before anyone could answer, she heard another girl's voice.

"Jonah!" the girl screamed. Molly turned around to see a girl with short pink and brown hair run over and hug Jonah.

"Okay, Mackenzie, you don't have to choke me," he said. "I didn't know you got the letter, too."

"This is SO COOL!" the girl, who Molly assumed to be Mackenzie, said, nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

"Is anyone else -" Molly tried to say, but was interrupted by a girl yelling out "AVA!"

Not again, Molly thought.

An extremely tall girl with brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail wrapped Ava up in a huge hug. "This is Madison," Ava explained.

"Hi," Molly said. "I'm Molly."

"Hi," Madison said, still clinging to Ava.

Suddenly, a rumble of thunder shook the sky.

"What was that?" Mackenzie said.

"I don't know," Zoë replied. "It might've been thunder."

"Mom didn't tell me it was going to rain," Molly said. Quickly, she took out Mrs. Evans's phone and checked the Weather app. The image said that it would be sunny the entire day. Nice job, internet, Molly thought.

A drop of rain hit Molly's head. Then another hit Mackenzie. Then two hit Beatrix - one on her shoulder and one on her arm. Finally, the sky opened, and rain poured down on the children.

"What's going on?" Stella said as the group huddled together.

A burst of lightning struck the clouds. The world almost seemed to ripple as the thunder rolled over Orlando.

Suddenly, the sound of thunder raced over the children, and the ground began to vibrate under Molly's feet. Her stomach shook with fear and nausea. She closed her eyes to calm herself...and then the shaking stopped.

When she opened her eyes, everything looked exactly the same - but somehow more accurate. The rain was gone, replaced with a sweltering fog. The tourists that had been pacing the park until their Express Pass for the Barney show was ready (or something like that - Molly wasn't a Universal Studios scholar) had been replaced by people that actually looked British.

Slowly, the children around Molly started to open their eyes, and they looked around in awe.

"What just happened?" Jonah said, a trickle of wonder in his voice.

"I have no clue at all," Madison said, just as surprised as Jonah was.

Suddenly, Zoë pointed ahead of the group. "Well, the entrance is still here! Let's go!"

The group ran through the streets and over to what Zoë called "the entrance."

"Will this work without the Leaky Cauldron?" Beatrix asked. "Cause in the book there was the Leaky Cauldron."

"Well, if people can get in by just walking around a wall in Universal, I'm sure this'll work," Jonah said.

"But she doesn't have the umbrella!" Madison said. "In the movie there was the umbrella."

"The book has the umbrella, too, Madison," said Ava. "We just have to try. Anyway, how could someone walk around a wall?"

"Okay, here goes," Zoë said. She carefully put her hand on the wall of a building. Slowly, it started to almost heat up underneath her hand. The ground shook again, and Molly closed her eyes to calm her raging mind and her raging stomach. When the shaking stopped and Molly opened her eyes, the world was the same as before - fog and British people included - except for the gaping hole in the side of the building, the edges of the hole red from Zoë's touch.

"Whoa," Molly said.

"Come on, you guys!" Zoë said, and the group followed her into the hole.

On the other side was something unlike anything Molly had ever seen before.

The hole led to an alleyway, cobblestone under the children's feet. Buildings advertising textbooks, robes, and magic wands adorned the sides of the street. A big marble building sat towards the end of the alley. The only building that was vacant was a building in the very front.

People snuck through the alley, trying to avoid the crowd of people lingering in the middle of the alley. Black robes walked around, pushing others out of the way. Teenagers flicked their wands at the storefronts, watching the results inside the windows. The only area that wasn't filled with people was a small area behind a giant as he and another child around Molly's age walked through the alley and into different buildings.

"Welcome," said Zoë, "to Diagon Alley."

"But wasn't there something there in the books?" Stella said, pointing to the empty storefront.

Molly fumbled around in her pocket, looking for her map. To her surprise, it was still there. She pulled it out and opened it up.

"I don't know what it is, but there is supposed to be something there - something about Wizard Wheezes or something...but I don't really know what that means," Molly said.

"Wait…" Beatrix said. "Is that the Weasley joke shop?"

Molly studied the map again. "It does have Weasley in the title, and the description calls it some sort of trickster thing, but again, I don't really know what that means."

Beatrix gasped. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed.

"Wait, you know what that means?" Molly asked.

Beatrix nodded. "How do you not know what that means? Anyone who's read the books knows what that means!"

"Um…" Molly said. "I actually...haven't read the books. Or seen the movies. Or anything."

"Wait, what?" Madison said. "You haven't seen the movies?"

"Or read the books?" Zoë said.

"Do you even know who Harry Potter is?" Stella said.

"Well…" She stole another glance at her letter. "Not much. I know he's a Hogwarts graduate, The Boy Who Lived, et cetera…" She sighed. "But that's it."

Ava bit her lip. "Well," she said, "that could be a good thing! Especially since I think I know where we are."

"Where?" Molly asked.

Ava took a deep breath. "Molly, I don't think we're in Orlando anymore."

Molly couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I've figured that much out. But where are we?"

"Zoë said it before. Diagon Alley. But that isn't the point - the location is only half of the setting."

"Alright, then what's the other half?"

"Time."

Molly raised her eyebrows. "And what does that mean?"

"That rainstorm, back in Orlando, it didn't just bring us somewhere else - it brought us somewhen else," Ava said, as if she was revealing some sort of crucial plot point in a story. Molly hated it when it was just said directly in the story - except when they made fun of it in The Muppets.

"We aren't in 2014 anymore," Ava continued. "We're in 1991."

"Wait, what?" Molly said. Okay, maybe this was as good as The Muppets.

"I think she's right," Mackenzie said. "We're in London - in 1991. It makes perfect sense. The joke shop hadn't been built yet, and it would explain Hagrid being up there." She gestured to the giant, who was still leading the child into the different shops and parting the crowds in the alley.

"Is the kid named Hagrid?" Molly asked.

"Heavens, no," Beatrix said. "That's Harry."

"Harry…" Molly said. "Harry Potter? Didn't he send us the letters in the first place?"

"Yeah," Madison said. "I don't understand it either, but I do know one thing."

"What's that?" Molly asked, confused.

Zoë put her hands on Molly's shoulders.

"1991 - that's Harry's first year at Hogwarts," she said. "And we're here for it."

Thanks for reading this chapter! One of the things I love is getting a behind-the-scenes look at movies and books, so I thought it would be cool if I shared some interesting things about each chapter with you. Here's the behind-the-scenes tidbits about Chapter 1.

1) When I wrote the original draft of this chapter, I had only read the (Philosopher's) Stone and about half of the Chamber of Secrets. The original draft included the Gringotts dragon breathing fire over the area, but after reading the Deathly Hallows, I omitted the dragon.

2) The children going to Hogwarts are based on real friends of mine. Molly is based on me - and yes, I do enjoy playing the ukulele, reading The Land of Stories, and going to Walt Disney World.

3) Caitlyn is also based on a friend of mine that I used to go to school with. The argument at the beginning is based on a real conversation we had - and I think the line she was quoting was from the death of either Dobby or Fred.

4) Just to clear things up: no, Mrs. Evans is not Lily.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Feel free to review, but please no negative reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!