The day had finally come, the day she would leave her old Muggle life behind to experience the world of magic that her father had so descriptively described.
This is the tale of Hermione Jean Granger.
It was six in the morning and Hermione was already packing her luggage to start the first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Oh, I'm so excited, I've never studied magic before! Hermione said mentally.
She had been a top-of-the-class-student, always getting straight A's and doing very well in all her subjects.
Although, these traits also meant that she didn't have many friends, and not many people liked her. Usually, they would point and give a nasty look when she walked about her old school.
Although the young witch had been picked on quite a lot in the past, she didn't let the possibility of it happening again get her down – Hermione was going to a new school, hopefully making lots of friends in the process, and become a new her.
"Hermione, Amelia, come down for breakfast!" her mother called from the kitchen.
"Coming, Mum," she shouted back.
No response came from Hermione twin, ever-so-slightly-younger sister; as the younger girl was currently enjoying the sweet embrace of Morpheus.
Hermione rushed downstairs and into the kitchen, finding her favourite meal – pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup on top – sitting upon the kitchen island. She sat down at the counter in the middle of the beige white room, picking up the lingering aroma of freshly-cooked, crispy bacon in the air.
"Mm, that smells delicious, Mum!" exclaimed Hermione, starting to devour the stack of food seven pancakes high in front of her.
"Good morning, Hermione, did you have a good night?" asked her father, walking into the room with a mug of coffee and the morning newspaper in his hands.
"Morning Dad, and yes, I did, thank you," she replied, making a sizeable dent in her tower of breakfast.
The Grangers – plus one other, in the form of Hermione's cousin, Amelia, who had finally woken up -
Time had soon passed, and the Grangers were now in the train station, ready to say goodbye to Hermione.
The average-sized family of four walked uncertainly through the quasi-solid brick wall between Platforms Nine and Ten – the assurances that it would be fine originating from Hermione's father notwithstanding.
With a final, heartfelt group embrace, Hermione stumbled aboard the vibrant red Hogwarts Express; her trunk loaded on board behind her with the help of her father.
She wandered into a free compartment, dragging her heavy trunk with her. She left the container on the floor as she wasn't physically strong enough to lift it herself. Hermione leaned out the open window to say goodbye to her family.
"Goodbye honey, we will miss you!" her mum shouted, her eyes looking suspiciously bright.
"See you soon, Hermione," said her dad, giving her a brief wave.
"P-promise you'll write to me?" her sister, Amelia, cried, her face blotchy with tears.
"I promise, 'Lia. Bye Mum, bye Dad!" Hermione yelled back, a sad lump forming in her throat.
And then a loud whistle sounded throughout the bustling platform.
The Hogwarts Express soon sped off into the distance with a cloudy trail of smoke streaming behind it; the cries and farewells of its occupants' family accompanying its departure.
Hermione drew her head back into the compartment when the platform was out of sight.
She was headed to Hogwarts.
She was about half-way to Hogwarts when Hermione noticed – sitting in the compartment across from hers – two young, awfully shabby-looking boys devouring chocolates and sweets.
Hermione decided to go and pay them a visit. "Hello!" she greeted joyfully.
"Uh, hi," responded on of the boys.
"Holy cricket!" she exclaimed, looking more closely at the figure on the right. The young witch bounced on her toes as an excited smile lit up her features. "You're Harry Potter! Nice to meet you; I'm Hermione Granger."
She did not give the boy a chance to reply, caught up in her enthusiasm as she was.
"And who may you be?" continued Hermione, glancing at the other boy.
"Um, Ron Weasley," he muttered, his muffled by a mouth full of sweets.
"You two best get into your robes, were almost at the castle!" Hermione informed them, glancing shrewdly at their outfits.
"Robes?" Harry squeaked in a what-do-you-mean-robes-kind of voice.
"Yes, Harry. Your school robes – or, in other terms, uniform," she explained to him. "Anyways, I must get going to collect my stuff."
"Oh, and you've got dirt on your nose, by the way," she told Ron, pointing to the tip of her nose.
Hermione then strolled out of their compartment, satisfied with herself for making new friends.
"Who does she think she is?!" muttered Ron quietly, once Hermione had exited hearing range of their conversation.
"I don't know, Ron, but let's just get into our 'robes' like she suggested." replied Harry.
Twenty minutes soon passed, and the Hogwarts Express arrived in Hogsmeade station.
Hermione disembarked the train with her vine wand eagerly clutched in her right hand.
Wow, it's so busy here, she thought absently, glancing around at the moving mass of black-robed forms.
Hermione was rudely snapped back to reality when she felt a large shove on her pack, tipping her forward and resulting in her wand clattering to the stone platform.
She heard two voices laughing uproariously but decided not to let it bother her.
It wasn't like she hadn't dealt with this before, after all.
Scampering around for her wand, Hermione heard a loud shout coming from roughly two students away from her.
As she looked up, she realised that the shouter wasn't a regular human.
They were a half giant.
"All f'rst yers, follo' me!" the gigantic figure shouted, waving a massive hand above its head to draw further attention. "My nam' is Rubeus Hagrid, an' now we're gon' head on up to Hogwarts. Stay close and don' get lost!"
Hermione quickly scurried to the forefront of the crowd, vying to be the student to get the first glimpse of the fabled magical school.
When the young witch stepped around another bend in the dark, slightly soggy path, the sight that was revealed to her was forever cemented in her mind.
Hogwarts.