Harry opened the letter. In the hut on the rocks, where the wind howled, and the sea churned. It was where his life began to change, where he discovered who he was. It had never occurred to him that others out there had received letters just like his. He didn't know either that two of those children would one day be his best friends in the world.

…

Ron Weasley had been waiting for his Hogwarts letter for six years, ever since he was old enough to understand that Hogwarts existed. And today was the day. He could feel it. he checked the watch on his bedside table. It was old, a hand-me-down from Bill, and Fred and George had hexed it at the first chance they got. Through a series of mental arithmetic, Ron deduced that the time was five in the morning. His mother was not going to accept him coming down at his hour.

Ron lay in the darkness of the early morning, watching the sun rise through the window and splash his poster plastered walls. He was already imagining what it would be like when he got to Hogwarts. He was going to make something of himself, show his family that he was good for something. Quidditch maybe? He couldn't be a prefect, Fred and George would never let him hear the end of it. But he would finally be good at something. Anything.

He was drifting off into a happy dream of flying through the air on a broomstick, while the crowd cheered his name, when he noticed the sun streaming through the bedroom window had taken on a new light. Morning. He checked the time again. Seven o'clock. Ron leapt out of bed as though electrocuted and flew down the stairs, earning him several grumpy shouts from his respective family members. Reaching the bottom, he burst into the kitchen, where his mother was making breakfast.

"Are they here yet?" he asked, trying to quench his excitement and failing spectacularly.

"Not yet," Mrs Weasley smiled. She turned back to the enormous pot of porridge in front of her, waving her wand in complicated motions.

Ron's shoulders slumped and he sat down at the kitchen table to wait. He wasn't waiting long, although it felt like a lifetime to him, before he heard a tap at the window. He went to open it. sure enough, there were four brown owls sitting on the windowsill, each with a letter clutched in its beak. Ron paid them, his hands shaking and took the letters to the table.

Two of the letters was bulkier than the others. Clearly Percy had got his wish and become a prefect. He had a summer of teasing from Fred and George coming his way. But that didn't matter because the other was his. Mr Ronald Weasley, The Burrow. On the back was the familiar Hogwarts seal. He had seen it a dozen times, but never on a letter addresses to him.

Ron opened the letter. His eyes flew from side to side, reading it. He leapt from his chair with a yell of glee. He was going to Hogwarts!

…

Hermione Granger had always enjoyed the summer holidays. She was looking forward to getting away from school, and the teasing of her classmates. She sat in the middle of her bedroom, books spread wide about her, reorganising them carefully. It calmed her to put them all in their rightful place, before she started studying.

There was a knock at the window. Hermione looked up confused. There seemed to be an owl on her windowsill. Hermione wasn't sure quite what to make of this. She watched the owl. After a minute, the owl started tapping hard on the window. Hermione, afraid it would break the glass, opened the window.

A letter was deposited on the bed and the owl flew off, looking grumpy and having been kept waiting. The letter was old fashioned, the paper yellowed and on the back was a strange seal. A lion, a badger, an eagle and a serpent, all stationed around a letter 'H'. Hermione flipped the letter over. Something was fluttering in her stomach. She tried to ignore it. It was probably junk mail, a joke. She should throw it in the bin. But she didn't. she opened the letter gently, careful not to break the seal. She had a feeling she was going to want to keep this.

Hermione had always been different. Smarter than the others. But she had always felt that the dull schoolwork that she did everyday couldn't be all there was. This life couldn't be all there was. It was too, mundane. Too monotonous. And, like most different people, Hermione was also lonely. She had never found her place at school, which was somewhere she really should have enjoyed and been appreciated in. She had to fit in somewhere.

Hermione opened the letter. As she read, her face filled with emotion. There was no possibility of this being a joke. It was real, she could feel it. she was special and out there, waiting for her was a place where she belonged. Hogwarts.