Jane carefully secured her letter to a school owl and watched it vanish into the darkness. The sun hovered just above the trees to the east, casting a feeble light over the grounds, but the castle was still dark and silent. Jane often woke early to enjoy this time of day when Hogwarts seemed most magical. She had read that the castle was slightly sentient and wondered if it woke with its inhabitants or remained constantly aware and protective.
She doubted any of her friends would be awake this long before breakfast so she whispered, "lumos," and started navigating the dark corridors and moving staircases towards the library, being careful not to disturb the paintings. After over a year, she still sometimes felt as if she were living in a fairy tale.
Several minutes later, she thought she saw motion in the corner of her eye and quickly pointed the light from her wand in its direction. A small spider scuttled along the floor towards her. She shuddered and moved to the other side of the corridor. Then another spider ran into the light, heading in the same direction. Now, feeling a little spooked, she stopped walking and looked around. Without her footsteps, she thought she could hear a sound in the distance. She reminded herself that it was probably just another early riser or it could be that annoying ghost who haunted a nearby bathroom. But, as it grew louder, she quickly stepped into an empty classroom and quietly closed the door.
A few minutes later, feeling a little foolish but still unusually alert, she continued walking. As she approached the entrance hall, something rushed at her and collided with her, nearly knocking her over. She screamed in surprise before recognizing Erin.
"Hi! Will you practice with me?" Erin paused for breath, readjusting her grip on a plastic bag full of tennis balls. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just thought I heard something. Practice what?"
"Quidditch, of course. Our houses are having try-outs soon."
"But we've never played. And we barely passed the flying test last year."
"Don't be so pessimistic! I heard Potter only flew once before he joined his house team. And I've got a plan."
She explained how she would charm the tennis balls since actual Quidditch balls were expensive and she would sign out the school brooms early in the morning, every morning, when the field would be deserted. "Oh and watch out for Sarah," she added, "One of the tennis balls hit her when I was learning how to charm them last night. She's really angry. I tried to explain what tennis is but she's convinced that the balls are weapons and that you were involved."
Author's note: If anyone has read this before, I'm sorry about the repeated paragraphs. I'm not sure how that happened and I've corrected it now. Also, I will upload a new chapter really soon and I intend to finish this story.