The post dropped through the letter box and onto the carpet bellow. The slot closed with a loud clang.
"I'll get it!" A voice shouted and a small seven year old boy zoomed into the hall way and collected it. He sped back into the kitchen, nearly toppling over a chair, and handed it to his mother.
"Thanks, Toby." Said Alison Summers, riffling through the letters "Bill, bill, rubbish, bill. This one's for you, Em."
Emily accepted the thick envelope, opened the unusual wax ceil and pulled out the letter within.
"'Dear Miss Summers," She read aloud, tucking a strand of her sleep tousled, shoulder length, dark brown hair behind her ear. "You have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A school representative will be along today at 12 o'clock to discuss this opportunity. If you do indeed choose to accept this place then our representative will escort you to buy your school supplies. Yours faithfully, Professor Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster."
Emily just stared at the letter in front of her, mouth slightly open. Toby's eyes went wide, his chocolate cereal forgotten. Alison hadn't noticed that the letter mentioned witchcraft or wizardry.
"Well it's a bit short notice. Letting us know about secondary school places when you've already finished primary. You've already accepted a place a St Aidan's! But I suppose we'll have to listen to this 'representative'. It's not as if they've given us a choice! Good job we're not doing anything today." Alison said, getting up and gathering the breakfast dishes before plonking them in the sink. She then left the room to get dressed for the day.
Emily just raised her eyebrows at her brother, choosing not to mention the more unusual components of the letter. Toby just grinned back. Despite him being four years younger than his sister, they got on fairly well.
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At precisely 12 o'clock there was a knock at the door. Alison answered it only to take a double take at the man who stood on her doormat. His hair was a sandy brown and lay in a floppy mass on top of his head. He wore a cream patterned shirt and a dark blue bow tie at the base of his throat. He also wore a tweed jacket and black army style boots. The whole look would have looked relatively normal were it not for the hot pink skinny jeans he wore. He held out his hand in silent greeting. Alison took it wearily and invited him into the living room. He took a seat on one of the worn, brown, leather sofas. Alison perched on the arm of the opposite one, next to Emily and Toby, who both looked rather shocked at the young man's appearance.
"Right then. Hello. I'm Professor Matthew Smith. Care of magical creatures' teacher at Hogwarts. Where you, Emily Summers, have a place. You're a witch."
Emily just stared at him. She already believed every word as she'd always thought there were magical creatures out there somewhere, they were just hiding. Also, the Professor had an air of truth about him, despite his colourful pants.
"Tea?" Alison muttered and without waiting for an answer, went into the kitchen. Five minutes later she returned with a tray holding two cups of tea and two glasses of lemonade. She handed round the drinks and sat down heavily on the sofa, drinking her tea as fast as she was able without burning herself.
"Prove it." Toby asked, his voice more pleading than demanding.
Professor Smith pulled out his wand and a crisp, white handkerchief. With a flick and a twist of his wand, the handkerchief was no longer a piece of fabric; it was a small kitten, the inky blue of a midnight sky.
"You can keep her. That's if your mother gives the go ahead. Is it okay Madam?" He said, addressing Alison. He had called her Madam. He had won her over. She nodded her assent.
"Good, good. Now, Emily, are you going to accept your place?" The young man said, leaning forward in his seat.
"But she's got a place at St Aidan's, the local high school." Her mother chimed.
"We can sort all that out, we have our ways!" He said, twirling his wand between his long fingers. Then he stood abruptly. "Right then, we better be getting to London!" He conjured a travel cat basket, a bed and anything a cat could need from mid air before bundling the kitten inside the basket.
"London? But that will take hours!" Alison exclaimed.
"Nah, I've got a quicker way," He held out his arm. "If you could take my arm, Madam? That's it. Now," He directed this at Emily and Toby. "You two munchkins stay here. I'll be back in a sec." With that, he and Alison disappeared.
"He called us munchkins! We're not that small!" Toby exclaimed.
"You are." Emily grinned.
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The small family and the strangely dressed professor emerged from the Leaky Caldron half an hour later. The effects of apparation had taken its toll on all three Summers' and it had taken a sit down and a cool drink to revive them.
Professor Smith led them through the entrance to Diagon Alley. Both Emily and Toby were hit with and amazing wall of colour and sound and were nearly knocked back by it. Their mother, however, was slightly less shocked but that was mainly because she was still recovering from her recent journey.
The Professor led the small family to the great white building that was Gringotts. He guided them through the procedure of changing Muggle pounds into galleons, sickles and knuts before leading them to the first shop. He took Emily's equipment list from his inside pocket and strode to the nearest shop, the small family hurrying behind him.
Florish and Blotts was stacked from floor to ceiling with every kind of book there was. Emily looked around in wonder. She'd always loved books and often stayed up late at night, much to her mother's annoyance, reading them. She wasn't much for factual books, proffering fiction; books that would lead her to another world.
She took the book list the Professor handed her and went in search for the books she needed, he even suggested a few books she should take for background reading, considering she knew nothing at all about the magical world. Even though she now knew that the magical world was real, it was still a bit like fiction.
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With almost everything bought (including all the essentials for a kitten) there was only one more stop on the list, Ollivander's. Emily was sure that a magic wand would make the whole day feel real (She'd been pinching herself all day to make sure it wasn't a dream) but she was nervous. She had no idea how one went about choosing their wand and she was a little scared it would be something difficult.
"Ah, Miss Summers, lovely to see you at last." Spoke a voice from behind the mahogany desk at the end of the shop. Emily wondered how the brown haired man with the twinkly eyes knew her name.
Ollivander set a tape measure to work, measuring everything from her wand arm to the length of her left leg. He searched the shelves of the small shop and pulled out five rectangular boxes of varying lengths. He set them in front of Emily and told her to wave each wand.
Each one made a different object in the shop explode. Ollivander just grinned and plucked another box from the shelf.
"Rowan wood and phoenix feather. A good all-rounder and an excellent aid to a potion maker." He said, grinning.
Emily waved the wand and warmth flooded through her finger tips. Large, white blossoms bloomed from the tip and floated to the floor.
"It is clear that this wand has chosen you, Miss Summers." Smiled Ollivander. He gently placed the wand back in the silk lined box and packaged it in brown paper. He accepted twelve gold galleons and bid them goodbye. The family and the teacher went back through the door, passing a family of five as they did so.
"Well I think we've done today. I'll just take you all home." Professor Smith smiled.
They arrived back at the house with a twirl of a tweed jacket, all their purchases in tow.
"I'll be going now Emily. Here is your ticket, just step through the barrier between platform nine and ten at Kings Cross station. If you forget, it's all written down in that envelope. See you on the 1st September!" And with that he disappeared.
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A/N: Written by RandomMoo92, edited by Kaletra7. This is me, Moo, going off to Hogwarts :D Love it! Anyway leave a review!