Chapter Two: A Fine Time to Dine

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters and plot that will eventually appear in this story. It will get there, people.

"Nellie, pass the potatoes!" Marley snapped at me angrily. We were at home dinner back together as a family. Apparently, Marley had been asking me for the potatoes over and over, but I was too busy thinking about an incident that had happened about a day ago. So, when she yelled at me, I looked at her, startled, and then quickly shoved the burning hot bowl of mashed potatoes into her arms. As she was waiting to receive the bowl, she was snootily telling me off. "You should really stop day dreaming, Nellie, that's really – OW!"

Uh-oh. I had accidently shoved a little too hard, and the mashed potatoes had left the bowl and were all over Marley. I tried to hide my smirk as I dashed off to the kitchen to get some paper towels.

My mom looked at me and shook her head, frowning. I gave her an innocent expression that I hoped said 'What? ME? What did I do?'

"Nellie, that was really unnecessary-" "I didn't do it on purpose, Mom! It was a total accident!" Well, almost a total accident, I thought smugly.

My mom rolled her eyes and started rubbing the mashed potatoes off of Marley. I tried to help but Marley yelled at me, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

My mom, trying to tone down the situation said, "Now, Marley, she didn't do it on purpose-" "OF COURSE SHE DID IT ON PURPOSE!" I shook my head and said "No, Marley, really, it was an accident, I swear, I'm really sorry—""UGH, YOU'RE JUST A GEEK AND A DORK AND A DAY-DREAMING-FREAK, NELLIE!" And with that she stomped upstairs.

I looked at my mom. She had one of those "don't-talk-to-me-right-now" looks on her face as she stood up to go after Marley. I sighed and said "I'll get the dishes." My mom nodded and marched up the stairs. I looked over at Sarah, who was still sitting at the table. She was covering her mouth and giggling as if this was some big, funny TV show. She looked over at me with a smile. "Does this mean I don't have to eat my broccoli?"

I rolled my eyes and collected all the plates, then took them into the kitchen. As I was scrubbing the pasta pan, I started to think about the tree again. I still had not decided whether it was real or not. I certainly could not tell anyone, they'd think I was crazy or had a nightmare. I went through all the different conclusions in my head, as I had done for the past 24 hours. A soft tap at the kitchen window interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and jumped back, loudly dropping the pan that I had been washing.

There was an owl at the window. An owl. And it also seemed to have something attached to its leg. It was so odd. Again, I didn't know what to do. It must be sick or hurt to be coming so close to humans. Perhaps it was a lost pet? I noticed something was tied to its leg… I couldn't just leave it there… There seemed only one thing to do, and the animal lover in me overrode my common sense."You poor thing" I cooed softly. I glanced around and then slowly, carefully, opened the window.

The owl hopped in. It was a beautiful brown color, with orange-ish eyes. It hooted at me as if to say 'Thank you!'.

"Shh!" I told the owl, panic stricken. "If my mom sees you... we'll both be injured." I whispered to the owl. It seemed to hoot a little more quietly this time and tuck out its foot.

I reasoned that this was what was bothering the owl. At second glance I realized that there was a letter attached to the owl's foot! "Someone was using you as a mailman?" I whispered angrily. I figured that one of the boys in my neighborhood had caught the injured owl and had tried to use it to send a letter to one of his buddies. There had been reports of that before with an injured dove. But why, and how, did they use an owl? I thought uneasily. Another strange event within four days… But the poor owl! As long as the owl was already in my kitchen, I thought, I might as well remove the heavy letter from its leg.

I untied the string that was holding the letter to the owl. As soon as I took it off, the owl hooted once more and flew out the open window. "Well, I guess I fixed the problem!" I muttered to myself, confused and unsatisfied with the odd situation.

Looking down at the letter in my hands, the anger that I felt before rushed back into my head. "People can't just use animals to wait on them! Ugh! Let's see what idiot this is for!" I turned over the oddly heavy letter in my hands and gasped. The envelope was addressed to…me?

Nellie Samantha Jennings

6521 Riding Road

Farnsworth, North Carolina, USA

The Kitchen

I looked around, paranoid. Who knew I was in the kitchen, and who sent me a letter by owl?

"You must be crazy." I said to myself, half worried and half curious, before tearing open the letter.

Dear Ms. Jennings,

We have recently learned that you have performed magic at 7:03 PM Eastern time while in a different country (The Republic of Costa Rica). Due to your absence at your home, we have not been able to contact you promptly.

For a normal witch your age, you would be expelled from whichever magical academy you were attending for using magic outside of school. But, since there was no evidence that you were a witch until yesterday, we have decided to let this breakage of law go on without punishment.

At this time we would be telling you what school you shall be attending and where in the United Sates it is. However, in your unusual case, none of the Magical schools in America will accept you; seeing as you are, well, quite unusual.

Luckily, the well-known Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, has heard of your case and has decided to accept you at his school, Hogwarts, near London, and free of charge. A Ministry wizard is being sent to your home to collect you and your belongings as soon as possible to escort you to Europe.

Warm Regards and good luck,

Annie Smith

Director of the Underage Magic Office at the Eastern Sector of the U.S. Ministry of Magic

I blinked. And then read it again. And again. This was too far; someone must be messing with my head. A witch…? Was this a prank? Who would do this? Maybe it's some wacko… I froze. I had heard of these stories, crazy men, laying intricate traps to kidnap and rape young teens. A ministry wizard is being sent to your home to collect you…"Someone is going to try to come and kidnap me" I whispered to myself in realization.

"Mom?" I called up the stairs weakly. "Mom? MOM!" I screamed, losing my composure. "WHAT?" She yelled back. "Come down here, QUICK!" Hearing the frantic tone in my voice, she bolted down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Her eyes found the open window, not understanding. "What? What is it? Are you okay? What happened?" I shoved the letter into her hands. She quickly scanned it, her brows furrowing more and more as she read it twice.

She looked up at me, who looked thoroughly confused and suspicious. "What is this?" She demanded. "Are you pulling some kind of prank on me? Where did you get this?"

I pointed at the window and said "An-owl-was-tapping-at-the-window-so-I-let-it-in- because-I-thought-it-was-hurt-and-it-gave-me-this-letter-and-left-and-then-I-opened-this-and-it-says-that-someone-is-coming-to-take-me-to-London-and-I-think-it's-someone-trying-to-kidnap-me!" I finished, out of breath and on the verge of tears.

My mother's face paled, but I could see her mind kicking into action. "Shh, it'll be okay, calm down. So on the envelope; these people knew your name? Yes, okay, so we need to get out of the house quickly and call the police before the kidnappers get here… What time is it? Oh. Okay it's nine-o'clock; okay I think we have some time, when did you get this letter, ten minutes ago? Okay. Go get—"

But she didn't have time to finish because someone knocked on the door. I looked at my mom and saw the remaining color drain from her face. She swallowed. "Could be the neighbors?" I squeaked. She shushed me and quietly tip-toed to the door and checked through the peep hole.

My mom looked out the peep hole for a long time. Then she turned around looked at me, quizzically, and turned back to look in the peep hole again. To my great surprise, she then pulled open the door and said "Angela?"

A/N: Okay, so I know I promised that it would be all Harry-Potter-ish and stuff, but seriously, I had fun making this chapter. So much suspense… yes? No? Fine. No one ever agrees with me WHATEVER. But still. Now that "Angela" is here things will get very interesting. As this is my first draft of this story it may be stinky because I haven't edited it and I am publishing it so… don't criticize. Well, anyway, it will get fun from hear I SWEAR. Ok? Keep reading, please!

PS: Sorry for the delay BTW... maybe it was because I didn't get enough reviews.. I'm just saying. The more reviews I get, the faster I update! Adios!

XOXO, Bianca