A green jet of light flashed which caused a young blonde-haired girl to instantly sit-up in her bed. That light, it always woke her up. This wasn't the first time that she had dreamed that in her short almost eleven years of life. She couldn't remember exactly when they started; she only knew that they had been recurring for as long as she could remember. With her hand, she tucked her blonde hair behind her ear which slowly moved down her neck. Her body tingled as her fingers gently rested on the scar on her neck. The scar, usually hidden from view by her hair was small and faint, but it was in the shape of a lightning bolt. Miss Hester told her that she had the scar when she arrived on her doorstep as a baby.
Miss Hester was one of two older women who ran the foster home she lived at on the outskirts of London. The other woman was Miss Pearl; she was Miss Hester's sister. Neither woman was particularly fond of Charlie, seeing as she had been the longest. Most of the children who went through Miss Hester and Miss Pearl's Home for the Orphaned usually found families and were adopted; but not Charlie. Prospective parents found Charlie to be a bit odd. They never gave a decent reasoning for why they couldn't adopt her. Their reasoning usually ended-up being something about her not being a good match for their family. Then the years went on and people were less likely to adopt a grown child than they were a baby or a toddler. This meant Charlie was left with Miss Hester and Miss Pearl. The two women had eventually given-up hope of Charlie ever finding a home or even being the so-called normal.
Charlie stood-up and quietly padded across the hardwood floor in her bare feet. She moved to the window, noting that for once, the stars shone brightly overhead. She didn't know why, but she always felt some strange fascination and pull toward the stars. Looking at them made her feel at peace and not so alone in the world. Sometimes, she would imagine that the stars were her family members: they might be far away, but they were always looking down on her. Charlie knew nothing of her family. Miss Hester and Miss Pearl knew just as much as she did. Apparently, around Halloween many years ago she had been placed on their doorstep with a note, which hadn't said much. It had asked Miss Hester and Miss Pearl to take care of her until they found a suitable family for her. The note had only mentioned her first name and made no mention of her family's name; so she had very little hope of ever finding out anything about her family. The only other valuable piece of information the note had mentioned was her birthday: August 24, 1980; which was still almost a month away.
"Another one?" the girl in the bed beside Charlie's groaned.
"Yeah," Charlie sighed.
"You have the oddest dreams," the girl muttered.
"You don't have to tell me," Charlie said.
The girl in the bed beside hers had been there a few years less than Charlie, but she was a year older than her. She and Charlie weren't what you would call friends, but they had each other's back seeing as they were the two who had been there the longest. Charlie rolled her icy eyes and sat on the window sill looking-up once more at the stars. She drank in the vastness of the stars as a shooting star shot across the night's sky. In that moment she tightly closed her eyes and made a wish; a wish that things would change. She sat still for several moments after her wish before she walked over to her bed and crawled in for another restless night's sleep, not knowing that her wish was about to become true.
A loud rap on the door roused Charlie from her sleep. She opened one eye a slight crack and noticed the girl she shared a room with still sleeping; so she assumed that she had made the noise up in her head. Wouldn't be the first time, Charlie thought. So, she shut her eyes once more and flipped over to her stomach as she hugged her pillow tightly. The rap came at the door once more.
"Charlie!" Miss Hester's voice shrilled.
"Five more minutes," Charlie groaned.
"You have a visitor!" Miss Hester shouted through the door.
Charlie looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was on a quarter until eight in the morning. Who in their bloody mind would be calling on her, an unknown nobody? The last time she had a visitor this early it had been a police officer. She had been a suspect in stealing some baked goods. But honestly, she had only been looking into the window from the sidewalk wishing that she had that perfectly looking biscuit when it had suddenly appeared in her hand. And of course, the bakery's owner had been watching her at that exact moment; but he wouldn't believe that a biscuit could end-up in her hand without her stealing it! Honestly, it was like magic; but what police officer would believe her story? Needless to say, she had been on strict watch since then; but she wasn't a thief! Miss Hester yelled for her once more, so rather reluctantly she stood-up and walked over to the door, opening it wide enough to stick her head through the crack.
"Am I in trouble?" Charlie asked.
"You tell me," Miss Hester said sharply.
"Not that I can remember," Charlie answered.
"Well, put on something nice and drag a brush through that hair of yours. I want you downstairs in ten minutes," Miss Hester hissed before she walked away.
As Miss Hester walked away, Charlie rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue before she closed the door. She then walked over to the closet where the very few articles of clothing she owned hung. Only one nice outfit hung in her closet a blue dress with frills on the sleeves. The dress was used for church outings. Miss Hester said that they were always supposed to dress their best for the Lord, but Charlie knew the nice dress was only a ploy for people to believe that even though they were orphans, they were still given they very best life had to offer at Miss Hester and Miss Pearl's Home for the Orphaned. No sooner than had Charlie pulled the dress on and brushed her hair did Miss Hester call for her from the bottom of the stairs. Charlie rolled her eyes once more and muttered something under her breath before she headed downstairs to meet her unknown fate. Charlie shuffled down the stairs until she came to the banister which she mounted and slid down. At the bottom of the banister Miss Hester yanked her arm hard pulling her off.
"How many times have I told you not to do that," Miss Hester hissed.
"Apparently not enough times for me to listen," Charlie retorted.
Miss Hester glared daggers at her before she pulled her into the sitting room where Miss Pearl sat pouring a cup of tea for the visitor whose back was to Charlie. The angry woman whispered words for Charlie to be on her best behavior for their guest before she plastered a fake smile on her face and offered Charlie a chair to sit on. Charlie plopped onto the chair only to receive a nasty glance from Miss Hester.
"You'll have to excuse the girl's lack of manners," Miss Pearl apologized.
"I'm sure she means no harm," said the visitor.
"Now about that school…" Miss Hester began.
Charlie looked at the strange woman seated on the sofa in front of her. Her hair was tied back into a stiff bun which matched the stern look on her face from under her spectacles. This was probably Miss Hester and Miss Pearl's idea of a reform school representative. They had threatened to send her to one after the bakery incident, but Charlie had thought them to be bluffing. Apparently, they hadn't been.
"Charlotte would be a perfect fit for our school," the stern woman said.
"You're sure that you accept discipline cases?" Miss Hester asked.
"We are the ones who sought Charlotte out, are we not?" the woman questioned.
Charlotte? Charlie had never been called that before. It had always been Charlie. But what concerned her wasn't the use of her given name; no it was the fact that she still had no idea what they were talking about. What school? She was supposed to start the local school soon, but now there was talk of a different school and they were looking for her. Confused couldn't even begin to cover what Charlie was feeling. She scratched as her head, behind her ear which revealed her scar. The woman's eyes seemed to flash briefly before Miss Pearl pulled her arm down and reprimanded her for fidgeting.
"Would you mind if I talk with Charlotte alone?" the stern woman asked.
Miss Pearl and Miss Hester looked at each other like that was the last thing they wanted to do: leave Charlie with the older woman. They were scared that Charlie would do something to offend the woman and then they wouldn't be able to be rid of her. Reluctantly, the women agreed and walked out of the sitting room, closing the French doors behind them. The stern woman shifted slightly and stared at Charlie for a moment as if she deep in thought. Rather quickly though, the woman broke her reverie and looked at Charlie.
"Charlotte, I'm Professor McGonagall," the woman said stiffly.
"My name is Charlie," Charlie retorted.
"Fine then, Charlie, I'm here to tell you about the school where I teach," Professor McGonagall responded. "I'm sure you'll find Hogwarts to your liking."
"Highly unlikely; if Miss Hester and Miss Pearl are considering it," Charlie muttered.
"I'll let you read about it for yourself," Professor McGonagall said.
She held out an envelope for Charlie to grab. Charlie looked at the stern woman hesitantly before she reached for the envelope.
Miss Charlotte Lily
Smallest Bedroom on the Second Story
Number 6 Cottage Grove Road
Waltham Abbey, England
Charlie looked at the enveloped quizzically. How did this woman know where she lived and more specifically where she slept? She was a little creeped-out, but she was more curious than she was creeped-out so she turned the enveloped over to open it. It was sealed closed with a seal that had some strange crest on it. The crest was divided into four parts with a letter "H" in the foreground. Before opening the envelope, Charlie looked to the woman who called herself Professor McGonagall who nodded for her to continue. Tearing the envelope open to shreds, a letter fell into her hands. She slowly unfolded the odd paper, not prepared to find the words written inside. Charlie carefully read the first lines out loud in no more than a whisper.
Dear Miss Lily,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…
Charlie shook her head and stopped reading before the letter was even finished. What was this woman trying to get at? First she knew the exact place where she slept and now she was trying to convince her that there was some school for witchcraft and wizardry? This had to be bogus.
"What does this mean?" Charlie asked.
"Charlotte—I mean, Charlie, you're a witch," Professor McGonagall said.
"That's not very nice to say to someone you've just met and believe me, I've said my share of nasty things," Charlie responded.
"Have you ever made things happen which you can't explain?" Professor McGonagall asked calmly.
"Sure, but so do most people," Charlie shrugged.
"Like the incident at the bakery?" McGonagall asked.
"How do you know about that? No one's supposed to know about that," Charlie hissed.
"All underage magical activity is recorded. The Ministry just doesn't start enforcing things until a young witch or wizard begins learning to control their magic," Professor McGonagall explained.
"I didn't do it! It just appeared in my hands!" Charlie argued.
"I believe you. At Hogwarts, we can help you to control your magic so that there are no more incidents like this," Professor McGonagall said.
With a stubborn look on her face, Charlie returned her attention to the letter. As she continued to read, she noticed that the date on which she needed to accept or decline enrollment was July 31, today! Listed below was a supply list, but Charlie looked once more to the older woman.
"Why me?" Charlie asked.
"I believe I already explained that," Professor McGonagall said.
"Well why did you wait until now to tell me?" Charlie questioned.
"We've had our hands full, so to speak, at Hogwarts as of late," Professor McGonagall answered.
"I—I don't have any money to go to school," Charlie sighed.
"There are sufficient funds for you to attend," Professor McGonagall said.
"But what about Miss Hester and Miss Pearl; they want me at a reform school. If they found out that I was going to a school of magic…" Charlie began.
"That's one instance we'll need to bend the truth. We want to keep our word secret from the muggles, those without magic. They believe you are going to a school to help your behavior issues and in a roundabout way we can say Hogwarts will be that school," Professor McGonagall replied.
"Do you really think I have behavior issues?" Charlie questioned.
"Miss Bl—erm—Lily, I hardly know you and cannot make that judgment. All I can tell you is that many young witches and wizards, some very much like yourself, attend Hogwarts; but ultimately, the choice is yours," Professor McGonagall answered.
"I suppose it can't be worse than Miss Hester and Miss Pearl," Charlie reasoned.
"Very well then, we should be on our way," Professor McGonagall said.
"But school doesn't start until September 1st!" Charlie scoffed.
"That may very well be, but now is the best time to shop for supplies in Diagon Alley," Professor McGonagall said.
The older woman stood-up and motioned for Miss Hester and Miss Pearl to step inside. She told them that Charlie was exactly what their school was looking for which made Miss Hester look like she was about to go into shock. After her brief talk with the sisters, Professor McGonagall motioned for Charlie to follow after her. Charlie wasn't exactly sure where they were headed, but she was sure that it couldn't be any worse than being stuck at Miss Hester and Miss Pearl's Home for the Orphaned; so she followed Professor McGonagall into the unknown.