It was a hot Tuesday morning. Ari cheerfully walked into the kitchen and popped two waffles into the toaster. He sat down at the table to wait for them to pop when he saw something crash against his window. He watched in horror as the brown blur crashed against his closed kitchen window repeatedly.

"Help!" Ari screamed. "There's something trying to get through our window!"

Mommy and Tatti came running. Mommy looked panicked when she saw the creature, but Tatti just opened the window and watched as an owl flew in. The owl flew directly to Ari.

"Get it away from me!" Ari shrieked.

"There's a letter for you," Tatti said with a smile. "Untie it from his foot."

"You mean I have to touch it?!" Ari gasped.

"Get used to it," Tatti said. "We're going to be sending you food every day via owl when you're in Hogwarts. Now take off your letter before the owl gets angry."

Ari hesitantly untied his letter from the owl and cowered in fear as he looked at it.

"This envelope is strange," Ari said, as his father gave the owl some breakfast. "It's addressed to Anthony Goldstein, not Ari, and it says the blue and white bedroom. Who cares what colors my bedroom is?"

"On your birth certificate, we wrote Anthony," Tatti explained. "I wanted to make sure that you're not dealing with anti Semitism at Hogwarts."

"I don't want to go to Hogwarts," Ari whined.

"Read your letter," Tatti said. "We don't want to keep the owl waiting all day."

Ari read: "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"I'm not a witch!" Ari exclaimed.

"No, you're a wizard," his father confirmed. "Continue your letter."

"Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf, Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)."

"I don't know what any of that means," Ari complained.

"That's not important," his father said. "It's just Dumbledore's many titles. Continue to your letter."

"Dear Mr. Goldstein,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress."

"I still don't want to go," Ari whined.

"Can you wait for my son's response?" Tatti asked the owl.

The owl hooted and flew onto the counter.

"Here are a pen and a piece of paper," Tatti said. "Now write, Dear Professor McGonagall, I would like to accept my place at Hogwarts-"

"That's a lie!" Ari exclaimed. "I don't want to go to Hogwarts!"

"Fine," Tatti said. "So write I can only go to Hogwarts if I have the same religious accommodations that my father had. I will need to floo home-"

"Don't you mean fly home?" Ari interrupted.

"No," Tatti said, "I mean floo with two o's. It's a kind of magical transportation. I'll teach it to you soon. Now stop interrupting."

"I will need to floo home before every Sabbath and all Jewish holidays. I will only be able to eat kosher food which will be provided by my parents. Those conditions are important before I can accept my place at Hogwarts."

"I still don't want to go," Ari complained.

"Just write it," Tatti ordered. "The owl is waiting."

Ari wrote what his father said, grumbling the whole time. Tatti tied the letter to the owl and it left. An hour later, the owl returned with a reply from McGonagall saying that they will accommodate Ari and they look forward to seeing him September 1.

"I don't want to go to Hogwarts," Ari said again.

"Why not?" Tatti asked.

"It's not Jewish," Ari complained.

"Did you know that during the holocaust your grandparents and great grandparents saved many Jews using magic?"

"The holocaust is over," Ari said. "I don't need to save anyone."

"We never know what will happen in the future," Tatti told him. "Now, do you want to know more about Hogwarts, or do you want to be surprised when you get there?"

"I guess I should know," Ari said, "But I still don't want to go."

"When you come, you will be sorted into houses. There are four houses. I was a Hufflepuff; they're known for hard work and loyalty. You may end up a Hufflepuff like me, or you may be a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws are known for being smart and studious. Gryffindors are known for being brave, while Slytherins are known for being ambitious. Some of the Slytherins gave me a hard time about being Jewish, but my fellow Hufflepuffs always defended me."

"During your first two years you only take the basic subjects. Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration; that means how to turn one item into another. Imagine a Nazi coming at you with a gun and you transfigure it into a radio. You could use transfiguration to save yourself.

"Professor Flitwick taught Charms when I was there. I don't know if he's still there, but there are lots of useful charms. I showed you one when you were four, when I lifted the dresser. There are charms to make things bigger or smaller, to make things move, to block things, and to do almost everything. You could do a shield charm if you're being attacked."

"Another important subject is Defense Against Dark Arts, but the school hasn't succeeded in keeping any teacher for more than a year when I was there. I don't know who is teaching it now, but it's an important subject if the teacher is competent."

"Professor Sprout taught Herbology. That's about magical plants. You always liked gardening, so you will probably enjoy that class. I don't know if she's still there, but she started teaching my first year."

"Professor Slughorn taught Potions. I don't know if he's still there. Potions is similar to chemistry. You always loved science, so you should probably like potions. Just don't blow anything up."

"But that's the best part of science," Ari protested. "I love making volcanoes and other explosions."

"And what does Mrs. Katz say about that?" Tatti prompted.

"No explosions in the classroom," Ari muttered, thinking of his science teacher who still let him do his cool experiments. "I could only explode things in the yard."

"The worse subject I had to take was History of Magic," Tatti continued. "It was taught by a boring ghost named Professor Binns."

"There are ghosts?" Ari asked incredulously.

"Hogwarts has many ghosts," Tatti said with a smile. "They're all harmless, but Binns is boring. History was a waste of time."

"The last subject you will take is Astronomy, and that's taken at midnight," Tatti continued. "I was never really awake enough to notice who taught it. I'm not a night person."

"I still don't want to go to Hogwarts," Ari complained.

"I think after you have a talk with Oma you will change your mind," Tatti said. "She could tell you how she used magic during the holocaust."