Hermione

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Hermione was awakened that morning by a distressing sound that roused her from her sleep. She grumbled and looked around her purple room to find the source of the disturbance, and found a brown owl tapping on her window with its beak.

She hurriedly got up from her bed and opened the window to let the owl in. She realised - a little too late - that there were in fact five in total, all of which landed on her desk. Hermione let out a muffled sound of surprise as the owls deposited their cargoes on her desk. Then they looked at her, as if waiting for something. Hermione, embarrassed, detached the letter from the first bird's leg and understood from the first lines:

"Dear Miss Granger,

(Please pay the owls (in food as I doubt you'll have any wizarding money to hand))"

Hermione opened her desk drawers and found the packets of biscuits she kept in case of munchies during the night and gave the crumbs to the owls. Satisfied, they flew out of Hermione's window one by one, stretching their huge wings, and flew back into the cloudy sky. Now her desk was a mess, there were feathers everywhere and everything she had stored on it the day before was on the floor or shredded by their paws. What a strange awakening.

She sighed and picked up the letter to continue reading:

"As promised, I'm sending you the Hogwarts books that might interest you. I've taken the liberty of adding a few books to your supply list, they are obviously optional, but will allow you to learn a little more about your subjects before the start of the school year.

I didn't mention this yesterday, but you should know that Hogwarts has a huge Library with hundreds of thousands of books. I'm sure you will enjoy spending time there. The books I have sent you are from the Library, so please bring them with you when you arrive and ask Mrs Pince, the librarian, to return them.

I hope you have a great summer holiday and I look forward to seeing you in my Transformation classes.

Sincerely,

Professor Minerva McGonagall."

Hermione hastily shredded the packages the owls had just brought and read the titles of the books McGonagall had sent: 'Hogwarts : A History', 'Hogwarts Subject Summary Syllabus - 1st Year', 'The Art of the Wand', and finally 'The Great Wizards of the 20th Century'. She gazed at the covers of the books, which looked ancient. She had so little time to learn all she could about a world she knew nothing about...

She took the books in her arms and staggered under their weight down the stairs. She found her parents in the living room, her father cutting an apple on the open kitchen counter and her mother eating a bowl of porridge at the dining table. When she entered, they stopped talking immediately and Hermione's mother gave her a small smile:

"New reading, dear?"

"Professor McGonagall sent them to me!"

Her two parents glared at each other and watched as Hermione placed the books on the table. She picked up the first book in the pile, 'Hogwarts : A History', and went to sit down.

Hermione's house was quite small, with two bedrooms upstairs, a bathroom, a living room downstairs with an open kitchen and a toilet. But there was one place that Hermione loved more than anything else, it was the little bench under the rounded window in the living room.

This was where she had read most of the books in her collection, and it had become her favourite place in the world. The bench was perfectly placed for a view of the quiet suburban London street that the window overlooked. Hermione spent most of her free time sitting there, devouring books from the shelves at home, or from the local library where she went every week.

Her parents were used to seeing her sitting on her bench, reading, from morning to night when she had no school. During the winter, she often fell asleep there, under thick blankets that she threw over herself to make herself more comfortable.

She sat there to begin her reading. She opened the first page and was surprised at the quality of the paper, which was old and smelled very good, like old parchment.

After a while, her parents came over to give her a kiss on the forehead before going to work, and Hermione looked out the window at them before they disappeared around the corner. Her parents worked in a dental practice just next door to the house.

She was soon swept up in her reading. She read "Hogwarts : A History" twice in a row, which was one of the most exciting books she had ever read in her life. She couldn't imagine walking through the castle, it seemed unreal.

Then she picked up the second in the pile, "Hogwarts Subject Summary Syllabus", and even though McGonagall had already briefly outlined the course content for her, she was pleased to see that there was no maths or art in it. Instead, she found Astronomy diagrams, Potions recipes, drawings of magical creatures and Latin incantations.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she imagined learning all this. The only subject she didn't feel like learning was Flying on a broom, because Hermione was afraid of heights and it was the only subject she couldn't study in advance.

The day passed in a flash. About halfway through the third book, she got up to make herself a peanut butter sandwich, without taking her eyes off the book. She devoured it as she continued to read, careful not to drop any crumbs on her precious borrowed book.

When she was on the fifth chapter of "The Art of the Wand", she noticed that the sky was beginning to darken outside, indicating the end of the day, but she didn't pay much attention to it.

A short time later, she heard a knock on the door. She raised her head, slightly indignant that someone would disturb her reading, and got up to open it. As she walked, she hoped to see Professor McGonagall at the door again, eager to ask her hundreds more questions about what she had just read.

But when she opened the front door, she saw Danny.

Danny was one of her friends from primary school. They had known each other for a very long time because they had had all their classes together, and Danny's parents were good friends with Hermione's parents because they were all on the parent committee of their primary school, London's Hampstead Heath School.

"Hi Danny."

"Hi Hermione, am I bothering you?"

Hermione discreetly hid the book in her hands behind her back for fear he would ask what she was reading.

"No, not really. My parents are at work."

Danny had light brown hair that fell in front of his eyes from the bowl cut his mother gave him every summer. He was very cute, a little chubby, and when he smiled he had a slight gap between his two front teeth.

"Do you want to come to the park with me?" he asked.

Hermione was tempted to refuse in order to continue reading, but she remembered that she hadn't moved all day and that a walk in the park would probably do her good. She agreed with a smile, and Danny entered the hall by the time she put her book back on the bench and put on a jacket.

Once outside, Hermione enjoyed the cool evening wind on her skin. The day had gone by so quickly! Now she had images of Hogwarts in her head and it was hard to follow Danny's conversation without daydreaming.

"Mary is on holiday in St Tropez with her parents, she sent me a postcard. Have you been there yet?" he asked.

"Hmm? Er, no, never went there. I went to the Alps to ski last year."

They walked into the square next to Hermione's house and sat down on one of the park benches. Since it was the middle of July, there were no other children in the square because everyone else had gone on holiday.

Danny looked at the swing in front of them and chuckled:

"Remember when we used to swing here when we were little?"

Hermione nodded with a smile. When they were younger they used to come here with their parents after school to eat snacks and play a bit before going home in the evening.

"Are you going on holiday this summer?" asked Danny.

"No, I don't think so. My parents haven't been able to have much of a holiday this year. I might go to my grandmother's in Edinburgh for a week or two in August. What about you?"

Danny shrugged.

"No. Thomas is going to visit some friends in Oxford in early August though."

Thomas was Danny's older brother, three years older than he and Hermione.

"Tough luck. Aren't you going to be too bored?"

"I spend my day at the comic book shop down the road." He pointed to the small blind in the corner, which now had a metal curtain drawn. "And I'm allowed to play video games, now that I'm going into the sixth grade, so I take Thomas's computer when he's not around. Otherwise I'm walking around Hampstead Heath."

"I'd be happy to walk around with you, if you don't mind. I'm going to be bored at home all summer." said Hermione.

"Tomorrow?"

She nodded with a smile.

"And you, I suppose, are preparing all your lessons before school starts? You're doing holiday notebooks and stuff?" he said, mockingly.

Hermione gave a small laugh.

"Yes, you could say that."

"You're so serious! I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm not ready to go to college." he muttered, a little worried.

"Don't worry, you'll get there. I'm sure you'll get good grades, just like in elementary school. Besides, you'll excel in art."

Danny chuckled weakly:

"Yeah, pretty much the only subject I'm sure I'll beat you in."

Hermione gave him a sidelong glance, and on impulse, she announced:

"Danny, I'm not going to the Hampstead College in London, when school starts."

Saying it made it more real than all the books she'd read since that morning. Danny gave her a bemused look:

"What? What are you talking about? Of course you're going, your parents signed you up last year."

"Change of plan."

"Where are you going, then?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "To Marylebone?"

"No... I'm going to a girls' boarding school in France."

She'd come up with that without thinking about it, but it seemed like the most believable lie. Danny's eyes widened, and she saw disappointment in them that made her heart ache:

"Why didn't your parents tell my parents?" he said in a reproachful tone.

"It was just decided, last night actually. I'm sorry Danny. I wish I could have spent the year with you."

Danny immediately shook the disappointment off his face and gave her a big smile, revealing his gap between his teeth:

"No, no, don't apologize, this is great news for you! You'll be able to discover lots of new things and tell me all about them over the summer. It's not like you're leaving for good, you'll come back to see your parents."

"Yes! Every holiday. And I'll write you letters."

Hermione made a mental note to herself to ask how the Muggle post office at Hogwarts worked, because she doubted they could send him an owl. He'd probably have a heart attack seeing a letter from his friend attached to an owl at his window anyway.

"I'd love to. I'll miss you, Hermione. You leave me all alone with Mary."

Hermione burst out laughing, her heart lighter after her confession.

Draco

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On August 1st, Lucius and Narcissa told Draco over breakfast that they would be going to buy his school supplies later that day on Diagon Alley. Despite the dinner the week before, Draco was relieved that his father was coming with them to do his shopping. He hoped he would be proud that his son was returning to Hogwarts.

Narcissa Apparated with Draco at the end of the Manor driveway and they found themselves on the Diagon Alley, just as they had been a few days before, with Lucius and Dobby. The Alley was more crowded than last time, this time there were lots of Hogwarts students coming in and out of shops, or chatting on the sides.

Draco's mother gazed at everyone, wrinkling her nose:

"It's packed. We should have come earlier."

Lucius saw someone in the distance whom he recognized and put a cheesy smile on his face as he waved. Then he said in a jerky whisper to his wife and son:

"I'll leave you to it, I have to see someone to talk business. Narcissa, can you go to Gringotts, do you have the key to our safe?"

"Yes, I have it in my bag..."

"Alright, we'll meet at Flourish & Blotts when I'm done."

And off he went, criss-crossing Diagon Alley to find a waxy-skinned man dressed all in black across the street. Draco's disappointment at seeing his father leave didn't last long, though, because he passed the window of the Quidditch shop and widened his eyes:

"A Nimbus 2000!"

He ruthlessly pushed past the few children who had gathered in front of the brooms to gaze at it. It was beautiful, the most beautiful broom he had ever seen in his life. Its handle was perfectly waxed, and the curve must have been so comfortable!

"Mum, I want that broom," he said, pointing at the Nimbus 2000.

"But you only got a broom a week ago." she replied in a soft voice.

"So what? This one is ten times better. The saleswoman didn't tell me the Nimbus 2000 would be here now."

Narcissa laughed coldly.

"That's normal, she sounded like a complete failure."

"So, can I have it?"

Draco's mother considered the shop window for a moment before deciding:

"We'll see with your father."

Draco grumbled as he continued on his way at his mother's side. He had better have a Nimbus 2000.

They entered Gringotts, where a small crowd was already lining up. Dobby waited at the entrance. Narcissa walked over to one of the counters and addressed the goblin in an authoritative tone:

"I would like to go to my vault. Number 212."

The goblin, without looking up from the register he was working on, replied mechanically:

"You may join the queue."

"Excuse me?" hissed Narcissa. "I don't think you know who you're talking to."

The goblin raised his head and met Narcissa's angry gaze, and immediately stammered:

"Pa-pardon, Mrs. Malfoy. Follow me, please."

Draco smirked. Stupid goblin.

They rode to the chest in a small wagon, and his mother spent the short trip wrinkling her nose to show her discomfort. When they arrived at the vault, Narcissa gave the key to the goblin who opened it, and from where he stood, Draco could see a mountain of golden coins. He knew that the Malfoy family had several vaults in the bank, and he had been there many times with his parents to withdraw money. Narcissa filled his purses and sat back down in the carriage without a word.

Once in front of the shops, Narcissa asked Draco to choose what he liked. He didn't even have to read the list again to remember what he needed. Draco went into each shop one by one to pick up the best items he could, which he threw to Dobby once he had bought them.

Soon the elf was overwhelmed with Draco's school supplies, but neither Narcissa nor the boy paid much attention and continued shopping.

When they arrived in front of Flourish & Blotts, Lucius was in front, deep in conversation with the same man he had joined just before.

When they reached him, Lucius turned to Draco with a cheerful expression:

"Ah, Willins, this is my son, Draco."

Draco shook the hand the man held out to him. He didn't smile and simply nodded in greeting.

"Willins is an employee of the Ministry of Magic," Lucius explained to his wife, who greeted the man in turn. Then he turned back to the man, "Draco will be entering Hogwarts this year."

The man did not seem at all interested in this information. Draco was already bored with the conversation. Lucius, seeing the closed face of the man in front of him, simply raised his eyebrows and said:

"I'll go get your books, Draco, so we can continue talking about this famous sale, right Will?"

The man nodded and whispered a "goodbye" to Draco and his mother before entering the bookshop. Draco wondered what kind of book such an austere man would buy.

"Draco, give me your list, quickly!" ordered his father urgently.

He gave it to him and Lucius rushed after the man, obviously much more motivated to talk than Willins.

"Very well, then let's go buy your uniform," Narcissa said as she headed for Madam Malkin's shop.

Madam Malkin greeted Draco and his mother with a big smile:

"Is this for Hogwarts?"

"Yes, we want three black and green robes with the Slytherin crest."

The shop assistant looked at Narcissa with a frown:

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

"And why is that?"

"The list stipulates three black dresses. It's impossible to customize the dresses until the first year."

"But come on that's absurd, Draco will be going to Slytherin."

Madam Malkin smiled tightly.

"I don't doubt it... But I'm afraid if little Draco goes back to Hogwarts in a Slytherin robe before he's even assigned there, it could be a big problem."

Narcissa rolled her eyes but did not insist. Madam Malkin led the way for Draco, who stood on a stool in the back of the shop. It smelled of washing powder.

His mother watched as the shop assistant pulled the black dress around his neck with a sceptical look on her face and said:

"I'm going to go to Ollivander's for your wand, you can join me when you're done. Dobby, come with me."

They left and Draco waited for Madam Malkin to finish her hems. After a few minutes, the bells on the door rang and she apologized to welcome the new customer. Draco heard the lady point the way and she returned, followed by a boy.

He was probably the same age as Draco, although he looked much more frail than he was. He had jet-black hair with lots of spikes in it, and looked around as if he were in a museum, not in the back of a clothes shop. He sat down on a second stool next to Draco and avoided looking at him.

It was the first time Draco had been in the company of a boy he didn't know, of his own age, and without his parents. He gauged him, and though he looked a little lost, he seemed fine enough to not be of impure blood. Draco gathered his courage to try to make a friend and asked:

"Hullo. Hogwarts too?"

"Yes." the boy replied.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands." Draco explained to start the conversation. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Draco hesitated to tell him that he already had a Comet 260, but he didn't for fear that the boy had a better broom, perhaps even a Nimbus 2000.

"Have you got your own broom?" he continued.

"No."

"Play Quidditch at all?"

Draco didn't understand how one could not own a broom, or play Quidditch.

"No." the boy repeated.

"I do – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No." he replied as dryly as ever.

It was hard to make friends when the boy in front of him revealed so little about himself. Draco continued the conversation:

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been." He looked at Madam Malkin as he said this, but she didn't react. "Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm..."

Draco looked up from a shadow and gasped as he saw a huge man standing behind the shop window. He had a beard eating away at his face, and had to be at least ten feet tall.

"I say, look at that man!"

"That's Hagrid, he works at Hogwarts." the boy said with a smile.

"Oh yes, I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper."

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage. He lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant." said the boy coldly.

"Do you?" laughed Draco. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead." he replied.

"Oh, sorry."

He didn't mean to be insensitive, he knew that parents could be a painful subject, as they were for Pansy. Suddenly Draco wondered if the boy was from a Muggle family. He thought back to his father's words, "What makes you think he's not going to make friends with half-bloods or worse, as soon as our backs are turned?" He hastened to ask the boy:

"But they were our kind, right?"

"They were wizards, if that's what you mean."

He was relieved. He wouldn't have known how to react if the boy had told him his parents were Muggles.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families." Draco repeated his father's words that he had heard so many times, waiting for him to approve, but the boy remained silent. "What's your surname, anyway?"

"That's you done, my dear!" said Madam Malkin who had finished his hemming, and the mysterious boy jumped off the stool.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose." Draco said by way of goodbye.

He watched as the dark-haired boy left and joined Hagrid, who handed him an ice cream with a smile. Draco sighed. Pansy was wrong, it was hard to make friends.

Hermione

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The next day, Hermione was reading the end of 'The Art of Wand' at her desk when someone knocked on her door. Her parents came in and asked:

"Can we disturb you for a moment?"

"Yes, of course." said Hermione as she closed her book.

Her father and mother both sat down on the edge of Hermione's bed. They looked tired, they both had dark circles under their eyes and paler complexions than usual.

"Hermione, we've been doing a lot of thinking," Hermione's mother began, absently smoothing Hermione's sheets with her hand. "About all of this, McGonagall and Hogwarts."

"Yes?"

"The most important thing, Mimi, is your happiness," her father assured in a soft voice. "We think it's an amazing opportunity you have, and we don't want to spoil what you might achieve, even if it's in a world other than our own."

"We had trouble understanding at first..." admitted Rachel. "It took us several days to digest the news, and to accept the fact that we wouldn't see you for several months. But we know you've always been an exceptional girl, Muggle or not. So, if you're still as motivated as ever, we'll support you."

"We will always support you, Mimi, no matter what you decide."

Hermione felt her heart clench in her chest.

"I want to go. I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize!" her mother said. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, I would have done exactly the same thing."

"And even if you go, we still want news." demanded her father, suddenly pleading. "We want to hear all about the school, and what you're doing there. We'll still be so proud of you, even if it's hard for us to understand everything, okay?"

Hermione stood up to give her parents a hug. She hugged them for a long time, fighting the sudden urge to cry. When they broke away, their eyes were bright too.

"You've finished the books already, I suppose?" her mother said mockingly.

"Almost."

"Can I read them too?" she asked.

Hermione's mother loved to read, as did Hermione. She nodded vigorously, eager to know what her mother would think of these readings.

"Here, take this one, it's my favourite at the moment. And we'll have to buy my school supplies..."

"Our next day off is August 5th, is it okay if we all go together that day?" her father offered.

"That's fine."

"We'll also have to cancel your enrolment at the Hampstead College in London." he added with a crease between his eyebrows.

"We'll take care of that," Rachel cut in. "And you'll have to make up something to tell your grandparents and aunts and cousins."

"I told Danny yesterday that I'm going to an all-girls boarding school in France."

His parents nodded in agreement:

"Yes, good idea. If you're abroad, they won't wonder why you don't come back at weekends."

Hermione looked at her parents. They looked a little overwhelmed, but resolute. She was so glad to have parents as understanding as hers.

"I'm going to miss you." she said in a breath.

"We'll miss you too, Mimi. But you'll send us letters, right? We can open an aviary in the garden." her father said with a wink.

Hermione chuckled as she imagined the reaction of the neighbours if they saw this. Then it was official. Hermione Granger would not be going to London High School, but to Hogwarts.

With the joy came the anxiety of not knowing anything when she got there and feeling like she didn't belong. She decided to arm herself with all the knowledge she could, and opened the huge book McGonagall had sent her again to dive back into her reading.