It wasn't every day that Emelyn woke up in a good mood. In fact, you could say that it never happened at all. It was a surprisingly sunny summer day in England. They had been experiencing a lot of rain, which meant that Emelyn was forced to stay inside at Saint Nicholas Children's Home. When it rained, she couldn't go outside, but today she could. When Emelyn woke up, she knew it was a special day, but she had no idea how special the day would truly be.

Emelyn lay quietly in her bed, listening to her roommates snoring. Though it was sunny outside, the pale light peeking through the window curtains told her that it was still early. It wasn't terribly early, but it definitely was not as bright as when she would wake up at 9:00 AM.

As Emelyn lay lost in thought, she felt the bunk move as her bunkmate, Jocelyn, a very sarcastic and mean ten-year-old, rolled over in her sleep. Even though Emelyn was older, Jocelyn's attitude made it impossible for her to sleep on the bottom bunk. Emelyn turned onto her side to peer over at her other two roommates whose bunk sat against the opposite wall. Chloe and Tracey had the loudest snores that Emelyn had ever heard. Though they were not sisters, one would think that they were at first glance. Both girls slept on their backs, an arm raised over their head, and both had their blankets pulled up high, a leg popping out at the bottom. As one girl would breathe in, the other would breathe out, creating a cacophony of snoring. It was a rhythm that Emelyn had grown used to but didn't enjoy.

With a stifled yawn, Emelyn slowly sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She took a quick look over at the window that sat between the two bunks and grinned. She lifted her arms above her head as far as the low ceiling would allow her and stretched with a groan. To her surprise, she felt her bed lift, and she began to catapult forward as she became off-balanced.

"Could you be quiet? It's early," Jocelyn moaned. "You're making too much bloody noise."

Emelyn let out a quiet sigh as she gathered herself. The sudden movement of Jocelyn kicking the underside of her bed had given her a fright. She breathed deeply, trying to still her thudding heart and her breathing. Emelyn should have realized that Jocelyn wasn't asleep when she had turned over in her bed. It seemed as though the sunlight was causing everyone to stir a little earlier than usual.

Emelyn pulled herself up into a crawl and moved to the foot of her bed with slow and deliberate movements so that she could descend the ladder. She very carefully turned around so that she could back up and place her feet on the rungs and climb down to the chilly floor. Though the top bunk was only separated from the floor by seven steps, Jocelyn had a habit of making the journey precarious. As excited as Emelyn was for the day, her mood soured as Jocelyn chose that morning to be exceptionally difficult.

Emelyn let out a gasp as she suddenly felt her feet losing grip on the ladder rung as small hands poked through and pushed her knees out from underneath her. She fell hard onto her back on the floor, groaning as the wind was knocked out of her. She closed her eyes as she tried to get air back into her lungs and felt a pang of anger as she heard Jocelyn begin to cackle.

"You idiot," Jocelyn squealed in delight.

Jocelyn's laughing caused both Chloe and Tracey to wake. Chloe, who had the top bunk, peered blearily down at Tracey over the side of the railing. They looked at each other, confused for a moment before looking at Jocelyn and then discovering Emelyn, who lay motionless on the floor. After a few moments of recognition, they began to laugh as well.

Emelyn slowly sat back up, breathing hard. She glared at Jocelyn, trying to avoid wincing as a throbbing pain shot up her spine. Her fall hurt more than usual.

"You know that you should never use the ladder. Your balance is absolutely dreadful," Jocelyn said through her laughter.

Chloe was the next to speak, having equal difficulty getting her words out through her laughter. "I thought that I was having an absolutely wonderful dream, but this is even better! Isn't it brilliant, Tracey? Stupid Emelyn fell again."

Tracey was now practically doubled over with laughter, tears beginning to well up in her eyes with mirth. She gave Chloe a high five as the girl dangled her hand down for her to slap from the top bunk.

With a growl, Emelyn pulled herself up off the floor. She felt another stabbing pain shoot through her spine as she stood up but did her best to mask it as she turned to leave. Emelyn paused at the door, grabbing her dressing gown and putting it on quickly. She took a moment to shoot the three girls a look and left. Emelyn wasn't thrilled about having to find a way to occupy her time for so long before she could head back into her room, but it was nothing new. She hoped that with the other girls being up already, that meant she could return sooner rather than later.

Saint Nicholas Children's Home was made up of two massive floors, and the ground floor was where almost all of life took place.

On the left side of the building, split by the wide staircase, was the children's home director's office and a reception room for prospective new families. Along the long hallway that ran across the front of the building was where the staff dormitory could be found, but most of the children stayed away. They knew better than to bother the adults if they didn't want to be found by the children.

The opposite side of the staircase was where most of life took place. The infant and toddlers had their own room at the front of the building. It was situated along the same long hallway that ran across the front of the building so that the staff could be there at a moment's notice. However, most of the children turned left just past the stairs and continued onward towards the noisiest part of the building.

The children would walk directly into the shared dining area with a kitchen. To the right was a shared living area with plenty of toys and a television that always seemed to be blaring at top volume. The door to the back garden and playground could be found at the far left corner of the dining room, but another mysterious door was close by. When the children noticed the door, they became curious about it, but before they could investigate, they always changed their minds. None of them knew what lay beyond the door. No one ever came in, and no one ever came out. Newer members of Saint Nicholas's would question the door for the first few weeks, but they too would forget it after some time passed.

The second floor was where the children slept. The girl's dormitories were to the right of the building, and to the left were the boys. Each dormitory came with its own set of bathrooms and several shared rooms. Most of the rooms had four beds, but some luckier residents shared with only one other person. Emelyn was not so fortunate.

The dormitories weren't the only places for the children to go. At the back of the building, the children not downstairs often spent time in the playroom upstairs. Most of the broken toys seemed to find their way upstairs, leaving only the best for downstairs. But to a highly bored child, it didn't matter – a toy was a toy. Many of the boys spent their time in the new computer room, crowding around the few computers they had recently received. Emelyn had tried to visit the computer room a few times, but her favorite room was the library. She tried to avoid most children as much as possible and spent most of her free time amongst the books.

As Emelyn made her way down to the kitchen, she noticed that a lot more of the children's homes occupants were up early as well. It was something about it being the middle of July and sunny that seemed to awaken everyone at the same time. She murmured quiet greetings to a few of the more pleasant staff members and gave Mr. Ward, the children's home director, a polite wave as he walked to his office.

Upon arriving at the kitchen, Emelyn grimaced. The stark-white laminate kitchen counters were dotted with an arrangement of food. Pale eggs, soggy bacon, dark toast, grainy cereals, and many juices were laid out for the children to take, but none of it looked appetizing. Emelyn grabbed a slice of toast and bit into it, making a noise of disgust as she tasted how burnt it was. Not even jam would save it.

"Another day, another piece of burnt toast," Emelyn whispered to herself. She grabbed a glass and filled it with orange juice. She gulped it down to hopefully rid her mouth of the burnt taste that persisted to her dismay. She let out a groan as she tasted the orange juice. Every drink at breakfast, including the water, seemed to have a weird taste. By the time dinner would arrive, the odd taste would disappear. Emelyn was never sure if she had gotten used to it by the end of the day or if it just went away as if by magic.

After she downed her glass of orange juice, she dropped it in the sink and threw her half-eaten piece of toast away. Normally she would stay behind to wash her glass, but the boys were on cleaning duty that week. Perhaps dinner will be better, she thought bitterly as she left the kitchen and climbed the stairs so that she could head into the library.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she turned around to see if it looked as though there were any movement from the girl's dorms. She listened carefully as she walked to the library door to see if she could hear any change. With a sigh, she turned the knob of the library door and entered.

The library was one of Emelyn's favorite places in the children's home. Most of the children were fascinated by their brand-new computer room. They spent most of their time there or downstairs in the living area watching television. Emelyn preferred to read, making up fantastic images in her head of the stories she would read. She didn't mind watching the television sometimes, but she couldn't stand the bickering of the younger children as they squabbled over what to watch. Often their inability to select a show meant that a staff member would have to do it for them, and the station would subsequently be the most boring thing they could find.

Emelyn carefully peered through the shelves, trying to find the name of a book that she had never read before. Unfortunately, the library wasn't very large, and she had exhausted most of the books already as many were written for children much younger than she. Unsure of what book to grab, she closed her eyes and reached out and grabbed the first book that she felt. Without looking at the book she snagged, Emelyn decided that she didn't want to wait for her roommates to leave so that she could get changed.

With her shoulders held back and her head held high, Emelyn walked out of the library and over to the girl's dormitories, making a beeline to her room. She was pleasantly surprised to see that only Tracey was currently in the room. Tracey was a lot less brave with the other two not in the room and wouldn't dare to spew as much venom as she typically would at Emelyn. Emelyn placed her book on the dresser without a second glance, took her dressing gown off, and hung it back up on its hook by the door. She then returned to the dresser to take out a comfortable outfit for the day. As Emelyn grabbed her book and made her way to the bathroom, she noticed Tracey was sneering at her. However, she was pleased that the other girl didn't say a word.

Once at the bathroom, Emelyn found her toothbrush, brushed her teeth, and dressed quickly. She found a laundry bag, threw her pajamas in it, labeled it, and tossed it into the pile in one of the hampers. With a quick look in the mirror, Emelyn removed the elastic she wore around her wrist and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She straightened out her shirt, turned her face in all directions to make sure that she had nothing on her face, picked her book up off the sink counter, and went on her way.

Emelyn thought that she would go outside to read, her mood brightening again as she thought about the sun finally being out. However, once she was outside, she soon realized that she wanted to be spending her time indoors.

Though it was still early morning, the outside was already sticky, and Emelyn was none too thrilled. She had grown used to colder weather that came with the rain, but the sun brought the intense July heat. As much as she wanted to head back inside, attempting to go back to her room while her roommates were still getting ready for the day was not an option. Resigned to being outdoors for a while, Emelyn found a shady spot underneath one of the tall oak trees and began to read.

It wasn't until around noon that Emelyn could finally return to her room. She practically ran back into the building as if she would be able to dodge the sun that sat high in the cloudless sky. She felt her muscles loosen up as she quickly ran up the stairs to the second floor and back to the dormitories. She did a quick look at her room, trying to determine if anyone would be coming back soon, and did a small jump for joy as she realized they would be out for the day.

Emelyn tossed her book on top of her bed near her pillow, climbed quickly up the ladder, and threw herself in the bunk, her arms spread wide as she landed on her mattress. She let out a happy sigh as she crawled over to her pillow and grabbed the book she was reading, clutching it to her chest as she rolled over onto her back. Finally, she thought to herself. She propped her pillow up against her headboard and began to read again.

During her reading, Emelyn had started to lose focus and began to daydream. Though her eyes were moving across the page, she was no longer taking in the words. Instead, she thought about how her life would be once she left the children's home. She wondered what she would be when she became an adult and lived on her own. Perhaps I'll be a lawyer, she thought to herself. Or a teacher. While she wasn't sure what she would be, she was convinced that anything would be better than the life she was living now.

Suddenly, Emelyn found herself being pulled out of her daydream as she thought she heard a noise. She sat up in her bed, turning her book upside down on her current page, listening carefully to hear if it was one of her roommates coming back. She slowly turned her book back around, still listening, and started to read again. After not hearing any noise for a few minutes, she laid back on her pillow once more.

Tap, tap, tap.

Emelyn sat back up again. This time she knew that she had heard a noise, but she wasn't sure where it was coming from. Again, the sound stopped. Emelyn leaned back against her pillow once more, but she didn't try to begin reading again this time.

Tap, tap, tap.

She noticed, with a frown, that the noise sounded very close by, but she had no idea what the sound actually was. It wasn't a sound that she heard usually, but it still seemed familiar to her. Almost as if she had made the sound herself once before.

Tap, tap, tap.

Emelyn scanned the empty room, trying to discover the source of the noise. With her brow furrowed, she thought hard about the sound she was hearing and realized suddenly that it sounded exactly like –

Tap, tap, tap.

Emelyn looked over at the window and saw a large tan-colored bird with a tall facing tapping its beak on the glass. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at it and was surprised to see that it carried a rather large envelope in its beak. Emelyn had never seen such a sight before, and she had certainly never seen an owl up close.

The owl appeared to have seen that Emelyn had noticed it. It began to tap on the glass almost in a feverish manner. It ruffled its feather and stuck out its neck as if it was prepared to shove itself through the windowpane.

Not wanting the bird to hurt itself, Emelyn closed her book and climbed down from her bunk. She quickly opened the window and let out a yelp as the owl flew into the room, landing on the small table that stood next to the door. Emelyn immediately clasped her hands over her mouth, hoping that no one had heard her.

She watched as the owl stretched its neck out to her again, but she couldn't find the willpower to move from her spot. As it realized Emelyn had no intention of moving from where she was, it ruffled its feathers again in annoyance and dropped the envelope on the table. It regarded Emelyn for a moment with its dark eyes and flew back out the open window with a low hoot.

Emelyn rushed over to the open window and closed it quickly, bending low to watch as the owl soared high into the sky. "What the bloody hell just happened?" Emelyn asked herself, putting her hands on the top of her head as if she had imagined the whole thing.

She turned back around and looked at the table, surprised to see that the envelope was still there. Emelyn closed her eyes and pinched herself hard on her arm to ensure that she hadn't fallen asleep and was dreaming. As she felt the shooting pain of her pinch, she opened her eyes back up in shock. She immediately found herself staring at the envelope again.

Emelyn walked over to the table cautiously as if the envelope was about to burst into flames and explode. As she got closer, she gasped as she read the writing on the front of the envelope.

Emelyn Theodosia Nickels

St. Nicholas Children's Home

The Upper Bunk of Room 10

York

Emelyn let out a laugh of disbelief as she picked up the envelope, holding it an arms-length away. "There is no bloody way," she said. She ran her thumbs over the front of the envelope as she held it, realizing that the envelope was not in ordinary paper. It was a paper-like consistency, but it felt softer and rougher at the same time and had a creamy color.

After realizing the envelope wouldn't explode into flames, she brought it closer to her face. She flipped it around and was surprised to see that the envelope was held closed by a wax seal. She ran a finger over the raised surface of the dark red seal, taking in the flourishing banner and crest. Emelyn leaned in a little closer, taking in the four animals in the crest – a lion, a snake, a badger, and an eagle. After taking another look at the front and rereading her name, she lifted the seal and removed the envelope's contents.

"Hogwarts School of… Witchcraft and Wizardry," Emelyn read aloud as she looked at the letter. "What's a Hogwarts?" Emelyn was sure someone was playing a very odd prank on her just by the name alone. There was no such thing. As she continued reading, her eyes grew wider and wider.

"A wand?" Emelyn scoffed and said to herself. She turned back around to face the window and began to laugh. "This is absolute rubbish. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I can only imagine which of the gits here came up with this one." She folded up the letter in her hand and placed it back in the envelope.

Emelyn shook her head and finally locked the window, wondering how someone had managed to train an owl to fly to her room. She imagined that one of the boys had managed to find a zookeeper on one of their outings who was insane enough to give it a try. She laughed to herself as she turned back around to place the envelope back on the table. When she turned around, she jumped and let out a yelp as a curly grey head was staring at her from around the corner.

"Is that a Hogwarts letter you have in your hand, dear?" asked the curly-haired woman.

"I…yes, it is," Emelyn said, startled.

"Is it addressed to you?"

Emelyn nodded. The small grey woman nodded in return.

"Well, it appears as though you're the only one from here this year. Such a shame. There have been so many Squibs since the war." The woman let out a sigh, her expression sad for only a moment. She then gave Emelyn a bright smile.

"I'm sorry, what's a Squib?" Emelyn asked. Squib? War? What is this woman on about? Emelyn thought to herself.

"Ah, well, you wouldn't know right at this moment, would you?" The woman let out a chuckle. "Come along, dear. We have to meet with Mr. Ward. What did you say your name was, again?"

"I didn't," Emelyn said slowly. "It's Emelyn."

"Right you are, Miss Emelyn! Come along now, follow me! Bring your letter with you! That's very important."

In a wave of curls, the woman's floating head disappeared. Emelyn remained rooted to her spot, unsure of whether to follow the woman or not. Suddenly the woman's head popped around the corner again. "Well, are you coming? We haven't got all day," she said, her smile still plastered to her face. "Come along, dear. It'll be all right!" The woman's head disappeared again.

Emelyn made a noise, torn between staying where she was and following the woman. She wasn't sure that she wanted to continue the boy's prank, but a part of her started to believe that it was all real. Making her mind up, Emelyn left her room at a brisk walk. She let out a yell as she turned the corner of her room to see the woman standing just in front of her. The woman was not much taller than she and was very round.

"Very good," she exclaimed. "Off we go!" With a slight bounce, the woman turned on her heel and led the way out of the dormitories, with Emelyn close behind.

After a few moments of silent walking, Emelyn realized that she had seen the woman before. It had been a while since she had seen her, but she seemed to have not aged since the last time she had been to the children's home.

"I'm sorry," Emelyn said, rushing to keep up with the sprightly old woman as they walked down the stairs. "But I have no idea who you are."

"No worries, my dear," the woman said as they reached the bottom landing. "My name is Irma Bryce. I'm a liaison for Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore, appointed by the Ministry of Magic, to help maintain the record books of all magical children. My job is to find out who will be potentially attending Hogwarts while in the care of a children's home. Normally we have a fair lot of you, but it appears as though you're the only lucky duckling who has received a letter thus far this year."

The woman suddenly stopped, which caused Emelyn to nearly run into her. "A lot is going to change for you now that you've received your letter," she said brightly. "I'll have a few more stops today to see if any letters have arrived, but my job appears to be very easy this year.

"What do you mean 'things are going to change?'" Emelyn asked the woman. Emelyn was feeling thoroughly confused by everything that she was saying.

"Yes, my dear! Now let's move along." The woman turned around again, moving quickly in the direction of Mr. Ward's office. When they finally arrived in front of his office door, Irma Bryce rapped rhythmically on his door window.

"Come in," called Ward's gruff voice on the other side of the door. Irma took a look back at Emelyn, her smile still wide, straightened her blouse, and opened the door.

"We only have one this year, Broderick," she said, ushering Emelyn into the room quickly.

Broderick Ward was a stern-looking man, and he looked large and imposing as he sat at his desk. He had a massive mustache, a thick beard, and long hair pulled back into a ponytail. Emelyn noticed that he appeared to be writing something down with an enormous feather that he was holding in his hand. As he wrote, he would snort as the large feather would threaten to find its way into his nose as it tickled his mustache.

"This bloody thing is way too large," he whispered to himself as he placed the feather into a jar of a dark substance and finally looked up. "I'll have to pick up a new one the next time I'm in Diagon Alley."

"I had a feeling it would be you," he said, regarding Emelyn for a moment. He turned to look at Irma with a small nod. "I imagine that will be all I need from you today, Irma. Thank you for coming by."

"It's always a pleasure," Irma said. She gently pushed Emelyn towards one of the chairs in front of Mr. Ward's desk. "Same time next year, I would imagine?"

"Same time next year," he replied.

"It was wonderful meeting you, Miss Emelyn," Irma said, gently pressing Emelyn into a chair and taking her hand for a moment. "You are going to love Hogwarts."

With a wave to Broderick, the woman spun around on the spot and disappeared out of thin air with a loud crack.

Emelyn stared at the spot where Irma had just stood and looked back over at Mr. Ward, absolutely positive that she had only imagined what just happened. Either a very elaborate prank was being played on her, or she was going mad. She wasn't sure which option seemed more logical at the moment.

"She Disapparated. It's a method of travel in our world," Mr. Ward said, answering Emelyn's unasked question. "One year, I'll remember to tell her to not do that right away. Alas, it is a quicker way of travel and less terrifying than the Floo network."

"I'm sorry, what?" Emelyn asked, finally finding her voice. She was struggling to keep up with the things being said to her.

"I apologize that it's a lot of information in a short amount of time. May I see your letter for a moment? I believe that you have an important decision to make, and I believe that you need to make it today." Broderick Ward held his hand out, patiently waiting to receive Emelyn's letter.

Emelyn quickly handed him the envelope that she had forgotten she had in her hand. She watched as he pulled the letter out of the envelope and read it.

"Still July thirty-first, I see, but it's better to let them know now," he said almost to himself. "Well, then, Miss Nickels, will you be attending?" Ward placed the envelope on his desk and reached into one of his desk drawers to grab something. He pulled out a sheet of paper that looked similar to the material that her letter was made out of. He picked up the feather that sat on his desk and looked at her expectantly.

"I…attend where?" Emelyn asked, confused.

"Hogwarts, like the letter said," Ward replied. "I have to send them a letter to inform them whether or not you'll be attending.

"I don't understand," Emelyn said. "This has to all be a joke, right? Which one of the boys put you up to this?"

Ward's face became more serious as he surveyed Emelyn. "It's not a joke."

Emelyn let out a nervous laugh. "It has to be a joke. I can't be a witch. How would I even attend? Witches aren't real."

Ward heaved a heavy sigh and placed the feather back into the jar. He leaned forward in his seat and clasped his hands in front of him on his desk.

"I know that none of this makes sense right now," he said, taking a moment to think about how he wanted to proceed. "Hogwarts is one of the oldest schools for witchcraft and wizardry. If you received a letter, you are, in fact, a witch and currently have a place waiting for you. There is a lot to explain, but I'm afraid I won't tell you everything you need to know. Your life is going to move quickly from this point on. However, if you choose to not attend, then you will have absolutely no recollection of this moment."

Emelyn sat quietly in her chair, trying to take in Mr. Ward's words, but felt as though her head was about to explode in on itself in confusion.

Ward pulled the feather out of the jar again and held it above the paper on his desk. "I'll ask you again, Miss Nickels, and this time I will need an answer. Will you be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

Emelyn raised her eyebrows at Mr. Ward, trying to think quickly. "I…well, sure," she spluttered. "But Mr. Ward, I don't understand -"

Broderick Ward held his hand up that wasn't holding the feather to silence Emelyn and gave her a rare smile. He looked down at the paper on his desk and scrawled a short letter. Ward folded the letter carefully, placed it down, and opened another drawer. This time he pulled out an ornate-looking stick. Emelyn watched in fascination as he tapped the stick to a tall lavender-colored candle sitting on his desk. She let out a small gasp as the wick lit up in a flame. Ward placed the stick down close to him and watched the candle.

After a few moments of silence, he murmured something quietly to himself and nodded as though pleased with what he was seeing. He went into his desk and pulled out what looked like a metal stamp. He flipped the letter over to expose the seam, picked up the candle, and let the wax drip out onto the edge, similar to the envelope. When a small coin amount of wax was spilled onto the paper, he put the candle back down and dropped the metal stamp into the wax. Emelyn watched in fascination as the wax grew thin and spread out around the sides.

They remained quiet for a few moments more, Emelyn watching to see if anything else would happen. She jumped as Ward let out a sharp whistle, and a small brown creature flew into the room through the open window and dropped down to Ward's desk. Emelyn was more than surprised to see her second owl of the day. It sat prettily in front of her, and she looked over at the candle that seemed to have been snuffed out. The candle had to have been put out by the breeze of its wings as it entered.

"You know where to bring this, Malachi. Safe journeys," Ward said, holding the envelope up for the bird to take into its beak. As fast as the owl had flown in was as quickly as the bird had flown back out of the room. "He's a fast one." Ward looked over at Emelyn, starting to put things back into his desk.

"This is all real? Really real? And I'm not going mad?" Emelyn sat back in the chair, holding her hands to her head. She started getting a headache as she tried to process everything said.

"It's all real," Ward said softly, giving her another small smile. "I know that it's a lot in a short amount of time. We just feel you shouldn't know the truth until you receive your letter. Everyone here comes from a wizarding family to some degree."

Ward stood up suddenly, walked over to the window, and stared outside. "It's a hot day, isn't it?" he said, almost to himself. "Malachi will enjoy being outside for a little while." He carefully closed the window but remained where she stood. "Unfortunately, not everyone's magical powers can break through and be strong enough to be accepted into Hogwarts. We are just one of several facilities for magical children, but we currently house the most. I'm just as surprised as Mrs. Bryce that you've been the only name so far this year."

"Why is that a surprise? You just said that not everyone's powers break through."

"After the war, and honestly even during it, a lot of things changed in our world, Miss Nickels. Families were having as many children as they could, afraid that their names would die out. More wizarding families were marrying Muggles, hoping to avoid the mess and the dangers involved. Not all children were able to carry on their family's magical abilities."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magical folk. You receiving your letter means that you are a witch, just as much as I am a wizard, and that you'll be continuing on a very long legacy in our world. You will attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and learn how to hone your magic and gain skills that you never thought possible."

Ward turned to look at Emelyn and leaned back against the small bookcase underneath the window.

"Right now, Malachi is on his way to Hogwarts to give your response to the headmistress of the school, Professor McGonagall, so that she can make sure that your spot is saved. She will be sitting down in Professor Dumbledore's office come August first and making sure that the castle is ready for all of their newcomers. You will visit Diagon Alley to pick up your school things, and on September first, you will be embarking on the biggest adventure of your life. Instead of returning to a Muggle school where you've been learning things such as Muggle math and history, you will be learning things such as arithmancy and our magical history."

Ward moved to sit back down at his desk, once again clasping his hands in front of him, his eyes boring into hers.

"I am not able to tell you everything that you need to know, but I will have to inform you of this. Due to you receiving your letter, you will be a student at the esteemed Hogwarts, but you will also no longer be permitted at this facility. You will be moved to a new location before the school year's start."

"Where am I supposed to go?" Emelyn asked, suddenly more nervous and confused than before. "I don't have anywhere to go."

"Most of the children in our care are adopted into a wizarding family. We have a network of very well vetted families who enjoy taking in new magical children. You will be very well taken care of and will have a family of your own. You will be moved to your new home as soon as that home is found."

Emelyn just stared at Ward with a blank look. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I cannot guarantee the life you are going to live when you are no longer in our care, but I can promise you that your life is going to change. It will not be easy, but the world you are about to enter is unlike anything you have ever experienced. You have been in our care since you were very young, so you wouldn't remember what your life was like outside of these walls, but it was magical."

Ward reached down to Emelyn's letter that sat idly on his desk and held it out for her to take. Emelyn took her letter back with shaking hands and looked down at it, turning it slowly in her hands.

"You are on a new journey now, Miss Nickels. You are a witch, and you are destined for great things."

a/n: So, we back. It's been about 7 months since I decided to originally take the fic down. It was suffering from some major plagiarism issues at the time - being ripped to one of those overseas mirroring sites, full passages lifted by other writers, and, my personal favorite - people using some of my characters without ever telling me. For such a small writer, it was startling, and I wasn't expecting it. I was deeply uncomfortable with the state of the fanfiction community, especially in the middle of rewriting this series in a way that it was completely my own. I didn't feel like I could use my own source material in a way that the rewrite could ever fit in the world.

But this story has given me FIVE! years of incredible memories and the person I was back in 2019 is a completely different person now. In the span of five years my life has literally changed, but this is the one thing that always remained consistent.

After a lot of thinking and late-night debates, on the five year anniversary of the story's beginning, I decided to bring the story back. Week by week, this story will be retold and hopefully bring the same level of hope and inspiration that it brought the first time around.

So, for those who are returning to this story all over again and are (hopefully) cheering after the many messages I've received asking for this story to be reposted - welcome back.

For those who are new - welcome! I hope that you appreciate this particular book as it was written several years ago.

And, for all of my late night readers - good night.
For all of my readers just starting their day - good morning.
For those who needed a little afternoon break - I hope that you've had a good day and continue to do so.

xoxo,
Moony