The unexpected Letter
Chapter 1- The unexpected Letter-
Hermione Granger always knew she was different. While other children played with friends outside, watched cartoons and clung to toys, she was inside diving into books and dreaming of worlds that didn’t exist. She also loved to study and going to school which also made her a tad different than most children her age. Her parents were proud of their bright and curious daughter, but they also wondered what made Hermione so different. Because besides her love for knowledge and books, she also had a secret. A secret her parents had told her to keep just to herself. Because Hermione Granger could make it snow out of nowhere, and when she was feeling cold, she could create a small fire inside her hands which kept her warm. All in all, Hermione Granger knew she was different, and her deepest desire was to know why.
On the sunny Monday morning, in late July, when this story starts, Hermione was studying a book about ancient mythologies, when she heard a noise on her window. It sounded like someone was knocking on her window, which couldn’t be, because her room was upstairs, high above the ground. When she saw what was sitting in front of her window she couldn’t believe it. A tall brown owl, perched on the sill, with a letter clutched in its beak. A deep curiosity took hold of her which led her to open her window for the wild animal to fly in. She couldn’t believe her eye when the owl flew in, sat on her desk, dropping the letter of, like a professional delivery and then flying off.
With trembling fingers Hermione reached for the letter. The envelope was made of a thick creamy parchment, sealed with wax symbol. On the front of the envelope there was her address, written in green ink.
Ms H.Granger
The Bedroom at the Top of the Stairs
8 Heathgate
Hampstead Garden Suburb
London
She couldn’t believe her eyes. How did the person send her a letter with an owl, knew where her bedroom was? With a weird feeling in her gut, she opened the letter.
Dear Miss Granger,
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 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Additionally, a representative from Hogwarts will visit your home on 30 July at 3 PM to provide further information and answer any questions you may have.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
It couldn’t be. There weren’t such things as magic and a wizarding school. Hermione was sure she was dreaming or imagining it. She pinched herself hard, trying to wake up, but she didn’t. She read the letter again and again. Studying every word, every sentence. What was this? Was this a joke? She bet the girls from school who kept bullying here somehow made this joke reality. This would be it, there wasn’t any other logical explanation.
Although Hermione didn’t tell her parents about the letter, and although she was sure this was a mean joke, she kept it. The next few days she got to work, she studied everything she could find on training owls to deliver letters and everything she could find on magic. But all she found was what she already believed to be true: magic wasn’t real, and normally owls weren’t able to deliver letters.
If this was a joke, it was good one, well planed and well executed. When the holidays where over she would get revenge. Hermione was in a foul mood and even a visit to her favourite bookstore with her mother couldn’t lift her spirits.
If magic was real, she kept thinking, it would explain her curious talents. It would also explain why she always felt so different to everybody. So she waited for 30 July, somehow still hoping that the letter might still be true after all, but her hopes were small to non existing.
And then finally the day came. On 30 July she woke up early, filled with a mic of excitement and anxiety. Today was the day either her life changed forever or the day she would decide on the revenge she would take. Although Hermione tried to think of something different until 3 PM she couldn’t, she paced in her bedroom up and down and couldn’t even get herself to reading the latest book about magic in the middle ages, that she was studying.
At precisely 3 PM though, she looked at the clock in her room, and is if time went it felt like eternity, this was it. This was the moment, now or never. Was she a witch? Was magic real? And then the doorbell rang.
A chill went down her spine. Coud it really be? She heard her mother Jane Granger open the door.
“Hello, what can I do for you?” Hermione heard her mother saying.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Granger. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. May I come in?”