Chapter 1
A witch! She was a witch! Or at least that's what the kind old lady had told her and her parents. She had come knocking on their door a day after Morgan's 11th birthday, in the chill of January. She was tall and stern-looking, but her eyes shone with motherly kindness. Her long, green coat almost swept the snow underneath and her broad, pointed hat looked just like those witches' hats on TV. Morgan had found it particularly funny.
As she stepped inside, she introduced herself as Minerva McGonagall, the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, a school for witchcraft. At first, Morgan's parents thought this was a weird joke, but then the woman pulled out a delicate-looking stick- a wand- and, to Morgan's surprise and awe, flicked it once, causing colorful sparks to shoot from its tip, said sparks engulfing the tea tray her mother had prepared, and levitating a cup for each of them. Even the pot itself flew in the air and poured tea into the cups! The whole family had been rendered speechless.
That had been a week ago. Professor McGonagall had handed Morgan an acceptance letter and went on to explain how she, a simple child, was actually a witch and was to attend this Hogwarts school from September 1st. The old woman had also brought books with her, about magic in general, about the world Morgan never knew existed, about potions and plants and animals and history- anything that could catch the girl's attention. Now the professor had returned and was sweetly listening to Morgan's parents talk about raising her- all the instances where she'd shown signs of magic now having an explication. They seemed very proud and happy for their daughter. Speaking of the daughter, she was upstairs in her room, immersed in three books at the same time. Professor McGonagall had promised to bring her more books as the year progressed, on any topic she found most interesting. But honestly, she found them all fascinating! She wanted to learn as much as possible about this new world she was about to enter, curiosity gnawing at her insistently until she'd pick up a book and get lost in its words. And so the days passed, and the weeks.
Soon months had flown by and it was time for departure. Professor McGonagall had come a few days prior to take Morgan shopping. She had found this strange at first until they got to Diagon Alley and understood- yeah, her parents would have never been able to comprehend that place. It took a whole day to buy everything necessary for the school year and by the time the witch had brought her back home, she was dead tired. The old witch had instructed her parents on how to reach the Hogwarts train, and so, the next day, the little family stepped onto the overcrowded platform.
"Please be careful and write to us as soon as you have time!" Morgan's mother fumbled with her daughter's jacket for the up-tenth time, anxiety clearly written on every line of her furrowed brows.
"Yes, mother, I will! I'll be fine... you know me." Morgan hugged her mother tightly as reassurance.
"Don't let anyone give you weird potions or something-" her father ruffled her golden hair chuckling. She only rolled her eyes at that but hugged him all the same.
The sound of the train's horn interrupted whatever else her parents still wanted to say. She quickly took her trunk and ran towards the massive metal giant, waving at her parents after reaching one of the doors.
"Bye!"
"Take care, sweetie!"
"Write to us! Don't forget!"
With a thick puff of smoke, the train started moving, slowly exiting the station. Morgan found an empty enough compartment, occupied only by three red-headed boys who looked related.
"Hi, is this place still free or are you waiting for others?" She asked politely, flashing the boys a sweet smile.
One of the younger ones, who were twins she noted, laughed."Sorry, it's already full!"
She raised an eyebrow. Full? There was space for, like, six people, and they were only three.
"Yeah! Full of air!" The other twin chimed in, giggling.
Their older brother just rolled his eyes annoyed."Can't believe mum asked me to take care of you two... Sorry, yes, the compartment is free. You can sit with us if you want. I'm Percy Weasley and these are-"
"Gred!" One twin said.
"Forge!" The other jumped in.
Morgan chuckled at how they mixed their names.
"So Fred and George? Nice to meet you. I'm Morgan. Thanks for letting me stay." She plopped her stuff next to theirs and sat on Percy's side.
"What year are you in?" She asked him.
"Starting my 3rd- and got assigned babysitter duty..." He grumbled that last part while glancing at the twins, who were hunched over a worn book, pointing and giggling at something inside it.
"Wow! What house are you in?" Morgan pressed on with a smile. The guy looked like the smart kind and she wanted to learn as much as possible.
"Gryffindor, of course! Best house all around."
"We'll surely get in it too! Yeah! Can't wait for the sorting!" The twins joined the conversation, talking in such a way it was hard to figure out who was saying what.
"Ugh, Merlin..." Percy groaned exasperated. He didn't seem to like his siblings much.
Morgan giggled. "Is it just you three or do you have more siblings?"
"We're seven. We're the middle kids." Percy said calmly. Talking about his whole family seemed more pleasant to him.
"Yeah! There's-"
"Bill-"
"And Charlie-"
"Percy here-"
"Us!-"
"Ron-"
"And little Ginny."The twins spoke in turns, which Morgan could now follow a bit better. It was still jarring but manageable. Percy just rolled his eyes- they probably did that a lot at home to annoy him. They seemed like the type to do that.
"Woah-! That's a lot of people... I'm alone." She said, a bit shocked.
"You didn't tell us your full name..." Percy casually added.
"Ah, sorry. Morgan Wälder. Didn't think it was important..." She fidgeted a bit with her hands. Was this a custom she hadn't read about?Percy chuckled.
"Hey, it's alright. Nice name by the way- doesn't sound English tho... Nor like any wizarding name I know of. You're muggleborn?" That last sentence sounded less like a question and more like a revelation.
"Yeah... And my father's German." She smiled sweetly. Now she wished she'd read that book about the different wizarding families of Britain...were the Weasleys among them, she wondered.
"Are your parents magic?" She looked at Percy quizzically.
"Mhm. Both of them."
Their conversation was stopped by the arrival of a lady with a trolley filled to the brim with all sorts of sweets and pastries. Morgan's eyes went wide at the sight of the colorful goodies and eagerly went to get as many as she could-.
"You have to pay for them, take only what you know you'll eat," Percy warned her before getting himself a small purple box. The twins had bought another, bigger box that sounded like it had many tiny candies inside.
"Ok... I'll have...uh... One purple box too, and a pumpkin pastry." Morgan told the lady sweetly then paid for her goodies. The lady left.She opened the little box and yelped loudly- a frog had jumped out! Percy caught it quickly and handed it to her, chuckling.
"Chocolate frogs are always eager to get out of their box. Here, ready to eat." He noticed her mortified expression and hastily added. "It's not alive, just enchanted to move. A lot of things in the wizarding world are like this, candy ain't an exception."
"Oh..." that's all she could croak out as she took the now normal-looking chocolate frog from him. Gently, still somewhat scared, she took a small bite- it was the best milk chocolate she had ever tasted! And the figurine was empty inside, just like muggle ones.
"Like it?" Percy asked. "Check the box too- it has collectible cards with important people of the wizarding world."
Oh, that sounded interesting. She quickly ate the rest of the frog and looked into the little box. Surely enough, there was a small card. Taking it out she saw the image of an elderly lady with white hair. The name underneath was: Bathilda Bagshot. More information was written under that- she was a historian and even wrote one of their textbooks! And was still alive! That was so cool.
"Oi, Morgan! Want one?"One of the twins, Fred she guessed from the huge F crocheted onto his sweatshirt, called out to her, holding their box towards her.
"No-" Percy started, but Morgan had already plunged her hand in and got a green-colored bean out.
"What are these?"
"Bertie Bott's every flavour beans!" Fred beamed.
She put the bean in her mouth and started chewing- before spitting it out, face contorted in disgust.
"Ew! What on earth is that taste?! It's like grass! Ew ew ew!" She took a bite out of her pastry to try and get the taste off her tongue. The twins roared with laughter as Percy glared at them.