Chapter One: Hogwarts Letter

6 Ravenside, Green Field Road, Edmonton, London.

It was dawn, and the house was quiet from the outside but on the inside, it was just as lively as always. The two-story house with the walls painted blue, and a little garden in the backyard. A mother rushed around the kitchen getting breakfast and her daughter's lunch box ready, all while the twelve-year-old girl ran out of the bathroom and started getting dressed in her uniform. A typical morning for a typical muggle family living in a typical muggle town. Edmonton was a small and friendly town. Elizabeth Riddle was nine months pregnant when she moved into this house bought for her by her distant relatives, Edward and Laura Boot. They were like parents to her, people who were closer to her than her real parents. Living as a single mother was hard but having a daughter as sweet as Anastasia Riddle had been a relief in Elizabeth's life. Edward and Laura would often visit the mother-daughter duo while at other times the mother and daughter would travel to the Boot couple's house. That was all the family Anastasia grew up knowing about. But those weren't the only people in their lives. Like mother like daughter, Elizabeth was very popular among the townspeople, while Anastasia was a popular student in her school. She was loved by all. Anastasia had only questioned about the lack of a father and other family members a few times, those were the times that Elizabeth had shown weakness in her storming blue eyes, the sadness, silence and lack of answers were all Anastasia needed to back away. The little girl was understanding enough not to question her mother again on the topic as she grew up, she didn't like the flicker of sadness capsulated in her mother's eyes.

Elizabeth is 33 years old now, still youthful with a lean figure and fair skin. Her most distinctive feature was her eyes, even her beautiful blonde curls couldn't match that bright blue gaze. Anastasia possessed her mother's eyes though, a hint of deep darkness sat at the edge of her irises, and her hairs were brown-black, darker shades, the complete opposite of her mother. Maybe, in that aspect, was she like her father? That was the theory Anastasia always grew up with but she had never dared confirm.

The thought struck the twelve-year-old once again as she gazed at herself in the mirror in her room, pushing her black locks back before running downstairs, now dressed and ready.

Confirming her suspicions, there she was, her mother, once again staring out of the window. Her mother has been like this for a couple of days and had been the same for a couple of days last year at the end of the summer. There were various occasions on which Anastasia found Elizabeth staring off worriedly or weirdly or sometimes lost. Sometimes by the window, sometimes by the door, on the porch, in the garden, and even by the fireplace. As if she was trying to hide something or rather trying to hide from something. From someone... But Anastasia never imagined that someone would be an innocent-looking brown owl. Her mother's movements were quick as the owl flew by the window, stopping right outside it as Anastasia's eyes went wide. It was as if the owl could understand. But maybe it couldn't because it wasn't going away even with Elizabeth's rapid attempts to shoo it. Anastasia noticed the letter in its beak and this time, his attention seemed to be turned towards her. He flapped his wings widely as he flew in through the space in the upper corner of the window and headed straight towards Anastasia.

The twelve-year-old panicked and let out a scream as she bent down to her knees, hugging her head, and bracing herself for an attack that never came. Instead, a soft thud reached her ears as the letter the owl carried fell in front of her. She unwrapped her arms and stared confusedly at the letter.

"Anastasia!" Elizabeth gasped as she turned to witness the scene. She grasped at the owl to teach it a lesson but it quickly flew past her and left through the same window it had flown in from. Elizabeth was feeling a cocktail of sadness and anger. The truth was now out and in her daughter's hands. The truth she'd hidden last year and had planned to hide this year. Why? You may ask. It was simply the love of a mother that wanted to keep her child safe.

"What is this?" Anastasia asked sounding as confused as she looked as she glanced up from the envelope to her mother. "What is the meaning of this? The owl? It's weird… you… you are being weird…"

"Honey, honey, I can explain, calm down," Elizabeth rushed forward to where her daughter stood and led her to the couch, "sit." She said as she sat herself down next to Anastasia before giving the envelope a wary glance. "That is a letter from Hogwarts, a magical school for witches and wizards," Elizabeth's explanation was met with laughter.

Anastasia laughed, shaking her head, "You are kidding, right? Okay, what are you hiding? really?" The daughter raised an eyebrow at her mother before looking down at the sealed envelope, "or maybe I should just open the letter!" She exclaimed.

Elizabeth didn't stop her, it was of no use, she knew.

She would watch silently as Anastasia opened the sealed envelope and pulled out a neatly folded letter before opening and reading its contents. The girl's eyes only widened as she read, it was really a letter from a school called Hogwarts. Was this a prank? Her mother had never pranked her before. Why would she start now? Was it real? Was magic real? That was impossible. Or… Was it?

"Mom, is this a prank?" Anastasia asked against her better judgment. She needed to be sure.

Elizabeth sighed, "wait here," She said to her daughter as she rose to her feet and then disappeared upstairs. When Elizabeth returned she was holding a stick in her hand. One flick with the stick and the light from the bulb was gone, another flick and the light was back on. Another flick and suddenly Anastasia found herself being raised into the air, not her, but the sofa she was sitting on. Slowly she was brought back down as smoothly as she was raised, "This is a wand, a medium of performing magic."

Anastasia was speechless, awestruck, or maybe just struck. She was trying to process it, it was real. Magic was real. After the silence and reality settled in, Anastasia couldn't stop herself and bombarded her mother with questions, "What.. so what... I go to this school and learn. Learn magic? But I've never done it before. How come I never knew you could do magic? Why did you hide it from me?"

"Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it's where I learned magic, you never did it because you never knew, but you are a witch, Anna," Elizabeth said softly as she reached forward to stroke her daughter's cheek, "Hogwarts accepts students at the age of eleven and for the next seven years they learn magic. Magic just isn't limited to us or to Hogwarts." The mother spoke her voice steady as she explained to her daughter, "It's everywhere, there is a whole world of witches and wizards."

Anastasia listened quietly, taking all of it in. She may be young but she was mature enough for her age. Being fatherless, and watching your mother struggle alone, for you, does that. "Eleven years?" Anastasia questioned and then it struck her. Her mother's odd behaviour last year. "My letter came last year too. Didn't it?" She asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "But you have to understand, as wonderful as the wizarding world is, it's just as dangerous if not more! Especially for you. All the hiding and the lies were to keep you safe." She said as her hand slid down to grip her daughter's hand.

"What kind of danger?" Anastasia asked, frowning, confused and curious.

Elizabeth could only shake her head, "I will explain everything to you when the time is right, but right now, is not the right time." She sighed before glancing at her daughter, a pleading look in her eyes, "Right now all I can say is that I want you to stay away from the wizarding world and Hogwarts." Elizabeth swallowed the lump in her throat "But if you still want to attend Hogwarts, I won't stop you." She said and it was clear by her voice and words that she was almost pleading for her daughter to agree not to attend Hogwarts.

But, could Anastasia really give up on a world this fascinating? Especially now that she learned about it? It was where her mother had learned all she knew. And her father? Was he at Hogwarts too? Was he in the Wizarding world? Maybe her answers lay in a world she had never seen before. Could she give up on those answers?

"I want to go to Hogwarts,"