"Surprise!"

Aaria squealed as her family appeared, holding balloons and presents. Daries, the oldest brother, was holding a cake.

Aaria's mum came over and hugged her. "Eleven! Oh, mercy me!" She cried. Aaria laughed. Her father clapped her on the back and gave her a small wrapped box.

"Happy birthday, hun," he said, tears in his coco eyes.

Aaria gasped as she opened the box. Inside was a small, slender tawny rat. She picked it up and held it close, but not too tight.

"Oh, Ma! Pa! Thank you so much!"

Her seven other siblings, four brothers and three sisters, gave her their presents. It was a sea of wrapping paper, balloons, and lots of thick, curly red hair.

Finally, when everyone was full from cake and Ma's famous pigs in a blanket, all the Wendleson family rested. Ma and Pa were close to sleep in their armchairs, while Aaria played with her new presents with her siblings.

As she was helping Mave build a paper doll, there was a knock on the door.

Ma jolted awake and went to see who it was, followed closely by Pa. Aaria resisted her usual urge not to eavesdrop. But that doesn't mean she didn't hear the shouting.

Most of the kids in the room got quiet, while Mave, Gideon, and Fransisca, the three youngest, kept playing.

Finally Ma and Pa came back in. Behind them was a tall slender pale man with long black hair and robes. Aaria couldn't tell whether his eyes really were black or just a really dark brown.

"Aaria," Ma said, her voice shaky, "This man would like to speak to you."

Aaria got up slowly, patting Mave on the head. She walked over to them. Her neck hurt from looking all the way up at the tall man, and she once again cursed her small size.

The man looked down at her, his face hardened into a frown. Aaria gulped. Normally, she would have drowned him in questions. But something about him seemed to seal her mouth.

"Come with me," he said, his voice smooth and deep. He went into the kitchen, Aaria following. They sat down at the table.

"Aaria," the man began, "Has anything strange happened to you? At any point in your life?"

"Oh yes! Many things! There was this one time, Gunter was reading! I thought it was the craziest thing in the world, until I learned that his mum was punishing him. But then I thought, why was reading a punishment? I love reading! I could spend hours in a library! Years maybe! But Gunter? Well, I guess it kind of makes sense. He might only last an estimate of two minutes in there, especially our public library. He says it smells like cats, but I like the smell. He also hates Ms. Em, the librarian. But I love her! One time she-"

"Enough."

Aaria stopped imidiatly. The man said it with such a harsh tone that it silenced her, which was very hard to do. The man pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"I mean, Miss Wendleson, has anything abnormal happened? Such as, say, this?" He took out a long slender stick and whispered something. Aaria gasped as the tip of the stick began to glow.

"Well, one time I punched Rylan Dol in the face while my hand was on fire."

The man's eyebrows raised as if surprised for a moment, but finally he said, "Miss Wendleson, I-"

"Who are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who. Are. You. You can do magic! But magic isn't real!"

"Oh, Miss Wendleson, I assure you. Magic is real. I am Professor Snape."

"Professor's your first name?"

Professor Snape sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened then he said, "No. My first name is Severus. But I am a professor at Hogwarts, so I am called Professor Snape out of respect."

"Alrighty, Severus Professor Snape. What were you going to tell me?" Aaria asked, kicking her legs back and forth under the table.

"Stop that." She stopped kicking. "Miss Wendleson. You are not like other children in your village. You are special. You, Aaria Wendleson, are a witch."

If Aaria had kept kicking, she would have stopped now. A witch?

"You mean when I'm older I turn evil, ride a broomstick, get hung for doing witchy things, turn a boy into an immortal cat, and then years later another boy brings me and two of my sisters back to life and we do more witchy things and eventually go to hell?"

"Where... What..."

"It's a story Ma told me called Hocus Pocus."

"Well, Miss Wendleson, only one part of that is true. You will ride a broomstick, if you are on your House's Quidditch team. But the rest is merely Muggle rubbish. In this school, you will learn how to survive in the wizarding world, and learn spells and charms and other important things."

"What do you teach?"

"Potions."

"You mean like 'bubble bubble toil and rubble' or whatever?"

"No. I mean like Amortentia-"

"What's that?"

"No more questions, or I will glue your mouth shut with my wand or so help me."

Is was silent. Aaria begged to ask how Severus a wand, but his threat seemed so genuine that she obeyed.

"Miss Wendleson," Severus started, "You are a witch. That being, you have been called to attend Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your first day is September 1, three days from now. I suggest you pack your things, although you won't need much."

"Wait.... What? I'm going to leave my family and everything I've known for eleven years to go to a school for magic?"

"I wish to not put it this way, but yes. I'm afraid so."

"Seems legit."

Severus rolled his eyes and stood up. Aaria did the same. Together they went into the loving room. Everyone was quiet, Pa held Ma's hand. Avery, the oldest daughter, was whispering with Mave, helping her with a toy train.

Everyone looked up when Aaria and Severus entered.

Severus must have already talked to her parents, for they stood up, tears in their eyes. "Ready to pack your things?" Pa asked shakily. Aaria nodded and went off upstairs.

Why me? She thought as she was fitting her favorite blouse in the small trunk. Why do I have to leave? And with a man who seems to want nothing to do with me?

Finally, setting her new rat Hickory on her shoulder and grabbing her trunk, she went downstairs. It was once again awkwardly quiet.

"I'm ready," she whispered. Severus, Ma, and Pa came to her.

"Alrighty. Aaria, I want you to write ever chance you get. We love you so much," Ma said, hugging her tight. "You be a good girl. Listen to Professor Snape." Pa hugged her also, and they both stepped back.

"Ready?" Severus asked. Aaria nodded silently and waved goodbye to her family. Who knew when she was going to see them again?

Together Severus and Aaria walked down the streets of the small town of Glendök. Severus ignored the curious and questioning looks from villagers, and kept trudging on.

Finally they arrived at the train station. They were about to board the train to London, when a call made Aaria freeze.

"Hey, look! It's Freak and Greasy! Finally found yourself a friend, Freak? I bet you're paying him to be around you!"

Aaria turned to see Gunter, fifteen years old now, walking towards her. He seemed to have gathered up more goons, for the pack behind him was bigger than usual.

Aaria clenched her fist, and the small flicker of a flame appeared. However, Severus grabbed her hand as a warning, and it died away. He led her onto the train.

"You must learn to control your powers," he said as they sat down in a compartment.

"He's right. I am a freak."

"Nonsense. You are more powerful than him. And now that you know, you can learn to control your magic, and become even more powerful."

When Aaria said nothing, he pursed his lips, and said "What if I told you that you have powers unusual in even the wizarding world?"

The small redhead looked up. "What do you mean?"

Severus smiled. It was a small smile, but it was still a smile.

"What I mean is, not very many wizards or witches can use their hands for magic. I only remember one. You are a lot like her, Aaria. I went to school with her. She was the only friend I had." Severus' voice became tight. Aaria listened carefully.

"Just like you, she was smart, curious, and had a highly short temper. She was even a redhead," he said. Aaria smiled.

"The first day I met her, she gave me a daisy that sprouted up from the palm of her hand. Not even Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in the world, can do that!"

"But doesn't that make me even more of a freak? If even wizards and witches can't do magic with their hands, then I'm more different then I thought." Severus brushed a strand of curly red hair from her face, and murmered, "You are not a freak. You may be different, but sometimes that's a good thing."

"Then what am I?" Aaria whimpered.

"You are a lion."