Pecking on the window has me shooting off the floor and to the glass that hangs above where I slept. A brown owl that looks like it has seen better days flies outside of the window, holding a brown paper sack with some string tied around it. The scene has me shaking my head, slowly walking away from the window till my ankle hits the foot of the dark wooden dresser. I slide down the front of the dresser, landing on the floor with a thud.

"Ugh," one the girls groan from their bed, I think it is Kennedy from what I gathered from hearing them talk last night.

"It isn't time to go to the Great Hall yet. Why are you clanging around?" A different girl groans.

"Sorry!" I reply just as I try to stand up and end up hitting my head on the corner of the dresser making a another loud noise causing more grumbling. "Sorry!" I say a second time.

I slowly stand up and peek to the window, the owl is still there waiting patiently. It taps on the window again when it sees me. When it sees I'm not making a hurry towards the window, it pecks again, more persistantly this time.

"Oh my gosh, open the bloody window! Are you an idiot?" Emelia asks.

"You want me to open it?"

"What else would you do? It is trying to bring someone something," she says in a voice like an adult with no patience talking to a small child.

I click open the metal latch on the window, and the brown owl bursts in. I take the package from the owl and sit it on the wooden dresser. It has my name on it. I pull the twine off and then rip open the brown paper. An envelope sits on top of a box. I break the wax seal of the envelope and pull out the letter.

Dear, Syria

I got the letter from Minerva in the night. Congratulations on making Ravenclaw, dear! You will be the first Ravenclaw in the family. We sure could use some more wisdom in the house! We miss you already love, don't have too much fun that you forget to write to us ever so often, I'm sure Dora would love to hear from you too! I know you will make some of the best friends during your time at Hogwarts; they will last you a lifetime. Ted found a muggle camera, and we thought you could use it to capture all the memories you will be making with your new friends. Don't forget to write when you get a break from work!

Love,

Andromeda

Sitting inside the brown paper is a Polaroid camera and a couple of film rolls. I put the camera, film, and card inside my trunk, buried underneath a pile of clothes. I remove the uniform shirt and skirt and head to the bathroom. I slip on the clothes and go back into the bedroom. Sitting on top of my trunk is my cloak, but now it has the Ravenclaw patch sewn onto it. I pull it on, and my shoes, then grab all of the books and one of the quills I got with Minnie. I balance all of the books in one arm so that I can reach for the door knob. It takes me a minute to find it, as I can't see over the large stack of books that I'm holding. I walk down the stairs and into the common room that I entered last night. I didn't fully appreciate it, but the dome ceiling has blue stained glass with constellations covering the glass. Hanging from the top point of the ceiling are bronze stars and a moon that slowly circles. Everything looks like an artist handcrafted it for a royal castle. Victorian velvet furniture lines the large circular room.

I enter an arched entranceway and go down the staircase. I reach the end of the staircase and circle a balcony that overlooks multiple intertwining sets of stairs. I walk along the balcony till it turns into a long hall. I reach a set of grand doors and I recognize it as the entrance to the Great Hall. I enter and see only a few people at each table. I take a seat at the end of the Ravenclaw table and set down my massive pile of books on the bench beside me. Trays of food instantly appear before me, containing mountains of eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, and beans.

"Hello, Miss Noir," greets a warm voice behind me.

I pull my gaze from the piles of food and look behind me. A man stands, but instead of being tall, he is about my height. He smiles warmly and has kind eyes behind his circular silver glasses.

"Hello," I respond quietly, still mesmerized by the man before me.

"My name is Professor Flitwick. Welcome to Ravenclaw! I'm your head of house for your time while at Hogwarts, and I will be your charms professor. This is your schedule," he explains as he hands me a piece of paper with a list of classes with times and professors' names. "I've heard so many good things about you from Professor McGonagall. I'm so happy to have you in my house. If there are any issues with classes or life at Hogwarts, I'm the person you come to. I will also be your career advisor and help you pick your classes when you get into your older years here."

I nod, taking in the information he is giving.

"The students tend not to start coming to breakfast for another half-hour, but the Great Hall opens early for those who are up or maybe want to see some friends in other houses that can't see in their common room. You are more than welcome to be here as early as you want as long as it is within curfew, but as you can tell, it is mostly professors this early in the morning."

He gives another warm smile before walking away towards the long table where all of the professors are. I spot Minnie making her way to the table with the Gryffindor banner over it. I immediately jump up and run over to her. I fling my arms around her when I reach her, and my face hits her velvet robes.

"Hello, Miss Noir," she greets, and for the first time, I think I hear a hint of a laugh in her voice.

"You were right," I whisper. "I'm not a squib."

"Oh, of course you aren't! Congratulations on making the House of the Wise, but I can't say I'm not jealous Flitwick got you," she responds as if she can't believe the words coming out of my mouth, and she wraps her arms around me.

She hugs me till I let go, and I think it was the first time I had a hug since my past foster family. When I drop my arms she immediately resumed her fast pace towards the end of the Gryffindor table.

I watch from the front of the table as she approaches two red-headed boys who have their heads bent and are taking turns glancing up at Minnie.

"Mr. and Mr. Weasley, I know that there is no way that you would be up at this hour unless it means you are up to something. So go ahead and fix whatever you have planned for another day because can we agree not to start off this term with detention in my classroom?"

"Yes, Minnie," they both say, smiling up at her.

"And I hope whatever trick you had planned had nothing to do with me," she adds while lifting her brow.

"We would never," one twin says.

"We love and appreciate you too much to ever think of doing something like that to our dear head of house," the other twin finishes.

I can tell from where I'm standing that they both are so lying. I roll my eyes and head back to the spot I had taken at the end of the Ravenclaw table.

I mess with my food for a while, while the Grand Hall slowly has more and more students pouring in. I open my schedule and see that my first class is Herbology. I pick at the croissant I took for a little longer till I start to see some students leaving. I pick up my books and exit the Great Hall. Just as I turn the corner, a flood of water falls on me, leaving me gasping for air. I hear people laughing down the hall.

"Dude, we got Minnie goo-," the voice says, but suddenly stops.

I wipe the water out of my eyes and look up to see two redheads in front of me.

"Oh no. That definitely is not Minnie," the other responds.

If some sadistic nuns and a priest didn't kill me, my humiliation over the past two days might.

Hello loves! Syria is having an extremely rough start to the school year. I decided to go ahead and post this chapter earlier than I planned since today would be when they would be off to Hogwarts! Also, apparently, Harry Potter Tok is back! I'm so excited, also Redemancy has a TikTok if you were interested in checking it out, I plan to post more on there now since it is back and I'm also no longer shadow banned! I hope y'all have a great week!