The Letters
I was almost eleven years old.
My birthday was coming soon. It was only a few weeks away. I couldn’t wait for it to come. I knew that my twin sister and I would get THE Letter of all time. The Hogwarts Acceptance Letter. Just like my parents before us and their parents before them and so on and so forth. I was so excited, I could barely stand the waiting game. Finally, the morning of my birthday arrived. My parents were already awake and setting up the yard and house for our party.
Our younger siblings woke us up early that morning screaming “HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALICE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATHENA!” at the top of their lungs.
We both yawned and stretched underneath the dog piles we had on each other. The Triplets Malcolm, Mitchell, and Mariana were on top of me; Alfred and Anakin were on top of Mia. We laughed and embraced our younger siblings with love before jumping up and ushering them out of the room. We needed to get dressed and we couldn’t have them watching us since they were all boys except Mari of course. The whole lot of them finally left the room and we shut the door before giggling and rushing to our closet to pick our clothes for the day. Athena went with her usual formal yet classy look while I went with a wilder and pretty look. She was wearing blue and I was wearing purple. Those were our chosen colors since we were very little.
Once we had made sure we were ready for our birthday party, we giggled some more and left the room, running down the stairs to meet up with our family that had all shown up to celebrate our eleventh birthday. Even our great-great-great-great granduncle Albus Dumbledore and our paternal grandmother, Minerva McGonagall, came to see us but only for a moment before disappearing.
It was a magical day, but there was something missing.
Our letters.
They hadn’t come in yet, and Athena was beginning to worry by dinner time. It was bedtime before I started to worry. We begged our parents to let us stay awake until they arrived but when it was after 10 that night, we had to go to bed. We groaned, we cried but obeyed when suddenly as we were making our way to the stairs, there was a scratching sound like that of something falling down a metal tube and then a plopping sound paper makes when it drops onto a table. Athena and I looked at each other before squealing and rushing to the owlery. We burst through with our siblings in tow and our parents as the caboose. We got to the magic mail station and found two envelopes with our address and our names on them. We squealed with delight and quickly opened them.
They read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Dumbledore-McGonnagall,
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.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil’s clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic
by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory
by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration
by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions
by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat, OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions
Oh, we were so excited.
I held mine to my chest and wept. Athena gently yet quickly placed hers back inside the envelope, ready to go to bed. I didn’t want to go to sleep now. I wanted to make sure we were accepted, absolutely sure but it was time for bed. Mum would be angry if we didn’t go to bed. So I placed my letter back into its envelope and we carried them to bed. I put mine under my pillow so I knew where it was and it was close to me as I slept, dreaming of what it would be like at Hogwarts. I could barely contain my joy in my dreams as I wondered, I slept with a smile on my face so big one could see it from our bedroom door.
