The Other Witches

2. Maybe It's a Dream

Dear Ms. Glasswater,

Due to an unexpected mistake, your Hogwarts acceptance letter was misplaced, ripped apart, and then incinerated by a blast-ended skrewt. Because it was not found for a long while, we did not know that your letter had not been delivered to you until six months ago. Luckily, the staff has decided to admit you into Hogwarts as a fourth year student. We apologize for any confusion that might have resulted from the absence of your letter. Your list of required books and equipment is enclosed. We are sending a messenger to take you to London on the 29th of August.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

This is truly unbelieveable. The rush of emotions that I felt from the sight of that letter was impossible to comprehend. The fact that I am not, in fact, a squib, and that I am going to Hogwarts this year. The fact that I am going to London in three days, to the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. Then despair, because I could be going alone. Not that I mind being isolated, just that my friends won't experience it with me. But there's still that tiny possibility that the same fate befell my friends' letters as mine.

Then again, maybe it's just a really good dream, and I will wake up any second.

Just to be sure, I whack myself with one of my school notebooks. Ow. Definitely not a dream.

I pick up my phone and text my friends:

Hey, could you guys meet me at my locker tomorrow, early?

Then, without waiting for a response, I brush my teeth and fall into bed, asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, I shove the letter deep into my bag before heading off to school. I told my family about it as soon as I came downstairs, and let me tell you, my parents were in tears with happiness. My sister says she sees hope in the possibility that her letter is lost like mine.

Anyway, I hang around my locker until I see Von and Ella coming over. but they stop at their lockers first, then come over to mine. We talk about school events and homework and books, until finally we say, in perfect synchronization:

"I got a letter from Hogwarts. What?"

Then we crack up, because that's our sense of humor.

"But seriously," I say, gasping for breath, "my Hogwarts letter came yesterday. Something about how it got lost and was burned up by a blast-ended skrewt and now they're going to accept me as a fourth year....."

"That's the case for me, too," replies Ella.

"And me," Von says. "Never figured out how the skrewt got to it in the first place."

"Guys, if we all got the same letter, we're in for something life-changing," Lucy says dramatically.

"You got that right, Luce," Ella exclaims. "WE'RE GOING TO LONDON, SISTERS!"