Alastrina "Aine" Irvine

A loud clink distrupted Aine from her usual morning daydreams. The post had arrived, Aine stared around at her family who were quietly eating their breakfast. Her father was reading the newspaper, her mother was shuffling through some notes and her twin sister Anja was twirling her spoon around in her cereal.

"I'll get the mail" Aine said moodily, standing up from her breakfast, seeing as nobody else had offered to get it. She walked down the hallway, passing the doors on either side of it. The mail, as usual had been slid through her mailbox. 

She flipped through the envelopes, bills, bills, bills. Her parents seemed to get a lot of bills. She walked back down the hallway and plonked herself back down on a seat, passing the mail to her mum. She looked angry as she went through the mail, probably frustrated at the thought of paying more bills.

"Aine, there's something for you here" she suddenly said, distrusting the silence. She passed her a small letter. Aine was surprised, who would send her a letter?

'What does it say?" Anja asked. She read who it was addressed to.

She opened it, the envelope seems to have been made of some sort of parchement and the words were written in ink. Aine wondered why as she read the letter inside.

Dear Ms. Irvine

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.

Professor. Ruebeus Hagrid, the school groundskeeper, will be arriving later today to discuss matters.

Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment.

We await your owl by July 31st. Term begin on the 1st of September.

Yours Sincerly,
Professor. Lydia Kaligaris,
Deputy Headmistress.

The words swam around in her head. She assumed Hogwarts was a school somewhere, but Witchcraft and Wizardry, she began to think someone was playing a joke on her.

She passed the letter to her parents, still shocked. She watched their eyes scan it, before looking up at her, a strange expression on their faces.

"Can I see it?" Anja asked. My parents nodded and passed the note to her. 

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Her dad said, "Aine, are you playing a trick on us?" He asked. Aine was offended when he said this. Just because she sometimes played tricks doesn't mean everything was.

"No! Why would I play a trick on you?" She asked her parents. Aine glareed at them, It's not my fault we received this mysterious letter, she thought to herself. She stormed off to her room, angry at them for not believing her. She lay down on her bed and just stared at the ceiling for ages, wondering what the letter meant. And wondering what would happen to her.

Finally her mum called her, "Aine, there's someone here, come on" she said.

She groaned as I got out of her bed, walking back down the hallway. She was shocked when she walked into the kitchen, sitting on the couch was the biggest man Aine had ever seen. He grinned at her as she walked in.

"You must be Alastrina" he said in an accent, holding out his massive hand. Aine shook his hand, still gaping at him. 

"Yeah, I'm Aine" she finally managed to choke out, first the mysterious letter and now this?

 "Well, lets get down to business then. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts and the Care of Magical Creatures professor" he said proudly, his mouth moving behind his bushy, greying, beard.

"Er, what is Hogwarts?" Aine asked nervously, wondering if he would get angry at her for saying that.

"Ah, thats right yer muggle-born aren't ya? Well, Hogwarts is a school for young witches and wizards like yerself" he said.

Aine gasped, "Witches and Wizards?" She said out loud. It was true.

He nodded, "Yep that's right, yer a witch" he says. "Now Hogwarts is a boarding school up north" he said pointing in a direction. A boarding school, that means I won't be with Anja, Ane thought. She couldn't bear to part with her twin.

"I'm a witch!" Aine said out loud and Hagrid chuckled loudly at her remark. She stared up at her parents who smiled at her.

"It seems you are" they said. Her mouth hung open, it meant she would learn magic, spells, potions. She felt excited at the thought of it.

Anja sat down next to her, "Who's this?" Rubeus Hagrid asked.

Aine was about to answer but Anja spoke for her, "I'm Anja, Aine's twin sister" she said.

"Ah, and yer a muggle right?" He asked.

Aine interrupted, "A muggle? What's that?" She asked.

"non-magic folk" he answered. Then he checked his watch, "Right then, it seems everything is in order, lets head off to Diagon Alley" he said.

"Diagon Alley?" Aine asked, he wasn't very good at explaining things to her.

"Oh, it's a hidden street where all the wizard shops are blah blah blah. In short it's where you'll get all yer supplies" he said, "it's on Charring Cross road" he added. He stood up and asked, "Well, are you comin or not?".

Aine turned to her parents, she had been grounded ages ago for piercing herself, and she still have two weeks to serve. "So, am I allowed out of the house?" She asked.

"Of course" her mother replied, smiling at her. "You have to get your supplies for your new school, which reminds me, I'd better call up your school and tell them you won't be attending it" she said, walking over to the phone.

Aine turned to Anja and shrugged, they got up together and followed him out the door, their parents walking behind them. "Wow, your a witch!" Anja says excitedly, but Aine could hear a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Aine turned to her, she didn't seem that excited about it, "Are you okay?" she asked. Maybe she's disappointed because she didn't get a letter, I know I would be if I were her, she thought.

"I'm fine" Anja replied. But Aine didn't believe her, She found it strange that Anja wasn't a witch as they were identical twins. You could only tell them apart from the fact that Anja's hair was shorter and Aine had piercings, which she had done herself.

"I don't even know what a witch is or what Hogwarts really is" she said, "Hagrid wasn't very good at explaining it to me" she continued as they walked down the street.

"Well, it looks like you'll soon find out" she replied.