Written by: Brendo Ravenclaw of Ravenclaw House

   It was just a normal day in my house. The dishes were scrubbing themselves after a nice hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. My siblings and I were outside playing on toy broomsticks, while my mother kept a careful eye on us. We were stalling for time; at least I was stalling. My friend had sent an owl yesterday saying that he had a big surprise for me to see, and he asked if I could come over tomorrow at ten in the morning. The anticipation of seeing this surprise was almost too much for my seven year old self. After what felt like an eternity to me, it was time to go to my friend's house.

   My mother stoked the fire in the fireplace and muttered an incantation under her breath. All of a sudden, the cozy, orange flames turned a vivid shade of green. She gave me some charcoal colored powder and reminded me to speak clearly of my direction, or otherwise I would get lost. I stepped into the fireplace, said my friend's house, and dropped the powder into the fire. The green flames engulfed me and I felt a tugging sensation in my gut. The sensation pulled harder, and everything went black.

   My vision came back as I looked around to make sure I had traveled to the right place. I was covered in ash and was laying on the living room floor of someone's house. I looked up and that someone was my friend! I had traveled to the right place. My friend helped me up and greeted me into his house. His mother also said hello to me and used her wand to clear off the ash. She was really good at cleaning charms, as she was a potioneer and sometimes had accidents with her potions. My friend asked me if I wanted to see the surprise, and I eagerly nodded my head. His mother directed us down the hallway into a room on the right.

   We had stepped into her ingredient room. Rows of cabinets with neatly labeled jars and phials lined the shelves. A cauldron was on the windowsill, basking in the late morning sun. A partially concealed door off to the side of the room was ajar. My friend's mom directed us into that room and closed the door behind her. She turned on the light switch, as she liked to mix Muggle inventions with magical objects, and a rectangular shaped object was sitting on the center table. The cage looked to be about three feet in each dimension. She told my friend and I to step back, and she uncovered the box.

   It was a cage. In the cage, there was a small mirror on one side, with a tiny creature gazing into it. The creature was vaguely humanoid and about three inches in height. Its wings were almost bigger than its body, extending from over its head down past its feet. The color of the wings were vivid, electric blue. As I looked closer, I realized that the creature was grooming itself with its tiny hands. My friend exclaimed that his mother had bought that creature, which he told me was a fairy. He said that she would get more when she built a fairy enclosure to resemble a forest, as that was their natural habitat. I had never seen a fairy before, so I was amazed. After we were done with the fairy, we played various games and ate lunch. Then I had to leave, using the Floo Network to return to house after a very exciting day.