𝓤𝓷𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 (HIATUS)

ℂ𝕙𝕡. 𝟙 || 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖 ℂ𝕒𝕥

Today was a significant day for a very special person. Amelia - it was her thirteenth birthday, and she was going to the Amusement Park near her home. As Amelia arrived at the park, she looked around in awe at the countless, flamboyant rides but something else caught her eye. Her gaze made its way towards someone she immediately recognised, a smile finding its way to her face. It was her friend, Mia. But, as she began to walk toward Mia, her eyes appeared to be playing tricks on her.

They revealed something she would have never believed if told by another. Mia had turned into a beautiful white cat, her eyes a slate-grey. Oh... my... God! Amelia thought, her eyes wide in consternation. Curiosity took hold of her, so, she decided to follow her friend. Mia left the amusement park, and, after a few moments of silence, she entered a dark alleyway and transformed back into her human form. She then turned around and faced Amelia. She must have known that I was following her, thought Amelia.

"Oh no," groaned Mia, mentally face-palming herself because Amelia had seen her transform into her Animagus form. "Why did you follow me, Amelia?" "You just turned into a cat, and back!" she replied, a look of disbelief set on her face. "How did you do that?!?" Mia watched her friend silently for a few seconds, and then opened her mouth to speak, "I was practising a magic trick from a book. An old, advanced book. But, that doesn't matter, you need to go back to the amusement park, Amelia."

"A book? Really? Amelia repeated sceptically?" Mia nodded her head earnestly and continued to persuade her friend to leave, and, after a long time of convincing, Amelia left. Mia then went home and made a mental note to herself to be more cautious when using her magic, because she could not afford to let anyone find out that; she was a witch, an Animagus, and she had attended Hogwarts since she was 11. The reason she needed to keep this a secret was simple - muggles were terrified of magic, and Hogwarts was known only as a made-up school in a book series written by J.K Rowling in the non-magical world.

But, then again, this was the year after the Great Wizarding Wars, the one where Harry Potter finally defeated the murderous, dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. If any muggles were to be found out, her father would be beside himself. So, she thought that it would be best to keep it a secret. Although she would wonder if they couldn't all live in peace was a question Mia dared to ask. And, the answer was always: 'Because we can't and that's that.'

They don't even give me a proper explanation, Mia grumpily thought, But then, of course, that is what everyone does nowadays., The reason for this, however, Mia did not know. Today was the 31st of October, a day before Mia went back to Hogwarts (Mia was excited to return to school because there were going to be eighth years, and Harry Potter was one of them), so nobody need ever know that she was caught, well, nobody except her friends, Luke and James.

They had all been sorted into Gryffindor, one of the four houses of Hogwarts - Gryffindor, the house of courage and chivalry, Hufflepuff, the house of caring and loyalty, Ravenclaw, the house of wisdom and wit, and finally, Slytherin, the house of cunning and ambition. Everyone wants to be in Gryffindor because Harry Potter had been sorted into that house, but what they didn't know, was that Harry could have been a Slytherin.

Anyway, thought Mia, I should get some rest, because I need to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow. She let out a dreary yawn, had a quick bath, and went to bed.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Mia woke up, her clock read exactly 4 o'clock. She had a warm, comforting shower, got changed into her favourite pair of jeans accompanied by a branded vest, and then had her breakfast. After placing her empty plate by the sink, Mia walked toward the fireplace. She picked up a small pot filled with olive-green powder and took out a small pinch of it. Stepping into the fireplace, she threw the powder to the soot-covered floor and said in a clear voice, "Diagon Alley."

With a blinding flash of emerald flames, Mia was teleported to Diagn Alley. She quickly got all of her remaining school supplies, and then, after a glance at the Magical Menagerie, purchased a trouble-making, ebony-coated pet kitten who she named Midnight. Now that she had everything she needed (and wanted), Mia chose to spend some time at the Leaky Cauldron, since she would have to go to King's Cross Station later, and she desired a few moments to bond with her new friend.

As the time neared 10'am, Mia made her way to another chimney that was connected to the floo-network, and, using the floo powder available, teleported to platform 9¾. This platform is only accessible to witches and wizards and is located between platforms nine and ten, hidden through magic. Once she arrived, the first thing Mia did, was search for her friends. She manoeuvred her way through the bustling crowd of magic folk, struggling when it came to dragging her trunk and cage between people.

She eventually spotted her two friends chatting to one another near one of the entrances to the Hogwarts Express. "Luke! James!" She exclaimed with a wide grin. "Mia!" They replied with equal enthusiasm, running towards her, and engulfing her in a tight hug. The three friends held their embrace for a few seconds, then pulled back, their faces radiating their joy. "Where've you been? We've been waiting for you, for a while," Luke said.

"Sorry. I was in Diagon Alley getting some supplies, and this beautiful creature!" Mia replied, picking up her cage and showing Midnight to her friends with a loving expression. "A pet? Are you sure you are responsible enough for one?" James joked, all of them chuckling lightly. "Yes, I'm pretty sure, but we should probably get on the train before it leaves us here."

The three of them stepped onto the train, struggling slightly as they lifted their trunks, and cage, over the steps. It took a while, but they soon found an empty compartment and went inside, pushing their trunks to the overhanging storage spaces (Mia let Midnight out of her cage so she could stretch). They then began to talk about their holidays, Luke and Mia letting out small gasps of surprise as they heard of James' trip to France.

"What was it like there?" Mia asked inquisitively, hoping to go there on holiday as well. "Well everyone spoke French, and that was pretty awkward- But, the pastries are surreal and there were so many strays cats outside the hotel I stayed in, for some reason," James replied. Just as Luke was about to ask his friend another question about his stay in France, their compartment door slid open.

There, standing in the doorframe with wide, unwelcoming smirks, were their least favourite Slytherins: Dylan, Jack and Josh.