CHAPTER 1
I hugged my knees to my chest as I sat shivering in the cold. Alone, on a park bench, this was my home. But it wasn't always like this.
When I was 3 years old, my parents both died. Mysteriously. Leaving me on my own. I spent the 8 years following going from orphanage to orphanage, each time getting thrown back out into the streets. No one wanted me, but no wonder why. Whenever I was around, strange things happened. Bad things.
God forbid if you made me angry, because it seemed like everyone I got angry at would get seriously hurt. It was like a curse. Each time, another child would get hurt, and I would be back on the streets by morning.
Everyone ignored me, never trying to be friends with me, afterall, who wants to be friends with the cursed girl. I would keep to myself, reading, and learning in a quiet corner, trying to keep out of everyone's way. But this just made me a target. The girls would taunt me, calling me names, jostling me, and the guys would push me, knock me over and hurt me. I hated it. And that's why I ran.
4 years ago, I packed the few things I had, and ran. That's why I ended up here, in this park, where I've been sleeping for the past 3 months. I was getting sick and tired of the constant cold, abuse, and lack of food. I was so alone. Until he arrived.
It was cold, so cold, as I sat there on that bench. As far as I knew I was alone in the park. The streetlamps had just turned on, as the night drew closer, and I looked around the park. An old man, with long silver hair, a bushy beard and half-moon spectacles started walking towards me. He wore a long blue cloak that flowed around him, as he strided towards me. I immediately tensed.
"Amelie Leveridge?" He asked, in a wise, old voice.
"Who wants to know?!" I coldly replied.
"I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. And I've come to tell you that you have been offered a place in my school. If you choose.."
"Wh, What?! Are you being serious?!"
"Very much so Amelie. Because you, my dear, are a witch.