Dear Diary,

A letter arrived at my house last night in the oddest way imaginable. An owl brought it! It came in through the doorway when Dad came home from work. The owl flew in and landed on the edge of my pudding bowl, then held its leg out for me to unattach the letter. Mum was talking mostly to herself about how disgusting birds are and how they'll spread disease into our house, and Dad just stood by the open door in shock. He told me not to touch the owl, and for once, I didn't listen. This owl had come for me, to give me this letter, and I was determined to read it. I carefully took the letter off of the snowy bird on my pudding bowl and looked at the address.

Hermione Granger

Dining Room

I wondered how on Earth this person knew I was in the dining room. Perhaps they even knew I was eating pudding? I laughed a loud at my little joke. After all, this was a joke, wasn't it? I knew those ratty boys down the street were jokesters, and good ones at that. Perhaps this was their doing, I wondered. I looked down at the letter in my hands yet again. Maybe I was over thinking everything, but I had to find out where this mysterious letter came from, and most importantly, why it came. The snowy owl had not yet left the rim of my pudding bowl. He seemed to be looking at me, like he was expecting something. I stared back. Apparently tired of waiting for whatever he wanted, the owl pecked at my hand. Softly at first, then harder and harder as I declined whatever it was I needed to give him. After my hand, he flew to my shoulder and started pecking my ear. My ear still hurts, now that I think about it. Anyway, I wasn't prepared for this at all, so I jumped up, scaring the bird and dropping my unopened letter. "What do you want?" I screamed at him. I ran to the kitchen. Maybe he wanted food? Or perhaps he was thirsty? None of my thoughts seemed to be correct, as he make no move for the leftover turkey or the bowl of water left out for our old cat, Midge. I was still panicking by the time Mum and Dad broke their state of shock and joined me in the kitchen, trying to get the pecking owl off of me. Dad tried to wrestle it off with no success, and Mum was frantically trying to find something to throw. Now, before you go thinking that my parents and I are animal haters, let me tell you that we aren't. Dad has not once previously wrestled a bird, and Mum has never had an intent to hit one. But tonight, they were just focused on keeping my ear intact. I could see Mum fumbling with her wallet through a flurry of feathers, and could hear Dad grunting while trying to grab the protesting owl. The next few moments happened so quickly, I don't think any of us know exactly what happened. I believe Mum threw coins at him, and the beautiful snowy owl grabbed one in its beak and flew away. Our kitchen was left in a mess of feathers and coins, and all of us wondering what on Earth had just happened. I quickly recovered from this state of shock and made my way back to the dining room as Mum and Dad were cleaning up. My letter was on the ground, beneath my bowl of pudding that had toppled over in all of the commotion. After scraping most of it off with my hand, I finally had my chance to open it. I couldn't believe what it said. It was rubbish. Definitely those boys down the street. But for the first time, I noticed the seal on the back of the envelope. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" it read. I knew even those boys couldn't fake that. I read the letter again, trying to absorb as much of the information as possible.

Miss Hermione Granger,

According to our records, you will turn 11 years old in 2 weeks time. I would like to congratulate you at this time for your acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, I am aware of the fact that you are being raised by Muggles (non-magical people), so I do not expect you to already be aware of the fact that you are indeed a witch.

We, the staff of Hogwarts, will be happy to answer any questions that you may have on this ordeal. I'm sure you are not used to our customs, but I'm also very sure that you will pick them up quickly.

Your official welcome letter will be sent to you on the morning of your 11th birthday.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

I'm a witch. Can you believe it? Me, Hermione Granger, the buck-toothed, bushy haired, know-it-all, a witch? I would write more on the subject, after all, I do have a rather lot to say, but it's getting late. I'm spending most of tomorrow at the library. I feel as if I should know more on this subject of magic before I start school. School. I'm going to school to learn magic. Even saying it aloud doesn't help. I just can't believe this is real.