Disclaimer-I do not own Harry Potter or a German Shepherd (sadly.)

Jamie is a normal girl. Or so it seems…but when a mysterious note tells her that she's really a witch, what will she make of it? Now, Jamie is about to discover secrets of her past that she never knew. Can a snobby Slytherin boy, and a German Shepherd, protect her from the deadly dangers that she is about to face?

"A thrilling tale about friendship and adventure."

"Jamie, wake up," that would be my dad. My mom died of cancer when I was two. My daddy is a policeman, and when it comes to safety, he can be overprotective of me. But I still love him.

I pulled the covers over my head. "Five more minutes," I grumbled sleepily.

"I let you sleep in for ten minutes."

"Too tired."

"Well then I guess I'm going to have to get the tickle monster!"

"Dad!" I cried as he began to tickle me. I giggled like a seven year old. My dad still sometimes treats me like a little kid. He forgets that next year I'll be in middle school. You know how parents are…

Our dog Toby, decided to join the fun. He ran around the bed, barking happily. Daddy calls Toby "his personal assistant", he is dad's police dog, and helps him a lot. Toby won more awards then dad! Hi best one was for finding a six-year-old missing boy. Dogs run in a long line in our family history. Our uncle has a beagle, Grandma has a poodle, Grandpa has an old bloodhound, and so on. They also helped us many generations ago. A Golden Retriever had saved my great grandfather's life in World War II. As well as policemen, dad's father and grandfather were both policemen. Dad says that Toby is not just a dog; he is a member of our family. And I couldn't agree more.

We all laughed as we toppled onto the floor.

"Okay, okay," I said, "I'm up!"

Toby licked my face.

I was extra excited, because I had just remembered that today was the day I'd be allowed to stay home alone. Daddy had never let me stay at home myself before; he was too worried about his "little girl". So I usually stay at my friend Allison's house for the day, it had become almost a routine. Her parents even joked that I lived in their house. But yesterday Allison had called in with strep throat, and her parents wanted no one coming over until she had least two days to recover. And since it was summer vacation, most of my friends were traveling or at camp, except for my friend Lizzie, who was moving to a new house across the street, and had to pack up today. So after some serious convincing, dad finally agreed to let me stay home alone while he was at work this one time.

"YIPE!" I did a little happy dance, "I GET THE HOUSE ALL TO MYSELF! YIPPE!!!"

"What are you doing?"

"Uh…dad! I didn't know you were still here!" Wow, that was awkward.

"I just wanted to remind you-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. No letting anybody in, no leaving the house, blah, blah, blah."

Dad smiled. "Bye, Honey. I'll see you when I come home."

"Bye dad."

The second he shut the door, I didn't waist a minute. I rushed to the freezer, and took out some leftover ice cream cake from my eleventh birthday. I ate it on the couch while I watched TV, with my feet up on the couch. Why hadn't I thought of this before? It was just wonderful! And nothing could go wrong. Until I heard something that made me jump…

"Hello, Jamie," a cold icy voice said.

"What's that? Who-where-what are you?!" I demanded, sounding much braver than I felt.

"Down here," said the voice.

I looked and to by my feet was a snake! A small harmless snake-but still, a snake in my house! Funny, I could've almost sworn I heard it speak to me.

I picked it up to take it outside.

"What are you doing?" it cried.

"AH!" I was so startled, that I dropped it.

"Ow! What wassssssssssssssssssssss that for?"

"Y-y-yo-you t-talk!?" I half-asked-half-exclaimed.

"Of coursssssssssssssssse I do."

"And y-you c-ca-can understand me?-But that makes no sense! Snakes don't have ears!"

It rolled its eyes.

I ran to the kitchen to get a broom to chase it out of the house. But when I came back it was nowhere in sight.

I watched more TV and tried to forget what had happened. But it was so hard.

Before I knew it, dad was back. "Hey, kiddo," he said

"Hi dad."

He whistled quietly to himself as he hung up his jacket. I wondered if I should tell him, but decided not to, he wouldn't believe me anyway. My dad was the practical type, always trying to find a logical answer to things. But there was nothing logical about a snake talking to me! Besides, if he did believe me, he probably would never let me stay home again. So I kept my snake story to myself.

The next day I was allowed to stay home again once more. Becauce tomorrow camp ended, and Allison's parents wanted to keep her in bed one more day, just to be sure.

Dad packed his stuff for work, and took Toby with him.

I still did not tell him what had happened the other day. He wouldn't believe me. I wasn't so sure that I even believed it myself! So I kept quiet.

Little did I know that things were about to get much, much stranger…

Six letters slipped through the mail slot. Three of them were bills; I'd give that to dad later. There was a notice for Toby's yearly check-up at the vet. A postcard from our aunt…and a strange envelope with no address on it.

On the letter it said, written in emerald green ink, in fancy script letters:

To Mss Jamie Fienberg

29897 6th, Avenue

New York, New York

Age 11

The fourth house on the block

As you can probably imagine, I was pretty freaked out at the point.

I turned to the back of the note; there was a snake, lion, badger, and an eagle, surrounding the letter "H".

I opened it. I knew I shouldn't have, and dad would be angry with me, but I did anyway. It read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed of Wizards)

Dear Mss Jamie Goldberg,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment. Term begins September third. We hope to see you then. Your owl will arrive momentarily.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress.

"What the-" was my fist reaction. I glanced back at the sheet. This was no kind of paper I'd ever seen before. It was too thick, and a bit darker. Parchment. I scowled. Using up trees is bad enough, but when you go after poor little animals, that's just sick!

"Your owl will arrive momentarily, what's that suppose to mean?" I wondered.

I heard a screech. I looked up, sure enough, there was an owl on the windowsill. Weird, I thought I had closed it.

They must want me to send a reply and the owl will deliver it! Well why would they bother training an owl just to send a prank letter. There's no such thing as magic! How stupid did they think I was?

"Wait here," I told the owl, though I knew it couldn't possiblely understand. I ran to my room, and ripped out a sheet of notebook paper, in pencil wrote:

Dear "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry",

I a not an idiot, and I suggest you stop it this instant. How dare you send letters to people's house. I will have you know, my father is a police, and I will report you immediately if you lay another finger on me!

"Here," I told the owl. It took off.

Gee, I hope they aren't trying to kidnap me!

There was nothing that good on television. So I decided to catch up on my summer reading, it was what I told my dad I was doing anyways. I was in the middle of Animorphs, when I heard a knock at the door. Was dad home already?

I looked through the peek-hole. I fought the urge to laugh. A woman in a stupid-looking pointed hat and a long green dress was standing there. She looked rather old. Daddy always said to never let anyone in the house, even if you know them. But what was I suppose to say to this woman?

"Hello?" I asked, scared out of my mind.

"I am Professor McGonagall, from Hogwarts. May I come in?"

"I'm not stupid, I won't let some random woman who claims to be from some 'magic' school into my house!"

"I don't 'claim' it. It is all true."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right 'Professor'. Please, show me some of your magic."

The woman shifted. She grew smaller and smaller. I almost screamed. She turned into a cat!

"Now do you believe me?"

I nodded. "Yes, you have proved magic, but what you have not proved is that you aren't here to kidnap me."

"Well, if magic does exist, then I think you are smart enough to realize that a door will not hold me."

I gulped. I was thinking the exact same thing. I was just kind of hopping magic didn't work that way.

I sighed and let her in. I took the house phone in my hand, just in case I needed to call the police. They knew me well.

"So…what is this about a magic school?" I asked trying to sound brave.

"Ah yes, Hogwarts," she explained to me the basics of magic. Then McGonagall said, "I'm quite surprised you don't already know about us, after all your mother-"

"Wait, wait, wait! My mother? What does she have to do with this?"

"Didn't your father tell you, she was a very impressive witch. One of the best I've ever seen. Didn't your father tell you that?"

"No," I said. "He didn't tell me nothing."

"Anything. He didn't tell you anything," she corrected.

I couldn't believe it. My mother, a witch; there must be some mistake! Why would my dad just lie to me like that? I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it!

Just then my dad got home. Toby growled protectively when he saw Professor McGonagall.

"Jamie!" my dad cried. "Who is this woman?"

"Uh…she's…uh…"

"I'm Professor McGonagall," Professor McGonagall said.

"What have I told you about letting strangers in the house! I thought I had raised you better than that! What is the mater with you?" he roared.

I had never heard my dad yell like that before. But I didn't care. "What's the mater with you?" I demanded. "What kind of father lies to his daughter?" There were tears running down my cheeks, but I was too upset to notice. I ran up to my room, slamming the door behind me.