Chapter One

An Unexpected Visitor

Mia Dursley tore the wrappings off another present. It was a new pair of jeans from her parents.

"Thanks Mum, thanks Dad," she said.

"I wanted to get you a skirt, but your father said you wouldn't approve," her mother said with a wry smile. Mia looked up at her dad and grinned. He knew her too well.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Mia's dad said, getting up.

"Get rid of them quickly, Dudley," Mia's mum said. "It's Mia's birthday. Well, I suppose we better wait for him," she sighed.

Mia strained her ears to hear her father conversing with the deep-voiced stranger in the hallway. After several minutes, the living room door opened and Mia's dad came back in, followed by a dark-skinned man in jeans and a t-shirt which proclaimed the legend 'The Weird Sisters.'

"What's going on?" Mia's mum demanded. "Who are you? What are you doing barging in like this? It's our daughter's birthday."

"I know," the man said, turning to Mia. "Happy birthday, Mia. I'm Dean Thomas, from the Department of Muggle-Born Integration at the Ministry of Magic."

Mia's brain was whirring. Magic? Muggle-born?

"What-?"she began, but her dad cut across her.

"Mia, do you remember me talking about my cousin, Harry?" he asked.

Mia nodded. "He lived with you when you were kids, but he was away at boarding school most of the time."

"Yeah, well, that wasn't any normal boarding school… it was… a school for witchcraft and wizardry."

"Witchcraft?" Mia asked.

"Not like evil witches in kids stories," Dean assured her.

"So… why are you here?" Mia asked him.

"To give you this," Dean said, handing her a letter written on a thick piece of paper.

Mia unfolded it and read: 'Dear Miss Mia Dursley, I am delighted to offer you a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please send your reply by no later than 31st July. Term starts on 1st September. As a muggle-born, you are entitled to assistance from the Department of Muggle-Born Integration; the witch or wizard who delivers your letter will explain all this. Hoping to see you in Herbology, best wishes, Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster.'

"I… I don't understand," Mia said eventually.

"Have you ever made something odd happen, and you don't know how you did it?" Dean asked.

Mia was immediately confronted with a picture of an extremely annoying earless boy. She grinned. "I made my cousin's ears disappear," she offered.

Dean laughed appreciatively.

"It' wasn't funny," Mia's mum interjected.

"It was quite funny," Mia said. "They reappeared after a couple of minutes."
"Well, Mia," Dean continued. "That was magic. It was uncontrolled because you're young and untrained. But at Hogwarts, you can learn to control and use your abilities."

"And… and this isn't a joke?" Mia asked.

"No joke," Dean said seriously. "Look."

He took a thin wooden stick from his pocket and pointed it at Mia's new jeans. With a flick, they turned green. Another flick, and they were neon pink. With a third flick they turned back to their original colour.

"Cool," Mia breathed.

Dean reached into his pocket again and handed Mia a business card.

"The Department's postal address," he told her. "Most wizards think we're stupid having one, but we feel muggle parents would feel more comfortable contacting us this way. Of course owls are much quicker… but there you go. Anyway, if you have any questions, you can contact me here. If you want any help getting your school things once booklists arrive, we can arrange for me or someone else from the Department to take you and your parents to Diagon Alley, but all in good time. So," he surveyed the room at large. "Any questions?"

"What's a muggle?" Mia asked.

"It's what we call non-magical people," Dean explained. "And you're a muggle-born because your parents are muggles."

"Are you a muggle-born?" Mia asked.

Dean shook his head. "But, like you, I had no idea the wizarding world even existed until I was eleven. My mother was a muggle, and my father was a wizard, but he left before I was born," he explained. "Any more questions."

"Not right now," Mia said.

"Well, I best be off then," Dean said, getting to his feet. "If you find you've got any questions after I've gone, send me a letter. Although, I expect the best way you could inform yourself about the wizarding world would be to get in contact with your father's cousin. If anyone could give you an initiation into our world, it's the Head of the Auror office, and the Weasleys. I was at school with Harry," he added.

Mia's father rose to shake Dean's hand.

"You were expecting me," Dean observed.

"Yeah," Mia's dad nodded. "I recognised the signs… saw it when Harry was… well, before…"

The two men continued talking as Mia's dad saw Dean out.