Then I Met You [D.M.]

Year One: The Hogwarts Express

31st August, 1991, 9:47PM

"But mum, do I have to go?" Eleven year old Violet asked for the tenth time that hour. She held a letter in her small hands, pale yellow paper against her tanned ivory skin.

She glanced at it as her mother gave her a warm smile, "We've been over this, dear. You don't have to do anything, but your father and I think you should go."

Violet sighed, an automatic response to her mother's rehearsed response. They'd had this conversation every day for the past month, ever since the letter showed up, courtesy of a beautiful brown barn owl.

As Violet curled up under her blanket, her mother tucking her into bed, she set the letter on her bedside table, leaving it open so she could reread it. No matter that she'd read it several times a day every day, she still wasn't entirely convinced it was real.

To: Ms. Violet Ellis

Dear Ms. Ellis,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Students shall be required to report to the Chamber of Reception upon arrival, the dates of which shall be duly advised.

Please ensure that the utmost attention be made to the list of requirements attached herewith.

We very much look forward to receiving you as part of the new generation of Hogwarts' heritage. 

Yours sincerely,
𝒫𝓇𝑜𝒻 𝑀𝒸𝒢𝑜𝓃𝒶𝑔𝒶𝓁𝓁

Professor McGonagall

━━━━━━⊱༻ ༺⊰━━━━━━

13th August, 1991, early morning

It was all very confusing at first. The "list of requirements" attached to Violet's acceptance letter made absolutely no sense. She could reason with robes, but dragon hide gloves? A pointed hat? A wand?! And it only got stranger. Books on magic, on spells and magical herbs and fantastic beasts? She truly thought she'd lost her mind.

Also enclosed was the name of a place, "Leaky Cauldron". Neither her mother or father knew of the place, so it took some searching for the family of three to find it. And when they did, it only proved to be more concerning. Violet could see it, clear as day, but neither of her parents could. They could see the music shop to one side, and the bookshop on the other, but not the pub sitting in-between.

"It must be a magical place. For witches and wizards only," She tried to reason.

She led her family inside, where the gentleman behind the bar took pity on them and explained that yes, in simple terms, it was a magical pub. Muggles, or non-magic folk, couldn't see it, until they were led inside by a person with magic. He then had another man lead them outside to a small back courtyard, where he took out a wand- a wand!- and tapped on a brick in the wall, where a doorway then opened.

The family walked through, feeling sorely out of place. They wore plain clothes, normal clothes to them, simple jeans and t-shirts. But everyone around them, from children to adults, were people in long, billowing robes, slacks or skirts, and dress shirts.

It took nearly the whole day for Violet to collect the things on her list, including several books, magical items, and her very own wand. Ollivander had been very kind when helping her find her wand.

"The wand chooses the witch or wizard, Ms. Ellis." He explained as he continued handing her wand after wand. Some had no response to her flicking it through the air, while others gave over small explosions of sparks. The final wand she tried gave off a brilliant light, almost as if it were happy to be chosen.