Welcome to the first chapter of the third installment of the Salinger Year series- First Year! If you're new to the Salinger Year family, welcome! If you've been with me through Fifth Year and Fourth Year, welcome back! This story was the most fun to write out of all three of them so far, and I think it'll be quite fun to read, too! So without further ado: witches and wizards, Muggles and Squibs, I present to you First Year, by atrfla!

From the moment I was born, I knew I was a witch. It was simple; why wouldn't I be? I had a 'blood traitor' wizard for a father and a pureblood witch for a mum. My mum and dad, Hesper and Benjamin Salinger, were so excited to have their "little bundle of joy" when I arrived into the Wizarding World on May 9, 2029. At least, that's how they put it when they tell the story of me. Alyssa Hesper Salinger.

Confirmation that I had inherited my parents' magic arrived early on in life. At the age of six, I was making my toys change colors. At eight I made the flowers in Mum's garden bloom- in the middle of the coldest winter I'd ever experienced. My parents weren't worried about Muggles seeing me perform what my father's American uncle called "kiddy magic"- after all, we lived in Rowena's Borough, an all-magical neighborhood. Only a few kids my age lived in the Borough- the closest being Millie Thresher, who lived just down the street. My only cousin on my father's side, Helen MacDougal, lived on the next street over. The three of us roamed the streets, flying on broomsticks and learning the rules of Quidditch, pestering the older kids about what magic school was like when they were home in the summer- like Kitty Willis, a pretty blonde girl three years older than me who lived in the grand house next door- and generally having fun. We all went to school, of course. All three of us attended the Borough Academy, a local little school taught by two retired Hogwarts professors, but the homework load was not very big, so we always had plenty of free time.

We were out enjoying a pocket of that free time during the summer of the year when we were all eleven when three owls suddenly swooped out of the sky. All three were big cream-colored barn owls, and all three carried letters of about the same size addressed in matching green ink.

Owls flying around the Borough were pretty common, so I wouldn't have paid them any attention but for that green ink. That piqued my interest, and I squinted at the closest of the owls, abandoning my broomstick on the ground. My dad would have been furious- he always told me to treat my broomstick like it was my most precious treasure. And it was- but if that letter was what I thought it was, soon I'd have an actual racing broomstick for my own to treasure.

The biggest owl landed on my arm, scratching me a little, and dropped its letter into my outstretched hands. Sure enough, the elaborate green script read:

Alyssa Salinger

11 Wisdom Circle, Rowena's Borough

London, England

That was my name, all right, but virtually no one called me Alyssa- just Aly.

Beside me, Millie and Helen were also opening letters addressed to them. I tore open the envelope and took out the first of two pieces of parchment.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF

WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall

Dear Ms. Salinger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Damien Kayash

Damien Kayash

Deputy Headmaster

I had been right. My Hogwarts letter had finally arrived.

I sprinted back to my house, abandoning my friends and broomstick on the street, and burst through the front door of 11 Wisdom Circle. Like every other house in the Borough, our home was painted in varying shades of blue, which made for a pretty underwater look when natural light hit the walls. I stepped into the front hallway and then into my mum's home office, which was the first door on the right. She looked up as I flung open the door.

"Aly, dear? I thought I heard you slam open the front door. How many times do I have to tell you-" Then she caught sight of the letter in my hand. "Is that-"

"Yes!" I squealed.

My mum leapt to her feet, crossed the utterly neat room in a few short steps, and hugged me tightly. "Congratulations, sweetheart. I'll send news to your father right away." She sent her Patronus charm, a sweet little bluebird, away with barely a whisper before turning back and smoothing down my wildly curly hair with one ink-stained hand. "I'll make plans for a trip to Diagon Alley as soon as possible."

Short chapter, I know. Almost like a prologue, I think. Well, what did you think of the (short) beginning to Aly's years at Hogwarts? Let me know in the review box below! And, as always, thank you all for being such kind and patient readers!

~atrfla