"Mail's here, mum!" said Hermione, sifting through it. "Are you having us on?" she asked upon finding a pair of odd, green envelopes.

"What do you mean?" asked Mrs Granger, not looking up from her magazine.

"It's just that there's a pair of letters for Rosalina and I from a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If it's a joke, it's a very odd one, even for you," said Hermione, passing Rosalina's letter off to her the moment she'd dashed down the stairs.

Rosalina ripped her letter open while Hermione was stilled working on prying up the seal. She stared at it for a moment before speaking.

Minnie, I don't think that mum or dad made these. I think that these are legitimate, said Rosalina in their secret speak. Rosalina had discovered some time before that she could speak with snakes, and when Hermione realized that her speech was consistent it hadn't been long before they could speak back and forth in their special talk. Hermione still had trouble speaking with actual snakes, but she was getting better. Finley, Rosalina's corn snake, was the easiest still for her to speak with.

What, like, from an actual school? There's no such thing as magic, Rosa, said Hermione, turning the letter over and reading the list of school materials.

I don't see you stopping from reading it, said Rosalina.

"Please don't hiss in front of me, girls. It's not polite," said Mrs. Granger without looking up.

"Mum, have you ever heard of a place like this?" asked Rosalina, clutching her letter as tightly as she could when she turned to look at her.

"Heard of a place called what?" asked Mr. Granger from the kitchen.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said Hermione and Rosalina at the same time.

"Never heard of it myself. Is it some kind of marketing thing? We've been getting a few odd things in the mail these last few weeks," said Mr. Granger, walking to the entryway between the living room and the kitchen.

"No, it seems like a real letter. It says something about reaching out and asking a school official to come out and explain more if we're interested," said Hermione, glancing down at her letter once more.

"I'm interested. I'd like to hear what they have to say," said Rosalina, reading over her letter once more.

"As am I," said Hermione, meeting eyes with Rosalina.

"Is there a number we could call?" asked Mr. Granger from the kitchen.

"There is, but it's odd," said Hermione, going over to the kitchen at last and handing him her copy of the letter.

"Huh. Well, nothing to do but call it, I suppose," said Mr Granger, taking the letter from his daughter. "Yes, hello, is this the Hogwarts," he glanced down at the letter, "Muggle line? Yes, my daughters received admittance letters. Hermione and Rosalina Granger. Yes, we have free moment."

Mr Granger pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it. "That's odd, it went dead," he said.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" said Rosalina, almost tripping as she ran to open the door.

There in the doorway, dressed in the black of a well kept spinster, stood what was quite possibly the most witchy witch that the Grangers had ever seen.

"Hallo. My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. You said you had a moment, so I thought I'd take the time to drop by and speak with you about the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said the witch, Professor McGonagall. "May I come in?"

"Certainly," said Mrs Granger from the couch, and suddenly Professor McGonagall was inside, sitting in a chair that had not been there before.

"I'll be direct. Your daughters have great potential to become witches, given the proper training, and Hogwarts is the greatest school of magic in the British Isles. It's sponsored by the Ministry of Magic, so you would only need to worry about purchasing school supplies and uniforms for the upcoming year," said Professor McGonagall, sipping a tea that had only just appeared in her hand.

"Hang on, Ministry of Magic?" said Mr. Granger. "Is that some secret, magical part of the government, or is it independent?"

Professor McGonagall blinked a couple times at this, then answered. "It's independent; we've managed our own affairs for the past few hundred years. Muggles are nonmagical humans; you two will hear that term being used quite a bit if you decide to go to Hogwarts."

"What sort of things do they teach at Hogwarts?" asked Rosalina, leaning forward.

"Charms, transfiguration, and potion brewing, among other subjects. You'll receive a comprehensive magical education," said Professor McGonagall.

"What about nonmagical subjects? Like, English, math, chemistry, that sort of thing?" asked Hermione. She was one of the quickest students in her classes to grasp new math and chemistry subjects, a fact that did not do much to endear her to her peers.

This was something she did not know, however, as Rosalina had always been quick to leap to her sister's defense, using diplomacy or her fists as needed. Rosalina knew that she could do things to her peers, things that could be called magical, but Hermione didn't like it when she did that so she didn't do it often. She'd tried to do it in secret once, but Hermione still found out somehow and she'd became quite upset with her afterwards, so Rosalina stopped doing that sort of thing. Besides, you could always blame a bruise on someone else.

"Nonmagical subjects will be explained to you by your professors as they are needed in their subject matter. As the transfigurations teacher, I make a point of covering at least a little bit of biology and physics, among other things," said Professor McGonagall, and this seemed to satisfy Hermione. "However, there is nothing prohibiting you from studying muggle subject matters outside of your regular classwork if you wish."

"We'd certainly like them to study regular classwork, if that's possible," said Mrs Granger, and Professor McGonagall nodded.

"I can arrange for a tutor, certainly, if you decide that you'd like to attend Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, sipping her tea.

"How many magical schools are there in Britain? If Hogwarts is the best, then there must be more than one," said Rosalina.

"There are nine such schools in the British Isles, although Hogwarts is the only such school sponsored directly by the Ministry of Magic," said Professor McGonagall. "It is also much more intensive than the other schools of magic as students will spend their school year living at Hogwarts."

"Are there local schools?" asked Mrs Granger. "Do they need to go off to Hogwarts?"

"There are," said Professor McGonagall after a moment, "but we've found that the best learning environment is one where they have the chance to practice their magic each day. At other schools they can only practice in the context of their classes, whereas at Hogwarts they can practice throughout the school year."

"And do you both want to learn about your magic?" asked Mr Granger.

"Of course," said Hermione.

"Absolutely," said Rosalina at the same time.

"And you'd be fine with going away to this school? You'd be gone the whole school year, you know," said Mrs Granger. This reminder was more for Rosalina's benefit than Hermione's, as she could get homesick at the strangest times.

"Not the whole year. You would have the chance to go home during the Christmas and Easter holidays, if you liked," added Professor McGonagall, and Rosalina seemed to relax, a tension that hadn't been noticeable draining out of her.

"Yes, this sounds great!" said Rosalina, and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled. Hogwarts it is." said Mrs Granger, and both girls cheered.

Do you hear that, Minnie? We're going to learn magic! hissed Rosalina, bouncing up and down.

I know! I'm so excited! hissed Hermione, just as bouncy.

Professor McGonagall stared at the two girls, eyes wide but not uncomprehending.

"Is something wrong?" asked Mr Granger.

"Your daughters are Parselmouths, Mr Granger. That is a rare talent for a witch or wizard. An uncommonly rare talent. You should be proud," said Professor McGonagall, shaking her head as if she was trying shake a cobweb out of it.

"What do you mean, Parselmouth? Is that a magic thing?" asked Rosalina, her eyes going wide.

"Indeed. If you've ever spoken with serpents and felt as though they were responding to your words, it is because they were. I don't think we've had a student parselmouth at Hogwarts since," Professor McGonagall trailed off, and the words she might have said died on her lips. "Well, in any case it is a rare thing."

"Well in that case, Rosalina taught me, so she's the real Parselmouth. I'm not as good at it as she is," said Hermione, blushing.

"Hermione, you're great at it! Professor McGonagall, she's a Parselmouth too, don't let her tell you otherwise," said Rosalina, beaming at her sister.

"You two will certainly objects of curiosity, that much is certain," said Professor McGonagall. "That is, if you decide to share that you're Parselmouths. There is a certain amount of ignorant superstition around Parselmouths in the wizarding community here."

"Nothing too terrible, I would hope," said Mrs Granger, biting her lip.

"I shouldn't think so. It's just something that you should know. I'm sure that there are books about the subject in Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley, if you're curious about the subject," said Professor McGonagall. "That is to say, when you go to buy your schooling supplies you will go to Diagon Alley in London by way of the Leaky Cauldron. Let me provide you with some directions there," added Professor McGonagall, and Mr and Mrs Granger went over to her as she described how to get their magic supplies.

Rosalina and Hermione tried to pay attention, but the idea of going away to magic school was too distracting.

Magic! Minnie, magic! We're going to learn about a whole secret magical world! said Rosalina, going over and giving Hermione a big hug. I always knew that we were special, and this is the clincher! We're going to be great!

The two of us and the whole magical world! This is wonderful! said Hermione, hugging her sister just as tightly back.