Nyx felt they eyes of everyone on her. She could do this, she was born for this.

All she had to do was let them look at her. It wasn't going to be that hard.

But the butterflies still flutter around her stomach as though they were trying to escape through her throat.

Then she heard it.

A whistling. A loud one.

That was her cue.

So without thinking about herself anymore the ten year old jumped on stage with her book and meandered over to where the rest of the cast had lined up sharply.

Suddenly the man walked over and she looked up at him sheepishly, handed him the book, and let him hit her on the back with it, jumping to join her siblings in their line.

Suddenly she was not Nyx Greene.

She was Marta Von Trapp..

And she would shine.

When she went out to take her bow that night Nyx loved the applause that in her head belonged to her alone. She put a single hand over her heart and gave the crowd her best 'oh please only for you' look that her and her mother had perfected before she had begun her first musical six years ago.

After her final cast bow she looked out into the audience and found the face of her parents, smiling from ear to ear and waiting with a bouquet of yellow roses, her favorite.

They were allowed to take photos in costume so she went into the wings and then, ducking between people, went out into the lobby where she was able to find her father, who stood nearly a head taller than everyone else in the lobby.

After a bunch of photos in her traditional Austrian costume she was brought back to take it off and get ready to leave for the night.

She much preferred this moment of the night. Where people were winding down from the high of the stage, some people wiping their faces clean of the layers of makeup, so me leaving it to their own bathrooms. People hanging up costumes and taking off wigs.

Nyx liked the children's part of the dressing room. Her stage siblings having trouble with buttons or Olivia, who was the youngest, trying and failing to put her outfit on a hanger until Nyx helped her.

It was when Nyx was ready to leave the room when it happened again.

A voice, whispering in her ear.

"This is perfect for her" her mother's voice rang out, "She'll love it there!"

A woman appeared before her eyes, leaning on the piano in front of her. She was dressed in what looked like a Halloween costume, a robe with silver lining, a big witch at on her head.

Then her dad spoke "She's ten years old, she should be able to act like it for a few years before being serious about anything!"

The woman was staring at her, smiling and waving to her to come closer, but not moving.

"Nyx are you ready to go?"

She snapped out of it with a start as Remi called to her.

She looked over at her stage brother, "yeah, let's go."

Another part of the night Nyx loved, walking into the newly empty lobby, just parents and friends ready to drive home any of the cast members that couldn't drive. She loved the calm after the storm.

She only saw her father, who drew her in close to her side when all of a sudden her mother popped up behind her, a woman Nyx did not recognise in toe.

"Nyx, this is Mrs. Greyburn."

Nyx, ever the perfect child, stuck out her hand to the older woman, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"You as well, Ms. Greene. I am here from the Wellington Academy for the Dramatic Arts, have you

ever heard of us?"

"I can't say I have."

Mrs. Greyburn smiled down rather forcefully, "Well we are a school dedicated to teaching students the ways of acting."

Nyx looked over at her mother, then to her father. Her mother was smiling as wide as she had at the bows, her father had a rather suspicious look on his face, as though he was smelling something he was pretending to like.

"I came here to see you perform, actually."

"You came to see me?" Nyx had never had anyone come see her besides her family and friends.

"Yes, I have heard a lot about you, how special your acting is, and that you are going into secondary school next year. I am here to offer you a scholarship to Wellington."

Nyx blinked for a moment, she knew a scholarship was good, and to go to a school where she could act all day long, that was a dream.

"It is just an offer, you can take a few weeks to think it over, I look forward to hearing from you."

And as suddenly as she appeared, she exited the french doors of the theatre.

The few families that still lingered looked at her, a few smiling and she heard a whispered congratulations from Remi.

And then her mother swept her up into a hug, "How exciting, an acting school! You are going to be a star!"

She couldn't pinpoint what it was, but Nyx had a weird feeling about it.

And when they were back in the safety of their own car, Nyx spoke her mind, "Mama, is Wellington far away?"

There was a silence in the car as her father looked over to his wife.

"Well, yes, it is in Belfast."

Nyx felt her stomach lurch, "Northern Ireland!?"

"Yes sweetie, but think of the opportunities you'll get there."

"Do you want me to go away to school?"

There was a silence that befell the car.

"We want you to go where you will be successful, if that means you have to go away then that is what we will do, if it means we have to teach you in our own kitchen then that is what we will do." Nyx giggled a little at her father's words, but even though the conversation was dropped Nyx couldn't help the strings still pulling in her stomach.

Something made her think this was not the right move for her. Even if it was a dream to act all day instead of school.

The day after her final performance of The Sound of Music brought her right back to audition for her next summer show.

Mary Poppins was an exciting show for Nyx. especially because it wasn't the normal director of the theatre, they had brought in someone else to audition everyone.

Nyx looked around at the rest of the kids, both boys and girls, who had come to the Jane and Micheal audition.

There weren't many boys, only seven that she counted and she knew all of them. But there were upwards of fifteen girls, a few of whom she didn't know.

She had always been told not to, but she couldn't help comparing herself to these children.

Seven of the children had blonde hair. Six had brown. Two had red. She had the shortest hair of the blonde girls, most having long curls or straight ponytails compared to her own curly bob.

She believed she was the best dressed, wearing one of her favorite outfits, her light blue dress that would blow up like a tutu if she spun just right, a white sweater kept her from the chill of the theatre and her white maryjanes which had been buffed to perfection with her frilly white socks adorned her feet.

Her mother wouldn't let her wear makeup to auditions, as some of the other girls were, but she was allowed a tinted lip balm that she thought made her lips perfectly rosey.

Breaking Nyx out of her thoughts was the slam of the theatre door. She watched Elizabeth Jamerson walk out. They had been in a few shows together, but Nyx didn't like her. She had the biggest grin on her face when she walked up to her mother and said "I got that."

Elizabeth was good, but she was known for being really cocky after auditions.

But then she turned to Nyx, "They said you could go in."

"Thank you."

Nyx rarely got nervous, especially when she knew someone was trying to make her nervous, so she grabbed her headshot from her mother and walked into theatre, greeting the three people waiting in the front row and handing them her headshot, then making her way up to the stage.

She stood there, smoothed down her skirt and looked back at them before she started slating.

"Hello, My name is Nyx Greene, I'm auditioning for the role of Jane and will be singing I'm Not Afraid of Anything from Songs for a New World."

She loved the look the people gave each other before turning back to her, "well, I'm impressed, whenever you're ready Nyx."

When she finished singing Nyx looked back at the people sitting in the front.

The man in the center, who had introduced himself at the beginning of the auditions had his eyebrows raised in delighted surprise. The two women on each side also looked shocked.

"Very good, Ms. Greene, we'll let you know by the end of today if you will come back for a callback tomorrow, thank you for your time, can you send the next person in?"

"Of course, thank you."

With that Nyx did a quarter turn fast enough to puff her skirt and jauntily walked off the stage and out to the lobby. After a quick nod to Jessical Baker she walked back up to her mom and let her know what the man had said.

"How do you think you did."

"Good, I added a few fancy bits I think really got them."

Her mother smiled, "good girl, should we pick up takeout on the way home."

Nyx smiled really hard, "Yes please."

And they left.

Not knowing how the day would end with Nyx getting the best news of her life.

Nyx had changed into her favorite pajamas, her fluffy purple pants and t-shirt from when her family had gone to America last year and she got to see Les Miserables on Broadway.

She had her fuzzy socks on and was cuddled on the couch in front of the television with her dinner

on her lap when there was a knock on the door.

"Who would be calling this late?"

Nyx looked towards the door behind her, feeling and energy behind it.

Her mother got up and opened the door, and when she did she gasped and stepped back just enough that Nyx could see who was on the other side.

Her fork, when she saw the woman who had knocked, clattered down and splattered its contents onto the couch next to her.

"Nyx, are you okay. Who's at the door?"

The woman walked in without invitation, but Nyx's mother had left just enough space for her to walk in.

"Good evening, my name is Minerva McGonagall. I'm here to talk to you about your daughter."

Nyx pushed her food off her lap and onto the couch next to her.

This was the woman from before.

This one felt real though, and as she watched her parents discuss who the woman was and watched the woman try to convince her way to the couch, she started hearing more voices she couldn't identify.

"Has anyone seen a toad, a boy named Neville's lost his."

"The thing is, I can't remember what I've forgotten."

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Suddenly Nyx felt something in her hand and looked down to find a stone in her hand. It was beautiful, small with sharp angles, vibrating and full of life.

Suddenly the woman sat down next to her, and she was snapped out of her imagination.

"Ms. Greene, I want to talk about you."

"Me, ma'am?"

"Yes, you are a very special girl, did you know that?"

Nyx thought for a moment, this woman really seemed crazy, "I'm not sure what you are talking about ma'am."

The woman looked at her with the kindest look, "Have you ever noticed yourself do something no one else can, and no one can explain?"

She didn't know what it was, but Nyx felt herself drawn to the woman, willing to tell her anything.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe."

The woman smiled. Nyx sent a look to her mother who looked ready to be sick. Her father was in a similar state.

"Yes our daughter is special, she is an amazing actor. Are you here from some troupe? Because we are sending her to school."

Of course, it's a costume.

"No, I assure you I am from no 'troupe.' And I am actually from a school. I am offering your daughter a place at it."

Nyx couldn't believe the smile that found its way onto her mother's face. But she had other questions.

"Is it in London?"

"I'm afraid not, Ms. Greene, Scotland. It is a boarding school."

Nyx looked down at her lap, why couldn't a London school want her?

"However, Ms. Greene, there is something special about this school, special like you are."

A million thoughts ran through Nyx's head at once while the woman reached into her cloak.

What was going on?

What the woman produced from her cloak was weird, like a fancy stick.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" The woman looked so kind, but behind her Nyx could see her parents shift a little closer to her.

She did a little thinking, the woman was dressed like she assumed a witch would be, her hat similar to the one worn by the woman playing the Wicked Witch of the West when she was in The Wizard of Oz. She thought to herself, what would a witch carry?

"A wand?"

The woman smiled, "very good, and what do you suppose will happen if I wave it?"

Nyx looked at her, was she kidding?

"Nothing?"

"How would you explain this, Ms. Greene?"

And she waved her wand at the fork that had fallen on the couch.

And it flew up.

It was actually flying.

Behind her Nyx could feel her parents stand up. She reached out and grabbed the fork. Turned it over in her hand. There was nothing special about it. It was the same, normal fork she had been using before.

"Real magic?" The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them.

"Yes dear, real magic, and you can do it too. You are a witch."

Once again her mind started working hard. Finally she knew why.

"And for the next seven years you will work to master it and use it for the rest of your life."

"And this is where the visions come from?"

Silence. Maybe that wasn't the way to introduce it.

"Visions, dear?"

The smile had fallen from the witch's face,Nyx realised she had said the wrong thing, "Yeah, the, uh...voices and figures that I see. Is that not normal?"

As soon as her sentence finished, out of the corner of her eye Nyx watched her mother collapse.

"Mama!"

Her father propped her mother on the couch,

"I can see you are going to need a moment to take this all in, I will take my leave and be back tomorrow at the same time. I am going to bring someone who may be able to explain these visions better than myself. Until then," She reached out and handed Nyx a letter sealed with wax, "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

And she was gone. Literally, disappeared from her spot suddenly.

The three members of the family sat in silence. Nyx staring at the place the witch had taken up, her father staring at her, and her mother, drowsy and distant, staring into empty space.

And then the phone rang.

"Nyx please answer the phone." Her father's voice was strained.

She walked over to the receiver and picked up the phone, "Greene residence."

"Nyx? This is Andrew Lester, from Mary Poppins? I was just calling to let you know you got the callback. Can you come in tomorrow at two?"

"Yes sir, thank you, I look forward to seeing you."

"You as well, have a good night."

"You as well."

And she hung up.

"Who was that sweetie?"

"Mr. Lester, from the theatre, I have a callback tomorrow."

That seemed to wake her mother up properly, "Oh perfect, let's go get your outfit ready!"

She pulled Nyx out of the living room and up the stairs to her room, leaving her father to clean up her half eaten dinner, thinking to himself about the events of that night.

A witch, his daughter was a witch.

Magic was real.

And if the witch's expression had been telling, hearing and seeing things that were not there was not any better in her world than it was in his.

This was a mess.

Up in her room Nyx sat on her bed thinking as her mother went through her closet.

"We need something different from what you wore today, but not too different. What color do you think we should do?"

She wasn't really listening but she knew the answer already, "white is for winners."

"That's my girl."

Going through her closet she pulled out her favorite white dress, very similar to what she had on today except it had a halter top instead of cap sleeves. Lace lay over the top but stopped at the skirt, which wouldn't spin well but looked a little older.

"You can probably wear the same shoes you wore today, I don't think they'll notice, unless you want to wear the flats?"

"I'll wear the flats, keep the eyes on the lace."

"Good choice. Now for your hair, I don't think we can curl it again, show them it can do other things."

"I can keep it straight and tie a ribbon in it. They liked that for the Gypsy audition."

"Perfect. I should just leave this up to you. So professional."

Nyx looked at her mother searching though ribbons, as though the entire conversation from a mere ten minutes ago had not happened, "Mama, what do you think of What Mrs. McGonagall just said."

"Well, obviously we have to consider all our options, Wellington has an outstanding reputation, we'll see

how the others measure up."

Nyx took a look at the letter, which lay unopened in front of her on the bed, "You don't think this is what should happen?"

Her mother let out a breath, "Nyxy, you are on track to become an amazing performer, do you really want to throw that away for, some random thing?"

"But Mama, it's magic. You don't think it's cool?"

"I think we should go with the red ribbon, it looks the best with your hair. You should probably get to bed, got to be well rested for tomorrow, I assume you're going against Elizabeth, she's sure to already be in bed."

"Mama it's only seven thirty!"

"Good night Nyxy."

And she left the room, turning off the lights and closing her door.

Nyx, still sitting on her bed took another look over to the letter. There was just enough light from the setting sun that if she went over and sat on her reading chair and opened her curtains she could see.

Her address seemed to gleam in the light, like liquid she flipped it over she got a good look at the wax seal. There was a beautiful seal in it. An 'H' she assume stood for Hogwarts with a coat of arms separated into four sections. There were animals in each quarter, a lion, a snake, some sort of bird and what looked like a beaver. She assumed those represented the houses. Why they were animals she couldn't guess, she had never heard of using animals before. There was something written in latin below it. And from her limited knowledge of the language she could pick out one word.

Draco-Dragon.

Why is the word dragon in their crest?

But she was too impatient to contemplate it, so she ripped off the seal and pulled out the letter inside.

The name of the school was at the top, and immediately following was:

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Nyx had no idea what most of those words meant but something about it made her heart flutter.

She kept reading:

Dear Ms. Greene,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted 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,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

More flutters. More questions.

Owl? What does that mean? What was the Order of Merlin? What was a Mugwump? How did she not know about this?

Behind the initial greeting was a list, a shopping list, she assumed it was the 'necessary books and equipment.'

UNIFORM:

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS:

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENt:

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

All of this was a lot. Looking over the book list she could assume the courses, something to do with history, something called 'Transfiguration,' something about plants and potions. There were a few things that caught her eye.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?

What was a fantastic beast?

Is dragonhide actual dragon?

I would get my own wand?

It all sounded quite exciting, and must have done something because all of a sudden, the voices were

back.

"I'm Fred, this is my brother George. That's our family over there, we can help you."

"Ensnare the mind."

Suddenly there was a figure before her. She couldn't see specifically who it was, but they were in robes so she didn't think she would know him if she could see his face. He wore a turban on his head, and was hunched down towards the ground. And then he took his turban off.

Nyx opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

There was a face on the back of his head.

It didn't do anything, but it might have been the most terrifying sight of her life.

And then her door opened.

She came back with a gasp.

"Nyx, are you okay."

"Yes, sorry Papa."

"I just came to say goodnight. And to tell you that no matter what your mother says I think it would be cool to go to magic school."

"You really think so."

"I love you, and I want what's best for you. Like I said in the car, if it means you succeed I will deal with you being away from me."

With that, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead, and after a whispered goodnight set off to his own room, where a familiar conversation would take place between the husband and wife.

Nyx turned back to the figure, standing motionless with the extra face towards her. There was a bad energy coming off his man. One she could not explain but felt like would keep her up until morning.

Luckily it was the opposite, and the vision wore her out, into a dream infested sleep, still sitting above her quilt.

Nyx was awoken suddenly to a shaking.

"Nyx, sweetie, it's time for breakfast."

When she worked her eyes open Nyx saw her mother who had moved over to her door frame.

With a grumble she rolled to put her feet on the floor and lift the rest of her body into a sitting position.

"Come down when you're ready."

Closing her door her mother left the room and Nyx heard her go down the stairs.

She got enough force to pull herself up and into her bathroom. She always loved having her own bathroom, not having to see people before she was awake enough to have a conversation was lovely.

Nyx looked in the mirror and blinked a few times before undressing and stepping into her shower. She would be quick, quickly shampooing and conditioning her hair before using her favorite rose scented soap all over her body.

She quickly shut off the shower before wrapping a towel around herself and going back to her room.

She quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, wrapped her towel around her hair and threw socks on before walking out of the room and down the stairs.

Eight and a half minutes- not bad.

She took her normal seat against the window and poured herself a glass of orange juice out of the pitcher.

Her mother set a plate down in front of her, two scrambled with spinach and covered in cheese and an assortment of berries which she would ignore after picking out the raspberries.

The family ate in silence, as they always did. Her father reading the paper, her mother doing dishes and her watching the garden outside blow in the breeze, birds and butterflies flying threw every once in awhile.

When she was done it was almost eight, so she went over to the living room and sat down with her towel not around her shoulders, picking up the remote control and turning on the television to one of her favorite channels. She sat there for an hour waiting for her hair to dry.

At nine o'clock Nyx turned off the television and walked back up to her room to get ready for her callback.

The first thing she did was run a brush through her hair, and, knowing her mother would insist on running a straightener through it later,decided to leave it at that.

Then she walked over to her bookcase and pulled out one of her favorite books and went to her chair. She pulled her feet up under herself and opened The Secret Garden on her knees and started reading aloud, something that always calmed her down before important auditions.

The day was oddly normal from that point. Nyx only stopping to read the letter she had received the night before six times, and her parents never mentioning it.

Before she knew it Nyx had to get ready to leave for the theatre.

Her mother, as expected, straightened her hair into a perfect bob and tied the ribbon securely around her head.

Then she changed into her dress and put on her shoes before running down the stairs where her mother was waiting with the car keys.

Her father stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her, he did as he always did and kissed the top of her head and whispered, "do your perfect honeybee."

"Will do Papa." She whispered back and lent into his face before following her mother out and into the car.

When they arrived at the theatre Nyx left the car without her mother, common protocol for them, Nyx would come out and find her once she was finished.

Careful to avoid any puddles Nyx walked to the door and walked into the theatre. It was full of people. Nyx hadn't realised that the callback was for everyone, but she was a professional, so she walked up to where one of the women from yesterday was sitting behind a desk.

"Ah, Nyx how are you today?"

"I'm good, how are you."

"Same,you know, Andrew was really impressed with your audition yesterday. We all were, we didn't think anyone under the age of forty knew Songs for a New World."

Nyx smiled, "Actually it's one of my favorites."

The woman smiled at her, "Well, today Andrew wanted to get a feel for how people worked together."

She handed Nyx a few papers, "go ahead and go over Jane's lines. Well have you go over them with a whole slew of people to get a feel for how everyone works together. We're going to have everyone sit in the theatre and watch, just to make it easier on us with all the switching."

Nyx nodded and went back into the crowd of people and took a look over Jane's lines. They were fairly simple, lines she had heard before and would definitely hear again. So in her head she went over how she would say them.

Quite similar to how she would say them in real life, she figured, a girl acting older than she is, a girl who wants people to think she is older than she is.

Nyx took a short look around to see who here would be going out for Micheal. The two people she noticed would both make good Micheals.

One boy, Samuel, had recently been in Oliver and was amazing. The other, Robert, she had never seen out of an ensemble role, but was very talented nonetheless.

She noticed that Robert looked a lot more like her than Samuel did, who had the same dark hair as Elizabeth, who she noticed speaking loudly across the room.

But soon the people were hoarded into the theatre and Ny sat and watched as they did Burt's opening monologue, a scene with Mr. and Mrs. Banks, and finally got to the very first scene in the nursery with Jane, Micheal and Mary Poppins.

They had Elizabeth up there first, first with Samuel, then Robert, before switching to me and having them do it again. Then they switched and did it again with the other woman they had come in for Mary.

Needless to say Nyx was exhausted when she walked out of the theatre and into her car to give her mother all the details. Anxious for a phone call tonight that would give her news she wanted, completely forgetting that there would be a second visit tonight from the kind witch, and someone that would help her control the visions.

Dinner that night was completely uneventful. The family sat around their table and chatted about the events of that day. Her father gave a brief about what he was doing at work the next day and her mother told her she was getting a day alone the next day because she had to go into the city for a few appointments.

Overall it was completely normal.

And then there was a knock on the door.

Nyx looked forward towards the door and her parents looked at each other.

"We could just not answer."

Nyx looked over to her mother."No!"

And before anyone could stop her she stood up and ran to open the door.

Standing out there was the same witch from last night stood there, but beside her was a different man. Nyx stopped on his face, he had a long beard and eyes that told her everything she needed to know about him. They twinkled in the dim light, looked down at her through half-moon spectacles with a mischievous nature behind them, as though he could see right through her.

"Hello again, Ms. Greene."

"Good evening, come in, please."

The two entered and Nyx led them over to the couch, parents entering and walking over to the living room to rest uncomfortably on the two chairs.

"Ms. Greene, my name is Albus Dumbledore. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Ny thought for a moment, where did she know that name from?

"You're Headmaster of Hogwarts, right?"

Nyx could see her mother snap a look in her direction while the other man chuckled a little, "I see you've done your reading."

Nyx eyed the man, who very well could be her future Headmaster, "Forgive me for asking, but what exactly is a Mugwump?"

Before the man had time to answer the phone rang once again.

Momentarily forgetting what had happened that day, Nyx remembered, and looked over to her mother, who smiled and went over to the phone to answer it.

"Greene residence...Yes hello how are you?...oh wonderful she'll be so excited, I'll let her know… yes of course, we'll see you then."
With the biggest smile her mother hung up the phone and looked at her, "You got the part."

Feeling awkward in front of the wizards all Nyx did was smile and look back at them.

"You can tell me about the visions?"

Dumbledore looked for a moment at the girl with a sad smile on her face, "Well, I can try. I just need to ask you some questions about them."

"Ok."

"Do you remember when they started?"

Nyx thought for a moment, "Not particularly, I think the voices have always been there, seeing the actual people has been more recent, in the last two years I think."

"And who is the voice? Do you know?"

"Sometimes, like the other day after my show, I heard my parents arguing. But sometimes I hear voices I don't know." She saw her parents look at each other, she had called out their arguing as though she was accustomed to it, which she was.

"And what about the people."

"I've never recognized a person. Sometimes I meet them later, after I heard my parents arguing I saw you," she said pointing to McGonagall, "but I never know them when I see them."

"And do you get really intense feelings about the visions?"

"Yes, sometimes it's comfort.A lot of time it's fear like-" Nyx stopped herself in her tracks, something deep within her told her she shouldn't say anything about what she had seen last night.

"Ms. Greene, is there anything in particular that brought you fear?"

Nyx felt a small push in her mind, and it clicked, it was the figure keeping her from mentioning it to the wizard, holding her back, "Well I saw something yesterday, a man whose face I couldn't see, like he was hiding from me. But then-"

"Nyx enough with this nonsense, I'm sorry ma'am but I cannot allow this to go on-"

"Mrs. Greene, I assure you that this may have major consequences in the universe, Ms. Greene, please continue."

Suddenly the figure reappeared.

They had never reappeared so suddenly, and never without voices accompanying them. But now she was able to give a description clearly, so she started, slowley, "Well, he turns away from me. All I can see are his clothes, blue robes, like yours," she paused to nod to Professor McGonagall, "and, well, I can see the back of his head. Where there, I guess, I don't know, uh...uh-"

"Ms. Greene, what is wrong with the back of his head."

"There is another face!"

There was a pause from everyone in the room, the figure hunching lower, as though to hide the shame of being talked about.

"Ms. Greene, how do you know it is a second face, and not his own."

"The first time he appeared, he was wearing a turban, he took it off, and well, face."

"I must insist that you leave this house immediately-"

"Ms. Greene, did you say a turban?"

Nyx nodded at him, Dumbedore's demeanor changed immediately, as though hit by a train. But he must have noticed she wasn't looking at him.

"Ms. Greene is the man in the room right now?"

Nyx, with fear beginning to paralyze her, nodded, still looking at the shadowy figure haunting her living room.

"Can you do me a favor, and ask his name?"

"Who, which face?"

"It doesn't matter."

Feeling an immediate rush of energy and confidence, considering she wasn't alone, Nyx stood up and walked over to the figure, she wasn't sure if she could interact with them, but figured it was worth a try.

The figure took a look at her, his eyes following her as she walked over to him. She tried to walk around to see the other man's face, but he turned right alone with him. So she looked the second face right in the eye, "What is you name?"

There was no answer.

"Whose body is this?"

Still nothing.

"It's okay if you cannot get him to answer you, maybe we can help you."

But Nyx wanted an answer, now that she was sure that she could interact with the visions, she wanted answer.

So she did the most reasonable thing in her mind, checked his pockets for a wallet to see a driver's license.

He of course, didn't have pockets, she figured out quickly, but the figure was holding a book. And prying it out of his hands was easy.

She looked at the book, and then all of a sudden, it dissipated in her hands, along with the figure.
"Ms. Greene, are you alright?"

"Do you know anyone who wears a turban, Mr. Dumbledore?"

"Yes I do."

"Is he teacher of Dark Arts?"

"Defense against the Dark Arts, yes."

"It's him."

She stood int he corner of the room, still staring at her hands where The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection had disappeared.

With Mary Poppins rehearsals in full swing, Nyx barely had time to contemplate her future, except at night when she was visited by the teacher in her dreams, his second face haunting her dreams like a demon.

More than anything she wanted to know what was happening, or more importantly, why it was happening.

What did her visions mean? Why was she the one having them? What was she meant to do with them?

She had a feeling Professor Dumbledore would help her with that.

But she didn't have time to think about that with all the music, choreography and lines running around her head.

The family had two more days to send an owl to Hogwarts saying they would send Nyx there, they had even left one for them to send.

They also had to respond to Wellington.

But Nyx knew what she wanted.

And maybe it was the wrong way to go about it, but considering her mother wouldn't answer her about what school she would attend, Nyx decided to take matters into her own hands.
So in the morning of July 30th, just after midnight, Nyx made her way to the kitchen where the owl perched on the windowsill.

She took one of the thank you notes from the drawer with the only pen she could find, bright purple, and set out to write her reply.

To whom it may concern at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

I accept.

Nyx Greene

Yeah, maybe not the best way to do it, but Nyx could barely contain the excitement as she sealed the envelope and went to write the address.

That of course was when she realised she didn't know the address.

But the owl answered that for her, flying over to where she stood at the counter and leaning down to tap his beak on where she wrote to first line.

Maybe it wouldn't work, but she could at least try.

"I can just write Hogwarts?" She whispered to the owl, who cooed a little in return.

So that's what she did, and she handed it over to the owl and opened the window for him, and he flew out.

And that was when her father decided to make it known he was standing in the hallway.

"Decided to take matters into your own hands?"

Nyx may have jumped ten meters.

"I'm proud of you, you know? I'll miss you and this whole situation is crazy, but I'm proud of you."

"Thank you Papa."

He looked down a little, as though he had a lot on his mind, which he probably did, but Nyx didn't have the gift of reading minds.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I was scared, seeing and hearing things isn't exactly healthy. I'm not even sure that it is for witches, I was afraid you would send me away or something."

Faster than Nyx could think about it, her father had crossed to room to her and had her in his arms.
"Your mom and I love you very much, we would never have let that happen. But I understand. You're wise beyond your years, did you know that?"

"I don't even know what that means."

With a chuckle, the father leaned back to look his daughter in the face, "One day you'll learn. And tomorrow morning I want you to tell your mother what you've done. Don't back down, be firm, be brave. I'll have your back."

Nyx took a preliminary deep breath, and smiled, "sure thing."

"Now get to bed, I won't be the reason you're tired during dress tomorrow."

"Goodnight Papa."

"Good night Nyxy."

She slept fitfully that night, but not a single crazed teacher entered her dreams.

Somehow the next morning Nyx was out of bed and downstairs before her parents. She had spent most of the night tossing and turning about what she had done, and how she would tell her mother about it.

So she took a glass out of the cabinet and got herself a glass of water and set it down on the table.

She then went outside and picked the paper up off the welcome mat, and brought it to the table where she began fingering through it while waiting for her parents to make an appearance
When they did her mother showed up first, and as though she had checked every morning, she smiled bright and her voice rang out, "Oh look, that bird is gone."

"Mama I have to tell you something."

Before she could get the next words out of her mouth her mother cut her off, "How are you feeling about dress today, do you think you have Playing the Game down yet?"

"Mama, please listen to me."

"Because you know how you get with orchestras, if you don't have it perfect you might embarrass yourself-"

"Mama listen to me!"

Nyx watched her mother freeze in place, Nyx rarely raised her voice like that, she was a good kid.

"I sent the owl."

Her mother just stared at her, "I don't understand."

"Last night, I sent a reply to Hogwarts, I accepted their offer."

"You did what!"

"I want to go there Mama, I want to study how to control my magic, my visions, I can't go the rest of my life with them I am going."

"Maybe we can send a second one, explaining that you are a child, we can send an apology-"
Nyx stood up to hold her mother's arms and look in her crazy eyes, "Mama, I am going to Hogwarts. It is my education, and I have decided that I get to choose where I go. I don't want to go to Wellington, I know it would be good for my future but I have a feeling that Hogwarts is the right place for me. I hope you can understand Mama."

Her father's words from the night rang in her ears, Don't back down, be firm, be brave.
Well she didn't think about how her mother would react to that.

"Go to your room. I'll get you for rehearsal." Her mother's voice was low, scary.

'But what about-"

"To. Your. Room."

Nyx walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs quickly, running into her father on his way down.

"What happened."

"I am to go to my room until rehearsal."

"I'll talk to her, then I'll bring you some food. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you."

And she walked up and into her room which had become insufferably stuffy.
So she opened her window and stared out into the garden. It looked so calm in the early light. Birds were flying around and the trees blew calmly in the breeze.

Nyx thought back to something that Professor McGonagall had said, if she was a witch, and her visions wasn't the special things she was supposed to be doing, what else could she do?

In her anger, and annoyance, she decided to try something, hoping it would work and she could see magic like the Professor had shown her.

She didn't expect much, but she was mad, she would get back at her mother.

She concentrated hard, and her mother's words came back to her, her blank expression, her short tone.

And then there were voices.

This time it was Dumbledore, "One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."

Then came a voice she didn't know, "Lumos! Yes yes, try again, Lumos. Very good Ms. Greene."
Very good? What had she done? And what did Lumosˆmean?

She took a quick look around, in her hands, on the floor, on the ceiling. But no figure had come to her, she couldn't see a single thing out of place.

Maybe it just didn't work when she wanted it to. The voices, they had come so often to her she wasn't sure that this had anything to do with her anger.

So she laid back on her bed and closed her eyes, she was really tired, after all, she had barely slept the night before. She didn't sleep, per say, but she drifted in and out of consciousness for a while before sitting back up and turning on her music. The fits of stravinsky were enough to calm her nerves before she heard a ruckus from downstairs. And then she heard her name being called.
She slipped out of her room and down the stairs just in time to see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall at the bottom of her stairs.

"Ms. Greene, a pleasure as always."

"You as well."

"We are here because we received your letter, and you need to get your supplies"

"Mr. Dumbledore as I have insinuated Nyx sent that letter with no permission-"

"Mrs. Greene, as I have insinuated, in our world a witch or wizard has the right to choose their own fate, now I happen to be a personal friend of the muggle Prime Minister if you would like to bring this to his attention, I happen to know, however,that he will follow the rules I have laid down to him. Nyx has decided her future, we are all obliged to follow her decision."

Nyx could have hugged the man when her mother shrunk back.

"We're going to take you to a very special magical place, it is called Diagon Alley. It has a bunch of shops where we can get all of your supplies for the upcoming year." the professor then took a look at the parents, "You are, of course, welcome to come along if you would like."

Her mother immediately spoke up, "She has a very important rehearsal today, she cannot go off gallivanting with people we met a week ago and just miss it!"

"If you would allow me, Mrs. Greene, I believe it important for this to be done today, there is a way in which she could do both. You see, we have the power to play a little with time."

"This is ridiculous, if you honestly-"

"You said I have the power of my own choices, right?"

Nyx watched every face turn towards her.

"That is correct, Nyx."

"I want to go with them, Mum, I trust them, as long as they can promise I will get to rehearsal."

"We can promise that."

"Then I am going, if you two don't want to come,don't, but I would like you to come."

Her father looked at her first, "I'll come, I am as curious about this as you are."

Nyx sent a smile to her father, she knew she always had him, at least, and then the smile fell as she looked at her mother.

"She had a scowl on her face, "Well I am going to stay here to answer the phone when they call saying you didn't show up."

Nyx looked away from her mother, knowing one day she would come around, she had to, and turned back towards the professors, "Give me five minutes to get dressed?"

"Of course, just meet up at your fireplace."

Nyx sent an odd look their way, but decided it would be best not to ask questions, so she went and ran back up the stairs and quickly put on her favorite black skirt and black and white striped shirt, then she threw on her black flats and ran a quick brush through her hair, deciding it looked good enough straightened from yesterday. Then she grabbed her backpack which had everything she would need for the rehearsal later and raced back down the stairs and into the living room where the fireplace was. Off to her first big magical adventure.

Diagon Alley was beyond Nyx's wildest dreams. She meandered through the streets with wide eyes, holding tightly to her father's hand and pointing out oddities as they passed.

After they had exchanged all of the money Nyx had collected over the years, which was one of the highlights of Nyx's day, seeing the goblins, the group headed out to find the rest of Nyx's supplies.
Which was difficult, apparently most muggleborn students didn't travel with the headmaster and one of the most popular professors, who were stopped every couple of feet and engaged in a conversation with someone or another.

So after finally getting to the bookstore, robe shop and picking up random supplies from this shop or that, Dumbledore told her that she should go get her wand on her own.

"It's a very personal time, you should do it on your own. Just meet us at the Leaky Cauldron after you're done and we'll get you to your rehearsal, we'll take your father and have a good getting to know each other.

Nyx looked at the shop, it was fairly unsuspicious, and walked in with no problem.

Except no one was in there.

Every shop had been filled with people, except this one, where she couldn't even see a worker.

"Hello?" She called into the endless rows of boxes, an echo hit her back.

And then a man popped up.

"Ms. Greene, it's a pleasure."

Nyx jumped back at the sudden arrival, "You know me?"

"I know everyone. Now, step on up, most important thing you will buy today, your wand."

Nyx looked where he was and saw a little pedestal, so she jumped up on it and all of a sudden a tape measure started zipping around her. Measuring her height, her arm, her head. It was peculiar, really.

"I always say, Ms. Greene, the wand chooses the wizard, and this will be the same for you."
Nyx and the man went through six wands before he made a weird face.

"I've got it."

He disappeared into his isles, and it took nearly five minutes for him to reappear.

"I think this is it, I have to say it has been awhile since I have seen one of these,12 1/4 inches, Silver Lime Wood, Dragon Heartstring Core, surprisingly swishy flexibility."

Before she took the wand from it's box, which was beautiful, she looked at the man, "Why do you say you haven't seen one in awhile?"

"Ms. Greene, I will not answer that question, but if you ask the librarian at Hogwarts to give you a book on wand lore, look up Silver Lime wood. It may be enlightening."

Nyx gave another weird look to the shopkeeper, but then picked up the wand.

She knew immediately it was perfect.

A warmth pulled up her body, and the silver wand let out a great light which was nearly blinding.

"Be careful whom you share the details of your wand, Ms. Greene, until you can be certain you know a person."

Nyx give a final odd look to the man, who was confusing her with every moment, paid for her wand and left the shop, keeping the wand secured into her backpack and went to head back to the pub

she had entered from.

And of course, she got lost.

It was only one street, it really shouldn't be that hard, but it really was.

And because she knew who she was, she got distracted.

Spending any amount of time outside the pet store was a mistake.

She had always wanted a pet, always wanted to take care of something she could call her own.
Works rammed into her head, it was her future.

It was her money.

Theoretically she could do whatever she wanted.

Her mind went back to the letter. There were three animals she could choose from.
Time to take a leap.

It wasn't until she was walking out of the pet shop and clutching a carrier with a small white kitten that she thought she shouldn't have done that.

But her original problem came back to her.

She still had no idea where she was.

She took a long look around. Most of the shops looked unfamiliar, and the ones she did recognise meant nothing, she had been looking around too much to keep track of where she had started.

"Do you need help?"

Nyx spun around, she had heard that voice before, maybe someone who had stopped to talk to the teachers?

But she didn't recognise the faces.
Or, face, the two people standing before her were identical.

"Oh, um yes. I think I just got lost.

"You're a muggleborn."

The way he said it didn't sound like a question, "Yes."

"OK, well I'm Fred, this is my brother George. That's our family over there, we can help you"
Then it his her, the first night she had seen the man with two faces, she had heard his voice.

"Well, thank you, but I just need to know how to get to the Leaky Cauldron."

"We're heading there now," the other boy, George, said, "you can walk with us. We're third years, but our brother's a first year like you."

And somehow she was swept up with the two boys and pushed towards a very large family.

"Who's this boys?" The oldest woman, probably the boy's mom, asked.

"This is, oh, we don't know."

Assuming this was an invitation to introduce herself she stepped towards the woman and offered her free hand, "Hello Ma'am, my name is Nyx Greene."

The woman looked at her hand and with a sudden start reached out and shook it.

"She got lost, she's going to the Leaky Cauldron so we said she could walk with us."

"So you're a first year, then?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Please, call me Mrs. Weasley, Ma'am makes me feel old."

"You are old."

"Can it George."

"I'm Fred."

Nyx laughed at the exchange, even their harsh words were said with a smirk and a light tone, so unlike Nyx's family.

"Well, Ronny here is also a first year." She pushed forwards a boy about her height, and it was then she noticed that all of them had the brightest red hair she's ever seen.

The boy didn't say anything, but had an unfortunate look on his face, as though she had something on her face.

"And this is Percy."

The tallest boy of the group stepped forward. In Nyx's ever so humble opinion, he looked like a prat.

"Percy Weasley, Fifth year. Prefect."

She was right.

"Pleasure.

"Who took you here, dear. My husband works in the Ministry we might know them."

Nyx could only assume the Ministry was the government, "Oh, it wasn't anyone from the Ministry,

Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore came with me and my dad."

Nyx could have laughed at the look on Percy's face. Fred, George and Ronny certainly didn't hold back.

"Why?" Percy was straight to the point, with a tone like a cheese grater was hitting his vocal cords.

Nyx paused for a moment, not knowing how much she should say, especially after the wand maker's warning, "I don't know, I guess I'm just special."

Mrs. Weasley smiled at the girl, but behind her eyes there was a worry that Nyx couldn't place, "Well, we better get back to them then."

As the family kept moving and Nyx told the boys about herself there was a sense of force behind her. She kept looking over her shoulder but couldn't figure out what it was that was bothering her.
Then she saw what it was. A figure that appeared on every street pretty much everywhere she looked he was lurking in the shadows staring at her. Taunting her with not words.

Nyx, not wanting to give anything away Nyx tried to ignore the man, who was really creepy in her opinion. Shaggy brown hair and a crazed look. The weirdest thing was that she didn't feel worried about it, she simply felt as though he had to tell her something but couldn't. She almost wanted to run up to him and try to get it out of him.

But then they arrived at the pub, and the man had dissipated.

When they walked into the pub she spotted her father immediately, laughing along with the two professors and a small group of people who had crowded around knew this look.

Her father had been drinking.

She smiled, he couldn't drink a lot or he got weird, but she liked seeing him happy.

His face brightened when he saw her walking across the room. But then his eyes fell down to her hand where she held the kitten.

The group had gone silent seeing the man's face. They all looked at him, "How am I going to explain this to your mother."

"You won't, I will. Don't worry."

He didn't seem convinced, but smiled anyway and pulled her into the empty chair next to him. And that was when Dumbledore noticed the red heads beside her.

"I see you've found refuge. Molly, how is everyone?"

Mrs. Weasley looked at the wizard with a smile, "All good here. Got all of Ron's things. He's very excited."

Dumbledore then looked over at the twins, "I assume the two of you have picked up enough Zonko products to last you the year?"

"Nah, Mum's not let us in since the flooding incident last year." Nyx could barely see it, but George's face went red a little.

"Which one?"

Nyx laughed as Mrs. Weasley whipped around, "Which one?! There was more than one time you two decidded to flood your own school."

"Come now, Molly, let the boys go, I assume they have been saving up money for months for this haul. And besides, someone has got to keep Mr. Filch on his toes."

Almost acting out of permission, the twins slipped out of their mother's grasp and ran out the door, presumably, Nyx decided, to this mysterious Zonko's, which she could guess was some sort of joke shop.

"Professor, with respect, you shouldn't egg on their foolishness."

"There is, Mr Weasley, nothing wrong with acting your age once in awhile."

Percy shrunk back, and it was then she decided she could trust Dumbledore with her life.

The group of them sat around until Nyx looked at her watch and saw her rehearsal started in fifteen minutes.

She looked over at Professor McGonagall and pointed out the time, who decided to stand up and announce the need for them to depart.

By then the crowd had pretty much gone, except the Weasley family and two other bar members who seemed to know the professors fairly well.

"I'm afraid Nyx has somewhere she needs to be so we must take our leave."

With a few goodbyes and a promise to the Weasley twins that she would find them on the train to school they left in the same way they left, landing back in their living room.

Her mother was sitting on the couch, book perched in her hands, she said nothing, barely raised her eyes to the guests and her own family. Even ignored the kitten, being an avid hater of pets.

"Ms. Greene we can side apparate you to your theatre. I assume you guys can pick her up after everything is over. Now, we won't see you again until the day you arrive at HOgwarts. I implore you not to mention magic to anyone, or your visions. Someone will come on the thirty first of August to bring you to the train station, please have all of your things ready by eight o'clock. We will not meet again for some time." The last statement was aimed at the parents, her father, shaking their hands and her mother ignoring the two of them.

"Ms. Greene, whenever you're ready." Dumbledore held out his arm to her, which she took and was suddenly sucked into a vortex that squeezed her very being, she could feel the wand she had in her backpack pressing against her spine.

And then they were in the back of the theatre.

"Until we meet again, Ms. Greene."

Dumbeldore held out his hand to the girl, who shook his hand.

"Have a good rest of your summer, Professor."

"You as well, hang in there. Things will get better."

And he was gone.

Needless to say Mary Poppins was a smash hit.

Casting was perfect, direction both normal and musical, and overall the show is just good.
Nyx loved the show, and loved performing in the show, loved just being at the theatre. But this moment all she wanted to do was leave.

It was closing night, the most important, and her mother wasn't there for it.

Nyx had been honored, the owner of the theatre giving a speech on how much everyone would miss her now that she couldn't do shows during the school year.

Nyx had played it off with a bright shining smile and a "well I'll be back next summer, somehow you'll have to survive until then."

And her mother had not seen it.

She had never missed a closing night. She hadn't spoken to her since that night nearly four and a half weeks ago. It was August 30th. She was leaving for Hogwarts the next morning, and there was nothing in sight that would tell her that her mother would even say goodbye to her.
When she was done for the night she went into the lobby and found her father, who greeted her with a small smile. She may be able to act on stage like a child who unearthly happy, but she couldn't pretend she was happy after what has happened.

She got a few hugs from castmates who sent her sad smiles. They barely knew her situation. All she had let them know was that she chose a school in Scotland, and not Wellington. She had been pretty nondescript about the school except saying it wasn't a drama school and her mother didn't want her to choose that school.

Everyone in the school saw how bumed she was about what had transpired with her mother, and the woman was now one of the main sources of gossip among the stage mothers and actors.
Finally, with a few more final goodbyes to the people she called her second stage family, Nyx and her father went home.

And Nyx had a burning question.

"Papa."

"Yes bug?"

"Are you and Mama going to be okay when I'm not here?"

There was a silence as the man contemplated the question. But she waited until they were on their street to ask it. Not wanting the entire car ride to be awkward.

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to see, one day at a time. And I promise you, as soon as you are gone, if she hasn't forgiven you before then, she'll miss you so much that by Christmas time she'll be dying for you to come home."

As they pulled into the driveway and parked Nyx did feel a little better, "Promise."

Her father held up his hand, and intertwining their pinky fingers he looked his daughter straight in the eye, "Promise."

As expected Nyx's mother did not speak to her for the rest of the evening. Unexpectedly, she didn't come for dinner.

Nyx had requested her favorite, her father's pancakes with a side of bacon. Something she nearly never got, but she wouldn't see them for four months, so she pretty much got whatever she wanted.

After eating and watching a movie together Nyx's father looked at her.

"Baby it's nearly eleven, I shouldn't have let you stay up this late, you have to be up early tomorrow."

"Don't worry Papa, I'll be too excited to stay asleep."
With a smile and a kiss on the head he sent his daughter up to her room and he cleaned the kitchen.

Upstairs Nyx quickly remembered she had forgotten to finish packing.

Yes she was supposed to have it done that morning but what was life without a little procrastination?

It took nearly twenty minutes to fold the rest of her clothes and squeeze her books into her trunks.

Her kitten, who now had the name Cosette was sleeping in a ball in her chair, which she had taken up residence in since her mother informed her she would not allow the 'animal' to roam around the house.

She wouldn't have to be bothered until the morning, so Nyx put her crate on top of the pile of things, put some of her food in the bowl and went to the bathroom to fill up the water bottle.
With that she was finished. She took one final look around her room making mental notes of what she would have to do the next day.

She first looked at her bed, she would have to pack up her teddy which she had slept with since she was a year was important.

She would have to put the clothes she was wearing in the laundry bin in her parent's room instead of her own so they wouldn't sit there. She hated the nightgown she was wearing, no way she was bringing that to school.

And then there was her wand. It currently sat on her night stand, hoping that one day when she held it it would do something. It never had, but she figured she would try tomorrow morning when she was excited it would do anything.

Plus she liked putting in her back pocket where she could feel it.

Finally she was able to lay down, and she hadn't realised how tired the day had made her, for when her head hit the pillow, she had time for one voice to enter her head before she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Find us to say hi on the train, we'll show you the ropes of making mischief at Hogwarts."

The next morning was a whirlwind, to say the least.

Nyx had slept well, but she had never slept such a short time. Always in be by at least 10. So she was wound up.

The morning began with her father waking her up, and then her falling asleep again, something she never did. But eventually she was able to wake up and take a shower she desperately needed, she had not showered when she got home from closing. When she got out she put on her school traveling outfit- what she had called the new outfit her father had brought her to buy a few days after they had gone to Diagon Alley.

It was an outfit she would never wear, but for some reason it felt so right. It was simple, really. She had been warned that the trip could make her a little chilly, apparently it got cold at night in Scotland?

She didn't know, but it meant that she had bought a new sweater, just a plain thin off white one, but it had a set of rainbow strips across her chest. On bottom she wore a skirt, not odd for her but it was a little shorter than her mother usually allowed, about halfway down her thigh but it came up and when she tucked her sweater into it she thought it made her look older. Which she loved.

On her feet, something her mother would never allow, she had a pair of tennis shoes.

They were all black, and maybe one of her favorite pairs of shoes she had ever owned.

Then she had tried to wrangle Cosette into her cage. She got a few scratches in the process but she did it.

The worst part was getting everything downstairs.

And it wasn't even seven thirty.

Nyx sat down to breakfast and noticed immediately something was off.

Her normal breakfast was not in front of her. There was an assortment of food, pastries and toast and eggs and bacon and sausage.

Nyx looked at her father, who was bringing a pitcher of juice over to the table.

"I thought the people who are bringing you might want something, but I don't know what wizards eat for breakfast."

Nyx couldn't help but laugh at him. It was so stupid, really, but she knew he was just worried about her. This had been building up for weeks, him taking things too far, doing the absolute most for her.

She assumed a lot of it had to do with the fact that she had basically lost her mother over this.

Speaking of, Nyx had not seen her that morning. She was usually puttering around looking mad at her.

But the weirdest part about the morning was that she didn't care.

She needed her father and that was all. She didn't care that they were the only ones there, it was all she needed.

So when the time came, and a know rang out in the hall, Nyx hurriedly jumped up and answered the door.

"Nyx Greene?" The person standing their questioned.

"Yes ma'am."

"I'm Sabrina Wellpoint, I'll be escorting you today."

Nyx welcomed the woman and brought her into the kitchen.

"Please, help yourself," Nyx looked at her father accusingly, "My father went a little crazy."

Through false seriousness her father answered, "Forgive me I didn't know it was illegal to worry about my daughter's future."

Nyx stared down her father, and then the two of them burst into laughter, and it was Olivia who spoke up first, "Don't worry Mr. Greene, I have done tons of these pickups through the year and this is not the worst I have seen."

It was almost as though Nyx could feel her father's worry ease a little, and she was glad. She wasn't sure what would happen with her parents when she wouldn't be there. If their relationship would stay intact or if the worst would happen. But knowing that her father didn't have to worry too much about her made her feel better.

"In fact, something I have to discuss with you before we leave is letter writing. So Hogwarts does not accept muggle mail, unfortunately, so Nyx, at Hogwarts there is an owlery that will have owls you can use there, so if you want to write home you can, and if you," she looked at Nyx's father, "ask it to stay you can answer quickly and send the same owl back. And I can enchant an object in your garden that you can use to summon an owl if you want to send mail."

"That would be lovely, thank you."

The three walked out into the garden, and the woman set her eyes on the bird bath that had sat unused for years, "This will work."

And, watching an impressive display of magic as Olivia explained that the magical water could be distered in a certain way and an owl would arrive. It was impressive really.

"And this will be helpful over the summer if you would like to stay in touch with your school friends who come form wizarding families, most don't use muggle post either."

When the three had settled inside again the woman decided it was time to leave. So the two got up and took a trunk each.

Before the million dollar question came, "Will Mrs. Greene be joining us?"

Nyx looked over to her father, "No, she had a prior engagement."

"Alright then, we should get a move on."

Nyx wasn't sure where they were going, but when they arrived at King's Cross Station she was more confused than ever, "King's Cross? How do you hide everything from muggles?"

"You'll see, my dear, it's quite impressive really, just look at your ticket."

Nyx had neglected this, not realising it would give her any clue.

"Platform 9 ¾? I've never seen that before."

"And that is how we hid it, my dear."

After getting all the luggage on a trolley they made there way to platforms 9 and 10.

"So what you are going to have to do is quite simple." She lined the trolley up with one of the columns.

Nyx didn't understand, "What, is there a door or something?"

"No dear, you just have to run at the wall."

Nyx looked up at the woman, trying to see if she was serious, and there was no look of deception on her face.

So she ran at the wall.

And there she was. Tons of people, hugging and kissing, ordering people where to go, and at the forefront, a beautiful crimson train.

"You have a few minutes to say goodbye, dear. This is where I leave you, have a good year."

Nyx shook the woman's hand and turned back to her father, "You'll be okay?"

She caught him staring at everything, it was incredible, really, a whole world she never knew, "Now that I know how to contact you, yes."

"And you'll let me know if anything happens with mum, okay?"

"Sure thing bug, but don't let it ruin your time, have the most fun, come out the top of your class, squish everyone with your awesomeness, alright?"

"Sure thing."

"And do you know what the most important thing is?"

She did, but she didn't answer as her father pulled her into a hug, "do your perfect."

Nyx pulled back, picked up her stuff and started to turn towards the train, "I love you Papa."

"I love you too Nyxy."

And she boarded, going to the rest of her life."

Boarding the train was a lot, with Cosette hitting her body against her crate and the heavy trunk it wasn't easy to carry on a narrow train.

She went through to look for an empty compartment when she ran across a familiar face.

"Ron!" The red hair becomes as she leaned against the door.

"Nyx, come on in, take a seat. This is Harry Potter."

As she settled next to the red head she looked at the boy across the way, he had broken round glasses and wild brown hair, "Pleasure, I'm Nyx, Nyx Greene."

She stuck her hand out for the boy, who took it and shook it.

"Harry's the most famous wizard ever!"

And that was how she found her motley crew.

Walking into the Great Hall was suriel, of course, this who day had been, but this was part of the best.

Unfortunately the first thing she thought of was the figure that had haunted her for weeks, and she took a short look around and saw it.

A man with a turban.

He was still here.

It was then that she caught the eye of Professor Dumbledore, who gave her a look that shot right through her and told her to shut up.

So she did. But she couldn't tear her eyes away from the man, who looked a little like a weasel. Like a spoon dropping on a plate could startle him.

And then Professor McGonagall started reading out names.

First up was Hermione, who she had met on the train and liked already.

She was sorted into Gryffindor, from what she had gotten on the train that was the house to be in.

A few others went and she noticed that there were a bunch of people who could be sorted in a few seconds, some that took a minute or two, but Hermione had taken the longest. She couldn't understand what had happened to her, it's a hat, but she couldn't understand why the person looked like they could feel something on their head.

"Nyx Greene."

Suddenly her eyes snapped to the stool. All of her friends had gone to Gryffindor, if she could call them friends already, what would happen to her?

As the hat was placed on her head she slipped into darkness, it had gone over her eyes.

"Ooh...Ooh… interesting."

It took a moment for Nyx to realise that she was not having a vision, the hat was speaking to her.

"What to do? What to do? Curage, plenty of that. Tons of ambition too, where to put you. Smarts, you have brains, yes, but I'm not sure. Not a Hufflepuff, no, they'll hold you back. You want to be great, you want to be incredible. You want to reach your fullest , that's what your father would like, isn't it."

It was that statement that Nyx realised she could probably answer him, so she thought her hardest, "I barely know what a Ravenclaw is."

"No, I don't think Ravenclaw would do. But what to do, Slytherin, or Gryffindor? All your friends in Gryffindor, but as I said, you'll make your real 'll help you do everything you want. Everything you need, especially with that wand wood of yours."

"What is it about my wand that you say that?"

"Silver Lime wood, I assume you were not told to whom wands of that wood usually cleave?"

"No?"

"Silver Lime wood is an incredibly popular wood. By possessing it you immediately have a status, the reason being that it performs best for people who posses specific magical powers, mysterious ones at that."

"What kind of magic?"

"I cannot give you that answer."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Very."

"Will it help people."

The hat paused, and for a moment Nyx thought it would yell out her house, but at the same time, it seemed to be thinking.

"It will, and with that I know exactly where to put you."

The hat paused, dramatic effect, she believed,before yelling into the air, "Gryffindor!"

A wall of sound hit her all at once, as though the hat was blocking her ears completely from the rest of the room.

But she didn't have time to think, all she had time for was a big smile as she jumped off the stool and ran towards the red table, where she sat down right next to Ron and was met with a bunch of handshakes and smiles.

It was then that she noticed Fred and George lean over their brother to pat her on the back.

"Knew you were a good one!"

"Yeah, it was a close call there, to think , you, a hatstall!"

Nyx looked at the boys and could feel her questioning gaze, "What's a hatstall?"

Percy jumped in then, "Someone who takes more than five minutes to get sorted. Usually it happened because so many of your traits are mixed up."

"Five minutes? That felt like two!"

"It was nearly seven, actually."

Nyx looked over at Fred and George, who just nodded at her.

But then someone else had gotten sorted so they turned their attention to the front again.

And Nyx started thinking about what the hat had said, and from what she knew about the people around her, she knew someone who may know the answer to her question.

So she turned to the eldest Weasley at the table, "Percy, can I ask you something?"

""Have questions about HOgwarts?"

"No, about wands."

"Did Ollivander say something weird to you, he's known to do that."

"No, I mean, yeah he said a bunch of weird stuff but there was something else, he made it seem as though my wand wood said a lot about who I was, but he wouldn't tell me why?"

"Well, wand wood does tell you about a wizard, how adventurous they are, what type of person they are, for example some wand woods are known for never turning dark, but if you have a question about wandlore Professor Flitwick, the charms Professor, has done extensive reading on it to help understand every different student's strengths, he can probably answer your question."

"Thanks."

Nyx swept her eyes over the table of professors, knowing only two of them by name didn't help her in determining which was Professor Flitwick, of course she knew it wasn't the turbaned man, who she knew taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. She assumed she would have to wait until her first class to ask him her question. Besides, she had bigger fish to fry, she would have to catch Dumbledore's ear to ask about the defense professor. Surely whatever she had seen hadn't been good.

And maybe she should question him about the man she saw in Diagon Alley, maybe she could help him.

But somehow before she knew it there was a feast in front of her, and all her worries went to the back of her mind as she laughed and ate with her new friends.

That night, when she went to bed and set up her bed, prepared for the next day, and hugged Cosette as she went to sleep, Nyx realised she didn't care what had happened between her and her mother.

She was exactly where she was meant to be.

A.N.:

Hello world! Quick introduction my name is Mack and this is the first chapter of a story that has been hitting around in my head for a long time. It would be awesome if you reviewed for me to let me know you liked the idea. I know it's a little wild but just keep with me until everything hits into place.

Thanks for reading!

-MackGlin