Allegra was raised by muggles. Her mother, Ciara, was a teacher. Her father, Hugh, was a banker. They loved her very much, always giving her what she wanted and needed. They were quite kind, and treated her fairly. Because of that, she was a kind child. An honest, loving child. Her life was completely normal, even with an older brother who enjoyed picking on her. Normal, that is, until her completely normal parents got a call from her school teacher one day.

“Mrs. McAfee, you simply must come get your daughter!” The teacher sounded frantic over the phone.

“Well, what happened?” Allegra’s mother was hesitant. She was a good girl. Allegra never got in trouble.

“Well that’s the problem, Mrs. McAfee. I’m not entirely sure. Another student was throwing rocks at a bird that had hurt its wing. I’m not sure what Allegra did. I looked away for just a moment and the other student’s pants were on fire! I’m just sure it was Allegra, the way she was looking at him. She had already tried to make the student stop throwing rocks, but he wouldn’t. She had a look... Mrs. McAfee, I don’t know how to explain it.”

Mrs. McAfee picked up her completely normal daughter. The first words Allegra said when she got in the car were, “Mum, he deserved it! I don’t know how I did it, but I did.” She wasn’t ashamed. Confused, yes. But not ashamed.

As soon as Mrs. McAfee had closed the door behind them, a letter came swooping through the mail slot.

“What?” She glanced outside, only seeing an owl perched nearby. The postman was nowhere to be seen.

Allegra picked up the letter, and upon seeing it was addressed to her, she opened it. “Mum! Look at this!” She looked up at her mum excitedly at the parchment. Scrawled in fancy writing, an acceptance letter to somewhere called ‘Hogwarts Schoo of Witchcraft and Wizardry’.

“From the Desk of Headmaster Solomon Lear”, Allegra began reading.

Her mother was quite confused. “Magic isn’t real, Allegra.” She stated. That would be the end of that.

When her father got home, Allegra instantly bombarded him as he was taking his tie off. “Dad! Look what I got today!” She showed him the letter. He took one look at it, then shook his head. “Sorry Allegra. It looks like it was just a joke.”

Her brother, William, laughed at her, taking the letter as he read it out loud, laughing and teasing her. “I don’t know, Allegra. This seems pretty legit. Don’t you want to go to this ‘magic school’?” He teased her, laughing out loud.

After a few days, everyone had forgotten about the letter. It wasn’t until the next Sunday, when Allegra was playing outside in their yard, that an owl perched nearby, hopping toward her before dropping yet another letter.

“Mum?” She called, running in the house. “Where is Diagon Alley? This letter says that I am to get my schoolbooks and clothes from Diagon Alley. An owl left it for me!”

Her mother took the letter. She was curious. After doing quite a bit of talking to neighbors, she discovered that one of her neighbors had gone to Hogwarts when she was a child as well. “I’d love to take Allegra shopping for her school supplies, if you’d like.” Mrs. Wilson graciously offered.

Ciara McAfee nodded. “Please. I don’t even know where to begin.”

A few weeks later, they were standing at King’s Cross Station, in platform 9 3/4, a platform they didn’t even know existed until that moment. Allegra was boarding the train as Mr. and Mrs. McAfee waved goodbye. Mrs. Wilson was there as well, excited for the young 11 year old girl to experience all of the love she felt for Hogwarts as well.