I felt as if I was in a dream. The man in my chair looked like Gandalf, with snow white hair and a thick beard. He was dressed in a plum coloured suit, half-moon glasses resting on his crooked nose, eyes twinkling as they saw me.

"You must be Aurora," He addressed me with a smile.

The smile reassured me he wasn't going to hurt me, so I gave him a wry smile as I hovered in the doorway. "Yes, and you're in my seat. Seen as you know who I am, who are you?"

"Aurora, that's rude." Dad snapped. I raised an eyebrow. He never called me Aurora unless he was really mad. What had I done?

"It is quite alright Mark," The man continued. "Aurora asked me a question. I, my dear, am Professor Albus Dumbledore. Please, take a seat."

Blinking a few times I sat on Hollie's usual seat, noting that the letter from this morning was spread across the table. Of course, I couldn't read it, which was quite frustrating.

But Professors were from posh schools or universities. And I knew I wasn't smart enough to get into University at thirteen, so what sort of school was he from? A felt a stab of ice in my heart, as I thought of the possibility I was being transferred to another school.

"Are you guys sending me away?" I asked my parents, but they fell silent, confirming what I thought. "I can't leave Kayley, my friends, my life! I haven't bunked off in months, expect from-"

I curse myself for blurting out the truth when I'm angry, and I hope my parents don't twig on. But of course, my dad asks, "Apart from when, Aurora?"

"Oh, I do like knitting patterns." Mr Dumbledore muttered to himself, picking up one of mum's magazines, ignoring us. I already liked him, for ignoring our family crisis. Many people would just look on awkwardly, or twiddle their thumbs.

"Nothing, nope, I haven't, slip of the tongue." I lied.

"Aurora." Dad said sternly.

"Alright, fine, I did today! Are you happy now?" I blurted out.

"You promised Aurora, you promised you wouldn't bunk off again! I want my daughter to get a good education!" Mum said suddenly, her voice breaking at the end of her sentence.

"Are you serious, mum? I want to get a great education! But I can't do that when Adeline Fitzgerald vandalises my glasses and makes me burn myself-" I showed them my hand, which is still faintly read, "And she led me to....

"To do what? Aurora, we won't be mad, just tell us." Mum said, her voice soft.

"I don't know why or how, but.... Her hair caught on fire. And it looked like, like the fire came from my hands... So I ran away..."

"Exactly as I thought, it all makes sense." Dumbledore said quietly, breaking the silence. "Aurora, did you receive an odd looking letter today?"

"Yeah," I sniffed, wiping tears away with the back of my hand. "What does that matter now? Is it an application for a mental asylum?"

"Has anything happened like this before?" Dumbledore asked, almost urgently.

"No, I don't think so..." I trailed off. "Well I mean I heal really quickly when I think about it, and recently I've had dreams about green light and boys with green eyes like mine..."

This sets Mum off, and she cries harder.

"As I thought," Dumbledore muttered to himself. "Well, Aurora, I am the head teacher at a school, a school for special people, like you."

"I'm not special." I scoff. "Nothing happens to me, ever, I'm just boring, angry Aurora Oswin!"

My voice gets increasingly louder and the last word triggers that burning anger inside me again, and a crack is heard as the coffee table is covered in jagged cracks.

"No, no, no, this can't be happening!" I mutter, putting my head in my hands, wishing the cracks to go away. "I'm losing it, I'm going crazy!"

Dumbledore on the contrary, smiled. "You are not going crazy, dear girl. As I was saying, I run a school, for special people like you. I think it would be prudent for you to open your letter."

I picked up the first sheet of paper, and read it held close to my face, anticipation rising in my stomach, and also fear. If my parents were so happy this morning, what changed? Why were they upset and angry at me?

Dear Miss Aurora Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you were supposed to be accepted two years ago, we are sending the Headmaster to your place of residence to explain the whole matter to you. Term Begins September 1st. We await your owl no later than Midnight of July 31st.

Yours Sincerely,

Professor Minevra McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

"It's not April fool's day, you know." I said angrily, flinging the paper down. "You know how much I like magic and wish Middle Earth was real, this is not funny!"

"It's not a joke, love. I wish it was." Mum whispered, her lip trembling.

"Yeah okay, if I'm a witch then pigs fly." I scoff. "Don't tell me, you're the most powerful wizard in the world!"

"I am actually, well one of them." Dumledore said, and I laughed. "Would you like me to prove it?"

"I don't want no illusion-"

"Just listen to him, Rory." Dad sighed.

"Pick a card." Dumbledore said, holding out a deck of cards. Rolling my eyes, I took one.

"This is pointless-AGH! "

I'd barely seen the seven of hearts when it burst into flames in my hands, pulling apart into dust. I looked at Dumbledore in astonishment, only to see the rest of the deck burst into flames. Feeling as if I was going to faint, I watched as the ashes from the cards all floated into the air like butterflies and piling together in a pile on the coffee table.

"And I'll fix that for you too," Dumbledore said, and taking out a wooden stick, pointed it at the coffee table. And with a wave of the stick, the crack in the table vanished.

Realisation crept up on me, and all I could say was, "Holy shit."

"Don't swear!" mum said, though she was starting to smile.

"Okay, right, I believe you..." I said hesitantly. "But wouldn't that mean I'm in third year? Like two years behind everyone else? I know nothing about magic apart from Lord of the Rings-wait, was that real? Is Middle Earth real?"

"Sadly no," Dumbledore said, and I couldn't help frowning. "But as for catching up, I'm sure I can set up a tutor for you, in the form of a student your age called Hermione Granger. I'm sure Genesis Lupin will introduce you."

"Who's Genesis?" I snorted. "What sort of a name is that?"

"I thought your parents would have told you about her and Hogwarts itself..." Dumbledore frowned.

"Well up until today, we didn't think she had magical abilities." Dad said his voice sharp. "You said you'd come if she showed signs of magic, and after her eleventh birthday passed, I thought we'd never have to tell her about this."

"But you told her about her parents, of course." Dumbledore said sharply.

"Um, my parents are in front of you...?" I trailed off, confused. "And what, you knew I had magic? Why wasn't I told about this?" I glanced at the letter. "And you put the wrong surname down, this day is a mess!"

"Twelve years you cared for her as your own." Dumbledore said coldy, standing up. "And in all that time, you didn't tell her about her heritage-your heritage. You didn't even tell her who she really is, did you?"

Feeling a dark sense of foreboding, I turned to my parents. No, please don't let anything bad from the past appear now. I was so giddy and excited I had magic; I didn't want anything to ruin it.

"What happened?" I asked, and my parents shared a look. "What is so important you neglected to tell your own daughter about?"

"You don't know anything!" dad snapped, before storming out of the room.

I stared after him in shock. Usually my dad was the one who told me the truth when mum skirted over it. What was the matter with my parents?

"Sit down Rory, please." Mum says quickly, and I sit in Dad's empty spot, his lost warmth seeping through me. "I never wanted you to find out this way. After your eleventh birthday passed, I thought I would never have to tell you. And when the letter came, addressed to Aurora Oswin I thought we could still carry on as normal." She sniffed.

"What happened?" I asked softly. "Am I adopted?" The word sounds so foreign on my tongue, I feel sick. I'm an Oswin. I have to be. I have Dad's dark hair, Mum's green eyes. It's impossible. It feels so wrong, even just thinking about it.

But then it would make sense, why Mum is always so protective of me, how she unintentionally loved me the most.... But twelve years, I was possibly adopted when I was one.... That would explain where my baby photos were....

But it raised bigger questions. Who were my parents, and why weren't they looking after me?

"Yes." Mum whispered, not looking at me. "They were magical, and.... There were circumstances, and they entrusted us with you."

"But how could you protect me if you have no magic..." I trailed off, my voice breaking. Jenna had to be my mother, how couldn't she be? This was all turning into a twisted nightmare.

"Mark is," she said, wiping tears away. "But Lacey and I have no magic, so he left his world behind-for all of us."

"So, Lacey knows about all of this?" I spluttered. "And she didn't tell me?"

"She still remembers when you first arrived, all those years ago; we couldn't hide that from her..." Jenna murmured. "I knew your parents well, Lily and James Potter, they were wonderful people. But there was this man-well no, actually he was too inhumane to be called a man-who made it his life ambition to wipe the Wizarding world from those he considered under him. It was a terrifying time. Your parents, you and your brother were hiding from him-"

"I have a brother?" I gasped, my hands starting to shake from both excitement and horror. As much as I loved my sisters, I'd always wanted a brother. And now I was being handed one on a plate, and I didn't even know who he was...

"I know him well," Dumbledore said gently. "His name is Harry, he's a good boy. He's your twin brother.... He looks similar to you, the green eyes and dark hair..."

I thought of the painting I'd done for art with the boy who sometimes appeared in my dreams. Warmth went through me, a part of me always knew him, I just hadn't known it yet. Would he recognise me on the street, would I recognise him...

"Well as I was saying, this thing-Voldemort was after the two of you for some reason. Why, I don't know. Babies couldn't have hurt him if they tried.... So your parents came up with an idea to protect you....to wipe your memories and send you to live with us."

"Right," I said. The story was shorter than I thought. "So that's it, the three of them are out there somewhere?"

This was turning into one of those episodes of long-lost-famileis when the adopted child met their real family, and excitmenet was growing on me. What would my parents be like, did they look like me? Did my brother know about me? Was he taller or shorted than me?

"No... They told us about the plan and executed it, just as Voldemort arrived at your house to kill you both...." Jenna trailed off. I felt sick, having an idea of what was happening next.

"He killed your parents as they tried to protect the two of you.... And then he turned to the both of you, but he couldn't kill you. It rebounded on him, killing him instead."

My nightmare of the green light and red haired woman came back again and I felt tears well up in my eyes. I'd discovered my real parents ten minutes ago, only to lose them as well.

"So then Dumbledore brought you here, as your parents wanted. You'll always be my daughter, Aurora, even if blood doesn't link us... Family doesn't start or end in blood, remember that."

And then Jenna embraced me and I hugged her tightly, not caring she wasn't my mother. She raised me, she treated me as her own, and I would never forget that.

"Where is Harry? Where is my brother?" I demanded.

"He's safe, he's alive." Dumbledore reassured. "He lives with your mother's sister, as she wanted. He attends Hogwarts as well."

"But if he's been there for two years, how come I haven't?" I said, my heart hurting. I could have met my brother two years ago, but I didn't even know he existed.

"I believe that because your memories were erased at such a young age, you forgot you were a witch with magical ability.... So you supressed your magic so well, you only let it free when you were angry or needed it. We picked up your magic only a couple weeks ago, we were all surprised."

There was a silence hanging low in the air as I considered everything I'd learned. "Mu-Jenna, do you have any pictures of my family?" I questioned.

"Yes, we were going to show you when the time was right." Jenna said vaguely, getting up, wiping stray tears away. She exited the living room and returned moments later with a small box. "Dumbledore brought these things with you, all those years ago."

I carefully opened the box to find three items pressed into tissue paper. Carefully I pulled out a baby's onsie, blue and tiny. It was coated in dried ash, and when I held it up, the faint scent of cologne and perfume lingered.

Holding it to my chest, I felt the urge to cry. I could almost smell my parents, imagine them holding me on that last night with smiles on their faces. Next was a tiny red croteched blanket, smelling of ash and perfume. Smiling slightly, I folded the two items up in the box.

The final item, was a golden locket, covered in intricate patterns. Unclasping it with shaking hands, I found a photo of four people. A tall man with messy dark hair and hazel eyes surrounded by round glasses had his arm around a slight woman with auburn hair and the same shade eyes as I did.

My brother was in my father's arms, I was in my mother's. My brother was giggling as our father tickled him, his hair messy and green eyes staring. I kept trying to clutch onto him in the photo, laughing. We all looked so happy.

Dumbledore coughed, and I jumped slightly. I forgot once more, that he was sat there. "You know, you also have a God-sister, and a Godfather."

"Do I?" I ask in surprise. I had always wondered why I didn't have a Godfather or Godmother. Lacey and Hollie had them, but I had yet to meet them. "Do I have a Godmother?"

"No, she was sadly killed. But her partner-your godfather-is alive, he lives in the West with his daughter, Genesis."

"You should go stay with them this summer." Jenna said abruptly, surprising me.

"Are you serious?" I blinked a few times. Excitement was rising up inside me like a tidal wave. "Can I?"

"Well you need to learn about your past and your new crazy world somehow!" Jenna smiled. "And you won't be able to get that here.... Mark doesn't like reliving the past. Well, as long as you want to, of course."

"Are they nice people?" I asked Dumbledore hesitantly. I didn't want to know them if they were awful people.

"They are some of the best people around."

"I will then." I decided boldly. "I can't live in the dark about this any longer."

"Well then, I suppose you'd better start packing." Jenna said with a wobbly smile, rubbing at my arm.

With a grin plastered on my face, I sprinted up the stairs, almost knocking a vase over. Darting into my bedroom, I pulled my holiday suitcase from under my bed. In my excitement I didn't even fold anyting, shoving in any item of clothing I thought I'd need for the next week.

After shoving in some books, art supplies and photos from my giant birthday collage, I sat down on my suitcase, struggling with its weight.

I couldn't help but wonder how I would get in contact with Kayley, considering there was probably no phone at my new school. Hopefully I'd find a way to keep in contact.

Thankfully taking off my disgusting uniform I changed into my Beatles jumper, skinny jeans and black vans, hoping to make a good impression. Taking my ruined glasses out of my blazer pocket, I imagined the writing disappearing. And weirdly enough it did.

Smiling to myself I put the glasses on, feeling excited that magic was actually real, I wasn't just hallucinating.

Shutting my door behind me, suitcase heavy and irritating, I started to drag it along, only to almost head-butt Lacey. A scowl covered her face, her make-up running.

"Um, I guess you knew the whole time, then?" I said quietly.

"Of course I bloody knew, I remember when you were brought here, crying and wailing all the time!" she hissed. "Why do you think I hated you growing up? I got past that, thinking I could love you, and then you go and do this!"

"Did what?" I asked, startled.

"You got accepted at that freak place!" Lacey hissed, shoving my chest. "I was meant to go there, be the one who was special! But no, it's always you, always you who wins! Why can't I be happy for once?"

Recoiling, I walked backwards into the closed bedroom door. "Lacey... I'm sorry. I didn't want this..."

"Mum may be proud of you, but I hate you!" Lacey hissed, her eyes brimming with tears. "You freak! I'm glad you aren't my sister!"

"Lace..." I say, reaching out to touch her. "Do you think I wanted this? I wish I was an Oswin, but I'm not. You have to accept it."

"Don't touch me!" Lacey hisses, drawing away like I'm infected. "Just go away!"

"Lacey!" I cry, but she just swears furiously at me.

She stomps into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. I stare at the door, a lump of emotion in my throat. She hated me, she actually hated me... Lacey and I had our ups and downs, but I knew we'd always make up....

But now, I wasn't so sure.

Slowly, I patted her bedroom door. "Bye, Lacey." I whisper. "I'm sorry."

"Piss off," I heard a muffled sob from within.

Sighing, I stood back, and made my way downstairs with a heavy heart. Mark had emerged from the kitchen, his eyes slightly bloodshot. Jenna was smiling and talking with Dumbledore, Hollie between the two of them, clutching Minnie.

"Take her with you." She said, thrusting the cat into my grasp. "It'll remind you of me!"

"Of course, I will, Hollie," I said gently, hugging my little sister tightly, the cat hissing between the two of us. Prising Minnie from her grasp, I patted Hollie's head. "Don't think because we aren't related I'm not your sister, okay?"

"You're still my favourite sister, don't worry!" Hollie beamed. "When you're back home can we go get ice-cream."

"Of course," I said, high-fiving her.

I turned to my adoptive parents, feeling oddly anxious. "I know you both probably wish I wasn't going, but I have to.... I have to discover who I really am.

"Just take care of Minnie." Hollie said solemnly. "Otherwise I'll gut you like a fish!"

"Where on Earth did she learn that?" Mark asked, clearly dazed. I tried not to smirk, remembering Kayley's inside joke. He shook his head. "Just.... Take care of yourself, Aurora."

"I will," I promise, and give him a hug. No matter what, he was still the man who promised to set Laurence on fire after he broke my heart and taught me to ride a bike.

I turn to Jenna. "Now, you take care of them, okay? And don't get too emotional, otherwise I'll... turn you into a frog or something."

Jenna smiles through a fresh set of tears. "Don't forget your past," She whispers, handing me the box containing my past. "You'll need it if you're going to get anywhere in this crazy world."

Gingerly, I take the shreds of my past from her, slipping them into the case's front pocket. I don't want to forget my past, ever.

"I'll call and write as much as I can." I promise, tears filling up in my eyes. Giving each of them one final hug, I turn to Dumbledore. "I'm ready."

Dumbledore nods. "Very, well, Aurora. I hope to see the three of you soon, Mark, Jenna."

I linger for a minute at the door, hoping Lacey will reappear, apologising. But when she doesn't, I sigh, and follow Dumbledore out into the darkened street, Minnie padding after us.

"Sir, is it safe to be walking this late?" I questioned. "I mean that Sirius Black man is dangerous! He murdered thirteen people!"

Dumbledore gave me a saddened look. "He's not a muggle, Aurora, he's a wizard. He's a disgrace of one as well. I could fight him if I needed to. But in any case, we're taking a quicker mode of transport to the Lupin residence."

He held out his arm, so I picked up Minnie, clutching my suitcase in the other hand. And then as I clutched onto it, a sharp vacuuming feeling travels through my body and we disappear, leaving my old life behind.