~ 24th July, 1991 ~

There was an overwhelming feeling of impending doom as I silently sat on my bed, staring out of my window as I waited for the owl from Hogwarts. The inky blackness of nighttime was already starting to give way to the royal blue of morning, which I knew meant it was about 5am. Worries had kept me from sleeping all night, and I was still dwelling on them now.

Like pretty much every child in Britain that was born to a wizarding family, I'd been looking forward to going to Hogwarts for as long as I could remember. But although I knew I was magical — my metamorphosis, my wand, and my golden phoenix were all proof of that — I wasn't certain I was magical enough to be accepted.

Draco had been doing fairly frequent accidental magic since he was just two years old. I, on the other hand, hadn't been able to do anything more than change my hair colour until I was nearly eight. Even then, my bursts of accidental magic were few and far between — I was lucky if I had more than two instances of magic happen in a year. What if this counted against me? What if it meant I wouldn't get accepted?

My thoughts were interrupted as someone softly knocked on my bedroom door — one long knock, then two short, then another two long ones. I smiled slightly.

"Come in," I said quietly, knowing it was Draco.

Sure enough, my brother opened the door and walked into the room, a smirk on his face. He carefully closed the door, then sat next to me on my bed.

"We get our Hogwarts letters today!" he said excitedly.

"Good morning to you too," I replied, tensing as he mentioned the Hogwarts letters.

Noticing this, he frowned and said, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong!" I said quickly. "I'm completely fine, Dray!"

I forced a smile, so used to doing this that it looked natural unless you knew me really well. Unfortunately, Draco was one of those few people who did.

"No, something's wrong. Out with it." His words were sharp, but still caring.

I sighed. "What if I don't get into Hogwarts? What if I'm not magical enough to be accepted? Father would be so angry, and mother would be disappointed, and I'd be really upset, and—"

"Dora," Draco cut me off, "why wouldn't you get accepted? You're from one of the oldest and purest wizarding families in Britain, you can change your appearance to be however you want, and the only golden phoenix in existence bonded to you as soon as you touched the wand with its feather in!"

"But — but my accidental magic—"

"Yours is just different to mine," Draco said, leaning back onto my propped up pillows, and getting me to do the same. "You change your hair and your eyes by accident. I can't do that, so my accidental magic is more — more physical, I suppose. And remember, you've taught yourself some spells already! You need to be really good at magic for that!"

I smiled properly now, putting my head on Draco's shoulder.

"Thanks, Dray."

***

We went down to breakfast a couple of hours later, both of us still in our pyjamas. Draco had made sure to clear this with Father the previous night, so I was fairly sure that I wouldn't be punished for it, but I was still anxious as we walked into the dining room.

"Good morning, you two," Mother said as we entered, smiling at the visible excitement on Draco's face.

"Morning!" Draco said happily.

"Good morning, Mother," I said, in a much more subdued voice.

Father entered the room a moment later. Mother greeted him with a kiss, and I did the expected curtsey, anxiety gnawing at me. What if he decided that actually, it was unacceptable for me to still be in my pyjamas? What if he punished me for it?

Thankfully, he said nothing about it, and instead silently sat down at the head of the table. The three of us followed his lead and sat in our own places — Draco on one side of the table, me on the other, and Mother between myself and Father.

"Have our Hogwarts letters arrived yet?" Draco asked excitedly, taking one of the pancakes that had just magically appeared on the table.

"They have."

Father took two envelopes from his pocket, and gave one to Draco and one to me. My heart skipped a beat as I saw the Hogwarts logo on the wax seal. And, when I turned it over to look at the front, there was no doubting it was for me.

        Miss P. Malfoy
        The Last Bedroom on the Third Floor
        Malfoy Manor
        Wiltshire

My hands now trembling with both excitement and nervousness, I broke the purple wax seal and carefully pulled the parchment from within the envelope.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

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

Dear Miss Malfoy,

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

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

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

I felt a smile spread across my face. I'd been accepted! I was going to Hogwarts! Breakfast forgotten, I unfolded the second piece of parchment and started to read that too.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform
First-year students will require:
     ☐ Three sets of plain work robes (black)
     ☐ One plain pointed hat (black) for day
wear
     ☐ One pair of protective gloves (dragon
hide or similar)
     ☐ One winter cloak (black, silver
fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

Set 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 Beginners' 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 an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

The second to last bit made my heart sink. Only an owl, a cat, or a toad? Did that mean I couldn't take Aureli?

Mother took my list, reading it with a doubtful expression.

"They expect you to get through the cold winter months with just one cloak?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "What if it were to get damaged or lost? No, you shall need at least three each. And the other uniform items will not be nearly enough on their own; you will need extra of those as well—"

"Then Pandora will have two extra of everything on the uniform list," Father said, "and Draco will have four extra."

We nodded, all of us knowing better than to question Father's favouritism towards Draco. If he said Draco was getting more than me, Draco was getting more than me, and nothing anyone said would make any difference.

***
Word count: 1246