No one would ever guess that they exist because they hide in plain sight, but you and I know the truth. We know that they live among us, trying to live their daily lives in peace. Wizards and witches are real, therefore magic is as well. Because of their magic, they are able to conceal themselves entirely or make themselves look like Muggles, people of non-magic. However, we know better because you and I are one of them.

"Wake uuuuup!" Julia, an eleven year old girl with short brown hair and blue eyes, slumps over her friend dramatically, knocking a bit of wind out of her friend's lungs. "It's seven in the morning!"

"Which is why I'm not up yet." Maria, a twelve year old dirty blonde haired girl with bright blue eyes, slightly lifts her head so her face isn't completely suffocated by her pillow. She tries to prop herself up on her elbows, but Julia's weight on her back makes her fall back down. She is way too weak to fight back against her friend, especially at seven in the morning.

"Come on, my dad made breakfast already and my brothers are up." Julia rolls off Maria and stands up. She walks over to the door before turning and smiling slyly at the blonde. "I guess I'll have to eat all of the frosted cinnamon rolls by myself."

"YOU MADE FROSTED SWEET ROLLS?!" Maria jumps up from the pull-out bed. Despite the basement being freezing, Maria throws off her blanket and quickly follows Julia out of the room.

Maria and Julia enjoy their sweet tasting breakfasts in the kitchen with Julia's brothers, Ethan and Andrew. Ethan grew a bit along with his other two siblings, but he isn't as tall as Julia yet. His brown, thick hair bounces in the front when he laughs, and his hazel eyes show more green than usual. Since he is only three years younger than Julia, Ethan gets along with her friends very well. Andrew is thinner than his brother and three years younger, making him the runt of the family. His glossy light brown hair is more neat than his brother's, and his green eyes are closed so he can savor the taste of the rolls in each bite.

Julia's father sits at the small table on the other side of the kitchen reading the newspaper. He takes a sip of his coffee and says, "Who wants to go to Diagon Alley after church?"

At the suggestion, Maria and Julia gasp in joyous surprise. After a moment, though, Julia gets confused. "But, we haven't gotten our school lists yet. I'm not sure if Maria's parents would want her to go without them anyway."

Julia has been a bit worried lately. With everything that happened last year at school, she isn't sure the school would welcome her back. Usually their letters come in the mail via owl in mid July, but it's already the 16th of August. Julia's mother smiles at the kids and says, "Oh, we talked to them last night. Maria's parents are perfectly fine with her coming along. They said it might be better if she went with a wizarding family."

Maria's mom and step-dad are both Muggles. It was a shock to Maria when she first learned she was a witch. Her real dad, who unfortunately passed away when she was three, was a wizard. She learned all of this last year before she went to the school for magic, Hogwarts. Maria nods, remembering back to last year when she tried to navigate the busy alleyway, and thinks it's best if she went with Julia's family. "But, what do we even get? What books do we need?"

"Why don't you read your letters and find out." Julia's dad smirks and pulls out two hidden pieces of parchment from his pocket. "Gravy brought both of those over this morning. Dumbledore must have known you were here, Maria."

"Yes! Oh, I can't wait to go back!" Maria squeals and grabs her letter from her friend's dad.

"What? I was sure that you would have been expelled from breaking so many rules last year!" Ethan sniggers, but stops when his mother glares at him from the corner of her eyes.

"I can wait for more Potions. Seeing Snape again isn't on my top priorities list." Julia ignores her brother and rolls her eyes when she thinks back to her Potions class which she glumly shares with the Slytherin house.

"Oh, he's not that bad!" Maria says as she reads through her letter. "Sometimes he can be cranky, but he's pretty fair most of the time."

"Yeah, to every house instead of Gryffindor." Julia sighs, knowing that Snape hates her house for seemingly no reason. "I got detention from him in our first week of school!"

"Okay, that was kind of cruel." Maria agrees with her friend on that point, but she doesn't forget how she won the first years Potions competition either. Maybe he will warm up to her Gryffindor friends sometime. Maria reads the rest of the letter and scrunches her eyebrows. "Hey, look at this."

Julia leans over her friend's outstretched arm to see where she's pointing. There is a note inked in bold at the end of her letter, and when Julia looks back at hers, she sees one as well. Julia reads out loud, "The staff at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry apologizes for the late owls. Due to some unfortunate events that have transpired in the past month, we had to delay the announcement of the students' school supplies. We have pushed the due date for your owl response to August 30th."

"Woah I wonder what happened that was so bad to delay the letters this long." Maria looks at Julia worriedly, thinking about everything that happened last year. No, there is no way it's related. They were able to defeat the death eater, Cade, and put him behind bars.

"I haven't heard anything in the ministry, so it must have been personal to the school." Julia's mother reassures the girls. Because she is an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, Julia's mother is usually the first to know whenever something important or bad happens.

Andrew takes another roll off the serving plate and globs more frosting on it. "Probably because they had to find a new teacher."

That's right, the school had to replace a teacher over the summer. Their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Laney, resigned because of the events that happened last year. It turned out that Cade had Professor Laney under the Imperius Curse, a mind controlling curse, for the entire year. When everyone found out, the students' parents were less than thrilled and they were starting to demand his resignation. The girls still feel bad about him losing his job, but there was not much they could do.

Even though it makes sense, Julia's father shakes his head and turns the page to his paper. "No, Dumbledore is always able to get another teacher by the end of June. Even if he didn't, they would still send the owls. It was probably a miscommunication of some sort."

Julia thinks about it for another moment, but then puts her worries aside. She's starting a new year with her friends and she doesn't want to be stressing over something that is probably just a business thing. Maria does the same and flips over the parchment, reading through her school supplies. She can't wait to explore Diagon Alley with her friend and get back into the world of magic.

~~~

Hannah smiles as she gently braids her younger sister's long hair. Her fingers weave through the strings expertly, knowing exactly how to complete the famous french braid. Once she's done, her sister jumps up and joins her brother at the television, grabbing a remote and adding herself into the video game.

The eleven year old witch, Hannah Miller, shakes her head playfully as she watches her siblings get competitive over the game. Her thin, light brown hair hangs down in its own simple braid, and her matching eyes scan the kitchen for a good breakfast option. "What to eat..."

"I got this, sweetie. Why don't you check on the mail? It arrived a few hours ago." Hannah's dad scoots next to her and grabs a pan out of the drawer to start making some pancakes.

Even though it's early in the morning, the Miller's family owl came with their mail and was eager for treats. Hannah giggles when she thinks of the poor bird begging for a snack while the entire family is still sleeping. She walks up to the owl's cage and pets the creature. "What'd you bring for us today?" Hannah grabs a bundle of envelopes with her other hand and starts walking back to the kitchen. "Dad, dad, dad, mum, David - our Hogwarts letters!"

Hannah skips the rest of the way back and opens her letter. The oldest of the kids, Katie, enters the kitchen as well and grabs her envelope. Katie reads the bolded note at the bottom and tilts her head. "That's an extremely vague excuse for sending our Hogwarts letters late! Of course this happens when I'm starting my fifth and most important year. What will the teachers do about summer homework? We barely have a month to get everything done! I'm going to have to get through Alchemy, Ancient Runes, Divination, and Arithmancy in just the first week!"

"Katie, settle down! You're making my ears ring." David groans and reads over his own Hogwarts letter. Even though he is already in his fourth year, all David really cares about is playing Quidditch again. That is the wizarding sport that involves each player flying on broomsticks and scoring points by throwing a ball through a hoop.

"Sorry that I'm concerned about my education," Katie says, her words practically spraying venom.

"Hey, I'm concerned too! If my grades aren't up to par, then I can't play on the team!" David looks up from his letter and glares at his older sister.

Before anyone can say anything else, Hannah speaks up to avoid a potential argument. "How about we all go to Diagon Alley later? That way we can get our books for summer assignments. I'm sure the professors will be considerate of the time we lost, but we should still skim through our books."

"Excellent idea, Hannah!" Katie beams at her little sister and rolls her eyes slightly at David. "We can leave before lunch and get something to eat there."

"Did I hear we are going to Diagon Alley?" The group of three kids turn around to see a sleepy Stephen stumbling into the room, rubbing his eyes. Stephen is a year younger than Hannah, making him the fourth eldest child of the Miller family.

"Yes, we need to get our books so that we can read them through before classes. Speaking of which," Hannah hands her brother an envelope addressed to him. Stephen opens it and smiles as Hannah finishes, "Welcome to Hogwarts, bro!"

"Awesome!" Stephen almost rips his letter because of how fast he opens his envelope. "I can get my robes, my school supplies, and even a wand! I wonder what house I'll be sorted into."

"Well, if you are nervous, you always have family in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor." Katie rubs Stephen's shoulder, reassuring him. She is in Ravenclaw herself while Hannah and David have been sorted into Gryffindor.

"I can't wait. I'm going to explore the entire campus when I get there so I know where everything is!" Stephen says excitedly. He imagines wandering around the grounds while everyone is bored and doing schoolwork.

"Whatever you say, Stephen. Just don't get lost." Katie recalls her first year in her mind. She was so nervous when she accidentally wandered into Professor Dumbledore's office. Hannah remembers the feeling of the first week of school as well. The halls are confusing when you first try to navigate them. Somehow, all you have to do is ask and the building itself will help you get to your destination. It's like it has a mind of its own. Going back to school is going to be a blast, but first thing's first - they have to go to Diagon Alley and get their school supplies.

~~~

The sun just barely peeks over the horizon and the light spills into the young girl's open window. When the glare lightens over her closed eyes, Lauren stirs and slowly wakes up with a long yawn. The eleven year old scoots downward and buries herself under her covers, refusing to get up so early. Her light blonde hair just peeks through the blanket, and her green eyes slowly start to close again.

"Lauren, get me my shoes!" A loud voice snaps from across the house, making Lauren fully wake up and groan in annoyance.

"Coming!" Lauren slowly sits up, takes a breath to compose herself, and slides off her bed. Her long, thick hair is a complete mess, but somehow it untangles itself after she gets moving. Lauren walks down the stairs and finds a pair of brown, worn shoes by the front door. "Here, dad."

Lauren puts the shoes on the floor in front of her father, but he doesn't acknowledge her. From the kitchen, Lauren's older brother says, "Gumdrop, help me with these eggs!"

The blonde gladly enters the kitchen through the open doorway and hops up on the counter. Ian, Lauren's older brother, stands at the stove and swirls around some scrambled eggs. His dirty blonde hair has gotten shaggier since last year, but it still fits him nicely. He has the same green eyes as his sister, which makes them look very closely related. Ian picks something up from the counter and plops it in his sister's lap. "These came this morning. About time, right?"

"You have no idea!" Lauren's eyes gleam when she looks at the emerald green ink on the envelope addressed to her. She opens it and reads the letter, hoping there will be an explanation as to why the letters came so late. "Nothing is here except the usual letter and a bolded note at the end."

"I saw that too. I hope everything is alright over at Hogwarts. At least it seems like everything is back on schedule." Ian looks on the bright side, like he usually does.

In the doorway, Lauren and Ian's dad rolls his eyes and snarls, "You've been accepted back into that good-for-nothin' school? Bunch'a freaks. You'll never get anywhere in life surrounded by people carrying overgrown splinters."

"We aren't freaks!" Lauren glares at her dad, holding the letter close to her chest.

Ian puts a hand on his sister's shoulder gently to settle her down. He pours the finished breakfast on a plate, but their dad steps in the way and snags it from them. "Don't you talk back to me. No breakfast - both of you!"

Once her dad is out of the room and she knows he can't hear her anymore, Lauren turns to Ian and growls, "If I knew any attack spells I would-"

"Make an even bigger problem." Ian chuckles and hops onto the counter to sit right beside Lauren.

"My friend Julia already knows a cool attack spell. When I learn one, then I can stand up to anyone who tries to put me down." Lauren rubs her hands in her lap, trying not to get too emotional.

"You just have to remember to not become the bully." Ian smiles and flips his Hogwarts letter over to look at his school supplies. He is starting his third year as a Ravenclaw student, meaning he has two electives he was able to sign up for. He is excited to start learning about Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy.

Lauren is beginning her second year with her friends. Even though all of her friends are in other houses, she is super happy that she was sorted into Ravenclaw with her brother. "I won't... if you'll take me to get school supplies today!"

"You want to go to Diagon Alley?" Ian was actually thinking the same thing. Since they got their letters so late, it is probably wise if they get their stuff as soon as possible. "I'll pick you up a breakfast biscuit on the way."

"Yes!" Lauren cheers and runs up to her room. She packs up anything she would need for the trip over to the alley: wand, money, maybe she'll even wear her witch robes. Once she has everything gathered, she falls back on her bed, excited to go back to a place that's filled with people like her.

~~~

"I SAID GIVE IT BACK!" A pile of bushy, brown hair clouds the little girl's vision as she sprints throughout the house. "You guys are gonna break it!"

"Come on, Agnes. It's just wood!" Agnes quickly skids to a stop when her brother throws her wand up in the air. In the living room, one of Agnes's brother's friends catches the brown wand and starts running off with it.

"It's not just wood! I need it to do magic!" Agnes's wild dark brown eyes glare hard at her little brother's jerk of a friend. "If you break it then you're buying me a new one!"

"Boys!" Agnes's sister, Mary, snags the wand from the intruder's clutches and hands it back to its rightful owner. "This isn't a toy to mess around with, now go play outside or something."

"Yeah, Frank! Go play outside!" Agnes sticks her tongue out at her younger brother as he whines and heads to the outdoors. After his friend follows him, he slams the door to make sure the entire neighborhood knows he's upset. Agnes puts her wand in her belt and hugs Mary. "Thank you!"

Mary lightly laughs and ruffles Agnes's crazy locks. "Frank has always been a bit of a handful ever since we found out you're a witch."

"I know. He's just jealous." Agnes rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically.

Mary walks over to the counter in the kitchen and tosses Agnes an envelope like a frisbee. "Heads up!"

"Woah!" Agnes catches the paper and flips it over to see bright green words written. "My school letter! This is amazing, I'm finally going to be able to get my stuff!"

"And do your summer work?" Mary asks with a hint of motherly tone in her voice.

"It's the school's fault for sending the letters so bloody late." Agnes shrugs and rips open the envelope. She skims over the letter and flips the parchment over to read her school supplies. "Ugh why do I have to take Potions again? I want a class that goes outside!"

"Well, you have Herbology and Astronomy. Those count, right?" Mary asks, remembering all the stories Agnes told her about her classes and the adventures she went on.

"Yeah, but those are still technically in buildings. Sometimes we go outside to view the stars, but we have to sit down on blankets in one spot. I just want to have a class where we walk around and get to know the wildlife!" Agnes imagines a class where they go out into the Forbidden Forest. She would ace that class because she knows so much about it. She even had a battle in that forest!

"That sounds super awesome." Mary smiles slightly and slowly asks her next question, "Do you think... I can take you to that wizard place to get your stuff today?"

Agnes freezes, her eyes gleaming with happiness and disbelief. "You wanna take me?! Yes, I'll definitely go with you! I'll show you everything!"

"All right! We can have lunch then go to the magic place." Mary is cheering on the inside. She always wanted to see an all wizarding place ever since she figured out Agnes was a witch. "What's it called again?"

"Diagon Alley." Agnes jumps and starts making lunch despite it being eight in the morning. She can't wait to show her older sister around while also getting some magic stuff to start the school year with. The twelve year old Gryffindor girl bounces on her toes while making a sandwich. Maybe she'll run into some of her friends there too.