Mallory woke up slowly, blinking and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Yawning, they shoved the covers off of their cot, freeing themselves from the embrace of her bed. Stepping onto the rough carpet of her room, she slowly stretched and sighed, getting dressed for another day. Unlike most kids their age, she didn't wake up in a home full of pictures from their childhood. Instead she woke up in a foster home, their 8th so far. Foster care was, unfortunately, not a pleasant experience for Mallory. She kept getting switched between families because of strange happenings around them. The last time something had happened, she was immediately ejected from that home to be put into another. The Lewises were a nice enough family, but not people they wanted to live with forever. They would treat her like a bomb, as if any small accident would cause an explosion.

As it turns out, that wasn't far from the truth.

                Mallory is a witch, although they don't know it yet. Her eleventh birthday was today, June 28th, and they weren't too keen on celebrating it, given how every birthday seemed to herald a disaster which thrust her into a different home.  As they walked downstairs she noticed an odd smell, a mixture between mint and sandalwood. When they reached the bottom, she turned into the living room to see their current foster parents speaking to a very tall, very old, and very wise looking man.

He was dressed in violently purple robes with a similarly colored hat. He had half-moon spectacles and was holding a cup of tea.

"Ah, here she is now." He said as the Lewises turned around to look at her. "The girl of the hour!"

"Uh, hi. Do I know you?" Mallory asked.

"Albus Wulfric Brian Percival Dumbledore at your service," He said with a friendly smile, "I'm here to deliver a letter, and discuss your future."

Mallory cocked her eyebrow and crossed their arms. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, we've found permanent living arrangements for you, my dear." Dumbledore replied, "Or more specifically, I've found someone willing to take you in for the foreseeable future."

"Permanent, or another foster family that'll dump me at the first sign of trouble?"

"Permanent in this case. although it's only one person," He paused before continuing, "Her name is Muriel Prewett, and she has kindly offered to take you in."

"Okay, when do I leave?" Mallory asked, resigned to another home. "I don't have enough to really warrant too many bags."

"We'll leave as soon as you're done packing, I'll take us there." Dumbledore informed them. She set off to get packed, neatly folding their clothes into the bag, carefully packing up their few belongings before heading downstairs to leave. As she stepped into the living room again, the Lewises shook their hand and gave her a quick farewell, congratulating them on the adoption. 

"Alright, where's your car?" Mallory asked, not seeing it.

"Oh, no car, we're going to walk a ways and then apparate." He said, smirking as they looked at him confused. "Just walk around the corner here and we'll get going." As the pair rounded the corner to a rather dank alleyway, he motioned for her to grab his hand. They obliged and were immediately pulled into a swirling barrage of colors, shapes, sounds, and sensations. She immediately pulled backwards after it stopped.

"What was that!?" Mallory demanded, clearly shaken from the experience, "Are you some kind of wizard?"

"Yes, actually. I'm not surprised you figured it out that quickly, considering your heritage." He quietly responded.

"My heritage? You knew who my parents were?" She asked, suddenly extremely interested in what he had to say.

"Certainly! They went to the school I'm currently headmaster of, although I wasn't at the time." Dumbledore answered. "They got top marks in several of their classes"

"You're the headmaster of a school?" she asked, incredulous, "At your age?"

"Rude, but yes, I am the headmaster of a school. It's called Hogwarts, and it's where you'll be going soon." He looked a little offended, but full of mirth nonetheless. "Its full name is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"A magic school? Does that mean I have magic?" They looked hopeful, if only a little. 

"Yes, so you're getting adopted by an older witch, who will be able to fill you in on the basics and take care of you while you're not at school." 

"Okay, so where does she live?" Mallory asked.

"Right here, actually." He pointed to the mansion the two have been standing next to the entire time. "Welcome to the Prewett Estate."

"Estate? Is she some kind of royalty?" She inquired

"Oh no, there is no royalty in the wizarding world. At least not anymore, now we have a proper government." He chuckled lightly, "The Sacred 29 are actually the closest you'll get, although it doesn't mean much anymore."

"Sacred 29?"

"There are 29 old families that remain pure-blooded, which is just a fancy way of saying they're all wizards." Dumbledore stroked his beard as he spoke. "Head on up there now, Muriel will inform you of all this in her own time."

"Okay then, goodbye Dumbledore." She turned around and shook his hand before walking up the long gravel path to the manor.