Katherine Greenwood: The Hidden World #1

Instructions

Katherine's POV: I had always thought that being the oldest of six children meant I was supposed to know what to do, although there were plenty of times when I really didn't. I was eleven years old, and my younger siblings kept me busy almost every day. Ava, who was the second oldest, was usually arguing with Cecilia about something, Cecilia was always asking questions, Lucy loved drawing and telling me about whatever story she was working on, and Walter was constantly looking for one of his toys. That morning was no different. I was sitting quietly at the kitchen table eating my breakfast while Mum, Angela, was making breakfast at the stove, Dad, Greg, was reading the newspaper, and my brothers and sisters were making enough noise to fill the entire house. "Walter, leave Cecilia's toast alone," Mum said without turning around. "But I want some," Walter complained. "You have your own." "I don't like mine." Cecilia pulled her plate closer to herself. "It's mine." I tried not to laugh as Walter frowned at her, but then I heard a strange tapping sound coming from the kitchen window. Tap. Tap. Tap. I looked up and saw an owl sitting on the windowsill. I had never seen one that close before, and for some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off it. "There's an owl," I said quietly. Nobody seemed to hear me at first, so I pointed toward the window. "There's an owl." Everyone turned to look. "Why is there an owl at the window?" Ava asked. "I don't know," I said. The owl tapped the glass again with its beak, and this time I noticed something in its mouth. It was carrying an envelope. I stood up slowly and walked closer to the window. There was writing on the front of the envelope, and when I got close enough to see it, I realized it had my name on it. **Katherine Greenwood.** I stared at it in confusion. "Why does that have your name on it?" Cecilia asked. "I don't know." Mum came over and looked at it too. "That's very strange." The owl tapped the glass again, and after a moment, I opened the window. The owl flew inside, making everyone jump, and landed on the back of a chair before dropping the envelope onto the table in front of me. I stared at it for a few seconds before carefully picking it up. The paper was thicker than the envelopes we normally received, and there was a strange red mark on the back. I looked at Mum. She looked just as confused as I felt. "Go on," Dad said. "Open it." I slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside. I started reading, but after only a few seconds, I stopped because what I was reading made absolutely no sense. I read it again, hoping I had somehow misunderstood it, but the words were still there. It said that I had been accepted into something called **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**. I stared at the name. I had never heard of Hogwarts before, and I certainly had never heard of a school called that. Then I reached the part that said I was a witch, and I just stared at the page. A witch? Me? I looked up at Mum and Dad. "I don't understand." Mum took the letter from me and read it herself. Dad leaned over her shoulder to see what it said, and neither of them spoke for several seconds. "What is this?" Dad finally asked. "I don't know," Mum said. "Maybe it's some sort of joke," Dad suggested. "But who would send a joke like this by owl?" Ava asked. Nobody answered. I looked at the owl sitting calmly on the chair as if nothing unusual had happened. I had no idea where it had come from, who had sent the letter, or how they had known my name. I looked back at the letter and read the strange instructions again. It talked about things I had never heard of and told me that I would need to buy supplies for school. There was even something about catching a train from a platform at a train station that I had never heard of. None of it made sense. I had never done anything magical in my life. I had never seen anything magical happen. My parents had never told me anything about magic because, as far as I knew, there was nothing to tell. We were just an ordinary family. Dad went to work every day, Mum took care of us, and I went to school like any other girl my age. I looked around the kitchen at my family, and suddenly the letter didn't feel funny anymore. It felt strange. Almost frightening. "Mum?" I said quietly. She looked at me. "Yes?" I held the letter tightly in my hands. "What if it's real?" Mum didn't answer right away. Dad looked at the owl, then at the letter, and then back at me. I didn't know what was going to happen next, and for the first time in my life, I wished I wasn't the oldest. I wished someone else knew what to do. Because I certainly didn't.