Greetings,

As I take up my quill to write this it has been three years, ten months, six days since it happened.

Of course I know you all expect this type of exactness from me. After all, I haven't been called the smartest witch in a century for nothing. I have of course lost count of the hours and minutes and I'm sure some will be disappointed that I haven't kept up to that detail, but then I'm not perfect.

I was seventeen when it happened and now that I'm twenty-two I feel the time is right to tell everyone exactly what and how it happened. Heavens knows there have been enough "tell-all" and "official" recounts that would fill The Ministry's lobby, but this one is from someone who was really there.

By now some of you have noticed that I'm not referring to what the rest of the wizarding world calls That Day. There are many names that were thought up for it; like Independence Day, which was quickly changed as it closely copied the American's annual celebration, but there are many others… Freedom Day, Salvation Day, The Day of Deliverance, etc. The list goes on and on, but these are a few samples of what I'm talking about.

By now you may have guessed, and rightly so, that this was the day Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort.

It was also the day I lost many friends and one very important and very special person. But I'll get back to that…

Actually, I am getting a little ahead of myself. Where was I? Oh yes, That Day. Well, there was cheering in the streets when the news had spread that Voldemort was dead. It seemed as if the entire wizarding world breathed a collective sigh of relief when he died.

Of course I'm sure you are wondering why I would tell you what the ending is. Well that's because you already know. So I have resolved to tell you who and what made That Day come to be and how I came to lose that one person whom I have mentioned.

Anyways, please bear with me as I tell you what happened. As I haven't been able to think about That Day in almost four years without a lot of pain and sadness, this maybe… no correction… this will be difficult for me. So I ask in advance to excuse me if I start to ramble or… well never mind.

So let me start at the beginning…