1. The Letter

For little Sypriana Marchesi, summer days were spent skirmishing through the forest and away from her home for as long as possible. And at night, she hunched over printer paper she managed to sneak away from under her mother's nose, and she painted from her memory and imagination the wondrous things she would dream of. The space underneath her bed was filled with her many colorful paintings, and this wouldn't have been odd at all, except for the fact that her paintings included colors that couldn't be made or mixed from the cheap beginner's paint set her usually absent father had given her on her eleventh birthday this past spring.

Not knowing any better, Sypriana just thought she had a talent for mixing colors and getting just the right ratio for the color she has in mind. But the truth was that, so long as she wished hard enough, the color she wanted, no matter if she mixed in only a drop of primary color or two, would always appear, almost as if by magic.

And magic, it was, for one day, an unassuming letter came in the mail for Sypriana, one that would change her life forever.

Dear Ms. Marchesi, the letter written in emerald green on parchment paper read. We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Headmistress

Raised to be strong and independent girl, Sypriana was not the least bit gullible, and so she crumpled up the letter from this so-called magic school and tossed it into her trashcan along with the paintings she deemed less than perfect. She thought no more of this little mailing scam until one day, a jolly man who looked very much like a Buddha rang her doorbell.

His name was Charlie Wong, an employee at the international relationships department in the Ministry of Magic and Sypriana's magical foster guardian appointed to teach her about the wizarding world and its culture. He went on to say that it was a brand new initiative made by some war heroine named Hermione Granger to help muggle-borns become better accustomed to the wizarding world, but Sypriana's mother rudely cut him off, threatening to call the police if he ever came back.

The jolly man seemed not to take offense and instead conjured up a bouquet of flowers to soften her stance. But Mrs. Marchesi remained convinced that it was only a parlor trick and that this whole wizarding world was an elaborate child trafficking scam. And when Mrs. Marchesi hurled a racist insult at the man, Sypriana's face flushed red with second-hand embarrassment.

Mrs. Marchesi was only slightly convinced when Mr. Wong turned her into a monkey, slightly because she was more insulted than convinced. Sypriana, however, went to sleep that night with a brand new Hogwarts acceptance letter under her pillow, and she dreamed of the school and the escape it would give her from her bleak home life.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of JK Rowling. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

This is going to be a fun project for me and hopefully anyone who reads this will enjoy it too! There's going to be a lot of OCs with only small appearances/mentions of the original Harry Potter cast, and the chapters are going to be short drabbles that could stand as their own while also being part of a whole. There's going to be a plot, but the first few years are going to be a sort of introduction while also diving into the wizarding world a bit more. Also, this story will be taking place between the Second Wizarding World and the Next Generation, so starting from late 2000s.

Hope you guys enjoy it! And also, Happy 20th Anniversary to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone! Can you guys believe that it's been 20 years since its release? Time really flies!