Chapter One:

"Wright!" I sighed as I heard my boss shout from behind me. Turning around I saw him standing in the doorway, fuming. "My office, right now!" With another sigh I dropped the spoon back into the bowl with batter and walked towards the office while wiping my hands on my apron.

As I stepped into the cluttered office I saw Paul Boswell, my boss, sitting in his chair rubbing his temples as he tried very hard to compose his anger, and failed. "Miss Wright, I've been very lenient when I hired you here. I've taken your, situation into consideration and offered you a room to stay in. Your way with the customers and the fact that the food you cook tastes exceptional every time again has contributed to that as well. However, I have been getting strange complaints from customers about them feeling lightheaded after consuming food here. If this was only one or two complaints there would be no problem.. but in the last three weeks I've had twenty-six complaints. Twenty-six! And not just lightheadedness, customers complained about the food hovering above the plates.. HOVERING! Food is NOT supposed to hover! If I had not seen it with my own eyes just now I would not have believed it myself. Pack your things and get out of here."

I stood there staring at the man. What? "Sir? I don't understand?" He looked at me as if I was stupid his face getting hot red out of anger. "You're fired! I don't need your freaky weirdness in my diner. You have an hour you pack your things and get the hell out of here!" I was rooted to the ground staring at him in disbelief. I heard him mutter something along the lines of 'Kitchen tools flying around the kitchen.. insanity.'

I was losing my patience now as well. Was he mad!? He was firing me for no apparent reason! "Why are you blaming me!? I've been working here for months! I did nothing wrong.. Whatever has happened.. I'm sure the customers must have been drunk or something! You can't blame this on me!"

He was standing now, his fist slamming down on his desk. His face was so red I thought it might explode any second now. "GET OUT!" And with that I turned on my heel, ripped the apron off over my head leaving it in the middle of the kitchen. I marched out and up the stairs to the room I had been occupying ever since I came here. As I got to my room I pulled my suitcase out from underneath my bed and started tossing everything I owned in it. I didn't have a lot, but I had enough to live my life. I slammed the suitcase shut and lifted it up storming down the stairs, through the diner and out the door. All the way ignoring the few customers who sat at a few tables and muttering angrily to myself. "Stupid muggle! See how you keep this place running on your own. You couldn't cook if your life depended on it. Bloody wanker!"

After a few minutes I sat down on a rock on the snowy hill I'd walked up in my anger. Even though it was the middle of summer, it was still cold and there was still snow. I had managed to pick one of the coldest places in Scotland. The snow here on Ben Nevis was known to last well into summer and autumn. I reached into my pocket and withdrew my beanie hat and pulled it down upon my head. I drew my scarf closer around my neck and just sat there. This just had to happen to me! Once again I had no place to stay and no way to make money, just great.

I had no idea how long I had sat there in the blistering cold. I had my head in my hands, my elbows were resting on my knees and my suitcase was lying at my feet in the snow. It wasn't until a hand holding a handkerchief appeared in front of me I realized I'd been crying.

My gaze traveling up the arm attached to the hand until my eyes met a pair of wise blue eyes that twinkled at me from behind a pair of half moon spectacles. In front of me stood an old man with a very long white beard. He was sporting a peculiar outfit that consisted of crimson and deep purple colored robes and a woolen hat in matching colors, all in all nothing you saw every day. A picture of Santa Claus in pajama's shot through my mind making me chuckle softly. The man looked at me with kind eyes and nodded towards the handkerchief in his hand. "I thought you could use one." I took the cloth from him with a soft 'thank you' and started drying my face.

"There," said the man as I dried all of my tears and handed the cloth back to him. "What is your name dear?" He asked as he looked down at me. "Cassandra, sir. Cassandra Wright." I looked up at him, curiosity burning inside of me. "Who are you? If you don't mind me asking." This made him chuckle. "Not at all my dear, not at all. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I witnessed your little outburst at the diner down the hill. Interesting choice of words I must say."

I cocked my head slightly to the side observing him. He seemed to be quite comfortable standing here chatting with me in the cold. "Oh, I assume you mean the muggle part?" He nodded so I continued to explain, "That's a word I picked up from my grandfather. He used it to describe people who didn't have the magic." At this I noticed Albus' eyebrows rise up just the slightest bit, seems like I sparked his attention. "The magic?" He inquired with a light chuckle. Good natured fellow this one. I thought to myself.

"Yes, the magic of seeing the passion in life. Getting the best out of it, you know living life to the fullest and go with the flow. He was a very good natured man, my grandfather. Never thought bad of anyone or anything unless he was proven otherwise. He said you had to enjoy life and let it run its course in order to see its full potential. Those who couldn't do that he called muggles. I think he liked to make up words like that. Crazy old man he was, but I loved him to pieces. The most amazing things he would get done. He would do things that marveled me and he wouldn't tell me how he did it. He passed away just after Christmas." It made me sad thinking back to the events that happened not too many months ago. "We had spent a quiet Christmas together. It was just him and I. My parents passed away when I was eight years old. They died in a car crash. My grandmother, dad's mother, was devastated. Her poor heart couldn't take the blow; she died a year later of grief. Since then I lived with my grandfather in a little family home in London. It was three days after Christmas Eve. I had gone out to get a few things from the local store. When I came home the door was open.." I looked down at my shoes, collecting myself before continuing, "I found him in the living room, lying in the shards of the smashed coffee table. His were eyes wide open and his face in a shocked expression. Dead. The paramedics couldn't find anything. It was like his heart just stopped beating, just like that without any apparent reason." I shivered thinking back to that moment. Albus laid his hand on my shoulder which was oddly comforting. "I'm sorry for your loss." He said and I nodded.

We were quiet for a while before Albus spoke up again. "What was your grandfather's name?" I looked up, surprised, not expecting that particular question. "Alaric Griffith Wright. Did you know him?" I looked up hopefully. He looked down at me solemnly and nodded. "Yes, I knew Alaric very well. He was a good friend of mine. It pains me to learn of his death. He was a good man and a most talented wizard to boot."

I was in the process of nodding my agreement when his last words dawned on me. I froze, "Did you..did you say 'wizard'?" I looked up at him, his face was unreadable. "I did indeed. Witches and Wizards do exist and magic is as real as the rock you are sitting on. Your grandfather was a wizard, just like your parents and the rest of your family. Alaric Wright was one of the most accomplished Curse Breakers in his day as well as a brilliant Arithmancer. In terms of magic he was a genius. And you my dear have magic flowing in your veins just like everyone else in your family."

This revelation had me stumped for a couple of minutes. I was trying to take it all in and wrap my head around it. Magic exists, witches and wizards are real. My family were wizards! I am a wizard! Why haven't I know this before? I rubbed my temples; I felt a headache coming up. "I am a wizard? Why haven't I been told this before? This is not some kind of joke is it?" Albus threw me a look of understanding. "Well technically you are a witch, because you are female. I assume you were never told because your family wanted to protect you. And I assure you my dear, this is not a joke. Here, let me prove it to you." He reached inside his robes and pulled out a wooden stick, a wand as he explained when he saw the questioning look I cast at the object. He gave the wand a wave and out of nowhere a cup of steaming tea appeared, hovering in front of me. I reached out and took the cup in my hands, welcoming the warmth that spread up through my arms at the touch. I took a sip from the cup to find my favorite strawberry tea in it.

Amazed I looked up at the man, or wizard in front of me. "Amazing, " was all I said. He nodded in agreement. "There is so much I don't know! You have to teach me everything! I want to know everything there is to know about magic." I was almost begging him at this point. He burst out laughing merrily at me. "Would you like to come with me? I will show you around and introduce you to the wizarding world." I nodded eagerly. "I would love to!" I jumped up ready to go, "So where are we going?" Again he patted my shoulder in a fatherly fashion. "I will take you to Leaky Cauldron in London and then we will venture into Diagon Alley. You seemed quite surprised at the existence of magic, there for I assume you don't have a wand?" I shook my head. "No sir, I have nothing remotely magical as far as I know. Matter of fact," I looked down at my suitcase. "This suitcase is all I own. Now that that idiot fired me and kicked me out, I have nowhere to stay and no income either."

Defeated I sunk back onto the cold rock, all my excitement from moments earlier evaporated. "There there, it can't be that bad now can it? It is my assumption that you were not too long ago the cook in that little diner down the hill, yes?" "Yes sir, I basically ran that diner. I tended to the costumers and I did the cooking." "I must compliment you then. I visited that diner a couple of times over the last few months and I have to say the food you cook is nothing short of magical. There for I would like to offer you a position as Master Cook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where I am Headmaster. This would take care of your lack of a job and housing." Again I looked at him, absolutely flabbergasted. "You would do that? You would do that for an absolute stranger who didn't have any knowledge at all about the wizarding world until a few minutes ago?" He smiled reassuringly at me. "It is the least I can do for the granddaughter of one of my dearest friends. It is no trouble at all, besides your cooking is really amazing. Currently we have house elves that do the cooking at Hogwarts, their cooking is wonderful but yours is even better! I assume you would have no problem in working together with them?"

I don't know what came over me that instance; I flew at the man and hugged him close. "Thank you, thank you so much!" When I regained my bearings I let go of the old man and blushed at my actions. "I'm sorry about that." He chuckled again. "Think nothing of it my dear. As for my question?" "Question? Oh! Yes, well I have no idea what house elves are but I have no problem working together with them! As long as they can keep a secret. You see all the cooking I do comes from my grandmother's secret cookbook. Secret family recipes and all that." His eyes sparkled mischievously. "I can promise you that the recipes will remain a secret." I smiled widely at him. "Then I would love to accept your offer sir." "Oh please, call me Albus." I grinned, "Ok Albus. Lead the way!" I jumped up once more. He chuckled once more at my enthusiasm. I swear this man chuckles a lot! Definitely NOT a muggle. Haha!

I smoothed out my jacket and picked up my suitcase once more. "If you would take hold of my arm, then I will apparate us to London. Apparition might be a bit uncomfortable the first few times, but you will get used to it eventually." With that he held out his arm for me to take. Now that I was full of excitement and energy I hooked my free arm with his and grabbed a hand full of robes that covered said arm. With a loud crack Albus turned us on the spot and I felt Dumbledore's arm twist away from me and re-doubled my grip: the next thing I knew everything went black; I was pressed very hard from all directions; I couldn't breathe, there were iron bands tightening around my chest; my eyeballs were being forced back into my head; my ear-drums were being pushed deeper into my skull, and before I knew it, it was over.

I opened my eyes, which I had closed during the apparition and took in my new environment. We were standing in front of a tiny old grubby looking rundown pub. If we hadn't landed in front of it I wouldn't have known it was there. The sign above read 'the Leaky Cauldron'. Albus motioned for me to enter first. Inside the pub, it was dark and shabby, with a bar and a number of tables in the shadows of the corners. "In stark contrast to the grubby downstairs of the pub, there are some unexpectedly pleasant rooms upstairs where passing wizards and witches can stay for the night."Albus explained to me. The upstairs rooms were reached by way of a handsome wooden staircase, and contained comfortable beds, highly polished oak furniture, a crackling fire which was always burning in the grate to welcome the visitor to their lodgings, and, in some cases, a talking mirror. Beneath the stairs leading to the second floor, was a second set of stairs leading to the basement. On the right wall where two sitting areas containing red couch and chairs were nestled in each corner on this side. The front wall had a stage with red curtains in front of a lowered viewing area. The back wall was blank, but the left wall had another red sitting area, and a bar. However, the basement, it seems, had been locked off for no apparent reason.

Albus led me over to the bar and greeted the landlord, who was a friendly man with light brown, slightly graying hair. "Hello Tom. Do you have a room where one could have a private conversation?" He gave the landlord a meaning full glance and then winked at me. "It's easier to talk someplace where we won't be easily disturbed," he said to me. Tom motioned for us to follow him and lead us to a backroom where he lit a couple of candles and a small fireplace. At the back of the room stood a dusty antique desk with a matching chair. In front of the fireplace stood two antique comfortable looking chairs and a small coffee table. "Anything else I can get for you Albus?"

"Two butterbeers please Tom and that'll be all." The landlord nodded and left the room only to return a few minutes later with to mugs of steaming substance, I assumed it was the butterbeers Albus had ordered. He put them down on the small coffee table and left the room again.

Albus turned back to me and motioned to the two seats near the fireplace. "Let's have a seat shall we. And do have a taste of that butterbeer, it's rather enjoyable." I sat down and picked up the mug with the warm liquid, it had a very sweet smell to it and when I took a sip from it I fell in love with the drink immediately. "This tastes absolutely wonderful!" I exclaimed to Albus' amusement. He sat down in the chair opposite of me and we spend the next few minutes in comfortable silence drinking our butterbeers.

"Well then, let's get down to business shall we?" Albus said after we had both drained our drinks. "Yes, the sooner I can start learning things the better. I have a few concerns tho. I am only eighteen years old, won't I stand out to much among the staff at your school? How old are the students that will be attending? And I don't know any magic. As a member of the staff shouldn't I be able to know a certain amount of magic, just in case something happens?" Albus Dumbledore didn't look worried at all. "Most of the seventh year are seventeen or eighteen years old. So they would be your age, however, you said that you are already eighteen. When was your birthday if I might ask?" "January twelfth." Albus Smiled. "Ah yes, there for you will turn nineteen just after the Christmas Holidays early in the year and there for you will be older than most of the students. Also, you are off age and there for perfectly able to fulfill a staffing function. I see no problems there at all. But if it makes you feel any better we can buy you some robes that make you look older." He looked at me over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "And I think you ladies have several ways to make yourselves look older by the use of make-up." He winked as he said that sending me in a fit of laughter. "I suppose you are right," I chuckled. He clapped his hands together.

"Well then now that is out of the way. You mentioned your lack of magical knowledge." I nodded. "The new school term doesn't start until the first of September. That gives us plenty of time to teach you a few basic spells. You will also have the full use of the school library at your disposal. You can read up on as many things as you like before term starts and during term you can continue studying." Right then I decided to study as much as I could. I had eighteen years of magical knowledge to catch up on. "Sounds good to me, maybe I could buy some of the schoolbooks to do some 'homeschooling'. I don't want to be embarrassed by not knowing as much as the students. I first have to make some money though." Albus looked at me knowingly. "Ah yes. I have a question for you my dear. Did your parents or your grandfather leave you any items that you would strike as an odd in heritance?" I had to think about that. "Hmm I don't know.. My parents didn't leave me a lot. They left me some money that was transferred to my bank account and some personal items like pictures and some of my mother's jewelry. Other things such as the house were left to my grandfather, who in turn left it to me with everything else he owned. I sold most things like the house and some other things. The more personal items I carry with my in my suitcase, bigger things that I wanted to keep I stored in a storage locker that my family owns in London. But nothing strange…wait, there is one thing.." I knelt down in front of my suitcase and opened a side pocket; I reached in and out of it I pulled a silver key. I showed the key to Albus. "I never figured out where this key fit to." He smiled widely at me. "That Cassandra dear, is the key to your family vault in Gringotts Wizarding Bank. We will head there first thing. You can also transfer your muggle money to wizarding money and store it in your vault in Gringotts, if you wish ofcourse. I can assure you Gringotts is the safest place for safe keepings, except for maybe Hogwarts." I liked that idea. "That sounds like a good idea, I don't like the idea of having my money spread out over multiple banks. Hmm, Albus? You said 'muggle money'. Does that mean that my grandfather didn't make up the word 'muggle'?" He had a hearty laugh at that. "Your grandfather did infact not make up the word 'muggle' A muggle is a non-magical person." "Oooooh so many things make a lot of sense right now." I chuckled and Albus chuckled with me.

I took a great liking to the man. I could see why my grandfather had been friends with him, he was a great guy. We had a very pleasant chat and he explained to me a few things about Hogwarts and the wizarding world and then we decided on a course of action for the afternoon. First we would go visit my vault at the wizarding bank and exchange my muggle money for the wizarding currency. After that, with my pocket filled with money, we would make our way to get myself a wand, no wizard without a wand! And from there we would make our way through Diagon Alley to buy several necessities I would need.

Thank you for reading! My love for the Marauders had me start writing this story, many ideas were swirling through my mind and I simply had to do something with it. I hope you will like it as well. I'll remind you, I'm not fastest updater, fantasy can't be pushed. Anyways, Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think =)

Cheers,

~ Lor