CHAPTER 1: EVA'S DISCOVERY


"EVA!"

She slowly opened her eyes and picked up her alarm clock. 7:30. Giving a small groan she flopped back onto her bed.

"Eva! Hurry up and get ready for school! You're going to be late!"

"Alright....Alright...."

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she slowly got up, blindly reached for her glasses, then stumbled off to the bathroom.

"OW!" She stopped and started to rub her forehead. Not looking where she was going, she had walked right into the bathroom door. She banged on it.

"Hurry up in there! It doesn't take a century to put on your makeup ya know!"

Her older sister quickly opened the door and gave her a glare. Without saying a word, Eva pushed her way through and slammed the door.

She slowly turned on the tap and felt more refreshed as she splashed the cold water on her face. She looked in the mirror and a small Chinese girl was looking back. Her honey coloured eyes scanned her messy, black, shoulder length hair as she reached for her toothbrush. She never really cared for her appearance because she never thought she was anything more than average.



After she was finished she quickly put on a pair of jeans and a black turtleneck. She started to brush the tangles out of her hair and then looked into her mirror.

"This is as good as it gets...." She sighed and ran downstairs.

Her mom was bustling around the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Mornin' Mom, where's Dad and Natalie?"

"Oh, Dad went to work already and your little sister left with her friend to school. You better finish your breakfast....don't want to be late on the first day do you? Oh there you are Mariam."

Her older sister walked into the kitchen. She obviously went back to the bathroom again to check her makeup for the hundredth time. Mom jangled a pair of keys as she finished up the last pancake.

"Here's the car keys and don't forget to pick up some lemons on your way back from college. I need them for dinner."

Mariam swiftly grabbed the keys and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek.

"Sure Mom, no prob." She sat down beside Eva and grabbed the carton of milk.

"Seriously Eva....you need to put on some makeup...it's your first day in high school for goodness sake...make a good impression for once will ya?"

Eva had a look of disgust on her face. "And end up looking like you? No way!"

Without waiting for her sister's reaction Eva picked up a piece of toast and stuffed it in her mouth. She put on a jean jacket and slung her backpack on her shoulder.

"The bus should be here soon! See ya later pancake fac.....I mean Mariam! Bye Mom! Love ya!"

She walked out the door and into the cool breeze of autumn. She closed her eyes for a sec, took a deep breath of fresh morning air, and then started to walk down the road to the bus stop.



"Hey Eva!" A girl around Eva's age was smiling and waving to her.

"Hey Jenny!" Eva smiled. Jenny was her best friend and they grown up together ever since they were kids.

"First day of school! Aren't you excited?!"

Eva laughed. "You've got to be kidding! Why....."

She was cut off as she looked behind Jenny. There was a cat walking up behind her.

The cat slowly walked up to Eva. Eva bent down and started to stroke the cat. "Hey there Kitty, aren’t you the cute one?" Eva smiled gently as the cat meowed and gave a small purr. suddenly, it jumped up and ran to sit on the steps of the house behind them.

Eva and Jenny had taken their glance off the cat as they looked down the road where the bus slowly came to a stop.

"Finally....." Eva and Jenny walked up the stairs and went to the back of the bus, taking a seat.

As the bus started to leave, Eva looked back out the window and saw the cat staring back at her.



"Ow!"

Eva had gotten knocked down and her things flew everywhere.

An older girl, probably a senior in the school, rushed past, without bothering to apoligize.

"Sheesh...the 12th graders think they can just treat us like trash! Here let me help you with that..." She picked up a book from the ground and dusted it off with her sleeve. "Hey! It's Harry Potter! I love these books!"

Eva started to pick up her other books."Yep, been reading them again lately... good thing she didn't wreck them. Don't know why I'm so clumsy today though..." She blew the dirt off her books and put them back into her bag.

Jenny laughed. "You're always this clumsy! Oh we better get to our first class now! See ya later Eva!"

The first class was a bore....all they were doing was reviewing some last year's work.

Eva, her head resting on her hand, was drowning out the monotone of her teacher's lecture, while staring out the window. Suddenly, her hand slipped from under her head as she looked up. Something had caught her eye.

It was the cat.



Eva looked in wonder at the cat. It was just sitting there, staring at her. Eva thought to herself it can't be the same cat.....can it?

She started to look around the room seeing if anyone else saw the cat but everyone was either too busy falling asleep or whispering to their friends. She turned back to see if the cat was still looking at her but it had disappeared.

Suddenly, on the loudspeaker, she heard a message that made her jump.

"EVA CHU, PLEASE REPORT TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY."

Eva eyes widen. Me? But why? She raised her hand as she slowly got up. "Sorry Mr. Mansell, I need to be excused." And with that Eva started to walk up to the classroom door while the whole class stared at her, a few grinning, thinking she was going to be in trouble. Nobody ever gets sent down to the principal's office if they weren't.

"What did I do now? First day of school and I'm getting sent to the principal's office already? What will Mom think?" All these thoughts swelled up in her head, as she nervously walked to the principal's office.



She got even more nervous when she found another lady in the office. She was dressed in a long black dress, her hair tied up in a tight bun, looking quite strict. But to her relief, the lady started to smile at her. Eva suddenly noticed something about the look she gave...those eyes...it looked strangely familiar.....

"Ah! Eva Chu I presume! I would like to introduce you to a professor who would like to see you! She's from a refine school over in London and is offering a scholarship program over at.....umm....called....uh...."

"Hogwarts." The lady added as she smiled.

Eva's eyes widen at the sound of what was said. "Did....did you just say....Hogwarts?" She was speechless.

The principal walked towards the door. "Well I'll leave you two here to talk! Need to grab some files so I'll be right back!" The principal closed the door behind with a look of puzzlement on her face. "Hogwarts? Who would name a school with such a ridiculous name?"



Eva, not taking her eyes off the lady, just stood there with amazement and confusion.

"Well don't just stand there! Have a seat! By the look on your face, it looks like you need it!"

"Oh...oh thanks..." She slowly sat in the chair she was holding onto so she wouldn't faint. The lady smiled. "Well I'm sure you don't need an introduction from me."

Suddenly, Eva had the strangest thought...it all made sense...but could it be? She had to be crazy for thinking it but could she be....

"P...P..Professor McGonagall?" She managed to stutter out. She waited for her answer, hoping that the lady would just laugh and tell her how silly she was.....thinking she was a fictional character. Instead, she just smiled and nodded her head.

"Ah..smart girl! I've definitely found the right one!"

Eva couldn't help but ask. "W..W...What do you mean?"

"Don't worry your little head about it, tomorrow morning you're leaving here and attending school with us. A girl like you should attend the best witchcraft and wizardry school there is! I've already convinced your parents to let you go so you should pack up as soon as possible!" Eva wondered what she meant by "convinced". "There's no need to be frightened. I didn't hurt your parents. It's just that muggles don't take the subject of magic quite well. By the way, I'll be picking you up at 8 o' clock sharp tomorrow! Be ready by then! Oh look at the time! I better be off. Don't forget now! See you tomorrow Miss. Chu." And with that, she swiftly left the room, leaving a poor, confused girl, still in shock.



"So why were you sent down to the principal's office?" Jenny seemed quite worried when Eva told her what had happened. "You didn't get in trouble for bumping into that senior earlier did you? I mean it wasn't your fault and if she...."

Eva started to laugh. "Don't be silly Jenny! Of course I didn't get in trouble for that! I just had to go because.....because..." Eva didn't know what to tell her. Still convincing herself this was a dream, she thought it would be a good idea not to tell her the whole truth yet.

"Well I just got accepted into some sort of scholarship program over in some school in London. I'm leaving for there tomorrow..." She trailed off, waiting to hear what her friend would say. This was kinda sudden......

"Wow really?! See! I told you that you were a smart one! But......well...this is a once in a lifetime oppurtunity so you have to go!" Eva could see the disappointment in her eyes as Jenny tried to hide it with a smile.

Eva went to hug her. "I'll miss you too! And don't worry about a thing! I'll write to you everyday...." Eva stopped for a sec, thinking of the owl mail. ".....on the computer! Yeah! I'll email you!"

Jenny started to grin "You better!"

As they started putting back their textbooks into their locker, Eva noticed something was missing.

"M...My Harry Potter books! Where are they?" Eva started to franctically search for them in her bag.

Jenny gave her a puzzled look. "Harry Potter? Who's that?"



Eva looked up. "What? Harry Potter! He's....." Seeing her friend wasn't joking and was still giving her a confused look, she thought better, still wondering what was going on here.

"Oh, some guy in a book I was reading about."

Jenny grinned seeing the nervous look on her face. "Oooh....you have a crush on this guy don't you?"

Eva started to blush. "Don't be silly! Harry Potter is a fictional character! He's not real!"

Eva later found out that she was going to have to eat those words.

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