Hello....my name is Y/N.

And for most of my life, I waited for a letter. Not an ordinary letter. A letter from Hogwarts. My father was a wizard. He used to tell me stories about the castle when I was little—moving staircases, enchanted candles, ghosts wandering through corridors, and a world hidden behind the one I knew. I believed every word. Because Hogwarts was the only place I'd ever dreamed of belonging. My father left when I was young. I still remember that night. I remember the suitcase beside him. The cold air coming through the window. The way I held onto his sleeve because I couldn't understand why he had to go. Before he left, he told me that one day, a letter might come for me. And when it did, I would have to choose wisely. I didn't understand what he meant. I only understood that I had something to wait for. So I waited. Every summer. Every birthday. Every time an owl crossed the sky above our house. Nothing came. My mother never spoke kindly about my father. She blamed him for leaving. Somehow, she blamed me too. She told me I was the reason he had abandoned us. After she remarried, home became something I learned to survive rather than somewhere I belonged. My stepfather was cruel. I learned to recognize his footsteps. I learned when to stay in my room. I learned how to make myself small and invisible. And still, every night, I wondered if Hogwarts would come for me. Maybe that letter would be my escape. Maybe my father had been right. Maybe there was another life waiting somewhere beyond that front door. But the letter never came. Not at eleven. Not at twelve. Not at thirteen. Not at fourteen. And then came my fifteenth birthday. That was the night everything changed. My stepfather tried to hurt me. I ran to the only person I thought would protect me. My mother didn't believe me. She chose him. And something inside me finally broke—not loudly, not dramatically. It simply went quiet. That night, I sat alone in my room and wrote a letter. I told my mother I was leaving. I told her I was going to find my father. But that wasn't entirely true. I wasn't going to find him. Not yet. I was going to find Hogwarts. I packed a small bag with the few things that mattered to me, took my father's photograph, and left the house behind. For years, I'd looked at Harry Potter as my ideal. An orphan who had lost his parents. A boy who had grown up unwanted. Someone who had been given a chance to start again. I wanted that chance too. I wanted a place where nobody knew me as the unwanted girl. A place where I could become someone else. I thought Hogwarts would simply be my escape. I didn't know it would become the place where I would find friendship, secrets, danger… and Draco Malfoy. The boy who would make me question everything I believed about love. But that's getting ahead of the story. Because when I first arrived at Hogwarts… I wasn't looking for love. I was looking for a home. And somewhere along the way— I found something much more dangerous. "I found him."

The moon hung quietly over the marigold fields.

Y/N walked alone, her small bag hanging from her shoulder.

She kept walking.

Then she felt it. Someone was following her.

She turned.

Nothing.

Her heart began beating faster.

Footsteps following her

She walked faster.

Whoosh—

Something flew over her head.

The owl disappeared in to darkness carrying something in its legs..

Her face fell.

Something moved through the tall grass.

She stepped backward. The grass rustled again.

Two glowing eyes appeared in the moonlight.

manticore in the books she read

The creature suddenly rushed toward her.

She stumbled and fell, squeezing her eyes shut.

Y/N slowly opened one eye. Then the other.

Pinching herself

Y/N stared at him.

The elf glanced toward the sky.

He reached into his little satchel and pulled out an envelope.

your hands trembled.

your name was written across it.

The elf smiled.

They walked accross the fields...

....

Several minutes later.

Warm lights appeared beyond the fields.

Y/N recognized the farmhouse immediately.

He started walking towards

Knock knock

The front door opened.

She ran toward her.

She held up the envelope.

She hugged Y/N tightly.

She smiled.

Y/N's eyes filled with tears.

For the first time in years, the word "home" didn't hurt.