"Oh, I can't take it anymore!"
A short, fifteen-year-old girl stepped out of bed and opened the door. The hall was empty. She'd been imagining it.
Now I'm hallucinating. Couldn't get worse.
As she slumped back onto her bed, the familiar pounding shook her door's frame. Or was it real?
Zealia had been seeing (and hearing) things that nobody else could for the past three months, since her parents had disappeared. It seemed that the evilness that took them was laughing at her, and she couldn't stop it.
Zealia had no ‘friends' anymore; they hadn't cared enough to help her when she needed reassurance, after she'd helped them. They just cared about clothing, money, boys... all of which she didn't have much or any of.
"Bastards," she said to her wall, going over the awful moment they'd told her she wasn't in their group anymore, that she was just an ordinary home-schooled child like everybody else in this awful, dirty, poor neighborhood. She was just a beggar to them. But, no, she was much better than them; she had a wand, magical powers, a brother that was....
She was living with her older brother. Upon thinking of him, she forgot the awful pounding, and sighed. He'd been through far worse, far longer, ever since... the awful memory caused her to wince in pain. Mark was definitely in worse trouble than her. Their parents' disappearance had caused him unimaginable pains, and he'd been sickly for months.
Now there was more racket: tapping and scraping on the window. She turned to look through the glass, and gasped.
An owl? Who would owl her? Or was it for Mark? He had no windows in his room.
She rushed to pull open the window, and the owl flew to perch on her desk chair. Zealia took the owl's letter with a trembling hand. Please, not the Ministry, anyone except...
It was from the Ministry of Magic. Those people, who treated her like a garden pest, those people who decided her future without asking her first. No freedom.

Zealia Heartoak,
Now that you have no living relatives other than a dangerous older brother to assist you in learning your magical skills, you have been accepted at a wizarding school called Hogwarts. The necessary materials (except textbooks) shall be sent to you and you will be driven to Kings Cross Station by the Ministry. Mark Heartoak will be sent to a muggle in London who will take great care in fostering him. Please be packed and prepared by September the first.

Lee Bones
Ministry Representative

"No!" her cry echoed louder than the pounding only she could hear. "Mark!"
The owl rustled its feathers and gave her a questioning look.
"I won't go to Hogwarts! I won't leave Mark!" she yelled at the letter, as if it was the cause of all the trouble. The pounding ceased; the owl backed away.
"Zee?" a concerned face appeared around the edge of the door.
"They're... they're taking you away! I have to go to Hogwarts!" and she collapsed onto Mark's shoulder and wept.