Chapter 1 - The Letter
The summer day dawned bright over Cokeworth, illuminating a small kitchen in a brick rowhouse on Weavers Road. Inside, two young girls were giggling as they attempted to help their mother make breakfast.
"Watch this, Tuney," the younger, red-headed girl whispered behind her hand to her older, blonde siser. She grasped her mother's apron string and after a moment the blue flowers adorning the apron had turned to pink.
"What are you girls doing back there?" their mother asked, exasperated as she turned the bacon in the pan. "Lily, set the table, Petunia, toast some bread, please."
Lily winked at Petunia before gathering cutlery, causing Petunia to smile and shake her head ruefully. Both she and Lily could make the strangest things happen, often by accident, but Lily had been getting better and better at doing things on purpose. After a nasty incident in grade school where a boy bullying Petunia began vomiting slugs, the two girls had agreed to not show off at school.
"Morning, Alice," yawned their father, as he strode across the kitchen to place a kiss on his wife's cheek. "Oh, got a new apron?"
"What? No..." She looked down and saw the changes to her apron. "Which of you girls do I have to thank this time?"
Both girls giggled and the toast sprang from the toaster exuberantly. Petunia deftly caught it out of mid-air before placing two more slices of bread in the toaster as their father sat down at the table to read through the post.
"Hmm, Petunia, you seem to have gotten some mail," he said frowning as he held up a thick yellowish envelope. Both she and Lily crowded around her father to look at the unusual mail, then jumped when a knock sounded at the front door. "Blimey, who could be calling at this hour?"
As he got up to answer the door, Alice Evans neatly deposited the bacon onto a plate. "And this, my dears, is why I always cook extra at meals."
"But Mummy," Petunia protested. "Just how many times have we had unexpected company for breakfast on a Saturday?"
Her mother frowned, tilting her head to one side as if contemplating an answer, when her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of their unexpected guest.
The appearance of the woman Henry Evans escorted into the kitchen was unusual enough that both Lily and Petunia were unabashedly staring. She was a tall, thin woman with black hair pulled back into a severe bun wearing square spectacles and a long green cloak that hid her toes, even though the day promised to be quite warm.
"Minerva McGonagall," the woman said crisply, extending a hand.
"Alice Evans. Won't you please join us for breakfast?"
"Thank you," the strange woman said, sitting in one of the worn chairs with posture that Petunia envied.
"Lily, could you please get another plate?" Mrs. Evans asked her youngest daughter before sitting down herself.
"Now, I'm sure you all are wondering what the purpose of my visit is," Mrs. McGonagall stated very matter-of-factly as she spread jam on her toast. "Am I to understand that you received an unusual piece of mail this morning?"
"Yes," Henry answered for his eldest daughter. "We haven't had a chance to take a look at it yet."
"Excellent. Petunia, would you mind opening that letter?"
Both Petunia and Lily looked at the letter eagerly, but before Petunia had even managed to pick it up, the wax seal split and the top of the envelope sprang open. Ignoring the gasps of surprise from her parents and the chuckle from Mrs. McGonagall, Petunia carefully extracted the letter with trembling fingers.
Dear Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins September 1.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"You mean... all those things Lily and I can do... we're witches?"
"Precisely," Mrs. McGonagall said, a satisfied smile gracing her face as she faced Alice and Henry. "Now, I understand you must have many questions for me. I will do the best I can to answer them."
"Witches? My daughters are witches?" her mother asked, her eyes going very wide.
"Yes," Mrs. McGonagall explained. "Our world - the magical world, that is - is hidden from people like yourselves who are not magical. You may have noticed one or both of your daughters either doing something out of the ordinary or out of the ordinary things happening around them. Magical children will frequently display their talents before they go to school, even in non-magical households such as yours."
"Like my blue apron suddenly turning pink this morning," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"But why did Tuney get a letter and not me?" asked Lily, frowning.
"Petunia turned eleven this past April," Mrs. McGonagall responded softly, seemingly understanding what was going through the young girls mind. "Students must turn eleven before they start Hogwarts, you should be receiving your letter in three years, should your parents allow you girls to attend."
"Hogwarts? What's that?" her father asked.
"It's the school I teach at. I teach Transfiguration - that is, changing one object into a different object. Would you like a demonstration?"
"I suppose so," he said reluctantly.
Mrs. McGonagall reached into her robes and produced a long, thin stick of polished wood, then tapped it against the butter dish. Instantly, it became a bone china teapot and with two more flicks, steam was pouring out the spout.
"That's amazing," her mother breathed, staring at her former butter dish. "You're saying that if my girls go to your school, they can learn to do that too?"
"Eventually, and with the proper training, yes," Mrs. McGonagall told her as she conjured teacups and began pouring tea. "The first lesson in my class is transfiguring matchsticks into needles, things of similar sizes and shapes and not terribly complex. The transfiguration I just performed is typically learned in fifth year, conjuring water is learned in sixth year, summoning objects is learned in fourth year, and warming charms are taught in second year."
"What sorts of subjects do your students take?" her father inquired politely, still not looking entirely sold on the whole concept.
"First and second year students study Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology, History of Magic, Flying, and Astronomy."
"No math?" Petunia asked, a smile lighting up her face. Alice and Henry chuckled, it was no secret that their eldest daughter did not care for numbers.
"Not unless you choose to take Arithmancy as an elective." Mrs. McGonagall looked to Henry, who still looked unsure. "Would you be like to visit Wizarding London to see our world for yourself? If you so choose, we can pick up Petunia's school supplies while we're there."
"We have to go to London to pick up school supplies?" he asked, aghast. "Just how far away is this school?"
"Technically the castle lies within the boundaries of Hogsmeade village in northern Scotland, however, it is unplottable so it can't be charted on a map."
"It's a boarding school, then?" her mother asked timidly. "What is the tuition, then?"
"Students are expected to remain in the castle from September 1 to June 30, with two weeks off at Christmas and another week off for Easter. It's a public school, you won't have to pay for it, aside from school supplies."
Mrs. Evans looked to her husband pleadingly upon hearing this latest tidbit of information while he became very thoughtful. While they would love to keep their girls home for a while yet, it had always been a wild dream of theirs that their daughters would be accepted to a prestigious school on a scholarship. This sounded like their dreams had come true - and for both their daughters. They couldn't be prouder.
"Alright," he said slowly. "About how much should we expect to spend on school supplies? I need to stop at the bank before we head into London."
Petunia grabbed Lily's hand under the table and squeezed it tightly before they jumped up to clear away the breakfast dishes.
The normally tedious four hour long trip to London was anything but tedious today. Once they had gotten settled on the train, Mrs. McGonagall had produced a number of pamphlets on the same heavy, yellowish paper that Petunia's letter had been on. The four Evans' had devoured these pamphlets and began firing questions at Mrs. McGonagall about specifics that weren't mentioned. She gladly answered all their questions, herding them down a busy street then suddenly turning into a dingy little pub Petunia had hardly noticed among the store fronts.
The first thing Petunia noticed was that the pub was very dimly lit and once her eyes adjusted to the lighting, she observed that it was lit entirely by candles, nary a light bulb in sight. The second thing she noticed, with considerable distaste, was the pervading grime of the place. Her final observation was that the occupants were all dressed quite peculiarly. Nearly all of them were wearing tall, pointed hats and everyone, even the men, were wearing long cloaks similar to the one Mrs. McGonagall wore. She didn't have any longer to make further observations as they were being quickly ushered to the door leading out to the back. The next thing she knew the five of them were squeezed into a small brick courtyard with several rubbish bins.
"Now, I'll give you a diagram so you can do this yourself later on, but please pay close attention," Mrs. McGonagall said rather sternly to Petunia. She nodded, suddenly very nervous, as Mrs. McGonagall pulled out her wand again and carefully tapped on a few bricks. Suddenly, the bricks began rearranging themselves into an enormous archway leading to a bustling, cobbled street.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Mrs. McGonagall stated, smiling back at the flabbergasted family behind her. "Now, first stop is Gringotts to get your money exchanged. In Wizarding Britain, we use a currency consisting of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. I believe the current exchange rate between a pound and a galleon is five pounds to one galleon, and then there are seventeen sickles to a galleon and twenty-nine knuts to a sickle." They had finally come up to a rather imposing set of white steps leading up to imposing bronze doors. "This is Gringotts, our bank," Mrs. McGonagall continued as she began climbing the steps. Petunia suddenly noticed two small, strange looking creatures that absolutely could not be human. Despite being eleven years old, she stepped closer to her mother and grabbed her hand. Her mother gave her a small, encouraging smile and squeezed back.
After passing through another set of doors, they emerged into a grand marble hall. The strange looking creatures were every where now, writing furiously with rather old-fashioned looking quills. Wide-eyed, Petunia was forced to smother a shriek when one of the creatures approached them.
"Purpose of visit?" he asked in a bored tone.
"Currency exchange." Mrs. McGonagall responded crisply. The creature nodded before snapping his finger and shouting, "Gornuk!"
Yet another one of the creatures appeared and Petunia noticed with some annoyance that Lily wasn't in the least bit scared of them. She was loosely hanging onto their father's hand, but that was out of obligation given her age and the unfamiliar environment, not because she was scared. Petunia took a deep breath to help steady her nerves and at least display some of the bravery her baby sister was exhibiting.
The currency exchange went by rather quickly and the twenty-pound note her father handed over quickly became 3 galleons, 15 sickles, and 8 knuts.
"I think the first stop should be to get a wand," Mrs. McGonagall informed them as they stepped back out into the busy street. "Ollivander's has some of the best wands in the world."
They approached a small shop a few doors down from the large bank that looked a bit worn around the edges. The sign above it proudly proclaimed "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." in gold lettering, but the "f" was beginning to peel away from the building. Mrs. McGonagall pushed open the door, ushering the Evans family inside.
"Ah, a new Muggleborn student, Minerva?" a soft voice came out from among the shadowy shop. Petunia squinted into the gloom, her eyes finally adjusting from the bright sunshine. A man who was getting on in years stood before them, his hair heavily streaked with grey and incredibly pale grey eyes.
"Yes," Mrs. McGonagall replied crisply. "This is Petunia Evans, she'll be attending Hogwarts this year."
"I always find it interesting pairing Muggleborns with their first wands," the strange man, Mr. Ollivander, Petunia guessed, said as he pulled a tape measure out of his pocket. The tape measure sprang to life and began measuring Petunia as she stood perfectly still. "They're blank slates, don't have to fight or live up to any family expectations. I mean, really," he turned to Henry and Alice, "what exactly is it that you expect your daughter to do? Do you expect she'll be the next inovator in Charms? Potion brewing?" They shook their heads dumbly. "Exactly. She'll be free to do exactly as she pleases."
Mr. Ollivander then proceeded to explain a bit about how wands were made and how they matched with the witch or wizard, Petunia couldn't just wander in the back and pick out a wand that she thought might work. Finally, the tape measure stopped taking measurements and coiled itself back up. Mr. Ollivander snatched a piece of paper off a small table and went to the back of the shop where there were hundreds upon hundreds of small boxes stacked.
"Ah yes, let's have you try this one first. Black walnut and dragon heartstring, 9 1/2 inches. Rather rigid. Go on, give it a wave."
Petunia grasped the wand and twirled it through the air. Nothing happened.
"Mm, yes. Acacia and unicorn hair, 10 1/4 inches. Springy."
That one didn't seem to work either and it was quickly snatched back.
"How about this one? Rowan and unicorn hair, 10 inches. Swishy."
This one didn't work either and when Mr. Ollivander took the wand back, he looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments before disappearing into the back again.
"Hazel and phoenix feather, 9 3/4 inches. Inflexible."
Petunia grasped the wand and a feeling of warmth spread throughout her body. Smiling, she slashed the wand down like a sword, multicolored sparks spilling from the wand.
"Marvelous!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed. Mrs. McGonagall was looking at her proudly while the rest of her family was staring at her in awe. Mr. Ollivander took the wand away from her again, placing it back in its box before handing it back to her. "That will be 12 sickles and 5 knuts, please."
Henry fumbled about in his pockets for the money he had received earlier and finally extracted a gold galleon. Mr. Ollivander quickly handed him 4 sickles and a pile of knuts before bowing them out of his shop.
Shopping for school supplies took the rest of the day. After seeing how much the wand had cost, they kept to the second-hand stores, which suited Petunia just fine. They managed to find five sets of black school robes for her, rather than the required three and she was also able to convince her parents to let her get three other sets of simple, colored robes for the weekends. She had fallen in love with a set of frilly pink robes, but Mrs. McGonagall wouldn't let her purchase them.
"Good heavens, child, those were the height of style when I was in school!" she had chuckled, taking them firmly out of Petunia's hands and placing them back on the rack. Her mother wisely suggested that they purposefully buy the robes too large and hem them to fit. Petunia had quickly agreed to that as she was hoping to have a growth spurt sometime very, very soon.
Eventually, exhausted, they had finished shopping and all of Petunia's school supplies were now in her newly purchased trunk. The trunk itself wasn't new - it looked quite old, actually - but it was far more spacious on the inside than it was on the outside and it had been charmed to be featherlight, no matter what you put in it. They wearily made their way back to the pub they had gone into first, which Mrs. McGonagall told them was called the Leaky Cauldron, and sat down to have dinner, despite Petunia's misgivings about the cleanliness of the place. Soon enough, they all had large bowls of some sort of delicious stew and mugs of something called Butterbeer.
"Now," Mrs. McGonagall told them between bites. "On September 1, you'll need to go down to Kings Cross Station and catch the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4. It's hidden, so you'll need to pass through the divider between platforms 9 and 10 to reach it. The train leaves the station at precisely 11 AM, so I'd strongly recommend you get there sometime before then."
"Will we be able to get through the divider?" Alice asked.
"Oh, yes, of course. Make sure that no one's looking too closely at you when you go through, we don't want too many Muggles questioning where everyone's disappearing off to. Now, Petunia will have access to the school owls during the academic year, but if you ever need to get in touch with her or any of the faculty, simply send letters to this address through the Muggle post, they'll make it to the school." Mrs. McGonagall slid a piece of parchment across the table to her parents.
"How long is the train ride?" her mother asked.
"About 6 hours or so, I'd either bring a lunch or money to buy lunch on the train," Mrs. McGonagall replied, dabbing her mouth with her napkin before standing up. "Well, it's been lovely meeting you all and I look forward to seeing you in school come September, Petunia."
The Evans' left shortly after Mrs. McGonagall and wearily made their way back to the train station. Before they had even put London behind them, the exhausting day and rocking of the train had put Petunia to sleep.
Author's Note:
Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out my new story. This is a work in progress, although I have rough drafts of about four other chapters completed and partial rough drafts of several other chapters. I am definitely interested in a beta who could help me out with SPAG and general bouncing of ideas, so please feel free to PM me if you feel up to the challenge. I am trying to stick rather closely to canon (other than, you know, Petunia being a witch and all) so I would appreciate a beta who is well-versed in canon, including that found on Pottermore.
On other topics, while I kept the exchange rate between Galleons and British pounds the same, I did quite a bit of research on inflation and what today's currency exchanges are compared to 1968, when this chapter takes place. I've tried to do quite a bit of canon research as well.
Thanks again for reading!
