Julie awoke to her mother pulling the covers off of her the cold air hit her, sending goosebumps up her body and her mother's voice, high, shrill and very fast. "Get up, you may still be on break, but I won't let you sleep all day." Annoyed and tired Julie grabbed for the blanket and pulled it up around her again. Her mother gave a sigh arms on hips and responded with, "If you aren't down for breakfast in ten minutes then you won't get any." Julie glared into her mother's back. If there was one thing she hated more than being woken up earlier that was missing a meal. She could smell the food from downstairs; her mother had purposely left the door open. Bacon and sausage, eggs and cinnamon. Her father must have gone all out, it was the last day that her grandparents would be spending with them, come midafternoon they'd be going back to their home.
It was both a sad and good thing. She liked when her grandparents came, they gave her money and treats, and she got away with things that she normally didn't with her parents. However, when they came her parents were always on their toes. Her mother would spend the week before their arrival and clean the whole house, Julie would have to help. There dad would go into town the day before and rent a brand-new car, and if Julie did anything to it she would get in trouble. Her mother would pull out their 'nice' clothes from the back closet and Julie had to be very careful in them. No spills or stains. And above all Julie was not allowed to remark about how different her parents did things when her grandparents were around.
The smell of the food becoming too tempting she got out of bed. She grabbed the clothes her mother had sat out for her the night before and very poorly ran a brush though her black hair. She heard the talking and scraping of silverware before she entered the room.
"Roedean school now that's a possibility. I have an old colleague of mine that could pull a few strings and get you set up for an interview. It may be late in the year, but I'll see what I can do." Came her grandpa Dursley's voice.
"No, it's alright dad, we've already decided that she will be going to public school."
"Oh, Dudley this is your daughter education, I think you should reconsider." Said her grandma.
"We want her to live at home. The public school in this district is great, its why we moved here. And I attended public school." Said her mother, Julie could imagine her grandma wrinkling her nose ever so slightly.
This had been much of the conversation over the week her grandparents had been staying. Where she would be going to school next year, at eleven years Julie had many well-known private schools that would accept her but they all came with a price tag.
Very showily Julie opened the door the conversation ended. None of them spoke about it in front of her. "Good morning sweetie," Said her grandma giving her a light peck on the cheek and running her fingers through her hair only for them to snag at the back of her neck. Her grandma was a tall thin woman with graying hair and an aging face. "Hmm, maybe it's time for you to make a hair appointment and get your hair straightened." She suggested.
"She's too young for that right now." Said a beefy man with short blonde hair and rounded shoulders, Her dad. His voice coving up the sound of anger his wife made back behind the counter.
"Oh make it much more manageable, if she straightened it."
"I can manage it. I just didn't do anything yet because of breakfast, just wait after I get done eating I'll have it looking really nice, like moms." Her grandma looked up at her mother who Julie looked most like, a dark complexion with brown eyes and black kinky curled hair being held by a wide pink hair band on top of her head.
"I'm sure it will look great." Said her grandma going back to her tea, her dad also took a sip form his coffee a bit of red on his round face and her grandpa had already hidden his white mustached face behind a tablet with the morning news on the screen. Very quickly her mother made her a plate of sausage, bacon and eggs along with a piece of her dads famous cinnamon and brown sugar french toast.
Eventually the conversation fazed into what her grandparents would be up to now that her grandpa had retired and how work has been for her dad and mom. Julie talked about her friend Katlin B. and Katlin J. who her grandpa always got confused with who was who. "No Kaitlin B. dad works in construction and Kaitlin J. dad works as consultant." She would correct. Her mother and grandma seemed to put their little scuff about Julie's hair behind them as the two went on about their newest tv show obsession while washing the dishes and Julie showed her dad and grandpa the funniest video she seen on Youtube.
"You know it's such a nice day. Why don't we take a walk down to Dublin Park?" Suggested her mother.
"That sounds like a good idea, give us a chance to get out of this house." Her dad agreed.
"Let me go fix my hair." Julie ran out of the kitchen. She had made it onto the second step when there was a loud knock on the door. Energetically she jumped down to the landing and opened the door. An oddly dress man stood on the other side.
He was wearing razzberry colored robes and a green cloak with the same razzberry color of flowers sewn onto the back. Brown hair and a medium sized brown owl, both peering down at her.
"Julie you shouldn't answer the door with out checking first," Her mother said coming from the kitchen. She paused when she saw the man eying his odd attire.
"Can I help you?" She asked getting in between Julie and the man.
"Yes, is this the resides of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley?"
"Yes."
"Oh good. I'm Professor Longbottom and I'm here on behave of my school, Hogwarts." Her mother stiffened as if cold water hit her face and she shot in a breath of air. Her mother ran back down the hall into the kitchen, Julie imagine steam escaping from her ears.
"Is that owl real?" Julie asked Professor Longbottom who was staring off at her mother with perplexation.
"Yes, his name is Chick Pea because he likes them so much."
"Can I pet him?"
"If you hold your arm out and call for him I bet he'll come to you."
"Really?" Professor Longbottom instructed her on how to properly hold out her arm and with a bit of a squeak she called out, "Chick Pea." The owl stretch out his brown wings and gave a leap from the shoulders of Professor Longbottom to Julie's out stretch arm. She was surprised at how heavy the bird was but was happy when it gave a hoot to her softly brushing its chest.
There was a commotion from the back kitchen and Julie could hear her mothers voice as clear as if she was standing in the hall with her. "We told you that Julie was going to a public school and yet you still thought it appropriate to set up an interview with some private school!"
"I have no idea what your talking about." Came Grandpa Dursley's voice.
"Oh don't act innocent if it wasn't you then it was you!"
"I most certainly would not have set up an interview with a school and not told you about it." Came Grandma Dursley's voice.
"Baylie I'm sure this is just a miss understanding I doubt they would go this far." Came her dads soft voice but Julie could tell there was some suspicion. More then once he had coved for one of his parents over steeps.
"Well then why do I have a man at my door saying he's from a school I've never heard of unless someone set up an interview for it."
"What's the school?" Her dad asked.
"Hogwarts." There was a silence. Then a thud and then two sets of feet barreling down the hall. Her grandpa's small round red face was the first thing she saw her dads white pale face the second. Her grandpa stopped just a few feet away from the door looking the man up and down with glaring beading eyes and clammed fist.
"What is the meaning of this? Who are you?"
"I'm Professor Longbottom from Hogwarts."
"Don't say that name! Why are you hear if this has anything to do with that boy I don't care. We ain't taking care of any of his kids I've done my part." Professor Longbottom looked down at Julie who looked back at him they both were wondering why her grandpa was having such a reaction.
Grandpa Dursley turned his eyes on Julie, she had never seen him look so angry she backed away and pulled the owl out of his reach afraid that he might grab for it and strangle the poor thing. Her mother came up the hall looking confused instead of angry.
"This has nothing to do with Harry or his kids but with Julie." Her dad seemed to relax a bit her mother's eyebrow furd and her grandpa's face was beginning to go purple. "May we take this into the sitting room.
"Appositely not!"
"Of course." Said her dad and grandpa at the same time.
Her grandpa glared daggers into the back of her dads head and into the mans head as the walked down the hall. Chick Pea flapped his wings and sored up over the heads of the adults before perching on Professor Longbottom's shoulders. Her grandpa gave a sound of bitter disgust while her mother watches the owl with curiosity while waiting for the men to pass her before holding tight to Julie's shoulders as the two followed them into the sitting room.
"I'll get you a cup of tea, please take a seat." Her dad instructed. Professor Longbottom took the chair right next to the sofa Grandma Dursley was laying on it with a wet cloth pressed to her head shot up and ran to her husband who was standing by the door to the hall. Julie and her mother both took a seat on the abandon sofa, her mother's eyes were big and her lips so thin you couldn't see them while Julie had a great smile while watching the owl tuck its head into its wing. For what ever reason this man was here because of her and it all seemed rather exciting.
Her dad made some rattling with the kettle and soon had two cups of tea one for his mother and the other for Professor Longbottom. He sipped the tea with pursed lips while the three of them stared at him while her grandparents keep by the door her grandma shacking so bad her tea cup chattering.
Her father cleared his throat, "Umm, you said you where here for…for Julie."
Professor Longbottom looked at them setting the tea cup aside. "Yes, right here we go." He pulled something from his razzberry nighty. Her grandma dropped her tea cup. But he only pulled out an off colored letter. "This is for you."
Julie looked at the letter with great eagerness. She had never gotten mail before, if any friend wanted to get ahold of her they would just call or text, she didn't even think her parents got handwritten letters very often. Her smile brightens as she saw her name written in green tidy ink on one side and the other side was a great coat of arms with a lion, a snake, a eagle and a badger, with a large H in the center.
She quickly but carefully opened the letter, her mother straining her neck to see what was written. Julie decide to read out loud. "Dear Mis. J. S. Dursley we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." As she said the words they didn't make much since.
"This is a joke. It has to be, did my sister put you up to this, pay you?" Asked her mother with a smile as if she finally understood the joke. Julie herself felt very duped.
"No! No this is not happening. Not in my family." Grandpa Vernon said loudly. His reaction seemed to much for a joke.
"Dad stop," Said Julie's dad. "Is this true? Is Julie really a witch?" Julie's mother looked at her dad with a wide-open mouth.
"Yes."
"I knew it! I knew it. That time I put her in the crib but then she was gone the next minute, spent nearly an hour looking for her, called the police and the moment they arrived she was back in the crib. How she's able to get into the cookie jar even though its in a cupboard on the top shelf with a lock. I knew it!" Her dad had jumped up from the sofa, Julie had only seen him this animated during a football game or boxing match.
"You have all gone crazy. This has to be a joke." Said Julie's mother.
"It is no joke ma'am," He pulled out a stick from his robes Her grandma and grandpa tensed up and when he waved it the tea cup that had fallen to the floor rose up and began putting itself back together. Julie watched with great intensity as if floated to the table and sat down with barley a sound.
"This can't be not in my family, you won't let her go. Right Dudley."
"Dad if Julie's a witch it would probably be best for her to go."
"You can't be serious after everything that…that magic has done to our family." Said Grandma Dursley. Julie wasn't really paying much attention to the bickering adults. Her and her mother still had eyes on the cup. Julie constrained very hard to get the cup to move to fly in the air like the man had just done. The man had a stick though, she figured it was a wand like what the fairy godmother in Cinderella had. But she concentrated. The cup tipped forward then rolled on the table.
"Impressive." Came Professor Longbottom's voice. "I would have never gotten a cup to tip over just by thinking about it at that age. I imagine with some training you'd be a rather talented witch."
"How do we prepare Julie for such a school?" Asked her dad.
Professor Longbottom gave him a smile. "Yes, we have wizard families who volunteer to help muggle families adjust and prepare them." He pulled out another letter and gave it to her dad. "A Mr. Potter has offered to be the family that does this for you."
Julie looked up at her mother still muddled, her grandparents completely revolted and her dad who gave her a great smile spoke. "You're a witch Julie and you'll be going to Hogwarts."
***So I've always been a fan of Dudley having a magically gifted child so I decide to write what it would be like when his child got the letter. It was fun writing everyone's reactions too it and Baylie (Julie's mothers) has the most sympathy she's so out of the loop. Also I was trying to make Petunia seem ignorant about certain things also showing how they over step. Please let me know what you think and check out my tumblr sskinner155***