-1Chapter 1
My name is Petunia Evans. I am 11 years old today. I live with my parents Harold and Violet and my twin sister Lily. We live in a small town of Thirsk in Northern Yorkshire. Father says that we are average, but I know that I am special. I can do things. Special things. I can make things happen. Lily thinks she can, but I know she's just upset that I outshine her.
Yes, she's prettier than I am, but I am beautiful in a different sort of way. I have seen pictures of women who are like me. Dark, secretive women who have a "knowing" smile. Now, I'm not sure what that means, but I heard my parents discussing us last night.
Lily is just pretty in the usual way. She has dark red hair, green eyes and a nice smile. She is bubbly and friendly. Very outgoing. Mother wishes I could be more like Lily.
Today is our birthday and we are going to York to buy our new school things. We are starting in the fall at Queens Ethelburga's College in York. Father says that well brought up young ladies go to boarding school. Mother says we get to take a small pet. I can't wait. I wonder what kind of pet she'll let us get? I want something exotic.
Oops, got to go. I can hear the family moving around, getting ready.
(Oh yeah, I am going to have a nickname while I am at school. I don't like Petunia. It's for babies. I want to be Tuni.)
Petunia stopped writing in her diary and looked out the window. It was a bright summer day. Birds were chirping. Flowers were in bloom in the garden below. The neighbors could be heard starting their mowers. She felt a change in the air and wondered what the day would bring. This felt like one of the "special" days she had. Not that they occurred regularly or anything, but she felt different.
She quickly got showered and dressed. Just as she was coming down the hall, a door opened, and there was her sister Lily. (Now I should mention that Petunia and Lily are fraternal twins.) Petunia was tall for her age. She was a good 3 or 4 inches taller than Lily. She had hair that fell in long layers to the small of her back. Her eyes were a shade of sky blue bordered by a deep midnight blue. She looked and acted older than her years. While Lily was still playing with Barbie dolls, Petunia had moved on to reading and thinking about boys. Lily, on the other hand, was a pixie faced girl with shoulder length red hair and green eyes like emeralds. Lily favored their mother Violet in coloring and temperament. Violet, like her daughter was a red head. Hers though, was a deep shade of red close to auburn with natural highlights that gave her a delicate appearance. Harold was tall, around 6 foot. He was fit without seeming muscle bound. He liked to run each morning and attended martial art training in York. His looks though could not be said to be memorable. Medium brown hair, hazel eyes and looked like any other finance broker.
"Can you feel the air 'Lil?" asked Petunia with a grin. "No, but just looking at your face tells me that something good is going to happen." Lily replied. "I hope we get to pick out at least some of the clothes for school. I want to make a good impression on the kids there. I want to make lifelong friends and have wonderful adventures and…" At this, Petunia interrupted " Lily, we can't do any of that if we don't get downstairs now." Laughing, both girls raced down the stairs.
Once downstairs, the girls quickly started helping their mother get breakfast ready. "Hurry up girls and finish your breakfast. We'll be leaving soon." Mother said. Just then there was a strange tapping at the window. Mother went to look. Outside was a large bird which seemed to be dropping feathers all over the yard. "That's strange, some poor bird just flew into the patio door." Mother stated.
The very next moment the bird outside burst into flames. As it did, a letter fell from it's talon. The sight of the flaming bird caused shouts from the girls. Harold came rushing down the stairs to see what all the ruckus was about. "Girls, get inside right now!" he shouted as he ran towards the garden hose. As he was turning the spout, the flames subsided. Now, on the side lawn was nothing more than a pile of ash.
As Harold turned to go back inside, he noticed something on the ground. He picked them up and went inside. Placing the envelope on the sideboard, he grabbed his coat and hat. Not finding his keys, he went searching for his wife.
Petunia was the only one still at the window as the pile of ashes started to move. She could see that it was taking the form of a bird. But unlike to molting, drab creature that had been at the window only moments before, this bird was unlike anything Petunia had ever seen. The bird outside the window was beautiful. It had crimson feathers on its body and long golden tail feathers. It was majestic in its appearance. Once the phoenix had finished its transformation, it turned to look at the girl in the window. Petunia could not believe her eyes. The creature nodded its head and winked, yes winked at her.
Petunia rushed outside as the bird flew away. She watched as it disappeared in the distance. She got that funny feeling again that something special was about to happen.
"Petunia come inside now! We are leaving for town. If you aren't at the car in two minutes, we are leaving without you." Violet called. Petunia sighed and went into the house. The ride into York took about 30 minutes. Once there, they found a central place to park and got out. "Violet, I will meet you and the girls back here at 2 for tea. I'm going to stop in at the office." Harold said. He did not want to be dragged from dress shop to dress shop looking for just the right "outfit" as the girls would. The shopping trip took less time than he imagined and they were able to start for home after tea.
Once they reached home, everyone started grabbing packages. Petunia found that she was still missing one with her new shoes and went to the car to look for it. Just as she was half way to the car, Lily called out that she found the shoes. As she turned to go back inside,
she noticed an older couple coming up the front walk. They were dressed in long overcoats and the lady had a strange floppy hat on her head.
Once inside, she saw her father look at the envelope on the sideboard where he placed it before their shopping trip. Harold opened the outer one and inside was two separate ones. One was addressed to "Miss Tuni Evans, The Living Room, Thirsk". The second one was addressed to "Miss Lily Evans, The Living Room, Thirsk". Just as Harold was looking at these again, wondering why letters were addressed to his daughters and delivered in such a strange manner, the door bell rang.
Violet went to answer the door. "Hello, may I help you?' " I am Professor Albus Dumbledore and this is Professor Minerva McGonagall." The gentleman introduced himself. "May we have a few minutes to discuss your daughters school choices?" he asked. "Oh, you're from the boarding school, please do come in." She showed them into the hall. "May I take your coats?" she asked as they followed her towards the living room. She could hear Harold murmuring. "He always does that." she thought to herself. "I wonder what has upset him?"
As they entered the living room where the rest of the family was, Harold looked up from the letters. "Harold dear, these lovely people are from the boarding school the girls are going to. This is Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall". "What is the meaning of this?" Harold was almost shouting. "I told you I want no part of this. I want my girls to grow up normal. We have had this discussion many times Albus. Why are you pursuing this? Can you not respect my wishes? Why do we have letters addresses to our girls from "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? The girls are attending Queen Ethelburga's in York. How dare you step foot in my home! If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times. NO CHILD OF MINE WILL ATTEND HOGWARTS!"
