CHAPTER: 1 -The Letter
Eleven-year-old Lily Evans woke with a start, she'd had that dream again, well nightmare really.
A women with thick, shoulder-length red hair and emerald green eyes, an older from of herself had been cradling a baby. A handsome young man with very untidy black hair and soft chocolate coloured eyes had been standing behind her beaming at the two of them. Suddenly there was a bang at the door and the man who Lily assumed was her husband yelled something at Lily as he ran to the door. The man then started fighting against a snakelike man with livid red eyes. To Lily they appeared to be shooting beams of light at each other with what looked like carefully polished bits of wood. The snakelike man shot a beam of green light at her husband before advancing on her. Lily would watch as her 'husband' would fall to the ground, dead. Lily would awaken here. How queer was the dream to Lily, in fact she had been pondering it most of the summer.
Lily rolled over to face her alarm clock. She groaned. Five in the morning, what a glorious time. She tried desperately to fall back to sleep, but failed. Giving up she lay on her back staring at the ceiling thinking about her dream and its meaning.
"Lily!" her mum called from downstairs, "Lily, there's mail for you!"
Lily reluctantly got out of bed and grabbed her dressing-gown as she headed downstairs. Her mother was already up and was serving breakfast in the kitchen.
"Here." her mother passed a letter to her and continued making breakfast. The envelope had writing on the front written in fancy green ink:
Miss L. Evans
The Third Bedroom
12b Lingral Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
Lily turned the letter over and saw that it was sealed with red wax. It was bearing a letter 'H' and was surrounded by a snake, a lion, a raven and a badger. She tore it open and inside were three pieces of parchment. She opened the first and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 20 August.
Yours sincerely,
Andrea Abloy
Deputy Headmistress
Lily stared at the letter opening and shutting her mouth a couple of times before looking disbelievingly up at her mother.
"Well," asked her mother, "Who is it from?"
Lily didn't reply she just stared at the letter some more before her mother snatched it out of her hands. Her mother proceeded to read the letter under her breath, her brow furrowed.
"This must be a joke." was all her mother could come up with.
"Wait, look at this." Lily pulled at a second piece of parchment and read it out loud to her mother.
"Dear Miss Evans, due to your muggle parentage and lack of knowledge of the wizarding worldthis letter has been enclosed to answer any queries you may have and to give directions to Diagon Alley." Lily paused and looked up at her mother, who's eyes were wide but just nodded for Lily to continue.
"It goes on and says stuff about owls and teachers and subjects...and here it says how to get to Diagon Alley!" she pointed to the last paragraph of the letter excitedly.
"But what about St Agathas?"
"Mu-um!"
"What about Sophie? And Andrea? And Mickey and Cheryl?"
"But mum, you know that Mickey's parents have alreadydecided to move to Australia, Cheryl's going to Ashbury, and you know, mum, that Andy and Soph are best friends. What's that saying? ... yes, three's a crowd!"
"But you'd make new friends, Lily!" her mother insisted, clearly losing the argument.
"Exactly! New friends at Hogwarts!" exclaimed Lily triumphantly.
"But ... but ...."
"C'mon mum, can I go? Can I? Can I?" Lily was bouncing up and down when her father entered the kitchen.
"What's going on here?" asked Mark Evans.
"I'm a witch!"
Her father raised his eyebrows and his gaze drifted over to her mother, who nodded slowly.
"My wonderful little girl!" Mark smiled as he brought Lily into a big hug.
When Lily had finished hugging her mother and father she went upstairs and lay down on her bed, the letter in her hand. She re-read the first letter and started reading the other two pieces of parchment. The third read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform
First year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
Set books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
Lily grinned broadly, she just knew she was going to like it at Hogwarts.
"Lily! Andrea and Sophie are here!" Lily's mother called from downstairs. Lily hurried down the stairs, brushing her hair as she went.
"Coming!"
"Hey guys!" Lily called to her friends.
"Hi Lily." they chorused as they clambered into Andrea's mum's car and went to the pool.
"So Lil, you got your uniform for St Agatha's yet?" Sophie asked.
"Um...no..."
"Why?" asked a puzzled Andrea, "Are you changing schools or something?"
"Um...yeh...I am."
"Really?" asked Andy.
Why?" whined Sophie.
"Um...I have to go to this boarding school."
"What's it called?" inquired Andrea.
"Um.....I can't remember, I only go the letter a couple of days ago and on Friday mum and I are going into London to buy my uniform and school books." said Lily timidly.
"Wow....a boarding school.." said Sophie, her eyes wide.
"It's co-ed right?" Andrea asked, always convinced that every school should have boys even though, unfortunately, St Agatha's had none.
Lily nodded.
"Do you know anyone else who's going there?"
Lily shook her head sadly.
"Oh well, you're sure to make friends." Andrea said encouragingly.
Lily smiled at her friend, "I'll definently miss you guys."
"We'll miss you too, Lil." said Sophie, flashing Lily a smile, which changed almost instantly into a frown.
"An-dy!" whined Sophie as Andy crushed her as they went round a corner.
"Corners!" Andy said happily, as she squished Lily.
"Dam you, sitting in the middle!" said a mock angry Sophie.
Hope you like my story and would grace me with a review! It's my first fanfic -so be kind! .
laters
Limbo-gal