As Lily breezed into the room, she noted the piece of paper Petunia rapidly stuffed under her desk, flushing. Lily watched curiously as the pink pigment crept into her sister's cheeks. What could she be hiding? Oh! Maybe it's a love note!
"Tuney," Lily began, "What's that?" She raised an eyebrow. Petunia merely clutched the paper closer, her lips quivering with emotion. She carefully reached a hand up to tuck a stray, limp curl behind her ear.
Lily pouted, "Let me see it, please, Tuney?" She sat up slightly straighter and asked in a conspiratorial voice, "Is it a love note?"
Petunia's eyes bulged, and she shook her head rapidly, spreading her blonde curls around her head. "It most certainly is not," she denied vehemently, with as much dignity as she could muster.
"Then what is it?" Lily inquired, tipping her head to the side.
"Nothing," Petunia answered primly, taking a seat on her bed and crossing her slim legs, paper still in her hands.
"I bet it is a love note. Why can't I see it?" Lily whined. She received a blank stare from her sibling. At that point, Lily decided to take action. She jumped over to Petunia's bed and wrestled for the sheet of paper. Petunia held the paper to her chest as she used her elbows to beat Lily away, but Lily gained the upper hand. She pulled, afraid to rip the paper. The paper came free of Petunia's grasping hands with one final yank. Lily tipped backwards slightly, but she regained her balance quickly, and jumped to the safety of her own bed. She held the paper out in front of her, and she began to read.
Dear Miss Petunia Evans,
I thank you very sincerely for your letter. I completely understand your wishes to attend Hogwarts. However, Hogwarts is strictly a school for those endowed with magical ability. Those bestowed with magic usually manifest their ability at quite young ages. Unfortunately, you have not seen these signs of involuntary magic, as your sister has. For these reasons, we will be unable to admit you to Hogwarts.
Please do not feel that your lack of magical abilities is a sign of inferiority. You come from a non-magical family, so it is quite likely that you would not have magical abilities. For these reasons, Hogwarts is not the right school for you.
Miss Evans, I wish you the greatest luck in the muggle world, and I hope you will lead a very happy life. Thank you very much for writing to me. I am truly sorry that you will not be able to attend.
Wishing the best to you and your family,
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts
Lily looked up carefully at Petunia. She sat stiffly, back straight, hands folded in her lap, legs crossed. Her head was tipped down to look at her hands. Lily noticed that she was still standing on the bed, so she sat down, embarrassed.
"Look, Tuney, I'm really sorry," Lily tried to console, "It's not my fault that I'm a witch, and it's not your fault that you're not a witch. It's okay."
When Petunia looked up, her eyes were full of hate and jealousy. Lily flinched at the dark emotions in Petunia's young, adolescent eyes. "I didn't want to go to your stupid school anyway. You're just a freak. I'm normal! I can live a happy life. I'll go to normal school and marry a normal person, and raise a normal family. You'll have to be a weirdo, marry another freak, and you'll have freakish children! You can go practice your stupid little witchcraft! See what I care. Y—y—you're just a freak!" she stuttered finally, unable to come up with something more original to say. The emotion in her eyes brimmed over in tears, as she strode out the room.
"Tuney," Lily called softly. But her sister had already slammed the door shut. I didn't know that Tuney felt left out. I wish that she could have gone to Hogwarts too. We could have gone together. Poor Tuney…
Lily remembered that it had all started with the letter.
She had gone out like any other day to pick up the daily mail. She had sorted through the various letters, dropping advertisements into the recycle bin, placing letters from the bank carefully on the kitchen table. She had been about to throw the last one away when she noticed that it was addressed to her. She read it several times just to make sure. "Lily Evans. 97 Listern Ct." It was right enough. Her eyes flicked to the return address. "Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." There was no address. Sev was right! I am a witch! I can't wait to tell mum and dad. Unable to contain her excitement much longer, she sat down at the kitchen table and opened the letter.
Dear Miss Lily Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed, you will find a list of books and materials.
Lily, you are what we call a witch. You have been born into a muggle (non-magical) family, and have been luckily endowed with magical abilities. Most likely, your magic has already begun to show itself to you. If you have ever had any strange happen to you, it is quite likely to be magic. This is, of course, a large revelation, and we realize this. We have also enclosed a letter to your parents explaining your abilities.
In addition, we would like you to keep your witchcraft secret to all but your closest family because witches and wizards have been forced into hiding by the International Statute of Secrecy.
The school term begins on September 15th. Have a lovely summer.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts
Lily had been reeling from happiness when her mother had walked into the kitchen. Lily had decided that it was time to tell her mother.
"Mum! Guess what! I'm a witch!" she exclaimed happily.
Her mother laughed, "Haha. That's very funny, Lily."
"No, I'm serious! There's this school for witches and wizards, who have been in hiding because of some international statue or something. And I have magical abilities! And I've been accepted to Hogwarts!"
Her mother turned, still smiling, to Lily. She did a double take at Lily's earnest face.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. My friend, Sev, told me. And now I got the letter from Hogwarts!" She opened the envelope to retrieve the other letter from Hogwarts. She passed it to her mother, who took it with shaking hands. Her eyes moved from side to side as she perused the contents of the note. She sat back and closed her eyes for a moment. When she had regained her composure, she opened her eyes and sat up.
"So this is really not a joke?" she asked weakly.
"Of course it's not, mum. I'm really a witch," Lily beamed.
Her mother smiled. "Well who would have thought? A witch!" She sat still for a moment, then she addressed Lily again, "Lily, I want you to know that I'm very proud of you, and I'm glad that you have been accepted to this school. I hope you have fun! This Sev that you told me about, is he a wizard?"
Lily nodded earnestly, "Yes. His mum's a witch, too. He said he would help me get all my books and stuff in Diagon Alley."
"That's lovely, dear. Excuse me; I think I should tell your father. He must want to know." Her mother stood, and exited the room. Lily just sat at the table, grinning to herself. Then she had a thought. Sev might want to know. I bet he got his letter too! Lily stood up and left the house.
Lily had been strolling along the sidewalk to Spinner's End, when she met Severus.
"Sev! Did you get your letter too?"
He nodded. "How did your parents take the news?"
"Fine! I think my mum was a little shocked, but she got over it and she said she was proud of me! She's telling my dad right now. I don't suppose your mum was very surprised, was she?"
"No. She wasn't," said Severus quietly.
An awkward silence fell over the two children then. Lily finally broke the silence. "So we're going shopping for our books soon, right?"
"Yeah. I guess we are. My mum'll take us."
"That's great, Sev! I haven't met your mum yet. I probably should introduce my mum too."
Severus shuffled his feet. "It's okay if she doesn't come. Your mum doesn't have to go with us."
"It's okay, Sev. I'm sure she'd love to come. Oh! Tell me about Hogwarts again."
"But I've already told you about it millions of times."
"That's okay," Lily beamed, "I love hearing about it from you."
Severus flushed with pleasure and launched into another description of the prestigious school.
