Disclaimer: I own everything that belongs to me. I own nothing that doesn't. BUT HARRY POTTER IS MINE!!!! Yeah, sure…well, I'd love to have it…*stares at the books with longing* Too bad. By the way, I don't own Chicago. I still love the songs, though.
A/N: I'm sorry I didn't update (Braney is most aggrieved, sirs and/ or misses), but I was out of town (in the Shaw festival, Niagara-on-the-lake--that's near Niagara Falls) and then grounded, and then …my dog died. It's ok, because he was fifteen and a half, but it's still really sad. L. Anyways, as I do now want to depress my reviewers, I will respond to them…always. As Luna says in the fifth book *kind of a spoiler but not one anyone will really care about* "They do it for the glory, and, of course, to see their names in print." So guess what, you all get glory and get to see your names in print. Isn't that fun?
RetroHotty44765: Great name, by the way. Thanks! Sorry if I disappoint and don't update so quickly, though, like now. I do maintain that I have very good reason.
quitesirius: Thanks! J Hagrid is one of my faves, too, so of course he'll show up early. But I'll make a deal with you: You update your story and I'll update mine. It works, because I really like yours. J
roku: Thank you for the writer comment. And I'm putting up a new chapter, as you can see, so everyone's happy! And about the html thing…I've tried a thousand times to fix it…well, no, like five, but NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK. Will you help me, please?
Well, I love having all of these REVIEWs. REVIEW more often. And, this is not just to my 3 reviewers, but to everybody: Will someone be my beta? Please? If you do, send it in a REVIEW or an email. Thanks!
Cell block tango: Today, it's Cell Block Tango. The Hungarian part, but I have no idea what it means. This is from Chicago, too:
Mit kersek, en itt? Azt mondjok, hogy a hires lakem lefogta a ferjemet en meg lecsaptam a fejet. De nem igaz, en artatlan vagyok. Nem tudom mert mondja Uncle Sam hogy en tettem. probaltama rendorsegen megmayarazni de nem ertettek meg.
Well, that was fun. On with the show (or story, you know, I'm flexible).
*****
Chapter 2- A Man Carved Out of Wood
Lily leaped up and out of the door, saying to her sister, "Hey, Petty, do me a favor? Tell, Mum and Dad where I've gone. Oh, wow! I'm really a witch!" She practically flew out of the door.
Lily is a witch. Lily is a witch. Lily is a witch. Lily is a witch. It was great! She could go away to this magical school where there would be magic and wizards and witches like herself…but better, wouldn't they be…well, they'd have to be. They'd probably all be so much better and magical, and she'd be this little misfit.
"Erm, Hagrid," she said, addressing her giant companion, a whole new thought springing into her mind. "Books? You said I was going to get my books. What books? From where? And…how am I going to pay for them; I didn't leave with any money." Lily, with an accountant for a father, knew how important money really was, and was all the more conscious of her lack of it.
"As to where, Diagon Alley in London. Jus' follow me, now," he said as they approached the train to London. "And no money?" You don't need no money. Didn' ya know? Well, yer not the firs' magical Evans, you know."
"What?" said Lily incredulously as they stepped onto the train, causing all of its passengers to stare at her. Blushing slightly, she said quietly to Hagrid, "Not the first magical Evans? Who else?"
"You'll see. Be quiet, now. There's plenty o' Muggles about, an' we don' wan' them hearing you."
'Muggles?" Lily thought. She had so much to learn.
*****
The train came to a halt shortly after, and Hagrid and Lily clambered off of the bus.
"Hag-" Lily began, but was silenced by the looming of a sudden, dirty building that she was sure she had never seen before in all her years on this street. It was a narrow, grungy, but friendly looking pub called… The Leaky Cauldron?
"C'mon, Lily," Hagrid was beckoning to the small inn. "We need yer schoolbooks."
"But, I thought you said…umm…Dragon Alley? Why are we going in here?" Lily responded, perplexed, but still following.
Upon entering, Lily discovered why. The Leaky Cauldron, as it's name might suggest, was magical, which of course got Lily excited. It was her first taste of the magical world, and from what she saw, she liked it, apart from some abnormalities, like a woman who was apparently talking to a mirror and a life-like, poorly carved wooden statue of a man (a wizard?) with two dark, beady eyes, a gash for a mouth, a large black cloak around his shoulders, and a hip flask in his hand.
"'Ello, Moody. What're you doing 'round here? Though' you were stationed 'round Hogsmeade?" Hagrid greeted the 'statue' apparently named Moody. Moody looked up, and Lily understood why she had thought he was a wooden statue. His features were all sharply cut, but instead of being a good thing, it gave him the impression of being a gnarled and contorted tree trunk. His nose seemed to be just a large hunk slapped onto his face, and his mouth literally looked like a sculptor had dropped his chisel and just slashed it into being. His heavily scarred skin didn't help much, either; it just gave the impression of knotholes.
Moody glanced skeptically at Lily in apparent mistrust, until Hagrid said, "Don' worry, she's alright. Molly's cousin, you know. Dumbledore sent me fer her specially. She's okay." Moody then gave Lily a searching look with those beady eyes, and apparently thought her okay because he growled, "Yeah, that's my post. Andromeda's covering it for me. I need a new Sneakoscope. Can't be too careful, you know. There've been some rumors about a spy staying around those parts. Minerva's been cast for an inside job, of course. Constant vigilance, and all that."
"Right. Well, Moody, best be going. We got lots to buy and I was planning on checking with the Potters t' see if they've bin hearing anything." Hagrid said while steering Lily to a brick courtyard to their left, where he crossed to a trashcan and started tapping the bricks above it.
As soon a Hagrid hit that last brick, the wall started quivering, and then a piercing light shot out of a small hole in the center, growing larger and larger until a street was visible, then larger still, forming a gap even Hagrid could fit through.
"Wow."
"Yeah. Well, c'mon, you. We need ter go and find yer cousin. We'll need tha' money o' yours so that we can go get all yer school stuff. Look, there she is!"
Lily turned and found herself staring at her 19 year-old cousin Molly with a gangly man with bright red hair. "Molly, hi!"
Molly turned and smiled. "Hey, Lily! How are you? This is Arthur Weasley, and these," she gestured to a middle-aged couple that she was talking to and their son, about her age, "are the Potters--Harriet, Alex, and their son, James."
"Hi. Umm, I'm okay. So you're a witch? How come you never told me?"
"Well, it's not allowed." Molly sounded very apologetic. "I could only guess you were a witch, I didn't really know."
Suddenly Hagrid cut in. "Hello, Harriet, Alex. Jus' the people I wanted ter see."
"Oh yes, Hagrid. Yes, urgent times. Have you spoken to Moody? Umm," Harriet Potter said, looking towards Lily and James, "umm, Molly, could you please take James to get his things," she said, with an urgently pleading look.
"Oh, of course," Molly said knowingly. "Well, I guess, umm, Gringotts, right?"
"Yeah," James replied while Lily gave a questioning look. "Wizard bank. Muggle-born, are you?" To that, Lily got angry. Was he already insulting her? He didn't even know her!
"What the--?"
"It's okay, Lils. Muggles are just not magic people."
"Oh, sorry. James, right?"
"Yeah. Who are you, by the way."
"Oh, me? Lily…Evans. Molly's cous--what are they???" she asked, pointing to some small, gremlin-looking being as they walked into the esteemed bank. The "being" looked highly affronted.
"They're goblins," Molly said. "They run Gringotts."
Oops, Lily thought as the goblin stalked off, angry. "Sorry!" she called to the goblin. James laughed.
Molly approached the desk at the end of the large room. "Hi. Could we see Lily Evans's vault please, and James Potter's?"
"Keys?" the goblin prompted. Molly gave Lily's as James surrendered his own. The trio then followed the goblin to a cart, where, after a dangerously fast downward trip, Lily and James got their…gold? Because all of the vaults were filled with gold, silver, and bronze coins, all strangely shaped. Then one fast cart ride up, and they found themselves back in the startlingly bright sunlight. Suddenly, Lily found herself in an apothecary, being supplied with potion ingredients. They she was in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, getting her uniform, followed by Flourish and Blotts for schoolbooks, many of which had wild titles.
"Last stop, you two. Wands," Molly said. Lily and James looked at each other, excited, but just touched with apprehension. The walked into a store called Ollivanders to find a man of that name standing behind a desk, who greeted them in an eerie voice. He then started to issue wands to the two, which we apparently wrong. Suddenly, Ollivander ran to a shelf.
"Yes, now I know. I have the perfect wands for you." He then issued a wand each, to no effect. "No? How could I mess up. Switch!" he cried, "and give it a wave." Lily and James switched wands, and, foolishly, waved. A fountain of red sparks issued from Lily's while gold one's issued from James. "Hm…how could I give them each other's wands? I wonder…" but he didn't finish his sentence. All he did was say, "Yes, you boy, that wand of yours: mahogany, eleven inches. Pliable. It's very powerful, and particularly good for transfiguration." James smiled. He then turned to Lily, "now yours: ten and a quarter inches. Swishy and willow. Very nice for charm work." Now Lily's spirits elated. Thanks were issued from the two young people as they paid, and Molly pushed them out the door.
"I never liked him," she said. "But come. You're gonna want some animals, aren't you?" James grinned, and Lily wondered just what was in store for her. She followed them, though, into a magical creatures shop. James found himself an owl, but Lily found herself drawn to a golden red bird, which the sign said was a phoenix. And she had to have it. She ran to pick it up, but tripped over a overlarge rat, sending cages flying. James cracked up with laughter.
"Great job, Lily. But you should get her," indicating to the phoenix. "She seems to like you. And they're really useful. Loyal, can carry heavy things, heal with their tears, can turn invisible. Good for you, you know," he said, while Lily paid. Once they got back to The Leaky Cauldron, where they met Hagrid and the Potters, he said, "Against the rules, too. But that'll do you some good." Lily frowned, causing James to smirk. They said their goodbyes until September 1, went the their respective guardians, and went home. The train ride home, Lily felt much better. She had made a friend for Hogwarts, and suddenly didn't feel as alone. Now her only problem was explaining everything to her parents…