Petunia felt something grab hold of her stomach and twist it tight. Oh, no, her brain seemed to chant over and over. Not this! She tried to remain calm. 'Who called you a freak?'

'C-Clarice Parker and some of the others,' Evanna faltered, looking positively frightened at the look on Petunia's face. Petunia quickly forced her face into a mirror of sympathy and indignation.

'Why would they call you a freak?' Petunia said softly, ignoring the flashbacks the simple word gave her. Another time … another place … yet both Lily and Evanna had suffered the same fate, condemned because of something they had no control over. Only, in Lily's case, she had found solace in another person, a boy who told her who she was and that she wasn't a freak – just special. Evanna had no such comfort-bringer … except Petunia.

The answer Petunia had been dreading came. 'I do strange things nobody else can explain … scary things. And everybody calls me Cat … because …'

'Because why?' Petunia pressed gently.

'Because … you know what Dudley told you about the swing? I can do that … any time I want to … and I always land on my feet, like a cat.'

Petunia felt a mad urge to both laugh and cry. There was a spark of Lily in Evanna's personality after all! Lily was strong, but she had broken down when being called a freak by her own sister was too much for her. It would have been too much for anybody.

'But why can I do these things, Aunt Petunia? I don't mind being different … I like it … but why me, and not them?'

The words came out before Petunia could stop them. 'Because you're a witch.'

The girl was very still for a few moments, staring at Petunia with wide eyes. Then she said softly, 'You mean it?'

Petunia was surprised. She had expected the girl to laugh, or even accuse her of lying, but this caught her off guard. 'Yes, I mean it,' she said quickly. 'You are a witch. Your mother was one too –' and there was the usual flash of emotion that came with the mention of her sister's talents. She pulled herself together. 'Yes, you are,' she repeated. 'Did you ever think that there's something different about you? Did you realise that all the strange things you do are impossible to perform – that is, without magic?' Petunia looked straight into the girl's almond-shaped eyes. 'It's because you're different – special.'

Two years later

Dudley's letter came first.

Evanna remembered the day quite clearly – the Saturday before Dudley's eleventh birthday. In all her life she had never seen Aunt Petunia so distressed or Uncle Vernon so serious.

Dudley collected the post off the doormat and walked back into the dining room slowly, flipping through the envelopes. Evanna watched out of the corner of her eye, and hence was the only one to notice that he stopped at a heavy-looking envelope as if he could hardly believe his eyes. He passed the bills and the rest of the envelopes to his father and sat down next to Evanna, still looking at the envelope. Glancing over his shoulder surreptitiously, Evanna saw that the letter was addressed to, in green ink:

Mr D. Dursley
The Second Bedroom
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
 Surrey

Dudley turned the letter over slowly. It was sealed with a big purple seal that had a lion in the top left corner, a snake in the top right, a badger in the bottom left corner and an eagle in the bottom right, all surrounding the letter 'H'.

Dudley slit the envelope open, unnoticed to all but Evanna, pulled out a few sheets of thick paper and read through them slowly … disbelievingly, Evanna thought. Then he looked up.

'Mum,' he said, eyeing Aunt Petunia, who was busy spreading butter on her toast, 'what's' – he glanced down at the letter in his hands – 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?'

The silence was deafening. Uncle Vernon looked up from his tea, a frown on his face, but Aunt Petunia froze, her buttery knife suspended in mid-air, and looked first at Evanna (who shook her head very slightly), and then settled on Dudley, the mysterious letter clutched in his hands.

'What was that, Dudley, dear?' she said faintly.

'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' Dudley repeated calmly, looking up at his mother's petrified face. 'It is a joke, isn't it?'

His mother seemed temporarily unable to speak. Wordlessly, she held out her hand. Dudley gave her the letter and she read through it twice, her eyes getting bigger and bigger.

'What is it, Petunia?' Uncle Vernon asked his wife. He wasn't good with emotions but even he could tell there was something off about her behaviour.

Evanna's heart was racing wildly. Dudley had a letter from the school … her parents' school … her school that Aunt Petunia had told her about? Did that mean he was a wizard, too? But why was Aunt Petunia so shaken? Hadn't her own sister, Evanna's mum, been a witch when the rest of her family were Muggles (non-magical people)?

Uncle Vernon was looking very confused. Abruptly, Aunt Petunia pushed her chair back and beckoned for her husband to follow her into the kitchen, ignoring the hand Dudley was reaching out so that she could give him his letter back. Once the kitchen door was closed behind them, Dudley and Evanna looked at each other.

'What did the letter say?' Evanna asked finally.

'It said … that I've been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' Dudley answered in a puzzled tone. 'It looked pretty well done for a joke letter, too – there was even a book list and a note saying that I wouldn't be allowed to bring a broomstick to school.' He chuckled under his breath. 'But I don't get what Mum's so worked up about when it's obviously just a silly joke.'

'Why do you think it's a joke?' Evanna asked curiously.

Her cousin rolled his eyes. 'It's obvious that magic doesn't exist,' he said dismissively. 'I mean, surely we would have noticed.'

Bit rich coming from you, Evanna thought dryly. But she didn't answer. She moved over to the kitchen door and busied herself with eavesdropping through the keyhole.

' … don't see why he can't go, Vernon. You've always said that if they have a talent, or something they really like doing, they should make good use of it, shouldn't they? Well, Dudley's talent is magic, and to make good use of it, he needs to go to Hogwarts.'

There was a brief silence. 'Petunia, you know I care for both of their welfares very deeply,' said Uncle Vernon heavily. 'But are you sure he'll be all right? After all, wasn't your sister killed by some wizard maniac that tried to kill Evanna too? We made a promise to protect them, Petunia, but I don't see how we can keep it if they're sent to a boarding school in – Scotland, did you say? – for ten months every year – Evanna especially.'

'But Dudley will have to be told,' Aunt Petunia pressed on. 'He'll find out himself sooner or later – Evanna already knows the truth about herself – and frankly I'd rather him find out from us than anyone else. I never thought he'd be one too, never considered it, but that doesn't matter now. Lily always said there was no better wizarding school than Hogwarts, and Dudley will look out for Evanna. He's very big-brotherly – have you noticed? It will be an excellent experience for both of them.'

'I suppose you're right,' said Uncle Vernon slowly. 'Dudley's a good boy. Let's go back in there and tell them – I just hope they'll understand.'

Evanna glanced down at Dudley, who was crouched on the floor, the better to listen under the door. As they regained their seats, all Evanna could think was, So I won't be going to Hogwarts alone after all.

'Hey, Cat, hurry up, will you,' Dudley called cheerfully at his cousin's closed bedroom door, on the morning of the twenty-third of June. It was Dudley's birthday, and for a treat, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were taking him, Evanna and Dudley's best friend from school, Piers Polkiss, to the local zoo for the day. It was only a week after Dudley's letter from Hogwarts came and revealed he was a wizard, and he was still coming to terms with the fact. A representative from Hogwarts was supposed to come sometime before September to take him to the wizarding world to show him around and get all his school supplies, but they hadn't come yet.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia never took Evanna out for her birthday – but that wasn't for lack of offering. Evanna always politely refused when Aunt Petunia asked her, as she asked both of them every year if they wanted to do something fun for their birthdays. Aunt Petunia's idea of 'fun' meant taking them and a friend out for the day, such as to the amusement park or the circus. It was there that the problem lay, for Evanna had no friends, and she would rather die than let Aunt Petunia find out. She didn't want her aunt to get involved at school … again.

Evanna groaned softly, and, with a heroic effort, pulled herself out of bed and reached for her clothes. 'Didn't I tell you not to call me that?' she yelled half-heartedly at the unseen Dudley. She heavily disliked the nickname Cat, and yet somehow Dudley was the only person who could call her that and get away with it … most of the time, anyway.

An hour later, Uncle Vernon was driving to the local zoo, with Aunt Petunia in the passenger seat and Evanna, Dudley and Piers slightly squashed in the back.

The first half of the day went very well. They visited the aviary and several other places before stopping at the zoo's café for lunch.

'What do you want to see next?' Aunt Petunia asked Dudley, who, along with Piers and Uncle Vernon, was devouring a large knickerbocker glory for dessert. Evanna herself had a strawberry hot fudge sundae, and Aunt Petunia had a banana split.

'Dunno,' mumbled Dudley, his mouth full of cream and chopped nuts. Evanna elbowed him, partly because she was disgusted by the way he talked and partly to get his attention.

'Hey, Dud, we haven't been to the reptile house yet.' Evanna licked the sticky syrup off her spoon and waved it in the general direction of one of the zoo sections, aptly labelled Reptile House.

Dudley looked up, saw what she was gesturing to, and grinned appreciatively. 'Nice one, Cat.'

For that, Evanna smacked him on the back of his head and he nearly swallowed his cherry whole, causing both Evanna and Piers to howl with laughter ('You got one over him there, Cat!'), Aunt Petunia to frown disapprovingly at Evanna, and Uncle Vernon to reach over and slap Dudley on the back – hard – until he stopped coughing and choking long enough to glare at Evanna, who grinned back, not at all worried by her cousin's animosity. Dudley never did stay annoyed at her for long – he was too good-natured.

They did go to the reptile house, however, though whether it was because they were used to the attention or simply bored, the reptiles seemed rather slow and dozy. Dudley even rapped on the glass on one boa constrictor's case before moving on, tired and impatient.

Evanna paused for a second beside the boa constrictor's case. It seemed to be sleeping, but at Evanna's timid 'hello' (she didn't know why she said it; she didn't usually talk to animals), it began to move around. Then it caught sight of Evanna, raised its head slowly to face her, and hissed softly, 'Hello to you too.'

It was a mark of how startled Evanna was that she almost jumped, then looked around her to make sure nobody else saw or heard. Not knowing that she was a witch, they might think she was mad, or they were mad … or both.

'Do you get people coming to talk to you much?' Evanna asked politely, eying the snake. It was easily the largest of any of the snakes there, and she thought that position would hold a bit more notoriety than any of the other snakes'. She wondered idly whether most witches and wizards could talk to snakes, and whether it was a matter of the snake understanding English, or herself understanding snake language.

'Other people have talked to me, yes, but nobody who understood my language the way you do,' the snake answered. 'One tends to get lonely and listless after a while.' It let out a melancholy sigh, a sound that Evanna would never have believed could come from a snake.

Evanna quickly glanced about her again, saw that the others were up ahead, looking at some sleepy-headed crocodiles, and turned back to the glass case. 'I know what you mean,' she said quickly, concentrating on the snake's beady eyes. 'I'm a witch, but nobody knows it except Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and Dudley. Everybody makes fun of me at school, but I just tell myself that it's because I'm special.'

'Because most things really aren't worth getting upset over?' the snake said slyly.

Evanna nodded. 'I … I've got to go. See you sometime … maybe.' With that, she hurried after Dudley and the rest, who hadn't even noticed her brief absence.

But she herself hadn't missed the wide eyes and slightly parted lips of another girl who had been standing nearby, watching her. Nor did she miss the curious, astonished look the strange girl gave her as Evanna hurried away.