She stood out in the yard for a few moments, mouth open in shock, and just watched as her parents retreated into the house. 'What in the world is going on here?' she thought.
When he realized she had not yet followed him in, he peeked outside and with a chuckle said, "Are you coming in or are you going to stand out there, freezing your butt off all day, with that silly look on your face?"
She shook her head to clear the fog and frowned at him as he disappeared back into the house. How could he even be joking at a time like this? Why did he not think this was nuts? WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS GOING ON?!
She slowly started making her way back inside. She was so distracted she didn't even feel cold anymore. She couldn't even feel the dew on the grass or hear the birds that had resumed chirping. All she could think about was the fact that she had to have been dreaming. There was no way this is real. She pinched herself to see if she was awake or sleeping. Nope, not dreaming, just living in a bizzaro land with lunatic parents who have a crazy magic stick.
She stepped inside while her parents were coming down the steps from upstairs, dragging down the old trunk that had been tucked deep in the attic. She had seen it up there before, but had thought nothing of it. She had figured it was full of old moth ridden clothes from her great grandparents time and not worth the digging it would have taken to get to it. It was still in surprisingly great shape, though had obviously been used frequently in it's time. It was worn a bit around the edges, but still seemed quite sturdy.
They set it down in the living room on the coffee table and they both took a seat on the couch. This time though, they motioned for her to sit between them. She squeezed on in and looked back and forth between her parents.
"What does this old hunk of junk have to do with anything?" She asked with obvious frustration. She was tired of waiting for answers.
"Just a moment longer," he said as he picked up the stick and tapped the chest 3 times. The locks on it popped open and the lid cracked open. "Now before we continue, I'm going to need you to take a deep breath and let me finish talking before you start asking questions."
She turned to her mother who only nodded in agreement. Well this was going to be hard. She had nothing but questions to ask them, so she bit her lip to keep herself quiet, took a deep break and looked back at the chest nodding. "OK, I'm ready."
Her father slowly opened the chest to reveal clothing, books, old quill feather pens, ink bottles, and other odds and ends stuff. The large book right on top of it all was what caught her eye. It was a photo album with an old photo on the front. This was no ordinary photo though. The people in the picture were moving! It was like looking at a mini clip, but it was definitely just a picture.
"How is it…"she started to ask as she was turning to her father but he interrupted her.
"No questions till I'm done, remember?"
So she turned back to the photo album which her dad had started to pull out of the chest and he held it right between them, her mother peeking over her shoulder. She immediately recognized her father, at about her age, in the middle getting noogied by an older boy who looked quite similar to her father. On the other side of him was a young girl, seeming to be the youngest, shaking her head at the boys with a smile on her face. She looked so much like Delilah that it could have been her in the picture.
Just behind the three of them was an older couple, not much older than her parents were now. They all looked so happy. This must be her father's family. She had always wondered why she have never seen a picture of them before. Now she knew why. You couldn't very well have pictures like this throughout the house without raising some questions.
"That, in the middle, is obviously me. That charming guy giving me a noogie would be my older brother Lyle, and that is my little sister Dee-dee. You were named after her. Behind us are my parents. We lived in England and were all really close. Not long before you were born though, my family was murdered by an evil man.
"You see, magic runs in my family. They were all wizards and witches. I, unfortunately, did not inherit the magical capabilities the rest of my family shared. I'm what they call a squib, which is the wizarding term for a non-magical member of a wizard family. My whole family loved me just as much though, and never treated me any different
"The bad man who killed my family believed that the wizarding world should be restricted to pure blood wizards and witches only. He believed that marrying a muggle was a disgrace to wizards everywhere. Here in America, they call them no-maj, which means a person who does not have magic who is not from a wizard family. My father was a half blood, meaning one of his parents, my grandmother, was a no-maj. The evil man had made it his mission to purify the wizarding race. He eventually was defeated by Harry Potter, who was known as the chosen one. I can go over his tale with you some other time, but let's get back to our story.
"We had been on our honeymoon when my family had been murdered. It was then that we decided we were going to move far away to hide from this evil man, so we moved here to America. Since there were still some of his evil henchmen everywhere, even all the way out here, we decided to hide my magical heritage. Since I couldn't even perform magic we figured it would be the easiest choice. So we got rid of all the magical things I could bear to part with and locked up everything else in this chest."
While he had been telling his tale, he had been flipping through the pictures which portrayed his family, where he lived, and what must have been extended family and friends. She was in awe of all the moving pictures and that was probably the only reason she had kept so quiet up until the point. He had flipped to a picture of Dee-dee flying through the air on a broom. She came to a stop right before the camera with the biggest smile on her face, showing off this gold winged ball she had pinched between her fingers.
"What is Aunt Dee-dee doing in this one?" She asked.
"Well that there is a wizarding sport called Quidditch, which is kind of like soccer and basketball mixed together, but played on flying brooms. Right here, she had just won the game by catching that little ball, called a snitch, and had won the tournament for her team. She was the best seeker her house had ever seen."
"House?" She asked.
"When a wizard comes of age, they are given the option to attend a wizarding school. It is like boarding school, except instead of learning calculus and chemistry you would be learning spells and potions. Since we had grown up in England, we attended Hogwarts which was the wizarding school there. The children who attend are sorted into houses. Hogwarts has four houses. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.
"Lyle had been sorted into the Gryffindor house and Dee-dee Hufflepuff. They say the houses were decided based on each student's aspirations. This makes sense given that Gryffindors were the bravest and most loyal, Slytherin the most determined and ambitious, Hufflepuff the most trustworthy and kind, and Ravenclaw the smartest and creative. Lyle was most certainly brave and Dee-dee was definitely the nicest and caring."
"Is there a school here in America?" Delilah asked, eyes full of hope. She was beginning to understand. She had magic, she was a witch, there were others out there who were like her.
"Well that brings us back to this letter," her dad responded with a smile as her mother produced the letter. She handed it to Delilah.
She held it tenderly, nervous and excited to be able to open it. She stared at her name written on the front for a few moments before flipping it over to reveal the seal.
"That's the symbol for Ilvermorny" her father said.
Not knowing what an Ilvermorny was, she broke the seal and it magically opened. It folded in a way to mimic lips and started moving like a mouth as it said;
"Dear Delilah Steward,
It is with most pleasure that we welcome you to join us at Ilvermorny, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We congratulate you on becoming of age to attend our school, and humbly request that you join us for schooling at the beginning of the school year. Enclosed you will find your list of necessary supplies. We look forward to meeting you, and eagerly await your acceptance.
Happy Birthday,
Headmaster Agilbert Fontaine"
It then turned back into the normal letter. Delilah didn't know what to say. Both her mother and father enveloped her in a hug, her mother with tears in her eyes, and her father smiling as wide as he could. She would have the chance to go to wizarding school. Who would have thought such an ordinary girl would get the chance to do something extraordinary? Wishes really must come true!
As soon as the initial shock wore off, she turned to each of her parents. There were so many questions running through her head. She was already on to the next one before she could fully grasp the last one, so she started with the most obvious.
"So that means I am a witch?" she asked her father.
"It appears so," he responded with a smile. "How does that make you feel?"
"A bit nervous and excited, and of course curious" she said, a small smile spreading across her cheeks. "How come you never told me sooner? You said that the bad guy had been defeated, so why hide it anymore?" Her smile was gone, a look of confusion and frustration had replaced it.
"Although he is gone, his cronies are still out and about. A lot of them fled to America after the Great War. They haven't been able to catch them all yet and they are just as determined to complete what their leader had started. Given that your mother is a no-maj and I married her, we had to do our best to stay under their radar, that and most importantly, to make sure you would be always protected."
"If they are still out there, then would it even be safe for me to become a witch?" she asked, fear starting to creep into her voice.
"Ilvermorny, like Hogwarts, is the safest place for young wizards and witches to be while they are learning how to perform magic. Both schools are lead by the strongest and most loyal to the cause. Not to mention that all of the teachers are masters at dueling and there are all kinds of protection spells put in place all over the castle. They are more than capable of protecting all of you."
So then it really was possible. She could become a witch. She had never been so excited about anything in all of her life. She was so excited that the chest and all its belongings started to float in the air. They immediately crashed back down when she realized what she had been doing. Her parents looked at her with a mix of shock and awe.
"Oops, sorry. I'm usually much better at keeping that handled" she said with an embarrassed look on her face.
"How long has that been happening for?" her father asked, the shock still apparent in his voice and on his face.
"Um, well, the first time I really noticed was on my 8th birthday. Wait, hang on, I'll be right back" she said as she ran to her room. She picked up the gift Lia had just given her the night before. She ran back to the living room and gave it a swirl before handing it to her parents.
"Lia and I were having a pillow fight during our usual sleepover. Well out of nowhere the feathers started flying, circling around the room, just like they are in the snow globe" she said pointing to it, feeling a bit sheepish. "That's the real reason why there were feathers everywhere when you guys came in."
This time it was her mother who broke the silence, "Since you never showed any magical capabilities when you were young, we just assumed you would be a squib, just like your father, so we just let it go and never tested you again. You must have been a late bloomer."
"Is this the only time something like this has happened?" he father asked, setting the snow globe on the table.
"Well there was that one time when Jinxy got hit by that car and the power went out. I had thought it was just a strange coincidence. Oh, and that one time the toilets exploded at school, it think that may have been me too," she said. Now that she had started talking about it, she couldn't stop. She was talking fast now. "And I swear one time a thunderstorm had started one night when I was really upset because Lia and I were fighting. Other than that, it hasn't been anything too big, maybe a few shattered light bulbs."
Her parents looked to each other, with a look of dumbfoundedness on both of their faces. "How could we have not known?" her mother asked quietly.
"Well, I was always afraid to tell you guys," she said timidly a tear falling down her cheek, "I thought you would think I was crazy and have me put away. Even I didn't want to believe it and it was happening to me!"
"Oh honey, we would never believe you were crazy," her mother said as they both enveloped her in a hug. "I hope you now know that you can come to us with anything. We will always do our best to listen without judgement."
For the first time in a long time, Delilah finally felt like her parents actually understood her.
"Alright. Now where's that letter. There's a lot we have to do before school starts. First, we have to go shopping for the supplies," her father said pulling out a long list from the envelope.
"Can I see the list?" Delilah asked while trying to peek over the edge of the paper. Her father handed her the sheet and she quickly looked it over.
Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
School supply list
First-year students will require:
Uniform:
Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Cranberry for girls, deep Blue for boys, fasteners to be provided by the school)
One Plain Pointed Hat (same color as robe) for day wear
One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One Winter Cloak (Black, gold fastenings)
Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags at all times.
Books:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's 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
The Monster Book of Monsters By Edwardus Lima
Chadwick's Charms Vol I By Chadwick Boot
Other Equipment:
1 Wand
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal vials
1 telescope
1 set of brass scales
Quills & ink
Parchment
Students may also bring an Owl, a Cat or a small animal.
PARENTS ARE ALSO REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BRING THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS TO SCHOOL.
"Looks like we will have to make a trip to into the big apple to get the stuff on this list," her father said while reading it over her shoulder.
"New York?" she asked, "Why there?"
"Oh you'll see," he said with a smile.
Although she was over all the unanswered questions, she could never let this get in the way of all of the excitement she was currently feeling. It took everything in her to contain it. She couldn't wait to tell Lia. That thought made her freeze.
"Am I going to be able to tell Lia?" she asked, trepidation apparent in her voice and all over her face. She didn't want to have to hide this from her best friend.
Her parents looked at eachother and her father said, "Not now, there are some ground rules we would like to discuss with you, but we don't have time to do that now. If we want to be able to get all the stuff on this list, we need to get a move on. According to this letter, you start next week."
Just hearing those words melted away all of her fears. Now all she could think about is what it would be like there, at Ilvermorny, with all of the other witches and wizards like her.
"Alright sweetheart, you can't leave the house looking like that," her mother said with a smile. Delilah realized her hair was still standing on end and that she was still in her pjs. "You're sure to frighten everyone else. Why don't you go freshen up, get changed, and meet us back here."
She reluctantly turned, but hurried as she went upstairs to her room. She was afraid she was going to come back and they were going to laugh at her and hand her off to the guys in lab coats to take her to the looney bin. Looking in her vanity mirror she gasped in shock. She was definitely looking like she belonged there. She rushed around getting ready as fast as she could. After yanking her brush through her hair until it looked halfway back to normal, she put it up in a messy bun to conceal the rats nest that was her hair. She quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt, shoved her feet into her bright teal Chucks, and snatched her sweater off her chair at her desk before running back downstairs.
When she made it downstairs, she realized she was worrying for no reason. Her parents were still waiting when she walked back into the room, not far from where they were when she left. They had started a fire though.
"I think that's the fastest I've ever seen you get ready," her mother chuckled.
Her father turned to the fireplace and picked up the Urn that had been sitting up there for years.
"What are you doing with Grandpa?" Delilah asked.
"Oh, haha, about that" her mother said with an awkward smile. "That's not really your Grandfather."
Again with all the confusion. Why couldn't they just be straight forward and to the point instead of just creating more and more questions with every answer they gave.
"This here is what we call Floo Powder," her father said grabbing and handful of the ashes inside. "Grab a handful of this here ash, throw it in the fire, say where you want to go, step in, and it will transport you there."
She did not want to reach into the urn to grab the ashes that she had not that long ago, believed was the remains of her late Grandfather. It just didn't feel right. Plus hadn't she been taught all her life to not touch fire? Now her parents wanted her to jump in the fireplace with the fire blazing.
"Here, I'll go first," her father said, noticing her reluctance. "And make sure that you speak clearly. Last thing we need is for you to get lost somewhere you're not supposed to be."
He grabbed a handful of ash, handed the urn to her mother, threw the ash into the fireplace, and shouted, "The Harvest Moon." The flames roared and changed to green. Her father stepped in and disappeared, the flames quickly returning back to normal. Delilah just stood there, mouth wide open, trying to digest what she had just seen. Her father was literally gone, and in the process, he had not burst into flames. This day just kept getting stranger and stranger.
"Alright sweetheart, your turn," her mother said. "I'll be coming right behind you, so make sure to step out of the way when you get there."
She turned to her mother and reluctantly reached her hand into the urn, it still felt so wrong. She took a deep breath, stepped as close to the fire as she could without burning herself, and threw the ashes into the flames, which turned green again. She said "The Harvest Moon" and because she was so close to the fire, it just pulled her into the flames. She was scared to open her eyes at first but upon realizing that she was not in fact burning to a crisp, she opened her eyes and watched as room after room whizzed by her. Most of the rooms had been living rooms, some of which had people in them. Others had been restaurants, and a couple looked like lobbies. They were going by so fast that by the time she registered what she was seeing it had already progressed to the next room.
When was this thing going to stop? Was it going to stop or was she supposed to just step out? How was she supposed to know when to step out? What if she didn't go to the same place? What if she went too far? Could she end up on the other side of the world? Would she ever find her parents again? Why didn't she ask all these questions before stepping into the fire?
