To me, the greatest adventure of my life started all with a knock on the door I sat on the bed with Eliza and Tony. Eliza sighed after I beat her for the fifth time at chess. "I can't believe summer's almost over. Soon, we'll be up to our ears in homework, classwork and projects."
I shrugged, "I don't know. I keep having this feeling that something important is going to happen today."
"You mean other than your birthday?" Tony interrogated, taking Eliza's seat to play with me, shoving her to the floor. She huffed, and shoved him over the side before sitting somewhere else. I giggled at their antics, then made the first move on the board. Tony got up and glared at her before taking his seat again.
"It's not that," I replied, watching him move his piece. "I just feel like something amazing is going to happen today. Or something terrible. Either way, I just know it."
"Maybe you're having a premonition," suggested Eliza.
"A premonition? Really, Lizzy? What do I look, a psychic?" I laughed. My laughter was cut short by a loud knocking. The sound seemed to be coming from downstairs. No one answered it, though, and I went back to the game, but I couldn't concentrate. The knocking started up again, and my curiosity got the better of me. I got up from my seat and went downstairs.
"Come on, Lily." Eliza came down, and tried to drag me back upstairs, but I wouldn't budge an inch. "It's probably just someone who got the wrong address."
I shook her off, and approached the door. I stood up on my tiptoes to see through the peephole. There was a woman in glasses and robes. Who would be wearing that sort of get-up at this time of night?
"Serena!" I called out to her. I could hear her working in the kitchen, chatting with Will. "There's someone outside! She's dressed...peculiarly," I added for lack of a better word to describe the woman's strange attire. Anyone would have thought a bomb was set off in the kitchen the way they reacted. They both came running to the door anxiously.
"Delilah, stay here, okay?" Serena whispered as she opened the door. She positioned herself right in front of me so I could only see from behind her. Her eyes widened in surprised. "Professor! I never thought I'd see you again!" she exclaimed.
"Neither did I," she replied promptly. "We haven't seen you since-"
"Let's not talk about it right now." Her eyes glanced at me. "At least not in front of her. I would prefer if that subject remained unknown to her."
"Who is this, Serena?" I asked curiously. Not only did the way she seemed to know this strange woman was, but the way she spoke so formally when addressing her surprised me.
The woman looked past Serena to me. She seemed to find me almost as curious as I found her. "Are you Delilah Stark?" she asked quietly. I kept my eyes down and nodded. She looked to Serena. "May I come in?"
A bit of the tension went out of the air as she smiled, "Of course...Minnie."
I could hear Will cough, probably to hide a snicker. The woman gave Serena a small smile before entering. Tony and Eliza were brought downstairs by all the commotion.
"Is something wrong?" Tony inquired.
"No, but you might want to go upstairs right now," Will explained bluntly. They glanced at me warily before climbing back up the steps. I gave them a small wave, acting braver then I felt. With them I felt alright, bit without them, the thought of going into the room to meet a woman I've never met before terrified me.
Serena led us to the living room. I sat down on a small chair next to the sofa where the three adults sat. Serena gestured to the woman. "Delilah, this is Professor McGonagall. She was my professor once, when I went to..." Her eyes widened with realization. "So she's a- You came to bring her a-"
Professor McGonagall nodded. "Delilah, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever done anything... out of the ordinary?"
I averted my eyes and played with a strand of my hair. "I-I-I guess s-so," I replied quietly. I considered showing her my abilities but felt too many eyes on me. Being in the spotlight was not my thing.
"Can you show me?"
I took a few deep calming breaths before answering. "Y-yes." This felt just like the time I had to perform in front of the entire class, except I couldn't chicken out now. With a deep breath, I got up, and walked to a glass of water sitting by the windowsill.
I slowly raised my hand, willing with my mind for the water to follow it. The water rose out of the glass, and with a few quick motions of my arm, it swirled around the room above their heads. I smiled at their reactions, and guided the water back to the cup.
Professor McGonagall widened her eyes, and looked at me curiously. "Amazing. I haven't met another element manipulator in years," she murmured.
Now it was Serena's turn to look confused. "I'm sorry, an element what?"
"An element manipulator," she explained, like it was the most absurd question she'd ever heard. "A wizard who can control the elements without a wand. They're extremely rare." She turned to me. "Delilah, is that the first time you've done that?"
I meekly shook my head. "I-I've been able to do things like that since I was s-six."
"You remind me of someone when she was your age, but personality-wise, you're nothing like her," she said, giving me a smile I've already come to know as rare. "I suppose you can explain to her then, Serena. After all, I think you remember."
Serena shook her head. "No, professor, I don't. It's been too long. I practically abandoned the wizarding world the day James and Lily died," she said firmly.
"Well, I hope you'll remember enough to explain and allow her to go," Professor McGonagall said sadly. She handed Serena a letter before standing up and leaving. She looked back at me. "And tell your friend that one of those is for her."
Without another word, she disappeared. I gasp in shock, and Serena looked only infuriated by it.
"Of course she disapparates," I heard her mumble. "She'll make it as hard as possible to ignore because then I have to explain all this."
I could only stare at where the strange woman had been a second ago. "What just happened?" I asked once I could find my voice.
"That question was actually very common back home after Serena got her letter," Will commented. Serena gave him a dirty look in response. That alone shut him up.
"Well, apparently, you're a wizard," Serena finally awkwardly smiled after a short silence.
For a moment, I couldn't register what she said. All I knew was that this night was about to get stranger. "Excuse me, I'm a what?"
Serena's POV:
I sat in the kitchen with Will. I could hear the children talking upstairs, and ignored it. I could only focus on the subject at hand.
"You're saying it like it's a bad thing," Will argued. "She might be a witch, who knows? I saw what she did with the wind. You remember you were doing all those strange things too, right?"
Oh, he keeps going on about that small little thing! "It was probably a coincidence!" I snapped. "That doesn't make her a witch! And besides, the wizarding world brings nothing but trouble."
"Coming from someone who was a witch herself."
"Oh, shut it!"
He leaned over the kitchen counter, staring me straight in the eye. It reminded me of when we used to argue as kids. "Look, the wind was blowing like crazy, and the second Delilah waves her hand when she started to get annoyed, it stopped. Do you call that a coincidence?"
I stared right back, then I suddenly backed down. Part of me knew he was right, as always, but another part refused to believe. "There was a reason the debate team never lost with you on their team," I said.
"Well, we'll see if I'm right," he shot back with a shrug. "If she's a witch, your old professor should be coming here before the day is up. After all, it is her happy eleventh."
My eyes widened, and I frowned at his smugness on the matter. He always talked down to me like I was the younger, and not the other way around. "Would you like to make a bet on that?" I hissed.
Will didn't even blink before he smirked, "Gladly." No matter how old he grew, I would always see the little brother who I knew Tony got his arrogance from. "Twenty dollars say she's a wizard." After a moment he added, "Oh, and loser has to cook for a month."
"You're on," I smirked. The instant those words left my mouth, I heard a loud knock on the door. From that moment, I knew I had lost the bet.
As the rest of the night progressed, we made some... interesting discoveries, and I now have to explain everything to my daughter. This night couldn't get any worse.
Let's see here. First, I got a lovely reminder of my best friends' death, and my ex-boyfriend's betrayal, and the death and disappearance of my other close friends. Oh, and then, I found out my daughter was an element manipulator who has been keeping this secret from me for five years, and I am now dragged back into the wizarding world so she can go to Hogwarts. And finally, I have to cook for a month, give twenty dollars to Will, and to top it all off, I have to deal with his constant reminder how he was right and I was wrong. What a great night I'm having!
