As for the reviewer who commented on the similarity between Lily's sorting hat experience and Harry's experience, it was designed that way; if you read the disclaimer at the beginning, you'll see that I mentioned that many of Lily's experiences are very, very similar to Harry's; I've always suspected that Harry is very much like his mum in behavior and personality, so throughout the story, you'll see that they behave similarly and have some similar experiences. But the big plotline will be different.
Also, although they never
mention a school newspaper or a music band in any of the four books, I
added some more fictional extracurricular activities to liven things
up and have some students join them. Glad so many of you like this story
so much! Thanks for reviewing, all of you! Sooo, here's more!
Lily's Beginning: Year One At Hogwarts
By: CNJ
PG-13
7: Opportunity Rising From Mortification
Lily:
So, our mission continued onward...all of us training to become witches and wizards and my two friends and I seeing what more we could find out about Hogwarts' founders.
September passed fairly quickly, it seemed, maybe because there was so much to learn and see. By the third week in September, we were having our first flying lessons on brooms.
It felt odd at first floating in the air, then actually leaning forward and moving through air. And I thought the only way humans could fly was by plane, I thought as we practiced hovering under Professor Monet's instructions.
When you start flying, you tell the broom, up and it's supposed to fly into your hand, then you mount it and if you want to float, you kick off from the ground. If you want to move forward, you lean forward and if you want to slow down or stop, you lean back.
I got it all right. But when you're new at flying, it takes a few tries and a few times telling the broom up. Zara and Amelia along with James Potter and Nadine Hooch turned out to be among the fastest fliers in the class; they only had to say up once before the broom flew into their hands.
Mine jumped a few times before coming up and at one point, it fell back and bumped my shoulder. Sirius' broom shot up and flew across the field into a statue by the entrance and he had to run and get it. Heaving a gusty sigh, he told it impatiently, "Uuuup..." It flew behind him, but this time it landed right behind him.
Someone snickered and Sirius snapped, "Just shut up, Snape!" James grinned and Sirius glared at him. Severus and James both snorted with laughter. Sirius gave them a filthy look as he retrieved his broom.
By the following week, all of us knew how to float and fly forward at low speeds. Nadine flew the highest of all of us.
"Heyyy, maybe you'll make Quidditch!" Zara called to her.
"I'd love that," Nadine reluctantly came back down. "But I'm not counting on this year; first and second years rarely make the teams."
"It wouldn't hurt to try out, at least next year," Amelia added. "I'm thinking of trying out."
"Me too..." Zara chimed in. Several others added their imput, including James and Sirius, who said they'd try out too.
I don't think I'll try out since I'm not one of the most athletic people on the face of this planet. However, I have thought of writing for the Hogwarts newspaper, the Owl Express; it looks interesting.
Later, my friends and I headed to our dorms late that afternoon talking about several things and I mentioned maybe writing for the Hogwarts Owl Express. Amelia said she'd like to try that one too when she's older.
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September faded into October and outside, the leaves burst into an amazing multitude of colors. It was really beautiful. Zara's an artist, so on several occasions, I found her by the window or outside after classes and on weekends, sketching the colors of the trees.
The colors were even more vivid here around the mountains outside of London than right in the city since here the air was cleaner. My parents and I owled back and forth on a regular basis.
It's really fall here, I owled to Mum and Dad one Friday evening in mid-October. Oh, if you could just see what a blaze of colors the trees present! And here in the magical world, there are even more colors than the muggle world.
We've learned to fly on brooms, so now we can really see the trees. My friends and I sometimes fly up on weekends and just hover over the woods. The trees make a wonderful contrast to the mountains and sky. There's also a beautiful lake here too at the foot of the mountains. Nights are very cold now and they've turned on the heat. Is it cold back home?
I went on to describe a few more things and to ask how they were. At first, I'd tried to touch base with Petunia out of decency, but she wrote one stinging nasty note back, so that was that, at least for now. It hurts some that she's written me off like this, but I try not to brood on it; I have too much else to learn about and go for than to dwell on Petunia.
I really feel like I'm settling in here; Hogwarts has become a second home to me. I sent the letter off with Lemon and sat back, surveying the cluttered red and yellow dorm.
Almost everyone has at least one Gryffindor sweatshirt. Several of the older students have their own brooms and several Quidditch robes lay about. Almost everyone was out, so I had most of the dorm to myself.
I smiled softly as I saw the bariol by my bed. Mum and Dad had given it to me for my tenth birthday and I love to play it. Mum tells me I have an ear for music and I've even written a few songs, although I've never really shown them to anyone. Maybe someday I will.
Once in a while, Hogwarts puts on musical plays, so maybe if I can work up my nerve, I could try out for one of the musicals. Oh, I better explain what a bariol is to muggles...they've never seen one...it's a round instrument that resembles a violin and almost sounds like a violin, but it's smaller and rounder; the sounds are also much more versatile. I hope it's a somewhat decent explanation; but the sounds are very hard to explain; it's something you have to hear and it's more complex to learn how to play than the muggle violin.
I have played the violin a long time ago and it's also enjoyable to play. I picked up my bariol and began to play softly. Music has always had a soothing effect on me; it takes me into another world, especially when life here is very painful, which it sometimes was back in primary school when other kids sometimes made fun of me for being different or when Petunia was mean to me.
I don't know how long I played, but it was a melody I was composing. It's isn't complete yet, but I'm working on it as I go along.
I've written a few words for it also; it's something about a mum's love saving her child's life in great danger. It's been a thought floating around lately...what if an evil sorcerer ever attacked me and I had a child? I'd pour my love into saving her, of course. There'd be no question about it, even if I died in the process.
A garble of voices rose from the common room and a few words floated into my consciousness. "...at Honeydukes..." "last time we were at Hogsmeade..." they sounded like a couple of older girls.
I'd vaguely heard of Hogsmeade and that third year student and older go there some weekends. I heard them slowly coming up and I looked up to notice that they were damp. I hadn't realized that it was raining out.
"Hello..." they called.
"Hello..." I lowered my bariol and we smiled at each other.
"You're good!" one girl told me; her name is Renee Bowers.
"Thanks..." I placed the bariol in my case and closed it carefully. "Did you have a good time at Hogsmeade?"
"Sure did..." another girl, I didn't remember her name nodded. "It's a wicked place...all this food and sweets..."
"Ohhh, don't torture her," the third girl threw me a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, dear, the next two years will fly by and you'll be able to go into Hogsmeade too." I nodded. Actually, I didn't mind hearing about these Hogsmeade expeditions. In fact, I was curious to know more about this Hogsmeade.
"So...what exactly is Hogsmeade?" I asked.
"It's a small village close by here," Renee explained as they pulled off their outer cloaks and dried each other off with drying spells. "Third years and up can go on some weekends and it's a cluster of little shops and eateries and sweet places. Honeydukes is the ultimate sweetie shop; they have every kind of sweet you can imagine."
"Even chocolate?" Zara's voice came up from behind them and she and Amelia came in.
"Yep..." Renee nodded and the six of us sat. I scooted back to make room for them. The older girls, all third years, told us about various stories they'd heard of previous students who'd gone to Hogsmeade.
It was not only a hang about place, but also a place for various social dynamics. The girls, who introduced themselves as Renee Bowers, Shirley Fenster, and Marion Sweden told us about an incident last year where and Arthur Weasley punched Lucius Malfoy for a nasty prank he'd played by the Shrieking Shack.
"God, I'd love to have seen that," Shirley added. We'd actually seen Lucius around and he was very snooty and had this slick, pale blond hair. Good thing we don't have to share any classes with him, I thought. I'd also found out he's on the Quidditch team and seen him hanging about with Narcissa and her two male cronies lately.
"What year is Arthur in?" Renee asked. "He's a fifth year, right?"
"Yeah..." Her friends confirmed. "I think he and Molly Stuseins are starting to see each other."
"Molly Stusein..." I muttered, trying to picture which one she was.
"Fourth year, tall with red hair," Marion told us. "In fact, her hair almost matches yours, Lily." Now I remembered her. We talked until late. They passed a few sweeties they had to us.
Other students trickled in and we got ready for bed. Once the lights were out, I listened sleepily to the rain rattling at the windows and reached out to pet Lemon, who was back from her trip to my parents.'
"I'm looking forward to our third year," Amelia told me from her bed.
"Me too..." I agreed.
"Just think, we'd be able to tell first years then about the dynamics of the school," Zara added. I grinned in the dark. That would be neat.
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By late October, the weather was definitely cold and my dormmates and I stocked up on hot tea. Saturdays often found us curled up by the fireplace with our tea and warm biscuits. Rain alternated with crisp clear fall days and most of the leaves vanished from the trees.
By then, I'd settled into a routine, my friends and I. Weekdays of course were occupied with classes; late afternoons, we'd drop our things off at the dorm and either chat or owl our parents, then it'd be time for dinner.
Evenings were mostly taken up with homework. There was quite a bit more homework here than in primary school. I got on well with my teachers, especially Professors McGonagall and Pierce.
Professor Norris was a marinet and very controlling, but once I knew where he drew his authoritarian line, I even got on well in his class. I discovered I actually liked working on spells to fend off the dark arts; it was almost like an artistic form. I told this much to my friends one evening as we settled in front of the fireplace with tea and our books.
"It's hardly surprising since you are musically gifted," Amelia told me. "And Zara, you're good in that class too. I think Norris is impressed with you two, but tries not to show it." We laughed softly, then worked on our homework a while.
After about an hour, I felt like eating something, so I headed down to the kitchen after seeing if my friends wanted anything. I got a batch of cookies from a house elf and was on my way up when I heard a soft yowl. Mrs. Norris seemed to leap out of nowhere and she peered up at me, then snarled in a screech.
"It's all right, it's all right..." I said softly to her as I edged on past. Reeeeeeooeer! Mrs. Norris shrieked and seemed to glare at me. Mrs. Norris means Filch is around, so I looked around nervously and sure enough, I heard Filch's crooning and saw a glow of a lamp.
"Is there someone skulking around heeere?" I heard Filch singsong. "I better not catch them..."
"Shit..." I muttered fearfully, ducking behind a suit of armor, my heart hammering. I did not feel like dealing with the crabby caretaker tonight. As he rounded the corner, I silently blessed my small size and curled into a ball, hoping Mrs. Norris didn't sniff me out.
I wonder if she's related to Professor Norris, I thought in a quirk. I had to press a hand over my mouth, so I would snicker and give myself away. I hoped my shaking wouldn't rattle the armor.
Filch and Mrs. Norris seemed to take three years just crossing the corridor and I could see Filch's sharp pale eyes peering around, looking to catch any scurrying away students. Once they went on, I let my breath out.
I sat for a few minutes to make sure they were really gone. I shakily stood and as I headed back to the dorm, I swallowed; whether it was from relief or anxiety, I really don't know, but the sound of that swallow seemed to echo through the vast hall and bounce off the walls. I made it back and passed around the cookies.
"Filch didn't catch you did he?" Zara asked as we munched.
"Alm-most..." I bit into a cookie. My hand shook and I dropped it. "That cat of his is so strange...she seems to actually sense human fear. Hey, I wonder if she might be an animigus."
"She might even be related to Professor Norris!" Amelia laughed. "She certainly has Norris's pale, piercing eyes." We all chuckled at that, then finished up on our homework and cookies before heading to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DADA class hadn't started yet, so I dashed off a quick note to Amelia and Zara, finishing with I really wonder if Mrs. Norris really is Professor Norris' great-aunt or something. I started to levitate the paper over to them. It was written in clear ink, so they'd just drop some ink on it to see it briefly, then it would go blank.
But just then, Professor Norris came in and as luck would have it, his cold eyes zeroed in on my note floating toward Amelia's desk and my wand in the air. Once the teacher came in, then class was officially on, so...
"Ms. Evans, levitate that paper, which I know is a note, over to me," he demanded. Oh, dear...I looked helplessly at Professor Norris. Trapped, I did as he commanded.
I sank into my seat then, blushing a deep red. My friends looked on in sympathy. Somewhere in the back, someone giggled. I think it was Sirius Black.
Professor Norris peered at it a minute, held a pen and dropped ink over it. My heart banged in fear that he'd read the note out loud and embarrass me. But for some odd reason he didn't just yet and I let out my breath.
"Ten points off Gryffindor for note-passing," he told me crisply, then began the class. The lesson was detecting sinister spells in parchments and warding them off.
"Now, let's see how many of you can guess which is the innocent harmless letter and which is the potentially dangerous one. Everyone hold your quills over the papers I will pass out. You will each get two. Drop the ink over each one. Once you see the spell forming use your wands to turn off the spell. I will then come around to make sure you all did the right one."
He passed around the papers and the next few minutes was silent as our messages materialized. I knew the one with the silvery moving ink on it was the deadly one, so I zapped it with my wand before it could leap up and shock me. Most of us had luck, but a few didn't.
"Owwww...." someone in the back yelped as she was burned some by a green paper darkening. I heard someone snicker again and some people turned to look over at me.
"Hey, good question, Lils," Solin Wade called over to me.
"Wh-what question?" I faltered, getting a weird feeling about this.
"About Filch's cat being a long-lost great aunt of Norris's," she started to laugh. "Hey, did you see the good message?" Some of the other kids were laughing and I could feel myself turn bright red again.
I got it now. Norris hadn't actually read my note out loud, but he'd duplicated it and distributed it to several of my classmates.
The half of the class who'd been treated to my note was laughing like mad by now and I sank lower in my seat, wanting to just vanish. Come on, just let this class be over with. I couldn't look at Professor Norris or most of the class.
I did catch my friends' glances and they kind of smiled shakily as if they were kind of sorry. Oh, swell, now I have them feeling sorry for me when I'm so embarrassed.
"Hey, Evans, going to trace some family history?" John Parkinson jeered. He, Narcissa, and Robert were howling with laughter.
"No, she's going to lose herself in her baaariiiiol this afternoon with her latest little song she's writing..." Narcissa singsonged. "How sweet, she's an artsy fiddle head." They laughed even harder and I peered at the floor.
"Just shut up..." I heard Zara bark. I saw Amelia give them a dirty look. After what seemed like ten hours, the class ended and my friends and I scrambled out of there as if an evil curse were chasing us.
"Oh, God, how the hell am I going to sit through another class?' I fought back tears.
"Hey, come, it'll blow over in a few days," Zara put an arm around me as we headed to Arithmacy.
"I think that horrid threesome jealous because you're talented," Amelia told me, stroking my back. That made me feel a bit better and I was able to look up and walk on to Arithmacy.
We had an exam in Arithmacy, so there at least I was free of jeers and laughter. But in later classes and even in the corridors, I even saw some of the older students look over at me and snicker.
"Oh, dear, if Norris passed on my note to the entire school..." I muttered fearfully that early evening as we walked into dinner. Thank Merlin I didn't have anything really personal in that note or I'd have fainted right there in class.
"Heyy, look at that funny pumpkin face," Zara laughed, pointing up at all the carved-out pumpkins floating from the ceiling. Right, I'd forgotten tonight was Halloween.
Some of the pumpkin faces were very funny and made us students laugh while others were merely grinning and some were scary. Some of the mouths even moved. One had a mouth that opened hugely and leaped toward the tables.
Pumpkin pie was for dessert after dinner. I was feeling calmer as we headed upstairs after dinner to work on our homework.
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Then it was November. By the end of the week, the trees were almost bare and now a wintry grayness settled over the Hogwarts grounds. Nights hovered below freezing.
Quidditch season was about to start and all about, older students who were on the Quidditch teams geared up for their first game. This Saturday would be the first game, Slytherin versus Ravenclaw.
"So, are you going to go?" Zara asked us as we headed to the dorms after classes that first Thursday in November. We nodded. I'm not too much into sports, but I thought it would be interesting to watch a magical sport and see how it was different from muggle sports like football or skiing.
"...am going to kick those Ravenclaw losers' arses big time!" we heard a loud voice boast and Lucius Malfoy came hurtling past us with three cronies. One of them crashed into us and I had to struggle to keep from falling. The cronies turned out to be none other than Narcissa, John, and Robert.
"Well, don't excuse yourselves or anything..." Amelia said under her breath as we stepped away from them.
"Well, some people don't have manners around here," Lucius turned around and sneered at us. "You'd think they'd excuse themselves after bumping into us so ruuudely..."
"I think you're the ones that barreled into us," Zara stated.
"Zara...let's not start anything..." I whispered.
"No, you don't want to start anything, Evans?" Robert snickered. "Looks like you started a good laugh around Hogwarts with that little note you published in Defense class last week." I felt my face flush again as their laughter rose up and surrounded us.
"Yesss, I saw it too," Lucius stepped in front of us and towered over us. I guessed him to be about six feet and he had the coldest gray eyes I'd ever seen, colder than Professor Norris' eyes.
"You know, he's passed your masterpiece on to everyone. Your eloquent written little note...maybe it'll be framed and put in the Hall of Fame..." they broke up laughing again as the three of us tried to sidestep them.
"And maybe Lily's writing will!" someone else called. Oh, great, more kids joining the fun. An older girl was headed our way. "Get lost, Malfoy and take your little band with you!"
The girl had her wand out. I guessed her to be a fifth or sixth year. "Go on..." she spoke in a no-nonsense tone that reminded me of Professor McGonagall. Thank Merlin, the four Slytherins parted.
"Thanks..." we all smiled at her and she smiled back. She introduced herself as Arlene McMinish.
"And Lily, your writing is impressive, I saw the note."
"Yes..." I flushed again, wondering if I'd ever hear the end of this. "Professor Norris embarrassed me nearly into a faint when he mass produced it for the class to read."
"I'm so impressed with your grasp of grammar and command of language that I wonder if you might be interested in taking on the part of a first-year reporter for the Owl Express." Arlene grinned. "We could use writing skills like yours at our paper."
"Oh..." I didn't know what to say a minute.
"Go on...it's a jewel..." Amelia grinned. Zara nodded encouragingly.
"You could give those jackasses a comeback that it got you an honored spot," Zara put in.
"And...like most extracurriculars, it's also unusual for first, second, or third years to be invited to join the Owl Express," Arlene told me.
"Yes, sure..." I nodded.
"First meeting is the following Monday at four in the North underwing behind the owlery," Arlene told me. "I look forward to meeting you there." She grinned and walked on.
"Wow..." was all I could think of to say.
"Hey, this is great!" my friends chimed in. "Way to go, Lily!" "Congrats!" My friends and I hugged right there in the hall, then continued on down the corridor to our dorms. Wait until I owled my parents tonight to tell them about this!
My imagination took flight
on things I could possibly write about. Hey, maybe this would also
be a chance to find out more things about what transpired with Hogwarts'
founders! Who'd have thought such a mortifying incident would turn
into a swell opportunity?
Next chapter will be a very interesting Quidditch match.