The owl blinked at Lily as if it were expecting her to do something. "Ah
Lily!" Bella cried, "You 'ave been accepted!"
"What the... Bella you are acting as if you are mentally ill! An owl has positioned itself in front of me- wait a ferocious looking owl, and it's supposed to be accepting me?" Lily stared at Bella as if she had cracked.
"Ah! Little one! Open de letter and it will explain!" The French cook told her.
Lily just gaped at the owl, "what letter?" Bella pointed to a small, paper envelope tethered to the animals' foot. Slowly and hesitantly Lily reached forward and quickly stole the owls' load.
Sketched across the front of the envelope was a bold "H" around it, four different animals posed importantly, looking both superior and highly wary. Below it was written:
Miss Lily C. Evans,
Maids' quarters,
23 Wilston Ct.
Oxford,
London.
What on earth could this be? Lily wondered. She never got post. She had no friends, (Petunia had taken care of that) and she didn't belong to any clubs or groups that sent nasty junk mail. Shrugging her shoulders, Lily slid her petite fingers under the flap of the envelope and opened it. Two pieces of paper fluttered out of the now empty cover, and fell onto the kitchen table.
Bella let out a shriek of excitement. "Lilee yoo 'ave been invited to attend 'ogwarts."
Ignoring Bella's statement of which she had no idea meant, the ten-year-old girl read the information gathered on the pieces of paper.
To Miss L. Evans,
You are invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We expect students to achieve to the best of their ability, and to represent their school with utmost self-esteem. No juvenile pranks or behaviour will be tolerated. You shall be expected to arrive via Hogwarts Express, on the 1st of September. At exactly 11 o'clock the train leaves, punctuality is a factor that Hogwarts will wish you to employ.
The list containing information on what equipment that is necessary for first years can be found on the attached folio.
Have an enjoyable holiday, Yours sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall.
With all her heart Lily wished this was true, but a school of magic? What on earth? She reread the passage through three more times, as if to will it to make sense. As politely as she could the young girl stared up at her friend, "What the-"
"Ah! Lilee yoo don't know! Sorry my pet! Yoo 'ave been accepted! It means yoo are going to school at 'ogwarts, de finest magic school in de 'ole world! Ah, yes Lilee! Magic does exist!" Bella beamed down at Lily in an encouraging fashion.
"Bella," Lily announced calmly but firmly, "I do not believe in magic, it has never saved me and it is just some childish fairy-tale." Lily remembered that ever since she was little she had wished that some magical fairy or character from her sisters bed-time stories would come and kidnap her and take her to a magical world, where she would be free of pain and despair. Somewhere were her sister could not follow, nor her parents for that matter.
"Lily my flower, would I ever lie to yoo?" Bella proclaimed gently, the little girl shook her head. "No, I wouldn't"
"But there's no eviden-"
Bella sighed a smile played on her lips and pulled an object out of her pocket that resembled a stick. She pointed it at a chair and shouted; "Wingardium leviosar!" the chair hovered four feet above the ground, and following Bella's wand it thumped loudly back onto the floor. All Lily did was gape; she reread the letter once more and then stared back up at her older friend.
"W-well I'll take it into c-consideration shall I?" stuttered the young girl.
"Ah, Lilee do not throw dis chance away, yoo will learn lotz and become a good witch, it iz dee best thing zat could 'appen to anyone! It would make yoo and me 'appy, I promise!" Lily nodded, "Excellent! I shall send dem an owl!"
Again Lily nodded weakly, Bella bustled around the kitchen writing on a piece of old paper which she recognised as a piece of parchment, and writing with a quill. Catching Lily's bemused stares, Bella laughed. "Ah Lilee, instead of paper and pens we oose parchment and quills! Yoo 'ave much to learn, but don't fear I will teach yoo!"
"'Ere read dis and see if der iz anything yoo want to add."
Lily read the letter Bella had written to Hogwarts.
To whomever this may concern, (It read)
Lily Evans accepts the invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I Bella Jones will be her chaperone for collecting her school equipment from Diagon Alley, as she is unfamiliar with the wizarding world.
Yours truly, B. Jones "Thanks Bella."
"Pleasure, Lilee. We will go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, where we will get all your books. But know we must 'ave something to eat, yes? 'Ere I'll make it Lilee yoo 'ave a rest."
Lily was worried how was she going to pay for her schoolbooks and equipment? Lily never got pocket money like Petunia, and her parents would probably explode if she asked for it.
"'Ere Lilee yoo should eat something," Bella said placing a salad sandwich in front of her.
"Cheers Bella. Ah... yes Bella can you tell me some stuff about the wizarding world?"
"What kind of things?" Bella inquired.
"Anything," Lily answered her vivid green eyes shining excitedly.
"Well, hmm how about I ztart wid Quidditch? Yes? Well it's a kind of wizard sport..." With that the two friends lapsed into the concept of the game "Quidditch."
"So," Lily recounted uncertainly half an hour later, "this game is played on broomsticks, right? There are four balls; a snitch, a snuffle... no I mean a quafflle and two bludges. There are two apposing teams on the field at one time and each has seven players. There is a seeker, a keeper, three chasers and two beaters; all of them have a specific job to do in the game. There are six goal posts with hops on the end, which are fifty feat of the ground, and there are three of them at each end. The aim of the chasers is to get the quaffle through one of the hoops and if they do their team is awarded ten points. But then we have the keeper; his job is to stop the quaffle getting through the hoops. Also there are beaters who hit the bludgers and knock people off their brooms. Finally there is a seeker who catches the smallest ball called the snitch and if it is caught and the game is over and whichever seeker caught the snitch awards their team one hundred a fifty points."
Bella applauded, "Lilee, yoo 'ave an excellent memory, yoo are probably going to be very good at your lessons."
"D'you think I will be able to try out for Quidditch, Bella?" asked Lily.
"Well, my flower yoo are only able to do zat in grade two, but yoo 'ave flying lessons dis year."
"Excellent, well Bella tell me some more stuff about the magic world!"
They talked for hours about almost everything Bella knew; wizard money, spells, Hogwarts, classes, flying, wands, the Ministry of Magic, St. Mungos hospital, occupations, food, unicorns, fairies, dragons, Gringotts and goblins.
After a small dinner Bella announced it was time for Lily to go to bed as they had a big day ahead of them. The small girl was excited about going to Diagon Alley. That night Lily fell asleep peacefully, which she had not done for along time.
()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*( )*()*()*()*()
When she woke up the next day she kept her eyes tightly shut, hoping that everything that had happened the day before wasn't a dream, she curled her legs tightly under her trying to go back to sleep. After an hour without any success she gave up, got dressed and went downstairs to find Bella. When she reached the maid quarters her friend had already started her daily routine and fining her would be strenuous indeed as the Evans' house hold was the size of two mansions put together. (Her family was very rich.)
She was just about to make breakfast when the front door opened and her father strode in livid with rage, Petunia and Amanda following in his wake with amused smirks on their faces. When he caught sight of her he hollered and thumped towards her, and lifted her off her feet by the collar of her old shirt. "LILY EVANS! HOW DARE YOU ABUSE YOUR FAMILY! WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO! KILL US! I AM DISGUSTED WITH YOU! YOU SELFISH-"
He looked as if he were ready to kill Lily at that moment and he probably would have if Bella hadn't stepped in. "SIMON EVANS RELEASE DE GIRL AT ONCE, OR I'LL 'AVE TO MAKE YOO!" Mr. Evans only shook Lily more violently, Bella growled aggressively and flicked out her wand and pointed it dangerously at him, "IMPEDIMENTA!" She roared. Simon staggered backwards and fell gasping for breath on the floor; Lily flew out of his clutches and caught by Bella just before she slammed into the glass cabinet containing pictures of Petunia.
"WHAT THE-?" chorused Petunia, Simon and Amanda Evans.
"I do not expect yoo to believe dis but Lilee iz a witch," explained Bella calmly, "if you three," she indicated to all the Evans' but Lily, "would follow me to de kitchen, I will explain to yoo what iz going on."
Everyone excluding Lily filed into the kitchen, leaving her to pace the hallway.
#Twenty Minutes Later#
Lily turned abruptly on her heal as she heard the kitchen door open, "You freak!" she heard Petunia squeal fearfully. Standing next to her apprehensive sister was her father turning an unusual shade of purple, he grunted at her as if to contain his anger. And Amanda stood there, her hands clasped at her chest and looking as if she had swallowed a particular sour lemon. On the other hand Bella looked quite pleased with herself and grinned encouragingly at Lily.
"Miss. Jones. You have interfered in our private affairs, and have manhandled your boss. Consider yourself dismissed." Barked Mr. Evans.
"I am afraid, Simon Evans, yoo can not do zat." Bella said evenly. "What do you mean by that, lady, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT IT'S MY HOUSE! AND IF I WANT YOU GONE, YOU GO!" Simon said blinking stupidly.
"I am afraid to admit I deprived yoo of de pleasure, you see I retired dis morning. I 'ave de papers 'ere if yoo would like to view dem!" Bella announced calmly, "but now I muzt take Lilee 'ere shopping for 'er school supplies. And whilst Lilee is staying wid yoo in dee holidays do not 'urt 'er. I'll be watching. Come on Lilee, to Diagon Alley we go!"
"What the... Bella you are acting as if you are mentally ill! An owl has positioned itself in front of me- wait a ferocious looking owl, and it's supposed to be accepting me?" Lily stared at Bella as if she had cracked.
"Ah! Little one! Open de letter and it will explain!" The French cook told her.
Lily just gaped at the owl, "what letter?" Bella pointed to a small, paper envelope tethered to the animals' foot. Slowly and hesitantly Lily reached forward and quickly stole the owls' load.
Sketched across the front of the envelope was a bold "H" around it, four different animals posed importantly, looking both superior and highly wary. Below it was written:
Miss Lily C. Evans,
Maids' quarters,
23 Wilston Ct.
Oxford,
London.
What on earth could this be? Lily wondered. She never got post. She had no friends, (Petunia had taken care of that) and she didn't belong to any clubs or groups that sent nasty junk mail. Shrugging her shoulders, Lily slid her petite fingers under the flap of the envelope and opened it. Two pieces of paper fluttered out of the now empty cover, and fell onto the kitchen table.
Bella let out a shriek of excitement. "Lilee yoo 'ave been invited to attend 'ogwarts."
Ignoring Bella's statement of which she had no idea meant, the ten-year-old girl read the information gathered on the pieces of paper.
To Miss L. Evans,
You are invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We expect students to achieve to the best of their ability, and to represent their school with utmost self-esteem. No juvenile pranks or behaviour will be tolerated. You shall be expected to arrive via Hogwarts Express, on the 1st of September. At exactly 11 o'clock the train leaves, punctuality is a factor that Hogwarts will wish you to employ.
The list containing information on what equipment that is necessary for first years can be found on the attached folio.
Have an enjoyable holiday, Yours sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall.
With all her heart Lily wished this was true, but a school of magic? What on earth? She reread the passage through three more times, as if to will it to make sense. As politely as she could the young girl stared up at her friend, "What the-"
"Ah! Lilee yoo don't know! Sorry my pet! Yoo 'ave been accepted! It means yoo are going to school at 'ogwarts, de finest magic school in de 'ole world! Ah, yes Lilee! Magic does exist!" Bella beamed down at Lily in an encouraging fashion.
"Bella," Lily announced calmly but firmly, "I do not believe in magic, it has never saved me and it is just some childish fairy-tale." Lily remembered that ever since she was little she had wished that some magical fairy or character from her sisters bed-time stories would come and kidnap her and take her to a magical world, where she would be free of pain and despair. Somewhere were her sister could not follow, nor her parents for that matter.
"Lily my flower, would I ever lie to yoo?" Bella proclaimed gently, the little girl shook her head. "No, I wouldn't"
"But there's no eviden-"
Bella sighed a smile played on her lips and pulled an object out of her pocket that resembled a stick. She pointed it at a chair and shouted; "Wingardium leviosar!" the chair hovered four feet above the ground, and following Bella's wand it thumped loudly back onto the floor. All Lily did was gape; she reread the letter once more and then stared back up at her older friend.
"W-well I'll take it into c-consideration shall I?" stuttered the young girl.
"Ah, Lilee do not throw dis chance away, yoo will learn lotz and become a good witch, it iz dee best thing zat could 'appen to anyone! It would make yoo and me 'appy, I promise!" Lily nodded, "Excellent! I shall send dem an owl!"
Again Lily nodded weakly, Bella bustled around the kitchen writing on a piece of old paper which she recognised as a piece of parchment, and writing with a quill. Catching Lily's bemused stares, Bella laughed. "Ah Lilee, instead of paper and pens we oose parchment and quills! Yoo 'ave much to learn, but don't fear I will teach yoo!"
"'Ere read dis and see if der iz anything yoo want to add."
Lily read the letter Bella had written to Hogwarts.
To whomever this may concern, (It read)
Lily Evans accepts the invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I Bella Jones will be her chaperone for collecting her school equipment from Diagon Alley, as she is unfamiliar with the wizarding world.
Yours truly, B. Jones "Thanks Bella."
"Pleasure, Lilee. We will go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, where we will get all your books. But know we must 'ave something to eat, yes? 'Ere I'll make it Lilee yoo 'ave a rest."
Lily was worried how was she going to pay for her schoolbooks and equipment? Lily never got pocket money like Petunia, and her parents would probably explode if she asked for it.
"'Ere Lilee yoo should eat something," Bella said placing a salad sandwich in front of her.
"Cheers Bella. Ah... yes Bella can you tell me some stuff about the wizarding world?"
"What kind of things?" Bella inquired.
"Anything," Lily answered her vivid green eyes shining excitedly.
"Well, hmm how about I ztart wid Quidditch? Yes? Well it's a kind of wizard sport..." With that the two friends lapsed into the concept of the game "Quidditch."
"So," Lily recounted uncertainly half an hour later, "this game is played on broomsticks, right? There are four balls; a snitch, a snuffle... no I mean a quafflle and two bludges. There are two apposing teams on the field at one time and each has seven players. There is a seeker, a keeper, three chasers and two beaters; all of them have a specific job to do in the game. There are six goal posts with hops on the end, which are fifty feat of the ground, and there are three of them at each end. The aim of the chasers is to get the quaffle through one of the hoops and if they do their team is awarded ten points. But then we have the keeper; his job is to stop the quaffle getting through the hoops. Also there are beaters who hit the bludgers and knock people off their brooms. Finally there is a seeker who catches the smallest ball called the snitch and if it is caught and the game is over and whichever seeker caught the snitch awards their team one hundred a fifty points."
Bella applauded, "Lilee, yoo 'ave an excellent memory, yoo are probably going to be very good at your lessons."
"D'you think I will be able to try out for Quidditch, Bella?" asked Lily.
"Well, my flower yoo are only able to do zat in grade two, but yoo 'ave flying lessons dis year."
"Excellent, well Bella tell me some more stuff about the magic world!"
They talked for hours about almost everything Bella knew; wizard money, spells, Hogwarts, classes, flying, wands, the Ministry of Magic, St. Mungos hospital, occupations, food, unicorns, fairies, dragons, Gringotts and goblins.
After a small dinner Bella announced it was time for Lily to go to bed as they had a big day ahead of them. The small girl was excited about going to Diagon Alley. That night Lily fell asleep peacefully, which she had not done for along time.
()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*( )*()*()*()*()
When she woke up the next day she kept her eyes tightly shut, hoping that everything that had happened the day before wasn't a dream, she curled her legs tightly under her trying to go back to sleep. After an hour without any success she gave up, got dressed and went downstairs to find Bella. When she reached the maid quarters her friend had already started her daily routine and fining her would be strenuous indeed as the Evans' house hold was the size of two mansions put together. (Her family was very rich.)
She was just about to make breakfast when the front door opened and her father strode in livid with rage, Petunia and Amanda following in his wake with amused smirks on their faces. When he caught sight of her he hollered and thumped towards her, and lifted her off her feet by the collar of her old shirt. "LILY EVANS! HOW DARE YOU ABUSE YOUR FAMILY! WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO! KILL US! I AM DISGUSTED WITH YOU! YOU SELFISH-"
He looked as if he were ready to kill Lily at that moment and he probably would have if Bella hadn't stepped in. "SIMON EVANS RELEASE DE GIRL AT ONCE, OR I'LL 'AVE TO MAKE YOO!" Mr. Evans only shook Lily more violently, Bella growled aggressively and flicked out her wand and pointed it dangerously at him, "IMPEDIMENTA!" She roared. Simon staggered backwards and fell gasping for breath on the floor; Lily flew out of his clutches and caught by Bella just before she slammed into the glass cabinet containing pictures of Petunia.
"WHAT THE-?" chorused Petunia, Simon and Amanda Evans.
"I do not expect yoo to believe dis but Lilee iz a witch," explained Bella calmly, "if you three," she indicated to all the Evans' but Lily, "would follow me to de kitchen, I will explain to yoo what iz going on."
Everyone excluding Lily filed into the kitchen, leaving her to pace the hallway.
#Twenty Minutes Later#
Lily turned abruptly on her heal as she heard the kitchen door open, "You freak!" she heard Petunia squeal fearfully. Standing next to her apprehensive sister was her father turning an unusual shade of purple, he grunted at her as if to contain his anger. And Amanda stood there, her hands clasped at her chest and looking as if she had swallowed a particular sour lemon. On the other hand Bella looked quite pleased with herself and grinned encouragingly at Lily.
"Miss. Jones. You have interfered in our private affairs, and have manhandled your boss. Consider yourself dismissed." Barked Mr. Evans.
"I am afraid, Simon Evans, yoo can not do zat." Bella said evenly. "What do you mean by that, lady, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT IT'S MY HOUSE! AND IF I WANT YOU GONE, YOU GO!" Simon said blinking stupidly.
"I am afraid to admit I deprived yoo of de pleasure, you see I retired dis morning. I 'ave de papers 'ere if yoo would like to view dem!" Bella announced calmly, "but now I muzt take Lilee 'ere shopping for 'er school supplies. And whilst Lilee is staying wid yoo in dee holidays do not 'urt 'er. I'll be watching. Come on Lilee, to Diagon Alley we go!"
