Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the other 'real' characters don't belong to be
but all the ones that I made up especially for this story do. The plot is
also my idea too so don't steal it!
Thanks for all the reviews you guys!!! They definitely made my day when I saw them all so this chapter's especially for you guys! And I apologize for the wait but I was on vacation and couldn't do much!
Chapter 2: Mrs. Johnston's Visit
Lily just couldn't sit still. Mrs. Johnston would be arriving at any minute to tell her all about her magic and her new school. Petunia had retreated to her room to avoid the 'freakishness' of the event. She thought the whole idea of magic was 'dangerous', 'madness' and 'unnatural'. Lily thought it was wonderful.
At precisely 1:30pm, a car pulled into the driveway and a few seconds later, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Lily shouted as she raced to the door. She flung it open to see a short, middle-aged woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hi!" Lily said with a grin, "You must be Mrs. Johnston. I'm Lily Evans. Won't you please come in?"
The woman smiled at her, "It's nice to meet you Lily," she said as she stepped inside. She looked around, "What a lovely house," she commented.
Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Evans entered the hallway.
"Hello," said Mrs. Evans, "I'm Martha and this is my husband, John. Thank you so much for coming over to talk with us."
The grown-ups shook hands.
"Oh it's my pleasure," said Mrs. Johnston, "It must have been quite a shock to receive that letter!"
The Evans nodded as the group went into the living room and sat down.
"It was rather unnerving," said Mr. Evans, "We thought it was just some silly prank."
"I can imagine," said Mrs. Johnston, "That's what I thought when I received my letter all those years ago. You see, I'm muggle born so I'd never heard of Hogwarts either."
"Muggle born?" said Mrs. Evans.
"Oh, we call non-magical folk muggles," said Mrs. Johnston, "There's pure-blood magic folk, then there's the muggle born magic folk and then muggles and squibs who don't poses any magical abilities."
"What's a squib?" asked Lily.
"A squib is a person born into a magical family but doesn't poses any magical powers so they're virtually muggles," said Mrs. Johnston, "There aren't very many though. Well, enough talk for the moment. I suppose you would like to see some magic so you're positive this isn't a hoax." She withdrew a thin piece of wood from her purse. "This," she said, "is a wand. Just as no two people are the same, no two wands are the same. Mine is 9 ΒΌ inches long, made of juniper and containing a single unicorn hair. Now, is there anything in particular you would like me to do?"
"Oh!" Lily said excitedly, "Can you turn me into a cat?"
Mrs. Johnston looked at Mr. and Mrs. Evans, "If it's alright with your parents," she said.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans shrugged.
"You can change her back, right?" Mrs. Evans said looking slightly nervous.
Mrs. Johnston nodded, "Of course," she said, "Now then, Lily. I want you to stay still and on the count of three I'll turn you into a cat. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . Felinities!" She flicked her wand and a marmalade coloured cat replaced Lily.
Mrs. Evans gasped in surprise and her husband stared in shock at the cat which had been his daughter only moments before.
"And back again!" said Mrs. Johnston, "Restoro!" Instantly, Lily reappeared.
"Cool!" she said.
"Oh my," said Mrs. Evans.
"That was certainly something," said Mr. Evans.
"Can you turn my sister into a frog?" Lily asked excitedly.
"Lily!" scolded Mrs. Evans.
Mrs. Johnston smiled, "Strictly speaking, one is not supposed to perform magic on a muggle," she said.
"Oh," Lily said looking disappointed.
"There are very strict laws about how to use your magical powers," said Mrs. Johnston, "Underage wizards and witches are prohibited from performing any sort of magic outside of school. Absolutely no one is allowed to perform magic on or in front of muggles except under special circumstances. This just helps to keep muggles from finding out about us," said Mrs. Johnston.
"Why don't you want muggles to know about you?" inquired Mr. Evans.
"Most muggles would want us to use our magic to solve all their problems," explained Mrs. Johnston, "We prefer to just be left alone."
"So most muggles don't know about magic?" asked Mrs. Evans.
Mrs. Johnston nodded, "Yes," she said, "Some do for one reason or another but most have no idea."
"What do they teach at this . . . school?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"Oh, the basics of magic," replied Mrs. Johnston, "The theory behind it and the practical aspect as well. First years take Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, Herbology, History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Nothing too difficult."
"Why do they teach a defence course?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"Well, there's always one witch or wizard every couple centuries who gets involved in what we call the Dark Arts," said Mrs. Johnston, "The kids learn how to protect themselves against that sort of thing on the off chance something happens to them. But you don't need to worry, most kids never have to use that course in real life."
"How do you know I'm a witch though?" asked Lily.
Mrs. Johnston smiled at her, "Oh, there's ways of knowing," she said, "Has anything ever happened to you that just couldn't be explained because it was so unusual?"
Lily thought a minute, for indeed there had been several unusual things that had happened to her over the years. When she hadn't studied for a test one time, school had been cancelled because of a blizzard. That didn't seem to odd but the lizard had been in the middle of April. Another time, she had gottan into a huge fight with Petunia and, as they fought, a large pimple had started to grow in the middle of Petunia's forehead. There were other things too.
Lily looked up at Mrs. Johnston and smiled, "Yes," she said, "There's been some unusual and unexplainable things."
Mrs. Johnston beamed at her, "Then you are most definitely a witch," she said.
"Where are we supposed to but Lily's things though?" asked Mrs. Evans, "I've never heard of a store that sells wands or anything like that."
"You need to go to Diagon Alley," said Mrs. Johnston, "It's in London. You'd have to exchange some of your money for wizard gold at our bank, Gringotts, before you could buy anything though. You could come with us next Saturday. We have to go to get our youngest her new things because she'll be starting at Hogwarts as well."
"What's her name?" Lily asked.
"Megan," said Mrs. Johnston, "She's very excited about starting school too but I think she'll miss her muggle friends and playing football (Author's Note: Since they're British they call soccer football and even though I'm Canadian I want this to be realistic.), volleyball and track and field. She's a big athlete so she's very excited about the possibility of trying out for her house's Quidditch team."
"Quidditch?" Mr. Evans said.
"It's our sport," said Mrs. Johnston, "It's played on broomsticks, with four different balls and seven players per team. It's a tad bit confusing at first but it's quite fun."
"Wow!" said Lily.
"What do you mean by house team?" asked Mr. Evans.
"At Hogwarts there's four different houses that students are divided up into," said Mrs. Johnston, "Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor. So far our whole family's been in Gryffindor."
"So basically the houses are like dorms?" said Mrs. Evans.
"Exactly," said Mrs. Johnston, "But students are not assigned to the houses. They are judged at the sorting and split into the houses that suit each individual best. It all depends on your personality. Gryffindors are usually brave; Ravenclaws are usually highly intelligent; Slytherins are usually very cunning; and the rest go to Hufflepuff. Each house is named after one of the original founders of Hogwarts and the students of each house are chosen based on what that founder valued the most."
"When was the school founded?" asked Mr. Evans.
"Oh, a very long time ago," said Mrs. Johnston, "No one really knows the exact date but it was hundreds of years ago."
"So it's not the original building then?" said Mr. Evans.
"Oh, it is," said Mrs. Johnston.
"Is that safe?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"Very safe," Mrs. Johnston assured her, "You'd be amazed at how clean you can get things when you use magic."
Mrs. Evans looked slightly relieved. "Where is it then?" she asked.
"It's hidden away from prying eyes," said Mrs. Johnston, "If a muggle looks at it all they'll see is the illusion of an old abandoned house. There's all sorts of other muggle repelling charms on it too, so it's very well hidden and very hard to find."
"It certainly sounds interesting," said Mr. Evans.
Mrs. Johnston looked at her watch, "Oh my!" she exclaimed as she stood up, "I'd better get going. I'm supposed to be meeting up with some people later. Sorry I have to run, you probably have so many more questions. Tell you what, we'll pick you up to go to London Saturday at 10 o'clock in the morning."
"Sounds like a plan then," Mr. Evans said as the all stood up and walked Mrs. Johnston to the door.
"If you have any questions feel free to call us," said Mrs. Johnston, "Could I possibly have your number though? Just in case we need to change something?"
Mrs. Evans scribbled their phone number on a piece of paper from the table in the hallway and handed it to Mrs. Johnston.
"Here you go," Mrs. Evans said.
"Thank you and I will see you Saturday, if not sooner," said Mrs. Johnston as she left.
The Evans family called goodbye and then closed the door.
"Well that was certainly interesting," said Mr. Evans as he looked at his wife.
* * * * * * * * * * *
That's the end of the chapter! I know it's not quite as good as the first one but chapter 3 should be up either later today or tomorrow. So please read and review!!!
FYI: Yes, the Megan mentioned is supposed to be me. I just used a fake last name so that no one can stalk me. I chose Johnston because if you look in the phone book it's a pretty common name. Also, so you know, I'm trying really hard to think of a good song for the sorting but it's really hard! (Especially when you lack the ability to rhyme.) I'll try though. Worse comes to worse I steal one from the books and alter a few words so that technically its not the same.
~*~MeGaN~*~
Thanks for all the reviews you guys!!! They definitely made my day when I saw them all so this chapter's especially for you guys! And I apologize for the wait but I was on vacation and couldn't do much!
Chapter 2: Mrs. Johnston's Visit
Lily just couldn't sit still. Mrs. Johnston would be arriving at any minute to tell her all about her magic and her new school. Petunia had retreated to her room to avoid the 'freakishness' of the event. She thought the whole idea of magic was 'dangerous', 'madness' and 'unnatural'. Lily thought it was wonderful.
At precisely 1:30pm, a car pulled into the driveway and a few seconds later, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Lily shouted as she raced to the door. She flung it open to see a short, middle-aged woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hi!" Lily said with a grin, "You must be Mrs. Johnston. I'm Lily Evans. Won't you please come in?"
The woman smiled at her, "It's nice to meet you Lily," she said as she stepped inside. She looked around, "What a lovely house," she commented.
Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Evans entered the hallway.
"Hello," said Mrs. Evans, "I'm Martha and this is my husband, John. Thank you so much for coming over to talk with us."
The grown-ups shook hands.
"Oh it's my pleasure," said Mrs. Johnston, "It must have been quite a shock to receive that letter!"
The Evans nodded as the group went into the living room and sat down.
"It was rather unnerving," said Mr. Evans, "We thought it was just some silly prank."
"I can imagine," said Mrs. Johnston, "That's what I thought when I received my letter all those years ago. You see, I'm muggle born so I'd never heard of Hogwarts either."
"Muggle born?" said Mrs. Evans.
"Oh, we call non-magical folk muggles," said Mrs. Johnston, "There's pure-blood magic folk, then there's the muggle born magic folk and then muggles and squibs who don't poses any magical abilities."
"What's a squib?" asked Lily.
"A squib is a person born into a magical family but doesn't poses any magical powers so they're virtually muggles," said Mrs. Johnston, "There aren't very many though. Well, enough talk for the moment. I suppose you would like to see some magic so you're positive this isn't a hoax." She withdrew a thin piece of wood from her purse. "This," she said, "is a wand. Just as no two people are the same, no two wands are the same. Mine is 9 ΒΌ inches long, made of juniper and containing a single unicorn hair. Now, is there anything in particular you would like me to do?"
"Oh!" Lily said excitedly, "Can you turn me into a cat?"
Mrs. Johnston looked at Mr. and Mrs. Evans, "If it's alright with your parents," she said.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans shrugged.
"You can change her back, right?" Mrs. Evans said looking slightly nervous.
Mrs. Johnston nodded, "Of course," she said, "Now then, Lily. I want you to stay still and on the count of three I'll turn you into a cat. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . Felinities!" She flicked her wand and a marmalade coloured cat replaced Lily.
Mrs. Evans gasped in surprise and her husband stared in shock at the cat which had been his daughter only moments before.
"And back again!" said Mrs. Johnston, "Restoro!" Instantly, Lily reappeared.
"Cool!" she said.
"Oh my," said Mrs. Evans.
"That was certainly something," said Mr. Evans.
"Can you turn my sister into a frog?" Lily asked excitedly.
"Lily!" scolded Mrs. Evans.
Mrs. Johnston smiled, "Strictly speaking, one is not supposed to perform magic on a muggle," she said.
"Oh," Lily said looking disappointed.
"There are very strict laws about how to use your magical powers," said Mrs. Johnston, "Underage wizards and witches are prohibited from performing any sort of magic outside of school. Absolutely no one is allowed to perform magic on or in front of muggles except under special circumstances. This just helps to keep muggles from finding out about us," said Mrs. Johnston.
"Why don't you want muggles to know about you?" inquired Mr. Evans.
"Most muggles would want us to use our magic to solve all their problems," explained Mrs. Johnston, "We prefer to just be left alone."
"So most muggles don't know about magic?" asked Mrs. Evans.
Mrs. Johnston nodded, "Yes," she said, "Some do for one reason or another but most have no idea."
"What do they teach at this . . . school?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"Oh, the basics of magic," replied Mrs. Johnston, "The theory behind it and the practical aspect as well. First years take Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, Herbology, History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Nothing too difficult."
"Why do they teach a defence course?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"Well, there's always one witch or wizard every couple centuries who gets involved in what we call the Dark Arts," said Mrs. Johnston, "The kids learn how to protect themselves against that sort of thing on the off chance something happens to them. But you don't need to worry, most kids never have to use that course in real life."
"How do you know I'm a witch though?" asked Lily.
Mrs. Johnston smiled at her, "Oh, there's ways of knowing," she said, "Has anything ever happened to you that just couldn't be explained because it was so unusual?"
Lily thought a minute, for indeed there had been several unusual things that had happened to her over the years. When she hadn't studied for a test one time, school had been cancelled because of a blizzard. That didn't seem to odd but the lizard had been in the middle of April. Another time, she had gottan into a huge fight with Petunia and, as they fought, a large pimple had started to grow in the middle of Petunia's forehead. There were other things too.
Lily looked up at Mrs. Johnston and smiled, "Yes," she said, "There's been some unusual and unexplainable things."
Mrs. Johnston beamed at her, "Then you are most definitely a witch," she said.
"Where are we supposed to but Lily's things though?" asked Mrs. Evans, "I've never heard of a store that sells wands or anything like that."
"You need to go to Diagon Alley," said Mrs. Johnston, "It's in London. You'd have to exchange some of your money for wizard gold at our bank, Gringotts, before you could buy anything though. You could come with us next Saturday. We have to go to get our youngest her new things because she'll be starting at Hogwarts as well."
"What's her name?" Lily asked.
"Megan," said Mrs. Johnston, "She's very excited about starting school too but I think she'll miss her muggle friends and playing football (Author's Note: Since they're British they call soccer football and even though I'm Canadian I want this to be realistic.), volleyball and track and field. She's a big athlete so she's very excited about the possibility of trying out for her house's Quidditch team."
"Quidditch?" Mr. Evans said.
"It's our sport," said Mrs. Johnston, "It's played on broomsticks, with four different balls and seven players per team. It's a tad bit confusing at first but it's quite fun."
"Wow!" said Lily.
"What do you mean by house team?" asked Mr. Evans.
"At Hogwarts there's four different houses that students are divided up into," said Mrs. Johnston, "Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor. So far our whole family's been in Gryffindor."
"So basically the houses are like dorms?" said Mrs. Evans.
"Exactly," said Mrs. Johnston, "But students are not assigned to the houses. They are judged at the sorting and split into the houses that suit each individual best. It all depends on your personality. Gryffindors are usually brave; Ravenclaws are usually highly intelligent; Slytherins are usually very cunning; and the rest go to Hufflepuff. Each house is named after one of the original founders of Hogwarts and the students of each house are chosen based on what that founder valued the most."
"When was the school founded?" asked Mr. Evans.
"Oh, a very long time ago," said Mrs. Johnston, "No one really knows the exact date but it was hundreds of years ago."
"So it's not the original building then?" said Mr. Evans.
"Oh, it is," said Mrs. Johnston.
"Is that safe?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"Very safe," Mrs. Johnston assured her, "You'd be amazed at how clean you can get things when you use magic."
Mrs. Evans looked slightly relieved. "Where is it then?" she asked.
"It's hidden away from prying eyes," said Mrs. Johnston, "If a muggle looks at it all they'll see is the illusion of an old abandoned house. There's all sorts of other muggle repelling charms on it too, so it's very well hidden and very hard to find."
"It certainly sounds interesting," said Mr. Evans.
Mrs. Johnston looked at her watch, "Oh my!" she exclaimed as she stood up, "I'd better get going. I'm supposed to be meeting up with some people later. Sorry I have to run, you probably have so many more questions. Tell you what, we'll pick you up to go to London Saturday at 10 o'clock in the morning."
"Sounds like a plan then," Mr. Evans said as the all stood up and walked Mrs. Johnston to the door.
"If you have any questions feel free to call us," said Mrs. Johnston, "Could I possibly have your number though? Just in case we need to change something?"
Mrs. Evans scribbled their phone number on a piece of paper from the table in the hallway and handed it to Mrs. Johnston.
"Here you go," Mrs. Evans said.
"Thank you and I will see you Saturday, if not sooner," said Mrs. Johnston as she left.
The Evans family called goodbye and then closed the door.
"Well that was certainly interesting," said Mr. Evans as he looked at his wife.
* * * * * * * * * * *
That's the end of the chapter! I know it's not quite as good as the first one but chapter 3 should be up either later today or tomorrow. So please read and review!!!
FYI: Yes, the Megan mentioned is supposed to be me. I just used a fake last name so that no one can stalk me. I chose Johnston because if you look in the phone book it's a pretty common name. Also, so you know, I'm trying really hard to think of a good song for the sorting but it's really hard! (Especially when you lack the ability to rhyme.) I'll try though. Worse comes to worse I steal one from the books and alter a few words so that technically its not the same.
~*~MeGaN~*~