As soon as the Professor left, Lily rushed up to her room.
When she got to her room, however she found the window open, and sitting on the sill was the beautiful silvery-brown barn owl that delivered the letter that she knew would change her life.
Not sure exactly what to do, Lily took a timid step toward the owl.
Expecting it to fly away, she was taken quite a back when the owl flew gracefully to her, rather than soar away in fear.
The owl landed on her shoulder, and pecked affectionately at her ear.
Tickled by this owls clean feathers, (which were slightly damp) Lily giggled. She found a few crackers she kept in a plastic bag under her bed, and fed them to the owl.
She closed the window, and observed the damage the rain had brought to her pillow.
She then set her mind upon opening the two other letters she had received from the Professor.
The first one she opened had a seal on the back, with the letter "T" on it in swirled handwriting.
She opened it carefully, without breaking the seal, and pulled out another letter. It read,
Dear Miss Evans,
Congratulations on being accepted into the magical world! I am Mrs. Elizabeth Turner, mother of your "Guardian family" from the wizarding world. My duties to help you in your first year at Hogwarts, include first taking you to a place called Diagon Alley. It is a place non-magic folk do not know about, so don't feel bad if you don't know where or what it is. It is the place that witches and wizards go to get their necessities. I will be taking you there on the 8th of August, with my three children who attend Hogwarts at the time. Until then, this owl is yours to keep. Her name is Noelle, if you have any questions send her with them.
-Elizabeth Turner
P.S. Some books for you to read will arrive in a few days. I hope you like to read. –E.T.
"Noelle!" Lily said to the owl, "That's your name!"
As if in response, the owl nodded her head, and continued to eat.
Then Lily remembered the other letter the Professor had given her.
This letter had another seal on it. Identical to the one she had received earlier. It read,
Dear Miss Evans,
I'd like to congratulate you on your admittance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, however I'm probably not the only one to congratulate you. Your parents must be very proud.
I have something to add to their pleasure. Lily, you have been chosen, personally by me, to become a member of a group of students also chosen for particular abilities that you will be able to learn. These lessons won't start however until everyone knows their basic spells. An owl will be sent to you to confirm the first meeting. Each student will meet with me individually before starting lessons with a particular Professor that you seem most comfortable with, and in whose class you show particular ability. Until September,
-Headmaster Albus Dumbledore
P.S. Remember this, some of the most real things are the things we dream. –Professor Dumbledore
"Particular abilities?" Lily asked herself, "I have particular abilities!"
And what did he mean that some of the most real things are the things we dream? Was the answer to her "Particular abilities" in her dreams?
That night after dinner, Lily revealed the contents of the letter to her parents, who just like the Professor said, squealed even more. Though she intentionally left out the P. S. part.
"Lily, take Harry and go, it's him, he's found us!"
Lily looked around, to find a baby boy with dark black hair and emerald eyes, nestled in a woman's arms. The woman looked just like her!
Emerald eyes, scarlet-orange hair, white skin, and they had the same name!
Then she heard the voice again,
"Don't hurt them, take me instead!"
Then another voice came.
"I want the boy!"
"You can't take him!"
Then Lily heard the new voice say something she couldn't understand and a green light flashed, and she saw a man with black ruffled hair, and full-moon glasses fall dead to the floor.
Then it was as if she were hearing herself.
"J-!" the woman screamed, but Lily didn't hear the rest.
Lily awoke to find her nightgown sticking to her, sweat rolling down her face. She had had dreams like this before, always involving that woman who looked like her, and the man with the glasses and dark hair.
Lily sat there for hours. The sun was now streaming in through her window.
The doorbell rang.
"Darling, would you get that?" Came Mrs. Evans voice from the kitchen.
Lily jumped up from the table instantly to get the door.
She opened the door to a man with a large package.
"I have a package for a Lily Evans." The man said.
"I'm Lily." Lily answered.
The man asked her to sign a slip of paper, and dropped the package inside the house.
The return address only had a name.
Mrs. Elizabeth Turner
"They're the books!" Lily exclaimed as her mother came in to see what it was.
Lily and her mother pried the top open. There inside the package lay at least 11 books.
There was Hogwarts a History, Quidditch through the Ages, Standard Book of spells: Book 1, Charms: The Basics, Potions and Things, The Forbidden Forest: What is in There?, Sorcerers and their Achievements, The Other Schools, How to Manage Your Everyday Owl, Pro's and Con's: Healers and their Abilities, and Dreams of the Future:How to Deal with Visions. Lily couldn't believe it. She was in heaven! So many books, and so many things to learn!
For the next few days, the Evans family saw none of Lily except for at meals. She was constantly reading, for she was determined to finish every last book before Mrs. Turner came. She didn't want to look like a fool in the wizarding world.
Lily particularly enjoyed the longest book, Hogwarts a History. It had answers to almost all of her questions.
In it she read about the four founders, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Ruina Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. She also read about the classes taught in Hogwarts, the Hogwarts grounds, and the nearby village called Hogsmede. The book mentioned the Forbidden Forest a bit, and when she finished she went straight on to the book about the Forbidden Forest. She was really interested in all the creatures found inside including centaurs, boggarts, trolls in the more mountainous part, unicorns, giants, hippogriffs, a dragon here or there, and even werewolves, which she found particularly interesting.
For days she read of quidditch plays, werewolves, the best foods for owls, a few basic charms and spells to learn once she had a wand, Zonko's Joke Shop, Nicholas Flamel, Beaubatons the magic school in France, basic potions, animagus, and more.
Two books caught her attention the most though. The one on futuristic dreams, and the other on healers abilities.
As she read it appeared that healers were people who had great capacity for love. However, you were lucky to meet a healer, because they only appeared every 50 years! The book said that every time they used their abilities, they would change. Though to Lily's anger it didn't specify how. She also read that healers were also called "transference healers", because when they took a wound away it would be transferred to the healer, if they didn't curse it upon something else. Healers could, however, do hand magic, and had futuristic dreams!
Was this the particular talent that the headmaster had meant? Did he think she had the gift of healing, and futuristic dreams? Is that what he meant by "The most real things can be the things we dream." She could only wait. What else could she do?