ATTN: Hogwarts coming soon, I promise!! Only a few more chapters. I'm planning on adding a chapter a day, so tell your FanFiction friends and spread the word.
Petunia was once again watching television (it was all she seemed to do nowadays, thought Lily) after dinner. Mrs. Evans had taken over the dish washing, and was in a thunderous mood after she heard Petunia complaining about the new color of her room. "We slaved over that room for weeks, Petunia Evans!" she had shouted, her face bright red as Petunia sulked. Mrs. Evans had stormed into the kitchen and demanded that Lily let her finish the dishes.
Lily, nodding, had run out of the kitchen and up into her room, where she had grabbed a deck of worn playing cards and started to do magic tricks. There was the one where she hid the card in the deck and then picked it out, but it wasn't the same when Petunia wasn't there. She played with the deck for a few moments, and then had an idea.
Ten minutes later, Lily crept down the staircase, her black cape billowing out behind her. Her mother was still muttering angrily when Lily snuck up behind the couch where Petunia was sitting. This'll make her laugh, Lily thought, and spread out the cards in her hand like a fan. The light cast Lily's shadow across Petunia's small body, and she sat up. But Lily was faster.
"Pick a card, any card!" cried Lily, and jumped out in front of Petunia, who shrieked loudly. Lily was quite a sight, in her father's too-large tuxedo, wearing white gloves and a silk top hat and a black cape, but Petunia realized what she was dressed up as.
A magician.
Petunia calmed down, still breathing rapidly, and sunk back against the couch and continued to watch television. "Go away," she said harshly.
"Petunia Evans!" her mother shrieked from the kitchens.
"Go away," Petunia hissed quietly.
"But, Tuney—"
"Go away!" Petunia screeched, just as the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Mr. Evans cried, and got up from his seat in the office to open the door.
"I was just trying to make you laugh, Tuney," Lily said, her feelings hurt.
Petunia scowled. "Well, you can't, so leave me alone."
"Why are you so angry at me, Tuney?" Lily asked, and even though Petunia thought she should know exactly why she was angry, she didn't get a chance to answer her sister. Just then, Mr. Evans called from the doorway, "Uh, girls?"
Petunia reluctantly got up from the couch and shoved Lily out of the way. Mrs. Evans left the kitchen. Lily stood still for a minute, watching after Petunia. Suddenly, she heard her mother say, "Oh, my."
Lily frowned and ran into the hallway, her robe billowing out behind her. The figure in the door, Lily decided, was dressed almost as peculiarly as she was. His midnight-blue robes contrasted sharply with the orange in the setting sky, and his tall, pointed hat almost scraped against the door frame. There was a large cardboard box in his arms that rattled when he moved, and he had the longest beard any of the Evans family had ever seen.
"Do you know this man, Lily?" Mr. Evans asked his daughter. She had never seen him before in her life, but Lily smiled. She knew exactly who he was.
"You're from Hogwarts, aren't you?" she asked the old man standing in front of her.
The man smiled. "Why, yes. I am. How did you know?"
"Severus told me about you." Lily was still smiling, looking quite odd in her magician's outfit, but a loud and large scoff came from Petunia at the mention of the Snape boy. The old man looked at Petunia, as did Lily, but Petunia just left and went into the living room.
Unfortunately the old man and her family followed her. Petunia turned off the television reluctantly, and Lily took a seat next to her on the couch. The old man sat in the armchair across the girls, and Lily's parents sat on the couch as well.
"Well, first things first," the old man said, and put his box on the floor. He straightened up and addressed Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Lily. "My name is Albus Dumbledore," he said, "and I am headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Mrs. Evans looked shocked, and her husband was stiff. Albus Dumbledore reached into the pocket of his robe and drew out a slightly crinkled letter and handed it to Lily.
She took the letter from him shyly. "In that letter is your list of school supplies and details explaining when school starts," he told Lily. He turned to her parents. "Lily has been accepted to come to our school. It is one of the best wizarding schools around, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and, believe me, it is an honor that Lily has been accepted there. You may have noticed this in Lily, but around this age, the magical talents of young witches and wizards start to become noticeable."
"Magical talents?" Mrs. Evans replied, a bit less weakly. She looked as if she was about to smile, as if it was a good thing Lily had been accepted.
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Of course, since you are Muggles, or non-magical folk, I had to come to explain to you how the school works. We have all sorts of young witches and wizards at our school: pure-blood, half-blood, and Muggleborns, such as Lily. Although there have not been as many Muggleborns at Hogwarts as there are going to be this year—"
"Severus says it doesn't matter whether I am Muggleborn or not," Lily interrupted.
Albus Dumbledore smiled at Lily, a twinkle in his blue eyes. "He is absolutely right."
Mr. Evans spoke up. "Well," he said, a little flustered but nonetheless pleased. "Our Lily. A witch!" He laughed, and Mrs. Evans smiled. "Who would have thought?"
Albus Dumbledore continued. "Hogwarts is sort of like a boarding school, you could say. Term starts September first," he pulled out a tiny slip of paper, "and Lily will need to meet at Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station in London. A faculty member will be around to tell you how to get through the barrier. This is her ticket." Dumbledore handed Mrs. Evans Lily's train ticket. "Lily will need a trunk and a set of school robes. It is all on the list." He motioned to the letter, and Lily pulled out the second sheet of paper.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) ("Dragon hide!" Lily exclaimed when she read this aloud)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry nametags
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Books of Spells (Grade 1)
By Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
By Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
By Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
By Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOM STICKS
"Wow," Lily breathed when she finished reading the paper aloud.
"But where are we going to find all these things?" Mrs. Evans asked. "And how are we going to pay for them?"
Dumbledore only laughed. "Don't worry," he said, pulling out a bag that clinked considerably. "Hogwarts has a fund for those students who are unable to pay for their school supplies. Like a scholarship," he said to Mr. and Mrs. Evans's terrified faces. "And tomorrow I'm sending over Hagrid, our gamekeeper, to take you all to London to buy Lily's school supplies." He smiled.
The room was silent. Mr. Evans took the letter from Lily and scanned it over.
"Of course," Dumbledore added, "you are the parents. Lily does not have to go."
For a few frightened moments, Lily was afraid her parents were going to deny her entry to the school. They exchanged anxious glances. "No, no," Mrs. Evans said, "of course we want her to go." She smiled at Dumbledore, who smiled back and then stood up.
"Wonderful," he said. "Now, if you don't mind, I have somewhere to be." He picked up his box, the insides clanking noisily.
"What is inside there, sir?" Lily asked.
"Bottles of BERP," he said.
"Burp?!" she asked incredulously.
Dumbledore laughed. "Not like a belch, no. B-E-R-P. Boils of Elf Removing Potion. The elves at the school have all come down with a communicable case of boils and I needed a potion to get rid of them. I just went to one of your soon-to-be-classmate's home to pick these up."
"Whose home?" Lily asked.
"A certain Mr. James Potter," Dumbledore said with a wink. Lily laughed, but she was not quite sure why he winked, and Dumbledore said, "Hagrid will be here at around twelve o'clock tomorrow, give or take. Thank you for your time."
"Thank you!" Lily and her parents chirped.
Dumbledore led himself to the door, and with another clank of his box, left the house. Lily and her parents immediately started chattering on about how excited they were, but Petunia quickly got up from the couch and ran outside. She needed a letter, too; didn't the old man know that?
She flung open the door and ran into the empty, dark street. She looked around wildly for the old man, but he was gone. "Excuse me!" she yelled. "Excuse me, Mr. Dumbledore!" He couldn't have gone that far. But as Petunia ran along the empty streets, there was no trace of him.