The kitchen was in such a ruckus. The Evans family were trying their hardest to welcome their newly met guest into their home with a warm and inviting dinner. Horace Slughorn, the man who was their salvation during a catastrophic incident a week before, had promised to aid them in any way possible in regards to Lily's blossoming powers, and after seeing what he could do, they decided that his help was desperately needed.
Lily and Petunia were in charge of setting the table. As Petunia was the eldest she was in charge of all the breakable objects, which included the plates, and the wine glasses. Meanwhile, Lily was tasked with laying out the table cloth which was a special one embroidered with gold coloured threads shaped into bird like patterns. They only made use of it in special occasions, such as family gatherings during the holidays or when Mr. Evan's boss came over for dinner.
Mrs. Evans meant for the girls to be out in the dining room, far away from the kitchen, as she was often stressed when it came to preparing fine dinners. Deep inside, she was never the housewife type, but if she didn't cook then they would all starve. Mrs. Evans started preparing for the evening by checking out all the cook books she could find at the book store, and watching cooking shows run by women who had an actual idea of what they were doing. But the one who seemed the most beaten up by this dinner was Mr. Evans.
It was the husband's job to deal with the wife, especially when she was experiencing an enormous amount of stress, and at this point, Mrs. Evans was a mess. She was dicing vegetables at such a hurried pace, that Mr. Evans was afraid that she would accidentally cut one of her fingers off. Aside from that, she was simultaneously whipping up three dishes at the same time, potato chowder, roast beef, and custard pie for desert. Sweat was beading done from her face, and he wiped them of like what doctors do during surgery. Mr. Evans tried to make himself more useful, but if there was anything he'd learned after their 10 years of marriage, it was that the kitchen was his wife's territory, and that she was about as territorial as a wolf. So he decided it was best to just stand there and provide reassurance every time she needed it.
It was seven O'clock, and their much awaited dinner guest was bound to arrive at any moment. Mrs. Evans ordered the girls to get dressed, and while Petunia was taking her time fixing her hair and putting on her shoes, Lily hurriedly dressed herself in the first decent thing she could find in her closet, and ran downstairs. She was very eager to meet the man called Horace Slughorn, for her it was an opportunity to get all her questions answered which could undoubtedly put her uneasy mind at ease.
At seven O' five, Mr. Evans called the girls to wait downstairs. Afterwards, he went outside into the lawn to make sure the sprinklers were turned off, as to avoid soaking Mr. Slughorn when he arrived. Immediately, as he set foot outside, he saw the flash of bright headlights at the far corner of the street. At first what he thought was a car, turned out be a much larger vehicle, one of those double decked buses. It was an odd site, considering how there aren't any of those buses out and about in this sort of town, not to mention their street, which was but a small side road.
a strange ride for a strange man indeed, Mr. Evans thought. He went back inside.
"Love, Mr. Slughorn is here" he called out to
"Oh, wonderful. What sort of car is he riding?", she answered back.
"Well, it isn't exactly a car"
Bapnag, a loud crashing sound came from outside. Mr. Evans went out to investigate and saw that the bus had made a full stop in front of their address. It was quite enormous in person and had manage to extend all the way up to the sidewalks, bumping off garbage cans and mailboxes. Mr. Evans could only catch a glimpse of the bus' interior, but could've swore that he saw rows of queen sized beds instead of regular seats, and on those beds, folks wearing nightgowns were taking long rejuvenating naps.
The bus door opened, and out came Horace Slughorn, he wore almost the same thing when they first met, with the exception of an oddly placed night cap on top the man's head, other than that he wore a long red trench coat, and a green vest made out of wool, both of which were very crumpled up. As he made his way to the porch, he paused for a minute to yawn and stretch his arms out. Then he walked over to the owner of the house, "Good evening sir, Horace Slughorn, I believe we met not more than seven days ago" he had a dazed and sheepish expression on his face. Mr. Evans felt as if he would collapse at any second.
Mrs. Evans, wondering what was taking her husband so long,went outside to check on their guest along with the girls, and both of them giggled upon seeing him dressed as he was with a ridiculous looking nightcap. Mrs. Evans rushed over to her husband's side. "Mister Slughorn, hello, it is such a pleasure for you to come meet up with us again" she held out her, and it was met with a handshake. "Sir, you look quite exhausted, are you all right?"'She asked sounding concerned.
"Oh I am quite fine m'dear. True, travelling from my place of employment to all the way here is tiring, but I've had dinner parties which lasted all the way up till dawn, so I'm quite sure I'll be able to handle myself for the evening"
"Well, could I least offer you some coffee then?" said Mrs. Evans
"Yes, that would be lovely, a lot of sugar please"
Mrs. Evans went back inside to brew some coffee. Meanwhile, Slughorn made his way to both girls. "Hello, there again miss Lily, and miss_" he was struck with a confused look on his face. "It's Petunia sir" she answered. "Ah, Petunia, of course"
"Well, I suggest we all go inside, my wife made a lovely meal and it would be such a waste to see them get cold", said Mr. Evans.
All of them made their way to the dining hall and took a seat in front of the table filled with Mrs. Evan's cooking. Lily and Petunia sat beside each other as always, and Slughorn sat at the special seat reserved for special guests.
The dinner started rather awkwardly, the guest had seemed very famished as he consumed food much faster than anyone else had at the table. His mouth was stuffed, so Mr. and Mrs. Evans refrained from initiating conversation at the moment. However, Lily did not care much for politeness. "How were you able to do that with the tree?" she sputtered out. Mrs. Evans gave her a look which was meant to tell her to be more courteous, but Slughorn did not care much for the impulsiveness of children. He swallowed his food and began to answer her question.
"Ah, yes. I guess this is what this dinner is about, answering some baffling events that's been going on in this household. So, to answer your question, I must ask you something. Do you believe in magic?"
the events family remained silent, all except Mrs. Evans. "Believe me Mister Slughorn, with all the strangeness going on in our lives recently, I'm willing to believe in anything, from witches that turn men into frogs, to aliens that mess with our heads using space probes" she responded.
"Ah, then very good" said Slughorn. "Well, I do commend both you and your husband. Most muggle parents often scramble around in these types of situations, in fact there was this one couple who got sent to the loony bin when their son turned their car into chocolate, but anyway both of you kept your heads calm, and as luck would have it, you ran into me, so cheers" he raised his glass.
Mr. Evans did so as well. "So, Mr. Slughorn, what you're saying is that our Lily is a witch?" he asked "is that correct?"
"Precisely, but do not fear, I believed they have already ceased the hunting witches in your world, although I'm not a hundred percent sure. My muggle history has always been kind of rusty"
"I'm quite curious, what is a muggle. You keep using to that term. What does it mean?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"A muggle, Madame, is what you and your husband are. Ordinary people, lacking capabilities in performing acts of magic" he said. Lily thought that he sounded kind of condescending, but didn't mind. "Oh, I see" replied Mrs. Evans.
Slughorn, once again stuffed his mouth with food once more. This time he dug through the roast beef, and then washed it down with the potato chowder. "Do you always eat like that?" Petunia asked. Slughorn's mouth was still stuffed, "pardon me?"
"Well, sir I find it barbaric how you ingest your food like some bloody murderer's after you" she said with the tone of a strict disciplinarian. "Petunia!", scolded Mrs. Evans, "that was quite rude young lady".
Slughorn raised his hands, "It's fine, it seems that I have forgotten my manners" He swallowed the rest of the food in his mouth, "It's just that this dinner is exquisite. "You, madame are a glorious cook", although she was privy to his attempts at flattery, Mrs. Evans couldn't help but blush.
Slughorn wolfed down his last piece of custard pie, then wiped his mouth. He then stood up. "Well, I believe it's getting late and I must be off, and unless you want Garry to park his bus down this awfully cramped street once more, I must start making my way to the highway", Slughorn straightened his coat and headed towards the door.
Mr. Evans ran to catch up to him. He blocked the door. "Now, hold on a second. I thought you were going to help us control our daughter's hocus pocus a'n all."
"Oh yes, I did mean that, but not now. I have an entire class to teach tomorrow, and I have to get back in_" He checked his watch. "_oh dear, three hours" He reached into one of his coat pockets and took out a paper folded three times like a brochure of some sort. He handed it to Mr. Evans, "I know, I couldn't answer anything much right now, but I believe this pamphlet here will answer all your questions. Now, I've stalled as much as I can. Goodbye" he waved them off and disappeared at instant.
Mr. Evans examined the pamphlet, but found it nothing more than blank paper. He searched every inch of it, but not a single drop of ink showed it's self. "Well, this is no bloody help at all" he threw up his arms in frustration. "Lemme see" said Mrs. Evans. She grabbed the paper from her husband and looked about as baffled as he was. Having less patience than her husband, she crumpled up the paper and threw it away. "Okay, I guess that's that then" she said.
Unknown to them, the paper levitated silently into the air, without the aid of a single breeze. And just as if it had two invisible legs it started making its way to the two girls digging in to their desert. Lily hadn't the energy to eat. Her mind was preoccupied by what she had heard, no matter how little the information it contained, and in truth, she had no idea how to react. Growing up watching Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and the Wizard of Oz had always made her look at magic as a beautiful thing. A tool fairy godmothers use to bring joy and happiness, but after seeing what her magic was capable of, she started doubting whether it was such a good idea to let her have such capabilities in her hands. If there was anything at all that she was sure of, it was that she didn't want it now. Not while she was still such a cry baby, she thought to herself.
The paper was now mere inches way for her face. Lily and Petunia only caught a mere glance of it before it shot a blue spark at Lily. The blue spark left her unconscious, and her head fell on the table. "LILY!" Petunia exclaimed in shock. She shook her sister hard trying to wake her, "Lily, wake up, what happened?" she spoke frantically. "Wake up, wake up" but all Lily could register was a fading voice.
Meanwhile, the paper which fell soundlessly on the floor began to glow and shimmer as a finely written and perfectly symmetrical "M" was burned in the centreof the paper.